Author's note: Sorry for the long wait on this one. Due to computer problems and other circumstances beyond my control, it's taken a while to get this done. The next chapters should come out quicker than this.
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"If you're truly concerned about this note, I suggest not attending the dance at all. That will make sure it doesn't happen."
Principal Powers practically shooed me out of her office, like she didn't want me there, making it the first nonproductive meeting I had ever had with her. Even if we didn't agree with each other, we usually came to a suitable compromise or I got a little bit of information I didn't know beforehand. But this time…it felt like she just wanted me gone and didn't want to hear anything about an attack on the homecoming.
That was the thing that really surprised me. It's a well-known fact she wants to protect her students, that much is obvious. So bringing a warning like this to her attention and having her just brush it off simply didn't make any sense. Especially after last year, I would think that any she would want any and all information on any possible attacks. It just didn't make sense.
I kept the unusual letter in my pocket as I sat down in Mad Science next Will. He seemed a little off. He was smiling, but it wasn't his normal goofy grin. At least he wasn't frowning. The last time that happened, it was because Layla was angry with him and he couldn't figure out why. Warren had to waste another break counseling him and pointing out the obvious, something he hated.
"I need to talk to you after class," I said quietly. "It's important."
Will still wasn't smiling right, but his face did seem to lift at my words. "Oh good, I need to talk to you too."
After a pop quiz from Medulla, I pulled Will into a bathroom to talk. Checking the stalls to make sure we were alone and locking the door, I heard Will start. "I had this note on my locker this morning, and it had to do with you, and I thought it would be good for you to know about it."
My hand unconsciously went to my pocket, but didn't pull out my note. "It wasn't from someone claiming to be a precog, say you and me were going to fight at Homecoming, was it?"
"Yeah it was," Will answered hesitantly. "How'd you know?"
"I got one too," I said, pulling the note out and unfolding it. "I guess this guy wanted both of us to be prepared. What do you think?"
"Well, I don't want to just ignore it. But I doubt it's really true either. I mean, who's going to mess with us at Homecoming? I already know Boomer's upping security. Nothing's going to happen."
Will gave me a reassuring smile and clapped me on the shoulder. "I wouldn't worry about it. Come on, how reliable is something if you don't know where it's coming from?"
My friend walked off, leaving me to rub my shoulder. I knew Will had a point, and normally, I was a lot more skeptical than him. But in a way, that's why I was disconcerted.
There was no way I could tell where the warning came from, but it really did sound as if it were true. The events of last year's Homecoming was a touchy subject with most of the people on campus, and no one would pull a prank like this, not even those who care if something if was in bad taste. It simply wasn't done.
A brush off from both Principal Powers and Will alerted my senses as well. They were the two people in the school who wouldn't let something like this go uninvestigated. Actually, none of my friends would brush this off, but since Will did, something tells me they would too. Call it a hunch, but I wasn't about to tell anyone else about this.
--
Homecoming was scheduled for the last Friday in September, and I wasn't going. All the others were, but I was staying home. Will hadn't brought up the warning at all, and I wasn't going to push it. If I didn't go to the dance, then I wouldn't have to fight Will. I was still slightly nervous because the note merely mentioned that it would be on the night of homecoming, but not necessarily at school. But since Will said he was going with everyone else, I considered it a moot point.
I had just plopped down on the couch with my ice cream, perfectly content with a night of game shows and cleaning out the refrigerator, when the doorbell rang. Groaning, I pushed a few bites of my frozen dish in my mouth and answered the door.
"What?" I demanded as I swung the door open. It was always a bad idea to interrupt me when I was eating ice cream, but even worse when I had just sat down to it.
"Now is that any way to greet us?" Magenta asked with a smirk. She was wearing a deep purple, almost black dress, with dark gloves. She didn't have on any of her usual accessories, and the change looked nice, but only as a change. Layla followed wearing a strapless green dress that exposed more cleavage then I had ever seen the botanopath show before, but was still more conservative than most of what could be seen on TV, and her hair was up in another one of her elaborate dos. Ethan's girlfriend Alisha was next to him in elegant white dress that contrasted nicely against her dark skin.
Zach entered in a neon green tux that suited him, and Ethan was in an orange and yellow number. Will wore a dark blue tux that was clearly new, while Warren's outfit looked a little too big and slightly faded. I remembered hearing something about him wearing his father's tux again, so I guessed that was the reason.
"What are you doing?" Layla asked. "Why aren't you dressed yet?"
I looked down. "What are you talking about? I have clothes on."
