Disclaimer: I do not own Sky High, or any of the associated characters
Summary: See Previous Chapters
Chapter Twelve
Magenta sulked quietly as she scurried down the small pipe, listening to Zach call encouragement from a distance.
Yes, this was an important task, and something that only she could do, but she always felt far too vulnerable in her shifted form, which had been the subject of far too much teasing. No one teased her mother, who shape-shifted into a very large grizzly bear, but no, Magenta had to get the cute-and-cuddly rodent form.
That was partly why she had chosen the goth, tough-girl, the-world-is-beneath-me attitude that she projected to the world at large. If she could make people focus more on the 'DANGER: Handle with caution' vibe than they did on the instinctive 'awww-factor' of her shifted form, perhaps she stood a chance of being taken seriously, sidekick or not.
It was just a pity that her voice while shifted made her sound like she'd been breathing helium, and destroyed any chance of anyone taking her seriously. "This is so stupid!"
It was nice that Zach didn't think so, and kind of flattering that he liked her in both human and animal forms, even if she probably hadn't been supposed to hear the comment about her legs. "OK, go about ten feet, and there should be an opening on your right."
The echoes made it slightly harder to hear, but there was only one opening near her. Magenta turned right. "Got it."
Understanding what Ethan and Zach were saying only grew harder with distance, especially since Zach then had to raise his voice, amplifying the echos. "Find the access panel, it leads straight to the generator!"
This was going to be harder than it had originally seemed.
Layla and the other three Hero students made it to the Gym, no longer caged off, in time to see Will punch Royal Pain hard enough to knock her helmet off. Relief and inexperience or ignorance could probably be blamed for Layla's cardinal mistake. It was one of the first rules that Warren and Roisin had been taught: 'There are few things that can't wait until AFTER an opponent has been defeated. NEVER distract someone in the middle of a climatic battle.'
The second rule was: 'If it CAN'T wait, yell something that will grab the attention of BOTH parties, and explain in as few words as possible'.
Then again, their parents had possessed a larger dose of common sense than most Supers, and Layla's mother was a currently-inactive Pacifistic Hero, whose missions had mostly involved convincing wild or genetically modified animals to stop attacking humans. Perhaps she had skipped teaching Layla that rule.
Either way, Will stopped mid-punch and looked up when Layla yelled his name, giving Royal Pain the chance to blast him off her and through a window. Melissa sighed as Layla screamed, managing to keep her voice down. "Well, our chances of victory just plummeted even faster than Stronghold is."
Fortunately, Royal Pain made the mistake of starting a monologue, rather than take advantage of their shock and weakened position. "And there goes your last chance of stopping me!"
Normally, Roisin would appreciate Melissa's black humour and take a few mental notes on the speech for her next Literature class on Monologues, but this time she only shook her head and pointed as Warren grabbed Layla to prevent her lunging forward. "Maybe not."
Pointing behind your opponent was a trick older than time, which most people somehow still fell for, but it so happened that Roisin actually was pointing at something. Or rather, someone. Will Stronghold was probably thanking the fates that children of two Supers could inherit both powers, usually in very harrowing circumstances.
His technique could use some work, but since Stronghold had only had his Flight powers for a few seconds, he could probably be excused a bit of shakiness, and the slightly giddy grin. "Surprised? So am I!"
Despite the mechanical overlay caused by the armor, Royal Pain's voice carried an almost indignant note. "You're flying? That's impossible!"
Except it wasn't, since Stronghold tackled Royal Pain, lifting her to the ceiling of the Gym and throwing her down hard enough to crack the floor and the cement underneath, following up with a punch that knocked her helmet off, and the villain seemingly unconscious.
After what felt like far too long scurrying through a maze of conduits, Magenta finally found what looked like the main generator for the fancy tech that kept Sky High hidden. If sidekicks were taught stuff that was actually useful in Shop class, she would be more certain. Instead, she squeaked as loudly as she could, hoping that the other sidekicks could hear her. "I found the generator… I think."
Zach's voice echoed faintly back, "OK, you need to cut the wire connected to the scrambler."
Which wire was that? If she survived the night, Magenta was so sneaking into her older brother's room and finding his notes from Hero Shop class. "What?"
It was a good thing that her rodent form had excellent hearing. "The red one! Cut the red wire!"
