Title: Mother Nature's Call
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Sky High characters, and include some of my own in this work. All but the characters in the movie are mine.
Feedback: Guys, I really appreciate your feedback and reviews. I'm not sure about Warren being in the same grade as the others. He's a year older, so it makes sense to me that he'd be in grade higher. I took out the reference to him being a junior though, just in case.
Synopsis: Sophomore year comes quickly for Will and friends. When trouble arises from student transfers, members of the small group of friends are faced with difficult choices.
Mother Nature's Call
Chapter Nine: Full Bloom
Layla sat by herself in Hero Support, watching Zach tease Majenta affectionately. The two were quite close, and it suited them. Ethan sat to their side and paid more attention to Red Radar than he did to the two's light banter. He found everything in school interesting, and regardless of what label he was given Layla knew the teen was an asset to anyone who accepted his help. She sighed, wincing when Majenta caught her looking at them. Layla ran her eyes over the assignment in front of her to avoid the girl's questioning gaze. Once the bell rang, the students in Red Radar's class began putting their papers up to head out.
"So, Layla, how is it going?" Majenta asked, shocking the red head.
"Oh, fine, it's fine. You?" Layla wondered if she sounded as lame to the shapeshifter as she did to herself. She must have because Majenta looked like she was going to take pity on her.
"Fine. Why don't you join us at lunch?" Zach heard Majenta's offer. He was a little surprised, but he found himself hoping. He'd known Layla for a few years, and it seemed a shame to let a friendship end. He had a hard time remembering sometimes why she wasn't apart of their group anymore.
"Thanks Maj, I'd love to but I can't. John wants to discuss this thing we're doing later with friends but maybe some other time." At Layla's answer Zach suddenly remembered, and stepped forward to rub one hand down Majenta's arm.
"Come on Maj, we've things of our own to discuss, with our friends." Zach sounded harsh, a little more so than he'd intended, with the girl in front of him looking a little sad. Majenta shrugged her head and turned to walk out with Ethan and Zach. Layla grabbed her stuff and followed. Every once in a while Majenta would glance at her, knowing that the girl was in over her head and wishing she could help. High school was high school though, until Layla came clean there was nothing she could do.
Greg spotted Layla enter the cafeteria and called out to her. Waving, the dark haired teen smiled at her. He was ignoring the glare that Warren sent his way, and was rather enjoying the tortured look on Will's face. As Layla sat down, Linda pushed a tray of food towards her.
"Thanks."
"Sure. So we're set for today right, after school? Timing is important." Linda said, knowing that Layla still didn't know enough about them to understand exactly how crucial the timing was.
"Yeah, I'll be ready to go as soon as we get off the bus." Everyone smiled. This afternoon Gray was attacking a major refridgerator factory and the small group of teens was responsible for getting Layla there just after the attack to heal the earth. If she could do that, Lana would communicate with the animals to let them know to return to the area and then Gray could send out his message to the global community and have it be taken seriously.
There were a lot of variables in the plan, and Gray had made sure to account for as many as possible. He assigned four people to distract the superheroes called to the scene, and watched with Lana at his side as Layla arrived with John and the others. Lana saw her daughter and kept her eyes on her, concern written on her face. Both adults watched Layla use her powers and smiled. Gray's plan was a success, and it was the first of several that quickly made the Eco Terrorist and those in his organization a threat.
This time John and Tara were prepared when Layla passed out. John stood at her side and caught her when the time came. Linda made sure anyone who came too close to the five teenagers found themselves otherwise occupied until they were able to leave the area. The next morning John made a delicious breakfast, pleased with his earlier phone conversation with his dad. Lana had been successful in calling the animals back, and the company who owned the factory they had taken out was applying pressure to the government to deal with him. Things were going very well, by the end of the week Gray had another plan in place. In two weeks time Layla was called on again, and the group of five had another success to celebrate.
John and Greg were changing for gym class when Will walked by. The tall boy had begun filling out some, with his muscles gaining definition. Spotting him, a wicked smile came across Greg's face.
"Hey John, how's everything going with you and Layla? She seems really into you." Greg said suggestively. John snickered. Will stopped. He began to turn towards the pair when a large hand grabbed his shirt by the collar and pulled him out of the locker room.
