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 Eleven: One Undeniable Act
Fred Gray drummed his gray fingers on the chairarm. His given name was Fred Grayson, but he'd given himself the name Fred Gray once he'd begun his illegal activities. His skin was a dull, lifeless gray, explaining his choice in last name, but he remained Fred simply for a lack of imagination. Sitting here, looking out at the large, lush surroundings he smiled. He loved all of the beauty the earth provided. Lacking color himself he reveled in the dark and light greens, the rich browns and bright blues. Dawn and dusk were two of his favorite times of the day, during each he could see a range of pinks, reds or oranges in the sky. The sun was currently making its way up the horizon, the very act helping him formulate his next plan.
Things had been going well. He felt comfortable having Lana around, and knew from long talks with his son that her daughter, Layla, enjoyed the difference her powers made. The two newest members of his group were proving very useful. Other than the personal attachment his son had developed despite his warnings towards one of them, Gray felt things couldn't have gone better. The government recognized him as a formidable opponent now, and he felt sure it was on the verge of conceding to his demands. It wouldn't, he knew, while there was still hope. Hope came from the superheroes who responded to the distress calls, so Gray watched the sun continue to rise and formed his plan.
"Okay Layla, we'll see you later." John waved to the red head while he motioned for the others to hold up. "We've got new targets."
"Cool, where are we hitting next?" Greg asked, the hits they made the only thing that made dealing with being in high school worth it.
"The high school is the first." Greg's jaw dropped.
"We're gonna attack the school?" Linda asked as she shoved her brother until he regained his composure.
"The superheroes that come to save the kids are our main target." Greg and Linda smiled knowingly. Tara looked at her brother closely.
"You think we can handle that?" Tara asked.
"All we have to do is round everyone up so that the superheroes show. If we can get them within the building, dad has a plan to eliminate them." John recognized his sister's expression and sighed. "Listen, this is the last thing we have to do here. Once this is done, we can grab Layla and get out of here. There won't be any more opposition and we can force the government to enact the legislation needed to prevent companies from further harming our planet."
"When do we strike?" Greg asked smiling.
"Lunch. If we can draw enough attention to get everyone in the cafeteria, we'll strike then." John said quietly. "But first, there's someone we need to take care of." The blonde teenager led the others down the hall until they reached the faculty lounge. Looking inside, John smiled. Red Radar was in the room by herself, dialing. John walked in and grabbed her, catching her as she fainted.
"Hey, what's going on?" All American Boy said, seeing Red Radar in John's arms as he walked into the faculty lounge.
"I don't know. We saw her start to faint and walked in to help her." Tara said innocently.
"Oh, well I'll take her to the Nurse. You kids get to class." And they did.
Majenta smiled as Zach asked Principle Powers questions in their Hero Support class. It was unusual to see the Principle, and the lanky bleach blonde was having a good time asking her whatever came into his head next. Majenta smiled. Ethan tried to answer some of the questions and was rewarded with a "Hush, Principle Powers is speaking." from Zach. The fourth time Zach said this Ethan glared at him, bringing a smile to Layla's lips as well.
"Okay class, here is your assignment. Take it with you and look it over before the next class period." Principle Powers passed out the papers seconds before the bell rang. The kids filed out for lunch, bringing a smile to her face. Blessed relief. Once the last kid was out the door she turned and left to see the Nurse. She had two goals, to check on Red Radar and to get some ibuprophen.
"Okay guys, you know what to do?" John asked, ignoring the sarcastic expression on Greg's face and the exaggerated "Nnooo." Instead he simply rolled his eyes and motioned to get started. Greg stepped forward to trip the kid carrying his tray towards his regular table. Ethan sprawled forward, landing face down in his food.
"Oh, I'm SO sorry." Greg said, watching as the shorter boy slowly stood up.
"Hey, you did that on purpose." Zach said, standing up.
"No I didn't," Greg responded.
"I'm, I'm okay." Ethan volunteered as he gently rubbed his nose, it was a little sore from the impact.
"Yes you did, I saw you." Zach walked over to help Ethan pick up his tray and walk him back to their table.
"Are you calling me liar?" Greg asked, getting angry. John had chosen wisely, it didn't take much to get Greg upset.
"That's not too difficult considering you are one." Zach watched his friends take a lot of crap, as he did himself, just because they'd been made Sidekicks. He wouldn't stand by and let someone pick on Ethan for their own amusement. Greg was angry now, looking at the Glowkid like he was scum for even daring to speak to him. Without thinking Greg fired a light ray at Zach. I'll make him glow alright. Zach dodged and felt the side of the table as it rose and turned in response to the light ray that hit it. Everyone watching broke out into a loud, steady chant "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
John smiled as Greg continued the assault, looking at the other kids to see who would join in the fight. Zach began picking up trays and tossing them, food and all, at the dark haired manace. Majenta pulled Ethan out of range of the attacks and Warren stood up, ready to end what John's impetuous friend had started. Hearing the chant in the hallway, students began pouring into the cafeteria out of curiosity. As luck would have it, All American Boy began following the crowd, saying "What's going on?" Seeing Warren's fireballs begin competeing with Greg's light rays he turned on his heels, running in search of help. The teachers he encountered on the way to find the Principle ran into the cafeteria. John smiled as almost all of the teachers in the school were accounted for. The last one he needed was... ah, yes, Principle Powers. Once he spotted her he put the rest of his plan in action.
