Round Two, the Consequences, and a Decision

Warren's feeling of smug satisfaction lasted only until the end of the next school day. They were all crossing the lawn to climb onto the buses that were the only officially sanctioned ways off school grounds when disaster, in the form of Nikolas Larson, struck. "Hey, sidekick!" the burly junior shouted.

"You'd think we were the only sidekicks in the school," Zach commented to Magenta. She nodded and rolled her eyes.

"Just get on the bus, guys," Layla suggested. "They'll be leaving in a few moments, and then it won't matter anymore."

"Until tomorrow," Ethan pointed out. Layla shrugged.

"What's the matter?" Larson asked as he approached. "Little baby sidekicks want to run away?"

"I think they've told you to leave them alone," Will said.

"Shut up, Stronghold. I'm talking to them," Nikolas jerked his chin toward the cluster of hero support students.

"Talking to someone generally implies that they are responding," Warren inserted.

Larson grunted and ducked between the two friends. He managed to snag Layla's arm. She threw him neatly to the ground and Warren punched him as he came back up. Will glared for a moment, but nodded at Warren gratefully. He knew that he was angry enough on Layla's behalf to hit Larson with all his strength. "You're lucky he was the one who hit you and not me," Will growled.

"Leave us alone," Ethan said to his nemesis.

"Last call for the Maxville bus!" Ron Wilson, bus driver, was standing in the door of his bus and shouting.

The few students who had gathered in a loose ring scattered at this announcement and Zach, in a rare display of maturity said, "Come on, guys. I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to."

"Yeah, you might learn something," Magenta snarked good-naturedly. The others turned to follow him. They had made it only a few steps when Nikolas grabbed the back of Will's shirt.

"What are you, stupid?" Warren asked as he turned back.

"Stay out of it, Peace!"

"Not a chance," Warren growled.

Nikolas launched himself at Will and knocked him to the ground. Warren took one long step forward and grabbed Larson's shirt, twisted to get a firm grip in the fabric, and hauled the junior backward. Will came up swinging and barely caught Nikolas's jaw as he teleported with Warren.

They appeared some twenty feet above the ground and Larson immediately disappeared again, reappearing on the ground several feet away from where he had begun. Will barely batted an eye before he was in the air and catching Warren.

They had just landed when Principal Powers arrived on the scene. "Hold it right there, gentlemen!" she cried. She surveyed the teens standing before her and said, "Follow me."

She led them back into the school and to the detention room. "Take a seat, gentlemen. Your little display caused all three of you to miss the bus. Your parents have been called to come and get you."

She frowned at all of them before turning to Warren. "I believe I told you that if I caught you fighting again you would be in serious trouble."

"You said if you caught me fighting in the halls, Ms. Powers. I was clearly outside this time, and you didn't actually catch me fighting, you caught me falling." Warren spoke with deliberate calm and was rewarded with a faint glimmering of humor.

Powers refused to yield, however, and continued. "Nevertheless, you are going to find yourself facing consequences that you won't like this time. I am disappointed in all of you. Your parents will be here soon." With that she spun on her heel and left them behind. The three super-teens sat in mostly silence while they waited for their parents to come.

It was perhaps only half an hour, but it seemed much, much longer until the door to the detention room opened again to admit Principal Powers, Steve and Josie Stronghold, Angelina Peace, and a woman that Warren didn't recognize and assumed must be Larson's mother. She was very petite, blonde, and had an air of extreme reserve. All of the parents looked decidedly unhappy, but Mrs. Larson was the worst.

Then again, Warren mused, maybe she just didn't like being without her power. That was the most frustrating and unsettling aspect of the detention room in his opinion. The approach of his own mother made Warren tear his eyes away from the small, blonde woman and look up at Angelina.

He gave her a tiny quirk of a smile and knew that he was in trouble when she didn't respond in the slightest. "Perhaps you'd like to tell me what's going on, Warren?" she said in an even voice. It was less a question than her intonation made it sound, and Warren was just about to answer when another voice interrupted.

"Yes, what is going on? I would like to know that, too," the blonde woman spoke and her voice was as cold as her face had been.

