"Will, get me close to his face," Warren ordered.
"Why would you want to be near its head where it can roast you like a pig?" Will questioned, flying close to it but not near its head.
"Don't you ever pay attention in class? The dragon's head is its weak point. Look, if you get me close enough, I can blast him near his eyes. He won't be able to see. You can take him out from there," Warren suggested, earning Will's trust.
Both young men were surprised when the dragon turned its head to them and purred. It had very intense yellow eyes with slit pupils resembling a vicious cat. Its maw was scaly and looked rough to the touch with a drooping, gray moss-like beard hanging from its chin. Its teeth were large, white, and pointed as they glistened in the moonlight. The dragon curled its lips into a cunning smile, shaking its head a little and flapping its fin-like ears. The curled mountain goat horns on its head clicked together like wooden shoes as his head turned toward the boys, ignoring the girls approaching him from below.
The dragon hissed and grinned wickedly, "That only works in movies. My head is not the source of my power."
Warren's eyes widened just as Will's had when they heard the beast speak to them in clear English. Warren looked ahead of him, hearing a screeching noise, and then back to the dragon and noticed the hawk creature swooping at them. He then yelled out, "Left! Left! Left!"
Will looked up to see the hawk creature coming at them full-speed then dodged to his left as Warren said, only getting hit by the dragon's whip-like tail. Will lost his grip on Warren and twirled in the sky for a moment before recovering from the blow. Warren threw a fireball at the dragon's head as he was descending to the ground while Cris threw a few ice balls at the dragon's mouth. The dragon's eyes glowed a fierce blue then released rays from its eyes! Layla forced the tree Cris was on to shake then killed it, causing it to droop and wilt. Cris managed to grab onto a tree branch as Layla helped her come down to move away from the dragon's eyebeams. Will raced through the air, dodging the hawk's swooping attacks, and managed to catch Warren by the foot before he hit the ground.
The dragon roared at the hawk creature, earning an obedient screech, and then bellowed a powerful scream. The sound hurt the ears and made the junior heroes falter and cringe at the banshee shriek. Will swooped down to the ground to put Warren down then landed himself to cover his ears. Suddenly, a large, blinding light opened in the sky and bolts of lightning trickled out of the hole in the night's vast ocean of space. The dragon crouched down low then growled as it opened its wings. They were massive and permitted the soft wind to pass through them like a ship's sails. The dragon flapped its wings once, causing a windstorm to blow the junior heroes back, and then pushed his body off the ground with its large feet. It gently flew into the rift, leading the hawk creature into it as well. Before they knew it, the talking creature was gone. It didn't find whatever it was that it wanted.
"Where do you think it went?" Will asked.
"I dunno," Warren answered.
"Will!"
Will and Warren looked in the sky in the general direction of the voice to see two women flying towards them. One of the women was Will's mother, Jetstream, dressed in her American-colored supersuit with a worried look on her face. The other woman had her hair, eyes, feet and arms covered in flames. She was dressed in black tights and heeled boots but had variations of a Chinese dress etched into her suit. Both women landed onto the cemented parking lot, searching wildly for their sons. They saw Layla and Cris, checking on each other's bodies for wounds, and then turned to see Will and Warren walking towards them. Jetstream ran towards Will with relief in her eyes while the other woman sighed and smiled as her son came to her.
"Hi, mom," Will responded, anticipating his mother about to check on his wounds or search for some sort of scratch.
"What are you doing here?" Warren asked his own mother, wondering why she should ever worry about him. He was quite capable of handling himself.
"I was worried about you," the woman said, plainly and boldly as she touched Warren's face with a warm, flaming hand. He sighed under the touch, feeling his own flames rise to his hands, and placed a hand gently onto her own hand. They both shared an exchange of gentle flames. The woman then said, "I was afraid that someone would blame you for the mess. I did not want to see you hurt again."
"Will. Warren. Are you guys okay? You took a nice hit," Layla said, looking to both of them. She was panting after running to the group with Cris at her side.
"We're fine. What about you guys?" Will asked, looking at Layla then Cris.
