Heroes Journey

by Ragemoon

REWRITTEN It's a new year at Sky High after the Royal Pain homecomming fasico last year. Princpal Powers has a game plan for the students to get then ready for the threat from Royal Pain's students. Will the students beable to cope with the class load?

1. Here Comes the Storm!

Disclaimer: Sky High belongs to Disney. All the characters that are part of the storyline belong to Disney. Original characters belong to me. The fan story and its idea are mine. Not for profit. Any superhero character references belong to their original owners, meaning Marvel, Dark Horse, DC and any other comic hero producers own their respected characters. The idea of the mixed super-side classes is not mine it came from 'War and Peace In Mind' some other ideas come from that story too. Kudos to any who can find the references I've added to the story.

Heroes Journey

By

Ragemoon

Chapter 1: Here Comes the Storm

In the Peace household, a young man was starting to wake up. He yawned and stretched out lazily in his bed before sitting up and turning off his alarm clock, annoyed that he had once again woken up two minutes before the alarm went off. He padded on down the stairs, catching the welcome aroma of the coffee his mother had brewed before she left for her cover job. He smiled, then frowned as he walked though the family room, noticing his mother had left the fireplace on. It was one of those gas affairs lit with the push of a button. Warren frowned as thought he was seeing a few little lizard type beings curled up in the flames. He frowned and shook his head before turning off the fire and watching as the little creatures abruptly disappeared from view.

"Figment of my imagination." Warren muttered. "Lizards in the fire, absurd." He wandered in the kitchen and found a note from his mother.

'Warren honey, Have a great first day of your last year at Sky High. Your lunch is packed and waiting in the fridge. Love Mom.'

He smiled and grabbed a muffin, powering up slightly to warm the baked good and wandering back upstairs as he quickly ate the muffin before his morning shower. The best thing about the house Josie Stronghold had sold her old friend was that it had two master bedrooms and each member of the Peace household could have their own bathroom. He had chosen the one designed like an Asian spa, while his mother was more than satisfied with her more modern, streamlined room. After a long, lazy shower, he only had time to dress before grabbing his lunch from the fridge and backpack from its hook on the door as he headed out to catch the bus.

It was only a few moments before the bus pulled up, and since he was the first student to board it, he had the impression that it was done this way so that the other students wouldn't have to suffer the sight of him walking past them on the frst day of school. It was highly unlikely, of course, but it was still amusing to see that the other kids all sat close to the driver, leaving two empty seats between him and them. It didn't matter, since there were only so many times he would have to ride the bus. It was just a shame that Sky High didn't allow the students drive themselves to school. Of course, it would a logistical nightmare if it were possible; civilians weren't so stupid that they wouldn't notice hordes of rocket powered cars heading up into the sky every morning. He watched the clouds float past his window and paid no attention to the mutters and murmurs of the students in front of him.

Sky High sat unassuming amongst the clouds, school buses flying in and out dropping off students. It was also larger then it had been, not that many would actually notice the changes until much later. Over the summer all the students had been informed that their classes were going to be integrated, heroes taking sidekick courses and visa versa, as well the news that they would be training as teams from now on. Principal Powers had even called in new teachers to help with the new course load. That surprised many of the older generation of superheroes who were used to working alone or with a sidekick or partner, at best. This meant that there were those who weren't completely happy with events, although they had to admit that changes had to be made following Royal Pain's attack.

Looking over the school, Warren sighed darkly his eyes taking in his fellow students. He watched as different people used their powers against each other in a playful and not so playful ways. He noted one of the few flying cars with authorization to land at Sky High, and the girl that spilled out of it. He had a brief glance of dark hair and dark clothing and nothing more, thanks to his best friend, Will Stronghold and Will's girlfriend Layla crossing into his line of sight. Typical; even when they weren't trying, the pair seemed to have good timing for being in the wrong place at the right time. It was good to know that their relationship was still doing well, though. Unlike his relationship with Melissa Frost, which had ended badly about two months after the Homecoming fiasco. He wondered for a moment why she had stuck around; he hadn't thought that they would be a couple after the dance but yet she remained, though she had tried her utmost to change him to what suited her.

"Hey Warren." Will smiled suddenly at his best friend. "Cannot wait to see what's in store this year." His hyper happiness was normally contagious, but he was always surprised that it did not touch Warren at all. The pyro seemed to be impervious to happiness of any sort, or at least its outward appearance.

Layla smiled, seeing Warren was not with them at all. She followed his gaze to where Melissa Frost was staring over at the trio with an emotion that Layla was surprised the ice wielding girl could feel; hate coldly burned there. She sighed, smiled brightly shaking it off.

"Come on let's go inside." She tugged on Will's arm.

Warren watched as the rest of their friends smiled at him and walked past him to get in the school; he was not quite ready to go yet and they let him have his space, as there was no getting though to him while he brooded. So they left him to his thoughts, with the assurance that they would be there when he needed them.

Warren had known that Melissa had been in the relationship as part of the unwritten hero's reward and that bothered him. She had never spared him a thought or look before that time. He'd gotten angry with himself for realizing what she was truly doing to him. Hero's reward his ass. He growled at himself for allowing her even that close to him. Not that she truly gotten close to him, some inner voice had warned him that she was not going to be forever. So he managed to keep his distance, barely.

He nodded acknowledgment to the others as they passed him, his thoughts on other things. Melissa was glaring at him again, watching him with hate-filled eyes. He wondered what he done to deserve her hatred, he had treated her better then she had clearly thought he would, but he was still unable to work out where they had gone wrong, then again, women were confusing creatures, who always seemed to have extremely complicated plans for things. Nothing was ever simple or black and white for them; it was all shades of gray. He turned his gaze pointedly away from her and walked into school.

"Girls," he muttered to himself. "I'm not going to play that game again. Once was more then enough."

Warren waded among the sea of his fellow students until they realized who it was; then they moved out of his way, quickly. He got to his locker and stowed what he would not need before his first class. His locker was chaos central but he did not mind it; he always could find just what he needed. His room at home was another story; it was always neat and tidy. He closed his locker and tossed his backpack easily over his shoulder, once more plunging into the sea of students, who once again parted when they realized that he was on the move; none of them wanted to anger the young man who controlled fire and had an infamously short temper. He didn't mind their avoidance one bit. He had his small group of friends and that was all he really wanted, even when he claimed he wanted to be left alone. Stronghold and his friends had neatly inserted themselves into his life, and he didn't know where he would be without them; he was not even sure where he had been going until they railroaded his life with their companionship.

He walked into the gym to observe Coach Boomer running Power Placement. Warren was curious to see where the new students would place, not that it really mattered anymore with the new team structure. He sighed knowing he was taking an extra course load in school because of the changes that happened after Homecoming last year. The hero-sidekick classes were intermixed and everyone was taking classes they were not used to be taking. Most of the students in Sky High where now officially behind on their work load it was going to be cram learning time for all within the rosters of the super hero school.

Warren wondered to himself if they would be at school longer. He figured that be the best way to get this training done. He'd find out at the annual speech Principal Powers gave. Which would be, he wondered? Another year he was stuck at the school or just longer hours and piles upon piles of homework with no breathing room to spare? He hoped that it was the latter; he wanted to start his hero work, not be stuck at school longer.

He realized that a new student standing there with the freshmen. He smirked; it was the girl he saw briefly before Will had blocked her from view. She might even be in his class, or more likely, in Stronghold's class. She looked about his age, though that could be deceiving in and of itself, some people were mentally older than they were physically, and she could be one of them and used to acting older then she was.

The young woman would be placed into either super hero or sidekick depending on her powers, and her team- she find out later much like the rest of the students, unless Coach Boomer was feeling edgy and placed each of the students in teams himself. Warren had a feeling his group of friends was going to be one group of heroes, and who knew how Principal Powers had planned to team up the rest of the students. Warren settled down to watch the entertainment of Coach Boomer test each student and designate his or her grading, to be either hero or sidekick.

