Chapter One Hundred and Seven

...

"Are you sure you have everything ready for school?" Anita asked, trying not to sound as worried as she felt.

She had been so busy trying to organise her classes and course work for her students at the University of Maxville that she had delayed organising Ethan, Zach, and Heidi's school things. It was easy to forget, especially since Ethan had been organising his own school supplies since he was six years old. Zach and Heidi were different children, obviously, and Anita doubted their biological parents had done much to help them organise their school things before. She had wanted this to be different for them, since she didn't want to remind them of their parents if she could help it.

"I'm sure, Anita. Eth helped me," Zach said with a smile. "We helped Heidi organise her things for school, too. Well, I cut up pictures to put on the front of her books and Eth covered them with contact paper. We bought the magazines specifically to cut out the pictures, we didn't cut up anything in the house," he added quickly.

"We have all of the required stationery, as well as other items that the list didn't include, but I have found useful. I double-checked Heidi's textbook list and downloaded the relevant eBooks with highlighting and note-taking capabilities, since she prefers learning electronically. I added a list of recommended titles to a separate library, in case Heidi wants to learn more about the topics she's learning than being restricted to the school's course and structure."

"She's super interested in that female scientist and inventor book you got her, Eth. I swear she's going to get Ada Lovelace tattooed on her when she's old enough," Zach said, snickering.

"No tattoos while you're under my roof," Anita said sternly.

Ethan scratched his branded shoulder and just nodded in response.

"Do you have enough food? I know you like to get your lunch at the cafeteria, but there's still recess. You need something healthy and filling, and I haven't organised shopping this week," Anita fretted, suddenly wishing she hadn't spent so much time on her students rather than her own family.

"It's all right, Ma. Layla has offered to make recess for us: fruits and vegetables only. If she is unavailable, then I have an assortment of muesli bars and nuts for us to eat. Heidi also has her recess sorted for the upcoming week; no nuts due to the school's new rule regarding peanut allergies."

"Can you imagine not being able to eat peanut butter? It's, like, the best condiment, especially when it gets all melty on hot toast and... what?" Zach asked when Anita and Ethan both looked at him.

"Nothing. Thank you for being so organised, boys. I really appreciate you getting everything done this week, and sorting Heidi out as well. Your father and I will be able to drop you off at school in the morning. Well, if your father comes home from work soon; he promised me he'd be back by seven, but you know what the week before the start of school is like."

"Busy?" Zach guessed, grinning. "Can we have toast for dinner? I want peanut butter on toast now."

Anita laughed. "Sure, why not?"

...

"Honestly, Will, with the amount of tuition we pay for you to go to that school, you think they'd provide stationery to the students. What on Earth are they doing with the money we pay with them?" Josie asked incredulously as she saw the long list of supplies Will had handed her - the day before school started.

She had planned on using this last day before school to relax and recover before more villains came out of the woodwork, frustrated by their children, by their lack of holiday, by their parents or parents-in-law. Whatever the reason, the first two weeks after the kids returned to school often resulted in a larger number of villains than all of summer combined. Once those two weeks were over, and the villains were defeated, things often returned to normal. It was due to this that Jetstream and the Commander had accepted to attend the Super Convention in New York three weeks after school had started. They would be required to give a speech and answer questions from the convention attendees, but after two weeks of fighting and winning against villains, they could do anything.

"Keeping the anti-gravitational device running?" Will guessed. "Can you pick it all up for me? I'd ask Dad, but he's still not back from the house showing, and I have to go patrol Westville. Now that I've fought Death Row, other villains might want to fight me, too."

Josie's eye twitched as she lost her day of peace, but she resolutely nodded. Will thanked her with a bright and boyish smile, flying out of the house before she could say anything else. Sending a text to her husband, Josie let out a soft groan of frustration when Steve replied to state he was selling an apartment and wouldn't be home in time to do Will's supply list shopping. Sighing heavily, Josie went upstairs to shower, straighten her hair, and present the best version of herself to the world. Even if she was bone-deep exhausted and would probably fall asleep in the shopping aisle.

The stores were almost picked bare of school supplies and Josie had to wonder exactly why Will needed fifty HB pencils when he would probably only use two, at best! Not to mention four boxes of tissues, staples (size 26/6), and whiteboard markers and erasers: what on earth was he going to be doing with those?!

"Last minute school shopping, hey?" a woman asked as they were both standing by the pen display.