"Fine, thank God," Cris responded. "Can't say the same for whoever that dragon was looking for. Luckily, it didn't go into the city."
"What was it looking for?" the Chinese woman asked.
"Don't know," Warren answered, shaking his head. "It just showed up and left."
"What did it look like?" the woman asked.
"It didn't have any arms. Big wings, teeth, gray beard, eyebeams, painful tail," Will crudely described, rubbing his shoulder at the memory of being hit by the beast.
"Nothing else?" Jetstream asked.
"Oh, it had curled horns and fins for ears on its head," Layla said, getting a reaction out of the Chinese woman. "And a half-hawk, half-man was helping it."
"This sounds like an ancient spirit," the woman said, humming in thought.
"I'm sorry," Cris interrupted, peeking her head towards the woman's beautiful face. She looked into her eyes and asked, "I don't mean to be rude, but who are you?"
"I am Warren's mother, Lu Vihn Peace. I am also known as Firefly."
"You mean you're the Firefly?" Will questioned, hyperventilating. "How do you know my mom?"
"Jetstream and I used to go to college together when we were a few years younger."
"Oh, Will used to have a bit of a crush on you when he was a little boy. I remember he would ask me to get a poster of you on his wall of heroes," Jetstream started, making Will blush visibly and Warren grow angry. No one hits on his mom but his dad.
"Mom!" Will called out, trying to ease his embarassment.
"We'll let you try to finish up your date and pretend nothing happened here," Firefly said, gently pressing her warm lips against Warren's cheek. She turned to Jetstream and said, "We still have to stop Dr. Lizarthan from poisoning the riverbanks. Let's move!"
Firefly ran off into the parking lot, creating flames on her feet and hands, and then jumped high into the air. The cement where she once stood was burned and smoke lifted into the air following her. Jetstream saluted the kids and caught up to Firefly. The two heroes nodded at each other and raced to get back to stopping a villain along the coastline of Maxville.
Einrie van Helsing was dressed in a normal black button-up shirt and brown slacks as he walked through the suburbian part of Mortsunder. The French architecture of some houses inspired him to sigh at the hidden romance of the buildings. Many people thought he was simply a fool for believing there could be a love story embedded in every brick or fencing that lined the balconies of some homes. However, it was houses like these that sparked his memories of when he would sneak to his wife's house in the middle of the night just to see her after killing off a giant or werecat. She would always blush or cover her slender body with some silk robe from Paris when he tapped on her window ever so softly. Those times were gone now. Now, he could simply kiss her or caress her soft cheek while she slept. She was with him always in their home, and he never lost sight of the woman he loved. Shaking his head to erase the lovesick smiles and sighs he was producing, he walked down the quiet LaSalle neighborhood turning down Frenchman Street with his main objective replaying in his head. He had to speak to Laveau's parents about her suspension. Her parents were going to be suspicious of her sudden stay at home becoming more frequent.
Finding a reddish Spanish-styled home, Einrie smirked in another memory passing through his mind. He remembered when his friend, Fuerte Cazadora, had bought this home with his charming, tamed wife to start their new life as an engaged couple. They married a year later to cement their bond. Hearing reggae music play behind the front door, Einrie rung the doorbell a few times before standing still to wait. He hadn't realized how fast he made it to the Cazadoras' house. The door opened, waking up his thoughts and interrupting any more memories that dared passed. From the door came Mortsunder's worst enemy, Laveau, drying her hands with the front bottom of her apron.
Laveau was a rather tall woman. She cut and pressed her black hair to a reasonable length passed her shoulder blades. She had lovely, brown skin and hazel eyes and a pair of lips that used to spit out the worst curses, spells, and demon summons that could put any devil to shame. Laveau went from public enemy one to a normal housewife and mother. She was always a beautiful woman and managed to gain his old friend Fuerte's love. It was a strange affair, no less! Laveau, however, always had a temper and still does to this very day.
"Who the sweaty hell - ?" the queen of darkness started. She silenced her insults and showed genuine surprise to see the best man of her wedding standing before her. She then called out, "Einrie!"
