Okay, so I just kinda threw my plot out the window. I'm still keeping the major points that need to happen but otherwise, my muse overload kinda caused my story to get out of control. Characters with sudden vital purpose to the story are just creating themselves and pushing themselves in. It's weird. It's just all…kablooey. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Anyway, cheers to plot bunnies.
Currently on; Ginger Tea.
Songs of the chapter; Shooting Star by Air Traffic, Hide and Seek 2 by Imogen Heap, and Don't Stop by Innerpartysystem.
I don't own SkyHigh. Hell, I don't even own this story anymore, the little people having a rave in my brain do. D:
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Jaden exhaled a breath he had been holding for quite awhile. He smiled gently at Emily, silently thanking her as she passed him in the hallway. First period class had just been dismissed and the halls were filled with students scurrying to their second period classes.
His mind wandered back to the previous hour and a half of his life, analyzing all that has passed. After his stare down with Mr. Aku, Jaden had become quite submissive, as if a little bit of his spirit had been stolen along with his energy. He had opted to lay his head down on his desk, watching quietly as his teacher stumbled through the rest of his lesson, taking many breaks to rest himself as well. He didn't reprimand Jaden when the boy dozed off briefly.
Jaden beamed when he remembered what had happened when he was awoken by the sliding motion of his desk.
Jaden jerked awake, the slight movement beneath him disturbing his slumber. Lash once again had wrapped his hand around the leg of Jaden's seat. Jaden was about to shift, in attempt to catch the boy's arm but a sudden cracking noise halted him in his tracks. Jaden glanced down to see Lash's arm frozen to the chair's leg, a thick layer of ice encasing his hand and wrist. Lash was struggling angrily on the other side of the room, trying to retract his arm.
'Who could have done that…?' Jaden wondered, glancing at the students sitting around him. He caught Emily smiling softly at him and she nodded, acknowledging that she had been the one to do it. Jaden nodded in return and raised his hand. Aku's eyes narrowed at him but he was too tired to put up a fight.
"Yes, Mr. Hart?" Aku asked, almost sounding depressed. Jaden swept his arm to motion to the hand attached to his desk.
"Caught him," he answered, quietly. Aku sighed and glanced at Lash, who was now a furious shade of red. Aku couldn't ignore straight out evidence.
"Lash, you have lunch detention," he said, turning to give Emily a withering glare, "And if you would be so kind as to release him, Ms. Snow?"
"It would be my pleasure," she said, grinning, and waving her hand at the mini iceberg enclosed around Lash's hand. The ice melted, leaving a small puddle at the base of Jaden's desk. Jaden gave her one more grateful glance before resting his head on his folded arms again. He returned to his dozing state, a sleep light enough to not dream but not deep enough to actually rest him.
He traipsed through the crowded hall, heading in the direction that Emily had pointed him in just moments before. His second class was the elective Teamwork Tactics and he dearly hoped it wouldn't be as disastrous as his previous course. He scanned the small black plaques next to each classroom's entrance, looking for the one that portrayed the name of his teacher. A Ms. Celia Cerebralan. What a mouthful. Ah! He had discovered the correct classroom, a large almost gym like room at the end of the north hallway. He slowly entered, half expecting Fatty and Stretchy to leap at him from behind the door. No such luck.
He scanned the room, briefly, just to check. Those two were going to make him paranoid. Jaden then proceeded to stroll over to who appeared to be the teacher. It was a woman with salt and pepper hair, rummaging through a cabinet in the corner. Judging by her slim backside, Jaden assumed she was elderly but fit. Imagine how startled he was when she turned and had the face of a thirty year old. Jaden couldn't help but gape. She smiled.
"You thought I was some old lady didn't you? I get that a lot," she said, taking the schedule he held in his hand. She glanced at it and handed it back, strolling to a dark and ornately carved desk placed at the front of the room. "Jaden Hart, huh? I've heard a lot about you these last few days." Jaden paused long enough in his gawking to stutter a "Y-you have?" She nodded, her finger scrolling down some kind of list she had on her desktop.
"Well, accidentally of course. Ah! Here you are. 'Combatant skills'. Interesting," she mused, glancing up at the boy. She scrutinized him, shrugged, and stuck out her hand.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Celia Cerebralan. Call me Celia. Ms. Cerebralan sounds so old and imposing," she said. Jaden swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded, shaking her hand reluctantly. She had a firm grasp. The woman smiled again. She sure was a happy person. She put a hand on his shoulder and Jaden had to resist the urge to grab her wrist and throw her over his head. Celia steered him to the back, where several students were already seated on a large circular rug on the floor. There were no desks that Jaden could see, except for Celia's. 'What kind of class is this? Sitting on the rug makes me feel like a kindergartener. Celia is kind of odd…what was with that 'accidentally of course' statement? How do you accidentally hear things?' He shrugged his back pack from his shoulder and placed in the pile with the others' bags. He then settled into an Indian-style position on the opposite side of the rug, away from the students sitting in an arc on the other side. His gaze remained on the door, watching and waiting for Lash and Speed to appear and announce that they had this class too. Wouldn't that just be spiffy? Jaden had started to relax as he realized the late bell was about to ring and that the majority of the class was already here. He didn't know any of them and was surprised by this fact. What about Layla and company? He hadn't seen any of them on this side of the school. Perhaps they were in a different grade?
