I NEVER expected this story to become so popular (thank you, everyone, for all your kind reviews on ALL my stories). It was supposed to be just a one-shot that introduced Victoria, who is one of the new "villains"/Will's new girlfriend for my version of Sky High 2. I guess you've all taken a liking to her. Either that or you want to really see Will get the snot kicked out of him by Layla like he deserved in the movie. Works for me both ways.

I'm having a blast writing it, and it's getting easier as it seems to be taking on a life of it's own (again, thanks to all of you).

I've also gotten comments about Victoria's description, so I'll clarify here: she looks like a heavyweight female power lifter (only she's fourteen) with a face like a fourteen year old Charlize Theron (VERY cute).

Enjoy.

CRUSH

Chapter 3:

Love Hurts (Especially If Your Stupid)

Will awoke feeling great.

He climbed out of bed and smiled at the sunshine and singing of birds coming through his open window. He stretched, exhilarating in the refreshed flow of blood and tingle of muscles. He hadn't felt this good since…well, ever.

He whistled as he made his way to the bathroom, grabbing a fresh towel on the way. He loved the feel of the hot water as it sprayed him, still not believing how great he felt. Will had never thought it possible, especially after the way he had been feeling yesterday afternoon, tired and sore from a bad mid-term in gym. That changed when he met her.

Victoria.

What a girl! His head still swam just thinking about her; the muscles, the silky black hair, the dazzling blue eyes…the strawberry lips. And what she had done after he had rescued her from some H.A.D.E.S. punk…wow.

After she had kissed him, she took him to a secluded table in LIMBO and proceeded to massage his neck and shoulders until he thought he'd either melt like Ethan or start purring.

"You're VERY strong, aren't you?" she asked.

"Well, yeah," said Will, almost bragging.

"How strong are you?"

"Well, I'm not sure," Will admitted, "I've never had a chance to really test that."

"Would you like to?"

"Sure. When?"

"How about right now?"

"Now?"

She grinned mischievously, and nodded her head.

She led him downstairs, to a sub-basement he never knew existed. Once there she turned on the lights and revealed an enormous concrete room filled with some of the most monstrous weights Will had ever seen. Even the weight room at Sky High's gym paled in comparison to the massive pieces of steel that sat there like silent monsters waiting for their next victim to get too close.

"This is where the "big boys" come when they want to settle who's strongest between themselves or between the schools. Over there," she pointed to the wall, "are the pictures of the strongest to ever go through here. Go take a look."

Will did as she said, and he was surprised at what he saw. There were pictures of some of the most physically powerful heroes and villains he'd ever heard of, all of them when they were his age. One particular picture caught his eye.

In the picture a muscular young man with a beaming grin, tousled hair and sparkling eyes was giving a double biceps shot to show off the bowling balls that made up his arms. It was a picture of Will's dad.

"Wow," whispered Will, "he never told me about that."

"Probably being modest," said Victoria as she stood next to him.

Will had to stifle a snicker. "Modest" was not a word he'd ever heard used to describe his dad before. Still, it was strange he wouldn't have added this accomplishment to the lengthy list he always talked about.

"Ready to start?"

"Huh?"

Victoria had already placed several huge steel plates on a specially designed bar that had grips a normal sized person could put their hands around. From what he could see she had put the equivalent of ten tons on the bar.

"This should do for a warm up," said Victoria.

"For bench pressing?"

"No silly," she grinned like a pixie, "for arm curls."

"Uh…ladies first?" said Will,

"That's very sweet," said Victoria, who moved over to the bar, paused for a moment, then wrapped her hands around the grips. Once she was sure of her grip she braced herself, and began to lift.

Will thought his eyes would pop out of his head. Victoria slowly but easily lifted the monstrous weight off its rack, stepped back, and began pumping out reps of the bar without even breathing heavy.

"This is good for a start," she smiled sweetly as her already huge biceps began pumping with blood, "I just wish I'd thought to bring my gym gear. Then I'd really show you something."

What she was already showing him was something Will had not dreamed of before. He had heard of super-strong women, Warren's mother was supposed to have been in the same class as the Commander and Warren's dad Baron Battle, but actually seeing one in the flesh doing her thing was…wow.

