0SC: This chapter came really easy, for some reason. Anyway, this is the last chapter of 'Catching Fire'! (sniffle) I'm really glad I kept on with this- it seems pretty popular. BTW, as a bonus, and because I didn't feel that it would make a chapter on its own, there is an epilogue at the end of this chappie! Rejoice!

Disclaimer: I don't own Sky High, blah, blah, blah. I think we get the point by now, right?

--

Chapter 10

'Dance' is Synonymous to 'Showdown'

"Alexa?" Warren touched the blonde's shoulder. "You alright?"

She shook her head. "I am not even close to 'all right' at the moment." The group of them- which now included Lash, Penny, and Speed as well- had taken up residence in the nurses office, mainly to find something to help Lash's broken arm.

Layla, being Layla, was playing nurse. She handed Lash a folded up piece of fabric (ripped courtesy of Will from a blanket on one of the beds in the room). "Bite down on it."

"This is going to hurt, isn't it?"

"She's snapping a bone back in place." Maj said. "What do you think?" Lash glared at her and put the square between his teeth. Layla grabbed the elastic boy's arm and a loud 'snap' sounded throughout the room, followed by a muffled scream from Lash. He spit out the fabric as Layla splinted it.

"Okay, great. Now that we've got Lash all bandaged up, what do we do?" Will asked. "None of us are even close to powerful enough to take down an Omega level telekinetic."

"There's got to be some way to take him out." Speed said.

"Wait, what about that thing in Medulla's lab?" Warren asked. "That ray that shorts out psychic abilities?"

"The Neuro-neutralizer?" Layla asked. "He dismantled it. We don't have enough time to rebuild one. Besides, how would we lug one of those things all the way down to the gym AND get Nate to stand still long enough to shoot it?"

"We could build it." Penny said, looking at Lash. "Mad Science is Lash's best subject, and I'm making an 'A'."

"My arm's busted, I can't build anything." Penny split into two as if to prove her point. "Okay, yeah. But that still leaves the problem of how to get it to the gym."

"Take Will with you." Alexa said. "He can get it down to the gym."

"But that still leaves the whole 'getting Nate to let us shoot him' problem." Zach pointed out.

"But what if we didn't have to shoot him? The Neuro-neutralizer uses a laser, right?"

"Yeah." Ethan said. "It fires a beam of compressed particles that scrambles all mental-based abilities in the hero it hits. But how are we going to avoid shooting Nate?"

"Diamonds refract light." She said pointedly looking at Gabrielle.

Her eyes lit up in realization. "If we shoot it at me while I'm powered up, I can aim the beam wherever we need it."

"Yeah, but would it still work?" Warren asked, crossing his arms.

"In theory, it might even make the beam more focused." Ethan said. "But how are we going to stop Nate from just stopping us?"

"By breaking his concentration." Magenta said. "He needs to be able to concentrate to use his telekinesis. That's why he could never use his powers when you morons were picking on him." She said, looking at Lash and Speed.

"Not now, Maj." Warren says. "Okay, you three get down to the lab and get started. Zach, you stay in here with Gabrielle until the neutralizer's ready. We need her out of sight, and you're a little obvious for what we're going to need to do." Zach nodded, obviously understanding. Glowing in the dark didn't exactly equal sneaky. "The rest of us will head down to the gym and keep Nate busy."

2343532453

"He's up." Magenta muttered, peering through the window in the gym's double doors. Nate was floating around the gym, his lips moving quietly. "Ethan, you're going in."

He nodded and melted, oozing under the door. He slid across the floor, reforming behind the controls for the spotlights. This was, thankfully, hidden in Boomer's office. Magenta watched carefully as the lights slowly adjusted themselves over Nate's head. Ethan flashed her a thumbs up from the controls. "Alright, he's good."

"Speed?" Warren asked. There was a rush of wind, and Alexa caught the door so it wouldn't slam as Speed ran inside.

789687

"Okay, connect that wire there and-" Lash, Will, and the three Pennys working in the mad science lab looked up as a crash echoed down the hall.

"I don't think that's good." One of the Pennys said.

"Any way we can make this go faster?" Will questioned.

"Not if you want it to work." Lash responded. "Just go help them, and send the sidekicks down here to help."