The late bell rang, sending reverberations through Jaden's bones. He sighed in a happy release. That is, until Warren Peace walked in the door.
Warren hurried to seat himself on the carpet, tossing his bag into the pile. His eyes widened at the sight of Jaden and Jaden guessed that Warren had assumed he was younger like Lash and Speed had. Jaden turned away from his questioning gaze, instead focusing on Celia as she approached the circle of students. A girl and boy scooted away from each other, allowing Celia to enter and immediately closed the gap after her, as if the circle formation was vital to the lesson. Jaden mentally shrugged. Maybe it was. Celia didn't sit like her students but chose to stand, slowly revolving as she spoke so that all of her pupils could see her.
"Alright class, as you can see, we have a new student today, Jaden Hart," she made a sweeping hand movement towards him. "Please make him feel welcome." His classmates nodded and smiled, a few even waved. It was slightly unsettling. At Hell, when the new kid was introduced, it wasn't friendly greetings they offered them. It was usually a race to see who could come up with the most degrading nickname derived out of their given name. This was very unfortunate for one particular freshman last year, Drew DeLocke. He was immediately dubbed, Drew Peacock. But that soon ceased when Drew revealed that his power was shape shifting others. He could make a person turn into something else, albeit very briefly. The ones that had first bullied him had to suffer through an agonizing minute of being an ant. It probably wasn't brief enough for them while they feared being stomped on.
Jaden gave the others a nod and a wave. Not a smile though. Just enough to make him seem friendly, but not necessarily approachable. Celia turned away from him and clasped her hands together.
"Okay, class. You remember what we discussed yesterday; let's review before we start, so Jaden can understand what's happening," she said, hands immediately shooting up after she had finished the statement. She nodded to one particular student, a small, pint sized girl. 'About my own size,' Jaden silently mused. The girl had electric yellow hair that stuck up around her head in frizzy curls and was pale to the point that she was almost luminescent.
"Celia's power is to create illusions," she said, glancing at Jaden, then back to the teacher. Celia nodded encouragingly. "Her illusions aren't tricks of the eye, they don't just appear there, they are there," she finished, looking to Celia for approval. The woman nodded again and turned to another student, this time a boy. He had a greenish tint to his skin and his hair was a dark blue black color. Jaden wondered briefly if he was ill and if it was causing that sickly looking hue.
"She's going to create some illusions today and we'll be broken into pairs. We have to get through the illusions together, whatever they may be. No leaving your partner behind," he declared matter of fact, giving a look to Jaden that seemed to say 'I dare you to question my authority.' Jaden wasn't impressed. Celia turned and pointed at another student obstructed from Jaden's view by Celia herself.
"We'll be paired, hero with sidekick, and we have to use our powers in whatever way we see fit to get through the illusions. Work smart, not hard," he stated, adding onto green boy's explanation. By the gruff, slightly familiar voice that had said it, Jaden guessed it was Warren.
"Very good, Warren," she said, spinning to smile at the rest of the students, "And very good class." Celia settled her gaze on Jaden. "Work smart not hard is our motto, Jaden," she explained, "It means to focus on the effectiveness of a particular plan, not necessarily the complexity of it. I want you to learn how to think quick and fast and how to take out your enemy with as little effort possible on your part. Our objective is to accomplish our goal, not to have some kind of showy battle for two hours." She spun again, "You'll be paired with Via for today," she motioned to the yellow haired girl that had spoken earlier. "It's a good thing you showed up; we didn't have enough sidekicks to go around. What kind of class would Teamwork Tactics be if you weren't part of a team?" she giggled and exited the circle.
Jaden inwardly flinched at the phrase 'we didn't have enough sidekicks to go around.' The thought that he was some kind of object, or a weapon to use in a fight wanted to make him throw up. He hated to be treated as something of little worth. He wasn't worthless, he had a purpose.
He just hadn't found it yet. A scowl settled on his face. When Celia had exited the circle, the group stood as a whole, a startled Jaden rising a little late. How did they do that? He'd have to synch himself with them quick because judging by the some of the glares he was receiving, especially green boy's look of hatred, not standing up together was a big no no. The group broke apart into pairs and Jaden realized that they must have chosen partners the previous day. Via wandered over to him, bouncing on her toes excitedly. She reminded him of Layla. Ugh.