"Your turn," she said, putting the weight back on the rack.

"Uh…yeah," said Will realizing he had momentarily lost track with reality while watching Victoria. "Sure."

Will went before the rack, adjusted his grip, and began the lift. It was a little difficult at first, as the angle forced him to actually work his upper arms on their own, something he'd never done before. Will had never been much into weight lifting, even before his super-strength had kicked in, and once it did he had taken it for granted that he could just lift, bend or break anything he wanted. He was now learning there was a lot of technique involved with maintaining the balance of the weights while keeping his grip on the bar. He started out slow, but quickly gained confidence as he felt the resistance of the weights and adjusted to them. He was starting to like the feeling of the blood pumping into his arms with the exertion. No wonder his dad seemed to enjoy being so strong.

After Will finished his set, he put the weight back on the rack with a loud clang. He then flexed his biceps and was surprised to actually see that they did seem to be a little bigger.

"Mmmm," purred Victoria as she felt his muscle, "this is a good start."

"Are you kidding," said Will, "I'm not even close to the guns you've got."

"You mean these?" grinned Victoria, flexing her right bicep so that it reached its full eighteen inches in circumference.

"Yeah," said Will, almost hypnotized by the sight.

"You'll catch up," said Victoria, "mighty oaks from little acorns grow."

After that she had put him through an entire workout routine that he never imagined he was capable of. The weights were unreal and the exertion tremendous, but she had been there the entire time, encouraging him and driving him on. When it was over he was soaked with sweat and breathing like a steam locomotive, but the feeling of exhilaration more than made up for it.

"Oh, look at the time," Victoria said, "I've got to get home right away. Could you…"

"Help?" he gasped, "Sure. Where do live?"

"It's not too far from here, but it would be a lot quicker if you…you know…"

"Fly?" asked Will, "Sure, why not? I can always use more practice with that too."

Victoria squealed with delight, and she and Will raced up the stairs and through the club to get to the outside. Will was startled to see that it was already dusk. How long had he been down in that dungeon with her?

"So do I hold onto you or…" said Victoria, bringing Will back to his senses.

"I think I'll do this the old fashioned way," Will grinned, and scooped Victoria up to hold her in his arms in the classic hero way. Though he was far more than strong enough to lift her, her larger frame made it a little awkward for him to get his arms and hands just right. Neither of them minded the brief tussle though.

Finally comfortable, Will lifted slowly into the air, carrying a sighing Victoria up into the evening sky. They soon came to a large house she identified as her home, and quickly landed so no one would see them. He offered to walk her to the door, but she said she'd have enough explaining to do to her "old-fashioned daddy" without having a boy with her. She then gave him another brain-numbing strawberry kiss and vanished amongst the large trees in the front yard.

Now Will finished his shower, dried off and changed into some fresh clothes. Since it was Saturday he knew he had the usual list of chores to do before he could go have some fun. He came downstairs and saw his parents both getting ready to go show some houses.

"Hey tiger," grinned Josie, "there's a plate of breakfast in the oven for you. Make sure you eat it all then get the plate in the dishwasher and the load started. You know everything else."

"Yeah Mom," said Will as he opened up the oven to the smell of a heaping platter of sausage and scrambled eggs with cheese. He quickly tore into it, ravenous from what happened yesterday.

"Anything else going on today?"

"Yeah, after I finish I'm going to go see a new friend I met."

"Oh, who is it?

"Her name's Victoria…she's really something."

Josie and Steven exchanged a worried look between them. They remembered all too well the last time Will had brought a new girlfriend home.

"Son," started Steven, "who is this Victoria?"

"She's great," Will said through a mouth full of food, "she's super strong and she showed me a new workout place and everything."

"Really? How strong?"

"Steven…" Josie said.

"What's her weight range…one ton…two?"

"Steven…"

"I'm not sure, but she can do ten ton arm curls for reps." Will finally said after he swallowed another mouthful.

Steven sat back and whistled, impressed.

"I couldn't do that when I was your age. Actually I couldn't do it until junior year. There was this one time Baron and I…"

"STEVEN!" Josie finally yelled.

"What? I'm just trying to find out about his new girlfriend."

