(A/N: Sky High fanfic? I think so! Mostly because I've been in love with it since back when it first came out in Theaters. Ah fun times. So there's some references to LalyaXWill, ZachXMagenta, WarrenXFreeze Girl and because Warren is awesome (and I really need to stop using OC's) WarrenXOC though romance is only a small portion of the tale. So chapter one enjoy. PS Reviews Welcome =D )
Disclaimer: Sky High belongs to it's legal owners
Chapter One: New Faces
10 years ago:
"I will never let you have this power! No matter what you do to me, I will never hand it over to you!" The woman exclaimed; vowing to herself and whoever else was listening.
"We'll see about that…or perhaps I don't have to. When your daughter's power manifests, I will take that power for myself." The figure cloaked in shadow laughed.
Her eyes widened, "Over my dead body!"
"Oh well that's just an open invitation." The shadow flicked a switch and electricity shot through her body.
"Comets Away!" The bright light of a thousand comets blasted through the room and crashed into the shadow sending it flying across the room. The comet changed back into a woman, who ran over to the still form of her sister. "Hope, come on, say something."
"Lynda," Hope's voice was weak, "I knew you'd come for me."
"Hold on we'll get you out of here." Lynda could feel sister's life slip away.
Hope shook her head, "There's no point you feel it just as I do. I need you to promise me something…"
"Anything…just don't leave me."
"Protect Serenity." Hope took a shuddered breath and then let it out as her final breath.
Lynda nodded, "I will." She laid her sister on the ground and looked around for the monster that did this to her Hope, but he was gone.
The present:
"Oh my gosh! I can't believe we've been here a whole year!" Layla Williams gushed to Warren Peace.
"Correction you've been here a whole year. I've been here for three." Warren rolled his eyes.
"Oh look there's Will, come on!" She took his hand and ran towards William Stronghold, the school's hero after what happened at homecoming the previous year and her boyfriend. "Will!"
"Layla!" Will looked at her then raised an eyebrow at her and Warren's linked hands which caused Warren to quickly pull away. "How can you be so perky first thing in the morning?" He stifled a yawn.
"Will! Layla! Warren!" Zach called while on his way over, with his arm around his girlfriend Magenta, with Ethan following close behind them.
"Hey guys!" Will called.
"Wow it's been an entire summer since the last time all six of us were together." Layla exclaimed. "How have you been?"
"Good." Magenta shrugged.
"So are you wrangling in the new freshmen, Will?" Ethan asked.
"Yeah, Principle Powers asked me to, you know to make sure that the same thing as last year doesn't happen." Will shrugged.
"Well with Gwen gone, I doubt anything too bad should happen." Ethan told him.
"I wasn't thinking about Gwen, remember the first day when Lash and Speed took meeting the freshmen into their own hands, you almost ended up handing over 15 dollars to them." Will's eyebrow rose.
"Oh right…" Ethan turned his head slightly, to look at the teacher's parking lot. "Hey isn't that Principal Powers now?"
"Yeah…but who is that?" Magenta asked. They watched as a second person got out of Principal Powers' car.
"Her hair's whiter than Zach's. I didn't think that was possible." Layla said. "Comet white…"
"Hey! My hair isn't that white!" Zach looked at Magenta, who simply nodded.
"I didn't know Principal Powers had a daughter." Will looked at the girl with the comet white hair.
"Warren! Let's play!"A girl's voice called to Warren. That's when he vaguely remembered long white hair pulled back into pigtails.
"Warren are you alright?" Will asked worried about the pained expression on his face.
"Yeah I'm fine." Warren shook his head to clear it. "I'm going to get class, I'll see you later." He turned and began walking to the school.
"Alright. We'll see you later." Will told him but that nagging feeling in his gut still hadn't gone away.
Lynda got out of her hover car and watched as her passenger did the same. "Are you sure you're going to be alright?"
"I'll be fine Auntie." Her niece told her.
"Serenity, I'm not going to make you go through with power placement if you don't want to." Lynda looked at her.
"What could happen? I know I'm going to be fine, just so long as this headache finally goes away." Serenity rubbed her temples.