"Unfortunately. It slipped my mind," Josie replied with a brief smile.

Did she really need to buy blue pens when black were so much cheaper? Deciding to just find blue pens at home - she knew she had a huge supply of them somewhere - Josie looked at the next item on the list.

"Do you gotta buy pink erasers and tissues, too?" the other mother asked with a derisive snort.

"Hand sanitiser and tissues," Josie replied, smiling again, a little more genuinely this time.

"I swear I've never used all'a this stuff in my life. I don't know why my kid's gonna in a single year."

"I've probably got half of this stuff at home. Do you think the brands actually matter?" Josie asked.

"Nah, never. Get the cheapest. Hell, at this stage, just get whatever's left," the woman said with another derisive snort, grabbing a set of pens and a box of pencils, throwing them into her cart. "Good luck."

"Thanks. You too," Josie said, deciding to buy the tissue boxes and notebooks, and then find the rest of the supplies at home.

She had hundreds of folders and plastic sleeves in the Secret Sanctum's stationery cupboard, after all. Will wouldn't go without and Josie would get half a day of peace, which was better than trying to find school supplies, picking at the remaining store supplies, far too reminiscent of a vulture picking at a carcass. Feeling relieved at her decision, Josie grabbed several boxes of tissues and whatever notebooks remained, then headed to the checkout.

Returning home, Josie set Will's school supplies on the kitchen bench, then headed to the Secret Sanctum to find everything else on the list. She found three two-ring binders and plastic sleeves, smoothing the latter out awkwardly and putting them under the binders to help flatten them out. Two whiteboard markers - green and red - were sitting next to a whiteboard eraser, which she promptly added to the bag. Josie didn't actually remember when she'd bought them, since she and Steve hadn't owned a whiteboard since the 90s, but figured the age didn't matter if they still worked. She looked for the pens which she knew were in the cupboard somewhere. Frowning when she didn't find them in the place Josie swore she'd seen them only last week, she looked on every shelf in the cupboard and then started to pull things off the shelves entirely when they still eluded her.

"Josie? Dear, are you all right?" Steve asked, returning home to find their house in complete disarray. "Did a villain find us? Are you okay? Do I need to call the police? Or the Super Bureau?" he asked immediately.

Josie frowned up at her husband, then looked around the kitchen, blinking at the mess surrounding her. "I was looking for a blue pen."

"A blue pen?" Steve echoed, confused.

"Yes, dear. Will needs a blue pen for his school supply. Well, he needs ten. I can only find three. I swore we had a box of pens somewhere, and I can't find any."

"I'll check in the Secret Sanctum," Steve offered, stopping short at his wife's short bark of laughter.

"Good luck! I started my search there, Steve. That's where I found one of the pens, hidden behind a ream of paper at the bottom of the stationery cupboard."

"Oh."

"And the black pens? He needs ten of those as well; I can only find six."

"Can we just buy new ones?" Steve asked, vaguely remembering his wife's text from earlier that day and realising too late that it was the wrong question to ask.

"I tried, Steve. There was nothing on the shelves! It's the day before school starts; it's all gone!"

"Um, okay. We have pens at work," Steve suggested, trying not to be scared at the wild look in his wife's eyes.

Josie lit up at his words. "Yes! That will work. Come on, grab the list. We can find the rest of the stuff and then replace it all tomorrow when the stores are open again."

Steve didn't dare argue - or worse, ask about dinner - and simply nodded, collecting his work keys as Josie muttered under her breath about pens and vultures.

...

Ry adjusted his shirt, wondering if he should choose a different colour or if he should just feign an illness to get out of this entirely.

There was a knock at the door, startling him, and Ry looked away from his reflection. "Yeah?"

"You almost ready? The bus will be here soon, and you haven't eaten breakfast," Connor said.

"I'm ready. I think," Ry added, sighing.

"I'm opening the door, scream if I shouldn't," Connor said, the door opening slowly until he was revealed in the doorway completely. "Wow, Ryuu. You look handsome. Black suits you."

Ry sighed again and tugged at his shirt. "I don't look washed out?"

"No, you don't," Connor promised. "Come on, I made protein pancakes for you. We'll do a tai chi set before you go, that'll help calm you, yeah?"

Ry nodded gratefully, hugging his father before he grabbed his heavy backpack with a year's worth of textbooks and notebooks. "Thanks, Papa."

"Anytime, son."

...

