Chapter Four:
The day dragged on slowly for Warren Peace and he was so thankful to be in his last class of the day. He took his usual seat at the back of the class and waited for the teacher to arrive.
"Only one more hour to go." He thought to himself gruffly. Even though he couldn't wait to go home, hero ethics was still his least favorite class. It had taken only a few hours for the news about his relationship with Will to get around every student in Sky High. Warren didn't really care, but he knew it was different for Will. For a start, everyone was far too afraid of Warren to even look at him differently. And Warren knew that Will was going to get the most grief about it. He knew that eventually the news would spread even further, throughout the hero community and eventually to The Commander and Jetstream. Sure, Will's mom was ok with it, but Mr. Stronghold?
Warren groaned loudly at the thought of the way Mr. Stronghold would react.
"Lets count the ways that's gonna go badly." He thought "Lets see, His only son is a fag, no chance of carrying on the Stronghold name. And on top of that, his boyfriend is the son of Barron Battle."
Warren groaned again and let his head hit the table. He looked up sharply as he heard the clicking of high heels on the floor. A woman Warren had never seen before entered the room. She was very tall and thin. Her clean white lab coat hung of her sinewy body. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and her dark blue eyes were framed by small half moon shaped glasses. She walked in quickly and went straight to the blackboard. She began writing. Miss Fletcher.
"Hello class!" She said excitedly "my name's Miss Fletcher; I'm the new hero ethics teacher."
She walked over to the desk at the front of the room and sat down the small brown brief case she had been carrying.
'Today, we are going to watch a film."
A sigh of relief and gratitude went through the room, a sigh that Warren was surprised to find himself a part of.
"I have to admit its equal parts education and getting you all to like me." She said and smiled. Warren could tell she was nervous, so he laughed at her less than funny joke. She smiled at him.
"Mr. umm," She looked at a piece of paper, presumably the seating plan "Peace?"
"Yeah." He said, as he changed position in his seat, lounging lazily.
"Could you please shut the blinds?"
"Sure." Warren said. He stood up slowly and walked to the side of the room ignoring the stares from other students.
"So much for staying unnoticed." He thought. He walked along the length of the room, pulling the cords on the blinds as he went. When he got to the front of the room, Miss Fletcher came close to him.
"I've heard a lot about you Warren." She said quietly, with a hint of haughtiness in her voice.
Warren smirked "Congratulations. Having ears is such a rare quality nowadays."
"So you are as fiery as they say. I have something important to discuss with you after class." She said, so quietly that Warren barely heard her.
"Whatever." Warren said and headed to the back of the class, walking with a confident nonchalance, although he felt anything but confidant.
'What the fuck was that about?" He thought "Cuz I really need more drama in my life."
The rest of the class passed slowly, and as the minutes ticked by Warren became more and more nervous, wondering what she could possibly have against him already. Eventually the class ended and was dismissed. Warren stayed in his seat.
"Come here please Mr. Peace" Miss Fletcher said as she shuffled papers around on her desk. Warren walked over and sat on one of the desks at the front of the room. He spread his legs and slouched, giving her an icy look. Warren ad had his share of teachers that hated him, even before hero school. Back in is old elementary school; all of the teachers treated him like crap. And at hero school, the teachers were either scared of him, or his fathers reputation.
"What?" He said, barely moving his lips, his tone flat and uninterested
"I just wanted to let you know how sorry I was to hear about your parents."
Warren was dumbfounded. She had the nerve, to act as if they had died in some terrible tragedy, to put his mother in the same category as the villain that destroyed her. He fumed, breathing heavily. He stood, moving towards the exit.
"I think I should leave."
"Wait!" She called, and Warren turned back wearily. "Warren, look after stronghold."
"What do you mean?" He asked, listening to her truly for the first time.
"Well, your father was evil, but he was also a genius. He had a lot of followers. A certain group actually. I gather they were most disappointed at the incident a few weeks back. And well, when they come after you... "
"If they come after me...they're gonna get to me through him"
"Oh not if Mr. Peace." She said, smiling. She leaned into him, her lips close to his ear, the warmth of her breath on his neck. "When."
Warren backed away suddenly, his eyes wide.
'Are you threatening me?" He felt anger surge through him again.
"Would that be very appropriate?" She said, and slipped past him, out the door. She turned, just before disappearing around a corner and waved to Warren.
He sat back down on the desk, his mind reeling. That definitely sounded like a threat to him. His heart raced as he thought of Will. The thought of anything happening to him made his insides churn. He couldn't let him get hurt; he couldn't lose the only think keeping him sane.
"Ok Warren." He said to himself. "Get a grip."
He turned and walked out the door, determined to find out who was working for his father.
And destroy them.
-
The sky had turned completely black by the time Warren reached his destination. The night air was cold, but Warren ignored the wind stinging his cheeks. He had a mission to concentrate on. The school day had felt like it was taking forever, but it had at least given him time to plan his next move. If he wanted to find out anything about his father, his best bet was to go to wherever his lair was. Finding it would be the hard part. However, he had an idea. As luck would have it, on one of the rare occasions he turned up to hero logic class, and paid attention, the key to finding his fathers old hide away was revealed. Any super villain worth the price of his costume had a lair near the source of their power. Warren's father had controlled fire; so, logically his father would be hiding near Maxville's biggest natural wonder, Mt Vail, the local dormant volcano.
He stood at the base and looked up. Now for the hard part. He ran his hand along the rocky ground, looking for any sign of entry point. He scanned the ground all around him but saw nothing of note.
"This is stupid." He said to himself "I could be here forever looking."
Suddenly, a small silver glint caught his eye. He ran towards the spark and threw himself to the ground near it. Dug into the ground was a small metal plate, that looked like a hand scanner to Warren. He went to put his hand on it, but stopped. The plate was far too small for that. But something inside told Warren this was the key to getting into the lair.
"Key!" He thought suddenly. The metal plate was too small for hands, but not for flames. He lit a small fireball in his hands and aimed it at the metal part of the ground. Sure enough, when it his, the ground beneath him began to rumble. A large fissure opened beneath him, and he jumped away to avoid falling in. The ground stopped quaking and Warren leaned over the edge of the crevice.
Inside was pitch black. Warren set his arm ablaze and looked down. The metallic floor wasn't far below. Warren extinguished his arm and jumped inside, landing awkwardly on the feet. He stood up slowly and looked around. The room he was in was pitch black, but instead of setting himself ablaze again, he felt around for a light switch. Pure evil or not, his dad was a sucker for convenience. He got lucky and felt the switch beneath his fingers.
Warren turned on the lights and immediately drew in a sharp breath. Before him was a huge room, bigger than Sky High's gym. And the room was completely empty, save for a few desks, a computer and several stacks of large boxes. He sighed and moved towards the boxes.
"This is gonna take forever." He thought to himself, and settled himself onto the ground, tipping the contents of the first box onto the floor, and began looking through papers.
-
AN: See, some serious plot emerging there... not just mmmm boys. I dunno if this is coming across the way it is in my head though... reviews greatly appreciated...