Layla gave an exasperated groan and threw up her hands. "The dance tonight! We knew you weren't planning on going, but we decided that just wouldn't do so we're going to bring you anyway. I told Zach to call you to give you time to get dressed."
Zach raised a hand, his fingertips brushing the ceiling. "Um…yeah, I forgot to do that, so…"
Layla sent him a look. "Magenta," she said in a low voice. The purple girl smacked Zach.
"Ouch," he said, rubbing the spot where he was struck.
"But I was going to clean out the refrigerator. Most of the stuff is getting close to the expiration date, and I need to finish it off before it goes bad."
Layla glared at me with her hands on her hips, and I knew this was something I wasn't going to win. "There's no way I can convince you to go away and leave me alone, is there?" I asked with a sigh.
"They do it to me, you're not going get to get out of it either," Warren answered, leaning on the doorframe.
I nodded with a sigh and sat back down on the couch. "What are you doing?" Layla asked, annoyance clear.
I took a bite of my rapidly melting ice cream, and answered her question. "You plan on making me do something I don't want to do, and want me to get dressed up to do it. I get to eat my ice cream."
--
My friends had convinced me into a pair of dark pants and a light blue button down shirt. It really didn't look too bad, considering how seldom I wore them. But there was no way they were going to get me in a tux. Neither my dad nor me owned one.
I grabbed another sandwich from the concessions table, half the plate already gone. No one else seemed interested in the note, but if I was actually going to fight Will, I was going to have my strength up. That was something I wasn't going to chance.
"And our Homecoming Queen this year is…Alice Frost!"
I heard the applause and saw Warren's ex walk up to the stage, accepting her tiara with a broad smile. But I was more concerned with why I was going to fight with Will tonight. I couldn't come up with a reason for it, and the letter, while rather plain, was also ominous. The use of 'battle' over 'fight' was what worried me the most. A fight could have been anything. A battle meant one of us was going to get hurt. Most likely me.
"—Jack Wright!" I missed the most of the announcement, but I saw Jack walking up to the podium, accepting his crown, and tapping the microphone with two fingers to make sure it was on.
"Sleep," Jack commanded forcefully, and everyone except Magenta and me crumpled to the floor. "I never saw the point of a big dramatic speech, not since everyone except you two are under my control."
"What are you talking about?" Maj spat.
"Why, my takeover of the school, of course," Wright said smugly. "It's a little sooner than I had wanted, but I thought it would be appropriate, a year after the last attack on Sky High. And I suppose you all are wondering just how I did this. It doesn't really matter, since you'll both be either dead or with me by the end of this. My powers deal with mind control. Only the teachers and the senior Mental Abilities class knew that, so that made my plan so much easier."
"What plan?" I yelled, sneaking a few items off the concessions table.
"I already told you, or are you so stupid you forgot already? This school, and everyone in it will be under my control, or dead, within the hour. Of course the only people who aren't are you two. It's taken me almost a month to get everyone under my power, but I've done it. I even have your little friends. But I deserve it. This power, it's mine, and I shouldn't have to worry about anyone but myself when I use it. This power gets me anything I want, and now, I want this school. But soon, I'll command my soldiers to attack and I'll have the entire city."
"Why leave us out?" Magenta asked, moving back slowly.
"Because you've offended me. You humiliated me, and when I tried to control you, you blocked me out somehow. And you," he said, cutting his eyes at me, "you threatened me. No one else has ever threatened me before. No one threatens me and gets away with it. And besides, I needed witnesses to prove my greatness. But now that you've seen it, you die."
Jack snapped his fingers, and Will pushed himself up. "Leave her for me. I want to deal with her personally. Kill him…but make it slow. Play with him a bit first."
As Will started to float higher in the air, I bolted for the door. I knew there was no way I could beat Will, not in the openness of the gym. The only chance I had to beat a mind controlled, flight capable, super strong, near invulnerable fifteen year old was to get him to fight on my own terms. But first I had to figure out what my terms were.
CRASH!
The doors to the gym exploded out as I tore down the hallway. Will gained on me quickly, and I started to zig zag so he wouldn't grab me.
Will crashed into the walls casually, ripping out chunks of plasters and decimating rows of lockers, but didn't slow down at all. As he started nipping at my heels, I dived into the cafeteria.
flicker
Knowing I wasn't much better off in the cafeteria, I teleported into the kitchen. Will burst through the doors a moment later, and I threw the knife I picked up from concessions at him. It cut his jacket and shirt, but still simply bounced to the floor. Will touched down and started towards me slowly. I threw a few more knives and pots at him, none of them slowing down, and backing up as he advanced, turning on the stoves as I went.
