DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sky High or any of its characters.
Warren Peace and Will Stronghold were no longer friends. Warren did not tolerate what Will had become over the years - arrogant, egotistical, and just plain stupid. It didn't help that Will had treated Layla poorly, either. Warren wasn't ready to admit it, but he cared a great deal about how people treated Layla. What was she to him, though? A friend? Romantic interest? He was settling on 'friend' at the moment.
Despite the fact that he didn't like the guy a whole lot, Warren was always teaming up with Will in Save the Citizen with fireballs and the like. Things were fairly calm. Coach Boomer was giving a speech that he considered to be very important. Something about waiting for the right moment to strike, strategizing… Whatever. Layla couldn't have cared less about what he was saying. She watched from the stands, talking about what had happened a few nights a go at the Homecoming dance with Magenta.
"Don't lie to me. I saw you two." Magenta crossed her arms leaning over, prying for all of the delicious details. Layla sighed, not putting up a fight to conceal the events of that magical night.
"I think we had a moment. I mean, I've been wrong about that sort of thing before." Magenta nodded, encouraging Layla to say more with a hand gesture. "You know, I probably am wrong. It's Warren, for Pete's sake. The guy probably doesn't feel anything for me. I mean--"
"Layla!" She nearly jumped out of her skin when Coach Boomer shouted out her name. "Magenta! Both of you, down here." Magenta rolled her eyes, cool as a cucumber, but Layla had to try awful hard to swallow the lump that had found its way into her throat. The Coach had that effect on her when he raised his voice which was quite often, actually.
"I see you two have a fondness for talking at inopportune moments. This is one of them." The Coach stared the pair of girls down. Will was egotistical, but Boomer was something worse - a bully. Layla had thought poorly of the man ever since she first saw him embarrassing freshman students at power placement, but she never said a word against him when he was within a 100-yard-radius.
"Sorry." Magenta couldn't have sounded less sincere.
"Perhaps you'll think twice about doing it next time." He put his hands on his hips, trying to look as menacing as possible. "To cement this lesson in your brains, you two sidekicks can play villains against Stronghold and the hothead."
Magenta shook her head in disbelief. Yeah, like shape shifting into a guinea pig would help her in an effort to shred a dummy-citizen into pieces. Layla's jaw dropped. She felt like screaming, but she managed to speak in a calm voice.
"Coach Boomer, I'm sure that you already know that I refuse to use my powers for show or violence. Maybe we could settle--" Surprise, surprise… Boomer cut her off.
"Don't play 'pacifist' on my time, kid, just play the game." Layla sighed defeatedly and looked to Magenta with a frown. They were pretty much screwed.
Layla couldn't believe her luck. She was about to fight against the guy she knew that she was falling for. If that wasn't enough to ruin a relationship before one even started… But she suited up into protective clothing, every so often glancing across the gymnasium to look at her competition.
"Ready… Begin!" Coach Boomer shouted, once again abusing his super power just to make a point. A very loud point… The timer started and the dummy began to beg 'Save me!' in its almost robotic voice. Magenta and Layla exchanged glances, not really sure where to begin. But then Will made the first move.
Using a backhanded strike, Will Stronghold smacked an unprepared Magenta away from the dummy, sending her flying into a wall. Layla's jaw dropped slightly. She knew that Will wasn't all that cozy and friendly with them anymore, but he struck at her like she was… Well, like she was of no importance at all.
Layla's expression turned to one of complete disgust. She raised her arms over her head, channeling all of her energy. There was no flora in the immediate area, only the plant-life outside of the gymnasium, so it took extra effort to influence the grass, flowers, and trees. She took a deep breath, looking somewhat fierce now as branches grew and broke their way through the gym's windows.
Will was caught off-guard by her strike and was tripped by the vines that were now crawling across the wooden floor. Warren took advantage of Layla focusing her attention on Will and moved to free the citizen, but just as he reached over for the dummy a recovered Magenta leapt in his direction, knocking him to the ground.
"Sorry." She smirked at the pyrokinetic crumpled at her feet. Her apology was no more sincere than the one she had given Boomer only minute before.
Using his super strength, Will tore himself free from the vines that had curled around his limbs. Layla frowned, trying to make things grow faster, thicker, stronger, but Will still had her beat. She hated fighting. It seemed so stupid, especially over a dummy for the coach's entertainment, but she kept at it, determined to beat Will and Warren.
Magenta stayed close to Warren, keeping him busy and distracted as she dodged every fireball he sent in her direction. Layla kept trying to restrain Will with vines and branches, but he broke free every time she thought that she had him beat.
Layla looked at the clock and to the dummy-citizen. Only thirty seconds to go and the dummy hung dangerously close to being destroyed.