"They have names, ya jerk." Will muttered as he ran out of the room.

Once Zach and Gabrielle were safely on their way down to the lab, Will headed toward the gym. He ducked inside and into Boomer's office where Ethan was busy playing with the lights. "How are we doing?"

"Well, so far, we managed to get him dizzy, blind him, and Warren and Alexa are trying to lure him over to the sound system. Magenta rewired it, so it's gonna blast when she turns it on." As if on cue, a screech of unrecognizable noise blared from the other side of the glass window. "Ah, there we go." Will looked up to see Nate stumbling back, hands over his ears. Alexa and Warren were on either side of the speakers, wincing. While he was out of it, Speed smacked into him a couple times, until Nate lifted him off the ground and tossed him into the speakers, cutting off the sound with an electrical gurgle.

Will, being Will, flew through Boomer's window (it was supposed to be shatterproof- ha.) and rammed into Nate from behind.

"What are you doing in here?" Alexa asked.

"I sent Zach and Gabrielle down to help Lash. What was that crash earlier?"

"Nate aims blindly when he's distracted." Warren informed him. Now that Will looked, Alexa's hair had fallen out of its bun, and Warren's jacket had a rip in its sleeve.

"Where's Layla?"

"Outside." They answered at once as vines crashed through one of the windows, picking up a struggling Nate (who was busy tearing them off of him with his hands and powers.) and squeezing. Layla ran back inside.

"Will?"

"Explain later, duck." He ordered, pulling her down to the floor as a tangled mess of green was aimed at their heads. It hit the wall limply instead.

A guinea pig-fied Magenta crawled over next to them. "I just checked on Speed- he's unconscious." She told them, shifting back to human form.

"Perfect." Warren growled. His eyes traveled across the room and he grinned. "Will?"

"What?"

He looked over at the boy. "Cafeteria fight." Will looked up and nodded, rushing across the room. Nate would've turned to him, save the fact that two fireballs came flying at his face.

However, not even Alexa and Warren combined were enough to distract him from the table Will sent flying at his back. Raising a hand, he "caught" the table, throwing it in the general direction of the two pyros. Warren managed to get out of the path, only getting clipped on the side, but Alexa was smacked full force in the chest, flying back through the double doors leading outside, and straight over the edge of the building.

"Alexa!" Layla screamed as the blonde went tumbling. Nate's eyes widened in horror as his mind reached out, too late. His gaze switched to Warren, who was allowing Will to pull him up.

"This is your fault." He hissed, smacking Will away and lifting Warren into the air. The pyro winced as an invisible vice squeezed around his chest, making his bones creak under the strain.

-Alexa's POV-

I hadn't expected Nate to actually throw the table at us. Otherwise, I would've ducked or something. Instead, it hit me- hard- in the chest, knocking the wind out of me, and sending my head reeling as I slammed into the double doors. Why was there so much glass in this school? There was barely a moment of resistance before my momentum shattered the glass, sending me flying outside, and the next few yards over the edge of the school.

It didn't really strike me that I was falling until I was suddenly looking UP at the ground. Even then, it took me a second to realize, 'oh crap, this is bad.' My wings unfolded in a wave of fire, and I struggled to right myself. They flared open, and I felt the muscles catch as I was suddenly jerked upward, back up toward the round, white dome that was the bottom of Sky High.

I forced myself not to land- no matter how much my muscles protested- and looked through the window Layla's vines had crashed through earlier. I did not like what I saw. Nate was trying to crush Warren, and by the expression on Warren's face, it was working. Not to mention that he was keeping everyone else pinned to the ground so they couldn't stop him.

Fire crackled around my body as I launched off the windowsill and at Nate's floating form, my shoulder catching his lower back and sending us both toppling to the ground. I scrambled out of the pile first, running over to Warren.

He winced as he tried to sit up, and I wrapped my arm around his back to help. "Are you okay?"

"My ribs hurt." I shook my head as I half-pulled him to his feet. "Shit." He growled, a fireball appearing in his free hand. I turned to see Nate stumbling to his feet.

He glared darkly at us. "Why is it that girls always fall for the bad boys?" He growled, raising a hand.

