AN: Hey everybody. There are a few things that you should know before we start the story. Number one is the time period. This story is starts during October of Will &Co.'s junior year in school. Well, all except for Warren; he's a senior in this story. Well, this is my first Sky High fan fiction. I hope you enjoy it. Please read and review!
Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize does not belong to me. Anything you don't recognize is clearly mine.
Chapter 1
Will's alarm went off and he grumbled, feeling around his night table for a few moments before slapping his hand down on the off button. Well, needless to say, the alarm went off… but also smashed into several small pieces that now dotted the floor, the wood of the night table now sporting a wide crack down the side.
Will groaned to himself, muttering under his breath as he rolled over and sat up in bed, "That's the third freakin' one this month."
Will yawned and stretched as he climbed out of bed. As he fully woke up, a smile dawned on his face. He nearly giggled with delight as he tiptoed down the stairs and into the kitchen. His mom stood at the counter top, pouring herself a large mug of French Vanilla flavored coffee. He snuck up beside her, crouching beside her as he kissed her cheek.
"Good morning Mom," he whispered, turning towards the fridge, still crouched over and tiptoeing.
Josie Stronghold smiled and looked at her son with an arched brow, "Will dear, what are you doing?"
"I'm getting a surprise," he whispered innocently, opening up the freezer. Josie looked at the scrunched over teen for a few moments, about to ask more, but decided against it, shaking her head with a sigh.
"Alright Will, but don't pick on her," she said, picking up the paper as she sat at the table with her mug.
Will nodded, his mother's attention already elsewhere. He reached into the back of the fridge, standing a little straighter as his hand groped the icy contents. Where was that darn thing? Sticky ice cream box? No. Dad's three pound trout from their fishing trip two months ago? Nope. Mom's homemade mango flavored popsicles? No. Darn! Where was it?
Will groped for a few more moments before his hand fastened around a sealed zip lock bag. Will sniggered to himself as he freed it from beneath the box of hot pockets. He held up the bag in the sun light, examining its contents. It was stuffed to the brim with marbles and he sighed contentedly with delight as he tiptoed back up the stairs and down the hall.
He passed his room and continued two doors down and across the hall. He slowed as he reached this new room, nearly holding his breath to keep himself from laughing with pleasure. He eased open the door, the hinges just barely groaning from the movement. He slipped through the crack, the lights still off. He weaved his way through the haphazard room, observing it as he made his way towards the bed.
Five piles of boxes were stacked precariously on top of one another around the room. The largest of the boxes was open beside the closet, clothing and old stuffed animals spilling out of the top.
Posters littered the walls already, having been the first things unpacked. Among the posters, Will spotted an Italian Job movie poster, a black and white poster of Elvis Presley and a charming poster that had a picture of two Barbies. One Barbie was wearing a blue dress while the other sat headless and naked on the floor. Beneath the picture it said, "Some days I feel like a princess, but most days, I'm the one naked looking for a head to put back on her shoulders."
On the white full sized bed, beneath purple down feathered covers, a fourteen year old deaf Great Dane lay, sprawled out. Right by the foot of the bed, a hand jutted out from the covers, the fingers long and thin. Will giggled slightly despite himself. He opened the bag of marbles lifted up the edge of the comforter, tilted the bag, and….
"AHHHHHHH!"
Josie, now joined by her husband Steve at the kitchen table, looked up towards the stairs in concerned curiosity.
Steve, meanwhile, didn't look up from his paper, but merely sighed, "One…Two…Three…" And as he said three, sure enough, Will came flying down the stairs. Literally. Just as he was nearly to the bottom, a figure dove at him from the top of the stairs, crashing into him and sending them both sliding on the hardwood floor in a heap to stop at Josie's feet.
Josie laughed behind her hand and fought back a smile. Will sprang up off the floor and jumped up behind his mother, his mouth rising to a smile of self-satisfied delight.
"Will, what did you do to Danica?" Josie asked responsibly, trying desperately to appear as the level-headed parent.