Fantasia contemplated her outfit for the day, wondering whether she should get her parents to buy her something brand new instead of wearing the same old clothes. She had to make a good impression on her fellow students, especially on her first day, didn't she?

A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts and Fantasia opened it to see her mother standing there.

"Are you almost ready, Princess? We have to get you to the bus soon, and your father wants to say goodbye before you go."

"I don't like any of my clothes," Fantasia said, pouting.

Her mother looked to the master bedroom's overflowing walk-in wardrobe and the extra two sets of drawers. "Would you like me to choose an outfit for you? Would that make you happy, Princess?"

Fantasia considered it for a moment, then nodded. "That would make me happy. Unless I don't like the outfit you choose," she added, tying her silk robe before going downstairs to where her father was waiting to say goodbye.

She smiled at him brightly when she saw him waiting at the front door, his briefcase in hand and travel coffee mug in the other.

"Hello, Princess. Did you sleep well?"

"Very well, Daddy. I love my new waterbed. Are you in a rush, Daddy?" Fantasia asked, her eyes narrowing when she saw him looking at the hallway clock.

"I always have time for you, Princess," he replied automatically. "I only want to make you happy."

Fantasia hummed and tapped her chin, as though considering the genuineness of his response. Then she smiled and kissed his cheek. "Have a nice day at work, Daddy. Work hard, I really want a jetpack for my birthday."

"Of course, Princess. Enjoy your first day at high school," he said, opening the front door and practically running for the car.

Fantasia waved goodbye as he drove away, then closed the front door and looked up the staircase. "I want my hair curled before I leave for the bus!" she called loudly.

"Of course, Princess. I only want to make you happy."

...

Ry: I hate you all.

Layla and Warren looked at the message with a frown, looking at each other in confusion. Next to them, Craig snickered and started typing.

Craig: I forgot to tell you, didn't I?

Ry: I know you did this on purpose and I hate you sooooo much, C!

Terrence: what are you talking about?

"Ry lives in the same neighbourhood as Will and Magenta. I believe he is on the same bus as Will this morning," Ethan said.

"Three days after he fought a villain? Oh, geez, that's gotta be painful," Zach said with a wince.

Ry: Will is on my bus. He won't stop staring at me. It's freaking me the fuck out.

Heidi: Want me to zap him through his phone?

Zach: when did you get on the group chat?

Zach: wait, you can do what now?

Heidi: like, two weeks ago? I've been lurking :)

Heidi: I can zap him through his phone

Heidi: Adam's been helping me practice 3

Zach: how come Adam gets a love heart?

Adam: 'cause I'm awesome

Heidi: duh

Ry sent a selfie, clearly showing Will staring at him from the back seat, surrounded by his girlfriend and a large number of students.

Adam: totally zap him, Heids

Ry: he blamed it on static electricity from so many people and their clothes.

Heidi: should I do it again?

Heidi: I can make it more painful :)

Honey: no, there's too much distance between you now; the bus is about to take off anyway

Ry: it's going to what?

Craig: yep, totally forgot to tell you

Craig: hold on ;)

Ry: 100% hate you!

They all sent hearts back to Ry in various colours, their laughter cut off as their own bus took off into the air.

...

Fantasia waited at the bus stop alone, looking at her brand new Apple watch to see the time. Her mother had already left so she could spend the day making her Princess four kinds of cookies and a three-tiered cake to celebrate her first day at Sky High. The outfit she had chosen consisted of a black and white polka dot dress with a red belt and a bright yellow cardigan, with red shoes. Fantasia felt like a classic movie star in her outfit, her mother smiling in happiness and relief when she realised that her daughter was happy with her choice.

Fantasia soon became impatient waiting for the bus and was mere seconds away from calling her mother to take her home when the bus finally rounded the corner. Smiling brightly, Fantasia waved the bus down.

The bus door opened, and Fantasia stepped on board, looking at the seated students to determine where she could sit. The back seat had several seniors already sitting there, and she walked down the aisle to the very back, smiling sweetly.

"I want to sit here," Fantasia said. Her eyes narrowed when they laughed.

"Go make friends with the kids your age," one of the seniors said, nodding to the front of the bus where the other freshmen were sitting.

"But I want to sit here. You want me to be happy, don't you?"

The seniors' laughter died down and they hurried to move their bags so she could be seated.

...

