Disclaimer: I don't own Sky High.

Summary: The simplest of events can change a person deeply. Other not-so-simple events can change a person irrevocably; even if they become someone they had never imagined. These are the events that lead to the creation of Poison and Fire, and their reign of Chaos.

Author note: The Tales of Chaos that are currently uploaded (Heartless, Nature and fire, and this one, Mother nature) are essentially unrelated. They all follow a similar story line: Will dumps/cheats on Layla, Layla turns evil with Warren, and they become the villainous duo Chaos. However, you do not have to read them all as a set in order to understand them, as they are all different stories.

Warning: Just a quick reminder that this is rated M for a reason. There will be graphic scenes later on, in both torture and a sexual nature, and quite a lot of the chapters involve swearing. Please do not read if you're not comfortable with these things. I will put a warning for torture scenes at the top of the chapter if requested.

Read on, oh faithful ones...

...

Chapter Three

...

"Hey, hippie."

At Warren's voice, Layla looked up at him, wondering why he wasn't in the cafeteria with everyone else. After she'd hurt Will with the thorns yesterday (she'd spent the entire night replaying it in her mind, and as she was the only one who could control plants, there was little to do but accept that she had injured her boyfriend for holding her hand), she'd run to the bus stop furthest away from Will's house, sitting on the kerb to wait for the next bus to her Great Aunt's house. As she'd sat there, all of the weeds in the concrete wilting, Layla decided to avoid Will for a few days. She'd apologise when it had blown over, when he wouldn't wince at the sight of her, or just be a jerk.

"Cafeteria's too noisy, came out here to get some quiet," Warren explained, moving to sit beside her on the wall.

She nodded in response, poking at her salad listlessly.

They were silent for a while, the only noise her chewing slightly (still tasting only ash and dust) and drinking afterwards to swallow, and Warren turning the pages of his book. Layla finished eating, putting her lunch bag back in her school bag to reuse tomorrow. Warren didn't seem inclined to look away from his book, and without a sound to protest his silence, Layla looked away from him and played with the hem of her shirt.

She was still wearing black, the colour making her look as washed out as she felt. Her mother probably would have wanted her to only think about the good times they'd had together rather than mourn and turn into a silent emotional basket case, but Layla couldn't notmourn. It might have sounded odd to others, but she'd truly loved and respected her mother. She had been her friend as well as a parent, and even the simple act of returning home to her mother's tired or smiling face was no longer an option. She would never be able to share a joke with her mother, laugh at something together, hug her, or watch her at work with the animals she had adored. The emotions twisted at her heart, as if thorns were piercing the organ until no blood or life remained.

"Ow! Careful there, hippie," Warren said suddenly, standing abruptly, brushing a vine away from the seat of his jeans.

Pulled out of her thoughts, Layla looked over to him, and saw vines sprouting out of the ground, simple weeds turned into something vicious. The vines were circling around him as they had done to her only weeks ago. She looked up at him silently, attempting to judge the expression on his face. Warren didn't seem concerned about the vines so much as the fact that they had almost pierced through his clothing.

The vines disappeared after a moment, Layla steadying her power and retracting it from the weeds. They returned to their original plant form, and moments later, with her head still filled of thoughts of her mother, the weeds completely died.

If Warren thought anything of it, he didn't say anything as he sat down next to her once more, simply opening his book again.

...

"Layla, is that you?" her Great Aunt called.

"Yes," she called back quietly.

"How was your day at school? Did you learn anything new?" she asked with a smile as she came out of the lounge room.

Layla shrugged briefly. "Not much, mostly revision," she replied.

"Oh, well, that's still nice," she said, faltering for a moment. "What would you like for dinner? I have fish or chicken? Oh, my. I'm sorry, I didn't think..." she said suddenly, remembering too late that Layla was a vegetarian.

"It's okay. I'll make my own," Layla replied, attempting a smile but if her Great Aunt's expression was anything to go by, she failed miserably.

"Are you sure?" she replied, her words hesitant but her expression relieved.

Layla nodded in response, going to the room that was still filled with cardboard boxes.

...

"I want a job," Layla announced a few days later at lunch.

"Take a number, that's what half the kids in here want," Warren muttered in return.

The others gave him scathing looks for not treating her like a porcelain doll as they were, but Layla simply smiled briefly, grateful for his response.

"Not as a super, just as a regular kid. I'm sure someone's hiring."

There was silence for a moment as they all processed her words.

"Please tell me you're not going to work at the mall unless it's a last resort," Magenta said suddenly. "I don't think I like you as much as I hate the mall."

"Um... Thanks?"

"What about school? Don't you want to concentrate on your schoolwork, or something?" Will asked.

"I can manage my time to get it all done," she replied, shrugging.

The rest of lunch was finished in silence, and Layla returned to her soot-flavoured food.

...

"Hey, hippie," Warren greeted her as usual the next morning on the bus.

"Hi Warren."

"An actual verbal response this morning. You must've slept well," he said, grinning at her.

"Something like that," she said, shrugging in response.

She had no idea why she was in such a good mood. She'd slept okay, considering it was only a few hours, but upon waking up, Layla had immediately felt like it was going to be a good day. It was actually a weird feeling to have after being depressed for three straight months. She was even wearing a black and green skirt this morning.