"Hi, I'm Via Stanton," she introduced, her voice quiet and soft.
"I'm Jaden Hart," he said. She seemed a little meek so Jaden flashed her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Might as well get along with his partner. Her pale cheeks acquired a nice rose blush. Jaden paled. Perhaps it had been too reassuring.
"Nice to meet you."
"Attention everyone!" the two turned to face the front, where Celia was now sitting, meditation style, on top of her desk. Jaden cocked a brow. "We'll begin with the illusion trials now, so line up in alphabetical order using the hero's last name," she said. Jaden frowned. How come the heroes were special? Was this what it had been like at Hell? Did the minions feel this way? Belittled by teachers and classmates?
Jaden rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. Of course it had been; it was Hell after all, the worst of the worst. But he had been a villain there, so it had never affected him.
The pairs began to line up and Jaden got to stand behind Warren and another boy with light brown hair that stood up in spikes all over his head. Just peachy.
However, Warren blatantly ignored him. And Jaden just knew he was ignoring him. He could feel the disregard rolling off of him in waves. In fact, if Jaden squinted hard enough, he was positive he could see the words, 'I'M IGNORING YOU, I'M IGNORING YOU, I'M IGNORING YOU,' floating in the space around Warren's head. He shrugged. If Warren ignored him, it only made it easier for Jaden to ignore Warren.
Jaden watched as the pairs before Via and him stepped up to some kind of invisible line and entered the illusion that Celia created. Some were of different cities like LA and Paris being overrun with monsters or villains or a combination of the two. Some were natural occurrences like earthquakes and tornadoes. They were real and varied obstacle courses. Some pairs made it through just fine, some had trouble, and some left partners behind to escape the terrifying illusions. Warren and Spiky, Jaden dubbed the boy, entered a snowy wilderness atop a mountain. As soon as they entered the blizzard like scene, Jaden lost sight of them in all the whirling white. But he caught sight of them again when a heat wave washed over him and a loud hissing sound assaulted his ears. He squinted into the snowy landscape, focusing on a dark form about thirty feet in. There was steam swirling around Warren, and he was standing in a puddle. Jaden realized that the boy had melted the snow around him and his feet, making trudging through the snow a bit easier going. There was another form at his feet, a brown spiky thing. It was…it was…A porcupine? Jaden's lips mashed themselves together in a tight smile. He wanted to laugh, really, but that might hurt the kid's feelings. Was there some kind of rule that you could only shape shift into rodents at this school? His smile was quickly replaced with a gaping mouth when the porcupine ambled forward a bit, sniffed the air, curled into a ball, and rolled behind a pine tree. A screech was heard and the porcupine appeared again, a figure shrouded in white, crouching in the snow behind him. 'There are enemies hidden…' Jaden thought. The person in white was holding their leg, blood oozing from where quills now protruded from his flesh. The porcupine glanced up at Warren, as if for encouragement. Warren nodded and the pair trudged forward, disappearing once again. They were too far in now for Jaden to see them but every now and then, heat would be expelled from the wintery landscaped along with the hissing sound of snow melting rapidly. Screeches would dot the silence too.
So Spiky could smell the enemies before either could see them. Warren made their path; Spiky would take care of their obstacles. Spiky protected Warren, while Warren only assisted him. It seemed like their hero sidekick relationship was reversed. Jaden smiled. So maybe it wasn't as segregated as he had previously thought. The two emerged on the other side of the room, both intact, and Spiky transformed back into a human. The illusion dimmed and shifted, Celia morphing it into something new. It grew sharper again and revealed itself; an exact replica of Manhattan, New York. At least, a small portion of it. Jaden shivered. He briefly glanced at Celia but her eyes were closed, lost in the effort of creating the illusion. 'It's just a coincidence, it's just a coincidence…' He looked over at Via, nodded, and the two stepped forward onto the street. It seemed so odd to see a deserted New York for that's what it was. The streets and building were devoid of people. When Via and Jaden had gone about two block in, there was a horrible gurgling sound. The two whipped around only to be faced with a 20 foot creature that seemed to be created of sludge and trash. Via took up a powerful stance and directed her palms at the creature. Jaden stood still and watched her, unsure of what he he could do. Via was closing her eyes and concentrating on something, all the while, the monster was getting closer. Jaden glanced fearfully from Via to SludgeBlob SquelchPants. Whatever Via was doing, he wasn't sure she had enough time to do it. The monster needed to be distracted.
And Jaden needed to be the one to do it.
He ran at the monster, leaped onto a nearby car to give him some height, and attempted to give the thing a swift kick to the face. He wasn't even sure if it had a face. But he aimed at the uppermost portion of SludgeBlob's body. Nothing happened.
Well something did happen, just not what Jaden had wanted to happen. His foot was stuck. In the thing's face-area-place.