Well, that certainly narrowed things down. Not. "There's a lot of red wires down here!"
She picked a random one and started to chew, just as a light started beeping on the generator, and the school seemed to drop. "Uh-oh."
Warren and the twins cursed themselves for forgetting that just because someone looked unconscious, didn't mean they weren't faking it. Gravity pushed them all flat to the floor as Layla screamed. "The school is falling!"
Melissa stopped screaming for a moment to snap at her. "We noticed!"
Stronghold managed to propel himself out a window, and Warren and Roisin exchanged worried looks. Double heritage third-generation Super or not, Stronghold was still only a teenager. Even if he could fly fast enough to catch the school, could he hold it? Could he carry it long enough to get the anti-gravity technology working again?
Warren pulled the older twin close, hoping that Stronghold could actually live up to his legend for once, and wishing that the timing didn't make it seem so much like a bad cliché.
The Pied Piper and the Cryptographer clutched their younger daughter, gripping Evanna's hands and hoping that their older daughter was safe. She was with Warren, but when you are falling from several thousand miles up, the capabilities of your companions don't mean much, and as far as any of them knew, none of the non-pacified Heroes could fly.
Even so, the former villainess couldn't help smiling at the sight of Ethan and Zach clinging to each other and alternating between screams of "Hold me!" and "Chew!"
With a lot of luck, the laws of narrative comedy would kick in and the Shifter Sidekick would get the anti-gravity device working again.
Miracle of miracles, Magenta succeeded at the last possible second before flattening a civilian neighbourhood, and attention turned to unloading the pacified students and teachers.
Penny was still tangled up in vines in the cafeteria, Gwen was unconscious for real and Mecha Girl had taken the precaution of messing up the wiring in her armor beyond hope of repair. Speed and Lash were in a trembling heap near the edge of the school, with a group of genetically modified rats guarding them.
Everyone tried not to think about the real problem. The Cryptographer could communicate and control any computer system in the world, but reversing the effects of the Pacifier was an entirely different field, and the resident genius was currently a toddler.
Layla placed a baby seat on the ground. "Now what?"
Will shrugged helplessly, placing the seat that he was pretty sure contained his mother down next to Layla's. "Beats me."
Warren tried not to feel too weirded out as he lifted Mr Medulla's seat down, the Mad Science teacher's head merely a much smaller version of his adult one, and his voice amusingly high pitched. "Perhaps I can be of assistance. It should only take me a couple of hours to re-configure the Pacifier. Mr Peace?"
That was his father's legal name, Warren's parents having flipped a coin to decide who changed their name upon marriage. He wondered what they would think if they could see him now. "Yeah?"
Mr Medulla somehow conveyed the impression that this was nothing out of the ordinary. "Would you please carry me to the Mad Science lab?"
Warren pitied whoever Mr Medulla's parents had been, to have dealt with him as a child. "Sure."
He wrinkled his nose suddenly, smelling something. His worst fears were confirmed when Mr Medulla looked sheepish. "And Mr Peace?"
Oh no. "Yeah?"
A guilty smile. "Regrettably, I have made boom-boom."
Roisin sighed as Stronghold and his friends immediately backed away, as if Mr Medulla was in possession of a rare and fatal disease, rather than a dirty diaper. "Oh, give him here. I'm struggling in Mad Science, and this should be enough to bring my average up to a B, at least."
Mr Medulla frowned, his voice still a helium-like high pitch. "What makes you think that?"
Roisin smiled beatifically. "Because otherwise you'll get diaper rash, and good luck explaining that to your date, if you really do follow up with the twins from the Paper Lantern."
It was nearing midnight, and several of the parents of current Sky High students had shown up (the problem with automatic alerts was that the person receiving it had to actually check their phone or email, and most parents were enjoying a night without the kids), only adding to the chaos, by the time Mr Medulla managed to successfully reverse the effects of the pacifier.
Principal Powers was walking around with a megaphone, directing people through the halls, many of them wrapped in nothing but towels or blankets. "People, if you have already been de-Pacified please find your clothes, grab a baby and report to the Mad Science Lab!"
Those students who had saved the day were standing in a group with Ron Wilson, bus driver, as the adults stood off to the side, talking quietly. Will nervously edged toward his parents, who had been among the first to be returned back to normal and were safely dressed in their uniforms again. "Mom? Dad? Guys? I just wanted to say sorry because this whole thing is kind of my fault."
