Disclaimer: I don't own Sky High.
Read on, oh faithful ones...
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Chapter Forty Four
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"I've got an idea," Layla said that night, curled up with Warren beside her.
"Do I get to know the details this time?" Warren asked, grinning slightly.
"Yes. I'm not sure it will work; it depends on the others just as much as you."
"Me?" Warren said, sitting up straighter. He tugged Layla up until she was sitting upright as well. "Info, hippie."
"You know how I said I plan to whittle away at Magenta until she's useless?"
Warren nodded, waiting for her to continue.
"Well, I think slowly destroying her relationship with Will would help with that. As tough as she looks, Magenta's actually very insecure," Layla mused, shaking her head.
"Why slowly destroying it? Why not just destroy it once and for all?"
"Because I want her to suffer, just as much as Will. I want them to become dependent on each other until they have no one else left, and then, when they finally do break apart, there'll be no one to save them at the end."
"That'll be hard with Will and his parents. Magenta's family, too," Warren pointed out.
"I know, that's why it has to be slow. Doing it fast would bring them supporters and sympathisers, and they'll probably come out more popular and celebrated than ever before. Slow and steady, however, we can bring them down piece by piece until there's nothing left."
"All right. How?" Warren asked.
"Magenta and Will's relationship is formed on them cheating and deceiving others so they can be together. If we can increase those feelings of distrust, adding in a mix of anger, jealousy, and betrayal, then they'll break apart eventually. As Ethan and Zach pointed out at lunch today, Valentine's Day is coming up soon. Will and Magenta will definitely have a date somewhere, and we can ruin it."
"Ruining their date sounds kind of petty; what are you planning, to get Wendy to make it rain on them?"
Layla rolled her eyes. "I'm thinking something a bit more disastrous than that, Warren. Wendy will be needed, but not to make it rain. In fact, they'll all be needed. If it's planned and executed properly, then no one will ever think it has to do with us."
"Start from the beginning, hippie, you're confusing the fuck out of me."
Layla reached over Warren to her nightstand, grabbing a pad of paper and a pen. "Write it down step by step, and we'll go over it in the morning to see if we can actually do it."
Waiting until Warren was ready, Layla then detailed her plan for Valentine's Day.
...
"Oh, here you are. Are you all ready to practice?" Nurse Spex asked, smiling at them from behind her thick glasses.
"Yes, Nurse Spex. We were waiting for you to arrive. Could we use your key to get the citizen dummies from storage, please?" Layla asked politely.
"Of course," Nurse Spex said, handing the key to Layla.
She smiled in thanks and headed over to the gym's storage room with Zach.
"Do you really think Nurse Spex won't say anything?" Zach asked quietly.
"If she falls asleep, then she won't remember anything to be able to say anything," Layla replied, opening the gym's storage cupboard.
"Hey, dodge balls! Warren, can we throw these at you?" Zach called, holding up a ball.
"Why?"
"Because you've got to be faster, you can't just stand in one spot all the time," Zach replied.
"We can practice our aim as well," Layla added, grabbing a bag to hold the balls. "Can you get three of the dummies, Zach?"
"They're creepy as all fuck," he groaned, heading to the section with the citizens.
"Save me! Save me! Save me!" a chorus of citizens cried a moment later.
"Turn those damn things off!" Warren snapped.
"I don't know how they turned on!" Zach called as he walked over to drop two of the dummies near their group before heading back for a third.
Warren found the switch for the citizens and turned them off, much to the relief of the others around them.
"Excuse me, Nurse Spex? Would you like to sit down? You don't need to be standing for our whole session," Layla said, guiding her over to a chair.
"Oh, that's nice, dear. Thank you. You know, I remember your mother. Such a kind girl. She helped get rid of the bird problem when we first started floating. It's a shame she died," Nurse Spex said with a sigh.
"Yes, it is a shame," Layla said, turning away as her eyes flashed green.
She walked back over to the group who were standing there awkwardly, no one quite sure what to do or where to start. Her jaw clenched, Layla grabbed one of the dodge balls, throwing it towards Warren. He dodged just in time.
"What the hell, hippie?!"
"You're meant to be practising, and we need to work on our powers. Everyone needs to use their powers to throw the balls. Except maybe you, Adam," she added, not wanting to destroy and replace the gym equipment, and Adam nodded in understanding.
"What about me? And Donny? I don't think our powers are exactly practical when it comes to throwing a ball around," Zach said.
"Don't worry, I've got something I can work on," Donny said, sitting on the floor and closing his eyes, breathing in deeply before exhaling slowly.