"Linda!" John yelled. The brunette nodded and formulated an image. The next sight All American Boy saw was everyone in the cafeteria sitting on the floor, tied up. He looked for Principle Powers and saw her lying unconscious in the corner with the other faculty members. He did what he did best, he panicked. Running out of the lunchroom, he ran to the office and called for help. Word spread of trouble at the high school campus like wildfire. John had silently begun weaving in and out of the faculty members, starting with the Principle, touching each one on the arm long enough so that they'd be unconscious for a while. John grinned as the first superheroes arrived. Tara launched black balls of energy at them before they knew what hit them. Stunned, Warren stopped attacking Greg to see the first three fall. It was all the time Greg needed. His next attack knocked Warren unconscious.
Will was one of the last students to enter the lunchroom. Seeing Warren go down, he launched forward to take Greg out. Within a foot of the boy Will stopped, almost careening into Layla. Linda smiled as Greg had the time he needed to knock Will out. She moved next to her brother and worked with him to elminate the threat other students posed.
Layla slowly woke up several minutes later. She had been on her way to the cafeteria when she ran into John. Now she found herself sitting in a chair in class, wondering what had happened. Seeing the time, she looked around and began wondering where everyone was. Hearing a high pitched sound, Layla turned in time to see Jetstream and the Commander break through the wall.
"What?" Layla gasped in shock. Standing up, she ran to meet the two. "What's going on Commander? Jetstream? What are you guys doing here?" Layla asked, looking at the hole in the wall again. "And why didn't you use the door?" Jetstream looked at Layla briefly before glancing around the room.
"Where are the other students Layla?" Jetstream asked, biting her tongue to not ask specifically about Will.
"I don't know. I think I fainted earlier, or something. I just woke up. It's still lunchtime, everyone might be in the cafeteria." The Commander wasn't smiling, and Jetstream looked suspicious. Layla looked around again and suddenly became worried. "I'm going to go check." She ran out of the classroom before either of the superheroes could stop her.
Rushing into the cafeteria, Layla's mouth open in disbelief as she watched John and his friends gloat over their latest victory. Principle Powers, almost all of the teachers and faculty members, along with several superheroes were unconscious. To her right she saw her friends huddled together for protection, as Warren and Will laid unconscious and slightly singed. A second later another superheroe entered the cafeteria. Linda put the image in the woman's mind that John was asking for help. As she came closer to John, he reached out and touched her. She fainted and was placed with the other adults.
"What are you doing!" Layla asked, angry. John looked over in surprise.
"Layla," John said before being cut off.
"Taking care of the last remaining threat to our planet sweet child. With the superheroes out of the way, the government will have no choice but to give in to our demands. Once they do, the others will follow." Fred Gray walked into the room with several villians behind him. To his side Lana stood in handstitched leather clothing, with the large panther Layla knew as Blackwidow next to her.
"Mom?" Layla asked, watching Lana's face tighten up.
"It's the only way, you've got to trust me about this." Lana said, seeing Layla nod. Layla knew her mom, many of the unconscious superheroes in this room were her friends. She wouldn't allow them to be harmed, Layla just knew she wouldn't. At that moment the Commander and Jetstream flew into the cafeteria, too fast to see the eight villians waiting for them and too slow to escape the energy netting one of them placed over them. The two were trapped, as of yet still conscious, and were forced to sit in dismay and watch everything unfold. Fred Gray laughed, walking down the floor to look at everyone before walking back to where Lana stood.
"You see, dear Layla, we can destroy all the chemical plants and large factories we want. We can even have you and your mother protect the animals and regrow the destroyed plantlife. But none of it means anything if people don't take our demands seriously. And as long as any of these superheroes are around to rescue people and fight us, they won't. In this one undeniable act of death and destruction, we can save the earth." The middle-aged gray man took a step towards Layla. "You see that, don't you? You see that you and your mother have made the right choice?" Majenta pointed to Will and Warren. Zach and Ethan looked at the two boys and saw what she had, they were regaining consciousness. They both slowly lifted their heads in time to see Gray step towards Layla and hear his last questions.
"Yes, mom and I have definately made the right choice." Layla said, smiling brilliantly. Will looked at the girl he'd known since first grade and recognized the expression on her face. She was ticked, and up to something. The next moment she closed her eyes and called on the plantlife outside.
"Blackwidow!" Lana screamed, watching the large panther launch towards Gray. John turned to see his father being mauled by the animal and ran towards the woman responsible. As the villians closest to Lana attacked, she dodged and rolled on the ground until she sat up closer to the small group of Sidekicks. Ethan ran towards her, blocking the path for the villian who was closest. Scared, he melted. His timing was perfect, the guy slipped and hit his head on the ground, hard.
The Commander tried to tear apart the energy netting as Layla sent branches crashing through the glass windows and into the cafeteria. Trees grew and branches extended, reaching out to wrap around the villians and lift them off the ground upside down. Unable to make it to Lana, John turned to see Greg and Linda move for Layla. Warren sent a fireball towards Linda and watched as the girl screamed. Rolling on the ground to try and extinguish the fire, Linda passed out from the heat. Tara ran forward and finished putting the fire out.
Will rose off the ground and flew straight at Greg. He punched him, knocking the boy through another wall. Greg stayed on the ground, unconscious. Feeling betrayed, John ran towards his sister and pointed to Layla. Tara turned soft eyes on her brother, asking silently if he was sure that's what he wanted.
"Just do it Tara!" John yelled. Layla heard John and turned in time to look at Tara face to face. She looked sad, and torn. The red head's heart went out to her. If asked to harm the other girl, Layla didn't know if she'd be able to do so. Tara's hesitation gave Layla the time she needed to ensure it didn't come to that, branches reached out to wrap around Tara and constrain her. They tied her hands tightly behind her back, so that she was unable to focus her powers. John started spitting in disgust at the sight of Tara raised of the ground with arms held tightly behind her back, made helpless. The Commander broke through the energy netting in time to pull Layla down out of John's way. The boy slid to a stop, turning around in time to come into contact with Zach's fist.