SpontaneousCombustion: Okay, so, this may just be a story I write on for a few weeks and give up on, but I'm on a Sky High kick and can't seem to get off. So, story time. And yes, I know that there are already a million WarrenOC fics, but Warren's awesome. Besides, this may not last long.
Disclaimer: I don't own Sky High or any of its characters, just the ones I make up.
Chapter 1
The First Day
"I see that you've been going to a regular school for the past year." Principal Powers said, looking over the papers in her hand at the girl sitting on the other side of her desk.
"Yes ma'am." The girl said. Dirty blonde hair streaked with highlights fell down to her shoulders. Almond-shaped violet eyes stared down at her hands, which were clasped together in her lap. Dark, tattered blue jeans emerged from underneath a long black trench coat, the top half of which was buttoned up, hiding whatever shirt she was wearing.
Principal Powers smiled at her. "Well, it's good to have you here now. I'll take you down to the gym for power placement so we can get your schedule in order."
Alexa blinked. "Power what?"
The retired super hero patted her shoulder reassuringly. "It's a simple test of your powers to see whether you're to be placed in the hero or hero support class."
"Oh." She muttered, shoving her chair back and following her out.
"Coach Boomer?" Principal Powers called as they entered the gym. Sonicboom looked up from his clipboard. "This is Alexa Hale. She needs to go through power placement."
"Step up and show us what you've got, meat." Alexa paused, looking at the coach. He frowned. "I said STTEEEEEP UUUUPP!" He yelled, his voice blowing Alexa and Principal Powers back.
Said principal glared at him. "Boomer..." She growled warningly. His expression was something akin to pouting as he pointed to the spot on the raised, circular stage next to him. Alexa walked up to the circular platform, wiggling a finger in her ear to fix her hearing. Stopping, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Well?" Boomer asked. Principal Powers couldn't help laughing as Boomer jumped when blue flames engulfed Alexa's arms. She looked over at Boomer, her eyes now totally consumed by black, and cocked an eyebrow as if to retort his question. He clicked his pen open and looked down at his clipboard. "Hero."
The flames died down, and her eyes became violet again, the blackness spiraling into her pupils. She hopped off the stage and walked back over to Principal Powers, who was still smirking. "So what now?"
"Now we're going to head back to my office and get your schedule straightened out, then you can get to class."
"Alright." She shrugged, following the woman out.
235432153
Will Stronghold was BORED. Even with Layla moved up to 'hero' status, and in his Mad Science class, high school still sucked. And he couldn't even ask Warren to blow up the science lab or something, as- for some strange reason- the pyrokinetic had decided once was more than enough, and he didn't want to get expelled. Speaking of Warren, he seemed to be amusing himself by burning his notes while Mr. Medulla lectured them on... well, something about death rays. Again. Already, actually, as it was the first day of school and all the OTHER teachers were doing was giving out curriculums and supply lists.
Blessed relief came when the door opened and Principal Powers walked in. Trailing behind her was a blonde girl about their age. Violet eyes flickered around the room, and her choice of wardrobe was... well, interesting. Not many people wore trench coats, especially ones that went almost to the floor. "Professor Medulla, this is Alexa Hale. She's new."
"Ah, another one of you hormone secreting adolescents. The joy I feel." Medulla said, voice oozing sarcasm. "Well, Ms. Hale, I suppose you'll be partners with Mr. Peace." The mad genius gestured to the only free seat in the room. Principal Powers patted the girl on the shoulder and walked out. Alexa made her way over to the empty stool, an eyebrow rising as she saw the crispy edges of Warren's notes, but she smartly chose not to say anything. Medulla continued his lecture like nothing had happened.
Twenty-two minutes later, the bell rang, and the students sighed in relief. "There will be a test next Tuesday." Medulla called as they walked out of the room. The sighs turned into groans.
"Layla, you coming?" Will asked, closing his locker.
His girlfriend looked over at him, and Will was suddenly a lot more wary than he had been. Layla had that look on her face that she got whenever she wanted to do something- last time, it was save a squirrel that was being attacked by a hawk. Layla immediately noticed the look on his face. "Don't give me that look. I'll just be a sec." And with that, she grabbed her notes and walked over to Alexa, who had just unlocked her locker and was pulling it open. Alexa looked up from pulling a brown paper sack out of her locker. "Alexa, right? I'm Layla Green. I thought you might wanna borrow these." She offered her almost obsessively neat notes.
Alexa blinked, but then smiled at her weakly. "Thanks. I have a feeling I'll need them- I didn't understand a word out of Medulla's mouth."
"That happens to a lot of people." Will chuckled, walking up. He offered his hand. "Will Stronghold."
Alexa took it, her mouth automatically responding, "The Commander and Jetstream's son," before she could stop it. She winced. "Sorry."