"Oh, were you still wanting a job?" he asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

"Yes. Why, is there something at the Paper Lantern? Can you even get employee discounts on Chinese food?" she asked, frowning slightly.

"Must've been a reallygood sleep," Warren muttered to himself before answering her questions. "There aren't any jobs going at the Paper Lantern, and no, I don't get discounts on the food. But if there's a large batch of cooked rice left over at the end of the night, the staff are allowed to take that home free of charge… If Mrs. Woo doesn't catch us," he added with a slight grin. "The reason I was asking is because my mum works in the Mayor's office. There's some internship or apprenticeship going there, and I thought you might be interested."

"A government job? I don't know if I really suit that sort of thing. I was hoping for something more ... outdoors," Layla said with a brief frown.

"Well, there's always that guy's job," Warren said, indicating out the window to a man picking up trash on the side of the road. "Come on, it's outdoors. Just what you wanted," he said, grinning at her.

Layla rolled her eyes at him, shaking her head. "You know what I mean. Something that can have an impact. And let me be outside."

"Yeah, and you're living in the wrong state for that sort of job, hippie. The hill the bus goes over every day is the closest thing we have to a mountain, and unless you count the concrete jungle, there's not much in the way of plant life... Besides, if you want to make an impact, where better than a government job? You'd get to work with the Mayor, meet activists, and if you're really good, you could be signing the Mayor's papers that affect decisions about animals and the environment."

"What?"

"You really think the Mayor even looks at what he signs these days? He's got the Commander and Jetstream protecting Maxville so there's all of the extra money floating around with the crime rate practically at zero. Just last week, he gave permission for a new skyscraper to go ahead, just so he can have Jetstream and the Commander at the opening."

"Really? How do you know that?"

"The Mayor approved the building and immediately had my mother send out the invitations," Warren said, grinning.

"Does he even know what the building's for?"

"Probably not," he replied with a shrug.

"So it could be the new super villain headquarters and he's going to invite the two most famous super heroes to the opening?"

"That'd be something. It'd be too easy," Warren muttered.

He kept his voice low and his gaze on the students in front of them. He wasn't concerned about what anyone thought, but since the Homecoming dance, Warren had actually been trying to take Principal Powers advice about not living down his father's reputation. If anyone heard him talking about super villains and capturing super heroes, then all of his work would go to waste. They'd probably start engraving his name on the cell next to his father.

Belts strapped them in, wings glided out and the single exhaust on the back of the bus changed into two large rocket-fuelled exhausts.

"It really would be easy. Especially if..." Layla's words were cut off by a gasp as the bus flew off the freeway.

Her stomach lurched at the sudden change of altitude, and she clutched the bar in front of her, her eyes shut tight.

They were silent for the rest of the trip, but Warren couldn't help wondering if it was a good or bad sign that he wanted Layla to continue talking.

...

After her classes in the morning, Layla decided that she didn't want her good mood to be spoiled by the overwhelming cafeteria atmosphere, and headed outside to eat her lunch. She knew that Will would probably think he was being neglected, but she didn't feel like seeing him today. Sitting on the retaining wall at the front of the school, she opened her brown lunch bag.

It only took a few minutes before she had company, Warren sitting beside her and muttering something about sulking super heroes. Layla grinned slightly and looked to him.

"Did I miss anything in the cafeteria?"

"Apparently Stronghold thinks that your absence from the cafeteria is some form of cold shoulder towards him, or something. I didn't ask for details," Warren muttered.

"Sorry for making you go through that."

He shrugged, grinning briefly. "I'm sure I'll live."

Warren contemplated asking about their earlier conversation, but decided against it. He didn't want to make things uncomfortable.

"So, about that job in the Mayor's office, do I need to apply for it, or can I just talk to your mum about it?" Layla asked.

"Apply for it, I guess. But my mum'll put in a good word for you if you talk to her." They were both silent for a moment, and then Warren continued. "I think you'd be good at that sort of job; gets you a step closer to changing things and seeing how they work on the inside."

"Yeah. It'll be great," she said, grinning. "Do you think she'd mind if I saw her today?"

Warren chewed, thinking it over for a moment. "It should be fine. She should be home early from work today."

Layla rested her head on his shoulder briefly, hugging him around the waist for a moment. "Thank you, Warren."

He stood up quickly, moving away so fast that she almost fell off the wall. "No problem, hippie. See you later," he said, leaving before she could get a word in.

Layla frowned slightly, looking at the wall in case she'd accidentally made vines grow again. There was nothing there. By the time she looked back up, Warren was out of sight.

Making his way straight into the bathroom, Warren turned on the tap and splashed his face with water. His hands were hot, making the water warm and not doing much to help him calm down. When Layla had put her arm around him like that, he'd just had a glimpse of them together, her body naked beneath his and a fire raging around them. It was a small glimpse, which was the only reason his entire body wasn't aflame.

Warren soon convinced himself that it was the product of an overactive imagination. Not to mention he'd been put off of anything remotely sexual after Freeze Girl put her hand down his pants and almost frozen his dick off, despite his body temperature being hotter than most. Warren told himself that he was just frustrated and he'd been reading too many novels, or watching too much TV with all of the objectification of women and whatever. He blamed everything and anything, refusing to contemplate the idea of liking Stronghold's girlfriend.

...

End of the third chapter.

I hope you liked it!