The gym doors slammed open, and we all looked up. "Back off, jerk!" Gabrielle shouted, already turned to diamond, as Zach aimed and fired the beam at her. Pointing her palms, the beam flew through Gabrielle's body, slamming into Nate. His body slumped slightly before his head raised and he glared at them.

"I will kill you!" He lunged not for Gabrielle, but for Zach (no use strangling a diamond).

I'm not sure who moved first, me or Warren, but the fireballs left our hand nearly at the same time, and did something rather… unexpected. They merged together in mid-flight, forming one rather large, violet fireball that hit Nate right in the back of the neck. An ark of electricity from… something shot through the air, shorting out the lights, while Nate went skidding across the floor.

We all looked around, relieved, as the lights flickered back on at full brightness. "Omega level threat terminated. Lockdown being lifted."

There was a unanimous sigh of relief from all of us as we heard locks clicking and barriers raising. "Shit, did that kill him?" Lash asked. Zach walked over- being the closest- and put two fingers on Nate's neck.

"No, he's still breathing- hey, what's this?" Zach asked, pulling something off the back of Nate's neck. I walked over, motioning for it. It looked like a piece of burnt plastic, until I flipped it over. On the other side was a mess of melted circuitry.

"So, Hale…" Lash started behind me. "What's with the wings?"

234342534

"Alexa?" I looked up to see Warren walk out of the gym. I was currently sitting at the edge of the school, my feet dangling over the edge.

"They cleared you already?"

He nodded, sitting down next to me. "Yeah. Nothing's broken, just a few bruised ribs."

I bit my lip. "What about Nate?"

"Whatever that thing was that Zach found on his neck, we fried it." He said. "Medulla managed to salvage some of the memory- that thing was designed to completely fuck up his head. He's not in any trouble."

I let out a sigh. "Good. I knew Nate wasn't evil."

Warren looked over at me. "Did you let the doctors look at you yet?"

"Yeah. I'm fine, I just pulled a couple of muscles in my back, though. They said I shouldn't fly for a while or they might tear." I pushed a piece of hair behind my ear. Warren wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me over to him.

"I guess the secret's out, huh?" He gestured to my wings.

I shrugged. "Yeah. I think I knew that I couldn't hide them forever. It's actually kind of a relief."

"I'm glad your thinking of this so positively." He chuckled. "Oh, and, while I was in there, we also came to the conclusion that either we're cursed, or Lash, Penny, and Speed are."

"Cursed to what? Ruin the school dances?" I laughed. "Guess that means prom is out of the question, huh?"

"It might be in everyone else's best interest." He commented cooly. "But it would keep things interesting."

"We're running out of villains." I lamented. We both glanced over at each other and laughed.

A light cough behind us made us look back. Nate was standing there rather awkwardly. "Warren, could I talk to Alexa?"

"Sure." He kissed my cheek lightly before standing and walking back into the gym.

I stood up, picking up my shoes (which had been laying discarded on the grass beside me) and turning to Nate. "So… are you okay?"

"Well, considering I just tried to murder Warren and destroyed the gym, not to mention ruined the formal…" He sighed. "I feel horrible. I can't apologize to you guys enough."

"Nate, it wasn't your fault." I assured him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It was that chip."

"All the chip did was manipulate my own emotions. Until it, you know, drove me crazy." He added. "I… I had a crush on you last year. When you moved, I thought I lost my chance, then I came here, and you were here… then you started dating Warren, and, well… I got jealous. That's why I've been acting so weird lately."

"Oh, Nate…" I hugged him.

He returned it lightly, then stepped back. "Um, I better get going. Mr. Medulla wants me to get, just in case. Here," He pressed something into my hand, "I think this'll be more useful to you than me."

I looked down at my palm- it was the shorted out chip. "What d'you mean? What can I do with it?"

Nate looked up at me. "Alexa, I don't think I'm the first hero who's been stuck with these things." We both looked up as Mr. Medulla came outside. "I've gotta go."

"I'll stay out here for a little longer. Go on."

He turned to go, then grabbed my wrist. "Check the reports for you mom's arrest." He whispered before running over to his favorite teacher, letting Medulla take him inside.

I blinked and looked down at my palm again. My mom's arrest? What could this thing have to do with… I inhaled sharply. It couldn't possibly…

"Alexa?" I turned to see Warren standing in the doorway. "You ready to leave?"

