A/N: So this is my third Sky High story. I got the main idea from the movie Zoom (really lame movie, but Kevin Zegers was in it . . . so that was somewhat redeeming, even though his part was severely limited), but a lot of it is mine.

Disclaimer: All Sky High characters belong to Disney and not to me (unfortunately).

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Action/Adventure/Romance/Drama

Summary: Villains are heroes, heroes are villains . . . what is the superhero world coming to? That's the question the Sky High group ask as they make their way through their senior year, doing their best not to get killed . . . or fail their midterms.

Wildfire

Prologue/The Beginning

"Barry? Barry Battle? Baron Battle you answer me right quick!"

Barry buried his face further into the ground, not wanting to get up from his prone position behind the bushes next to the school. There were two things Barry hated in life: school and gym class. Many would group the two together, but gym class was so horrible he thought it deserved to be mentioned on its own.

It would not have been so bad if he had better self-confidence. His power was actually very "groovy," as his older brother called it. He could produce fire. Nice, but not helpful when one was constantly ridiculed for one's big hair, thick glasses, and chicken legs. And actually Barry might have been able to stand all that if his older brother had not been so perfect.

Warren Battle had it all: good looks, a "radical" power, popularity, the works. It made Barry green with envy many times, but his brother's charisma rubbed off on him as well and he could never hold a grudge against him for long. Warren called it luck; Barry called it good genes . . . and then got playfully teased for being such a "goon".

Warren was two years older than Barry and had been going to Sky High for a while before the shrimpy freshman appeared. Naturally he did what any other brother would do when his younger sibling showed up at his school: he ignored him, acted like Barry did not exist. But Barry tried not to complain much. The last thing he wanted to do was get on Warren's nerves.

So the reason why Barry was burying his face in the ground was because of gym class. Well really it was because of Steven Stronghold, but Barry was too much of a "chump" to risk getting on Stronghold's bad side by blaming him. So gym class it was.

It was Save the Citizen. He and Warren had been the villains, Stronghold and Miller (Johnny Miller had the ability to channel and manipulate electricity), both sophomores, had been the heroes. Of course Barry did not want to see the citizen get hurt, but the fact that Stronghold and Miller had totally creamed both him and Warren within the first twenty seconds of the round, did not exactly give either of their records a shiny gold star. Warren never picked him to be on his team again.

Barry was fine with it though. Outwardly at least. He cheered for his brother and his brother's best friend Ivan Walker, giving them high-fives after they won, and ignoring the glares Stronghold gave him, but all the while he wished he could be good enough for his brother's respect. He did his best, but then he got into a fight with Steven Stronghold.

It was after Save the Citizen, when he and his partner Samantha Peace actually beat Stronghold for the first time in their sophomore year. Samantha had the power of manipulating fire. Together they made an aggressive team. Stronghold and Miller were beaten. Stronghold had not been very happy. Cornering Barry behind the school during lunch, Stronghold had made some very vague threats that, although somewhat lame, made Barry shake in his Day-Glo sneakers.

And that was why Barry was burying his face in the ground behind the bushes. He had tried to be more aggressive but he was still just too timid. And now his lab partner Sam Peace was calling him. Lifting his face off the dirt, he waited a minute to see if she would move on before sitting up and letting his big hair peek over the top of the bushes. Samantha caught sight of him and hurried over, ducking behind the bushes to kneel next to him.

"This is stupid," she told him flatly. "Why are you hiding from Stronghold? You know you could totally take him in a fight, what with your powers."

Barry gave her a withering look. "He's nearly invincible," he reminded her. "My fire barely hurts him."

"Well anyway, you won't get anywhere in life if you hide from all the difficulties. Look at Warren. He gets a lot of opposition from a lot of the upperclassmen and he never backs down."

"Yeah but Warren's perfect." Barry felt he had to remind Samantha of the fact. She simply snorted.

"Hardly," she muttered. "Anyway, if you want, I'll help you. Next time Stronghold bullies you, just make some fire and I'll have it singe his hair or something."

Barry had to crack a small smile. "Thanks Sam," he said.

"No problem." Samantha shrugged and pushed her glasses up her nose. Barry looked at them somewhat enviously. Sam looked good in her glasses, not at all dorky like him. Her hair was big, but she kept it tamed in a single braid down her back. He could not do that unless he wanted to be accused of being a fruitcake. And although she had freckles, they seemed to complete her cute face perfectly.

The bus arrived then and they boarded it, sitting together near the back. "Talk to your brother about it too. I'm sure he has some tips to give you."

"He'll just think I'm a wimp," Barry said, sliding down in his seat and crossing his arms.

"He's your brother, Barry," Sam said, rolling her eyes. "He loves you and I'm sure he wants to help you."

00000000000

"You're a real wimp, you know that?" Warren did not even look up from his homework to answer Barry's question. Barry flinched but kept standing at the door, looking in anxiously. Once Warren seemed to realize that his little brother was not going away, he turned and leaned back in his chair.