Will almost choked on the half gallon of milk he had been chugging.

"Whoa, wait a minute. She is NOT my girlfriend."

"Of course not," said Josie, shooting her husband a dirty look, "your father means your new friend who happens to be a girl."

"Yeah," said Will, "that's it. She's like, you know, a lifting buddy…"

A lifting buddy who tastes like strawberries…a lifting buddy who smells like night blooming flowers even when she sweats…a lifting buddy with dazzling blue eyes he could stare into for hours like they were the night sky…a lifting buddy whose every curve and muscle was etched in his mind and dreamt about even as the sun shone in the sky…

Will came out of his thoughts with a start and looked at his parents.

"Sorry, did you say something?"

"I asked you if you knew her last name…where she's from," said Josie.

"Oh," said Will, realizing he had no idea about an answer to either question, "I don't know her last name, and I think she goes to one of the other schools…I don't think it's New Olympus because they all wear those uniforms, and it's sure not H.A.D.E.S. because…"

"She doesn't smell like brimstone?" Steven joked.

"No," grinned Will, "she sure doesn't…"

Will started to lapse into another daydream about Victoria before Josie snapped her fingers in front of his face, bringing him around.

"Why don't you get started on the yard tiger," she smiled to her son, "we'll let you know when we're leaving."

Will got up, put away the dish and started the washer, then headed for the front door to get out the lawnmower.

"He's got that same look on his face," said Josie.

"What look?"

"The same one you used to get when we first met. You looked like a deer caught in the headlights, but you liked it."

"No I didn't."

"Steve, you did it TWICE when we fought Royal Pain and Stitches. If I hadn't caught Gwen off guard like I did she'd have "pacified" you for sure."

"Come on," snorted Steven.

"What," she said, putting her hands on her hips in mock anger, "are you telling me you didn't think about me at all?"

"Only two times," grinned Steven as he took his wife in his arms, "day time and night time."

"You creep," she grinned.

They kissed, oblivious to the hell that was about to be unleashed.

Will walked out, closed the door behind him.

"Good morning world," he smiled.

The tomato hit him squarely in the face, exploding into a mass of red juice and pulp.

Will gasped and wiped the stinging juice from his eyes. What he saw made him wish he had kept them covered.

Layla was standing barefoot on the other side of the lawn. She was dressed in blue jeans and a blue halter top with her beautiful red hair pulled back into a ponytail that went almost to the center of her back. She looked gorgeous.

Except that her green eyes could bore a hole through solid concrete…like they were now boring through Will.

"Oh no," stammered Will, "Layla…I…I forgot all about you…I mean…"

He was choking on his words when he noticed the front yard was moving.

It was not grass, but masses of vines slithering and moving about like a carpet of serpents, all doing Layla's bidding.

Masses of vines. Tomato vines.

As one all of the plants rose up, their limbs covered with thick, juicy red tomatoes that would be the first prize winner at any state fair in the country. As one they all hurled their produce directly at Will.

He barely had time to put up his hands and squeak.

Inside the house, the sound of the barrage carried through to the kitchen, where both Steven and Josie stopped and looked at each other before Josie walked over to look out the front window.

"Layla out there?" asked Steven.

"Yes."

"Is that new front door the titanium reinforced one we ordered after Will broke the last one?"

"Yes."

"Is it locked?"

"Yes."

"He's going to clean that mess up."

"Of course."

"Well, let's get going," said Steven as his wife rejoined him in the kitchen and the two headed out the back door, totally avoiding the carnage out front.

Will was finally able to extricate himself from the roughly five hundred pounds of tomatoes that had turned him and the entire front porch into something out of a Bruce Campbell movie. He spit out a mouthful of pulp, and finally got his eyes cleared to see Layla still standing there, her eyes balls of green fury.

"Layla," he gasped, "please…say something…say anything…"

"I…saw…you…KISSING…her…" Layla snarled.

"Say anything but THAT," whimpered Will.

Layla's eyes narrowed.

A definite bad sign.

New vines began slithering around, replacing the depleted tomato plants.

"Layla," cringed Will, "I'm so sorry."

"You WILL be…" said Layla.

And then the watermelons started to fly.

To be continued