"We could wait another year!" Lynda suggested.
"And wait till I'm fifteen, I'll be the only freshmen who's older than fourteen, not to mention a sidekick." She rolled her eyes then smiled kindly, "Don't worry Auntie; nothing's going to happen here. Sky High's safe from villains, right?"
"If you're sure…" Lynda frowned and the look in Serenity's eyes was unmoving. "Alright, I'll see you in the gym in a bit." She locked her car then raised her arms. "Comets away."
Serenity averted her eyes, "Is it just me or has that comet she turns into gotten brighter?" She looked over at the group of young teenagers getting off one of the buses and saw them gather around one boy. "Oh shoot! Being late for orientation is not my smartest move." She ran over to the group and suddenly the buzzing in her head got louder. She rubbed her temples again, hoping to ease the throbbing there.
"Now if you remember those few rules you won't fall off." The boy at the front of the group stated. He looked at the group and noticed that Serenity had her fingers pressed to her temples. He walked over to her, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. It's just a headache that's all." She felt his powers more strongly inside her head now that he was closer to her, 'He's capable of flight and has super strength. Auntie told me that the Stronghold kid had both of his parents' powers; this can't be him can it?'
"Alright, tell me if it gets worse. I'm Will. Will Stronghold." He smiled.
"Serenity Powers." She smiled back and removed her hands from her forehead, though the buzzing still hadn't stopped. She rolled her eyes as the rest of the teenagers around them gasped; probably shocked to meet the son of the Commander and Jetstream.
'So she is the daughter of the Principal Powers.' Will thought. "Alright then follow me and I'll lead you to the gym for orientation."
'Perhaps my showing up with Auntie this morning instead of taking the bus wasn't my best idea.' Serenity's brow furrowed which didn't help the buzzing at all. She muttered quietly to herself, "Well today's going to be the start of the next four years of my life, let's just hope that buzzing stops within the next few days."
They went to orientation and as usual once Lynda Powers finished she flew out as a comet just to show that she could. That's when Coach Boomer appeared in the middle of the floor on a rising platform. Serenity rolled her eyes, 'Could this get anymore clichéd?'
"Alright listen up, my name is Coach Boomer, you may know me as Sonic Boom…you may not. Here's how power placement is gonna work: you will step up here and show me your power. And yes you will do so in front of the entire class. I will then determine where you will be assigned; hero or sidekick. Now every year there are a few students, or as I like to call them whiner babies, who see fit to question and to complain about their placement, so let's get one thing straight my word is law, my judgment is final. So there will be no whiner babies. Are we clear?"
"Yes Coach Boomer!" Serenity called, she remembered something from reading her mother's diary about Sonic Boom. He had the ability to use sound waves and blast his opponents backwards, in this case it was them he'd be using it against which wasn't going to help her headache any.
Coach Boomer removed his sunglasses and looked directly at her. "You what's your name?"
"Serenity, sir." She looked him in the eyes, trying to show that she wasn't terrified. 'Oh great, did I just draw the attention of the one teacher I didn't want to notice me?'
"Get up here," She did as she was told, "What's your power?"
She let out a quiet sigh, "It's probably best if I just show you." She put her hand out.
"I want to know what you're power is kid, not hold your hand." Coach Boomer raised an eyebrow.
"Look, I'm not particularly fond of holding my gym teacher's hand, but unfortunately there are far too many people in this room for me to just choose a power and show you my own power, I need to use physical touch to differentiate between powers." She rolled her eyes as if it was blatantly obvious.
He remembered something back from his very own days at Sky High. "Tommy take my hand, I'll help you whenever you need it."A particular sidekick had offered to help him when he lost the will to use his powers, to use his voice. He looked at her shocked then whispered, "Hope…"
She raised an eyebrow, she knew her mother was popular amongst the heroes but she never knew that he knew her particularly well. "Sorry what?" She acted confused, pretending not to understand him.
He shook his head, "Sorry it's nothing." He took her hand, "Now your power." 'If her power's anything like her mother's then…'
"Use your power, to the lowest decibel you possibly can."