I hit the wall, and brought a pot down on Will's head as soon as he got in range. It did nothing to stop him, and really just made a dent around his head. He pulled it off, and I got my first good look at him.
His eyes were empty. There was nothing there. None of the normal happiness, or joy that there normally was, simply dead. Will was a person driven by his emotions, and his eyes always betrayed him. Be it happiness when he was around his friends, love when he was with Layla, righteous anger when he saw something unjust, or annoyance when Warren or I were trying to get out of doing something, even being caught in his occasional lie; his eyes always showed it. And to see nothing there, it was truly frightening. It was then I realized if I didn't win, I truly was dead.
flicker
I was in the cafeteria again, and Will whipped around to see me. He took off towards me at a break neck speed.
flicker
I pulled off a pan in front of me and dropped it, getting Will's attention. He flew through the large window connecting the cafeteria to the kitchen and I teleported out just before he reached me.
flicker
BOOOOOOOOM!
The kitchen exploded as Will crashed into the stoves I had turned on. I was knocked back by the force of the explosion, but picked myself up quickly.
"Oh, hell."
Will walked out of the flames easily, singed and dirty, a small fire on his shoulder that he patted out, but not visibly weakened at all.
flicker
Behind Will, I grabbed him as tight as I could, wrapping my entire body around him, and I clenched my eyes shut in concentration.
flickerflickerflickerflickerflickerflickerflickerflickerflickerflickerflickerflickerflickerflickerflicker
I pulled Will along with me as I teleported all over the skies outside of the school, hitting my three-mile limit each time, dumping him a few miles off the edge. I hoped it would buy me a few minutes while he found his way back to the floating school, but I wasn't relying on it to protect me.
I ran through the school, making my way to the Mad Science lab. I heard the faint crashing of walls a minute after I reached it, and I knew I had to work fast. I grabbed the spare heat and freeze rays Medulla always kept around the room, and froze the wall next to the hallway.
CRA-ACK!
The door and the inch of ice behind it ripped away from the rest of the room, and Will tossed it against the opposite wall. His face still bore no emotion, but he was moving slower than before I took him on my teleport tour. I guess it took more out of him than I hoped it would.
I fired the heat ray at him, and Will started marching through it, his clothes burning off. When he wasn't quite halfway to me, I stuffed the heat ray in my pocket and switched over to the freeze ray. I grabbed a taser and a shock cannon and hit the gas jets on the desks. I slid the taser in my back pocket and the shock cannon in my free front pocket.
I shot Will with the freeze gun once more for good measure, and made for the door. Just outside, I shot the heat ray at the gas jets and flickered out.
BOOOOOOOOOM!
I flipped the switch for Save the Citizen and the gym started transforming. I turned up the difficulty to maximum and a few rarely seen laser guns and flamethrowers came up.
Will barreled through the doors a moment later, severely singed and slightly blue from the freeze ray. Superheating and then supercooling him slowed him down significantly, and blowing him up a second time probably helped.
My tail made sure the taser in my back pocket was still there as I drew the shock cannon and heat ray, wielding them both.
The arena flamethrowers let off random bursts of fire, one releasing directly behind me, and I started strafing Will, as he took off once more. The lasers concentrated on him, and I fired my dual weapons, alternating so as not to overheat them. He dodged them fairly easily, but he was still getting hit with some. A laser finally clipped his foot, sending him off course and into the grinder.
SNNNKK-CCRRUNCH!
The grinder halted and Will burst from it, the spiked rollers flying across the gym and taking out a few of the flamethrowers. Before he could get up, lasers descended upon him, my right hand and tail started fiddling with the heat ray, and I set the shock cannon upon him with a full power, constant stream.
"AAAAAAHHH!" Will's scream tore across the gym, and his eyes widened so I could see the whites even from where I was standing. I could tell he was in pain, I remembered the report we had to do on our weaknesses. I hated doing it to him, but if I didn't stop him he would kill me, and if he remained under Wright's control, he would kill many others. If that happened, and he got out from under his control, he would never forgive himself.
BZZZ-ZZT!
The shock gun shorted out and sent electricity through my arm, forcing me back. Will took the opportunity to recover. His body flew at mine, and I barely dodged, his hand striking me in the shoulder before I could fully get out of the way. My left arm now hung lifeless at my side.
I grabbed Will's waist and held on for dear life. He ripped me off and threw me to the ground, but not before I stuffed the now malfunctioning heat ray in his shirt.
wwwwwweeeeEEEE-BOOM!
The explosion sent Will flying into the controls for the gym, sending the room back to it's normal, bare mode. He got up slowly, but he still got up.
