Disclaimer: I do not own Sky High.

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The lunch bell rang, and Jamie dismissed Ivy from their session. She changed out of her robes, and tied her straight white hair into a high ponytail. By the time she got back to the hallways, they were practically deserted, everyone having already gotten to the cafeteria.

She wandered the halls, taking her time while trying not to stretch her muscles too much more; she knew she'd be sore in the morning. Ivy finally reached the cafeteria and saw her friends at their normal table, Taylor, Speed, Lash and Trent had all joined them, and Dara had even come over to say hello. She watched as Dara flirtatiously talked to Warren, who didn't seem to respond. Ivy continued to stand by the door until Dara waved goodbye and returned to her own friends. She took a deep breath, before cautiously walking over to her friends table. She knew she couldn't stay as anti-social as she had been, but she also wasn't sure she was ready to speak again. Ivy lowered her eyes to the floor as she approached the table, forgetting her eyes had changed back, but because she wasn't sure she could look Warren in face just yet.

"Ivy." Layla smiled. "Did you wanna sit down?" She looked at Ivy, who barely nodded, but made no move to sit.

She took a deep breath, didn't let it go, and raised her eyes to look at Warren, who had been reading his graphic novel the entire time, unaware that she was really only there to see him. No one could see the change in her eyes from the angle at which she stood over, which she had purposely done, so she felt safe looking at him in front of them. She watched him read for a split second before she hesitantly raised her fingertips to rest on his shoulder. He froze solid, practically stopping breathing, and slowly looked up at her.

When his eyes met her, everyone saw his face pale, and he stood up, wrapping his hands around each of her shoulders. She shrunk a little in his grasp, knowing that he was shocked.

"They stayed-- But--" He realized he must have been hurting her, and he slid his hands down her arms until they reached her hands. He stood holding them for a moment before looking down and seeing a small white spark fly from her skin. She pulled her hands from his quickly, and he didn't try to take them again. She clasped her hands behind her back and looked up at him again. "Here, sit down." He moved aside so she could slide in next to Layla, who had moved down to make room for her.

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. There was so much she wanted to tell them all, but she couldn't even squeak. She shook her head in frustration, and she put her hand back in Warrens, squeezing it. Then he noticed the burning heat of her natural skin against his. "Oh." He stopped short. "Well, here." He sat back down next to Layla, leaving plenty of room for Ivy to sit on the end. She sat down next to him, her head fallen again, and she forced herself to look up at him and smile her thanks.

Layla gasped as she watched Ivy look up at Warren. "Oh my... Ivy!" Ivy's eyes shot from Warren's to Layla's right behind him. She felt her face grow pink, and she looked back to Warren for help, knowing that he couldn't give it since he had no answers either. Ivy opened her mouth to try to speak again when Dara bounced back over to the table.

"There you are!" Ivy whipped her head around to see Dara standing over her. "I already invited them, but I'm having a party thing at my house this weekend and you should…totally…come… Do I know you?" Her face turned from bubbly and bright to perplexed as she stared into Ivy's newly regained eyes. Ivy shook her head nervously, knowing that it probably just helped Dara to think harder and figure it out. "Wait. Ivy." Dara frowned more, looked at the ground, popped her hip out and placed a hand on it in thought. "Ivy. Ivy Stone. Dyl's friend, Ivy." She looked back up at Ivy, who had grown more pale than she was naturally. "Dylan said he saw you a few months ago." She stopped. "You're a cat. I've seen you in Save the Citizen. You're that big white cat. He said he saw you around the same time that he started coming home with..." Her voice trailed off. Ivy watched the realizations dawn on her, and the anger flare in her eyes. Dara reached out, grabbing Ivy's throat. "My brother almost died because of you!" She tossed Ivy to the floor, ignoring the burn she'd acquired on her hand.

Warren flew after Ivy, who became a crumpled mess on the floor, landing on her newly healed wrist. Dara pushed Warren away from Ivy as hard as she could. "You almost killed him!" She picked Ivy up and stared into her eyes.

Ivy didn't make any move to defend herself as Dara threw her down again. She was strong for a freshman. Too strong. Ivy looked up at Dara, who was beginning to fold her skin inside itself. Students were screaming and running to get help, and her friends had all come to stand by her, while Will helped Warren up. Ivy struggled to get to her feet to stare at the Absolute in front of her.

Ivy watched Dara carefully. Her transformation was slow, and Ivy assumed she had only recently discovered her form. Warren grabbed Ivy's wrist to pull her back away from the changing girl, but Ivy didn't move.

In a matter of minutes, Dara was gone, and an absurdly large African Wild Dog stood in her place, hackles standing on end, snarling and snapping its jaws at Ivy. Ivy remembered when she first changed forms. She remembered how wild her counterpart had been. She remembered all the chaos and mayhem she's caused. She remembered why she'd been given the name Discord. She knew that Dara would be just as bad as she had been, if not worse. Ivy took a step back from the dog, and it, in turn, took two forward towards Ivy. Principal Powers along with the rest of Sky High's staff came barging and banging through the doors. Powers barely stopped herself from shrieking upon seeing the dog that was ready to eat her niece.

"Ivy. We need to get out of here." Warren didn't move, but spoke quietly and slowly so the dog wouldn't get nervous and attack.

Ivy ignored Warren, and began to back up again. He didn't understand that Ivy wasn't listening to him, however; she was merely trying to lead Dara's Absolute away from the huddled crowd of students behind her. The students quickly caught on, and as smoothly as they could, they moved back behind the Absolute, who was paying no attention to any of them. Its focus and attention was solely for Ivy. They continued their trek until Ivy hit one of the walls. The Absolute slowly began to circle around Ivy until it had cornered her to a place she couldn't escape from. Ivy knew that as her human form she couldn't stand against Dara's dog form, especially because it was more than likely that the dog was running on adrenaline, anger, and... Fear. She doesn't understand what's happening. Why she can't control it. I remember. Ivy slowly bent towards her feet, unzipping her boots. She was careful not to make any sudden movements while cornered by the large canine. She placed her boots off to the side, and went to remove her shirt next.

The dog didn't move, but watched her and continued to snarl and snap. It licked its lips, and Ivy knew she didn't have much time left before the dog attacked her. She dropped her shirt onto her boots and went for her pants next. She slid them off, fully aware that even being cornered by the big dog, the entire student and teacher body could see her. Only her close friends and some of the teachers were aware that her transformation ripped her clothes, so to the rest of the school, she was just stripping the face of death. She stood back against the corner in her bra and boy shorts, suddenly very thankful she hadn't worn a thong. She took a deep breath, and felt the familiar ripple play under her skin. She was still unsure if she'd actually be able to change, but she figured it was worth a shot anyway. The only time Ivy had ever changed forms in front of someone had been in front of Warren, and she'd fought long and hard to forget it. She didn't want people to see it, fearing that it was sickening and that they would think she was a freak. If they were gonna think I was a freak, they probably would by now.

She let the ripple encompass her, and her skin grew warm and started to move, reform, and fold under and outside itself. Somewhere in the midst of the heat and aching she had closed her eyes. When she reopened them, her vision was black and white and gray, and the cat's head moved down to look at its bright white paws. She knew the cat was smiling at being out and able to form, but more than knowing it, she felt it and did it too. She felt the cold linoleum on the pads of the cats' paws, and she felt the cats' chest rumble as she snarled and growled and hissed at the painted dog in front of her. She felt her Absolute as she felt her human. They weren't separate anymore. This time she smiled, and cat mirrored her.

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Drama, drama, drama. There's always gotta be some kinda drama.

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