They heard whispering from the other freshmen, "What's going on?" and then "Do they know each other?" then finally, "Well there's no way she's not going to be a hero, that's cheating."
She rolled her eyes and Coach Boomer turned to the other students, "That is ENOUGH!" His power shattered the gyms windows, created a hole in the gym floor and was heard throughout the school loud enough that most of the windows shattered. He looked over at her as she pulled her hand away. He hadn't used that sort of power since his hero days.
"Perhaps that could have gone better, but at least the buzzing in my heads gone…although the ringing in my ears is kind of harsh." Serenity shook her head, trying to get the ringing to stop. She looked at him with her head held high and her eyes unwavering. "Now then Coach Boomer, if you knew my mother as I assume you did…and now that you know we have the same power. I do believe you understand where to put me."
He pulled out his clip board, "Serenity Powers, sidekick."
She nodded and the ringing in her ears finally stopped but the buzzing came back. "Now I'm going to be sitting over there." She went over to the bleachers and brushed off some glass then sat down.
By the time the freshmen made it to the cafeteria, there wasn't an empty table in sight. They heard an announcement about sidekicks ordering hero sandwiches. All that did was make Serenity sigh then shake her head. With a quick turn on her heel, she headed to the office. Once inside the office, it wasn't hard to find her Aunt's specific office. The secretary looked at her as she stood outside the door, "She's in a meeting."
"That's fine I'll just wait." She turned to go sit down in a chair when she heard Coach Boomer's voice.
"Why didn't you tell me Hope's daughter would be attending this year? I would have held back and most of the school's windows wouldn't be broken right now." Boomer asked.
"I didn't tell anyone she'd be attending here for a reason." Lynda told him quietly. "Hope entrusted me with her and after ten years I am not about to let anything happen to her. She needs to learn how to control her powers, and she needs to learn quickly before someone decides to use it for evil, or kills her while trying to. That is not something we can afford."
The next couple of words exchanged were too quiet to be heard through the door and then the door opened. Coach Boomer walked out of the office then Serenity knocked on the open door and walked inside. Lynda raised her eyebrows, "Is everything alright? Did something happen?"
"It's nothing the cafeteria is just over packed, so I was thinking that we could eat lunch together here…that is if you're not too busy."
"Of course not, come in and close the door." Serenity did as she was told and sat down in the chair in front of Lynda's desk. "So…I was hoping that'd we'd be able to go home together…but it seems that there's some work I have to do so I won't be out of here by the time school ends. Are you going to be alright?"
"Don't worry too much Auntie you'll get wrinkles. I'll catch the bus home, everything will be fine." Serenity smiled encouragingly.
"I'll try to be back before dark and if I'm not you know what to do. I'll pick up some pizza too, so don't worry about making dinner." They listened to Serenity's stomach growl. "Hurry up and eat before you're stomach breaks the rest of my windows."
"It's not that bad, is it?" She pulled out her lunch and started eating.
The rest of power placement went smoothly and the freshmen either went home with their heads held high, or looking at the ground because their powers weren't enough to make it as heroes. Serenity was stopped just as she got on the bus, "What's your name, freshmen and why weren't you on the bus this morning?"
'Wow, I am explaining myself a lot today aren't I?' She rolled her eyes internally, "My name is Serenity Powers and I wasn't on the bus this morning because I caught a ride with my aunt."
"So you're the girl I've been hearing about. I'm Ron Wilson, Sky High bus driver; now go take your seat." He smiled at her, and she couldn't help but smile back thankful that there was at least one normal person at this school.
There was an empty seat near the front of the bus and she sat down placing her head against the window. 'This school's window replacement system is amazing.'
"Sorry we're late Ron." Will apologized for the group he was with as they climbed onto the bus. "Some sophomores were picking on a freshman, and I just couldn't stand by while it happened."
"No need to explain yourself now go on so we can get this bus moving." Ron told them.
The six of them got onto the bus, Will and Layla first. Then Zach and Magenta. Then finally Ethan and Warren. "So Warren…" Will looked back. "My place tonight?"