"Nah. I get that a lot."
She adjusted the bag strapped across her chest. "I know how you feel. My dad's The Phoenix."
"I've heard of him."
"So have a lot of other people." She said.
Layla, looking at the nearly empty halls, decided it was time to intervene. "Do you wanna sit with us at lunch? You'll know three people."
"Three?"
"Warren- the guy you were sitting with- is a friend of ours too." Will explained.
Alexa cocked an eyebrow. "Mr. Moody and Leather-Clad?"
"Yeah."
She shrugged. "Sure, I guess. Better than sitting alone and feeling awkward."
"Yep, now you can feel awkward around people." Alexa laughed.
Layla shook her head. "Apparently I need a more obvious hint: let's go to lunch!"
23472398472
"Will! Layla! Over here!" I looked over to see a boy waving to the two in front of me. His hair was bleached blonde, and he seemed to like white, highlighter yellow, and neon green. A lot. Layla nodded over and I followed her awkwardly. Their friends seemed to be pretty diverse- other than highlighter boy, there was a girl in mostly black and purple with streaks of the violet color in her black hair, and a boy in glasses, and an orange sweater vest.
I hadn't realized they still made those.
And, like Will had said, there was the boy I had sat next to in class- Warren, I think. There was a single red streak in his dark hair, and even darker eyes were watching our progress toward the grey-plastic table with something between apathy and mild curiosity. He had a black leather jacket draped over his shoulders, a black shirt underneath that, and dark jeans that were almost, but not quite (you guessed it!) black. "Guys, this is Alexa. She's new." Layla introduced me. "Alexa, Magenta, Zach, Ethan, and you met Warren in class."
"Hi." I greeted lamely, waving even more pathetically. The first three waved back, while Warren grunted. As I had at least three boy cousins going into, in, or coming out of the 'moody teenager' phase, I spoke it quite well, and interpreted that particular grunt as 'hi.'
"So, you're a hero?" Ethan asked. I nodded.
"I'm a pyrokinetic."
Magenta rolled her eyes. "Great another one."
Another one? I immediately looked over at Warren, the obvious candidate. It wasn't Will, obviously, and Layla didn't seem like much of a pyro (far too green), and I doubted it was Zach or Ethan. And the fact that his notes had been on fire in Mad Science was a pretty good clue too. "Well, it isn't exactly normal..." I tried, and failed, to explain. At the questioning looks, I held up my hand and concentrated. Blue flames engulfed from my wrist up, flickering around my digits. More staring. Great. I killed the light show and put my hand back down.
"How'd you get it to do that?" Zach asked.
I shrugged. "Just does. Always been like that." And with that final note, I took a bite of my sandwich. And there weren't any more questions. Instead, we talked about regular stuff- how summer went by so fast, how Medulla was still just as insane as ever and giving homework on the first day, and how Boomer seemed to have broken another set of 'shatterproof' windows in the gym.
Finally, the day ended (without any more homework, but with plenty of course descriptions and supply lists). I hopped off the bus, waved bye to Layla and Will, and walked up the path to my house.
Considering I was living with my single, super-hero dad, we had a pretty nice place. Two stories, big enough for a sixteen year old and thirteen year old girl and their dad, not to mention a cat and two birds, and enough bathrooms for everyone to have their own in the morning. Never enough hot water though. Guess that's where being able to make your own heat comes in handy.
Sighing, I reached up on top of the door frame and grabbed the key, unlocking the door. "I'm home!"
"Goody." Called the couch. Well, it wasn't actually the couch. It was the thirteen year old girl I mentioned earlier- my younger sister, Carson. She was sprawled over the leather three seat in our living room, her red T-shirt and bleached jeans wrinkled and messy- she probably got into another fight. Her blonde hair was cropped messily above her skull, her bangs longer than the rest of her hair and flopping into her face and covering her cerulean blue eyes. "How was super school?"
"Not much different than regular." I said, offering the curriculums and supply lists. She took them and scanned through the first page disinterestedly. "Shoes off the couch." I ordered, knocking her sneakered feet off and taking their place. "What're you watching?"
"The news. They're covering dad's court case. He won."
"Great." I felt something rub my leg and looked down to see our fuzzy grey tomcat- Blue- rubbing up on my legs. I reached down and scooped him up. "Hey you." He purred and head butted my hand. I sighed and scratched his ears, then glanced back over at Carson. "You'd better get changed before dad gets home." I looked at the cockatiel and canary sitting on the armchair across the room. "And put Lancelot and Becca Lynn back in their cages."
"They needed some air. You shoulda heard Becca whining when I got home." Becca Lynn, our cockatiel, was the smartest bird I'd ever seen. She could curse in three different languages, and spoke full sentences in English. She even knew our names. And yes, our canary's name is Lancelot. I pushed Blue off my lap and stood, tired of watching the paparazzi bonanza on the TV. "You thirsty?"