The figure on the floor pushed herself up into a standing position. Before Josie, there stood a glaring teenage girl. Standing about five foot seven, her curly brown hair fell in tangled bunches around her face and shoulders. Her brows were furrowed together, her brown eyes looking as menacing as she could make them. Frozen marbles stuck to her face and hair, some even sticking to her red Smurf pajamas.
Behind her, in romped a large old dog, its tongue hanging out of its mouth sideways in an off centered grin.
"Aunt Josie, he poured frozen marbles into my bed!" she said, scowling viciously at her cousin while petting the dog absent mindedly.
Will smiled and walked over to her, ruffling her hair. "Hey, it woke you up, didn't it?" he asked her, laughing slightly as he peeled a green marble from the skin of her jaw.
The girl glared at him for a few moments, trying desperately to look as angry and vicious as possible. Failing miserably, she finally broke into a grin and socked Will in the shoulder playfully.
"I'll forgive you if you make me breakfast," she declared decidedly.
Will shook his head and grinned, "Alright, fair enough. Now go get ready. It would suck to miss the bus your first day at school." He leaned foreword and hugged the girl before him, resting his chin on her head. Danica hugged back at firs, but pulled away when she felt his chin hit her head.
"Will, how tall are you?" she asked suspiciously. Will looked at her and rubbed his fingernails against his shirt, mock polishing them.
"Oh, just six two," he said proudly, hamming up his too-cool-for-you act.
The brunette rolled her eyes and turned around, calling back over her shoulder cheerfully as she went up the stairs, "My breakfast better be ready when I come back down."
She walked through her bedroom and into the bathroom that she shared with the guest room. She showered quickly and toweled off, putting on her clothes. She ran her right hand over the back of her left shoulder blade, feeling along the bottom of it. A thick scar rand around the bottom edge of the bone, eight or so inches long and a quarter of an inch wide. The thick scar tissue turned up towards her neck at the end and she sighed running her fingers over it. The memory pained her so she ignored it.
She put on a wide necked white shirt and a dark brown knee length skirt, a white ribbon looped through the fabric near the bottom. She looked at her face in the mirror and sighed. She had a long face, with a sharp jaw line and high cheekbones. There were bags under her eyes and she had a small nose with soft, thin lips. She glared at her lips with frustration. If only they were thicker.
She scowled a little at her reflection as she took out her brush to battle her thick tangles of hair. Her shower had taken fifteen minutes, while brushing her hair alone took twenty. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves as she pulled an inch thick chocolate brown shoelace from a drawer; she tied her hair up in a ponytail with it put on eyeliner and mascara.
Some girls like Layla were just blessed with natural beauty. Danica liked her own appearance, but she definitely didn't consider herself as pretty as Layla. She wasn't gorgeous, but not ugly either. She didn't wear a lot of make up, but some eyeliner and mascara made her eyes look bigger. Danica personally thought they looked small without it. She grabbed a pair of white sneakers and pulled them on, running down the hall.
"Will, I'm coming!" she said in a sing song voice. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, Will clamped his hands over her eyes and led her to the table. She sat and he uncovered her eyes, revealing a bowl of Trix and half of a mango. Danica looked up and him and smiled warmly.
"My favorite," she said, picking up her spoon.
"I try," Will said with a grin, batting his eyelashes.
The two ate quickly and washed their dishes, loading them into the dish washer. Will grabbed a red, white, and blue stripped messenger bag, and Danica picked up a black back pack, swinging it over her shoulders. She patted the large grey dog, whose name was coincidentally Commander, on the head before turning back towards the hall. They walked out the front door and Danica stopped on the door mat, looking expectantly at Will. He stopped and turned towards her, realizing that she had stopped.
"What is it Danica?" he asked, a concerned look causing frown lines to appear on his forehead.
"Will it be okay Will? Am I going to be okay? What if no one wants to talk to me?" she asked, biting her bottom lip nervously, honestly awaiting his answer as if her life depended on it.