Boomer was always good for a laugh, even if it was at another's failings. He was well aware that he had had more then enough people laugh at him because of Boomer, not that they ever laughed at his face. No one ever laughed at Warren's face, at least if they wanted to survive unscathed.

"Hey." Coach Boomer looked at the tall kid standing near the rear. "You, Beanstalk, come up here and show me your power." The tall kid came up and shape shifted into twenty littler versions of himself. Coach Boomer looked at him trying to decide what to do with him. "Sidekick." The boy pouted twenty times and tumbled off the stage laughing.

Boomer shook his head looking over the students deciding who to call next. He pointed at a red haired girl and she came up on stage. He hit a button and the usual car cam flying out of the ceiling toward the student. She caught the car with one arm. "Good job, Xena, Hero." She hopped off the stage and beamed at the other kids. They were all looking less and less frightened as Power Placement went on.

The next student flew up to the rafters of the school and beamed happily down at the Coach. "Hero. Get back down here Flyboy." Boomer shook his head as the young man landed softly and smiled and laughed at his fellow students.

"Time for the test Goth girl." Coach Boomer looked at his clipboard and read her name to himself; it was unusual, and strangely familiar but he couldn't place where he had heard it before. He eyed the girl before him, attempting to read her. She appeared to be stubborn as Layla had been; yet she seemed almost fearful of what was going on about her. Coach Boomer wondered if he had another refusal on his hands. "Yeah, you transfer student, Brigid; Goth girl." He looked at his papers on his clipboard. He pressed a button that none of the students had seen, the principal was now watching the exchange. She looked down at the files on her desk and groaned inwardly, knowing that this was going to be one of those years. "Come on, girl, I don't have all day."

"Dè a tha seo?" Brigid looked at him not realizing that in her hurry to answer him she fell on the language her and her grandfather spoke fluently at home. She tucked a strand of her long brown-black hair behind her ear. She watched the progress of her fellow students with barely hidden fear. She was extremely nervous about this for she was not allowed to show off her powers. Plus she was not sure how to just use them; she knew she could not call them up without a strong emotion attached to them. Normally her powers where driven by rage at who ever had verbally attacked her at her old school. She had a hard time just doing what she should have already been able to do.

Coach Boomer blinked not understanding her. He recognized it was Gaelic even if he did not understand one word of what she just said. "English, if you don't mind Goth Girl, that is the language we speak here."

"Um, I'm sorry." Brigid blushed looking at him. The other students all looked at her oddly. Coach Boomer looked at his paperwork it had not mentioned she was a foreign exchange student, just that she was from Hero High. He sighed it was going to be a long day if she actually spoke more then one language. He knew he could be intimidating but if he frightened her that much that she slipped into the language she normally spoke at home it was going to be a long day.

Layla blinked at the language she heard the girl speak. She watched Coach Boomer react and was glad that the gym teacher had decided not to react poorly at the reaction he had gotten from the transfer student. She walked over to were Warren was sitting and sat down next to him. He barely acknowledged her presence with the barest flicker of his eyes. They both sat and watched the scene unfold.

Warren gazed at the new girl curiously, trying to figure out why she was nervous. He had knew the language that she had spoken and unlike Coach Boomer understood what she had said. He muttered to himself. "What is this?" Repeating what she just said in English but not loud enough for anyone but Layla to hear him and she looked at him oddly for speaking.

He then had to stare at the young woman taking in abstractedly what she looked like. Part of him noted that her hair came down mid-back. She was dressed in tight black jeans, a black motorcycle jacket. Her backpack was slung over her shoulder much like his was and her motorcycle boots looked well taken care of, they shined a bit in the light of the gym. He wondered if she actually rode a motorcycle, or if it was a look that was that for style only. He would find out if he really wanted and growled inwardly, trying not to appear as if he had taken a deeper interest than normal in this girl. He was known to observe the other students just as much as they were for avoiding him. No one liked to get burned. He hoped that she wasn't one of the fan girls he seemed to have collected thanks to Homecoming last year; that was something he really didn't need. He hoped it wouldn't be the case; Layla looked as though she was planning on taking the girl under her wing. Layla had a thing about projects; half the time he felt like one of them.

"One project is enough for you, Layla." Warren muttered. "Will should be enough to amuse you."

Layla shot him a look. How did Warren know she wanted to get to know this new girl? People always intrigued her, she couldn't help it; she enjoyed getting to know people and the more they fought it the more she fought getting to know them. The people who tended to keep to themselves were the one most worth getting to know. It never occurred to her that her pushiness didn't endear her to people. They both sat and watched the drama unfold before them.

"I can't. I'm forbidden." Her voice had that flat edge that Warren understood; it was a tone he knew well, for he used it himself. He also heard fear in her voice, which was something he avoided. She had turned slightly to show off a tight unadorned dark purple muscle tank. She was not as well endowed as Melissa Frost had been but she still filled out her tank well enough that any boy in Sky High would notice. She had dark brown eyes and was pale, something which he liked for he noticed her muscle outlined by her choice in clothing. He berated himself mentally for those thoughts, though he pretended that he come in here to make sure that this set of students would avoid him at all costs too by giving them a taste of his presence. Noticing pretty girls that would probably only be drawn to his good looks was not something Warren wanted. He wanted what Layla and Will had, though he was not telling either of them that.

"What do you mean forbidden?" Coach Boomer growled blowing back the students as he showed them all why he was called 'Boomer'. Some of the kids picked themselves up off the ground their eyes wide with disbelief at such a show of power. Others he only blew back a bit shocking them with the strength of his voice. "You will show me your power."

Brigid braced herself and like some the others she managed, barely, to hold her ground. Coach Boomer had blown her back a bit. "Just what I said. I cannot, my Grandfather will not let me show off. I promised." Brigid looked at him speaking calmly as she could. "You pronounced my name wrong as well Coach. It's Gaelic, pronounced Breed." She then muttered to herself much to the amusement of her fellow students. "Not that I think you are going to call me anything other then Goth Girl." She looked at him speaking so he could hear her. "I'm not doing this. I cannot do this." Her form was rigid with fear and her eyes wide with shock. Warren wondered why she would refuse the test. He pondered the thought that maybe she feared her power and showing it off would be hard for her. Or she just felt the same way Layla did about the whole sidekick/hero rift.

"Power Placement only causes a rift between students." Layla glanced over at Warren. "People get an over inflated opinion of themselves when they get cast as the hero. Everyone is important no matter what ever their power. Working together is the only way to erase this wrongness from the system." Warren smirked; he knew exactly what she was talking about. He had observed that himself as he went though life. People with great power had this tendency to abuse it if they did not care if they hurt others. Much like his father had abused his and ended up in his current situation; living in a jail cell.

Coach Boomer had not been impressed when Layla had challenged him and he wasn't happy that this newcomer had done it either. What was it with the young woman of that generation? They seemed not to want to follow the rules that had been so carefully laid out by their elders, want to prove something by breaking them. He looked at her and growled. "Sidekick." He knew that Layla and Warren were watching the new students get placed; he had seen them both come in. "You can join Flower Girl and her cronies. If you're not happy with that, see Principal Powers later." He looked up from his clipboard to see the girl in question sitting next to Warren. "Flower Girl, Hothead meet your newest teammate. Make sure you introduce her to the others." He glared at all three before stalking off. The students waited a few moments, then surged out of the gym then off to their respective class rooms.

Layla looked down at her watch, her eyes widening. "Oh my, we are gonna be late." She grabbed the other girl's hand thoughtlessly. "See ya at lunch Warren!" She called, dragging the other girl behind her as they headed off to class. He watched in amusement as the other girl tugged free of Layla's grip and the two hurried off together. Apparently the pair shared the homeroom time together, causing him to wonder who he would have in his homeroom this year and if they'd leave him in peace.

Brigid tugged free of Layla's grip. "Don't tug me along." Her voice was sharp, and Layla looked at her in surprise. "I am capable of following," She snapped. "Why are you doing this? And don't tell me it's because Coach said to. I don't buy that." Brigid crossed her arms and glared at Layla as they stood outside homeroom.