"Via!" he called. The girl opened her eyes to glance at him, gaping as she realized what had happened.
"Jaden! What are you doing?" The boy shrugged guiltily.
"Well, it was getting closer and you seemed kind of busy so I was trying to distract it…" Via sighed and closed her eyes again.
"Just hold on, I'll have you out in a minute," she said, returning to her almost meditation like pose. She took a breath, swept her arms into the air, repositioned her palms and mother fucking bolts of lightening shot from her hands. Jaden yelped and threw up his arms to shield his face. While the lightening had originally been aimed directly at the SludgeBob's torso-area-place, as it neared the creature and its hostage, the bolts veered slightly up and to the right, just enough to endanger Jaden. Via screamed, Jaden shrieked, and there was a collective gasp from the entire class as they watched in frozen horror. Just in time, Celia opened her eyes and broke her concentration, the illusion fading instantly. Jaden was dropped to the floor and lightening struck the blank wall behind them.
"Oh my god oh my god oh my god," Jaden murmured. It was an odd mantra but it slowly calmed him.
"Are you alright?" Via rushed towards him, landing in a heap by his side. Celia coolly walked towards the two, seeming unbothered by the fact that one of her students could have just been a deep fried dish. Jaden was still lying on his back, staring at the ceiling, when Celia crouched next to him, putting a hand to his face. She recoiled as if burned and stared confusedly at him. Jaden shot up, startled by her touch. Perhaps shock was why he had been frightened by her sudden appearance. He had almost been electrocuted. He gave her a wide eyed glance and scuttled away on his knees. He suddenly couldn't remember why he was even here or why he had been lying on the ground. Who was the young woman with the old lady hair? Who was the blonde girl crying beside her? His train of thought hadn't just been derailed; it had been picked up by a tornado and thrown two states over. Did I mention that he was almost zapped like that airplane in Castaway? The majority of the people in that plane died you know.
Celia was staring at the scurrying boy, examining him closely, his hair, his face. He was NOT everything he appeared to be. Celia stood and hauled Via up next to her. Jaden mimicked her movements, opting for the 'If you don't know who they are, just copy what they do' option.
"Jaden," Celia said, waving him over, "Come here. I think you guys need a little break." The boy nodded slowly and sauntered towards her. 'That's right, my name is Jaden,' he thought, it all coming back to him, 'And that's Celia, my teacher and Via my partner and OH MY GOD SHE JUST ALMOST KILLED ME.' The boy froze, glancing fearfully from the still crying girl to Celia. The fear was clear on his face; he was NOT getting any closer. Hell no. Oh HELL no. Celia shook her head as if reading his thoughts.
"It's fine. She's not shooting off any more bolts anytime soon." Jaden began walking towards her again, his fear abated. He had composed himself, his mind entering a strange tranquil state. Or it might have been the shock kicking in full blast. Whatever it was, he was suddenly grateful for it. It kept him from screaming like a little girl and fleeing the class.
Celia herded them to the other side of the classroom where the ones that had already gone through the course stood. Via was welcomed into another girl's outstretched arms while Jaden was examined with concerned faces.
"Dude, you okay?" Spiky asked, patting him on the shoulder. Jaden nodded numbly, turning to watch as Celia seated herself, focused and created the illusion again so that the rest of the teams could continue.
"Yeah, that was really scary. I thought you were going to be Jaden a la grilled," one tan skinned girl said, flipping her caramel colored hair over her shoulder.
"Jennifer, that's not even a dish," said the green hued boy from earlier.
"I know, stupid, I made it up," she sneered, flipping her hair again.
"No, I mean you didn't even put his name in the place of a real dish. You just threw 'a la' in there to make it sound fancy."
"Shut up, Caleb," she hissed, spinning away from the small circle of students that had formed itself around Jaden. She wandered over to Via and the other girl. Perhaps she wanted to try her version of 'comforting' on them.
"But seriously, are you okay?" Spiky repeated, focusing the conversation back on Jaden's well being. The ebony haired boy nodded again, his gaze reeling back from Celia and to the face of the boy who was speaking. He had golden colored eyes and Jaden thought briefly that he was cute and slightly attractive. If you were into that whole bestiality thing.
"Spencer, stop asking him. He's hardly even paying attention," Caleb said, waving his hand in front of Jaden's face just to prove it. Jaden snatched up and curled his fingers around the boy's wrist, pulling the offending limb out of his personal space.
"I am too paying attention. Don't do that," he said releasing Caleb's arm and pushing it away from him. "It annoys me." Caleb flushed and a pouty look came onto his face.
"Well aren't we Mr. Prissy Pants," he jeered and stomped off to join Jennifer's group. Jaden had the sneaking suspicion that the two were related.
"Well aren't we Mr. Prissy Pants," Jaden mocked in a falsetto voice, albeit under his breath. But apparently it wasn't under his breath enough because Spencer (aka Spiky) heard him and broke into a grin.