Thick green vines curled tightly around Will's torso and limbs, sprouting thorns that cut into sensitive spots, making him yelp to himself and causing the entire gym to snicker. William Stronghold, the product of two superhero parents gifted with two very useful super powers, was being defeated by the girl with the green thumb. He just wouldn't accept that.
With a loud, angered cry, Will tore the restrictive flora away from his body until he was free and then he did something that he would seriously regret. Will punched Layla hard in the gut sending her across the gymnasium and right into the wall.
The crowd of students gave a collective "Ooooh." waiting to see if Layla would recover or not. Magenta stared angrily at Will who was busy freeing the dummy-citizen to keep up his winning streak, ignoring Warren who was just as angry if not more-so than Magenta.
Layla lay crumpled up against the wall trying not to breathe too deeply because of the jabbing pain that came with every inhaled breath. She curled up, holding her lower ribs. A less powerful strike would have been just as effective and wouldn't have hurt her as badly as his powerful punch had, but Will was all about victory and victory isn't as glorious when your rival is still standing.
He stood on the sidelines, holding the dummy in the air with a cocky grin as the buzzer sounded. Will had saved the citizen. Imagine how shocked he was when a certain pyrokinetic teammate sent a rather large fire-ball right to his feet.
"Game's over, hothead, and you won." Coach Boomer crossed his arms. Warren paid no attention to the coach, though. He sent another fireball to Will's feet, trying to scare him before he actually did any damage to the kid. If looks could kill, Will would have been dead in seconds. He couldn't think of why Warren would be coming at him with such rage in his eyes, but even slow, oblivious Stronghold realized the obvious after a while. Warren was angered that Will had hurt Layla and he would pay.
Layla, ever the peace-loving hippie, tried to coax Warren into backing off but it hurt her chest to raise her voice. He wouldn't have listened, anyway.
Will gritted his teeth and charged at Warren, about to hurt him in the same way he had hurt Layla, but Warren was fast and easily dodged the attack. He quickly ignited, holding his flaming arms like weapons in front of him. He swung at Will, aiming to punch him in the jaw, but missed and the only damage done was the singeing of his eyebrows.
"What the hell?" His voice cracked as if he was experiencing puberty all over again.
"You don't touch her." Warren spoke through gritted teeth, pissed off as ever, and ignited his arms once more. Just as he was ready to throw one last fireball, Coach Boomer raised his voice. He really raised his voice, and it shook the walls and shattered the windows that Layla hadn't already broken with her vines.
"Alright! That's… enough." Boomer stepped in between the two battling students. "This place is brutal." He shook his head with a laugh. "I love it!"
The lunch bell rang, and the crowd of students emptied from the bleachers, eager to discuss the Save-The-Citizen incident over sodas and a meal. Will even left, neglecting to apologize to his former friend for practically breaking her ribs.
Magenta stooped down next to her fallen friend, helping Layla sit up straight.
"Wow, I knew he was strong but… Wow." Layla's voice was soft and weak, partially because it hurt to speak but mostly because she was sad. She'd seen her ex-boyfriend transform over the years they'd spent at Sky High and what was once a heart of gold had transformed into a black, heartless hole. He was all brawn with no soul to keep him from abusing his powers. She didn't doubt that he would wind up being a superhero. She knew that he would fight against evil instead of for it, but she also knew that he would have his own selfish reasons for doing so.
Warren paced a short distance for a minute or so before he decided to approach Magenta and Layla. He got down on his knees and looked at her like a concerned parent looking at a child who had scraped his or her knee.
"You okay…?" He looked Layla over, trying to figure out what was hurting her and how he could make the pain stop.
"I'm alive." She smiled weakly. "But I could use some help standing up."
Magenta and Warren each grabbed one of Layla's arms, providing support and lifting her to her feet. Layla winced, pulling her arm away from Warren to hold her stomach.
"I'll kill him." Warren said it simply as if he was talking about the weather. Layla only looked over, wrinkling her eyebrows.
"You know that won't solve anything." She shook her head a little. "Violence only begets more violence."
"Hippie through and through, huh?" Warren smiled faintly.
"That's our Layla." Magenta grinned, still holding onto her friend's arm. "C'mon, let's get you to Nurse Spex to see if Captain Ego did any damage to ya."
Warren took her arm once more. He and Magenta walked slowly so Layla could keep up with her human-crutch friends.
Warren knew that something was happening. He wanted to protect Layla and keep anyone from ever hurting her ever again. For a moment, he thought that maybe she was his first real friend, but something told him that their relationship was something more. He pushed thoughts of romance out of his mind, though, so he could focus on aiding Layla. That was the important thing to do at the moment.