Disclaimer: I do not own Sky High. If I did, I would be relaxing in some tropical paradise, rather than looking for work between writing.
Summary: See Previous Chapters
Chapter One
Alara was nervous.
It was their first day at Sky High, and she was already certain that Power Placement was going to be a disaster.
Sonic Boom was harsh but fair when it came to placing new students, even if most students didn't see it that way, and he looked out for the children of old friends. Unfortunately, while Roisin's ability to manipulate shadows, which people often mistook for telekinesis, had her almost guaranteed a place in the Hero class, no amount of favouritism would justify Alara joining her twin.
Being able to manipulate the water inside things had a lot of potential, but Power Placement happened in the Gym, where there was a depressing lack of water outside drink-bottles, and at the moment, it took several minutes before Alara could manipulate the water in a human body to get anything more than a slight nosebleed.
Warren was a Hero, too, which only made things worse, in a way. There was a precedent for two Heroes working together, but after a number of unfortunate instances, it had become unofficially against policy to pair family members up as Hero and Sidekick, so unless Alara made Hero, she would probably wind up like her mother; tagging along after a Hero with an over-inflated opinion of themselves, who saw Hero Support as someone to make them look good by comparison, and blame when things went wrong.
Alara glanced at her twin, who put down the book she was reading and nudged Alara gently. "Hey, I don't care where either of us end up, and if it goes badly, you can always be Warren's Hero Support."
That was true, especially since most starting Hero Support would beg to be paired with anyone but the son of Baron Battle, not wanting to be tainted by association. Warren was only a year older than the twins, and it wasn't unusual for Sky High graduates to take a year off to settle into their cover jobs before becoming active Heroes.
It also helped to know that as far as Power Placement went, Roisin would only care if someone tried to make Alara's life difficult for being a Sidekick.
If Alara was nervous, Roisin was annoyed.
Yes, she had the stronger, more impressive-sounding power. Yes, it was expected that the children of Heroes would go to Sky High before joining the 'Family Business'. Yes, she would work to become the best Super she could be.
It was just that she didn't want to be.
The twins had only been three when they witnessed how swiftly the Superhero community could turn on their own, but they spent the next three years watching 'Aunt' Irene become pale and drawn, leaving Warren in her parents care as she underwent interrogations and court appearances to determine her (non-existent) level of involvement in Baron Battle's crimes.
They listened to their mother seethe about injustice and fools who didn't care to look twice as she Defended her old friend, insisting that it would have died down a lot sooner if 'Certain People' didn't persist in bringing it up at every public opportunity.
Roisin certainly had no intention of standing by and watching as people were hurt, but she didn't want to make a career out of saving the world and playing nice with Heroes who already judged her for being the daughter of a Villainess.
But, there was nothing she could do about it right now.
She perked up as the bus jolted to a halt at the next stop, the twins having been the first ones on. She nudged Alara again. "Hey, want to see if we can pick families out?"
Alara gave her a flat look that said everything. "Don't be absurd."
Their father had said, more than once, that with the amount of students who have attended and graduated Sky High, the only way to know all of them is to get stuck with detention in the library when the person in charge wants to re-categorize the yearbooks.
Or when someone has a class reunion and you can't come up with a proper excuse in time to get away from whoever wants to reminisce to anyone who will stay still long enough to listen. There was more than one reason that The Cryptographer tried to avoid the Commander whenever possible.
Of course, it was that abundance of graduates that made it so difficult to track down the histories of those who went rogue and became Villains or Henches. Every school has its share of bullies and bullied, but there is a pretty big difference between normal schools and Sky High.
In normal schools these people either go through serious therapy or wind up with drudge-work jobs. At Sky High, if bullies get caught enough times, they get kicked out and either drop off the radar or go Rogue. The Victims (usually sidekicks) often get past it once the bullies are gone, but sometimes go with the 'I'll-prove-I'm-better-than-you-by-becoming-an-arch-enemy-and-destroying-all-you-love' idea and become Villains themselves.
