Uhm… Chapter two here… RnR if ya liked it.
I still don't own anything I didn't in chapter one.
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"Hey Mom." Erin said as she walked in the kitchen door. She dropped her keys on the counter top and fished an orange out of the bowl on top of it.
"Hey honey how was school." Her mom said from the stove, stroganoff from the smell.
"Bleck." She replied digging her thumb under the rind and tearing up large chunks of it off. "You know Warren Peace right?" Her mother paused in stirring, letting Erin know she had heard about the rumors, but wasn't going to say anything until her daughter confirmed or denied them.
"Hmm… Oh yes! Becky's son. I heard he's every bit as handsome as his father." Malinda McDaniel commented neutrally.
"Hmm? Warren handsome? Yeah, I guess so, no one's ever called him that though. Nah, it's uhm, Freeze-girl, Bethany Drake was trying to get him to date her, publicity reasons purely I suppose, and when he accidently foiled her plans, she started spreading all these rumors about him, and I had no idea, and we were working together in Power Training and so everyone started going hog wild with rumors, I mean some kid asked me if I was pregnant! It's ridiculous but, I really don't care, in fact I'm doing this for a girl who managed to get onto the top of icy-butts crap-list for a long while and they totally shredded her, so I'm kinda helping her get revenge but other than that it's funny." Malinda merely kept a neutral face and kept stirring the noodles in the pot next to the pan of simmering beef and seasonings. Within the bubbling and frothing waters she could see her daughter, in the near future, yelling about something, with a dark haired boy next to her laughing. His face looked nice, especially when he laughed. She blinked and the vision was gone back into frothing starchy waters.
"Well, go tell your sister that, she's convinced your eloping to Bavaria with him." Erin laughed and took her pealed and halved orange with her to go explain to her freshman little sister that she was at least going to finish high school before she ran off. Malinda turned to the counter and scooped up the peals and dumped them into the trash before going to stir the sauce.
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"And you're sure your not running off with Peace to Bavaria."
"Yes, I'm not running off."
"And you're not pregnant."
"For the love of… Amelia, your psychic, you should know its all lies!"
"Well, how should I know? I'm just a freshman."
"… don't go there twerp."
'So, you and Peace eh?" a new voice came into the conversation.
"Oh fuckin hell Stacy!"
"So?"
"Nothing to tell, and you damn well know that."
"Chill Erin, I'm just teasing you, you know, it's stupid to take on icy-tits yourself."
"Tee hee... icy-tits."
"Oh great going Stacy, now she's going to repeat it in front of Mom and Dad, and we're all gonna be boned."
"Chill, watch this. Hey Mini-me."
"Yosh!"
"Don't repeat this conversation got it?"
"Do I look stupid?" Erin and Stacy both turned to look at their little sister.
"Need I remind you of the Coconut incident?"
"Will you let that die already?"
"no."
From inside the kitchen Malinda called out to her girls doing their homework in the kitchen.
"Hey, will one of you girls feed Jack; the doctor says he's not supposed to eat after 8."
"Sure thing Mom!" Stacy called and got up to fetch their baby brother and a bottle of his favorite mashed peas.
Five minutes later, Erin had managed to plow through a good portion of her practice test, and had already finished the Chapter Review questions assigned to her. Stacy, with a towel and a baby-spoon, had just managed to get her rambunctious baby brother to sit still and was trying, desperately to spoon the food in his mouth and not down her front. Her long died blonde hair was pulled back in a sloppy tail for the job and her homework had chunks of baby-drool and mashed peas stuck to them. She huffed a deep sigh at the sight of her ruined homework and muttered about being a chronopath as apposed to a telepath.
"Nah, just write the answers to what you can see and ask Medulla in the morning before class if you can get a clean sheet of homework to copy your answers onto. That's what I do when Jack spews all over my homework." Erin replied, flipping a page to find the answer for question number 39 when her cell phone rang. She dug it out of her pocket and checked the number. She didn't recognize it but it was probably Warren.
"Hello?" She answered, shushing her sisters.
"This is Warren." His voice grumbled out of the earpiece.
"Ah hey Warren!" She responded and ran up to her room for quiet. A loud shush from outside alerted her to her sister's eavesdropping.
"What did you mean by Magenta not being trusted?" He started out not waiting for her to start the conversation.