"I'm doing this because I like people and because Coach assigned you to us." Layla could see the other girl bristling and wondered how hard it was going to be to get to know her. She seemed a bit defensive, as though she always had to be on guard all the time against others.

"So? I'm not a charity case." Brigid pointed out as they entered the classroom and took seats next to each other. "I don't need you to look after me."

Layla sighed and was about to say something else as their homeroom teacher came in and started to speak to the class giving them their assignments and telling them that after homeroom would be the school assembly. She watched Brigid as the other girl glared at the other students around her, giving the impression of Warren was sitting with her and not the newest student of Sky High. She wondered how hard it was going to be to get past the prickly outside part of Brigid to the friendly girl Layla could sense was there.

Meanwhile the bell rang and Warren cursed softly, now he was late. He should have known better than to let two pretty girls distract him. He moved quickly to his first class of the day praying that lunch would come soon. He was also looking forward to the classes he had with the others. He wondered if the new girl would have classes with all of them before placing her out of his mind as he slid into his seat and glaring at a few of his classmates that were trying to decided on what seats to move into. The teacher walked in a few moments after all her students were done piling in. She noted that her students seemed to have piled up on half the room leaving one student to a seat all to himself. She then realized that the student that all her students where avoiding was Warren Peace. She sighed realizing this was going to be a long homeroom.

Warren took out a book from his backpack and started to read. The first day of school was uselessly boring especially when you were an upperclassman. He opened the book and began to read the French epic; the fact that he was reading it in French would no doubt have surprised many people.

The students all around him talked about the changes they thought where being made. Many made wild guesses and some just figured that Principal Powers was just trying to scare them all. No one knew what was really going on in the student population.

Elsewhere in the school, Ethan talked quickly to his homeroom teacher to gain access to the school library. He knew he would not have a lot of time to do what he needed to do as he sat down at a computer, muttering to himself. "I know she looks like someone I studied..." He started to search with her name, for much like everyone else he knew what the new girl's name was, Coach Boomer kind of made for an odd introduction to the school. He had briefly seen her as she and Layla had fairly run him over in attempts to get to their homeroom on time.

He also noticed the way she reacted to Layla's friendly demeanor and wondered why she was so prickly toward others. He had a feeling he would find out soon enough. He caught his breath suddenly as the names Ice Demon and Wind Demon came to him. He brought the pair of villains up then saw why he thought he knew who she was; she must be the daughter of the two villains. He then began to look at her history and found she was pure weather wielder with no control whatsoever, for her power was based on her emotions. Ethan winced at the thought of the damage she could honestly do if someone truly angered her.

He noted that she tended to react much the way Warren did when he used too much power, both became very cold, and only things like electric blankets, hot foods and hot drinks would do to revive them. That thought was not pleasant; if that included the universal crankiness he noticed that fire types happened to end up with, she was undoubtedly going to be as bad as Warren was. Not that he had changed all that dramatically after he had started hanging out with Ethan and the others; they had simply mellowed him a little. He shook his head not wanting to ponder what it was going to be like having to deal with another emotional type especially one that was female, with female hormones to boot. He was not looking forward to the girl's time of the month that was going to be a bad experience he just had a feeling.

He frowned as he read on; she even had an odd weakness against iron, that had been discovered when an old foe of her Grandfather's had attacked the pair when she was younger they had been traveling in the mountains of France. The man wielded two pure iron swords and had stabbed Brigid in the side and though he hadn't hit anything vital, she had been in hospital for weeks with iron poisoning.

The next thing he read made his blood turned cold. Her mother, the Ice Demon had killed Capitan Bones. Captain Bones had been able to command the dead; well walking skeletons, to do his bidding. She killed him when she was robbing one of the world's largest jewel stores over in Europe. She had thrown an ice projectile that had gotten though his defenses and into his heart. Ethan recoiled, rubbing his chest in sympathy.

"What a burden, her mother killed a superhero that's gotta be bad thing to have to deal with." He read on and frowned. "Normal people died too, from the cold. Not lucky at all." He pondered this. Baron Battle had done way more damage in his time at being a villain then this woman had done so far, though both villains were killers. Both had killed superheroes that had gone after them as well.

He shuddered realizing that the Ice Demon also bore an iron weapon; a spear that she used to command her icy death moves. He had a bad feeling about that weapon and the meaning behind it, especially with Brigid's weakness with iron. The fact that her parents had managed to slip away from the heroes that had been sent after them was surprising, but not unheard of. He wondered where they had hidden their loot, as none of the property they had stolen had ever been recovered.

He read some more on her parents' villainous acts and stared at the computer screen in horror once more upon finding out that Brigid's mother had murdered her father. That left the young shape-shifter chilled. It seemed that the Wind Demon was going to turn himself in, after he had given his daughter to his father to raise; but he died on the steps of the superheroes headquarters in Maxville. That was part of the statement that had been released upon his death.

Then Ethan frowned reading more and shook his head. He tried not to laugh out loud as he read more on how Brigid reacted to other hero school over in Richardson. She left her mark on her old school Hero High, which name was as bad as Sky High to be truthful. He also found out that her Grandfather did most of her training, believing that her previous school had been lax in its training.

His next shock was to find out her Grandfather was Guardian class, like Jetstream and the Commander. His superhero name, before he retired to raise his granddaughter, was Chaos. Chaos' exploits were legendary, not many heroes were in the same league. He had done a lot of good in his time before ostensibly retiring a few years earlier. Ethan read on and found that he had trained his granddaughter in languages; they were not listed and he wondered if no one but Chaos knew what languages he trained his granddaughter in. Hand to hand combat, he watched some of the training videos and winced at how her training had went.

As a shift in his mental gears, Ethan frowned and checked on Warren's power status and found that much like Will's and Layla's his were off the chart. All four were unusual in the extreme. He wondered what that could possibly mean. He pushed his glasses up on to his nose.

"Wow," was his soft mummer as he closed everything down before he went to the auditorium to join his friends. He was unsure if he should share the information he had learned.

In her office, Principal Powers looked up at her door opening to allow both her aid let in a very handsome gentleman, his dark blue eyes taking in everything in her room. She recognized him right away; it was Brigid's Grandfather, Dylan McShea looking at her with a look that must have melted stronger women in her place.

"Latha math Principal Powers, a good day to you, as we would say in Gaelic in my homeland of Scotland. Well how did it go?" He had a slight accent that made Principal Powers frown for she could not place it right away but with his words she now knew what language he spoke. She waved him to sit down in one of the comfortable chairs in her office. "I don't want a repeat of Hero High." He warned lightly as she waved him to sit down in one of the comfortable chairs in her office.

"She refused to show her power in Power Placement." Principal Powers said evenly. She tilted her head sideways as she considered this man before her. He seemed stern yet tough. He wore his many years with a grace that anyone but a pyrokinetic would envy. "You forbid her?" She questioned, recalling what Brigid had said to Boomer during placement, something Powers had watched fully this year.

"Yes, she lacks control. Her power is tied up in her emotions. She is not yet balanced enough to wield her gift correctly." He reclined in the chair with the misleading elegance of a tiger, causing her to wonder if he would spring up like one if the need arose. "She really should not be using her power at all." He paused; a long-suffering expression crossed his face. "She is fine at home. As soon as she gets outside it all goes to hell."

Principal Powers nodded. "And you don't want any repeats of what happened at her old school." She agreed. "I will make sure the teachers are aware and stop any funny business as they witness them to keep this from escalating and blowing up."

"Principal Goethe is an idiot." Dylan growled watching her, well aware that the woman was both a better administrator and politician then the old goat at Hero High had been. "He could not even control his own students. She is honestly a well behaved child, just irritable and her temper is easily triggered at times with certain subjects."

"Like her parents?" She nodded as he silently acknowledged the truth of her words; her gaze moving to the door Coach Boomer opened the door. "Boomer, would you join us?" Boomer nodded and entered fully, closing the door behind him and scrutinizing the distinguished older man seated with Powers.