She's got to be an ice-user, Warren mused.

"Mom, these are the kids who've been picking on me!" Nikolas interjected.

Warren swiveled his head to look at the teleporter in surprise and Will exclaimed. "We have not been picking on you," the younger Stronghold protested. "If anything you've been picking on us!"

"My son is not a bully," Mrs. Larson said.

"Yeah, tell that to my friends," Will muttered.

Josie put a hand on his shoulder and he subsided. "Principal Powers?" she said. "Did you have a particular reason for brining us here?"

"This is not the first time that any of these students have been caught fighting on school grounds. Fighting is clearly against school rules, as is any use of power outside of gym. Simply telling them this was clearly not enough to deter them, so I thought it was time to get parents involved."

Josie nodded. "Well then, perhaps we should have each of the boys tell us what happened."

"A good idea, Josie," Angelina said. Mrs. Larson nodded grudgingly.

"Nikolas," Powers said, "why don't you go first?"

"I was just trying to get on the bus when they jumped me! I hadn't done anything to them and all of a sudden they just started beating me up!"

"I see. Will?"

"Larson there has been picking on my friends for a long time. They finally stood up to him and asked him to stop and he didn't listen. When they left he tried to take it out on us."

"Are you saying that my son is a bully?" Mrs. Larson asked in a cold voice.

"I'm saying he has no problem picking fights with people when he thinks they can't defend themselves."

"You would claim that you cannot defend yourself?"

"Mrs. Larson, please," Principal Powers intervened.

"Warren, we haven't heard your side yet." Steve Stronghold was watching Warren closely.

"Well, it pretty much happened the way Will said. Nikolas Larson wasn't prepared to let it end when Layla and the others left, and he grabbed Will." Warren shrugged.

"So how does that involve you?" Powers inquired.

"Will is my best friend," Warren said and shrugged again, as if that statement explained everything. In a way, Steve reflected, it did.

"I am very disappointed in all three of you. Did it never occur to you to come and get a teacher?" Powers asked Will and Warren.

Neither of them replied and after a moment Mrs. Larson spoke. "I would like to take my son home now."

"Of course," Principal Powers sighed. "Ron will be waiting for you. I trust I won't find you gentlemen fighting again," her gaze lingered on Warren a moment. With that she opened the door of the detention room and allowed all of them to file out.

There was no conversation as the group walked out to the bus and climbed on. The Larson's manoeuvered their way to the front of the bus line and immediately went to the back, glaring at the others when it appeared that they would not have the back of the bus to themselves. As it happened, the Strongholds and the Peaces sat just across the aisle from each other.

When they were safely in flight, Josie said, "When I taught you kids I knew that there would be trouble. I assumed though that you would all be in trouble together."

"Why should the victims be punished?" Warren said.

"What victims?" his mother asked. "Your friends stood up for themselves, right? That means that they are no longer victims." Warren nodded, looking slightly pleased at that thought.

"What I don't understand is why you two didn't walk away," Steve said. "You don't think two on one might be a little unfair?"

Will and Warren exchanged glances. "We did try, Dad," Will replied. "We started to walk toward the bus, but he wouldn't let it go. Wouldn't let us go," he corrected himself. Steve nodded thoughtfully.

"Mrs. Peace, do you mind if I drop the others off first?" Ron asked.

"Actually, I've been meaning to have a chat with the Strongholds for a while now. If you don't mind," she looked over at Steve and Josie, "We'll just get off with them."

Josie raised an eyebrow for a moment but said, "Sure, you're more than welcome."

"Thank you," Angelina replied.

A moment later the bus slowed to its usual stop a few blocks away from the Stronghold residence. The five of them strolled off and to the house before the conversation re-started. "Can I get you anything?" Josie asked Angelina as they entered.

"No, I'm fine, thanks."

"Why don't we go into the living room, then," Josie suggested.

They were all seated comfortably when Steve said, "So this kid grabbed you guys and started swinging?"

"Sort of. He grabbed me," Will said. "Warren just stayed behind."

"Guaranteed that Powers was already coming, and you hadn't even hit him yet," Warren inserted.