"But if you really want my help, all I can say is stick up for yourself. You've got a groovy power Barry, use it." He rolled his eyes and folded his hands behind his head. "Get more aggressive. You're better than a mat to be walked on, and you know it. Come on, baby brother, do me proud." With a grin, he stood, ruffled Barry's hair, and headed downstairs to the kitchen.

Barry stood still for a moment before turning and walking into the bathroom. Looking at his thin face in the mirror, he wrinkled his nose and then pulled his face down into a stormy frown. He looked more impressive when he did, he realized. Touching his big hair, he thought about Stronghold's comments about it and frowned. It was time for a haircut. And maybe a better wardrobe. It was time for a new Baron Battle.

And so the tides began to change, and Barry did indeed make Warren proud. Advancing quickly in his class, Baron became a top student, right up there with Stronghold. He began to beat Stronghold consecutively in Save the Citizen, and grew closer to his partner Samantha Peace. By the end of sophomore year, the two were dating and became inseparable.

Warren continued to wow his teachers and friends and even graduated early, choosing for himself the superhero name Dark Flame. He began saving citizens at the age of seventeen and was one of Maxville's most talented heroes. Barry gloated about him all the time at school, much to Stronghold's chagrin. It was well known in the school that Steven Stronghold had aspirations to be the best superhero the world had ever known. To add insult to injury, Barry won the lead part in the school drama performance of Oklahoma, a part Stronghold had wanted dearly.

Barry graduated at the top of his class at the age of eighteen and he took the name Inferno for his superhero identity. He and Samantha Peace began to make plans for a future marriage even as she began her superhero work under the name Crimson. They each got themselves a sidekick and began their work as superheroes.

Then tragedy struck. Fed up with the rules and regulations of the superhero regime that made him check in constantly with the Bureau, made him go on assignments only when called, gave him an incompetent sidekick (in his opinion), and blamed him for killing ten people trapped in a burning building when his fire accidentally started it, Warren went rogue.

The Bureau had become concerned about his fire power, thinking it too dangerous to even be a superhero power. They discussed the idea of stripping Warren of his superhero status before the fire caused by his power killed more people. The decision affected Barry and Samantha as well. Samantha went in quietly to receive her power-neutralizing cuff that she swore under oath to wear at all times to keep her from hurting any innocent citizens. With the desire to become a good mother and wife, she consented willingly.

Barry, however, did not go so quietly. He did not see his fire power as a threat to anyone. He believed he could still be a hero. So he ran off. Only eighteen, he paired up with his brother and together they continued saving citizens, despite the ban on fire-based superpowers.

The Bureau sent The Commander and Father Time after them. Father Time was an elderly man with the ability to manipulate time and space. The Commander was Steven Stronghold. As soon as Warren learned of the Bureau's plot to capture both him and his little brother and lock them both up, he thought of a way to fight back.

Together the two stormed the Bureau headquarters, setting fire to important offices and frightening the secretaries half to death. It was on the rooftop of the burning Bureau building that Inferno and Dark Flame took their stand against The Commander and Father Time.

"You won't get away with this, Battle," Stronghold cried over the noise of the crackling fire around them. Father Time looked slightly nervous at their surroundings. He was the only one of the four who was not invulnerable to fire.

"The Bureau is corrupt, admit it!" Warren screamed back. "They hold you back and never let you grow out of their perfect little cookie-cutter molds. You're just a puppet, Stronghold. A puppet!"

"Your powers are dangerous! They just want to protect the citizens of Maxville!" Stronghold said, stepping forward. He quickly stepped back as a stream of flames shot at him.

"Who's going to protect you, Stronghold?" Warren asked in a dangerous voice, his angry eyes glowing red with his fire. He leaped forward and shot a fireball hard into the Commander's chest, knocking the other young man down.

Barry watched what happened next with wide eyes, never to forget the sight. Father Time raised his arms to the sky, muttering something under his breath. A vortex appeared in the sky, and the wind kicked up a notch, sending flames of fire high into the air, filling the atmosphere with smoke and ash.

"You won't be able to hurt anyone anymore," the old man said with a grim look. Barry watched, horrified, as his brother looked up into the vortex, his face twisted with anger . . . and then was gone, sucked through the hole in the universe like a bug into a vacuum cleaner.

The vortex closed and all went still. The fire died down as their manipulator disappeared into the sky. And Barry dropped to his knees, fists against the concrete of the roof, tears running through the soot on his face.

"NOOOOOO!!!" He shouted to the solid blue above him. "NOOOOOO!!!!"

Baron Battle was taken to juvenile court where he served three years detention. When he was released he married Samantha Peace. Together they had a son. Warren. Three years after that, the Commander sent Baron to jail once more, this time for good.

But that was just the beginning, not the end, of the Battle and Peace family's story.

So that is the beginning of my Wildfire fanfiction. I hope you all like it. I'm taking a slightly different writing style in this one, as you can see, writing it in the third person. I found it fits better with the story-line I'm going with. So please review and tell me what you think of the prologue! I can't wait to hear ya'll's thoughts. XD

Oh, and there's an important poll about Warren on my profile that has to do with one of the characters in this story. It would behoove you to go check it out and vote. ;-)