"Delighted to see you, madam," Einrie responded, smiling. He took hold of Laveau's hand then kissed the soft, moist back of it. He asked, "Is Fuerte back yet?"
"No, he'll be here in any minute. I told him to pick up some more seasoning for my Brazilian tarantula stew," the woman explained, stepping aside to let the man in. She walked to the dining room on the left side of the door and reached a China cabinet. Pulling out a large container, she offered, "I have extra if you want to take some home."
"Mother Laveau, you are a tremendous woman," Einrie complimented, earning a bow.
Laveau had peculiar names for her dishes, but she actually does use certain things in them to make them to taste so good. Her tarantula stew no doubt had an actual tarantula in it. Why would anyone eat a spider, you ask? Well, Mortsunder is the city of the dead; meaning, the people can and usually will eat the scourges of the cemetaries or any other creepy place. Spiders were the pinnacle of the food chain. The two persons heard the front door open and turned to it to see a man come in. Fuerte Cazadora was by no means a tall man, but he was taller than most people as he stood a gracious 5'10". He was known as the "pretty one" when he was younger and attracted many women in his prime; however, he also turned many people away with his dark powers just as Einrie had. When he met Laveau, his heart was literally drawn to the woman. It is worthy to note that it could have gone the other way around. Fuerte had reddish skin like he was mixed with some Native Indian, deep brown eyes, flowing deep brown hair that cascaded in waves, a pristine nose, and relatively thin outlined lips.
"My love, where's the - ?" the man started, removing his wide-brimmed fedora hat. He stopped when he saw Einrie smiling at him.
"Fuerte," Einrie greeted, bowing in respect.
"Einrie, I didn't know you were visiting. Would you like to join us for supper?" the man offered, placing his hat on the coat rack.
"Gladly. I have something urgent to tell you. I think you'll need a bit of wine, too."
"What's wrong?" Fuerte looked over to his wife, wondering if Einrie had told her anything, but all she did was take her bowl and proceed to enter the kitchen quietly. She was known for being rather cryptic.
"It's about Faveau," Einrie answered, placing his hands behind his back.
"Property damage?"
"No, people damage," Einrie started, beckoning his friend to take a seat on the dining room table. They both sat on opposite ends of the table, sitting like cardinals pondering over who should be nominated pope, and meshed their hands together to exchange some news. Einrie continued after a brief silence, "She's got more medical bills on her record than you and me put together. I suspended her license today."
"She's suspended?" Fuerte questioned in disbelief. "I thought she was doing well. Why didn't anyone say anything to me?"
"There'll come a time in the girl's life when you won't be there to fix this sort of problem," Einrie lectured, watching his friend shake his head and take deep breaths in denial. His daughter gained such a valuable reputation! What happened to that? Van Helsing finished, "She has to face the consequences of her actions on her own. When she fights for us, she fights alone. You, of all people, should know this. I went through her files after suspending her, and I counted a reported 276 injuries in this year alone. I didn't look through the past years because she was still in training, but, if her past records were anything passed this year's record, the church will make her their worst enemy and place a bounty on her head. She already is not liked by many as it is."
"They called my daughter murderer again?"
"After the witch had lost all power and turned to a decrepid hag, yes," Einrie answered, leaning back in his chair to cross his legs. "She reported back without her usual smile or warm embraces."
"What do you wish to do about the suspension then?" Fuerte asked, feeling ultimately defeated.
"She mentioned before leaving that she'd return to school. I propose, however, she be transferred to a different school," Einrie said shrewdly, smiling. "One that has a major respect for heroes, humans, housing, and hospitals alike. We are used to being the enemy to our people, but we also made the best of it and learned to live through it. We had to earn this city's kindness through more than hard work. We found two of the most beautiful women to marry and raise our children with, but it was not until we were accepted as vulnerable humans just like the people we protected did we gain the rank of legendary heroes. Her blight is the same, but she is far too young to know how to handle it and she isn't just a normal human. She does have her mother's strengths and yours, even though the both of you have the option of accepting power. She was born with power. She didn't just have an option. The power that courses through your blood went to her just as Laveau's did when she gave birth."