"Coke." Carson automatically responded.
I walked into our kitchen and looked in the fridge. The soda rack was empty. Shaking my head, I went into the pantry and grabbed a couple warm ones and walked back out. Blue had abandoned me for the crook of Carson's arm. Dumb cat. I held out the Cokes to her. "They're warm." Splaying her first two fingers into a 'V,' my sister touched the cans and they immediately cooled. I handed her one and popped mine open, glugging it down, then shivering. "Ah... brain freeze! You slushied them again!"
"Press your thumb into the roof of your mouth." She said, sipping her slushy in a can slowly. I did, and the pain faded.
"I hate when you do that." I sighed. We both looked up as the door opened and our father walked in.
Elliot Hale, standing at six foot three, was a very intimidating lawyer. He had a square jaw, and those usual, rugged good "hero" looks. Said looks helped his intimidation tactics greatly- in and out of court. The Phoenix was what some might consider a vigilante. But hey, he kept the city safe, right? And if Batman could do it...
But honestly, he wasn't that scary. You can't find a man who leapt on a chair at the first sight of a mouse scary. He read us bedtime stories when we were little. Came to our school plays, sport events, even our girl scout meetings. Well, the seven we went to before me and Carson quit, anyway. The cold, hard as stone, crystal blue eyes were always gentle and playful around us (unless we were in trouble), and the intimidation tactics gave way to gentle scoldings and loud laughter, and a little yelling when Blue found his way into the morning paper with his claws.
Not even stopping to say hello, he headed straight upstairs, loosening his tie as he did. When he came back down two minutes later, his boring grey suit had been replaced with jeans and a black tank top. He sighed. "That's better. I was getting cramped in that thing." And for emphasis, he flared his blood red wings.
A phoenix is a fire BIRD, remember?
"You won." Carson said, looking up at him.
He smiled, but it abruptly changed to a frown when he saw her clothes. "Carson..."
"Football." She replied. He shook his head and turned to me and my trench coat.
"Lexi," He started, using his pet name for me (you know, the one only parents can get away with without being slaughtered), "Did you really wear that thing to school?"
"Yes." I stood up. "Speaking of which, help me get this stupid harness off." I threw off my coat, revealing the light blue tank top I'd been wearing that day, as well as the metal harness I'd been wearing beneath it.
The metal harness that was pinning my ash grey wings down to my back. "Why do you bother wearing that?" Carson asked. "I mean, it's a school for superheroes."
"Yeah, but most superheroes don't have two powers."
Carson rolled her eyes. "I hardly call those a 'power'. I mean, they're hereditary. The fire is a power. My ice is a power. The wings are daddy's fault. Or grandpa's. Or great-grandma's. But not a power."
"Whatever brat- oh that feels good." I sighed as my wings stretched free of their prison. "Carson, give dad my school stuff, I'm going upstairs."
"Sure. Oh, hey, there was mail for you! It's on your bed." I shook my head and continued up the stairs. Throwing open the door to my room, I saw said letter on resting on my single bed's black comforter that was dotted with silver Japanese kanji and dragons. My pillowcases were white with more grey kanji on them, as were my sheets. That's where my Asian influence ended (save the Chinese paper lantern hanging above my desk in the corner), and a more modern style took over. The white plush carpet, rather large TV set, dresser, desk, PS2, and X-Box finished off the furniture in the room. The walls were ash grey, a few shades lighter than my wings, and the one behind my bed and desk was black. A large, rising full moon was painted on it, with a winged figure as a silhouette against it. Gray and green mountains rose from along the floor, and there was a castle sitting on one of them.
My mother may have went a little overboard.
I frowned at that thought, looking at the letter on my bed, my eyes automatically going up to the return address.
Sky Penitentiary for Super Villains.
With a sigh, I tore open the envelope, tossing it half-heartedly at my trashcan and missing, before flopping down on my bed and unfolding the letter.
'Hey sweetie.
If I'm right and the mail comes on time (yeah right), you should get this on your first day of sophomore year at Sky High. I'm so proud of you, Alexa. I hope your day went well and that you made some friends. I miss you and Carson and your dad so much. If he doesn't mind, see if you can set up another visit soon, okay? I send all three of you lots of love. Hope I see you soon.
Hugs and kisses, sweetie. I love you.
Mom'
Tossing my legs over the edge of my bed, I walked over to my desk and ripped a piece of paper out of the binder sitting on top of it, then dug a pencil out of the drawer.
'Mother of the year...'
SC: Well, that hopefully didn't go over too badly… anyway, Read and Review please!
Ja ne
SpontaneousCombustion