Layla couldn't think of something for Zach. In the background, she saw that Craig had picked up three of the balls and was juggling them with ease.
"Why don't you try to increase and decrease your glow every time you throw or get hit with a ball?" Warren suggested, picking up the nearby ball to throw at Zach.
"Or you could work on not screaming when you get hit?" Craig said with a smirk after Zach let out a loud yelp.
Adam scooped up a ball and threw it at Craig, who dropped the three balls he was juggling. One of the bouncing balls headed towards Layla, who made a fern spring up in front of her to block and catch it. Craig threw a ball at Wendy, a sudden gust of wind blowing in front of her, but it wasn't strong enough to stop the ball entirely. She slowed it enough to catch it and threw the ball at Layla, who was distracted with Adam. The ball hit Layla's side and she turned, a vine reaching out to grab it. Zach grabbed one of the balls and threw it at Warren, missing by a good half a metre.
"That was pathetic, Zach," Craig sneered, throwing a ball at Wendy with perfect aim.
Warren made his way over to Craig, keeping his flames beneath the surface of his skin so he wouldn't melt the balls that were thrown his way. As soon as he was close enough, Warren grabbed Craig by the front of the shirt, lifting him entirely off the ground.
"What the hell?" Craig cried out, surprised.
"Never call anyone pathetic again, understood?" Warren snarled, his voice low and angry.
Craig could see Warren's eyes burning, an intense blue colour that scared the shit out of him, more than if he'd been set alight. "All right! Sorry!"
Warren dropped Craig and went over to where Zach was standing. No one tried to throw a ball at him, watching the entire exchange curiously.
"You didn't have to do that," Zach said, sullen and looking at the ground.
"Yes, I did. Now, pick the ball up and I'll show you how to throw it so you can hit your target."
With that, their training resumed. Layla continued to grow plants and vines to block or catch the balls, trying to attack and defend at the same time. Wendy worked on creating a stronger gust of wind to move the ball away from her, whether as a defense or attack on the others. Craig changed his form every time a ball hit him, working on using the copied super's powers as well.
"Follow through with your arm," Warren instructed, demonstrating and then holding Zach's arm so he could keep it at the proper angle. "Try to hit the blue line on the floor," he said, stepping back to let Zach try on his own.
Zach's eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he held the ball back, aimed and threw it at the blue line. It missed by a smaller amount than before and Zach glowed brightly at his progress.
"Tone the glow back," Warren said, shielding his eyes.
"Ah, right. Sorry," Zach said sheepishly, but still looking pretty damn proud of himself.
Ethan came in to the gym half an hour later, seeing what they were doing with the dodge balls, and that Nurse Spex was asleep. Zach waved to him brightly and Layla headed over to where Ethan was putting his bag down.
"How did everything go with the paper?" Layla asked.
"Not bad. The layout has been redesigned and the next issue will be out in a week," Ethan said, ducking behind the gym's divider to change quickly, stepping out a second later. "The actual articles are mostly opinion pieces at the moment, but Lisa's given me a follow up article for next month's issue."
"On what?" Layla asked curiously.
"School's grading system between Heroes and Hero Support. She's got an opinion piece discussing it, but wants more concrete evidence for the next one."
"All right. Are you ready to start practising?" Layla asked as they headed back to the group, passing Donny who was still sitting on the floor, breathing in and out methodically.
"Sure. What are the rules?"
"Dodge the balls using your power," Layla said.
"Is there a scoring system in place?"
"Not yet; you're welcome to make one," she replied.
Ethan nodded and promptly melted down as a ball headed their way. Layla ducked in response, the ball flying over her head and straight towards Donny. Donny didn't open his eyes or stop his rhythmic breathing, but he held his hand out and batted the ball away right before it could hit into his face.
Ethan moved over to the ball, the ball disappearing with a wet pop and joining him in the puddle. Layla watched curiously as Ethan's puddle continued along the gym floor, almost inconspicuous if no one was paying attention. Ethan stopped and reformed, throwing the ball before melting down again. All in all, his attack and melting took less than a second, and if Layla hadn't been watching so intently, she might have thought the ball flew at Craig of its own accord. She moved so she was standing by the puddle.
"Does the ball add extra weight when you move around?" Layla asked curiously.
Ethan reformed again and stood beside her, keeping an eye out for the balls flying around the gym. They were literally flying, in fact, as Wendy had whipped up a small whirlwind to keep the balls from hitting her.