"I'm Coach Boomer." His voice trailed away and his eyes widened as he realized just who he was facing. "I did no idea that she was your granddaughter, sir, or I would have placed her in hero class." He stammered. Meeting one of the world's guardians that did not play too much interference in the politics of the world made him feel awkward.

"Au contraire Coach Boomer, don't concern yourself." Dylan waived his words away, his accent indicating that the French expression was more than just for show. "I just wanted to go over a few things with your Principal, and yourself, if that is acceptable." He paused. "I need to know who Brigid's teammates are, for a start." So the debriefing began between the three as they decided on the future of the world in their own way. He made sure he gotten his point across and gotten his way.

Principal Powers dug up the information on Will Stronghold and the others that were part of the team that Boomer had attached Dylan's granddaughter to, handing the files over to the older man with nary a hesitation. He looked them over and smiled finding them satisfactory.

"I think they will all do just fine together." He commented, after a brief glance through the papers. "They appear to be a good group, very diverse in both powers and experience. I do indeed think they will do well together." He glanced over at Powers. "I am willing to offer my services to the school, if need be. Anything you need; money for projects for the students, back up against the administration of this school and the parents of your students..." His voice trailed away as he looked down at his watch, frowning. "However, I must cut this interview short. Unfortunately I have other commitments that call on my time. I simply wanted to make sure that we were on the same page." He studied the two younger people in front of him for a few moments. "It was a pleasure Veronica Powers." He bowed slightly over her hand as she walked him to the door. "Coach Boomer." A regal nod was given in the Coach's direction before the man left the office.

Veronica Powers sighed and slumped back against the door momentarily after closing it behind Mr McShea. "That man could charm the birds down from the trees." She commented, "He's well aware what that offer means to me, and he also knows that I can't object to it. He could run the entire school system alone if he put his mind to it." She added, moving to her desk and picking up her coffee cup. "I'm sure this is all highly amusing to him." She added, glancing at the clock. "Time for my speech." She noted, before draining the cup and leading the way out of her office and down to where the students were waiting in the main hall.

After homeroom, all the students walked into the auditorium to hear Principal Powers' speech that year, no one was sure of what plans she had for the student body. Warren looked at his comrades and noted that Layla had brought Brigid with her. Layla had sat Brigid down in the spot next to Warren; she then sat down the others filling in the spots around them leaving the two unwitting and unwilling seatmates sitting next to each other. Neither spoke, making it awkward to the others sitting around them.

Brigid looked unhappy about being dragged around by Layla, who had very strong thoughts on the moody young woman she been told to show around. Like breaking though the wall Brigid had placed around herself to keep others out. Layla knew it take some time but she wear out Brigid like she wore out Warren. She would keep at it until the other girl just gave up and accepted her and the others, Warren was not given a choice and neither was Brigid as far as Layla was concerned.

Layla had noted that and failed at hiding the small smile it brought out, not that many sat near them to notice; even though Warren now had a group of friends, the student body as a whole avoided him, no doubt because he had not dropped his aura of 'leave me the hell alone', though she knew he did not really need it. The two forced seat mates watched each other warily out of the corner of their eyes and tried not to catch each other staring as they where staring at the other.

Principal Powers looked at the sea of students sitting before her. "Welcome to the new year of Sky High." The students where sitting there hoping this would last forever so they could just go to lunch and miss the next two classes not just first and second hour. "This year is going to be completely different. Because of last year's Homecoming we are changing the way and what you are learning." She paused to hear the students all groan, she then went on. "Everyone is going to start learning skills that the other half has always learned. Hero Support will be taking Hero classes and Heroes will be taking Hero Support classes. There are also new classes on team work, as well as other activities that will help mold you all into the teams of tomorrow, which mean that school will now be longer." Another groan rose from the students, an expected, and amusing reaction, considering the circumstances. Their parents supported it in theory, but they would be less happy if they knew the real meaning behind all the changes. Powers had no intentions of creating mass hysteria by allowing the existence of the villain academy to become common knowledge.

Warren and the others all looked at each other, nearly everyone wincing at the news of longer school hours, "I wonder if being mostly a home schooled hero counts for anything." Brigid muttered.

"Maybe." Layla answered just as softly she looked at the dark haired girl. The others were startled at what Brigid had admitted. Not many superheroes home schooled their children; so much so that it was only the truly eccentric that did it. Ethan was not too surprised as the others were.

They all went back and listened to Principal Powers' talk. Finally, she said that they were to go to the different tables that were set up outside the doors and get their class schedules. School was going to be eight hours with a two-hour lunch from now on. The crew got up, followed the surging crowd out, and got their schedules. They found out that their first hour had changed, which surprised a lot of students. The class schedule made all the students feel overwhelmed. The teachers would probably make them even more overwhelmed by piling on the homework. Every single student was going to be working hard to graduate on time or to make it to his or her next grade.

Warren cursed his luck as he looked at his schedule; it was going to be hell this year, though he took comfort in knowing that the others were not going to be any better, and that they had two more years to his one. Of course he would have to return in order to continue to train with his team during their final years, but also knew that they would be the best team out there. Only the others had no idea how he felt and he was going to keep it to himself for the moment. He walked into his next class and took his seat and watched amused as everyone left space all around him in class.

He looked at his newly expanded team and made a mental note to ask Ethan to research Brigid. There was something about her that bothered him, something he was certain he should remember. He had Ethan working on profiles for each member of the team, though they still had not decided on a team name yet. Not that it really mattered they would not need a team name until they all had their hero licenses.

Will looked up at the clock after they all gotten copies of their new classes. "It's lunch time for us." He peered at his schedule and smiled. "I cannot believe they scheduled lunch." It seemed that the speech had taken much longer then they all thought it would.

Warren separated from the others in order to go get more food, he knew the lunch his mother packed would not make it through a two hour lunch. He found that the only spot left was next to the new girl, Brigid. She looked up at him and smiled, it was a small startled smile that disappeared moments after it touched her face. Her changes of expression reminded all their friends of Warren and he saw it as well. Questions about her had been nagging him. He knew he should recognize who her parents where but he was drawing a blank. He smiled slightly as he looked down at his food.

Ethan joined them finally; he had disappeared to the library once more to do more research and had not explained to any of them why. His voice was breathless when he asked the others one of his favorite questions.

"How were your classes so far?" He dropped down into the other empty seat that they had hidden from Warren in order to 'persuade' him to sit next to Brigid and waited for their responses. He hoped to engage Magenta, Brigid and Layla in conversation, though he was not sure if the other girl would respond. "I think we are going to start the study group early." He added. "I also realize that we did not have any classes yet but you all have had some time to look over your class schedules."

Warren smiled inwardly at this. He also wondered what the Popsicle was up to. He hoped that he would spill the information that was in his head soon; he looked like he was going to burst with information he had found out. The only information Layla had gotten out of him before he disappeared behind the doors to the library was that he was doing some research on villains. Warren had not even gotten the chance to pull Ethan aside and make his request to research Brigid.

"They look like they are going to be totally fun. Well when we get a chance to have them at any rate." Layla smiled warmly at her friend. She then laughed making the others at ease with her bubbly nature all save Brigid who looked like she still wanted to flee. While she enjoyed the pace for the moment she knew that eventually the pace was not going to make her happy. It was going to wear her and her teammates down. They all told her what classes they had and everyone had their schedules out so they could see what classes they had. Ethan gathered them up and with one of his highlighters he highlighted the class blocks that they were all in together.

It seemed that the afternoon they would all be training together in the new hero team training that Principal Powers had come up with. Ethan and the others noted that there would be a Gambit Run a few times a week and they were not looking forward to it. Gambit runs began your junior year in Sky High and it seemed that Principal Powers was taking this team bonding and working together thing very seriously.