"But that should be impossible. Our powers can be taken from us at any moment. You're saying this as if the power is part of us."
"But it is..." Einrie argued. "By blood, you have powers that have passed on from the first man in your family tree who inherited the ability to fight demons. The same goes for me. My ancestor defeated Dracula hundreds of years ago and practically founded the very teachings we study to defeat any and all demons within the Great Rift. Our powers and abilities make us far superior and dangerous to normal people. Laveau accepted the power of the snake god, Vodu, hence her voodoo powers and extensive witch-like capabilities. Only the snake god can strip her of her powers, but Vodu is a part of Laveau just like our blue blood is a part of us. Faveau carries the blue blood of your family and the mystical blood of Vodu. She has the power to wipe out cities, but she will only use them for good."
"Yet that's not enough for this city," Fuerte interjected, sighing. Faveau truly was a good daughter who had a big heart despite her hiding it.
"She is still but a bud on the briar with plenty of time to bloom. Living a regular human life without her demon associates could help her grow to appreciate the people she protects. Her disregard for the people is only a reflection of the disregard the people show her. If she learns to be a normal human, she'll protect normal humans."
"Faveau doesn't just protect normal humans," Fuerte debates. "She protects the balance of the conflict terrorizing all races. She is a mediator. That's what the second elder really wanted her to become. Her problem is really not protecting the humans. It's knowing who to protect and using her power to form an equilibrium of the races."
"Why did you ever deny becoming a seventh elder, my friend?" Einrie asked, smiling in understanding. His wisdom was always appreciated and recognized.
"I was getting married," Fuerte answered a tad shyly. "Plus, after the honeymoon, we went on to live normal lives away from here. We only came back because of the baby. We wanted her to live here where we met and married."
"Where did you go before you returned?" Einrie asked, plotting something in the back of his mind.
"Well, we traveled around the world for about two years. I visited family in Venezuela, Brazil, Spain; we even visited Laveau's family here in America, Egypt, the Carribean, and other parts of Africa. For a while, we stayed in Europe and developed a regard toward fashion. We commuted back and forth from Maxville when we went away," Fuerte explained, using his hands to imply back and forth travel.
"That's it!" Einrie exclaimed, startling the man in front of him.
"What?"
"Live in Maxville for a while!"
"What?" Fuerte questioned, thinking his friend is being ridiculous.
"There's a legion of heroes who start their careers in that sunny side-up hell farm. Plenty of peaceful environment and awareness for it. Kids Faveau's age might grow to like her. She can lead an absolutely normal life the way you and your pretty wife did."
Thinking of Faveau living in Maxville didn't create the best of images. She would hardly fit in with the kids there. She was already a hero by their standards in Mortsunder, and her powers were far too complex for the people there to understand. Plus, this would require everyone to lead a normal life by a long stretch. He couldn't hunt demons, Laveau couldn't secretly practice her magic or do whatever retired villains do, and Faveau would literally have to do a 180. She couldn't use her powers for any reason if she was forced to be a normal girl, but her powers come as second nature. Fuerte sighed and rubbed his temples in thought. If he moved the family to Maxville, it would have to be done soon so Faveau won't be too late to go to school. He and Laveau would have to apply for jobs and find a place to stay in the meantime. A hotel was out of the question. That could sometimes be the birthplace of many ghosts. No one wanted to be up until three in the morning, pretending not to hear the mischievous stealing your house keys and putting them in a different spot for their amusement.
"Yes, but we need time to find a home and where to gain income without hunting demons," Fuerte finally said, paling at the thought of mischievous spirits and not being able to shoot them. "Plus, Faveau may have a hard time hearing all of this. It's bad enough she was suspended, but to have to leave the city she loves is going to be difficult. She may have very few human friends here, but she does have hybrid and demon friends that she cares about."