"Uh, well about three weeks after homecoming last year, her and… Zack I believe, got on Freeze-girl's shit list, and she publicly humiliated them for days. You probably didn't hear about it because everyone was still kinda scared of you for a while there. So this is largely revenge for her, but that means she's not going to do things in our interest. And while I personally have no issues getting even for her, I'm not going to be the pawn of her war." Warren gave a grunt the sounded like he both agreed with Erin about being a pawn and was on the verge of ripping Bethany a new hole, literally, for hurting his friends. "Well, the great thing about gossip and malice is that you can't get detention for saying shit about people. So you can ruin her, and get away clean with it." Warren grunted again. But this time he didn't sound as angry.
"Now I assume Magenta has her reasons for keeping things a secret. And I'm going to respect that. And she's also right about the more people thing." Stacy was popular as hell, and would be a great asset in taking down popsicle-puss, Amelia too. Though she wasn't anywhere near as popular as her sister.
"So we're going to go ahead and start the rumor warfare?" Warren actually seemed mildly interested in this whole deal.
"Yeah, we need dirt on her, but don't worry I know all the places I can go to get some really gritty details. You prepared for sharing intimate details if need be?" She asked.
"Not really."
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Warren couldn't but smile as she laughed at his response.
"Well, I think we'll be fine with out your critique of her performance." Even Warren had to laugh at that.
"God, it was horrible, the entire evening. Just horrible." He laughed; a small part in the back of his brain noted how easily she made him laugh. She couldn't help but laugh and go "EWWW" at the same time
"TMI TMI!!!!!" She cried, still laughing. Eventually the two simply dissolved into fits of laughter.
"Oh, I don't even know why that was so funny." Erin finally sighed.
"Mm." Warren replied.
"Well I have Homework I have to finish, so text ya in class tomorrow." Erin said, suddenly feeling awkward.
"Yeah, bye." The sentimentality was repeated and the two disconnected from each other.
Warren heaved a puffed sigh and ran a hand through his unbound tresses and he laid on his bed in his tank and a pair of boxers. His sock clad feet shifted on the bottom of the bed wrinkling the sheet on his bed.
"Warren sweetie? Are you done talking to your friend?" A Pacific Asian woman asked asked.
"Yeah mom." Warren sighed.
Becky Peace was a slight woman barely capping 5'5 and hardly weighing 120 pounds. She was adopted as a young infant by Carl and Joann Peace, who after a horrible incident involving a leaked radiation container during one of their hero missions left the couple infertile. Though Becky Peace never married Baron, due to the fact that he was arrested before she was aware she was pregnant with Warren, she had always strived to make his father as much a part of his life as she thought appropriate.
"Your Father is allowed visitor rights again next week for good behavior, are you going to go visit him?" It was so hard on both father and son. Barry swearing that if he had known Becky was pregnant, he would have never gone evil, and would have stayed with his son and wife like his father wasn't for him. And for Warren who could only see his father when the warden decided he was being good enough to be allowed visitors. Warren bit his lip in thought. He knew the Commander was going to be there. And probably Jetstream. Which means Will would be there too. And things between him and Will were kinda… sketchy at the moment. And what's worse if Will is there, then Layla will probably tag along. And Layla's… not the person he wanted to see at the moment. Least not till he could figure heads or tails out about her odd behavior.
And while his thoughts continued to circle round and round in his head he was surprisingly startled to be thinking about texting Erin the next day.
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Erin stifled a yawn as the substitute for English managed to destroy The Tell-tale Heart. The dull whirr of her phone vibrating from her backpack alerted her to a text message, which sufficiently distracted her from the monotonous reading of the sub, pacing in front of the class with her face pressed into the book.
Hey grl. ur boi's askin bout u. Melissa told her.
Wtf? She replied.
Heres a hint. hes talk dark and hunky. Her friend teased
'Lissy, what did i tell u bout twinkies and mountain dew before bed? Erin asked. There was no way in hell Warren was actually taking the initiative and STARTING a rumor himself.
F U. srsly tho. peaces askin bout u grl. Holy shit.
I'll bite, y?
Wants to no what class ur in.
Eng. We got a substitute, be prepared to sleep.
Righty he says see you next period, same place. Ooh la la someone's got a booty call.
F U. Erin shut her phone and couldn't help the grin over her face. That was brilliant. Quickly she got her phone back out and shot off a message to Warren.
You are a fuckin genius. Congrats on the major BS. Lissy next you thinks we've got a booty call set up. A minute later he replied
I know, she keeps looking at me and grinning and winking. Five minutes later Magenta texted her.