"Not really. I can kind of notice it, but at the same time, liquid is easier to transport than the physical item itself."
"How fast could you move with another person?"
"If they're calm and not struggling like... Uh, well, I could probably move as fast as usual," he finished abruptly, confusing Layla. He moved slightly and it might have almost come across as a casual movement if he hadn't just stopped mid-sentence. "You've seen that the camera is on?" Ethan asked quietly.
"What camera?" she hissed, resisting the temptation to turn and look around.
"The one above the entrance? It was put there after Royal Pain tried to take over the school. There were other cameras installed in the hallway as well."
A feeling of cold dread washed over Layla. She hadn't even thought to look for a camera, hadn't known there was one in the gym anyway, and she hadn't held back. Whatever suspicions Principal Powers might have about her would definitely be confirmed.
A loud alarm sounded, waking Nurse Spex with a jolt. "Time's up!" she called after she realised where she was, turning off her alarm and standing up.
Wendy's whirlwind died down and they spent a few minutes gathering the balls to put back in the storage room along with the dummies, which they hadn't even had a chance to use.
When they had all changed into their usual clothes and gathered their bags, Donny stood up slowly, opening his eyes again.
"What were you doing anyway, Donny?" Wendy asked as they headed out of the school building and towards the last bus to take them down into Maxville.
"Changing Principal Power's memory."
"What?" Layla asked, eyes wide.
"Wait 'til we're on the bus," Donny said.
They fell silent for the last few metres, getting on the bus. A few other students who had stayed late for their own curricular activities or detention were on the bus as well, but most had their own jetpacks or had parents with flying cars, so the bus was fairly empty.
They were able to sit in a group, Craig leading the conversation innocently enough about a Mad Science project he was working on with Adam. When they were in the air and the bus' exhausts covered their conversation, Craig stopped talking and looked at Donny. "Explain, now."
"Principal Powers was filming our session to see what we'd get up to; I changed her thoughts as they were occurring so she wouldn't be suspicious."
"That doesn't make sense," Adam said, frowning.
"I did a thing with Honey to help get my power under control and at the same time, I saw the future possibility of my power where I can not only read thoughts, but change them as well. I've been practising, but today was the first time I've done it for so long, and I'm kind of wiped," Donny admitted, looking tired and pale.
"What did you change her thoughts to?" Zach asked.
"Didn't it contradict what she was seeing on the screen?" Ethan asked.
"I gave her a few general thoughts about how we weren't exactly high-standard villains. You know that test the government ran a few years ago where they showed a group of people a picture of a woman in a red dress, and then a day later, they added two strangers to the group who said the dress was purple instead, and more than 90% of the group agreed with the strangers instead of their own thoughts? That's basically what I did with Powers, so when I changed her thoughts, she didn't really see you on the screen throwing balls and practicing with your powers, she saw you running around after the balls like a bunch of idiots instead."
"I'm not sure I like being thought of as an idiot, but I suppose it's better than the alternative," Warren said, resting back on his seat and closing his eyes.
"What if she watches the recording again?" Layla asked.
"How many times do you watch a video if you're certain of what happened?" Donny pointed out, Layla nodding briefly.
"A time will come when we do something that contradicts her thoughts and then she'll probably rewatch the video," Wendy replied.
"By then it will be too late," Layla said with a grin.
They slipped into silence after that, all of them tired and needing to conserve their energy.
After a few more minutes of flying, the bus set down on the freeway, heading to the designated drop off point where their parents or rides were waiting. Nina was talking with Anita, Frieda, Craig's mother, and Donny's father. When the bus stopped, Heidi rushed out of the car to wave at her brother wildly. Zach grinned and waved back at her.
"That reminds me: I found out about the ASL class. It's still being held on Saturdays at the Council office from 10am to 11am. It's $3 a week and they provide morning tea," Nina said.
"Three dollars? Are you sure?" Anita asked, surprised.
"Yeah, I double-checked that too. Apparently it's designed as an actual course, so they will need to go every week to actually benefit from the classes. Really, it ends up being $156 a year, but the organisers couldn't get people to attend with that price, so they changed it to $3 a class, even though it ends up being the same amount," Nina said, shaking her head.
"Well, for that price, Ethan will definitely be attending."
"What am I attending?" Ethan asked his mother curiously.
"The ASL class at the Council office; Saturday mornings, 10 to 11am, and it's only $3 a week."
"Wow, that's great. We can change our study group to after 11, right?" Ethan asked, looking to the others.