"That's what worries me," Einrie said, gaining Fuerte's full attention. "Protecting demons is considered a treason and liability to become a villain. Her mother is one by blood, and it is possible that the reigns will pass down just as the blue blood did. Can you imagine a blue blood hunter with powers like hers becoming a villain? She may as well rule hell itself! Fuerte, she needs this."
"I'll make your arrangements then," Laveau said, startling the hell out of the men. Of course, Laveau was considered one of the scariest villains because she could exist wherever she wanted much like a master vampire if he was powerful enough to know how to do that. Neither male knew how long she had been there, but she was standing there as if she had been there the entire time.
"Baby?" Fuerte questioned, somewhat used to her just appearing out of nowhere.
"The girl don't wanna be no villain. She loves this city and the people in it," Laveau said, rolling her eyes at the notion. If she turned out to be a villain, splendid; if she stayed a hero, wonderful. That didn't give anyone the right to treat her like she was a menace to society. If leaving the city is what she needs to shut everyone up, then she will be a mother and teach her daughter to be a strong woman just as she always had. She then walked over to the table with a container full of stew in her hands, placed it in front of Einrie, and said, "It's your brethren that's causing my girl trouble. She wants to protect all of the people as equals so let her learn how to do it. Fuerte, you told me that hurting others because you're hurt does not ease your pain. It magnifies it because you're not just hurt but you're guilty. When you don't know a way to ease your guilt, you cause more pain thinking it will mask your own. My child still protects and still tries even when she is in pain."
"Did you know that your eyes turn into the softest brown when you speak so passionately?" Fuerte asks, smiling and taking her hand to kiss her warm fingers. This sparked Laveau's sexual interest as she sighed from the gesture.
Not wanting to see his friend get busy and ruin his bowl of fresh soup, Einrie said, "Before you go making Faveau a big sister, what do you think of my proposal?"
"I won't have her lose faith," Laveau responded, peeling her hand away from her husband. "Fuerte and I still have a normal life outside of Mortsunder to gain money. We just need to find a home."
"What life, my queen?" Fuerte inquired.
"Darling, we still have our shoppe in Maxville that's been closed out since we left to care for the baby. Faveau models and we even opened a chain outlet here. We'll just close out our shoppe, take the money we have from our small business, and open up shop again. We can call for a real estate agent tonight or tomorrow morning to see about our staying in Maxville."
"Well, how long are we supposed to be away from the city, though?" Fuerte asked, turning to Einrie.
"Preferrably until she graduates from school."
"Three years?" Fuerte shouted more than questioned.
"Unless we need her to go on active duty again. She'll just be living in Maxville until graduation. She won't lose her job. While she's staying there, perhaps her outlook here will change overtime."
In the Strongholds' residence, Josie deMarco-Stronghold was busying herself with breakfast as the sun rose higher, lighting the kitchen and den, for the morning to start. She had to finish filing her reports for real estate sales and that usually ate up a few hours. Luckily, it was her day off. As she poured beat eggs into a skillet, she spotted the time to see it was 7:30. In about thirty more minutes, she was open for business. Later on, though, Will was going to leave around eleven to hang out with his friends and girlfriend, Layla. Oh, it was so sweet! It felt like it was only yesterday when the two used to play in the wadding pool. Now, they were dating! They were falling in love with each other right underneath her nose!
Footsteps were heard lumbering down the stairs. Josie turned to see her husband, Steve, yawning and scratching his chest like a woken bear. Josie giggled at the sight a bit, wondering if it would make Steve feel bad if she put a fresh fish in his mouth. He walked over to the couch in the den, waiting for the breakfast to be ready, and turned on the television to watch the news. It was his day off, too, and he planned to make use of it by being a lazy bum. What's the world coming to when one of the greatest heroes of Maxville actually relaxes on his day off rather than trains? Josie just shook her head and heard clanking upstairs. She furrowed her eyebrows a bit, hearing a little bit of music play also.
"Steve?" she called.
"He's just lifting weights, honey. Says he wants to build his strength in case he has to take our place on our day-off," Steve answered, quite proud of their son. Will was lifting weights upstairs, reason for the clanking of metal sounding in the distance.
