Well, this chapter should be better and longer. I live on reviews so please feed me. Heh. Enjoy.

The Newest Hero

"Will?" Layla called to the Stronghold household, setting her bookbag down by her feet as she waited for an answer. She was already running late for the bus and if she didn't get there in a few minutes, she'd be stuck on the ground and her mother would not be pleased. "Will? Mr. Stronghold? Mrs. Stronghold?" Layla tried again as she picked her bookbag back up again and walked up to the door. Taking the key Will had given her several months ago from her pocket, Layla unlocked the door and walked into the house, which, from what Layla could tell, was devoid of life. Layla walked around the base floor, not really expecting to find her second family anywhere. She moved through the kitchen and the living room, looking for any sign of a presence. When she was completely sure that no one was home, Layla walked out and locked the door, running as fast as she could toward the bus stop.

Layla arrived at the bus stop just as the bus arrived, out of breath. Taking a moment to rest, Layla waited for the door to open and clambered up the steps. At first, Layla was surprised that the bus driver was not Ron Wilson but it had soonhit her that Ron was now a superhero due to a recent incident in a nuclear research center and was now protecting the city. In his place was a man in his late 40's with dark and slightly greying hair and a rather serious expression on his face. Layla quickly went past the seats toward the back where her friends were waiting.

Ethan was absorbed into a gameboy game, barely acknowledging Layla's greeting. Zach and Magenta were sitting together on the other aisle, holding hands but unlike Ethan, they took the time to greet her.

"Hey Layla, where's Will?" Zach asked as he lifted his hand to greet his friend.

"I don't know, the house was empty when I got there. I'm pretty worried, I mean, I don't think I've ever seen their house empty," Layla mentioned as she took a seat behind the couple, throwing her bookbag onto the space beside her.

"Please, the 'Stronghold Three' are the last people you should be worrying about," Magenta said with exasperation.

"I guess, but still, I wish Will would've told me that he was going somewhere," Layla said as she looked out toward the window, not completely comforted.

"Hey, don't worry about them Layla. I bet they're kicking some serious villain butt!" Zach said enthusiastically, demonstrating it by slamming his fist into his palm. "Right Ethan?"

"Yeah," Ethan grunted, his eyes still focused on his game. Magenta just shook her head at the sight. "Sure," Ethan then answered to a non-existent question.

"You guys are right," Layla said appreciatively as she finally broke a smile. "There's no point worrying."

"Hang on kids," the bus driver said as the bus jumped off the bridge and started the engines, launching them into the sky. Finally feeling relaxed, Layla just sat back and enjoyed the ride.

XXXXXXXXXX

Layla sat through her classes without much on her mind, just enjoying the small bits of conversation she had with her friends in-between Mr. Boy's lectures. Still, despite the fact that she was no longer worried, she was still getting impatient for school to end so that she could try and contact her boyfriend, or at least for Will to pop up at gym or something.

The hours droned on up to lunch and Layla quickly walked toward her table, where Warren and the others were already eating. Layla sat down at the edge of the table, quickly digging into her salad.

"Do all of you really have to sit here?" Warren asked his new friends, feeling slightly annoyed at everyone's uninvited sitting at his table.

"Oh come on Warren, we're you're friends, we should sit together," Layla said with a smile as she began to pour italian dressing over her salad.

"Sometimes I wonder why I talked to you in the first place," Warren said as he poked at his singed steak. Layla laughed as she instantly recognized the sarcasm and started eating again when the double doors to the cafeteria burst open and Will entered. His hair and eyebrows appeared slightly singed and he appeared quite dusty. His rather odd appearance and late entry attracted much attention, making the young Stronghold feel quite awkward. Will tried to ignore the stares and murmurs from everyone and walked straight over to the table where Layla was sitting.

"Hey guys," Will greeted as he bent down and kissed Layla before taking his seat across from her.

"Will, where were you?" Layla asked with much curiosity as Will dusted off himself.

"Oh I was helping mom and dad fight some big fire beast in Wisconsin," Will said casually, as if he had been fighting large beasts for years. "It was pretty big too."

"Wait? You were fighting monsters? But I thought you weren't allowed to..." Ethan began.

"Well, my dad convinced Prinicipal Powers to let me be a hero early, on a trial basis," Will cut in as he took the apple on Layla's tray (despite Layla's silent dissaproval but she quickly decided to just let it go.) and took a bite out of it.

"Alright man!" Zach congradulated as he high fived Will, who was careful not to do it too hard. "You broke another record already! You're a record setting machine!"

"Nice job, way to break down barriers," Magenta said, almost negatively towards Will, not even bothering to look up.

"Wow, what an honor to be in the presence of the world's youngest superhero!" Ethan said, feeling starstruck despite the fact that Will had been a superhero for only a few hours.

Will, feeling very embarrassed merely said, "Take it down Ethan, I'm still the same guy. Just...fighting giant monsters now."

"Well Stronghold, hope you're not expecting a parade," Warren said unenthusiastically before putting a piece of steak in his mouth.

"Hey..." Zach began but Magenta put her hand up in front of him, cutting him off.

"We're not throwing a parade," Magenta said darkly.

Zach said nothing and just bit off a piece of steak from his fork, letting out a muffled, "Just saying," although no one was really sure that's what he said.

"So did you pick a name yet?" Ethan said, eager to know all the details of Will's new superhero status.

"I have no idea what I'm going to pick. I mean, I must've come up with dozens of names but all of them sounded lamer then the last one," Will said in defeat, playing with the half done apple in his palm. "I don't think I'll ever come up with a good enough name."

Layla reached a hand foward and slightly squeezed Will's, giving him a gentle, reassuring smile.

"I'm sure you'll think of something great," Layla said reassuringly, making Will smile.

"I guess I'll go get something to eat," Will said as he got up from his seat and headed for the lunch line. "Be right back."

Layla smiled as she watched her boyfriend walk off, feeling quite proud to be close to someone so great. Still, why did she have this nagging feeling that something was going to go wrong? Shrugging it off as just having too much dressing, Layla pierced the salad leaves with her fork and started eating once more.

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