"Hey!" Will turned to see the offender and found himself glaring at Warren. Agitated, he straightened his collar and stomped towards the bleachers. It had been a while since he'd seen Stronghold angry. Warren smiled.
Coach Boomer saw the bleachers fill up with Heroes, Sidekicks, and a large number of whiner babies. He grimaced. If one more kid started in on him he was going to yell. That year's freshmen class was especially irritating. In the mood for a good old fashion game of Save the Citizens, Coach Boomer smiled.
"Okay you little runts, we're gonna have teams of two for this game of Save the Citizens. Grayson, get out there. You, light boy, you too. Let's see..." As the Coach looked around the room he saw the faces watch expectantly, until he came across Will Stronghold's grim one. Coach Boomer smiled. "Stronghold, Peace, you guys will be the Heroes. Now get ready!" Rocked back, Will looked at the coach in surprise until he saw Warren stand up. Will moved a little slower, following his best friend down the bleachers to get ready.
"Save the Citizen, NOW!" The Coach boomed. Warren looked at John as he moved towards Will. The two thought they had it covered. Will's superstrength was useless if he fainted.
"Will, I've got John." Warren yelled, forcing Will to look at him before flying towards Greg. With his combined super strength and sonic speed Will hurled into Greg and slammed the kid through the wall. Greg was unconscious, taken out in a matter of seconds. Warren watched as John ran towards him, allowing the heat to build until he was able to launch fireball after fireball at the blonde teen. Able to keep his distance, Warren glanced at Will. He was going for the citizen, it's yells barely audible above the firestorm he reigned down on John's head.
"Game over!" Coach Boomer smiled. Will set the citizen down and looked at the clock. It was a new record, and the coach knew it. "Well done, Stronghold, Peace." The two boys shook hands, grinning. Neither noticed the pissed off brunette running down the bleachers to her brother. Layla watched Tara join Linda, and looked at the guys in concern. They had their backs to them, presenting an easy target. Worried, Layla stood up and ran to the girls.
"Come on, we should get Greg to the Nurse." Layla said, her voice enough to get both Will and Warren's attention. Both guys turned and watched Layla tug on Linda's arm to get her to help her lift Greg up. John walked over to help, and the five left the gym fairly quickly. Will watched them leave as Warren's eyes narrowed.
"So, Will, anything interesting happen today?" Mrs. Stronghold asked her son as he walked in the door.
"Huh? Oh, hey mom, dad. Nothing much."
"You didn't set a new record in anything?" His father asked.
"Actually, yeah. Warren and I won Save the Citizens with 2 minutes 30 seconds left on the clock."
"We know! Boomer called!" His father said as he pulled Will in for a hug.
"We're so proud of you Will!" His mother exclaimed. Will shook his head, a little surprised he wasn't receiving a lecture for knocking Greg through a wall. The boy had turned out to be okay, but Will wondered if Layla wasn't angry with him for hurting one of her friends.
"So, how did today go for the Commander and Jetstream?" Will asked, hoping to get their attention off of the game. His parents sighed and the three walked to the living room to sit down.
"Son, we need to talk to you about something." Will looked at his father, curious.
"Okay," Will answered, seeing the looks his parents were exchanging.
"We think you should stay away from Layla for a while." Will stared at his mom.
"Are you kidding? She won't even look at me these days." Will said dejectedly. His dad squeezed his shoulder and exhaled loudly while standing up to move around the room.
"It's for the best son." He stopped walking at the look on Will's face. "Listen, we've been asked to take care of Gray and his villians. They've done more damage to private property than thought possible the last few months. The government is taking them seiously because of outside pressure. They've managed to find a way to leave the surrounding areas of their targets unharmed, both the plantlife and the animals."
"That's good right? They aren't damaging the areas anymore." Will said, dreading what his father was trying to tell him.
"We don't think that's it Will. Honey," his mom looked him in the eyes, "their attacks still do as much harm. Now they have people helping them who can restore the plantlife and let the animals know when to leave and when to return." Will went numb.
"Layla and her mother." Will's whisper was pained, causing an aggitated Commander to sit down next to him.
"Listen Will, we don't exactly know everything that's going on, but I promise you we will find out. The next time Gray strikes we'll be ready. We'll get to the truth." Will nodded slowly, unable to believe how quickly things had changed in his life.