"Attitude, I approve," he said, slapping Jaden on the back. Jaden stumbled forward from the blow. Jaden smiled weakly and removed himself from the increasing circle of people, walking towards the wall. He backed himself against it, slid down into a sitting position, and rested his head between his legs. 'I think I'm going to be sick,' he inwardly groaned.
For the rest of the class period, he sat there, breathing in and out, slow, deep breaths.
All the while, Warren watched him, glancing from Jaden to Via and back to Jaden again, his mind whirring, thinking, analyzing.
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Jaden had been right. He had gotten sick He had thrown up right after the dismissal bell for lunch rang. Luckily, he had stayed behind as the class filed out because Celia had requested him to.
"Jaden, I wanted to discuss something with you. It's about what happened in class today," she said, a worried look in her eyes. At the mention of the 'incident', Jaden's gut and panic reflexes jumped in, causing him to spew yellow bile onto the floor at Celia's feet. The look of worry was instantly replaced by a look of repulsion.
"We'll talk later, off to the Spex with you." She ushered him out of the classroom and while he went in the direction of Dr. Spex, Celia most likely went in the direction of the janitor.
Jaden knocked on the doctor's door once, twice, before poking his head in.
"Hello? Dr. Spex? It's Jaden…I had a bit of an accident."
"Amelia, dear! Come on in." Jaden gasped and hurtled through the doorway, slamming it quickly behind him.
"Dr. Spex! The door was open! Don't call me Amelia unless we're in a closed room."
"Oh pish posh. No one would have noticed. They would have thought I was talking to someone else." Jaden sighed and shook his head, throwing up his hands in exasperation.
"Whatever you say," he said, ambling over to take a seat on one of the hospital style beds. Dr. Spex scooted over on her wheeled stool, a clipboard already in hand.
"So what happened, dear? Did you see fire again?" Jaden grunted in disagreement.
"Noooo. I didn't see fire again. I did almost die though." He flashed Spex a fake smile. Spex's eyes grew large and incredulous.
"Whaaaat? You almost died? What happened?" Jaden glanced down at the hands curled into his lap, his eyes narrowing.
"There was this girl who shot lightening out of her hands-"
"Via Stanton."
"Yeah, that's her. Anyway, this monster had my legs and she was trying to help me escape but the lightening veered from its original path and aimed itself at me."
"Really? Are you sure?"
"Yeah…quite sure. I wish someone had warned me about her lightening power."
"Why would anyone have warned you?" Jaden gulped. He hadn't meant to say that out loud.
"Because…lightening always does that," he mumbled.
"What? I couldn't hear you," Spex said, leaning closer.
"Because lightening always does that," he repeated, looking straight at her this time. Spex leaned back, evaluating what Jaden had just said.
"So…lightening always does that?"
"Yes."
"It just deviates towards you."
"Yes."
"All the time."
"Yeees," Jaden said, frustrated.
"Why?" Jaden groaned and hurled himself backwards onto the bed, putting and arm over his eyes.
"I don't know. Maybe it's because of my power you know? Sucking out the life energy of things, perhaps it's sucking out the life energy of lightening? There were times when I would be close to the flame of a candle and the flame would lean towards me. But that was only if I had like my bare hand out. With lightening, it's all the time, whether I'm clothed fully or not."
"That's an interesting idea. It's definitely a possibility. Maybe the lightening is drawn to you because it has much more life energy than a flame does?"
"Do fire and lightening even have life energy? I don't know how it works." The boy sat up again and shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. Anyway, I'm kind of scared of lightening anyway, so having a bolt just rushing at me like that freaked me out. I'm kinda okay now but my stomach is not. I tend to have an exaggerated upchuck reflex when scared shitless."
"Amelia, your language."
"What about it? It's English."
"Don't be a smart ass." Jaden smiled at the elderly lady.
"Dr. Spex, your language."
"It's alright for me to curse. I deserve it after all these years of dealing with you kids. Now let me go find something that might settle that stomach of yours…" The woman stood, placing her clipboard atop her stool, and disappeared into an adjoining room. Jaden watched the door through which she had vanished before leaning over and snatching up the clipboard. Just as he had thought. It was his file, or at least it had his name on it with a lot of notes written in the blank areas. His eyes scanned the words furiously; he only had a moment, maybe two. He picked out key observations, his mind committing them practically to memory.
Having possible flashbacks, nightmares
Fire triggers collapse, re-experiencing the event in dreams during unconsciousness
Feeling guilty, depressed, prone to angry outbursts
Ran away from home, avoiding the location of the event?
Hyper arousal; tense, on edge, has difficulty sleeping since event
Possible post traumatic stress disorder, needs further examinations and observations.
