SpontaneousCombustion: Wow. Okay, so this was more popular than I expected. So, I guess I'm continuing. Yea!

Disclaimer: I do not own Sky High or any of the heroes I make references to in this story (like the Batman one last chapter).

Chapter 2

Save the Citizen

Carson walked into the kitchen at seven a.m. to see her sister already up, dressed, and eating breakfast. She looked over at the clock on the stove and then back at her sister. "What time did you get up?" She asked incredulously.

Alexa swallowed the jelly covered toast in her mouth. "'Bout forty-five minutes. There's a bus to school, so I don't have to fiddle with the harness once I get there." Carson noticed that the rather painful looking restraint already strapped across her sister's back and chest. All the metal bands were covered with some type of cloth or leather as not to bruise the wearer. There were two long straps over her shoulders, and screwed on to those were three bars across Alexa's back, pinning down her wings, and another two on her front, just below her collarbone and just above the bottom of her ribs.

"Why can't you just wear that thing under your shirt instead of the coat?"

She looked over at her and twitched the tips of her wings, which were hanging over the edge of the chair. "Because a shirt wouldn't cover these things. The jacket does."

"Why don't you just not wear the harness?"

Alexa sighed, tossing her crusts in trash can and grabbing her coat off of another chair which she'd flung it across. "Carson, it's too early to start this." They both looked out the window as a large yellow bus pulled up. "Gotta go." She slung her bag over one shoulder and ran out the door, ruffling Carson's hair as she passed. She chuckled as she heard her sister use language she never would've dared to in front of their father as the door swung shut.

She managed a smile at the bus driver before her attention was diverted by her name being called. She looked back to see Layla waving at her. She took the seat across the aisle from her, as the one next to her was occupied by Will. "Hey." She reached into her backpack and pulled out a few sheets of paper, handing them across the aisle. "Thanks for the notes."

Layla smiled. "No problem. Medulla's insane."

"Mad." Will corrected. Layla rolled her eyes and shoved him lightly.

Alexa heard a chuckle behind her, and turned to see Magenta. "Glad we don't have him."

She frowned. "Why not?"

"Me, Magenta, and Zach are sidekicks." Ethan explained, pushing his glasses up on his nose.

One of Alexa's eyebrows raised. "So?"

All three blinked. "Alexa, heroes and sidekicks have different classes. While you guys are taking stuff like Mad Science, we're taking First Aid for Your Hero." Magenta said.

"Seriously?"

"Will and Layla used to be sidekicks too." The blonde turned to the two heroes, her expression disbelieving. They both nodded.

She put a hand over her eyes. "Okay, not to be rude, but... how?"

"Stronghold didn't have any powers, but then got 'em, and Layla destroyed a classroom with her 'evil vines of death.'" Alexa looked up to see Warren standing there. He gestured to the seat next to her. "Do you mind?" Alexa grabbed her bag and slid over, letting him sit down. He looked over at Will. "Ready for gym?"

Will groaned in response, hitting the back of his head against his seat.

Alexa sighed. "Okay, I'm going to regret this, but why is the kid with super strength groaning about gym?"

"Three words." Magenta said, leaning over the seat. "Save. The. Citizen."

"What's that, a game?"

Warren chuckled. "Something like that."

"Warren... stop it." Will groaned.

Zach chuckled. "Man, Boomer's gonna kill you two."

"Shut it, Glowstick."

Layla laughed. "Guys, we're approaching takeoff."

"Layla, why are you making me ask questions I don't wanna ask?" Alexa said, leaning forward to look over at the girl.

A warm hand grabbed her shoulder and pushed her back in the seat. "Just sit back and hold on." Warren ordered, smirking.

"Hold on to-" An over-the-shoulder, rollercoaster type bar rose from the seat and went over the super powered students shoulders. "-What? Oh." Her hands went up and she curled her fingers around the bars. "Me and my big mouth."

"You know, you took that surprisingly well." Will said, clapping a hand on Alexa's shoulder.

"If I remember correctly, all of us were screaming our heads off in fear." Layla reminded him. "Not laughing two seconds after we left the street."

