AN: Okay here is chapter 3!! Sorry for the long wait people. School has been hectic and this chapter was a little harder to write the way I wanted itto be.
This has been beta read by Sandhrew777. Thank God, without him I have no idea how bad it would have been. Enjoy!
Please review.
Time
Come Monday morning, Warren was as usual one of the last to get on the bus to Sky High. He sat in his normal seat across from Stronghold and Hippie. In the row next to them sat Maj and Glow Stick and across from those two, Popsicle, who for some reason was in his melted form, highly unusual for Ethan.
"What's with him?" Warren asked as he took his seat and did his routine glare at everyone else on the bus who continued to stare at him and his friends.
"Apparently he remembers things more in his melted state", Magenta answered him, and rolled her eyes in the process.
Warren smirked, "He's a genius what else does he need to remember? I mean you don't have a test today, do you?" he asked.
"We don't, do we?" Zack worriedly asked, "Cause I definitely don't remember Mr. Boy telling us we had a test, and I-"
"Zack. Relax," Interrupted Layla, "We don't have a test, at least not one we know about." There was a silence and Warren took out the copy of his latest book.
"So it's the big day, huh? You going to ignore the cousins?" Magenta asked Warren.
Warren looked up briefly from his book, "Won't need to, their sophomores, which means I don't see them". At least he hoped.
"And," Warren continued, "None of you should try to talk to them either. Got it?" Warren gave Layla a meaningful look, as she was the one most likely to do so.
"I won't, Warren," responded Layla, "I promise. This is something you should do. Besides, we probably won't see them anyway right? I mean,"' continued Layla, "They should be Heroes, not Support, right?"
"Like you?" Will and Warren simultaneously asked Layla, grinning.
Layla blushed as the others laughed. She had every right to be in the Hero classes with Will, but she just chose not to be.
Warren did not know if his cousins had powers or not. He never thought to ask Principal Powers, but he didn't think the fact would change anything. He could deal with the kids; it was the parents he was worried about. He did not know these people, does not care to.
It is just that…reminders of his father, and the fact that many still think he will follow in Barron Battle's footsteps did nothing to settle his temper. That was the reason he was glad that his friends would have his back tonight. He knew that was why Layla suggested it and why Will did nothing to counter it. He knew they could control him, especially if he got out of hand and couldn't control himself. His anger was more of a problem than his powers but they had always been a side effect; just look at the cafeteria fight with Stronghold, that was his anger in control and it was only because of Stronghold's invincibility that he didn't get hurt.
He was in his third class of the day, wondering if it would be worth it to get a detention and have Ethan give him a history lesson rather than keep listening to Armstrong-his teacher. His musings were cut short when the door opened. That got his attention, as well as the bigger than normal class' (the seniors shared certain classes with junior Heroes and his history class happened to be one of them).
"All right class, this is Gareth Battle" there was some shocked muttering and furtive glances at Warren at that announcement.
'Great,' Warren thought, 'of course no one happened to mention that he had to worry about a third cousin.' There really was no mistaking who this newcomer was. He may not look exactly like Warren Peace but there was a resemblance. It was the tattoos' on the guy's arm that gave it away, although Warren was the only one to really notice those at the moment.
The teacher cleared his throat to calm the class, "Gareth, would you please go sit by Julia? Yes, Miss Street I mean you", as the girl in question threw a shocked look at the teacher.
"And for that, Miss Street, you just volunteered to be Mr. Battle's guide. Compare schedules and if need be send him off with another junior," Mr. Armstrong finished, cleared his throat again to get the attention of his students, and restarted his lecture where he left off.
Warren ignored the muttering. He knew he would have more difficulty with everyone but the senior class, who could care less and also knew better than to actually question him on the matter. He did not pay much attention to class after that.
#
Warren was not in a good mood by the time he got to lunch. He picked a table, sat down and opened his book hoping no one would disturb him. He looked up as a loaded tray clattered down on the table across from him.
"Hey, so I've been hearing some rumors of some new junior…," Will trailed off, but his eyes were concerned.
Warren opened his mouth but before he could answer they were joined by four more trays and their owners, all who were giving him concerned looks.
"There are two new sophomores in Hero classes. They don't go by Battle, but we know they're your cousins." Layla told him, but there was a questioning look in her eye.
Warren sighed. "Thanks, apparently the mysterious Battle's didn't tell Powers about the third kid," he muttered.
"So the rumors are true?" Will asked. This time there was blatant concern in his voice, matched by the looks the others gave him.
"Yeah," Warren responded gruffly, "And he goes by Battle, so I have been fending off questions from the idiots who don't seem to get the message to leave. Me. Alone", he said pissed off.
The others winced, and simultaneously turned to Layla, this was something only she could handle.
"You can't let them bother you, Warren," Layla told him, then added, "You didn't use your powers on them did you?"
"Just threatened," Warren answered, "My reputation is still intact, no thanks to all of you."
He said this gruffly but none of them miss the gleam in his eyes that told them he was joking. A little
"We still have Save the Citizen later," Ethan began.
"Yeah," Magenta continued, "You going to be okay? You'll probably end up with at least one of them."
Will and Warren had been the reigning champions of Save the Citizen since they beat Speed and Lash. Coach Boomer had a habit of picking who they fought, which meant that he would put them up against one, if not two, of the new kids because he thought it would be entertaining.
There was a sudden commotion that caused the group to look up, and they saw, much to their chagrin, all three of Warren's cousins step into the cafeteria. There was an immediate uproar as all the rumors were confirmed. People kept glancing between the three standing up and Warren, who was ignoring the chaos, and returning to his book as nonchalantly as possible.
Will glanced at Warren, and with a meaningful cough that told the others to ignore what was going on in front, the five of them launched into a discussion about their science classes. Warren ignored this, thankful for their insight.
This time it was Ethan who got his attention.
"Hey Warren, could you explain something to us?" Ethan asked him.
"What do you need Popsicle?" Warren responds as he puts down his book. Usually when Ethan asked for help, Medulla had given them senior level work. Again.
Before Ethan could even start, they were interrupted by an unknown voice. But Warren and the others were put on alert-not by the voice, but by the fact that Will tensed up. He was the only one that had been paying any attention to what was happening with the new comers, and the rest took notice, albeit too late.
"So, is it true?" the unknown voice, which had hints of an English accent, asked.
"What?" Zack responded, as he shot a look at Warren.
"People are saying you, Peace, are the son of Barron Battle," the unknown voice continued.
"What's it to you?" Maj scathingly asked, "And who are you anyway?"
"Because," another unknown voice, a girl interrupted "That means,-"
"It means he's family," Gareth interrupted, "And we take care of family."
So how was it??