Ry had already demonstrated his power to Coach Boomer and Principal Powers when he had first enrolled, so was able to skip Power Placement entirely. From his friends' stories about it, the whole thing seemed to be founded on embarrassing the students and he was glad to have avoided it.

Heading to home group, Ry introduced himself to the bald man with the large forehead, Mr. Medulla, and handed him his introductory note with a brief explanation of his gender and name.

"Take a seat; I'll call attendance shortly, Mr. Kemp," Medulla said with a nod, writing his name on the attendance sheet and crossing out his old one.

Ry sat at an empty seat, Craig turning to grin and wave at him from the front. Layla was seated in the middle by the window; Ry wondered if it was a trick of the light that made the leaves on the tree outside change colours.

Adam: you 'kay, Ry?

Ry: nervous af; hate the first day at a new school

Craig: we'll look after you, bro

Ry: like you did with the bus?

Craig: hey, that shit was hilarious

Ethan: Stop messaging in home group!

Zach: yeah, Medulla will use his ray gun on you

Ry: he wouldn't do that, would he?

"Mr. Kemp. I understand you're new here, but phones aren't allowed during home group. Or during class," Medulla added sternly. "Put it away before I shrink it so small that not even a microscope would be able to find it."

"What sort of microscope?"

Medulla frowned at the question. "I beg your pardon?"

"Well, if it's a simple microscope, then it probably wouldn't see the phone, depending how small your shrink ray changes the phone's size. However, a TEM or SEM microscope should be able to see the phone. I could probably reply to a text message if I had the correct size tweezers," Ry mused.

Medulla frowned. "Boomer doesn't usually let super smart people in the Hero track."

"Oh, I'm not super smart, sir. Unless being a smartass counts, which my father would probably say it does," Ry added, a few people giggling.

"It's not often I find Heroes with knowledge of any microscope, let alone SEM and TEM ones."

"It's a hobby, sir," Ry replied, smiling broadly.

"There's an extracurricular Advanced Mad Science class. I'll test you during Mad Science this week and provide details if you pass the test," Medulla said.

"Thank you, sir. I hope I don't let you down," Ry said.

Medulla headed back to the front of the class, several people astounded that the newcomer had escaped retribution.

Adam: what's SEM and TEM?

Craig: more importantly, why didn't you tell us you're a science geek?!

Ry: Scanning Electron Microscope and Transmission Electron Microscope; they both have a huge magnification range

Ry: Ollie told me about them when I visited Honey's pharmaceutical place

Ry: they use SEM and TEM microscopes to see how people's powers adapted to the T-800 injection

Ry: science geek isn't the right term, anyway. I prefer science aficionado

Craig: nerrrddddd!

Zach: stop it, Eth's facing a moral dilemma: no phones or new knowledge?

Ry: we'll talk about it later, Eth

Ethan: Thank you, Ry. Now everyone put your phones away.

Craig: sir, yes, sir!

"Ryuu, now that everyone's here, why don't you stand up and introduce yourself to the rest of the class? I'll organise someone to be your buddy for the first week so you can get used to the school and layout," Medulla added.

"I'll do it, sir," Craig called, waving his hand wildly in front of Medulla's face.

Will looked annoyed at Craig's immediate offer, but Ryuu nodded, trying not to look too amused. He stood up and gave the obligatory speech every new student had to give: who, what, when, where, why.

"Hi, I'm Ryuu. I'm an Aquarius and enjoy long walks on the beach," he said, grinning when a few people snickered, not even noticing that he hadn't mentioned his powers. "I moved here last month with my father; we moved from Mississippi so he could start a new job. Nice to meet you all," Ryuu said, then sat down.

"Thank you for that succinct introduction, Ryuu. Craig, as no one else has volunteered, you will be Ryuu's buddy this week. If you want to change buddies, let me know," Medulla added, looking to Ryuu.

"Aw, c'mon, Mr. M! I've totally got this!"

"I'll help," Adam said, Medulla looking relieved.

"Thank you, Adam. Ryuu, I suggest you take Adam's lead rather than Craig's."

"What are you implying, Mr. M? I kicked academic butt last year."

"A fluke I don't expect you to repeat," Medulla said.

"Oh, you're on! Can we bet on it? Is betting with teachers allowed? Are teachers allowed to bet? Either way, I'm kicking my own butt. Wait - "

"Dude, stop while you're ahead," Adam said, rolling his eyes and tugging Craig's shirt to make him sit down again.

...