There were days that Roisin saw the merit in the last idea, especially when there was a blatant demonstration of Hero-Sidekick inequality. She often wondered how many Sidekicks had the potential to be Heroes, but never got the opportunity to prove it. How many Heroes would be happier if they were not? How often could supposedly 'useless' powers mean the difference between winning and losing the day, in the right circumstances?
Warren drove a flying motorcycle to school, largely because the school buses didn't go near the Paper Lantern, where he worked after school, but partially because he got fed up with all the stares and whispers that the other students seldom even bothered to hide when he was on the bus.
It helped that his 'Aunt' Patricia, less than happy about him riding a 'death-trap' had quizzed him until he knew the motor laws of every state backward, forward and sideways, which had led the Transport Authorities to grant him an unrestricted license. The Cryptographer had shared his wife's sentiments, and contributed by making sure that the bike was in perfect working condition, down to the last cog.
Despite that, the twins were not so fortunate in their choice of transportation, and were stuck on the bus. As their friend since childhood, Warren headed for the bus area to meet Roisin and Alara… and possibly scare off anyone who might be interested in Freshman Hazing.
He got there just in time, as Speed and Lash (self-styled names for the stereotypical school jerks – their parents had not been that cruel) had corralled the students on the twins' bus and were demanding a fifteen dollar 'Freshman Fee.'
A short, dark-skinned kid with glasses, who looked doomed to spend his entire school life as a favourite nerd-target for the 'Cool Kids', instantly protested, though the lack of confidence made it seem more of a question. "There was nothing about a new student fee in the handbook!"
Gwen Grayson was slowly approaching, but Warren wouldn't count on her to defend a puppy without planning for dramatic effect, let alone a group of Freshmen. He cut Speed and Lash off with a warning fireball. "That's because there isn't one. Beat it, the both of you!"
There was already a hint of Hero-Worship in more than a few eyes, but Warren had no intention of suffering the inevitable disappointment when they found out who he was and couldn't get away fast enough. A boy who looked too much like Jetstream and the Commander to be anything but their son practically guaranteed that he would soon be School Enemy #1.
A general glare had most of them scurrying back, but Roisin and Alara smiling and giving him a return look that said they would meet later.
Gwen Grayson, Student Body President and Queen Bee, gave a quick welcoming speech, and then took the Freshmen to the Gym, where they were treated to another speech from Principal Powers.
Formerly Comet Girl, the Principal was strict but fair, and actually quite nice in informal settings. She had been in the same class as The Cryptographer, and they had remained on good terms. Of course, it might have had something to do with the fact that having the Cryptographer on speed-dial saved Sky High a small fortune whenever a student's powers managed to fry the computer lab, but maybe that was just pessimism talking.
The twins were a bit nervous about what Power Placement would entail, but had avoided the state of full-blown panic that a few others were in. Their powers had shown up early, and the fact that they were mentally-based/slow-acting had prompted their parents to expand the back-yard into a mini-obstacle-course. Super-Strength was only a problem if your opponent (or the large heavy objects they were throwing) could actually hit you, and agility was always a good talent to have, especially when dodging.
Principal Powers finished her speech and whoosh-ed away in a ball of white light, replaced by the less-dazzling sight of Coach Boomer a.k.a. Sonic Boom. Coach Boomer was the stereotypical Gym Teacher; loud, abrasive and to-the-point. "Alright, listen up! My name is Coach Boomer. You may know me as Sonic Boom; you may not. Here is how Power Placement will work: You will step up here and show me your power, and yes, you will do so in front of the entire class."
There were more than a few nervous looks among the Freshmen. Power Placement, which determined if you were sorted as Hero or Sidekick, was important enough to give anyone stage-fright. The fear of being laughed at if you had a weird or small power was even worse.
The red-head next to the Commander's son was clearly annoyed at the demonstration methods as a scrawny redhead was pulled up. "What is humiliating him in front of everyone going to prove? This is so unfair."
A good point, but the newest Stronghold made a better one. A Philosopher in the making, that guy. "If life were to suddenly get fair, I doubt it would happen in High School."
