Chapter 11.
I rubbed my shoulder, massaging each muscle with a pained grimace on my face. Maybe I was self-abusive at heart, but when something was hurt I was constantly touching it, feeling the pain again. When I'd had my braces, I'd clench my teeth after each tightening, just to feel how sore my gums felt. Maybe that had some significance in real life as well. Here I was, having just been thrown into a wall by the Will the day before, wanting to talk with him about a topic that could very well send him plummeting out of control.
Warren's dark eyes flashed as he took my hand. The grip was painful, and Will looked at us with something bordering on amusement. Apparently he'd gotten over his jealously long ago, because I saw little, if any in his glance. He had agreed to talk with us at lunch; we had stipulated that we'd talk in the crowded lunch room where teachers kept a close eye on everything that happened. I had related part of the plan to Warren that morning, but now, everything hinged on Will's willingness to help.
I told the story without emotion, pausing every time I thought somebody else might be listening. At the mention of his mother, and the chance at bringing her back, Stronghold's eyes sparked and almost ignited into rage. He kept it in check, though I noticed his hands tightened on the table, creating permanent indents in the plastic material. If we couldn't persuade him of the verity of my tale, capturing my uncle would be quite hard. I wondered why Fintan hadn't come up with something that didn't rely so heavily on this boy.
Knight had been informed and was getting things ready in the background, he and Fintan were to talk to Principal Powers that morning and secure her compliance.
"So that's that…" I finished disentangling my hand from Warren's, "You both should know that I wouldn't try to change things if my dad had just died in a car accident or something remotely normal…but my uncle's completely twisted the future and we can't let him get away with that."
"I really couldn't care less about all of this," Will replied, folding his hands and cracking each knuckle, a habit I found repulsing, "But if this bastard caused my mom's death, then I'm more than happy to help. Just tell me what I have to do."
I didn't bother to explain to Will that he'd be a completely different person once everything was set to rights. That might only discourage him, as he seemed rather fond of his newfound villainy. Instead I told him he'd get his mom back…which he would, if our presumptions were right. Sad thing was, even if he didn't get his mom back he wouldn't remember, history would be changed the moment we saved my father and neither Warren nor Will would remember anything about this dimension. I felt dishonest with such a bargain, but the world was a better place without a future Stronghold super-villain.
"All you have to do, is get in a fight with us, before lunch ends…a fight big enough to get all three of us in the detention room," I said, knowing that this request would please him.
"One thing Stronghold," Warren said as he stood and removed his leather jacket. He was wearing his sleeveless phoenix shirt. Several heads snapped towards him suddenly and the cafeteria quieted slightly. I saw the gym teacher was already headed towards us.
"What's that hothead?"
"We all have to be conscious when we get to the detention room."
"Don't worry, I'll go easy on you guys," he laughed and rose a foot off the ground. A fireball singed his shirt as he grabbed Warren's, "This is one of my favorite shirts," he said with a smile and heaved Warren across the cafeteria and into a wall.
"Déjà vu," I said with a smirk and placed a well-aimed kick at Will before he took to the air. His body promptly came back down as another fireball sent him sprawling onto the table at which we had just been talking. A fountain of chocolate milk went up into the air from an abandoned container. For one reason or another I smiled, this was one incident that I'd never be able to redo in my dimension…might as well take advantage of the moment.
Will's eyes filled with genuine anger as he clenched his teeth against the burning pain that had overcome his shoulder. The flame went out in a moment, but red skin revealed an extensive burn. Stronghold glanced at me and suddenly I was flying through the air, held only by my ankle. He dragged me beneath him as he flew and I struggled to avoid knocking heads with students who were watching either dumbfounded or amused. My red hair trailed in a student's spaghetti and I tried to apologize before dropping face first into another tray.
This was beginning to tick me off. Unfortunately I didn't have much time for a reaction because the gym teacher had regained control of the situation. I found I couldn't move. Staring ahead I saw she had frozen Will and Warren as well, both faces humorously locked in ridiculous expressions of rage as they faced each other atop an overturned table. Suddenly we were all floating towards the irate teacher, her six-fingered hand outstretched. I wondered suddenly, what her name was, and how she'd come to work here and not in the other Sky High.
"Stronghold, Peace, Tudor, Detention room now," but instead of releasing us she floated us in our frozen states to the room and saw that the door was locked herself. We were all unfrozen the moment she left. I put a hand to my sauce-covered face and picked a noodle or two out of my hair.