Disorder? What the fuck was this disorder she thought he had? Damn right she needed some more observations. She needed to go back to freaking medical school. There was nothing wrong with him. He wasn't depressed! And he didn't run away from home to avoid the 'event'. He ran away to escape Malicia. And he hated how she referred to it as the 'event'. It wasn't an event. Events were concerts in the park or fireworks on the Fourth of July. It was a fucking funeral, this 'event'. The funeral of his brother. He chucked the clipboard at the wall and stormed out of the room, slamming the door firmly behind him.
"Amelia?" Dr. Spex called, peeping around the door of the medicine closet she had previously entered. No answer. "Amelia?" she said again, reemerging back into the main room. She only had to take one glance at the clipboard on the floor, its scattered papers, and the empty room to know exactly what had happened. "Oh dear…"
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Jaden cornered some puny freshman around the corner, demanding how to get to the detention room. The little boy directed him down the hall and to the left, before running away screeching like a banshee. Jaden had the sudden urge to chase him down and tackle the boy but he told himself that it was his anger talking.
He hurried down the hallway, rushing to get to the room before the late bell rang. Whoever heard of a kid that wanted to get to detention on time? Well, there was one thing Mr. Aku was good for. Now Jaden was reluctant to arrive tardy to any class, fearing the wrath that his tardiness might ensue. He skidded to a halt in front of a white door with a circular porthole window. Bold, black letters spelled out the word 'detention' on the door so Jaden was guessing this was probably the right place. The door didn't have a knob so he knocked, at a loss as to what he could do. It slid open, revealing a crisp white room with crisp white tiles and crisp white desks and everything was just so crisp and white. He took a step in, the door sliding shut behind him. Upon further inspection of the room, Jaden suddenly had the mental image of straitjackets and men in scrubs with giant needles. He turned to make a swift escape and jumped back when the door slid open again, revealing Principal Powers and Lash. Jaden giggled nervously and scuttled to an empty desk, hurriedly seating himself.
"Were you planning on leaving, Mr. Hart?" Powers assessed him, her gray eyes suspicious. Jaden furiously shook his head.
"No, ma'am. I just thought I was in the wrong room…"
"Well, you are certainly not. This detention room is state of the art, constructed of materials and technology that neutralize your powers." The boy's eyes widened, his mouth dropping open in astonishment.
"You mean my powers don't work here?" Powers flashed him a knowing smile.
"No, they do not."
"Can I live here?" The woman laughed and escorted Lash into the room alongside her.
"I'm afraid not, Jaden. These rooms are very expensive to make. Did you know the Lyptica Prison is built entirely of this stuff?" she asked, knocking on the wall for emphasis. Jaden nodded.
"Yeah, I researched it. I wanted to know how they could keep all those villains in there without them blowing the place up."
"Yes. It's certainly amazing. Well, I'm glad to see that it's only your second day here and you've already gotten yourself in trouble," she mused, perking a brow. Jaden's face was blank as he stated, "What can I say? I'm not exactly a people pleaser."
"Well, maybe at least attempt to get along with your teachers?"
"I did. I failed with flying colors. The attempt, not the class. Except I've probably failed the class too because Mr. Aku hates me."
"He does not. Stop being ridiculous."
"Yes he does! Did you know he was an ex-villain?"
"I did. It's why I hired him. We need as much experience as we can get to teach our students, from both sides. He's proved himself to be reformed."
"Reformed? If that man is reformed now, I'd like to see him when he wasn't! Do you know what he did tod-" Jaden cut himself off. He couldn't reveal to Powers that Aku and he had some kind of power show down causing both of them to collapse. She'd probably want him to get examined more and she might actually push it this time. No way was he going back to diagnosed with some disorder. No way, no how.
"Do I know what he did…what?" Powers asked, furrowing her brow questioningly.
"Never mind," Jaden mumbled, turning to examine the crispness of the walls. Powers shrugged and exited the room, leaving a final command to the two of them to 'play nice.' Lash took one glance out the window to make sure the coast was clear before marching over to Jaden.
"Your powers are neutralized, punk. No fighting skills for you now, huh?" he said, leering down at the boy.
'Oh shit! He's right. I can't fight well in here; otherwise, I'll risk exposing myself. Oh fuck….' Lash snatched him up by the neck of his shirt and yanked him from the desk, tossing Jaden to the ground at his feet. Jaden cried out as Lash's boot slammed into his side, hard and heavy. The boy tried to roll away, opting to defend himself if he couldn't exactly go on the offensive, but Lash quickly scooped him up again, landing a fierce punch to the stomach. Jaden coughed, his lungs aching at the effort. He couldn't attack like he usually did and it would be no use to attack him weakly. That could just get him hurt worse. He would just have to suck it up and take it like a man. A man that was a girl. But a man all the same. He winced as another blow to abdomen was dealt and he was thrown to the ground again. This time, he rolled swiftly enough out of the way to avoid another hard kick. Jaden suspected those combat boots were steel toed and if they were a hard enough blow could break a rib. Jaden knew he had the power to perhaps heal his bruises once he got out of here but broken bones? He'd never tested that before and he certainly didn't have the money to take care of himself in case his theory did not work out. He couldn't heal the burns on his back. So bones were probably not able to mend either.