"I want to go to the ASL class too, so that works for me," Layla said, Warren nodding in agreement.
"Same," Wendy said.
"I get an extra hour to sleep in, nice," Craig said, grinning. His grin faltered when the others glared at him. "What?"
"It will be good for you to go along as well, Craig," his mother said.
"But it's the weekend!" Craig protested.
Heidi tugged on Craig's shirt, signing something to him quickly.
"Heids, language!" Zach said, grabbing his sister's hands before she could finish.
"What did she say?" Craig asked, looking between Heidi, Zach, and Ethan.
"You'll have to learn to find out," Ethan replied with a grin.
"I hate you all," Craig groaned. "Adam, back me up here, man."
"I'm going too. My folks can spare three bucks a week," Adam said, shrugging.
"I have to get to work. See you all tomorrow at school," Layla said as she and Frieda went over to the car, Frieda waving beside her.
"See you tomorrow," Ethan said, Zach signing goodbye beside him just to annoy Craig.
"You're welcome to stay with us on Fridays, Adam, if that makes it easier for you to get to the Council office on Saturday mornings," Nina offered.
"Yeah, that'd be good. Thanks, Ms. Peace," Adam said. "C'mon, man, just think of all the cool swear words you can say in sign language," he said, grinning at Craig.
"Ugh, fine. See you guys tomorrow," Craig said, heading to his mother's car with Adam.
Wendy and Donny left with his father a moment later, and Heidi and Zach climbed in the back seat of Anita's car with Ethan sitting in the front.
"Ready to go to work, kid?" Nina asked Warren.
"Yeah, ready to go. Have fun talking with the other adults?" he asked as she started to drive off.
"Yeah, I did. They're a good group of people. You don't mind that I invited Adam over on Fridays on your behalf?"
"Nah, I don't mind."
"You'll probably have to get the blow up mattress for him; I don't think he'll fit on the couch."
"The blow up mattress melted the last time we attempted camping."
Nina made a noise of surprise, frowning. "When was that?"
Warren snorted. "About when I was ten. Remember, it rained all night and I tried to make a fire, but melted the mattress instead? We got in trouble with the park ranger."
"Oh, yeah. I thought I'd bought a new one since then?"
"I'm pretty sure that was the reason you didn't buy a new one. Well, that, and we've never gone camping since."
"Really? Shit. Did you want to go camping?" Nina asked, worry filling her that she'd failed as a mother because apparently she hadn't taken her son outside in over six years.
"Hell no. I hate camping."
"Thank god for that," Nina breathed in relief. "Well, I'll see what the prices are like for a mattress at the store. If you clear out under your bed, you could fit a single mattress under there."
"It's already clean; there's nothing under there. Well, maybe some dust."
"What, no porn?"
"Mum, seriously?"
"What, masturbation's healthy. Unless you and Layla are already having sex? If you are, I hope you're being safe. I'm too young to be a grandmother yet."
"Whoa, Mum. We haven't had sex, okay? Can we stop talking about this, please?"
"Why are you so embarrassed? It's just sex. Unless you're embarrassed to talk to your mother about it? Which is really the fault of society, making the topic taboo, when it's no big deal."
"Oh god, please stop talking," Warren groaned, covering his face with his hands.
Nina grinned and continued. "Well, it's true. And it's not like people actually need to have sex anyway. Are you or Layla... what's the word? Aromatic? No, that's not right."
"Aromantic is the word you mean, and that's not even the right word. You mean asexual," Warren muttered. "And, no, I'm not asexual, and I'm pretty sure Layla's not either."
"Okay. There'd be nothing wrong with either of you - or anyone else - if you were, y'know."
"Yes, I know. I'm completely open-minded to all genders, identities, and sexualities, okay? Can I leave now?"
"Sure," Nina said, pulling into the parking lot for the Paper Lantern. "Frieda's offered for you to stay at her house tonight. Do you need me to buy you condoms on the next shopping trip?"
"We're not having sex, remember?"
"It's better to be prepared than sorry. Is Layla on the pill?"
"I don't know! I'm getting out of the car now."
Nina laughed brightly. "Love you too. Have a good night at work, kid."
Warren paused before he opened the door. "Love you, Mum. Thanks."
"No problem," Nina said, grinning. "I'm allowed to embarrass you now and then, but you've got to admit that it's better when it's just the two of us."
Warren couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, true. See you tomorrow."
"Be safe!" Nina called, laughing when Warren closed the door firmly behind him and practically bolted for the Paper Lantern's staff entrance.
...