Alexa grinned. "I am a rollercoaster FREAK. My sister hates me." As soon as Will had passed by her, she reached up and rubbed her shoulder. "Ow." She said under her breath.

"Smart girl." Magenta smirked.

Layla patted her other shoulder. "You get used to it. What do you have first period?"

Alexa dug a folded piece of paper out of her pocket. "Uh, nothing you guys'd have."

Zach peered over her shoulder. "'Power control for pyrokinetics?'"

She glared at him and shoved the schedule back in her pocket. "It's a required course, okay? I don't have a choice. Besides, my dad signed me up." She added quietly. A bell rang from the large white building behind them.

"Warning bell. We'd better get going." Ethan said, hurrying toward the building.

Alexa closed her eyes, trying not to laugh. "Is anyone gonna hit me if I say Ethan's a nerd?"

"Nope. Unfortunately we do need to get to class." They all quickly ascended the steps (like a quarter of the student body was) and went through the doors. As everyone parted ways, Alexa grabbed her schedule and quickly glanced at the room number, then groaned. Second floor. Not wanting to be late on her second day (not without Principal Powers there as her excuse), she bolted up the nearest staircase. Her rushing was unnecessary though, as she made it to the classroom two minutes before the bell was due to ring. The woman sitting at the desk looked up, then blinked. "Alexa?"

She smiled sheepishly. "Uh, hey, Ms. Summers." Rachel Summers- also known as the super heroine Firefly- was hardly ten years older than her sophomore students. Her fiery red hair fell in waves to her waist, and her eyes were greener than a cat's. Glasses were perched on the end of her nose, and freckles dotted her cheeks but were barely noticeable.

The teacher smiled back at her. "Welcome to Sky High. Take any seat." Alexa nodded and grabbed a seat near the window in the front corner. The bell's shrill ringing came over the loudspeaker in the center of the ceiling, and the door opened again.

Ms. Summers turned toward the door with a sigh. "You're la- I shoulda known. I hope you aren't going to make this a habit this year too, Mr. Peace."

A low chuckle. "Been planning to."

Alexa squeezed her eyes shut. 'You have got to be kidding me...' She mentally groaned, looking toward the door. Oh yes. It was official- fate really hated her. She must have done something horrible in a past life or something. "I don't know why I decided to let you be my aide this year... well, just go sit down."

Alexa suddenly became very interested in her desktop as Warren sat down behind the podium that sat in the corner in front of her. 'Why me, god? Why me?'

"Alright class. I know it's only the second day, but unfortunately I do have a curriculum to fill, so it's time to get to work. Warren, get off your lazy butt and pass these out." Alexa didn't look up as she heard Warren scooted the stool back and walked past her. "Thankfully, your assignment requires almost no brainpower and no super powers." There were a couple groans from the back. "You can burn things later, kids. Just fill out the form and hand it in when the bell rings."

And fifty minutes later, it did. Alexa practically jumped out of her seat in relief, stuck the paper in the black plastic tray marked '1', and was out the door. Thankfully, her homeroom was on the first floor, and could serve as an excuse if there were any suspicions. She looked down at her schedule as she started down the stairs, then nearly tripped as someone tapped her shoulder. Grabbing the railing to balance herself, she turned around to see Warren standing there. He held up a familiar black bag. "You forgot this."

Alexa smacked herself in the forehead, blushing. "Crap. This has not been a good day."

"Mind if I ask why?"

"Not if you don't mind walking and talking." He shrugged.

Alexa started walking, Warren more than easily keeping pace. "Well, let's see. My cat was obviously possessed by a demon during the night, as he tore up an entire notebook- the one that I had Medulla's notes in, so I had to re-copy Layla's at six a.m., I got into an argument with my sister that I really didn't want to bring up that early in the morning, the people I was sitting with on the bus wouldn't stop teasing me," Here, Warren chuckled, "And I just found out that my first period teacher is my old babysitter."

"Ms. Summers? Seriously?" Alexa nodded. Warren just shook his head, then peeked over at her schedule. "I think this is your stop."