Will sighed and stepped towards her, wrapping his arms comfortably around her. He laid his cheek against her hair and whispered tenderly, honestly, "It'll be alright. You'll be alright. And as far as friends are concerned, Sky High is as good a place as any to make them."
Will released her and she smiled warmly, reassured. "Thanks Will, it really means a lot."
Will nodded and smiled, elbowing her lightly in the side. "And if people don't talk to you for your utterly charming personality," he began, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "they'll at least talk to you 'cause you're just so cute." He said the last part sincerely and she smiled, slugging him playfully in the stomach.
"Oh, ha-ha. You're so funny! Seriously though, let's get going. Your girlfriend is going to think that we forgot about her." Danica spoke with a sideways smirk at her cousin.
"Crap, we gotta hurry!" Will said, realizing that they were running late. He grabbed Danica by the hand and they ran the rest of the way to Layla's laughing and shoving each other playfully.
When they reached her front door, Will knocked gently. Layla appeared a moment later and pounced on Danica, wrapping her in a friendly hug. "G'morning Danica. Are you excited for your first day at Sky High?" she asked, pulling away.
"Excited isn't the word that I'd use. More like freaked out and about to have a heart attack," Danica groaned to the girl, making an exaggerated puppy dog face.
"You'll be fine," Will said smiling. "Now," he said, "you haven't said good morning to me yet." He wrapped his arms around the redhead's waist and lifted her up off the ground to his head level with ease. He pecked her gently on the lips and Danica made 'ahhhh'-ing noises in the background, followed by loud exaggerated gagging noises.
Layla pulled away from Will, laughing as she leaned down to pick up her bag. "Well, let's get going," she said, blushing profusely with a small grin.
"Righty-oh!" Will said, taking Layla's hand in his.
The three walked down the street to the corner just as a yellow high school bus pulled to a stop. The doors opened and a glowing green man sat in the driver's seat. "Good morning Will Stronghold," the man said proudly with a salute.
"Good morning Ron," Will said, leading Layla and Danica to seats near the back of the bus. Will and Layla slid into a seat together and Danica looked around uncomfortably, taking a seat in an empty bench behind them. Danica took out her CD player and busied herself listening to a mix CD of Johnny Cash and Queen as Layla and Will cuddled up together, Danica forgotten for the moment.
The bus made one last stop after they were seated, and then drove full speed to an uncompleted off-ramp on the freeway. Danica felt her breath catch in her throat as straps and a bar belted her into her seat. The sign at the end of the ramp went down, and for one fleeting instant, they fell towards the Earth. Within seconds though the engines kicked in and they took off for Sky High. Danica felt her heart throbbing in her throat and she unclenched her fists from the bar in front of her, slowing her breathing.
Will sniggered slightly in front of her and turned around to look her in the eye. He smiled and patted her hand. "First time scared the crap out of me too," he said. Danica nodded breathlessly and Will returned his attentions to Layla.
Danica concentrated the rest of the ride on trying to slow her breathing and heart rate back down to a normal speed. When the bus finally touched down, Danica was the first one out the door, nearly wanting to kiss the ground with delight. Will sauntered off the bus laughing, Layla behind him, shaking her head good naturedly.
"Well," Will began, "Come meet the gang."
Danica looked at him curiously and cocked her head to the side, following him unknowingly through the school to a long row of lockers near the cafeteria. Will walked up to a group of people and they said their greetings, Danica choosing to hide behind her cousin as she stared at the ground self-consciously.
Will shook his head and turned around, putting his hand on the small of her back and pulling her forewords towards the group. The boy to her right was ridiculously tall with bleached hair and yellow clothing.
The boy stuck out his hand and she shook it, glancing up at him and feeling even more intimidated by his height. "I'm the Zach Attack. What's shakin' baby?" the boy said, whipping out a visor and flipping it upside down before dropping it on his head.
"I'm Danica," she said, tucking a chunk of her bangs behind her ear, strongly resisting the urge to laugh at the boy's behavior.
"I'm Ethan," a small boy chirped, jerkily shaking her hand up and down.