But, you couldn't judge a student's power by their looks. The nerdy-looking shrimp turned into some kind of 'boulder-man', while a girl with a tough-chick attitude shape-shifted into a guinea-pig. Roisin nearly squealed over the cute little thing, but had a bad feeling that the guinea-pig-girl would try to bite her.
There was also a Mimic, who scored points by turning into the Coach, a guy with acid-spit who switched from 'Sidekick' to 'Hero' when he melted a hole in one of the pillars, and a girl whose admittedly impressive acrobatics culminated in turning into a large ball.
A tall kid with white-blond hair, Zach, got 'Sonic-Boomed' off the platform after making a big deal about his 'awesome' power and then (supposedly) glowing. Apparently it only worked in the dark, because none of the students, much less Coach Boomer, saw anything. Ethan, from earlier, turned into a puddle of goo, and the red-haired girl "didn't believe in using her powers unless the situation called for it."
Three guesses where she ended up. First two don't count.
About half-way through, there was a break for lunch. Passing Zach complaining loudly to his friends about being stuck as 'Hero Support', the twins avoided that group, getting into line as a slightly irate voice came over the intercom, requesting that Sidekicks stop ordering Hero sandwiches.
Since neither of the two had been sorted yet, they grabbed Hero sandwiches anyway, frowning at the obvious segregation. Roisin sighed as they saw Warren and headed over. "You know, I thought we got past that stuff with the Civil Rights Movement."
Alara shrugged as they sat down. "I suppose it doesn't really matter. Hero, Sidekick or normal human student, High School Cafeteria Food is uniformly horrible. I don't need to be a pre-cog to see a lot of packed lunches in our future."
Warren looked up from aiming a particularly lethal stare at the Stronghold kid's table, trying to see how long it took to make him squirm. He always tended to be a bit on edge after visiting his father. "I'll see if I can bring leftovers from the restaurant tomorrow. Have you been Placed yet?"
Roisin shook her head. "Not yet, though there's been an interesting variety of powers so far. We should try to be nice to Evanna, though."
Warren finally looked away from glaring at the other table, most of whom looked seconds away from whimpering. "Who's Evanna?"
Alara took a sip of her bottled water. "A very acrobatic girl who can turn into a large rubber ball. It would be amazingly useful for espionage in public settings, but I doubt anyone in Hero Support will suggest that level of pro-active."
Warren and Roisin exchanged a glance, forced to agree with the assessment.
"A reminder: There is no smoking on the School Grounds. Or freezing. Or bursting into flames. Would whoever froze the students on the lawn please report to the front office."
Well, the PA system announcer was funny, at least. Sadly, lunch never lasts as long as you'd like it to, and it seemed only moments before they were back in the Gym. It was certainly a large shock when Will Stronghold, son of the world's two greatest Heroes, didn't have a power, but Alara was too busy worrying about her own fate to do more than feel a bit sympathetic to his plight.
Will was carted off to the med-bay, and Power Placement continued. Two Heroes and three more sidekicks later, it was the twins' turn. Roisin was called up first, and started by smashing the two nearest lights, giving her a bit more to work with. Coach Boomer didn't look too impressed with that, but changed his mind when he tried to drop a car on her; only to have it halted a full meter above her head. Tossing it around the Gym, while levitating herself, counted as just showing off, but it made the point.
One Twin for the Hero Class.
Alara's turn fared only slightly better than Magenta, the girl who shape-shifted. A few scattered water-bottles rattled and fell over, but all she managed to do otherwise was make Coach Boomer twitch for a few moments.
One Twin for the Sidekick Class.
After that, they were split up into two groups. Heroes followed a 'Brainiac' with a literally swelled head, while Sidekicks were stuck with the dubious pleasure of Coach Boomer's continued presence as we were dragged off on a tour of campus and a brief overview of what we would be learning.
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A/N: So, this is a re-write of Striking Back, since a few people pointed out that I was skimming too much and the chapters were too short. I'll do my best not to turn the twins into Mary-Sues, but feel free to point out if you think I'm at risk.