"Hi Magenta."
"Layla? Uh, hi," Magenta added awkwardly, wincing at herself in the mirror. She kept her phone wedged between her ear and shoulder as she tugged at the dress her mother had given her.
"Are you all right? You seem a little distracted," Layla said.
"Oh, yeah, fine. I'm trying on a dress and it's as awkward as I'd always imagined," Magenta said, grinning.
"A dress, you? I thought you swore you'd never wear a dress? You said you wouldn't even wear a dress to your own wedding," Layla teased.
"Yeah, well, you know my mother. If she says I have to wear a dress for my date on Valentine's Day, then I have to wear a dress. Uh," she trailed off, realising that she was talking about going on a date with Layla's ex.
"Is the dress purple, at least?"
"Of course; it's the only reason I said yes," Magenta replied with a grin, relieved that Layla hadn't immediately hung up on her.
"How are Cyan and Cerulean?" Layla asked.
Magenta thought of her older and younger brothers with a grin. "Cy and his friends decorated their campus with toilet paper last week. They coloured rolls of it in blue and red, then claimed they were on the decorating committee for Supers' Day when they were caught.
"Cerulean's brought home every single painting he's done at kindergarten, and probably some of the other kids' work as well. They're holding the walls up."
"Sounds like a lot of fun going on. I do have an ulterior motive to calling, and I know this is going to sound weird, but where are you going for Valentine's Day? I want to go somewhere special with Warren, and no offence, but I kind of don't want to see Will."
"Oh. Yeah, I get that. Uh. We're going to The Glass Mirror."
"The restaurant in Westville?" Layla asked, surprised.
"Yeah, his parents managed to book a table for us, and it's way more upscale than anywhere I've been before, hence the dress."
"Makes sense. Thanks for letting me know, I guess it wouldn't have been a problem after all."
"Where are you and Warren going?" Magenta asked.
"I wanted to decide after I called you. It depends on which place has a table free," Layla said with a laugh. "I'd better get back to work. It was good talking to you, Magenta. Good luck with the dress."
"Thanks. Have a nice night."
"You too," Layla said, ending the call with a smile.
With that done, Layla walked around Donny to where the others were waiting to train. Nurse Spex was already snoring away in the corner of the gym and didn't notice a thing, even when Warren stood beside her and created a fire on the other side of the gym that stretched up towards the ceiling without a single wisp of smoke to be seen.
Ethan had been right about Mr. Medulla, who spent one session with them, then determined it to be a waste of his time and spent the rest of their sessions in his lab grading papers and pop quizzes instead. As long as they didn't tell Principal Powers they were left alone for their gym sessions, Mr. Medulla wouldn't bother them with his presence, which worked for both parties.
In their training sessions, Layla alternated between trying to create a combination of plants from a single seed to working with Warren or Adam or sometimes both to conjure up plants that could withstand their flames and acid.
Zach worked on adjusting the brightness of his glow and practiced other things he'd learnt in class and needed to work on more, away from the jeers and laughter of his peers (the life raft was only inflated once, and Craig knew better than to taunt him again).
Wendy set up several rubber targets around one of the dummy citizens and was trying to hit the targets with lightning bolts without singeing the citizen or anyone else in the gym, making sure to lessen the roll of thunder so Nurse Spex wouldn't wake up.
Donny spent most of his time sitting on the gym floor doing something that he didn't actually explain, but they all figured it had to do with practising and changing people's thoughts.
Adam worked with Craig to improve his friend's stamina using whichever superhero or villain's power for the whole time they were training, and when Craig was confident enough in Adam's form, they both spent time creating different kinds and sizes of acids.
Ethan melted as soon as a ball came in his direction, though a few times, he found himself melting down along with the ball as well. At Layla and Zach's insistence, when he wasn't dodging balls, Ethan spent time racing around the gym with various things melted down with him, from some of Layla's seeds to the truck that was usually suspended in the ceiling. Then, whenever one of them called out Ethan's name, he had to reform the items without reforming himself at the same time. A few times, the truck lost a wheel or its doors, but he was getting better at his control and stamina, just as the others were.
As they trained every weekday and every weekend when possible, Valentine's Day loomed closer, and soon the day was upon them. Everyone knew the plan and the role they had to play, and though some minor adjustments had been made when Layla and Warren detailed their plan, they both knew that the plan had only been improved.
Layla woke up on Valentine's Day morning with a bright smile, looking forward to the day ahead.
...
End of the forty-forth chapter.
Thanks for reading; I hope you liked it!