"Nice to meet you," Danica said, raising her eyebrow slightly at the boy's wide eyed personality.
"Magenta," said a girl wearing purple, who raised her hand in a small wave.
Danica turned back towards Will, who was scowling at the circle. "Where's Warren?" he asked curiously, looking about.
"Dunno," Ethan said, "We haven't seen him yet."
Will shrugged and said, "Oh well, they can meet later."
They stood talking for a few moments, Danica looking on uncomfortably. After all, she didn't really know these people, so they didn't really have much to say to her.
The bell rang and Layla smiled at Danica, "You're the only one who hasn't been power placed yet, including freshman, so we're going to come with you." Danica's face drained of all color and she looked at Layla with panic.
"But I was already power placed at my old school…" she said in a high pitched voice.
"It'll be fine. I'm sure that you'll do just great," Layla said.
"You'll do great." Will said with surety.
Danica took a deep breath and nodded, following obediently as they led her into the gym. Coach Boomer stood in the center and Will, Layla, Ethan, Magenta, and Zach went and sat in the seats, Will giving Danica a thumbs-up sign.
Coach Boomer looked up from his clipboard and called down to Danica, "You. New girl. Up here."
Danica sighed and dropped her backpack on the edge of the gym, walking up onto the platform beside Boomer. She looked around and noticed that Will and his friends were the only other people in the room. 'Well, thank God for small favors' she thought to herself.
Coach Boomer looked at her expectantly, "Come on. What's your name? What's your power? I haven't got all day."
"Danica Demarco," she said quietly.
"Ah, you're Josie's niece. Your father was a good man. It's a shame what happened to him. It's a real shame what happened to your mother too," Boomer said, ignorant of the unease with which Danica now regarded him, "Alright now, show us what you've got."
"I was power placed at my last school already."
Boomer glared at her slightly. "Well, now you're going to be placed by me. Get on with it."
Danica nodded reluctantly and put her hands down at her sides, palms flat out, facing the floor. It began small at first, just a wisp of air, but soon beneath each finger, a small spiral of air had formed. Danica concentrated and widened the cyclones until they merged to form pressurized air spirals beneath each palm. She increased the air pressure until her skirt hem flapped from the wind, her body rising up a few feet off the ground.
Danica concentrated until she was about six feet above the ground and opened her eyes, lowering herself back to the ground and stopping the air flow.
Boomer looked at her disappointedly for a moment. "So, you can control air around you. You can fly a few feet off the ground, and that's it?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. Danica shook her head in irritation. Coach Boomer took this as a challenge, "Car!" he yelled, pressing a button.
A car fell from the ceiling and Danica looked up in surprise, raising her arms into the air just in time, cyclones immediately erupting from her fingertips, suspending the car five or so feet above her head before using the air to push it off to the side. Will let out a gulp of breath that he had been holding, Layla and Ethan both gasping in surprise as Magenta and Zach looked on, both still undecided about this new girl.
Boomer nodded in approval. "Impressive. Is there anything else that you can do with your air control?" The car rose back into the ceiling as he spoke.
"Can you get me two buckets of water?" she asked, still slightly intimidated by the shameless gym coach.
Boomer nodded and pressed another button, "Water!" he yelled, two buckets of water springing up on a platform in the middle of the floor.
Danica looked at him for a moment as if deciding something. "Would you mind stepping back ten or so feet?" she asked shyly.
Boomer nodded and complied, watching curiously. Danica placed the buckets about ten feet away from eachother and walked over to the first bucket, closing her eyes in concentration. The water in the bucket rippled for a few moments, Danica's hands hovering over it in concentration. The Water expanded as the air around it cooled, the entire bucked freezing over in seconds.
Danica moved to the other bucket with her eyes still closed and let her hands hover over the water, the water rippling and bubbling for a few moments, the entire bucket evaporating into steam in just a few seconds.
Boomer nodded approvingly, "Air manipulator. Hero." He wrote something on his clipboard quickly.