Jetstream placed a hand on his shoulder. "Oh, honey, you can't blame yourself."
The Commander rubbed a bit of baby drool off his uniform. "Of course not. How were you supposed to know your girlfriend was a total psychopath?"
Nearby, the twins, Evanna and Melissa sniggered. Will cringed, looking even guiltier. "No, that's not it. You gave me one rule, and I broke it. I took her into the Sanctum, and that's how she got the Pacifier. The whole party was a trap."
The Commander shrugged. "And so was Homecoming, Will. We all fell into Royal Pain's trap. But you defeated her. You saved Sky High, and everyone in Her."
Will just looked relieved that he wasn't being grounded for the rest of his life. "I didn't do it by myself."
Mr Boy appeared, thankfully dressed and holding a trophy. "Excuse me, Steve, Josie? Even though it appears that Gwen only came up with this Award as a way to lure you to the dance and your ultimate doom, still it's inscribed, so…"
The Commander accepted the trophy, causing the more jaded Heroes of the hour to roll their eyes in exasperation. "I'd be honoured to accept this Hero of the Year award. But I'm afraid, this doesn't belong to us. "
Stronghold's friends and Warren's group looked up as the two Heroes approached, Jetstream smiling, "It belongs to them. The Sidekicks. I mean, Hero Support."
The Commander smiled also, though his looked a bit more practiced. "Why don't we just call them what they really are, Josie. Heroes."
He held out the trophy dramatically, and Stronghold's Sidekicks reached out to grip it as well, grinning like they had been handed the world on a platter. Will and Layla exchanged grins. Melissa moved closer to Evanna and Alara, away from the other sidekicks. Warren draped an arm over Roisin's shoulders. Almost around the corner, the Pied Piper rolled her eyes.
After a quick, quieter conversation with Mr Boy, the Commander and Jetstream approached the adults, looking and feeling slightly awkward. All of them sided with Firestar, either openly or quietly, and in hindsight, the two Superheroes could have behaved better toward them. "Er, look…"
The Pied Piper didn't even let them get past the first syllables, stalking away toward her daughters. The Cryptographer gestured after her, "Since she's currently working a case against you, talking to you personally might be called as a conflict of interest, and I doubt that my wife is in any mood for your patronising remarks."
The Commander frowned. "What do you mean: patronizing? Those kids are heroes, no matter what their powers are. Even I admit it!"
The Peacekeeper gave him a bored look. "Yes, but as soon as they get back to school tomorrow, they're back to being separated from the heroes who ran around like headless chickens, and back to classes that don't teach them how to be anything more than an accessory. No amount of empty words or reluctant admissions will change that."
The Commander frowned, hating to admit that the Empath had a point. The Hero/Sidekick divide would not be fixed overnight, even though the students had thoroughly proved that it didn't matter which track you were classified into.
Penny, Lash, Speed and Gwen, all in the Hero track, had displayed several very far-from-Heroic qualities, while the sidekicks had proven themselves braver and more capable than most of the Hero students.
Still, Steve had been sincere in what he said to his son's friends. The Superhero Council would want a report as soon as possible, and Steve intended to be the one giving it, so he could recommend some changes to Sky High.
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A/N: I'm just going to say it, and hope that it doesn't come off as begging for reviews: Action scenes are really hard for me to write, and it is really frustrating when I work so hard on a chapter for a story that I know has more than 50 follows and favourites, and wind up with only a single review.
It is both frustrating and discouraging, and makes me wonder if a story is worth continuing, as there seems to be little to no interest in reading it.
Still, we've reached the end of the movie, and it's time to move on to original ideas. Hopefully my creativity is up to the task.
Again, I'm sorry for the wait between chapters, but with writing, organising and directing a Children's Play, research and documentation for two competitions and a class on medieval hairstyles, writing has taken a back-seat. I'm off to New Zealand for a week, and work starts two days after I get home (yay for the Australia Day public holiday), so I'm not sure when the next chapter will be, but you can check out the various other stories while you wait. 'A Friend In Need' and 'Striking Back' have been updated, as has the Battle of Five Armies chapter of 'Not What You Expected'.
Thanks,
Nat