Power Placement was easy. Fantasia wanted her placement first, she obviously became a Hero, and then Coach Boomer let her wander the halls because she was bored of waiting as the other freshmen were placed on either Hero or Sidekick tracks.

Fantasia wondered how long she should wait before trying to skip straight to junior year. She had tried to skip ahead at her previous school, only to discover that her powers didn't work on paper or computers and she wasn't as smart as she liked to think. Even with her pout and power, she couldn't go ahead without the proper score. She had decided that she liked being in her class anyway; she had all the best friends, always got the hall passes she wanted, and her teachers loved her and everything she did.

Maybe she could convince someone to take the junior exam for her this time. Or maybe even senior, she mused, seeing the seniors' study room up ahead. Slipping into the room, Fantasia looked around curiously. She smiled when one of the seniors walked over to her, frowning at her presence.

"You should be in Power Placement, freshman."

Fantasia's smile faded to a pout. "But I want to be here. You want me to be happy, don't you?"

The senior nodded quickly. "Of course. I only want you to be happy."

"Good. Now, who's the best-looking senior? Boy," she added quickly.

At the senior's answer, Fantasia looked over to the senior and smiled. She was going to have everyone in the school wrapped around her little finger by lunch time, just the way she liked it.

...

Will grinned at the attention he got from everyone on the bus, as well as the attention during home group, class, and at recess and lunch. Throughout it all, he couldn't help but look at Sky High's newest junior student: Ryuu Kemp. He was just as graceful (and beautiful) as Will remembered, and he wanted Ryuu to like him, to notice him, to acknowledge his existence just once.

On the bus, Ryuu was seated mid-way down the bus and spent a lot of the trip looking out the window, typing on his phone, or taking selfies.

During home group, he talked with Mr. Medulla, even swearing without retribution (and somehow managed to get Medulla to forget about the phone entirely) until he was prompted to introduce himself to the rest of the Hero juniors at the front of the class. Will had listened to Ryuu intently, not even noticing that Craig and Adam were glaring at him the whole time.

During class, Ryuu asked questions when he didn't understand a topic and answered questions when called upon by the teachers, nothing more and nothing less. Will had to sit on his hands to stop from clapping when Ryuu asked Mr. Bowie something about gender and how to refer to the opposition when you were unsure of their pronouns.

It was a good question, okay? Will hadn't even thought about that sort of stuff until his parents had fought against Forcefield. Admittedly, he hadn't really thought about it after they'd fought Forcefield either, but that wasn't the point.

Will spent most of the two morning classes trying to think of something smart to say, something witty or funny or anything that would get Ryuu's attention to turn to him for longer than half a fraction of a millisecond. Mad Science and English for Heroes had both ended with Will no closer to saying something, and he'd gotten into trouble twice during class for not listening.

Mr. Medulla had then told him to solve a Chemistry equation on the board, which Will couldn't even read, let alone solve. He'd attempted it anyway in an effort to impress Ryuu. Instead, on starting to write with his green whiteboard marker, Will had received a five-minute lecture on why to never use a green whiteboard marker and how red was only for Mr. Medulla's use as the teacher, hence why he had specified black whiteboard markers on the supply list. Mr. Medulla had sent him back to his desk without getting Will to try to finish the equation. He'd called on Ryuu instead, who had solved the equation in ten seconds and done it with a black whiteboard marker.

Recess would be his shining moment, Will just knew it. He'd go over to Ryuu, introduce himself as Airborne, Ryuu would recognise him from fighting Death Row and Getim, and he'd ask him what it felt like to fight a real-life villain. Will would smile charmingly and invite Ryuu to his table in the cafeteria where they could discuss it in further detail. He just needed to get to Ryuu before the others in his class; it was always a race to get the newest kid in the best groups first, after all. Ryuu would be grateful to have someone at the school befriend him already, especially if that someone was as popular and well-known as Airborne.

It was a perfect and foolproof plan. Will just needed to get to the cafeteria before the rest of the school, which he could totally do with the power of flight. He'd get there early, compose himself and look calm and collected and cool. Then he'd put his ingenious plan into action. He'd have all of Ryuu's attention by the end of the day and... well, Will didn't know what he'd do then.

He thought of his father's response to his question about liking guys and felt his stomach churn at admitting he liked Ryuu. He just admired him, obviously. He wanted to know about his fighting style and how he'd learnt it and when he'd started fighting and that was all. He didn't want to hold his hand or kiss him or run his hands through his hair. No, not at all.