He rolled onto his stomach, army crawling with his elbows to escape Lash.
Lash jumped onto his back.
Jaden let out a blood curdling scream.
'The burns, the burns, oh my god, I am going to kill this mother fucker!' Lash immediately leaped away, startled by the boy's reaction. Jaden leapt to his feet and launched himself at Lash, wrapping a gloved hand around his forearm. But his grip was slippery in the woolen gloves and Lash escaped his hold. Jaden cursed and removed the obstructing articles of clothing, tossing the pair of mittens over his shoulder. He grabbed at Lash again, wrapping a firm hand around Lash's left bicep this time. 'Remember! You're weak, weak!' Jaden loosened his grip. Slightly. Lash brought his right arm around, wrapping his own hand around Jaden's neck. Jaden squeaked and threw up his other hand to claw at Lash's. Lash lifted the boy off his feet and into the air. Jaden cursed inside his head. The one position he had never been good at defending himself in, Lash had to put him in it. He should have eaten more vegetables when he was younger. Maybe he could have grown to a more useful height like...7'4. Jaden kicked his legs, landing a few among the area of Lash's knees but the elastic boy was furious.
He must seriously hate getting detention.
Lash pinned him against the wall, his hold still strong. Jaden felt his head knock back against some kind of indentation in the wall…the window! He was pinned against the door. Focusing his remaining energy into kicking the door now, Jaden hoped someone would hear. His bare hands clawed at Lash's face and Jaden wished he still had the long manicured fingernails of a girl. Stubby little squares didn't do much damage. Lash howled as Jaden's fingers made contact with his right eye. Jaden hoped it fell out. Stretchy reared his free hand back and punched Jaden straight in the face. He winced as his head slammed back into the glass window.
Oi, it was getting a bit blurry all of a sudden.
And a little bit hard to breathe.
Fuck.
Jaden gave one last kick to the door before becoming still in Lash's grasp, reserving his energy instead just to breathe. Short, little, shuddering breaths he couldn't seem to get enough of. And then suddenly, he was falling backwards and into the hallway. The door had opened. Jaden toppled onto the floor, Lash following closely behind and falling on top of him, his hand still wrapped firmly around Jaden's throat.
But now it was different.
Lash's eyes fluttered sleepily and his grip loosened; rolling away from Jaden and onto his back, unconscious. At least, Jaden hoped he was just unconscious. Wait. No he didn't. He hoped he was dead. Just plain dead. Jaden gasped, sucking in a grateful mouth of air.
"Thank…you…" he managed to croak, focusing on his savior who stood over him. He smiled thankfully at whoever had opened the door. That is until his vision was sharp again. And he saw that his savior was Warren Peace.
Another fuck.
Why did this guy keep popping up everywhere? (A/N: 'Cause that's what Warren does in fan fiction!) Jaden sat up, cringing as his back curled upward. That douche Lash had probably scraped off all the healed skin he'd built up over the last few days. Triple fuck.
Warren's face was impassive.
"What are you doing here anyway?" Jaden asked, propping himself up against the wall. He wasn't ready enough to stand yet. It had been a long day, today had. He didn't know if he'd be ready to stand anytime soon at all.
"I set some kid's shirt on fire in the cafeteria," he said, point blank.
Jaden blinked at him.
"He was running around, screaming about some guy that had threatened his life in the hallway. It was really irritating me. He's fine. Just freaked. Boomer sent me to detention," he elaborated, shrugging.
"Was he short, like shorter than me? Blonde hair, green eyes?" Jaden asked. Warren nodded. "Oops. My bad then," Jaden said, making a face.
"Your bad?"
"I was the guy that threatened his life." Warren nodded, as if his acquaintances issued death threats everyday.
Jaden stood, leaning against the wall for support. "Well, thanks for opening the door. I gotta go…somewhere. Don't want to be around when he wakes up," he grumbled, motioning to the unconscious Lash. Jaden turned and began to limp away before Warren clamped a hand down on his shoulder, although it was a gentle clamp.
"Was he beating you up in there?" he asked, nodding at the detention door. Jaden simply nodded. What would be the point in lying? He would probably have bruises by gym, as fast as his pale skin bruised. "Was he…strangling you when I opened the door?" Jaden nodded again. There'd probably be handprints around his neck as well. He'd have to see if Powers couldn't get Lash and him separate detentions. "What did you do to him to make him pass out like that?"
Uh. Crap. How to explain that one…quickly, Amelia, quickly.