Two tables over one young man glared over at where Brigid was sitting. He concentrated on her food changing it so it looked bad, even though it was still good and all right to eat. He was gathering up his courage to confront her for what her parents had done to his father, Captain Bones. He did not feel like she belonged at his school. He felt the same way about Warren Peace as well. Neither belonged at Sky High and they should be removed so their presences don't curse the student body. He feared that Warren was already bespelling Will, Layla, Magenta, Ethan and Zack. That they would end up the next huge villain group.

Brigid picked at her food, which looked unappetizing, which should have been a clue in how the other students were reacting to her. One that Warren missed for he forgotten that they had done things like that to him when he first started. They soon learned not to mess with the pyrokinetic at their own peril. Someone had done something to it which did not surprise Layla one bit. Brigid did not get along with many people well. She told them what she thought and to hell with the way they react.

"I really cannot eat this." She frowned for the look for the food was making her queasy and Zack grabbed it and scarfed it down his cast iron stomach could handle almost anything. Brigid blinked at his crassness of just taking her food from her trying to decide if she should be or not to be angry at his thievery or just laugh at him. The pressure of the newness of Sky High and her need to be alone started to get to the young woman so she laughed a little sounding a bit strained like she was way too wound up to be a good thing. "I suppose you could eat it." Shaking her head frowning at him her demeanor not to happy that he had just taken what she had without asking. "I'm going to have to start bringing my lunch. I know I don't like cafeteria food, it's never really been any good." She shook her head at her own duplicity at giving the food at her new school a chance, she knew better; lunch at any school was terrible most of the time, she frowned feeling a glare come from her left. She looked and caught the eyes of a beautiful blonde girl who glared more as she realized Brigid noticed her staring. "Layla why is that girl glaring at me?" She glared in return. "If she does not stop I'm going to stop her." Everyone was startled by the growl that the words came out with. Brigid looked ready to get up from her seat and pound Melissa Frost into the ground just for the attitude the ice girl was giving her.

Layla and the others looked and saw Melissa glaring over at them all. Her gaze seemed focused on Brigid though and Layla realized why. "Oh, I think I know, you're sitting next to Warren. And please don't fighting amongst ourselves it's not a good thing Brigid." Her soft reply made the entire table wince, remembering the break up of the two. Warren had broken it off once he gotten tired of her trying to change him for the supposed better. It would have better for both of them if the relationship would not have lasted past Homecoming night but it had; lasting for a long three months.

Brigid looked at Warren. He could fairly feel the anger rolling off her. He knew that if Melissa wanted a fight she was going to get one and he wondered which girl would come out on top of the fight.

"Is the idiot your girlfriend? " She asked not happy at all she also figured if they were a couple that the blonde would already be sitting with them. She just wanted Warren to clarify his current position. "If she is then why the hell is she not sitting over here with you already?"

While donning her anger mask to hide her inner worry. She was dreading someone finding out what her parents had done. Her parents had turned villain in much the same way Warren's father had, and the two had gone on a rampage. Her mother had yet to be caught and had a habit of reappearing at the worst moments. Her mother had killed her father, accusing him of betraying her when he took Brigid to her grandfather to raise when it became clear that she intended to raise her as a villain. This insight cost him his life in the end. Brigid prayed that no one would put two and two together and realize that she was daughter of Ice Demon and Wind Demon. It had not been easy at her other school, where they had all known treated her as though she were going the same path as her parents. That she did not deserve hero training at all. She had reacted by giving as good as she got, which didn't go down with the headmaster. She spent a lot of time in detention for fighting, whilst those she fought spent a lot of time in the nurse's office.

It had also cost Brigid a great deal emotional wise. Crying almost everyday after school telling your grandfather how bad you felt over your own behavior was not something any teenager wanted to do, and Brigid experienced it everyday at her old school. So she watched Warren wondering how he dealt with the distrust that seemed to follow around the child of a villain who was on the hero's path. She also waited for his answer.

"My ex." Warren responded. He looked at her then at the others around him. "I think she feels I'm supposed to be miserable without her. I'm not." He bent down to eat his lunch still feeling Melissa's gaze on him. He wondered if she would ever give it up. He feared his mother was right. Teenage girls never took things like this well, especially the really popular ones like Melissa.

"I don't get it." Will sighed, frowning at Warren before changing gears in his thoughts. "You need to eat something." He declared, turning his gaze onto Brigid. With that said, each member of the group gave her something from their lunches, though it was likely that they would have done it even without Will speaking.

Looking at them in shock she smiled shyly at them, a little overwhelmed by their generosity. Brigid wondered if this would be fleeting or if she had finally had some friends, though knowing them for a few hours she could feel the beginning of friendship she just was not sure if it would last after they knew who her parents where. She always wanted friends but because of her parentage no one wanted to befriend her so in reaction to that she placed up walls and took on the untouchable 'you are no one to me' attitude that had driven her schoolmates at Hero High insane with trying to destroy.

"Thank you." The surprise in her voce surprised the others. She selected something from their generous pile. She looked at them not sure what to make of any of them. She was so used to being alone that this sudden wealth of friends had her edgy. Then as she bit in to one of Layla's apples chewing she said thoughtfully. "I'm going to talk to Cook about lunch though." She pursed her lips thoughtfully not realizing the waves her comment would stir.

"Cook?" Magenta asked softly looking a bit confused. She looked up from her newly highlighted schedule at the others. She knew people cooked; her family was full of great cooks but she felt that was not what Brigid meant. She looked closely at the girl that had been dumped on them by Coach Boomer and Principal Powers. It hit her that her clothing was well made and there was something about her clothing that reminded her of Warren's gear.

Upon closer inspection Magenta realized that the jacket Brigid wore was like Warren's; it was fireproof. And she had noticed as the three girls had opened Brigid's locker for the first time today that Brigid's jeans were designer label. Very trendy, which should have made her popular yet she was on the loser track with her and the rest of Will's buddies. Even if they were making strides in being non-losers, she knew people still looked at them like they were all sidekicks, all except Layla, Will and Warren.

She also noted the temper. Which had not made her too happy, she did not want to have to watch what she said any more then what she did already. Warren was particular and now another person who was just as particular. She was not sure if she could handle it she was not sure if she could handle watching over Zack to make sure he did not say something stupid either. She did not want her boyfriend to get toasted.

Brigid blushed suddenly feeling uncomfortable then angry because she spoken before thinking, again. "My Grandfather has a person that cooks for us; for dinner and stuff." She looked at her food and ate quickly not really wanting to talk about her family life. She did not want her new friends to think she was stuck up. She sighed wondering how they feel about her grandfather's billionaire status that was his cover, despite the fact that her Grandfather's days as a hero where long over.

Layla looked at Brigid wondering why she was blushing. "Does speaking of your family make you feel awkward?" Though she had a feeling it was unfounded, for she realized that much like Warren they now had a second person that was private about their home life. It had taken them forever to get him to confess that his mother was Harmony. She wondered if they get the information they need from the source or if someone biased against her would give away what Brigid seemed bent on hiding from them as of the moment. She hoped it would be Brigid and not some random student with a grudge.

"Yes it does." Brigid looked at her. "I just don't like creating jealousy and when people find out about my family life." She winced sitting on her anger again at talking for she did not really like talking to anyone. Even though she felt that Layla and the others were different she still was not able to trust what her feelings where saying at the moment. "Not that living with me is easy." She smiled a little thinking of her Grandfather and all the stuff he put up with because of her. It had not of been easy to raise his son's daughter knowing the stigma she would bear once she got into superhero schooling. "He raised me and trained me in my powers since I could toddle around." She smiled lightly thinking of her Grandfather.

"What happened to your parents?" Ethan asked innocently even though he knew already from his library research. He had printed off the information on her and the information on the others that were his friend. He thought they be surprised at the information that the Council of Heroes already had on them all. He hoped they could pry it out of her without too much reluctance on her part before someone other then Brigid answered his question for him.

The young man two tables over walked over looking at Brigid and not paying attention to whom she was sitting with. His focus was on the young woman who's parents had killed his father. A person he was sure was just a villainous spy like Warren in their mists. Neither should ever be allowed to be heroes because of their parents crimes. Though it did not matter to him that only half of Warren's blood was villainous and even then it was only his father. His Father's family was all heroes.