Ah, so he didn't tell him about the dragon incident yet, Josie thought.
"Speaking of day-offs, why are you dressed like you're going to work?"
"Because I am going to work. I have to file my sales report at the firm. Once that's done, it'll be a weekend at home with my special someone," Josie said cutely, batting her eyelashes and smiling.
"I'm not complaining to that," Steve said, smirking mischievously.
A cellphone rang, gaining both heroes attention, but Josie saw that it was her business phone this time. She sighed before smiling to answer the phone with a cheerful, "Hello, this is Josie Stronghold... Oh, what a beautiful name! It sounds like royalty... Oh, you're really a queen? Wow. Yes, I'm available for Monday at nine... Great! How can I help you, Ms. Cazadora?"
"Cazadora?" Steve questioned silently to himself, never having heard of that name belonging to a queen. Then again, he never cared much for royalty.
"Oh, you want to open up a business...? And buy a home...? How long was it closed down? Sixteen years! Well, I'll see what I can do. That's a long time. What did you sell at your business...? What?"
Steve turned to his wife, hearing pure shock in her voice, and walked towards her to see her face. She was flabbergasted! He shook her shoulders a little to get a reaction out of her then called her softly, "Josie, what's wrong?"
"I see," Josie responded, smiling again though it hardly had the same energy as when she answered the call. "I'll search for a house close enough to your shop's location with four bedrooms to accomodate your family... Pleasure doing business with you, Ms. Cazadora... No, thank you."
"Josie, what happened?" Steve asked, looking concerned with his now silent wife.
Josie turned to her husband and said, "We need to see the mayor."
"Now?" Steve questioned.
"Please, Warren, please..." Layla begged, pouting her lips in the cutest way she could.
"How did you find my house?" Warren questioned with a shout in his tone.
Will wasn't about to answer the question as he stood several feet away from his best friend, who evidently was trying to think whether or not roasting Layla was the solution to his problem, and only waited until fire started appearing on Warren's hands to react. Thankfully, no flames started spewing from the older teen's body. Ethan was standing next to Will, wondering how Will even knew where Warren lived, and wanted to know if this plan of his would actually work.
Since the double date with Warren, Layla and Magenta were talking about finding a girlfriend for Ethan. He was literally the only one in their group without a date to join them on double dates. Not that it was sad because in all honesty it was, but they were sure he was tired of hearing how bad or how good the dates ended up being from the guys. Boys don't usually go to girls for gossip and the like. Plus, there weren't enough girls in the group to gossip with. Not that Freeze Girl, or Cris Haxel, wasn't a great friend, but she embarassed them a lot when they were on double dates like with Layla and Will on his tongue burn. That and she was painfully honest about things.
Wednesday night, after their adventurous double date with flameboy and his icy lady, Layla started thinking about Ethan and wondered what he was doing on his nights alone. She called Magenta and found out that he usually stays home, reading about meditation and the scientific reasoning behind melting, or hangs out with her and Zach. Layla, not wanting to know the pure torture they were experiencing, decided to form a plan with Magenta.
They needed someone with a little expertise in dating to show Ethan the ropes, someone who was already dating, and someone good enough to be emotional support to help Ethan out a bit. They, at first, thought Zach would be good enough to do emotional support and show him how to behave like a proper boyfriend, but this is Zach we're talking about. He already tries to be a different personality while hiding some of his opinions. He was out. Will was actually very good with dating because he was always sweet, but the emotional support thing was questionable. They tried their luck with Will as the someone who was dating. That left Warren to be either the dating expert or emotional support. God knows he can't do dating expert since he didn't actually start dating until homecoming! Layla was actually the one who recommended Warren as emotional support because he helped her with Will, so he ended up being the emotional support. That left one of them to be the dating expert. Magenta ruled herself out point-blank because she was dating Zach and didn't start dating or know about dating until she was Zach's girlfriend. Layla wanted to rule herself out because she wasn't an expert in any way, but she at least knew what she wanted in her boyfriend which is how she fell in love with Will. That's how she became the expert.
