It was a Saturday, and for once everyone was not over at Will's house. Layla and Will were at the park, looking at the icicles depending from the trees, the play structures, the light poles, and any other surface that could possibly drip enough water to form an icicle. Warren was working later in the day, but at the moment he was sleeping in. That left Ethan, Magenta, and Zach, who had gathered at Zach's house. They were discussing the accusations that Warren had made the previous day.

"I can't believe he said that!" Zach protested. "We do not let Larson pick on us!"

Ethan nodded. "True. It's not like we asked for him to push us around."

"And I don't know about you guys, but I have tried to stand up for myself. It made him laugh," Magenta growled.

"Really?" Ethan's ears perked up. "What did you do?"

"Yeah, what happened?" Zach chimed in.

"Well, you remember the day I got stuck?"

"In the trashcan?" Zach asked.

"Yes," Magenta hissed.

"We remember," Ethan interjected.

"Well, all that day Larson had been making comments about how my friends were stupid and birds of a feather and how he didn't like my hair. I told him I didn't care, and when I was looking for an idiot's approval I'd let him know. So he tried to hit me, but I transformed and bit him, which just made him angrier. He tried to step on me! So I ran. Unfortunately, he managed to get the waste bin on top of me before I could get away and change back."

"You called him an idiot to his face?" Ethan asked in awe. "No wonder he put a wastebasket on top of you."

"Does the saying 'birds of a feather' really apply here? I mean, none of us are birds, and Magenta, you're a guinea pig," Zach glanced over at Magenta and closed his mouth abruptly.

"That's why it's a saying, idiot," Maj said and rolled her eyes.

"You know," Zach said, lifting an arm and insinuating it around her shoulders, "I'd be happy to give you my approval anytime you want."

Magenta glared at the hand on her shoulder and turned her head to stare at him. "I don't need your approval," she said. "I don't need anyone's approval."

"I know," Zach said hastily, withdrawing his arm. "I just meant, you know, if you wanted it, or wouldn't mind having it, or, you know."

"Dude, I think you missed the point," Ethan said and shook his head. He tactfully didn't mention that Magenta had moved an inch or two closer to the retreating Zach.

"So, we can't fight him," Zach said, smiling a little at Maj's nearness. "What does that leave us with?"

"Making obnoxious comments and hiding behind our friends?" Ethan suggested.

"Yeah, because that worked so well yesterday," Maj said and rolled her eyes.

"Well, none of us got hurt," Zach pointed out.

"Only because Will and Warren and Layla were there," Magenta replied.

"Warren did have a point though," Ethan said. "We can't just let the villains get away with stuff because we're sidekicks."

"We won't be," Maj said. "We'll be handing our hero silver tipped crossbows."

"Yeah, but you know, we didn't do that at homecoming, and that came out all right," Zach said. "And I kinda don't want to be the next Mr. Boy."

"Point," Ethan said.

"So what are you saying," Magenta asked.

"There's got to be another option," Zach replied.

They sat for several minutes in quiet thought.

"You know," Ethan said after a moment. "We could just ask Warren to help us."

"I thought we just said we didn't want to rely on someone else?" Magenta asked sharply.

"Warren once said that Larson wasn't that strong, and we all know he's not that bright."

"He's not very fast either," Ethan put in.

"The worst part is his teleportation ability," Zach continued. "Maybe Warren has some idea of how we could stand up for ourselves."

"What's the worst that could happen?" Ethan asked.

Magenta looked thoughtful, as though she was contemplating actually answering that remark, but she said instead, "So, we're agreed then. We talk to Warren to see if there's some way we can learn to defend ourselves."

Zach and Ethan exchanged a glance and then said in unison, "Agreed."

"Cool," Magenta nodded. "So what do you guys want to do today?"

---

By Monday, to the great disappointment of nearly every student in the greater Maxville area, the roads were completely clear and the schools were open on time. At Sky High, three sidekicks were anxiously counting the minutes until lunch when they could talk to their friend. After class Will met Layla and the trio sent the couple off to find a table. "We'll come in a minute," Ethan said.

"Okay," Layla said, curiosity was thick in her voice, but she and Will walked hand in hand to the lunchroom anyway. Ethan, Zach, and Magenta hurried to Warren's locker, hoping that they wouldn't see Nickolas Larson. Fortunately for them, they didn't. Whether this was pure luck or whether Larson was avoiding Warren Peace they could not determine, but either way they were happy.

"Hey Warren," Zach greeted him as they walked up.

"Hey," Warren replied as he glanced up at them. He turned back to exchanging his books as he continued, "I didn't think you guys would be talking to me today."

"We weren't going to," Maj replied, "but we had a meeting over the weekend."

"We decided you were right," Ethan said.

Warren's eyes flicked up in surprise and there was a hint of warmth and happiness in them. "Good," he said simply. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"Well," the sidekicks exchanged glances. "We were kind of hoping you had an idea about that," Zach supplied.

"As a matter of fact, I do," Warren said as he closed his locker. "I don't have work today, why don't you guys meet me at Will's house after school?"

"Why Will's house?" Ethan's nose wrinkled in confusion.

"Figure it out, Popsicle," Warren said, not unkindly, as he led the way to the cafeteria.

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A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry about the delay! I hope you all enjoy this chapter, though, and the reassurances that the next chapter should be up sooner. MQW