Alexa looked up at the room number. "Oh, yeah. See you in Mad Science?"

"Try next period. Everyone has gym together."

She rolled her eyes. "How long am I going to have to put up with you today?"

"Not much or I'll be late." He called, turning and walking off. Alexa adjusted her bag on her shoulder and walked into the classroom.

"Okay, homeroom sucks no matter what school you're at." Alexa muttered, pulling the loose blue gym tank-top over her wings- brace and all. "And so do gym uniforms. At least these are loose." She sighed, pulling her long pants up over the bottom of her wings and her shirt. Turning around, she looked in the mirror over her shoulder. It looked a little odd, but at least not like she had wings underneath her clothes. Unlocking the bathroom stall, she slipped out of the stall and back into the main part of the locker room, shoving her regular stuff in her locker.

"Little shy, are we?" Magenta asked with a chuckle. Alexa gave a weak smile and headed out into the gym. It looked much different than it had the morning before- the circular stage that Boomer had had was gone, replaced by a pair of spike covered "mulchers"- one of the most basic villain tools, used to threaten hostages, and usually thwarted. There were rows of bleachers along the walls, protected by a plexi-glass wall. A giant scoreboard hung from the ceiling, a timer in the middle, and the labels above the point windows reading 'Heroes' and 'Villians'. There were two empty spaces below each of the windows. Alexa climbed up the steps and sat down in the row behind Will, Zach, and Ethan. Warren was sitting a few seats away from her.

"So how does this work?"

"It's easier just to show you- here comes Boomer." Will said.

Alexa had to admit, Will was right. He and Warren were picked first by Boomer to be heroes.

"New record man." Zach said, high-fiving Will as he climbed back into the stands.

"Yeah, you shaved off three seconds." Ethan said.

Will grinned at his friends, then turned to Alexa. "Well?"

"I think I'd get my ass kicked if that had been my. My citizen would've been fertilizer." She laughed.

"Stronghold!"

Will groaned. "Not again." Warren moved to stand as well, but stopped at the next word out of Boomer's mouth.

"Hale!" Alexa jerked up.

"You'll be fine." Will assured her as they put on the protective gear. "I'll tell you how their powers work."

She nodded, swallowing nervously. Will watched as the names popped up on the board, and his jaw dropped. "You have got to be kidding me."

The names under 'Villians' read 'Peace' and 'Frost.'

"Okay, so Warren and..."

"Celia Frost. She's an ice user."

Alexa took a deep breath. "Okay, not too bad."

"She's also Warren's ex."

"What?"

Will shook his had as Warren and a blonde girl walked down into the arena. "I'll tell you later. I'm invulnerable to Warren's flames, but I'll need you to keep Celia off me, okay?"

"Right. Keep Ice Girl away." Will chuckled, as that was what most of the student body called Celia, but then sobered up as Boomer blew the starting whistle.

And a fireball flew right at the two 'heroes' and slammed Will in the chest, sending him flying. Alexa barely flamed up in time to blast the ice coming at her, and then had to duck to dodge Warren. "Will, I could use some help!" She yelled, scrambling away as a blast of ice froze the floor of her previous position. Warren had charged up another fireball, but it was knocked off course as Will tackled him. The pyro blasted him off.

"This seems familiar." He said with a smirk as flames danced over his arms.

"Really?" Will asked, grinning. "Can't imagine why."

"Will! Stop chatting!" Alexa warned as she melted another freezing blast sent his way. Warren turned and sent a fireball into her side, sending her back into the wall. She groaned as she fell to the floor, pushing herself up and shaking her head. She stopped as a shadow fell over her, and she looked up to see Warren. "This won't be good."

"You said it."

She smirked. "Actually, I was talking about you." Blue flames raced down her arm to the floor, exploding under Warren's feet and sending him flying. Conveniently, right into Celia, who had frozen half of Will's legs. Another blast of flame righted that. "Citizen!" Alexa yelled, pointing at the timer. They had twenty seconds left. Will nodded and ran toward the machine. A wall of blue fire shot up between him and Warren and Celia, and he leapt into the air.