With their idea a secret, Layla decided to tell Will about it. He actually agreed to it! Of course, it was mainly to see what would happen with Warren as emotional support. That seemed like a priceless joke waiting to be told to an audience somewhere in a comedy club. The issue now was getting Ethan and Warren to go along with the idea. Ethan was nice, but he won't usually admit to his problems openly. Warren is a hothead, literally, so no hope there. After Layla told him about the plan, Will did a bit of stalking, which was relatively easy since he could fly, and followed Warren to his house last night to clarify his address. Of course, he almost got caught in the process by Warren's mother, Firefly. So now, here they are at his doorstep asking if he would go to the mall with them.
"U-u-um, Mr. Peace, sir," Ethan called, earning Warren's attention away from the pouting Layla. "They just showed up at my house, too. We have something in common."
"I will make sure you evaporate in the sky, meat puddle!" Warren threatened, hearing footsteps behind him.
"Warren just go with your friends. They want to be around you," his mother said, earning a groan from the teen.
"Aya!" Warren complained, saying something in Chinese.
A scream and then some more Chinese was exchanged before Warren shoved Layla to the side and shouted, "Duck!"
He hit the ground, hoping Will or Ethan heard him, feeling a large ball of fire shoot through the front door along his back. Will and Ethan saw the fireball hurdling towards them and jumped to either side of it to get out of the way. The ball struck a fire hydrant across the street, causing water to emerge from the ground like a gushing geyser, and stunned all of the teens from the impact with exception to Warren.
"Dude, what did you say?" Will questioned.
"None of your business!" Warren argued in a whispering tone.
"Warren..." his mother hissed.
"Fine, I'll come to the stupid mall!" Warren resignedly shouted. "Hippie, can you do something with the hydrant before the fire department shows up?"
"You have got to be friggin kidding me..." Warren growled.
The group were in front of the Bryan Dalton Centre's doors just staring at the cars passing them and some of the people staring at them. Of course, some of the girls going into the mall were talking about how cute Warren was which was understandable, but they were also talking about how weird Ethan dressed standing next to him. Warren was dressed in colors no one expected him to wear: yellow and white. He wore a hooded yellow jacket, though it still had his signature flames and red skulls on each shoulder, white short-sleeved shirt, and faded black jeans with yellow steel-toe boots. Ethan was wearing an orange-striped shirt with two-sizes-too-big jeans on, and black tennis shoes. He also carried a light backpack. Will and Layla were dressed in their usual attire and color palette: a regular colored t-shirt and some jeans with comfortable shoes. They were going to be walking for a long time to get this plan in motion. Granted, Warren didn't start fuming literally.
"Come on, Warren, it won't be that bad," Layla tried.
"Like hell it won't," he snapped back.
"Why are we here anyway?" Ethan asked. "You never told us why we were coming to the mall."
"Well..." Layla started, noticing a heated gaze warming her neck. "Okay, okay!"
"Layla and Magenta want to help you find a girlfriend," Will answered hurriedly.
"I'm going home," Warren remarked, turning to leave.
"Alright, but if you do I'll just have to keep calling you about that dreadful piece of advice... all night long," Layla threatened, stopping Warren from walking any further.
"Advice? What kind of advice?" Will questioned, looking from his best friend to his girlfriend.
"What kind of advice indeed," she then said, folding her arms.
"Oh, fine!" Warren shouted, resignedly. "Let's just get this over with. I'm missing American Chopper."
"Alright, Ethan, so tell us what you want in a girl," Layla started, pulling Ethan into the mall to follow Warren while Will followed her.
"Well, the complete opposite of me? For balance?" Ethan said in the form of a question for approval or reassurance at the least.
"We are going to be in here for a month..." Warren complained, walking into the first store to his left. There were a number of girls hustling for good deals and trying on different things. He then commanded, "Look in here and see what you like."