I smiled, walking over to him. "Little earlier than I'd planned, but…"

"Well, it's either that, or we help clean up the gym."

"Home it is then." I sighed.

"Actually, we were all going to head to that pizza place and spend the rest of the night playing stupid arcade games."

I couldn't help smiling as I linked my arm through his. "Even better."

-Two days later-

"Alexa?" RAY asked as the girl entered her father's lair. "What are you doing down here?"

"I need you to do a search for me."

"Alexa, your father specifically stated that you were not to use me to access the internet again-"

"Look, this isn't so I can get on YouTube, okay?" She snapped, walking over to the main computer console. "It's important. Now open your scanner." A circular panel slid out of the controls, and Alexa set the chip Nate had given her on it. "Commence scan."

A blue light shone from beneath the panel briefly. "Scan complete. Alexa, what is this?" A 3-D image of the chip appeared on the computer screen.

"Something I need to do without dad looking over my shoulder." She responded. "Ray, pull up anything you can find on my mom's arrest- news reports, pictures, articles, anything." The 3-D diagram shrunk down to one corner of the screen as the requested materials filled the screen. "See if you can locate anything that looks like that chip on my mom anywhere in these pictures."

"Commencing search…" Alexa watched as picture after picture was deleted from the screen as a negative.

She sighed, hanging her head. "Should've known it was too good to be true…"

"Alexa, you may want to see this." She glanced up at the screen to see that almost fifteen pictures remained, all with small red circles on them in the exact same spot in different angles. Alexa fell back into her father's chair, a hand over her mouth.

"Oh my god." She whispered, tears streaking down her cheeks.

"Alexa, do you realize what you've done? You've proved your mother innocent. Would you like me to contact your father?"

Alexa took a shaky breath. "No, I'll call him. But first I need you to do one more search for me, Ray…"

"For?" A small smile crept onto Alexa's face as she typed in the name. "Ah, I see. Commencing search…"

5475767654356

"How long is this going to take?" Magenta groaned.

"A while. I mean, he's pleading their cases with tons of evidence, but…" Layla shrugged.

"The Council are a bunch of stubborn jackasses." Warren finished for her.

"Ugh, it's still off!" Alexa growled as she snapped her cell phone shut, storming back into the room.

"You know how dad is." Carson said, watching as her sister glared at her phone. "He can't have it on in court, and he just forgets to turn it back on."

"Well, you'd think he would've remembered this time, it's kind of important."

"He might not even be done yet." Will reminded her.

She sighed. "Yeah, but this waiting is killing me." She muttered, flopping down on the couch next to Warren.

"You and me both." He muttered, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"You get a hold of you mom?" Zach asked.

Warren nodded. "Yeah, but she's at a business conference in Minnesota. She won't be back until later tonight." He looked down at Alexa. "She loves you already."

Alexa opened her mouth to reply, but jumped instead (along with everyone else in the room) when her cell phone rang. She yanked it out of her pocket and flipped it open, sitting up off of Warren. "Dad?" She paused, the frowned. "Why do you sound- did you win?" She looked at the phone. "He hung up on me. I swear to god, I am going to kick his ass when he gets here."

"Well, I'm guessing that's him." Carson said as a car door shut outside, trembling only slightly- not near as much as her sister- as she got up to open the door. Then she let out a shriek and ran out the door, and suddenly, the couch was empty as Alexa and Warren ran out after her.

What happened next was probably a sight that their friends would remember for a very, very long time- and tease Warren about when it wasn't as much of a touchy subject- as the two of them froze on the step.

Aria hadn't even managed to shut her door before her daughters had both run over, Alexa finally breaking out of her shock, and was busy pulling them both close to her. Alexa pulled away first and, wiping tears off her face, slugged her father's shoulder. "You are such a jerk, dad! God, you made me think you lost, and then you hung up on me!"

"Actually, that was me." Another male voice, definitely not from Elliot Hale, chuckled. "I didn't feel that Elliot needed to prolong the torture." The other car door shut as Barron Battle walked around the car, and smiled at his son. "Hello, Warren."

"Hi, dad." Warren responded thickly, blinking rapidly to hide the fact that, yes, Warren Peace was tearing up. Then someone blinked, and Warren had disappeared off the steps, and Barron Battle was hugging his son.