Several things happened at that moment.

Celia put out part of the fire wall with a quick ice blast, and Warren shot a fireball through. The fireball hit Will in the back as he leapt up, propelling him into the citizen and ripping its rope, but sending him spiraling out of control toward the ground- specifically, the part already occupied by Alexa, who had just pulled herself to her feet. This caused her to slam painfully into the wall again, sandwiched between the wooden paneling and Will. She felt the protective gear slam into her chest, and more specifically, the bottom bar of her brace. She collapsed to the floor next to Will as pain surged through her abdomen, becoming blinding as she tried to breath in.

"Heroes win!" Boomer yelled as the assembled students cheered.

Will grinned as he pushed the citizen doll to the floor. "Alright! Hear that Alexa? We won!" He looked over at the girl, who had her back to him. "Alexa?" He turned her slightly and could suddenly hear the pained gasps she was trying to take in. "Coach Boomer!"

"What is it Stronghold?"

"Alexa can't breathe." Faintly, Alexa could hear Boomer leap off his stool and run over. Will had already started pulling the protective gear off of her, and she felt the pressure on her chest lessen as he removed the front plate.

"Hale, can you hear me?" Alexa managed a wheezy 'yes'. He put his hand on the bottom of her ribs- and the brace- and she let out a cry. Boomer grimaced. "Stronghold, take her down to the nurse." Will nodded and looped one of Alexa's arms around his shoulders and pulled her to her feet, leading her out of the gym. He stopped as Warren put a hand on his shoulder when he passed him. "Stronghold, is she...?"

"Nurse's office." Will said softly before walking out of the gym.

They were halfway down the hall when Alexa tugged on his sleeve. He looked over at her. "I-" She winced. "I can't go to the nurse." She managed to croak out.

"Wha- Alexa, you can hardly breathe!"

She shook her head. "Can't. Take me to Ms. Summers's room."

"But-" Alexa looked up at him pleadingly. Will grimaced. Damn it, why did he always have to be the good guy? "Alright, what room?"

"Two fifteen." Will grimaced. That was up on the second floor.

"Hold on, okay?" He asked, an idea striking him. She nodded, letting out a silent yelp as he scooped her up and flew up the nearest staircase, landing in front of the door. Setting Alexa back on her feet, he twisted the doorknob, relieved to find it unlocked. There was a young woman sitting at the desk, and she looked up as the door opened.

"Can I help-" Her eyes widened. "Alexa?!" She knocked her chair over in her rush. "What happened, what's wrong?"

"Brace." Was all she said as she looped her arm around the teacher's shoulders and let go of Will. She sat Alexa down in a nearby desk, and put a hand on her chest. Alexa winced and bit her lip.

"Alright, I see what's wrong. Do you still have your tank top on under this?" Alexa nodded, and Ms. Summers slid the gym shirt off. Will's eyes widened as he took in the sight of the brace strapped to Alexa's chest and the feathery wings pinned to her back. "Yeah, that's it. You got this bottom bar bent. It must be pressing into your diaphragm. Let me get this off you." She reached around to her side and unlocked the clips there, and the brace fell off, letting Alexa's wings flare out behind her. She took in a gulping breath.

"That's better." She sighed, rubbing the sore spot where the metal had been digging in.

"Y-you..." Alexa looked up at the staring Stronghold. "You have wings!"

Alexa nodded.

"Why didn't you tell us? And what's with that thing?" He pointed to the brace.

"Will, I don't want anyone to know. You have to promise not to tell anyone- not even Layla."

"But... why? I mean, it's a power, isn't it?"

"It isn't a power- it's genetic. Just like my dad's wings, and my grandpa's, and my great-grandma's. I don't want to be different because of them."

Ms. Summers chuckled as she wrapped a hand around the bent part of the brace. It glowed red under her palm. "Alexa, you're a pyro with blue fire. You aren't exactly going to fit in."