"Your mother killed my father," he growled, wanting Will and the others to realize that a monster was in their midst.. "Why aren't you at a super villain academy? Or being trained one on one by a villain?" His voice snarled. He was one of the hero-type kids that Warren always found himself not paying any attention to or glaring at. Warren felt his temperature start to rise at the tone in the kids voice; the young man in question was in the same class as he was. He could not believe that the guy had the guts to come over to his table and pull this sort of stunt. "Blood always tells and yours is bad." He glared at her, not caring at the shocked faces. He had been one of the only people who recognized the daughter of Ice Demon and Wind Demon. "Bad blood of the two villains Ice Demon and Wind Demon just like Peace here Baron Battle's son." He gave Warren a look not realizing his danger from the pyrokinetic. Even though he should have known better.

Warren felt his rage bubble up, and as he stood up fire rippled around him and the kid backed off fast. He glowered and growled at the kid, half standing up to make his menacing presence known for the kid had seemingly failed to notice that he was there.

As he backed away hurriedly, he threw one last barb. "See what I mean, both are bad seeds and they will turn their entire team villain." He took off before they could react. The lunchroom cleared out of students because none wanted to be around when Warren exploded completely. The only ones who sat there were Warren's friends, and Layla put a hand on Brigid's shoulder as the girl tried to stand up. She was pale and trembling with rage. Her breathing was rapid. She was counting in a language that none of them, well Warren recognized it, understood. The sound of a loud crack of thunder startled them all.

It was also then that Warren noted that the tips of Brigid's fingers bits of lightening seemed to curl about them like silver waves. She was showing signs of how she physically called her powers to be. He knew that if anyone touched her hands right then they get a bad shock. He hoped she gain some control before someone got hurt by accident. He could feel the rage she was trying to contain within herself. He knew that if anyone could touch her it be him, his gloves would save him from the lightening that she was forming on her hands.

Outside the sky had blackened, Principal Powers looked out her window and frowned at the sudden change in weather. Lightening raced across the sky she hoped that it would blow over before the students had to leave home for the day. Thunder rumbled and startled everyone in the school with it's loud noise. She frowned momentarily, then her eyes widened, her newest student's power was weather control and it was tied up in the girl's emotions. She stood up and quickly left her office hoping she not find a fight going on when she got there. She hurried down the halls to the lunchroom were she knew the girl was at there at that moment in time.

"Sit." Layla said surprised that Warren had not burned the girl by powering up so close to her. She looked at the trembling Brigid and saw rage in her eyes she was breathing hard. Layla at that moment noticed the little bits of lightening curling around Brigid's fingers like silver rings. Her eyes widened and she made sure she would not get the shock of her life as she helped the girl she wanted to become friends with calm down. "Warren." Her voice was soft. "The idiot is gone now, power down." Her voice took that pleading note that got her what she needed from them all, most of the time. Another rumble of thunder ripped though the school, making them all glance at each other. Zack, Will and Magenta did not know what Brigid's powers were unlike Warren, Layla and Ethan.

Warren sighed and forced himself to power down risking a glance at the form of the girl next to him. She was quivering with suppressed rage. He also noted that the lightening was looking more like rings around her fingers as she tried to calm down, rage being a hard emotion just to let go. He understood that for he was feeling the same way himself. He really wanted to hunt down that kid and punch him though several walls for being such an ass himself. He figured that Brigid felt about the same way though she tried not to react to the taunts. He looked out of the window and wondered briefly if it was supposed to storm that day.

Will interrupted their thoughts by changing the subject. "Principal Powers has given each team their own classroom to be a meeting room." He stood up looking at them. Another rumble of thunder boomed though the air. "Maybe we should make use of it." They all nodded and took off to the room that was theirs. They all had a key to it and it was not furnished like a normal classroom. It had a few sofas for them to sit on and an extra long coffee table where they could work on things or eat at. They all looked at each other and closed and locked the door behind them.

"Wow." was Zack's comment. He was surprised that they would all have rooms like this. It was initially confusing to him, but then not all the rooms were being used, and he was one of the few who had noted that Sky High had expanded over the summer.

They all sat down and Will looked up at the clock. "Well we have an hour and a half to talk about what happened." He too wondered if he missed heard the weather report before leaving for school that day; the one he had heard said that it was supposed to be clear and sunny, not stormy.

Rain fell against the windows to their classroom and Brigid's gaze was on the rain. It was not supposed to rain that day, nor was there supposed to be thunder and lighting in the forecast. Yet it was doing both, nature's fury was a beautiful thing to behold while you where indoors out of it.

"Zut alors! I'm sorry." Brigid's voice was small, and there was a odd nuance in her voice that did not make any of her new teammates happy. They wondered why it seemed she was blaming herself for the sudden weather change. Only Ethan really knew she could change the weather though her emotions. Warren and Layla had guessed given what they saw. Will, Magenta and Zack looked confused wondering why she was apologizing to them.

Then outside they all heard another huge crash. Walking over to the windows Magenta blinked, seeing the rain pounding on the window for the first time. They had all been looking around the classroom seeing the different things that they were allowed to have there.

"Oh my, one huge ass storm just blew up." Magenta said knowing she was stating the obvious, suddenly as lightening raced around the sky beyond the windows. It was beautiful in a dangerous sort of way. Lightening storms always impressed her.

Brigid looked up she knew what she had to do; she screwed her eyes shut shaking herself mentally preparing for what she needed to do, getting to her feet. She looked out the window not happy about what was going on outside. She knew she was at fault. She knew she had to fix it and that would not be easy at all. She could feel the storm humming in her blood.

"I should have known this was going to happen." She said closing her eyes in exasperation at loosing her temper again. The others gathered around all watching the storm. "I really need to keep my temper under wraps." She winced at a supersonically loud crash of thunder. They all looked at her when she said it. She shivered again as she felt the temperature of her body respond to what she had emotionally unleashed on the school. "Did the temperature just drop in here or is it just me?"

"No." Warren said then he realized what she was saying. Looking between her and the storm outside the window he truly realized what her power was- weather control. Although the control part was up for grabs that was for sure. "This is you?" His voice held a note that none of them had ever heard from him before; awe. Warren looked at the dark sky and realized that two emotionally driven powers in the school were going to be members of the same team; he winced at that thought of their tempers clashing against each other. He could not help his nature and neither could Brigid help hers.

"Yes it is." Brigid answered his question her eyes still on what she just created. It be easier to leave it there and let it blow out but no; she had to push it back so it come back later like it was supposed too. Brigid closed her eyes deep in concentration, she then looked at Warren, they could all tell she was embarrassed. "I need to stand in near you while I dismiss this storm. If I don't I'll pass out." Warren looked at her as she stepped closer to him only inches away from him and she was facing the windows. "Thank you, you are warm."

He frowned not really liking her in his space but her request was fine with him, it was not like she was trying to be in his space unlike some people he knew. He also had a feeling that she would not ask unless she really needed it. Brigid struck him as someone who was very prepared to travel Life's Road alone much like he had prepared himself until Layla had decided different. He also knew why she chose that path, having their histories was not easy and it made one want to travel alone. Trust was not an easy thing to earn and he knew that was what they be doing, earning trust. He really did not feel like trying but he knew Layla would never let him forget if he didn't. Earning Brigid's trust was not going to be easy. He then realized she said he was warm and felt embarrassed but did not let it slip past his mask that she touched him.

The rest of the team noticed that Brigid's eyes had turned black and looked like there were lightening dancing there. Outside the black clouds rolled away and disappeared and the sun came out bathing the world in its light once more. Warren turned up the heat in the air about him by bringing up his own body temperature. He could feel that Brigid's body temperature was dropping rapidly. She seemed to be doing more then just get rid of what she created. After she was done she suddenly fell backward into Warren's chest. He caught her with one arm and then helped her to a seat as she looking at them.