Ethan heeded Warren's words and walked into the store away from him. He was happy that Layla decided to follow him because he was too confused. So much pink and shiny stuff! He didn't catch the name of the store, but he could easily tell it was far too feminine to be a spot for men and women. Of course, those of questionable preferences were shopping here, too. He looked around to find something of particular interest besides pink and saw a relatively young girl around his age. She was fairly tall and had long blonde hair and green eyes. She had a bright smile, too, but seemed very shy. Two shy people wouldn't have much for conversation or physical contact. There wouldn't be much balance, but he did like her in a way.
"So, see anyone?" Layla asked after picking out a yellow dress with splashes of green leaves along the bottom where the yellow roses were.
"Um, her?" Ethan said, nodding towards a girl.
"Oh, she's pretty," Layla complimented. Ethan had pretty good taste in women; the girl was beautiful! She then said, "Well, how about you go talk to her?"
"I-I-I really don't want to. Well, I mean, she's pretty and seems nice, but she's just as shy as I am. We wouldn't be able to look at each other."
"Well, what drew you to her besides being pretty?"
"Her...height? She's about 5'8" from where I am. Our heights cancel each other out. We share that sort of balance," Ethan said, watching Layla shake her head then drag him out of the store.
Will and Warren stood up from their seats on the bench in the middle of the mall, seeing Layla a little frustrated and pulling Ethan behind her. Will stuffed his hands in his pockets then rocked back and forth on his heels like a curious child. He then asked, "So what happened?"
"Grab a sleeping bag," Layla warned, watching Warren toss his head back with an 'I told you so' sigh.
"Did he say something about the balance thing?" Will asked, watching Ethan peel his hand away from Layla.
"He likes taller girls because they balance out his shortness, and he doesn't want them to be too shy because they won't be able to talk to each other. So I've got tall girls with an open personality out of him," Layla informed.
"You're gonna have to take over from here," Warren said. "I don't know where you would find the most tall girls in a mall."
"How about you don't? Why do you want someone to balance you out?" Will asked, looking into Ethan's eyes.
"Then I'll know it's a perfect match," Ethan said simply, blinking as if it were obvious. The groans he got from Warren made it not so apparent, though. He sighed then explained, "Well, in the chemistry books I've been reading, they said that melting occurs when a substance transitions from a solid state to a liquid state after applying a massive or relatively small amount of heat. Take ice, for example. It melts at a certain rate at room temperature which we can live and breath in. Room temperature is 77 degrees Farrenheit, which is enough to melt ice. I can melt in whatever temperature I chose, which to me is really cool but to everyone else it's useless. My ability to melt is a result of my thinking to become like water according to Chinese studies. In a way, my real superpower should be the ability to manipulate water. I just so happen to know one of the processes to change water."
"That has everything to do with you and dating because?" Warren prompted.
"Where do I start?" Ethan asked, looking directly at Warren. "You're one of the best-looking guys in Sky High and your power is awesome! There's a bunch of kids who want to control fire, and you're the lucky bastard who gets to do it on impulse. Besides that, even if you weren't a super, you're still cool. You can speak fluent Chinese. I was barely passing French in middle school! You even have a relationship with a perfect balance: your fire and Ms. Haxel's ice. Even you, Will. You're pretty good-looking and you have two powers. You're a third generation super! With your strength and speed comes a price, though. Your strength can destroy if you're not careful, and your speed can disrupt radio signals if you fly too fast. You have Layla. She's gentle and appreciates the natural process of life. Perfect balance. All I do is turn into a meat puddle. I dress weird and I get bullied all the time. Plus, I'm short and shy. I just want my own balance the way you guys have yours..."
"Whoa, that's pretty deep..." Will commented, scratching his cheek. Didn't see this answer coming.
"Dammit, now I want to get you a girlfriend even more!" Layla complained, stomping her foot and folding her arms while pouting.
"Where's the damn store that sells mattresses?" Warren complained, walking away from the group. He was hiding it from the group, but he actually was genuinely touched by Ethan's words. They were very poetic and made a ton of sense. There had to be at least one girl who would like him for who he was and not because of his power.