"Pressure point," Jaden answered, attempting to walk away again but Warren let him go, instead deciding to cast the boy on the ground a withering glance. Jaden quickly retrieved his discarded backpack and hurried from the scene. If Jaden had stayed behind, he would have witnessed Warren crouch and strike Lash's face four times before going on his own merry way.
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Jaden retreated to the library, settling into his favorite little loveseat in the far back, shadowed behind the massive bookcases. He didn't cry this time. Just merely sat and wondered. He really REALLY hurt. The irritated stinging burns on his back did not help his slowly plummeting mood. Today had been a really BAD day.
And during the trek here from the detention room, Jaden had been scouring the area for plant life. And I mean scouring. The boy had ripped apart an entire empty lab just hunting for some amount of foliage, any amount of foliage, even seeds would do. Jaden heaved a sigh and sunk further into the cushions, maneuvering into a position that wouldn't bother his wounds. His back hurt, his face hurt, his side hurt, his throat hurt though that small amount of life he had stolen from Lash at the end had helped to alleviate the skin burns around his neck. It probably wouldn't show up now but it still ached underneath the unbroken skin. It hadn't been a long enough skin to skin connection to do any real healing so the bruises that lay deep in his tissues were still present. And, God, did his face throb. Jaden feared Lash might have broken his nose but he wasn't positive. Didn't broken noses bleed? No blood had appeared yet. But he'd definitely have a black eye, that's for sure, if he didn't find some plant life.
He had forgotten physical pain. Flora life energy had always been available to consume and to heal. And while he hadn't exactly excelled in his combatant courses in Hell, deliberately failed was more like it, everyone had feared his power enough not to rough him up too hard. Lash had hit to hurt. Hurt badly. And Jaden wasn't used to waiting with this kind of discomfort. When he was injured, he could go kill a few flowers and he'd be all new again. Then again, no one had really put their all into beating the crap out of him. Ugh….he didn't like pain. The burns were bad enough to deal with on a daily basis. That itching, stinging feeling, a constant annoyance. Oi, he hurt.
He was such a pansy.
Jaden groaned, tossing his head back into the fluffy upholstery behind him. He was a pansy, he realized. Couldn't even deal with a few aches and pains for more than ten minutes. He really needed to toughen up. He wasn't a pampered princess anymore, living in a penthouse on the Manhattan skyline. He was living in a tree house, in a park. Nope, definitely not a fairytale lifestyle anymore.
Jaden remained in the library until the bell signaling the end of lunch and the start of third period rang.
He stood up and stretched his arms skyward, trying to keep his face expressionless as the raw skin extended itself across his shoulders. He grabbed his bag and only placed one arm through a strap, choosing to let it bounce against his side rather than rub his back.
Yep, he was a pansy.
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Huzzah. Two chapters in one upload. Have I made you happy, have I, have I? :D
And Jaden's power is revealed. He sucks the life energy out of things. For now. (FORESHADOWING RIGHT THERE HINT HINT)
Very Rogue from X-Men-ish. There's more to it though. None of that power mimicry crap she does. I never did understand that. My guy/girl has reasons and explanations for his/her powers. But I've already revealed too much. GASP.
Wait til it's revealed to the rest of the cast. I can imagine their reactions now.
Warren: That's hot. (Not really)
Layla: Its okay, Jaden, because you don't have to use your powers for violence. (Freaking hippie)
Will: Oh, really? That's your power? Well, you see, I have this ex-girlfriend right…(Okay, first off, I'm not a hitman. Second off, how much are you offering me?)
Zach Attack: So if I touch you, I'll be a dead light bulb? (Pretty much)
Magenta: Oh, thank God. You can put me out of my misery. (Cheer up, emo kid)
Popsicle Boy: ….(I got nothing for him. D:)
Anyway, I have a contest for the readers.
My dominating muse needs a name. I'm not sure whether it's female or male. I've been referring to it as a 'she' but I'd name it something male too. Who cares.
I want you guys to name it. Whether it's a realish name like Kelley. Or a made up name such as…well SludgeBob SquelchPants.
NAME IT.
Send in your ideas and I'll put a poll up. I'm not sure how the polls work on profiles and whether it allows anonymous people to vote. I'll probably just put the list in an Author's Note at the end of chapter. Le blah.
Now review. Give me your comments, critiques, questions and names.
NOW.
Please. :D
And yes, porcupines make great heroes. One day you'll be in a jam, some guy has you tied to the train tracks, and you'll just wish there was a porcupine there to save you. I dare you to challenge me. D:
And I don't know if porcupines can curl up into balls. That might just be hedgehogs. Or…armadillos. -._-.
For the sake of the story, porcupines curl up into balls.
Nyah.
This has been a senseless chatter from the author that adores you when you talk to her in reviews;
-Kinetic Kat