"I can leave if you all want me to." Her voice was flat and tired from her efforts. They all knew she would be unable to leave for they could all read the signs of real power drain and it was hitting her hard. They had all experienced that, and it wasn't easy, nor did it do wonders for the emotional state.

"What else did you do?" Will asked the question everyone else was pondering. Ethan already had some ideas from his digging into her past from earlier in the day.

She answered him a bit warily as Layla made up some hot chocolate and handed it to her. Brigid took a sip and watched as Layla handed everyone a cup of the sweet hot chocolate. "C'est bon. Balancing out what I did." She closed her eyes. "I had to set the weather back perfectly to what it was before I meddled with it. It's easy to change it, harder to put everything back just like it was. It's also exhausting to say the least." She paused speaking slowly. "If I had not my Grandfather would have my hide for not doing as I aught. I'll probably get in trouble over it when I get home. I know I'll have a reaction headache from it later."

Will winced, he'd seen Warren with a reaction headache and he did not to see how Brigid's reaction to one would be. Witnessing Warren's surly attitude had been more then enough for Will. Warren smirked watching Will's reaction knowing exactly why he was reacting the way he was.

Layla looked at her, nodding absently to herself as she made her decision. She was just starting to like this girl and reminded her so strongly of Warren. The switching between languages a bit was endearing, and it made her wonder if she'd lived in Louisiana before transferring to Sky High. Layla and Warren were the only ones to understand the suddenly spoken French but the others seemed to have let it go. Language discussion could be held later.

"We don't want you to go. You're part of our team, we have to get to know you." She smiled warmly at her. She looked at Will and the others "Even if you don't want us to, we are going to get to know you."

Warren nodded then spoke up. "Boomer wouldn't have assigned you to us if he didn't think we could work the kinks out of having a new person to fit in." He looked at them then at her. "Plus if you think they," motioning to Will and company, "are going to let you slip though their fingers you have another thing coming. I think they like projects."

"Projects?" Brigid pondered an edge they all recognized that tinged Warren's voice at the beginning of their getting to know him stage was now in her voice as well. The others nodded smiling at Warren's choice in words. They had not let him get away with being a social outcast, especially once Layla had gotten to know him. They would not let Brigid get away with it either. "I am not a project." She protested much to their amusement her anger had disappeared even if it was only for a moment.

"Come on we don't bite." Magenta smiled, from her seat next to her boyfriend Zack. He smiled.

"Yeah we don't. Though Magenta might in her guinea pig form." He laughed as she swatted him laughing herself at his sally.

They all settled around her and she sighed looking up at the time. There was enough of it as long as she did not give too many details. She was uneasy talking about herself. The words often failed her when she tried to explain her own life to those that wanted to listen and they had always been few far and in-between. That and she was not sure if she trusted them enough o be spilling her guts to them so readily.

"Brigid, I know you don't trust us." Warren spoke again suddenly startling everyone in the room. "You might as well try and tell your story they will keep demanding it. They like to know people's pasts even when the person in question does not wish to talk about it."

Brigid sighed explosively. "Damnit, I hate talking about myself. Makes me feel like I'm bragging." She looked at the faces around her. "And I don't know if I trust you yet."

"Have faith. We asked you to explain so don't feel that way." Layla asked her. "We promise that whatever it is, we will accept it and you. You are our teammate." Her optimism was infectious to most people yet it seemed unable to really touch Warren and now Brigid.

Brigid looked at her then at the others still unsure of what to do she shook herself feeling tired and a bit cranky as she spoke. "Ok my story, once, don't want to rehash it makes one appear," she paused considering her rest of her words. "Makes one appear full of themselves, which I am not." She let out an explosive breath gathering her courage to speak her story for the first time. To take the leap of faith and trust them as Layla asked her to do. "I was raised by my Grandfather. He told me when I was old enough to understand what had happened to my parents. About them going bad and the capers they pulled. He was mortified by what his son had done and had disowned him." She sighed spinning her empty cup in her hands. "Some kids had found out that my Mother was a famous law breaker and never let me forget it." She sighed with the memory. "Their tormenting made me angry, with my anger the storms would break out. The severity of the storm depended on how much they had pushed me. They were always bad. I don't know how much school property I destroyed by losing my temper on idiots that never learned that messing with me was a bad idea." She looked at her hands. "I'd leak lightening out of my hands." She flexed her fingers, "I'm surprised that I was not leaking lightening today at lunch."

"You did." Warren smirked lightly as she looked up from her cup suddenly. "I saw it. Little bits of silver they looked like." She growled and shook her head with a small strained laugh. "Can you call them up? Like this?" Warren concentrated a bit, a trick he just recently learned himself; a small ball of fire appeared in his hand. He frowned at it thinking he saw an eye wink at him from within the flame.

His teammates looked at each other thinking lighting balls and fire balls. Brigid's weapon physically was lightening balls. They watched as she created a small ball of lightening that raced in a circle in her hand in response to Warren's show and tell. They realized she was practicing to see if she could do it. She did not do it for long though, for she was still very tired.

"When was the first time you powered up?" Will asked suddenly, the others where wondering this too. They had already shared those stories when they were learning about each other the last half of the year.

Brigid looked up at him oddly she had stopped playing with the small bits of lightening she called forth with her emotions. She looked at her cup not really wanting to continue; she set it down on the table. She hoped they would not press. They did not, much to her relief. "Don't really have the strength to go on with filling in the details of my life. I'm sorry." She could not even draw up the anger to the entire fact she apologized for what little information she gave them.

Ethan spoke up,, showing off why he had been in the library for those hours he had spent in there. So he answered Will's question for her. "Brigid has always been able to manipulate the weather since she was a child." He looked at the others then caught her eyes Ethan then went on telling them what he found out about her. She and the others had been surprised by the amount of information he had gotten.

"You have always been able to use your powers." Magenta looked at the others. "Freaky." She sipped her cocoa. She knew it was not unheard of there were members in her own family that had been born with their shifter powers. And they freaked out their parents by shifting between forms in their sleep.

Brigid smiled wryly no anger only tiredness in her voice. "And none of you are not?"

"Point." Warren stated smirking at them all.

"What are your gifts?" Magenta wanted to know.

Brigid struggled to sit up and looked at them. Ethan smiled at her nodding to him as he spoke again. "Our new teammate 's power is weather manipulation. Although, she can throw lighting bolts. I saw some of her school fight footage at Hero High. I was stunned at the footage." He paused, his mind full of wonder. "She is indestructible, can fly when the winds lift her up but its not true flight like Jetstream." He sighed looking at her as she sat there staring at him in wonder at what he found out on her history. He then looked at her. "Your flight is inelegant as well."

"It is and landing is not that easy either." She blushed a little sighing she spoke softly about what she needed to do to keep a firm balance on herself. "When I fix what I've done it very draining when I don't have a heat source near me. I almost killed myself once not realizing I needed heat to survive fixing my own mess ups..." Her voice trailed off. "My gifts are odd."

"All of us are odd. Or we would not be considered heroes." Ethan pointed out. "What happened with Hero High? They are almost as good as Sky High."

She laughed a tight almost hysterical sound, looked at them all again. "My Grandfather soon took me out of school after he realized that I was not getting along with my fellow students. I was constantly getting into fights on and off school grounds." Warren nodded he knew how that went he gone though it himself. He felt like there was a kindred spirit before him. No one deserved the kind of pain they both gone though, not even they deserved it. Yet they both bore the scars that their parents' lives had given them. "So he decided to school me and train me at home in control and much of the other stuff that I need to know when I become a hero." She sighed looking at them. "I think I've talked enough. Even if you did all the talking Ethan, thank you. I will try and trust you all but..." Her voice trailed off and they knew why. It was hard to trust when people you thought were your friends turned on you.

"Another emotionally based super power." Ethan looked at Warren. "Most people can just call upon their abilities. You two are different from the norm and I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing." The others pondered what he said then switched to a different topic.