"Can't. I have work. You know that thing some of us have to do." Warren told him as his eyes met with the girl who had comet white hair while Will simply rolled his eyes.
"Dude, you need to stop working…you're making me a fifth wheel." Ethan complained.
Warren looked back at the five in front of him then sat down in an empty seat, "Then stop complaining and do something about it, like finding yourself a girlfriend, Popsicle."
"Easy for you to say, not all of us naturally have super good looks." They all rolled their eyes.
That's when Magenta noticed who sat at the front of the bus, "Hey isn't that the girl from this morning, you know the one who got out of Principal Powers' car?"
"Yeah I talked to her a bit this morning, her name is Serenity. I heard she and Coach Boomer were the ones who shattered the windows this morning. And has anyone else noticed how awesome our school window replacement system is?" Will asked them.
"So did you find out if she was Principal Powers' daughter?" Layla looked at him, completely unaware of the bus flying through the clouds and taking them home.
"Just that they have the same last name." He shrugged.
Warren looked at the girl again and then whispered to himself, "I don't think they're mother and daughter…"
"What did you say Warren?" Zach asked, determined to be a part of this conversation.
"Nothing." Warren told him, as he continued to eye the girl.
Serenity was surprised to find herself topic to idle teenage gossip, before Sky High she had just been the girl with the strange colored hair that no one wanted anything to do with. That's when she looked to the empty spot beside her and then rolled her eyes, 'Correction, no one still wants anything to do with me.'
She watched as Ron went from Sky High bus driver/pilot to a regular bus driver in the course of thirty seconds. Then watched as her peers began to get off the bus, eventually leaving her with only one other student, the same student who she had locked eyes with earlier and who had been keeping his eye on her ever since he sat down. She watched as they drove into her section of the neighborhood and began to gather her stuff. Ron stopped the bus and she got off with a quick thank you.
She ran to her house eager to change into something more comfy then her pair of jeans and drop off her bag. She arrived at the house that she lived in with Lynda; the house that she's been living for almost ten years now. She didn't call it home though, her home was the house where she and her mother lived in all those years ago. She swallowed down the yearning feeling that threatened to overwhelm her. 'Oh fine! There's no point in denying myself any longer…It could probably use a good tidying.' She dashed up the front stairs and unlocked the front door then walked in as quickly as possible.
She had changed and was now looking at her bike. "Just one quick visit before Auntie comes home, where's the harm in that? Come on Serenity, nothing's going to happen." She swung her leg over and sat on the bike while trying to remember that she was supposed to be courageous and that even if she was a sidekick she could defend herself perfectly fine without some hero.
She rode her bike down the street and several blocks later she was staring at the bright yellow house with black roof tiles. It had always made her laugh how the black tiles looked so out of place, but now it just made her heart ache. She pulled a key out of her pocket as she walked up to the door then slide it into the key hole. The door swung open and she walked inside quietly, not that it would have made any difference no one lived here anyways. "I'm home." She whispered to the empty house.
She walked up the stairs and to the first bedroom on her right, it was her old room. There was a crib that wasn't full anymore and on it sat alone teddy bear. A bear that she had told her Aunt that she'd lost it, even though that wasn't true. She had left it there to keep the house company; she walked inside the room and grabbed it. She squeezed it and the old recorded message inside of it activated, "I love you Serenity." The voice made her heart ache even more; it was her mother's voice.
With a quick turn on her heel she left the room and walked into the room just a door away. The door she knew was never closed and the light always shone through the window, she looked at the bed then decided to go lay down on it. She began whispering into the emptiness of the house. "Hi mom, it's me again. I thought I'd come and see how you are. Today was my first day at Sky High. Can you believe it? Me a high school student, I haven't made any friends yet, but it was just my first day so I can't expect too much right? I also met Coach Boomer today I don't think he expected to me, of course I don't think he planned to break most of the windows at school today either. Did you know our window replacement system is amazing? Because by the time I was heading to the bus most of the windows had been fixed." A warm and peaceful feeling surrounded her and she drifted off to sleep as she talked about her day.