OMG what did you two do?! The entire schools buzzing, literally, that you and Warren have a booty call!
Shockingly Warren took initiative and started poking a friend of mine for details about me.
Holy shit.
My sentiments exactly.
Want to skip most of gym? This one was from Warren.
You are really getting into this aren't you?
I'm fucking with the ENTIRE schools minds. Hell yes I am. Erin had to clamp her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. When she was able to function again it was time to pack up. Not even bothering to changing into her gym clothes she ran to the roof top and over to the Gazebo.
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It was the last sunny days of summer, and Erin sat there enjoying the remaining days of warmth. She stretched and wiggled her low rise jeans back onto her hips as she laid across the stone bench on the sunny side of the Gazebo. Absently she scratched her knee through the rip in her jeans. A shadow cast across her, and without even opening her eyes, she knew who it was.
"Comfy?" Erin grinned and shot back.
"Well fuck, half the school expects me to be on my back, so I might as well mix some truth in with this lie." Warren choked on air, then started laughing.
"Whew, you are most definitely not the type of girl I usually associate with." Warren teased. Erin arched an eyebrow and replied.
"Oh really now Mr. Peace. Do tell." She purred sitting up, enjoying the game.
"Mm, Yes. You are most definitely not my usual." Erin's mind went blank as she tried in vain to search for a response to that, her grin frozen on her face in shock and laughter. Way off behind the flame manipulator, two girls stood there pointing and whispering.
"Oh shit Warren, come here." The seventeen year old asked her classmate. Confused as to her sudden change from the playful flirty banter they had a moment ago, he complied as she pulled him down to sit next to her and buried herself in his embrace, making it look like they were making out.
"OH MY GOD!" a squeal "interrupted" them. And taking cues from each other subliminally, they snapped apart and looked around, both knowing where the girls are, but pretending not to. Warren, playing the part, then turned to nuzzle her should and made it look like he was murmuring something to her. Dazed, no really it was that shocking his actions, and still grinning Erin allowed him to pull her pull by her hand and lead her "away from prying eyes". The echoing squeals told her that whatever the seventeen year old boy had cooking up in his head worked, and she couldn't help the small bubble of laughter working its way past her lips.
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Over the side, adjacent to the Mad Sciences Lab was the emergency ladder to the Parking Garage. Now, a rather witty Freshman had once asked why a floating school needed a Parking Garage. To which Medulla replied, "For an small fee, I take students and teachers regular cars and "supe them up" if you will, to fly to and from school." And thus the freshman sat back down and resumed taking notes on Aerodynamics and Propulsion Systems.
One of the previous Principals, seeing a potential for miscreants ditching, put a time lock on the door which can only be opened prior to school being let out by a special pass.
Warren had found out about the ladder his freshman year. And thus whenever he wished to be alone, he came here.
"Ah so this is how Warren Peace gets in here." Warren turned to look at her with an amused look.
"Granted it's not as glamorous as hacking the lock, or holding teachers hostage. But it's a lot easier." He mused.
True. Erin thought as he led her to his car.
'
His Ford was actually pretty comfy compared to her own Kia. Erin realized as she lounged in the back seat playing poker with Warren with the stereo on low.
"Ha! Full house!" She cried. Warren groaned as he threw down his cards. Instantly both of them jumped as their cell phones started to buzz like mad. Warren watched as all of his friends texted him, demanding to know where he was. In front of him Erin's laughter caught his attention. She, being the one of the two connected to the gossip lines, was reading about the latest scandal they caused. Without a word she handed him the phone and fell into a fit of laughter.
OMG! Warren Peace and Erin McDaniel were caught having sex on the roof!!!!
"I-i-it was for-for-forwarded t-t-to meee by Christina." She gasped. He grinned wolfishly and handed her back her phone.
"ATTENTION. WILL WARREN PEACE AND ERIN MCDANIEL PLEASE REPORT TO THE GYM. FAILURE TO DO SO WILL RESULT IN NOTIFICATION OF YOUR PARENTS OF YOUR SUPPOSED ACTIVITIES." Power's voice boomed over the intercom. Warren grinned at Erin.
"You do realize that there isn't a person in school that won't think we're screwing now right?" All Erin could do was grin as well.
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"You don't think that Warren really got a girlfriend do you?" Layla bit her lip.