The white room was the one place in the whole school that appeared to be completely unchanged. If anything the desks inside were slightly grungier, but everything else was exactly the same, at least from the descriptions I had heard. I'd never actually been in the room before. Warren and I sat on one side and Will sat a few desks down. My boyfriend, wait since when had I called him that? Warren was gently rubbing his bruised cheek, his lip was cracked and bleeding, out of all of us he looked the worst and I knew that was no coincidence by the smug look on Will's face.
Both boys were looking at me like I was the most amusing thing they'd ever seen, "Hey, neither of you are very pretty right now either," I muttered, flinging a piece of meatball on the white floor. In a moment all three of us were cackling like a trio of cellmates at an asylum. The white walls only added to the effect.
I stopped laughing and took off my hoodie; glad I was wearing a long sleeve shirt underneath and could afford the loss in the chilly room. It was a shame to stain the material but I was more concerned about my current condition. I rubbed my face and hair vigorously and reemerged. "Is that better," I asked Warren as I turned the piece of clothing inside out so I wouldn't mistakenly get the sauce all over something.
"Well," he sounded as if he was weighing out what to say in his head, "yeah it's better than before. You still have a couple noodles in your hair though," he smirked and reached over to pull out the offending items.
"Aw, how cute, watch as the idiots groom each other," Will piped up from the other side of the room. His slicked back hair gleamed dully in the room as he spoke with a high-pitched voice.
I didn't say anything, but wondered how I'd deal with the jerk much longer. We still had a bit of time left before my "father" would arrive. Principal Powers would call him as soon as we were admitted into detention and would be told to pick me up at the school within the hour, under the pretense of a suspension. I sighed and put my head on the desktop, glancing furtively at Warren as he reached over to grab yet another missed piece of pasta. I smiled at him and he smiled back, a genuine one this time. His glance moved to my neck.
"I made that for you," he said pointing to the necklace with the punched out hourglass charm. He understood now that I didn't remember anything about our former relationship.
"Thanks," I replied, meaning the gratitude for much more than just the necklace.
"Aw, how cute, watch the idiots…"
"Shut up Stronghold," we said in unison.
"Not that watching you both isn't interesting, but when were you planning on telling me the rest of the plan?"
"As soon as…" I was interrupted by the intercom.
Principal Powers' voice came over the speaker that was located in the corner of the room next to the door, "Your father has entered the parking lot," and then her voice and the crackling that accompanied it faded out.
"Ok, you guys need to stand on either side of the doorway; I'll sit in the middle so he'll see me. Don't attack him until the door closes. When it does, disable him as quickly as possible, Fintan and Knight will help us out after that."
The boys, Will notably silent for once, quickly took their positions and I slid over a seat, so I was directly in the middle and across from the door. My heart rate accelerated a notch as we all heard the familiar tapping sound of a woman's high-heeled shoes and the flat noise of a man's. It would be only a moment and then he'd come in, I tried to take a deep, calming breath but all I managed was a short catch of breath before my uncle's face became visible in the window of the door.
The entry hissed open and he remained a moment in the hall, talking with Principal Powers, who did not seem the least bit nervous. She was a wonderful actress. "I'm sorry Mr. Stevens. I'll leave you and Lydia alone for a few moments; just knock on the door as soon as you're ready to leave."
"Thank you," he said and then his gaze bore into me, sinister blue eyes burning into my head. He took a step forward and was just in the way of the door, it wouldn't close until he had totally gone past the threshold. To my chagrin he didn't seem to be in a hurry to enter the room. Both boys stiffened their backs against the walls, trying to disappear, but they had little to worry about. Secondhand had his attention fixed solely on me.
"Well, I suppose this little escapade's made you quite satisfied with yourself," his voice grew louder, "I don't know what I ever saw in you…it would have been better to leave you with your mother when I had the chance," he took another step and the door hissed and closed.
I let out a breath and rose as my uncle glanced to the side and saw his attackers. Furiously, he turned back to the door but it wouldn't open and all the pounding in the world didn't change the fact that he was sans his powers in the grips of three teenagers who had every reason in the world to hate him very much. His look then would have satisfied even the most rabid fanatic of candid photographs.
AN: To my anonymous reviewers thank you, I suppose there's only one this time around.
Lalala: You are amazing my dear sir or madam. If I met you in real life I'd shake you warmly by the hand and thank you for your wonderful reviews. Thanks much for your input, I hope you enjoy this chapter!