"Will, please stay back after class. I won't delay your break for long," Mr. Bowie added, five full seconds before the bell rang, meaning Will couldn't blame the bell's noise on not hearing his request.

Will wondered if he could fly out of the classroom anyway, but Mr. Bowie was actually one of the good teachers at Sky High, so he didn't want to disobey him; Ryuu certainly wouldn't be impressed by that sort of behaviour, Will was sure of it.

"No problem, Mr. Bowie," Will said clearly, as though he was doing him a favour, his gaze flicking over to Ryuu to judge his reaction.

Ryuu was reading the first English for Heroes assigned book - A Hero's Courage by Lionheart - and obviously hadn't heard him. The bell rang and the classroom was empty in a matter of seconds, several people giving Will a pitying look at needing to stay behind. Will tried not to sigh in frustration when he watched Ryuu collect his things and leave, still reading his book. Will had even taken the seat right by the door in an attempt to leave first or to get Ryuu's attention, but neither had happened.

Damn.

...

"I don't want to be with you anymore."

Layla's heart stopped at Warren's words, a cold shiver running down her spine. "What?"

"I don't want to be with you anymore," Warren repeated.

Layla felt for her vine brand on his wrist, hoping it was a cruel prank that Craig and the others were playing. She reached out with her power almost cautiously, hoping it wasn't true and not knowing how she'd respond if it truly was Warren in front of her. Layla swallowed hard and reached that last distance between them, her face paling as she realised it really was Warren.

Had she said something wrong, done something to drive him away, did he no longer want to be permanent, were they moving too fast or too slow? A hundred questions and a thousand doubts ran through her mind, but all Layla could bring herself to ask was, "Why?"

"I'm in love with someone else."

Layla's shock gave way to surprise. Warren didn't fall in love easily, he'd said so himself, and for him to admit that he was in love with someone else was not like him at all.

"Who, Warren?" Layla asked.

Warren opened and closed his mouth several times, but nothing came out. She reached out to cup his face, almost nauseous at the feeling of cool skin under her palm rather than his usual warmth. As Layla looked at Warren more closely and saw the blank expression on his face, she wondered if this is what Mr. Brighton had looked like to his wife. There was no emotion in his eyes, something he'd always had when he looked at her, and Layla's own eyes flashed green as she realised someone was using their power on Warren to break them up.

"Can I kiss you goodbye?" Layla asked.

"Always, hippie," Warren said, as though the words were a struggle, his voice desperate where his face was cold.

Not knowing who was watching, Layla moved closer to Warren and pressed a kiss to his lips. She let her powers flow through him, vines expanding and protecting him as her fire raged and burnt away every last trace of the foreign power inside of him.

Layla pulled away slowly, worried that it hadn't worked, or worse, that it had worked and he still wanted to break up with her. Her heart pounded in her chest and the noise filled her ears, her own worries and doubts and fears blocking the feelings from her fire brand. Even if there were any feelings in the first place.

"Hippie?"

The feelings coming from his wrist were practically paralysing, the worry, the doubts, the fear. Warren felt like he was five again and kidnapped by his father, the emotions paralysing him as he thought of his mother being all alone and not knowing where he was or why he hadn't come home from school. Warren remembered how he had managed to get through the paralysing fear back then and hoped it would help Layla now.

Layla felt a prick of emotion coming from her wrist, something so small and insignificant that it could be dismissed as a trick or her own emotions. She was still too caught up in her own mind to realise that Warren was looking at her with worry and concern clear on his face. Then the emotion returned, slowly gaining traction and building up her arm, boiling in her blood, and drowning out the worries and doubts and fears completely until all she could feel was pure, unadulterated anger.

Realising that Layla was about to burst into flames, Warren hurried to retract his emotions from her. In his hurry, Warren took a significant portion of Layla's own anger as well. He moved back quickly, just out of reach as he burst into flames as the anger became too much and he screamed at the force of it, at the combination of their anger and outrage. As a result, the blue flames flared out like only yellow, red or orange flames should. Burning out a moment later, Warren exhaled slowly and looked to Layla. "You okay, hippie?"

"I should be asking you that," Layla said, stepping forward to cup his cheek, her skin blistering at the intense heat and she sighed in relief at the familiar sensation. "Do you know who did it to you, Warren?"

Warren nodded, his eyes burning blue.