"Well if he did, it's his business." Ethan said pushing up his glasses. Layla rounded on his sharply.
"He should tell his friends that he seeing someone!"
"Why do you care so much?" Will asked, getting frustrated that his girlfriend kept talking about his best friend.
"Well, I'm just concerned that Warren's not aware of what he's getting into, I mean Erin's not terribly popular, but look at what's happened since he started dating her." Will frowned and turned back to watching Freeze-girl and Larry tag-team against Lash and Speed. Right as the villains won the crowd gasped and looked at the two coming in the door late.
Warren and Erin walked into the room, in a small way basking in the surreal moment and of the complete rapture of the entire student body. Erin made sure to brush her knuckles over his arm as she parted to go to her friends while he grabbed her fingers and squeezed them, visibly, before leaving to his own company. No one could make a sound at the touching gesture.
"Hothead, Bubbles, where do you think you two are going? Suit up. No stay there you four." Everyone looked around in confusion, to see if perhaps someone could guess as to why Boomer was having three teams go at the same time. Moments later when the two came out in battle gear and standing in the area Boomer spoke up again.
"This is a three-way Battle Royale. Each team is to battle each other for the dummy, the winning team will be the team who's managed to Safely capture the "Citizen" and place it in the "safe zone" on the other side of the maze." As he spoke the floor opened up and changed the area into a seven foot tall maze, with the "Mulcher" and "Citizen" on one side of the maze and all three of the teams on the other side by the square marked "Safe Zone" in big bold red letters. "Now, since you are all Seniors or Juniors, and veterans champs of Save The Citizen. We will add a new feature to this maze. An Automated Defense system, programmed to "Shoot to Kill"." In random locations in the Maze, small mounted Missile Turrets and Guard Robots appeared and activated with ominous whirring sounds. "So now, what you have to do is you and your partner navigate the Maze, try not to get killed in the process, find the citizen, save it from the Mulcher find your way back from the maze and place it in the Safe Zone Before time runs out, while battling the other teams for the dummy!" The six on the floor looked at each other. "And as a new feature!" Boomer cried, excited to have a new way to torture the super powered teens. "Power limiters within your suits are set to go off at random intervals, so you won't always have your powers to rely on!" This time the contestants looked at each other not feeling so superior without reliable use of their powers.
Lash Speed, and even Warren, had spent enough time in Detention to be able to be confident without their powers, but not when it was possible one of the other supers could have theirs.
Bethany and Larry weren't feeling too good at all. Larry being a meek and small individual without his powers going up against such bad asses like Lash Speed and Warren. He might as well declare himself dead right now, there was no way he was going to make it. And Bethany? Well without her freezing power she was basically defenseless, having never paid attention in any of her basic defense or combat classes.
Erin refused to let it intimidate her. She stared out over the tops of the maze as the very tops of Robots prowled the turns and twists.
"Now let's make things interesting." Boomer crackled. "Stand next to your partners contestants." Everyone scrambled to stand next to the person they were going to compete with. Bethany tried to stand next to Warren, but Erin pushed her and grabbed his arm instead. Bethany fixed Erin a nasty glare and pouted from the floor until Larry pulled her up and stood next to her. When everyone had settled into their respective groups, tethers shot out and connected the pairs by a two foot leash.
"What the fuck Boomer?" Speed roared as he tried to break the tie.
"Now here I have two passes to the parking lot. These belong to the winners." Everyone's ears perked up and the entire room focused on those passes. "Now as for the binds. Not only do they keep the two of you from separating, but when one of you get's injured, the rope connects to the bio-monitors in the suit and your partner feels it!" He crowed. Erin looked at the manic coach with wide eyes.
"Oh my god, he's a raving lunatic!" Someone shouted
"Passes..." Larry moaned to Bethany.
"Fuck the passes lets just focus on surviving." She replied.
"Now, I am going to blow my whistle, at each blast a single group will enter. Starting with Lash and Speed for their combined scores of total wins individually. Then Hothead and Bubbles, and finally Big Larry and Freeze-girl. Go!" he blew his whistle in a short shrill trill. And the two villains took off. Erin shifted her weight from foot to foot anxiously, desperate to tune out the noises from the maze. A heart stopping scream and the collective "Ooh!" didn't help her mantra of "keep a level head" become any more effective either. Then the second whistle blew and with a big gulp, the two of them entered.
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I hope you liked it. Uhm please review, even if you didn't like it then you can tell me what to fix.