1 month later

"Alexa, door!" Carson yelled from the kitchen.

"I've got it, I've got it." I muttered, getting off the couch. I opened the door to see Will and his parents standing there. "Hey, Will. Hi Mr. and Mrs. Stronghold."

Josie smiled at me. "Hello Alexa."

I smiled back and turned to Mr. Stronghold, who seemed to have brought an entire grill over. "Um, you can just take that out back, Mr. S. Maybe you can help my dad light the dang thing- he's useless without his powers." He just laughed and shifted the box under one arm, heading out back.

"Don't worry, we confiscated his yearbook." Josie assured me.

I heard a laugh behind me. "Funny, I had to hide Elliot's as well." My mom said, putting an arm around my shoulders.

"Carson finally kick you out?" I teased.

"No, I came out to say hi." My mother replied, pinching me.

Mrs. Stronghold frowned. "Aria, you're supposed to be relaxing, this party is for you!"

"We tried to tell her." Carson called from the kitchen. "Man, where's the video camera, dad is making a fool of himself."

"Cell phone." I called.

"Oh, right!" The back door slammed as she presumably ran outside to get a better view.

I heard a sigh from behind Will. "This family…" Will grinned as he turned to hug Layla. She looked up at me and my mom when he let go. "My mom can't make it."

"We know, sweetheart. Heard on the news." My mom replied. "Save the rainforest first, party later. We'll save her some cake."

I finally shrugged my mom's arm off. "Why don't you guys come inside? Zach's trying to beat Maj on Guitar Hero, it's really funny."

"So where's Warren?" Will asked, taking Zach's guitar in an attempt to help him boost his score.

I shrugged. "Not here yet. Contrary to popular belief, I do not know where he is every second of every day."

"You don't?" Zach asked, sounding appalled. I threw a pillow at him as the doorbell rang again. Carson beat me to the door.

"Warren, didn't we tell you just to come in? I mean, Alexa has you over here enough…" I tossed the other couch pillow at her head.

"Silence, midget!" I ordered. "Hey Warren."

"Hey. Why is Will getting his ass handed to him?" He asked, plopping down in the surprisingly unoccupied lazy chair.

"He's not, he's trying to save Zach's." Magenta replied.

"Lost cause."

Zach growled and looked around. "Alexa, you threw all the pillows!" I shrugged.

We all jumped as there was something that sounded like an explosion in the backyard, followed by the sound of a man laughing. "And that would be my father." Warren muttered.

"Dude, Warren's dad just blew up the grill!" Carson howled with laughter from the kitchen.

"Just for the record, that was not, and I repeat, not my fault." Barron Battle protested as he walked through the door. "How much lighter fluid did you put on that thing?"

"Uh…" My father and Will's looked at each other.

"Elliot, what I don't understand is why you didn't just use your powers to light the grill and save everyone the trouble." Melissa Peace asked, walking in behind the charred men.

Now, here's the thing about Warren's mom: she. Is. Gorgeous. And no one ever told me. So, when I first met her, I felt more than a little… below average. I was over it now. Mostly.

"Because he likes to be difficult, Melissa." My mom sighed as she walked inside. "Thankfully, the other grill was spared the explosion, so WE," Here she gestured to herself, Mrs. Stronghold, and Mrs. Peace, "Will go start the grill and get the food cooking. Go clean up." She shooed them up the stairs and headed back outside as the three stooges went- begrudgingly- upstairs.

"Our dads are morons." Will groaned as they disappeared. Warren and I murmured our agreement.

"I heard that!"

All of us looked at each. "So… outside?" Layla suggested. We all scrambled off the couch and headed outside.

56547568478

"I thought we hid it really well this time…" Aria sighed, putting her hand over her eyes.

Josie patted her shoulder. "It was a good try, Aria. He didn't find it until after dinner."

"Mom, what is UP with your hair?" Carson called, leaning over the back of the couch to see the yearbook in her father's lap.

"Carson, up IS her hair." Alexa laughed. "Did you stick your finger in a socket, mom?"

"That was the style!" She protested.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much, Mrs. Hale. At least you aren't wearing a unitard and leg warmers. Mom, where did you get this outfit?" Warren asked incredulously.

