Hello everyone- Auryn here. Now before I get started, there are a few things I'd like to clear up. I own NO MATERIAL from Sky High, including the vast majority of the characters. I own some of the characteristics of Weatherly Price (who is the girl at the end of the movie with the ice power that Warren walks off with) and the entire character of Leigh Valone, who is completely original. Song lyric credits go to Disturbed, Avril Lavigne, and Skillet.

Enjoy!

Hotshot

by Auryn Rei Evroren

Chapter One: Struck or Stricken?

Enter Warren Peace. Tough guy, son of a hero and a supervillain. One of the most recognizable students at Sky High. Friend to Will Stronghold and his crowd, but very few others.

The room goes silent.

I am Stricken and can't let you go…

Enter Leigh Valone. Tough girl, daughter of double supervillains. Removed from home by the government, lives with a foster family. Known by none. Friend to none.

No one cares.

There she lies, broken inside…

Enter Weatherly Price. Not necessarily tough, but known in her own way. Average. Daughter of heros. Has connections everywhere, acquaintances and friends alike.

The room turns to greet her.

This is the last night you'll spend alone…

He sat at his usual table, she, at the one next to his, surrounded by her friends. It was halfway through the year, who wanted to change lunch tables just for a relationship? No, they were too sensible for that. As per usual, Warren was absorbed in something that wasn't the Sky High social scene- today it was a sketchpad. The images on it were gruesome, each one a vision of horrible death, but they were the evidence of great talent. Warren could have drawn anything he liked, it was obvious.

Weatherly sat with her friends, listening quietly. She wasn't the type to giggle like a Barbie over this or that cute guy, but was rather entranced by a conversation between two of her friends debating the motives of the U.S. Government in purposely keeping true heros from the Armed Forces. It was highly intriguing to think about. One of her friends asked why she wasn't talking much…she replied that she preferred to listen, and was enjoying it. No one argued with her.

"Warren, those are…um…really good," Layla offered as commentary, leaning over to glance at Warren's drawings. He snatched them away with a quick glare at her. "Did I ask you to go looking through my stuff?" he growled, raising an eyebrow. It was more of a challenge than a threat- Layla wasn't afraid of him, and he knew it, but it was still fun. She shrugged. "No, but they are kinda out in the open there. Can you blame me for being curious?" She batted her eyelashes, and he looked at her sternly. "Yes. Yes, I can," he sneered, and put away his sketchbook.

"Yo, Warren, dude, what's up with all the 'dark' pics? Looks like you need a little more 'light'," said Zach with a laugh, obviously thinking he was cool. Magenta rolled her eyes, per usual, and Will just stayed quiet. By now, he was used to everyone's strange opinion of his new best friend- how weird was it, to think of him that way? It wasn't like they were used to it, this was going to be a gradual change.

Warren growled under his breath, never one to listen to Zach's jokes for long. Sitting here was trying his patience.

"Save it, Glowstick," he muttered, and strode away, pulling his backpack off the table and swiping his hair out of his face. Of course, his exit was proven nearly useless, considering that the bell for class rang just as he was reaching the cafeteria doors. Fourth block.

Who needed fourth block, anyway? It was completely pointless, playing round after round of "Save the Citizen", and nothing new ever happened. Heroes at Sky High only had one or two useful powers, and once they learned what they could do with them, it was just the same tricks over and over again.

He decided to ditch.

Sure, people would miss him (*cough Coach Boomer cough*), but no one in their right mind was going to actually bother to look for him, except maybe Stronghold or Layla- and they'd never find him even if they wanted to.

Two stairwells, a few ceiling tiles, and a couple dodges later, Warren found himself alone on the third floor, in a back hallway that no one ever visited. There wasn't even a cleaning closet or anything down there- no lights, either. It was dark.

Not accustomed to looking down when he walked (preferring to glare at passing people), Warren never noticed the girl sitting on the floor until he tripped over her. He spun around, arms upraised, ready to flame.

"Hey!" she said irritably, "Watch where you're going!"

Instinct kicked in.

"Watch yourself," he shot back, hands smoking. "No one talks that way to me." His voice turned into a low growl, his second-most-well-known intimidation method.

"Oh yeah?" the girl retorted, getting to her feet and moving in, getting all up in his face. "Well I think I just did. And watch, I'm going to do it again! Watch where you're going, punk."

That was it, right there. Warren growled as his right hand burst completely into flame. "Looks like they've left out a pretty big part of your Sky High education," he said darkly. "How Not to Piss Me Off, 101." With that, he hurled a ball of flame at her. She dodged to the side, obviously unfazed, and it left a large scorch mark on the wall. He aimed and shot at her again and again, and the two of them moved down the hallway and into the more populated area of the school. She was faster than lightning, and wasn't even using her powers (unless her power was speed). This only made Warren angrier.

Doors crashed open all down the hallway. Teachers and students poked their heads out, only to dive back inside as they saw Warren's flames coming.

The girl laughed, her pale face lighting up to match the white-blonde highlights that rested atop her jet-black hair. She said nothing, but her entire expression was a taunt. Warren moved closer to her and stretched out his hand to burn her more closely…

A shaft of air swept underneath his outstretched arm, adding oxygen to the flame, causing it to shoot upward and singe away a very small piece of Warren's red-streaked hair.

The very air in the hallway seemed to freeze where it was. Warren glared through the mess that was his unkempt hair. "You do that again," he threatened in a low voice, "-and I could be following my dad to solitary." He raised his arms to set them afire, but felt someone's hand on his shoulder. He turned around, ready to flame the next person who even looked at him-

"Warren, don't do anything stupid," Layla whispered urgently. Zach, Ethan, Magenta- the whole crowd was behind her. Zach's head bobbed nervously, and Ethan looked like he was ready to just…melt. He was staring at Warren's opponent in fear on a level that hadn't been seen since Will and Warren's first fight. Magenta was just glaring at the girl.

Will Stronghold stepped forward and took hold of Warren's other shoulder, and he and Layla gently dragged their friend back. Warren didn't fight it…but he shook them off as quickly as possible and turned, striding off down the hallway, glaring daggers at the floor.

"What was that about?" Magenta asked, her voice sounding slightly bored, as if this happened every day. Well, compared to what usually happened at Sky High, this was kinda normal. Zach shrugged. "I don't know man…yo, who was that girl? I ain't seen her before, she new?" Ethan shook his head. "No, she's been here…I've seen her around. She just doesn't talk. Kinda like Warren."

Layla just watched as Warren stormed off. "That's sad," she said quietly. "There actually is someone like him here at school, and that has to be the one person he picks a fight with." Will snorted. "One person?" he said sarcastically. "Where have you been?"

"Oh, you know what I meant," Layla said irritably. "Let's just go…we'll hear if anything happens to him."

When the group agreed and turned to go back to class, they realized that the fighter girl had disappeared. Where to, no one knew- it appeared that she had just vanished. Perhaps they'd see her later?