The winter vacation, once it finally arrived after a blizzard of papers, projects, exams, and assignments that made the wintry outdoors look mild, was a time of relaxation for most. It also provided an opportunity for Ethan, Magenta, Zach, Warren, Will, and Layla to get together with Mrs. Stronghold and practice their developing skills.

To no one's surprise Layla said that she disliked the violence of combat, but she could understand why it might be important to be able to defend one's self. Magenta, on the other hand, said that she liked the movement and activity of the techniques they were learning, and therefore Zach felt similarly. Warren, as usual, said very little, but there seemed to be an almost-smile playing around the corners of his mouth more often, and he was more willing to indulge his friends in their 'fits of dorkiness,' as he once put it. They made great progress over the two week vacation, and Josie said that she was quite proud of all of them. Steve began to make jokes about finding a larger house so that they could all just move in. For the most part, the teens responded to his bad jokes with rolled eyes.

By the end of the first week in January, school had begun again, and by the end of the second week things had fallen into a comfortable routine. It was no surprise to anyone in the school therefore, when Nikolas Larson approached a small group of sidekicks on Tuesday of the third week of January. What was surprising, however, to most of the school, at least, was the outcome of the confrontation.

"Hey, sidekicks! Don't you know better than to clutter up the hallways?"

Ethan glanced around, saw Larson approaching them, and said, "Idiot-alert."

"Huh?" Zach asked.

"Behind you," Magenta replied. "Larson."

"Aww man!" Zach groaned.

"Idiot-alert?" Layla asked curiously.

"Yeah. Apparently Magenta managed to call him an idiot to his face once," Ethan explained.

"Wow. I'm impressed," Layla said, smiling at the other girl.

"Hey, sidekicks! I'm talking to you!" Nikolas had gotten close enough to stand directly behind them.

"Did you hear something?" Zach asked, glancing around in an exaggerated manner.

"No. Why?" Layla asked.

"Hey, sidekicks! What are you, deaf?" Nikolas then made one of the biggest mistakes of his bullying career. He brought his hand down on Zach's shoulder. Larson had planned to spin his young victim around and grab the front of his shirt. What happened instead was that Zach grabbed his wrist and used it as a pivot point to neatly toss the upperclassman over his shoulder and on to the floor. The others had cleared out of the way and they all reformed a pace or two away from where they had been. Perhaps it was the fall, or perhaps it was merely the fact that Nikolas was entirely unused to being thwarted, but in any event, it took several long moments for him to climb to his feet.

It didn't particularly matter, though, because everyone had stopped walking to stare at him, so he was in no particular danger of getting stepped on, even though the lunch period was one of the highest traffic times in the school. Eventually, however, Larson managed to pick himself up, bush himself off, and make the same mistake a second time.

This time he reached toward Magenta's shoulder reasoning that since she was significantly smaller than Zach she would be unable to defend herself. He found a moment later that he was wrong. Once again, Nikolas Larson found himself face-up on the floor of the school hallway. Although his recovery time was not quite as long the second time, it still took awhile for him to get up. This was mostly because Magenta had managed to knock all the air entirely out of his lungs.

It is a known fact that when a human body falls from its own height, the potential for great injury exists. It was also a fact known by every student at Sky High and a few elsewhere that angering Warren Peace also created the potential for great injury. By the time Principal Powers arrived at the scene, Nikolas had fallen four times and the last time he found himself looking up into the face of Warren Peace. He and Will Stronghold had joined the group of sidekicks.

"Hey," Peace said. Nikolas blinked up at him. "You may recall that I told you to leave my friends alone," Warren commented. "They've told you to leave them alone, too. Maybe you ought to do it."

Nikolas shivered slightly though he tried not to show it. He was saved from making the obligatory and suitably tough response by the arrival of a member of the staff.

"Warren Peace, that is enough!" Principal Powers was suddenly standing next to him. "I thought I told you that I couldn't tolerate any more fighting in school from you!"

"He wasn't fighting, Principal Powers," Will inserted quickly.

"Oh no?" she raised one eyebrow.

"No," Will agreed. Warren shook his head and tried to look innocent. He didn't particularly succeed, but it was, after all, the thought that counted.

"Then perhaps you wouldn't mind telling me what is going on here?"

"Nikolas fell," Layla replied calmly. "Warren was just helping him up," she looked significantly at her friend.

"Right," Warren replied and offered a hand to Larson.

"Really?" The principal looked and sounded disbelieving. "Well then I suppose I won't need to remind you, Warren, that if I catch you fighting in the halls again you will be in serious trouble. That goes for you, too, Nikolas." Powers peered sternly at both of them and then turned and strode away.

The moment she was gone the whispers started and Warren knew that by the end of the day everyone in the school would know exactly what had happened. It was practically guaranteed that no one would pick on his friends again, until they were out in the field, anyway.