Melissa blushed. "I was in the aerobics club! Your father took that picture and put it in there without telling me."

Baron laughed. "Oh, I remember that. That camera was brand new, too."

"And yet we managed to save the film." Steve laughed.

"Steven Stronghold, do not make me throw a fireball at you." Melissa warned.

"The whole house is fireproof, Mrs. Peace. Fireball away." Alexa called.

Magenta looked over at her from her spot in Zach's lap. "Your whole house?"

"I had a little problem controlling my temper as a child. Shut up." She muttered, scooting closer to Warren. He chuckled and put an arm around her shoulders.

"You weren't the only one." He whispered reassuringly.

"Warren, that isn't exactly a surprise." Ethan called, ducking as Warren chucked a pillow in his direction, hitting Zach instead. Before an argument could start between them, another argument came up from the three superheroes poring over the yearbook. The words 'lead' 'stolen' and 'Oklahoma' came up more than once.

"Here we go." Will groaned.

Elliot leapt up between the two arguing men. "Steve, Barron! Enough already. It was a musical in high school. Get over it." Both parties looked away shamefaced. Elliot looked between the two of them, a smirk growing on his face. "Besides, I think we all know that I would've made a better Curly than both of you."

No one could move from laughing as both the Commander and Barron Battle leapt on the Phoenix.

4354534

Alexa looked up as someone walked outside. "Are they still playing cards?"

"Yep." Warren sat down next to her. "Your dad is a sore winner."

"We don't play games with him anymore." She replied, leaning her head on his shoulder. "This has been a very strange month."

"Yeah, but its been a GOOD strange month."

"Point taken." Alexa sighed. "I wish Nate hadn't transferred back to regular school. I'm gonna miss him."

"Well, after that chip shorted out his telekinesis, it wouldn't have been all that wise." Warren reminded her. "Lash and Speed are back on the prowl."

She groaned. "Can't we just send them back to the hospital for chronic stupidity?"

"No, then we'd have to send Zach too."

"Small price to pay." Warren looked down at the blonde laying on him. Alexa looked back up innocently. "What?"

Warren ran a hand through his hair. "Shit, I am corrupting you."

"You don't know me as well as you think. I'm evil."

Warren paused to consider this, then shrugged slightly. "Maybe that's why I like you so much." Alexa pinched his arm, glaring at him with false anger. "Hey, quit doing that."

"Want me to kiss it and make it better?" Eyebrow raise. Alexa rolled her eyes. "Warren…"

"What? You asked."

Alexa put a hand over her eyes. "What do I have to do to make you shut up?" Instead of replying verbally, Warren grabbed her chin and tilted her head to kiss her.

They both broke apart at the sound of a giggle, flames flickering around Alexa as they did. Her blackened eyes narrowed as she caught sight of her sister. "Carson…"

Carson grinned and held up Alexa's cell phone, screen facing the two. "Nice picture. Now, who can I send this to…?"

"You wouldn't."

She flipped the phone back around and started scrolling through her sister's contact list. "We can start with Ethan…"

957944356567

"Alexa… Warren…"

"We didn't do it."

"Mmphff!"

"So Carson tied herself up like this?"

"Yep."

"Pretty much."

"Riiiight…" Beep. Beep beep. "Alexa, what are you doing?"

"Checking somethi- oh damn it! She already sent it!"

"Hmhm."

"Silence, midget."

"Warren, help Alexa untie Carson. We're going home."

"Yes ma'am. Not my fault dad's a sore loser…"

"Hey, watch it."

Snap.

"Blegh! Finally!"

"Told you we should've locked her in the closet."

"Goodbye, Alexa. Elliot, Aria."

"Bye Mr. Peace."

"See you on Monday, Alexa."

"Bye Warren."

"So, Alexa. Why, exactly, did you tie your sister up like this?"

"Uh…"

2437935

SC: And that, as they say, is that. Yes, Catching Fire is officially over. I'm considering doing a sequel, but I'm not sure if I will… I'll put it up to a vote- tell me yes or no in your reviews. And ideas. Oh, ideas would be helpful. I already have some, but I like feedback. Besides, there are plenty of great ideas out there that would probably trump mine. Anyway, R&R, please!

Ja ne

SC

PS: I'll leave it up to you to put in the details of that last bit. Have fun!