Danica sighed as Will and his friends clapped and she felt herself relax. Boomer looked up from his clipboard and walked towards Danica who had been gathering her things, and handed her a slip of paper.
"Good luck on your first day." With that, Boomer turned and walked from the gym.
Danica looked down at the paper curiously, relaxing even more in Coach Boomer's absence. It was her schedule.
Will spoke to his friends for a few moments and Layla nodded her head, leading the rest away to 'hero support' class. Will walked over to Danica, standing beside her as she finished gathering her things.
"Can I see your schedule?" he asked, extending a hand.
Danica handed it to him and asked nervously, "Do we have any of the same classes?" Will looked at her schedule and read through it quickly.
"We have second period Mad Science III together, fourth period Hero Training, and fifth period Gym," Will told her with a smile. Danica let out a sigh of relief and hugged her cousin.
"Your first period is two classrooms away down on the right," he told her leading her out of the gym and pointing to the classroom. Danica nodded and waved goodbye.
"Thanks Will," she called over her shoulder.
Her first two classes passed without consequence. She was even paired with Will as her lab partner for Mad Science. They were instructed to make a shrinking ray, and they constructed the object, managing to scrape a B-.
Poor Danica was so lost during her advanced math class that she nearly did a victory dance as the bell rang for lunch. She walked into the cafeteria and was grabbed around the waist as soon as she walked through the door.
Two, ultra stretched arms were wrapped around her body and she found herself being pulled to the other side of the room towards a boy wearing a stripped long sleeved shirt with the number 23 on it. He pulled her up against him and stared at her face intently.
Danica, feeling thoroughly shocked, looked at this boy with a slightly angered curiosity. He studied her face intently, looking down at her with a self-satisfied smirk.
He still hadn't released his super-stretched grip from her waist and she looked at him intently, but not fearfully. "Can I help you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You're new." It was a statement, not a question and Danica nodded her agreement slowly, as if trying to communicate to a five year old.
"I'm Danica Demarco. Who are you?" she asked, cocking her head sideways with her eyebrows raised.
"Lash," he said.
"Are you capable of full sentences or should I just talk to you in hand gestures?" she asked him innocently.
Lash glared at her slightly, a frown worming across his face. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, a fist collided with his jaw. He was knocked to the ground and released Danica's waist in the process. Danica looked up and saw her cousin Will standing threateningly over the heaped body of the boy who had been holding her moments before.
After a few moments, he seemed satisfied and lifted Danica back to her feet, leading her over to a cafeteria table as if he had just said hello instead of knocking the boy unconscious.
"Will? What is wrong with you?" Danica asked, looking at him as if he were crazy. Will looked at her with real anger, a kind of anger that she hadn't seen since they had been in second grade when a boy at the park had tried to kiss her cheek.
"That guy is bad news. Don't go near him. He's out of prison on good behavior to finish his senior year and I don't want you near him," he growled in a low voice.
Understanding dawned on Danica's face, "He was one of the one's who helped Royal Pain, isn't he?" she asked, recalling the memory of when Will had described it to her. He'd called and told her that night, even though they lived two states away, to tell her how he had saved the day and discovered that he could fly.
Will nodded and sat at the table, several people backing away as they saw the look on his face. Danica sat beside him, Zach on her other side, currently stuffing his face with a folded in half piece of combo pizza.
Danica turned to Layla across the table and asked quietly, "How long is he going to be like this?"
Layla smiled and leaned foreword, kissing Will firmly on the mouth for several moments. When she pulled away, Will was smiling, all anger gone from his eyes.
"That long," Layla said, laughing as she re-seated herself. Danica shook her head and smiled, noting in the back of her mind to steer clear of Lash. Definitely not good company.
She pulled out a brown lunch bag from her backpack and started eating an apple. A tray dropped loudly to the table across from her and she looked up to see who was sitting there.
A tall boy sat in front of her, with tanned skin, locks of black and red hair falling around his face and shoulders. He wore a leather studded jacket and jeans with worn out knees, a grey sleeveless shirt beneath the jacket.