...

Mr. Bowie closed the door once everyone had left and dragged his chair around so he could sit across from Will. "Are you all right, Will? I understand you fought a villain recently, but I've never seen you this distracted in class before," he added, looking genuinely worried and concerned about Will's distracted manner.

"I'm fine, Mr. Bowie. It's the first day back at school and I'm just trying to get back in the swing of things," Will said quickly, hoping that would be enough to be dismissed. He still had enough time; he could fly over everyone's heads and -

"If you need to talk to someone about Death Row and Getim's deaths, I'm sure the school counsellor would talk to you as a priority."

"What?" Will asked, feeling like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over his head.

"Death Row, the villain you fought? He succumbed to the injuries he sustained after being thrown out of the building. Getim was in critical condition after the fight occurred and died early this morning; he was anaemic and was cut severely by the glass doors, both when they were broken and when he was removed from the building."

"I... I didn't know that," Will said, his eyes wide.

"I am so sorry, Will. I honestly thought you knew. You didn't see the news this morning?" Mr. Bowie asked, looking upset about being the one to break the news to him.

"I... No, I overslept. I was also told not to look at the news within twenty-four hours of a fight due to critics," he added woodenly.

Mr. Bowie didn't seem impressed by that statement. "Will, you have to remember that not all criticism is bad; in fact, constructive criticism can be useful to help you discover where you went wrong and how to improve next time. I suggest you read some of the Labyrinth's articles about the fight."

"Labyrinth? That's a tabloid, isn't it?"

"To the everyday citizen, yes. To supers, however, it can provide a wealth of information. Labyrinth hires supers for those with reporter alter egos, correct?" Mr. Bowie pointed out.

"Well, yeah, but - "

"Every one of those journalists has their job at Labyrinth as their alter ego, Will. That means that when they're not writing articles or interviewing people, they're fighting. They've fought far more times than you have," Mr. Bowie said. "If you think about it further, what does their continued employment at Labyrinth mean?"

Will frowned as he tried to understand Mr. Bowie's question. He eventually shook his head, not knowing the answer.

"Okay, let me rephrase. If a super has been employed at Labyrinth for five years and is still writing and working as a super, what does that tell you about the outcome of their fights?"

"They won?" Will guessed.

"Exactly. They've been employed there for five years, which means they have won fights for five years, too. Now, don't you think that you could gain a very important perspective from someone with that sort of experience?"

"Well, yeah, I guess. My parents have been fighting villains for nearly twenty years, though," Will said.

"Yes, and what two words in that statement shows their bias?"

Will didn't know why Mr. Bowie kept asking him vague questions like this; it was meant to be his break and he wasn't thinking at his best. (He was also wasting so much time; Ryuu was probably already at a different table and Will's ingenious plan had already failed before it had begun.)

Mr. Bowie seemed to realise the same thing a moment later and answered his own question when Will didn't attempt an answer. "They're your parents, Will. They will tell you what they think you want to hear, not always what's best for you. You need someone else to critique your fighting techniques, as well as your strategies, to determine what you actually need to improve upon. Otherwise, your parents might tell you that your right hook is one of the best they've ever seen, only for you to break your wrist on the first punch at a villain."

"That's what Save the Citizen is for," Will said.

Mr. Bowie seemed disappointed at his response and sighed. "Of course it is. I apologise for taking so much of your time, Will. You should go eat your recess now. Let me know if you need to talk to the school counsellor about Death Row and Getim's deaths, okay?" he added.

Will nodded briefly, hating how his stomach churned at the thought of their deaths. They were villains; they knew the risks and consequences when they'd challenged him to a fight. He ignored the voice in his head reminding him that Death Row had surrendered.

Seeing the clock above Mr. Bowie's desk, Will realised that less time had passed than he expected. If Ryuu had gone to the bathroom or something, then he might still have a chance to put his ingenious plan into action!

Leaving Mr. Bowie's classroom, Will flew straight for the cafeteria, flying above the students - and Mr. Boy's - heads to avoid hitting anyone. Landing, Will brushed off his clothes and fixed his hair (he seriously considered taking up his mother's offer of hairspray, since the windswept look only looked good when it was purposely styled that way). Opening the cafeteria door, Will stepped inside, immediately looking around for Ryuu.

"Oh, my god! It's Airborne!"

...

End of the hundred and seventh chapter.

Thanks for reading; I hope you liked it!