"Oh, hell."
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I sent Will on another teleport tour, but I paid the price as I sprinted for the old Sidekick storage closet. My legs were on fire, and my body was burning. I hadn't ever teleported this much in such a short period of time before, and I wasn't sure how much more my body could take before it either gave up or I didn't reenter after I teleported out.
I took a few of the belts, and set them on Mr. Boy's desk, laid out flat. I grabbed the set of weapons across the back wall, securing them to me where I could. My muscles groaned, my left arm still lifeless and shoulder screaming in pain, and I heard Will crash back into the building somewhere far off. I grabbed a few flash and smoke grenades from the closet put them in my pockets. The sound of crumbling walls grew louder, and I knew it was only seconds before Will showed up.
He tore a hole in the wall, and was covered in the four nets I shot at him. He thrashed about, struggling to get them off him. I tossed a smoke grenade at him as I leapt through the hole in the wall, running down the hall once more.
I tripped over a piece of broken plaster, sending me sprawling. I rolled over to look for Will, and forced my left arm back in place when I didn't see him. Flipping myself upright, I started running again, my legs sending violent protests to my brain.
Will appeared in front of me as I turned a corner, and flickered to behind him and kept running. He turned and followed, and as we hit an intersection, I threw a flash grenade behind me and took the left.
I hoped the flash grenade would blind Will long enough for me to put some distance between us, and I ducked into the spare Mad Science lab. Not used as often, only when someone had blown up the main one, it wasn't as well stocked.
Grabbing another shock cannon and freeze ray, I set up an energy net launcher. Medulla didn't make those often, but I was glad he had one on hand. Will stormed into the room, and I caught him in the energy net. I set the shock cannon upon him, forcing him into a little ball. Not wanting to short-circuit this one, I switched to my freeze ray.
With Will covered in a satisfactory layer of ice, I pulled the goop gun from my set of weapons I pulled from the wall in the old Sidekick classroom, and emptied the container over the frozen Will Stronghold. I did the same with the other goop gun in the set, and I fled the room.
I collapsed inside the bathroom, back against the wall and freeze and shock weapons ready to fire on my friend.
The door flew off its hinges, revealing Will, definitely looking worse for the wear. He still wore the blank look, and I was stunned at how much it still scared me. Pushing past it, I fired with both weapons, both shorting out much too quickly. Medulla always said the things in the secondary lab weren't of the same quality as the ones in the main workplace. I decided I would have to talk to him about that if I lived.
Will pushed past my rays and I pulled the two tasers from my leg harnesses and held the one from my back pocket in my tail. As soon as he was in range, I set all three upon him, his body recoiling from the shock, but I pressed on.
I almost saw a smirk on his emotionless face as he pushed them away, and I lunged, grasping his throat with my bare hands.
flickerflicker
I reappeared near the ceiling of the cafeteria, and fell fifteen feet to the floor, Will landing next to me, but still standing.
"Oh, hell."
My powers had run out.
I was finished.
Will's foot connected with my stomach and I soared across the room, slamming into the far wall. He was in front of me in no time at all, and I rolled out of the way of a punch that sent a hole in the wall, spitting up blood as I did.
I dodged another kick, and dove under a table, only to slide out the other side as Will destroyed it with a fist.
I pushed myself out of the way of the first stomp, but the second one connected, crushing my arm.
I knew there was no popping it back in place this time; I was just lucky it hadn't shattered.
I lifted my foot into Will's open groin, buckling him even with his near invulnerability. I kicked my way away from him, and rolled under another table, pain shooting up my arm as I did.
I made for the wall, only to have Will pull the table from the floor and sling it across the room. I got out of the way just as he grabbed for me, and Will threw a table after me, landing it on my leg.
Pain sent shockwaves all across my ankle and shin, and Will threw the table away again, grabbing my wrist and breaking it as he threw me across the cafeteria. Blood ran from my nose, and I realized in the back of my mind it was broken as well.
I coughed up more blood, and I knew I was done. I couldn't move, my eyes were blurring with pain and blood, and Will was advancing. He marched forward with the same coldness that was in his eyes, and I was glad he hadn't spoken, afraid of what I would hear there. His coat and shirt were long gone, and his pants hung in tatters. I wasn't sure how they were still there at all.
A hand closed around my throat, and I was raised slightly. Will's left hand was poised for a strike, and his body seized.
As every muscle in his body tightened, they slackened a moment later. I fell back, my head hitting the wall, and Will collapsed at my feet.
I nudged him with my good foot, making sure he was really out, and then succumbed to unconsciousness.