"You had hit him?" Steve asked.

Warren nodded. "After Layla dropped him. I was hoping he'd just stay down, but," he shrugged.

"So I'm guessing this was just an ordinary slugfest, then, and not a powered fight."

"Considering that other boy was still walking and talking?" Angelina asked with a slightly amused expression. "I'd say so."

"Actually, he did try to drop Warren from twenty feet in the air," Will said.

"Oh?" Josie asked.

"He's a teleporter," Will replied.

"Are you all right?" Angelina asked, turning to her son worriedly.

"Yes, Mom, I'm fine. Will was kind enough to catch me."

Angelina sighed. "Does it seem odd to anyone else that we got called to the school because the boys were fighting but the reason they were fighting was almost wholly ignored?"

"A little," Josie frowned.

"Not really," Steve countered. "Sky High has always been blind where hero treatment of sidekicks is concerned."

The two women nodded and frowned even more deeply. After a moment, Josie shook her head and turned to Warren's mother. "You said you had wanted to come over and talk, Angelina," she said. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Well," Mrs. Peace replied. "I actually wanted to make sure it was okay with both of you that Warren is over here so often."

"Mo-om!" Warren groaned, but she silenced him with a hand on his knee, to which he responded with rolled eyes.

"Of course it's all right!" Josie said. "All of Will's friends are here just as often as Warren and in some cases more so. Your son is welcome anytime."

"I am glad to hear that. Not everyone has been accepting of Warren because of who his father is. It has worried me at times." She very briefly glanced at Steve, who had the good grace to flush slightly.

"Warren is always welcome, as are you," Josie replied.

"Thank you." Angelina rose. "It is getting a bit late, though, and I need to have a chat with my son. Thank you for having us over, Josie, Steve."

"Sure," Steve said as he and Josie rose too.

"As it happens, we also need to talk to our son," Josie smiled in a maternal way.

Angelina nodded and smiled back.

As soon as Warren and his mother had been safely shown out, it began. "Will, I thought the point of teaching your friends to defend themselves was so that they would defend themselves?" Josie asked.

"They did," Will assured her. She glared at him expectantly. "They did, Mom. Warren and I were defending ourselves. Well, except for when Warren punched Larson for touching Layla."

"Why would he do that?" Steve asked. "I thought Layla was your girlfriend."

"Yeah, she is, but if I had punched him, I might have hit him too hard." His parents blinked.

Finally, Josie shook her head. "Will, this is very serious. I don't want you fighting in school, and you've already gotten into two fights this year. Don't let it happen again."

"I won't," he said.

"Good. No X-Box for a week."

"And this time I know you already have one," Josie glanced sideways at her husband.

Will nodded and went up to his room.

Josie sighed. "I'm going to start fixing dinner," she said as she walked toward the kitchen.

Steve nodded absently and walked back into the living room. He collapsed onto the couch with a weary sigh. There were times when parenting was a wearying task. Even harder than being a super hero which usually involved just punching stuff. This afternoon had been a prime example.

When he first heard that they had to go to the school to pick Will up because he had been fighting, he had immediately assumed that he was borne out in believing that Warren was a bad influence. He had been wrong, though.

Sure the Peace kid was a bit-rough-and-tumble and had obviously been in trouble before, but he had stood by Will even though it meant getting in trouble again. He had defended Will even from himself. Surely that had to count for something?

In a moment of clarity he realized that getting Josie to teach the other kids some moves had been Warren's attempt to defend them, too. Steve felt like a jerk. What was worse, he had been a jerk. If Angelina Peace's inquiry hadn't been a request to stop treating her son like dirt then he didn't know what was.

With a sigh Steve acknowledged that he had been wrong about Warren Peace. He was clearly nothing like his father in essentials. It was time to stop treating him differently from his son's other friends. After all, Will had never truly disappointed him. Not even when he thought his son had no powers. Not even when his son got sent home for fighting. Steve nodded again and rose.

Maybe he could go 'help' Josie fix dinner. He was starving.

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A/N: This is it, guys! The next chapter will be the last chapter. Thank you to everyone who is reading this and special thanks to all of you who have reviewed.