He wore studded bracelets and she noticed a flame tattoo encircling his right wrist as well. In truth, his appearance scared her a bit. She scanned him over and brought her eyes up to meet his. Their eyes locked and she saw something in them that startled her. Some heated emotion danced in his eyes and he quickly covered it as she continued to stare at him intently, studying his strong features and puzzling dark brown eyes.
He held her gaze for a few moments, studying her as well, before diverting his gaze to Will.
Will looked at him and smiled. "Warren, this is my little cousin Danica. Danica, this is my best friend Warren."
Danica glared at her cousin, "You're only a month older!"
"Yes, but I'm still older," he said, quite pleased with himself. "And bigger," he said as an after thought.
Danica rolled her eyes and slugged him on the shoulder. Danica returned her gaze to Warren, his eyes already fixed on her. She opened her mouth to speak but was quickly interrupted.
"PEACE!" a male voice cried out in utter outrage.
Danica cringed slightly at the volume of the noise.
A tall blond, hulking boy stalked across the room, directly to Warren.
"You and me, NOW!" The blond boy swung his arm foreword and hurdled an ice ball right at Warren's face. Warren raised his arms and lit them on fire just in time to melt the ball. Everyone jumped up from the tables and crowded around the walls of the cafeteria, watching excitedly. Will grabbed Danica and Layla and pulled them to the side.
"Is he going to be okay?" Danica asked in panic, looking at Will with genuine concern shinning in her eyes.
"He can take care of himself," Will said, looking at her like she was crazy.
Danica watched on frozen with concern and fear. The large blond boy hurled another three ice balls, each melting before they even touched Warren.
"What's with you Frost?" Warren growled.
Danica jumped in surprise as she heard his voice. It was husky and rumbling, even as he spoke softly and she found herself puzzled by this boy, just from the sound of his voice.
The blond boy hurtled several more ice balls in quick succession. "What's with me? What's with you? You cheated on my sister! You broke her heart! You touched her in the first place!"
Warren shot back a fireball, taking his first offensive move. "I never cheated on Cassie! She's the one who broke it off! Why are you pissed at me?"
"You KNOW what I'm talking about! You never should have come near my sister!" 'Frost' as Warren had called him, closed the gap between them and created icicle blades, thrusting foreword to Warren's chest. Warren's arms erupted in a furious flame and he radiated heat, melting Frost's weapons and making him fall to the floor, his skin beginning to redden from the heat. Three of the blond boy's lackey's rushed foreword to aid him, but Warren's heat continued to grow, engulfing three surrounding tables.
There was fear in Frost's eyes, but he spoke anyways, "You're just like your father. Just you watch. You'll rape some poor woman and leave your spawn festering in her body. You'll never be happy. You're not capable of it. You drive everyone away. And you know what? You deserve to be alone. You deserve to die alone."
Danica watched on in shock, praying for Warren to cool down, but he showed no signs of stopping. Danica almost wanted to hit Frost herself. How could anyone be so cruel?
Frost lay gasping on the floor, still glaring maliciously at Warren despite the situation and Warren seemed to loose control of the heat, the temperature no longer needing his energy to be sustained. Danica kept waiting for someone to do something, for someone to step in, but no one moved a muscle, and she found herself pushing towards the center of the cafeteria.
When she reached Warren, she felt the heat, but pressed onward. She began to swirl the air beneath her fingers and the cyclone grew to the size of a person. She continued to expand it until it engulfed her, Warren and Frost and she cooled the air inside, shrinking the air particles, commanding them to cool and settle.
The heat quickly dissipated and Frost looked up at her in surprise. Warren faced her and their eye's locked as she let the cyclone die off. Anger and hurt filled his eyes and she walked towards him, fascinated and frightened all at once. He quickly masked his emotions, but held her gaze all the same.
Just then, Principle Powers entered the room, students backing away from her in fright. "What on EARTH is going on here?"
AN: And that concludes chapter one. Please review!