"Yeah, but at least without the wings it'll be a little easier." She replied before turning back to Will. "Will, please. I need your word on this."

Will nodded slowly. "Okay, Alexa. I won't tell anyone. Promise."

Alexa smiled, relieved. "You'd better go. I'll head back soon." Will nodded and left. Alexa looked back at Ms. Summers. "Any chance I can head back to gym soon?"

The teacher removed her hand to show that the still-red metal had been molded back into place. "Don't worry- you'll be outta here by your fourth period."

Alexa nodded. "Alright. Hey, speaking of classes..."

"This is a required course for sophomores, Alexa. There aren't many tenth grade pyrokinetics in Sky High. You'll notice that your class only has eight? My next one is sixth period, and that one only has seven."

"Oh."

She walked back over to her desk and righted her chair. "So, mind telling me what happened to that?"

I blushed. "Save the Citizen accident. Will- the guy who brought me here?- kinda got blasted into me. He's invulnerable, and I got smashed into the wall."

"I see. Who blasted him? I thought I saw burn marks on that gear of his."

"Warren Peace. He didn't mean to. Well, he meant to blast Will, but not into me."

"That would explain it. But Warren? Normally you couldn't force Boomer to part those two in Save the Citizen."

"Yeah, well, apparently, Boomer and fate seem to be talking, and neither of them like me today."

Ms. Summers raised an eyebrow. "Explain?"

"I'd rather not." I avoided pathetically.

She just shook her head. "Whatever. But no, Wararen's actually sweet guy."

"And moody and leather-clad."

"There's that too, I guess." She relented. "He's really opened up since became friends with Will. And he was one of my best students last year." She smiled slyly. "And he's kinda cute."

I choked on air. "You did not seriously just say that. Don't you have a concept of the word jailbait?"

"I said he was cute, I didn't say I was going to seduce him or something. Beside that, I've already got a very loving and serious boyfriend." She raised an eyebrow. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"I saw you this morning. Your face was so red I thought you'd busted an artery."

I blushed again. "He was teasing me on the bus. I kinda freaked out when we drove off the bridge."

"Woah, slow down cowgirl. Warren was teasing you?"

"Well, more like laughing at me." I corrected.

Ms. Summers looked impressed. "Still, that's a change, even for him. Will must be working overtime." She walked over to the desk my brace was resting on. "Alright, this thing's cool now. You should have just enough time to get back to gym and change before your fourth period." I nodded, grabbing the harness and pulling it on, locking it over my torso. I yanked the blue gym tank top on and bolted out of the room.

"Alexa!" Layla suddenly had me in a death grip hug.

"Ah, Layla, Layla!" I yelled, shoving her off me.

"Sorry." She apologized, looking sheepish. "But are you okay?"

I nodded, pulling open my locker and grabbing my clothes. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Magenta smirked at me. "Good, that should let Warren concentrate. He's been getting his ass handed to him. Boomer benched him and Will."

Layla laughed lightly. "I don't think Will was helping much either."

I grinned, heading toward the bathroom. "Glad to know that I'm such a distraction." I called, opening a free stall and slipping inside.

Somehow, I wasn't surprised when Will bombarded me as soon as I walked out of the locker room. I cut him off with a hand. "I'm fine, okay?" He sighed, getting the hint and nodding. "Heard you and Warren got benched." I said, attempting to start a conversation.

He nodded. "Oh yeah. It was a little hard to concentrate."

"Sorry."

He laughed. "Nah. It was nice to get a break from being Boomer's personal pets."

"No, pets get treated better than Boomer treats us." Both of us jumped and turned to see Warren standing next to us. "You alright?" He asked, looking over at me.

I nodded. "Just got the wind knocked out of me, that's all." For a second, it didn't look like he believed me, but he just nodded slightly and turned to walk off.

"How do you do that?" Will asked, incredulous.

"Do what?"

"Lie that easily."

I looked away from him. "Practice." I muttered, walking out.

SC: Wow, that was a long chapter. There wasn't much plot in it, but it'll start getting there within a few chapters. Read and review please!

Ja ne

SC