Warren, Will, Layla, Magenta, Zack and Ethan all smiled and told her a little about themselves. They knew that their confessions were easier then Warren's confessions. His came much like Brigid's had with lots of pauses and the others doing his talking for him half the time. He knew it would take a while to blend together with Brigid but he had a feeling it would be worth the trouble that it was going to cause in the school.

The others were going to wonder how the school was going to survive Warren and Brigid. Layla was secretly amused for she knew that there was going to be a shake up in the attitudes of her schoolmates that were not their friends. Their prejudices had to be broken and they were going to break them. Shatter then if she could help it, they were all heroes and it was about time that people stopped judging people by their bloodlines and just let them prove that they are heroes and not villains. They all looked at the clock and frowned they now had to leave their Sanctuary to rejoin the chaos that was school to go to their fourth hour class, which oddly enough was a team class.

Warren stood back as they filed into their new classroom with a teacher that they did not know; it seemed that half the staff was new. They all found seats, both Layla and Brigid sat near the open windows seeming to enjoy the fresh air coming from outside. Layla noticed that Brigid had sat as far away as she could from her and still be near the window with its faint breeze to cool her off. She shook her head amused then turned around to pay attention to the teacher. She also noted that Warren had done the same thing she shook her head not sure how much more amusement she could take in one day.

The teacher walked in her eyes looked at her students. She greeted them with her mind. "Greetings students I am Psiloc." She introduced herself by her superhero name. She watched as they all looked at her with different masks of horror. "Unlike your other teachers who can talk to you through speech I cannot. My class will be held mind to mind. I will also be teaching you how to build shields that will shield you from the strongest psi talent there is, including me." She paused looking at each of them. "By the end of this class, this semester, you will be able to block out any type of psi attack to your person." She smiled.

Will looked at her his eyes wide. "Miss Psiloc, you can only speak mind to mind." He looked a bit more wild eyed then the others. In his speech you could tell he was trying to understand what was going on but Will was coming up short, which was normal. Will glanced at Warren and then the others trying to gage their reactions. All did not look very happy with this. "This is important?"

"Yes Will, it is." the teacher answered. "Unfriendly psi-talents are starting to crop up. You need to be able to defend yourself. An unfriendly Psi talent can control another person without them knowing which is why this class is so important."

They all looked at each other. None of them had psychic talent and now they had to learn how to react to those that did. It was going to be a long hour. By the time they were done with the class they were all mentally exhausted. Brigid did not appear to be holding up well, but she kept right on moving along just like they did just like they all had to keep going, they were all looking forward to going home.

After school, Brigid's new friends watched the flying limo that had dropped her off at school; pick her up from school before they got on their own bus. They had given her directions to Will's house where the study session was going to take place. Layla and Magenta had also given her their phone numbers and had even given her the boys' phone numbers, so that Brigid had their full contact list, just in case.

Brigid in return gave them her address and phone number. She climbed into the car after she waved good-bye to the others. She sighed settling into her seat and fought to keep her eyes open. She was so tired. School had done a number on her.

Upon arriving home to the new mansion her Grandfather bought, she looked at the huge monstrosity and sighed. "Couldn't he have bought a smaller, maybe even a normal house?" She wondered out loud. "No, it has to be huge monstrous even." She grumbled, as she was let inside by her Grandfather's butler and he took her backpack from her as she went down the hall to her Grandfather's study.

Dylan looked up at his Granddaughter's entrance he flashed her a warm smile. She looked dead on her feet as she walked over to him and gave her usual greeting of a hug and a small kiss on his cheek. "/How was the first day?/" He asked in Gaelic.

"/Trying Grandfather./" Brigid yawned. "/I'm going to take a nap before heading over Will's house to study./" She looked at him. "/Try not to let me over sleep, this study session is important./"

They both knew she needed to study hard to keep her grades up. She was an indifferent student at any kind of schoolwork unless it was hands on. Most subjects bored her for she already knew most of them having run amok in her Grandfather's library most of her life.

He nodded as he watched her walk out of his study. "/I will send someone to wake you Brigid. Have a good nap./" He shook his head. "/She is not waking until tomorrow morning. She is power exhausted and does not even know it./" He smiled as he went back to work.

Brigid walked down the hall to her large bedroom, which was really a few rooms all hooked together; her bedroom, a sitting room and a bathroom all three of which were large and easy to get lost in. She took off her shoes at her door and dropped them off inside her door as she wandered over in a fog of exhaustion. She fell on her bed not bothering to pull the covers up as exhaustion came in and claimed her. She slept until the next morning.

One of the household maids came in waved a hand over Brigid and the young teen was in her pajamas and she tucked her young mistress under her covers with a small smile. "/Poor Miss./" the young woman murmured. "/Sleep well./"

After school Warren showed up for his job at the Paper Lantern. He smiled at Mrs. Lee and went straight to work clearing tables and helping out the wait staff. Mrs. Lee helped him practice his spoken Mandarin while he was there. He did not realize that he knew a lot more then he credited himself for.

He still could not believe how many of the staff of Sky High were still coming to his work to eat. The sight of them made him want to roll his eyes. He felt like they were spying on him for each year he went to Sky High he had gotten stronger in his power. He wondered if this year would bring other changes then his new, yet unknown, teammate.

He kept clearing tables and helping out Mrs. Lee's daughters with the tables when the restaurant got slammed as it was wont to do. He heaved a huge sigh of relief as his shift ended. It had flew by him so quickly when Mrs. Lee called out to him

"/Warren go to your study session. Your shift is over./" She spoke clearly in Mandarin Chinese to him. He shot her a grateful look. Time had indeed flown by him.

"/Thanks Mrs. Lee./" He answered back the same way without thought. His accent was so natural that it made his employers both smile. They watched him as he left and looked at each other.

"/He is growing up./" Mr. Lee stated.

"/About time./" Mrs. Lee smiled warmly. "/It is more then past time. I just wish his Grandfather would admit the boy was family even after what Barron had done. It is not the son's fault what the father has done./"

"/Sins of the Father./" Mr. Lee reminded his wife. "/Although I agree with you love. I do agree with you./" As the two took together what needed to be done for the rest of the night.

At the Stronghold house, Will's friends all gathered together opening up their books. The table was overburdened with their schoolbooks, Ethan wondered if it could handle any more. Layla looked at the time. They were still missing two members of their group; Warren and Brigid. There was some iced water and juice on the table, as well as two steaming cups of coco, which Josie had pointed out to the kids when they looked at her oddly that Warren would prefer something hot.

Magenta looked up at the clock on the wall she read the time. "They are late." She frowned knowing if Warren was anything he was always on time. Never early just on time. His punctuality could always be counted on.

"Do you think they are standing us up?" Zack said looking at his friends. He could not believe the amount of homework on the first day of school that they all brought with them. He did not want to think about their up-coming team runs that Coach Boomer was planning for them. He knew they were going to be hard.

"I don't think so." Layla spoke up. "Warren had a shift at the Paper Lantern, it just ended about a half an hour ago. He should be arriving at any moment." She paused. "Brigid, her I don't know. She seemed so tired."

Magenta nodded. "So she might not show." She sighed looking at Layla. "You really think that she was that fragged?" Layla nodded at her friend. As Layla spoke there was a knock on the door.

Will got up and answered it hoping it would be both of their missing friends. He smiled as he opened the door to see only Warren standing there. Warren walked in and glanced at the look on Will's face. "Missing someone else?"

"Yeah Brigid." Will said as he carefully closed the door remembering that his mother would get into him if she had to replace the door again. "She has not shown up yet."

"I'd honestly be surprised if she did." Warren looked at him and the others. "She was exhausted at school. Principal Powers should have sent her home early." He plopped himself down in one of the chairs. "Now let's get on with this."

Glossary of Terms

Dè a tha seo: Scottish Gaelic Phrase Meaning 'What is this?'

Latha math: Scottish Gaelic Phrase Meaning 'Good Day."

Au contraire French Phrase Meaning 'On the contrary'

Zut alors! French Pharse Meaning 'Darn it!'

C'est bon French Pharse Meaning 'That's good.'