Disclaimer: I do not own Sky High or its characters, settings etc, all of which belong to Disney.

Chapter 3: Save the Sidekicks

It didn't take Brett Simmonds too long to figure out something was going on.

It started on Monday when he was walking to his Super-math class and some overeager sidekick ran straight into him. With no teachers in the corridor, this was open season for a roasting and the nerd knew it, judging from the expression on his face. He powered up, the kid looked even more scared, if that was possible, and then … zip. His flames just vanished.

He looked around in confusion, and the little nerd took his chance to make a getaway, almost running into Stronghold and Peace who happened to be walking by.

On Tuesday it was time to collect his Geography assignment on Natural Disasters Requiring Superhero Intervention from the schmuck who'd written it for him. Being a sidekick, the geek didn't even take the class; he did the extra research in his spare time. But this week he had some lame excuse about being too busy with his own homework on First Aid For Your Hero In The Field.

Apparently, the kid needed to learn something about priorities. But that valuable lesson got cut short when Brett's fire was mysteriously extinguished again. A few seconds later Peace clapped a hand that seemed unusually warm on his shoulder and told him cheerfully that was what happened to people who abused their powers. Of course the smartass just had to be there to witness his embarrassment and he just had to rub his nose in it.

That was twice in two days and he was starting to wonder if there was something wrong with him, so on Wednesday he reluctantly went to see Nurse Spex. To his frustration his powers worked just fine then, and he didn't even get a lollipop because there was obviously nothing wrong with him.

On Thursday he spotted one of his favorite victims, the pretty blond sidekick who could change into a big red, white and green ball. She was a lot of fun to threaten because she would turn into a ball to escape being burnt and then he'd bounce her down the corridor. Apart from the amusement, there was also a personal element to the way he treated her. He'd once lowered his standards enough to ask her out, and she'd turned him down – told him that just because he had fire powers didn't make him hot. It was unbelievable that she didn't find him attractive. He was tall, well-built and, like her, a natural blonde. Plus, no sidekick had any business not being grateful for attention from a hero.

She was walking to the library alone, which was definitely an invitation for him. He made his usual dramatic entrance, and she gave her standard edgy response. He powered up, she dropped her book bag in preparation to transform, his flames disappeared and so did her fear. She calmly picked up her bag and carried on to the library. As Brett turned to look after her down the deserted corridor, he thought he saw a flash of black leather out of the corner of his eye.

Now he was positive someone was deliberately interfering with his powers. And he had a growing suspicion Peace was involved. He was so often at the scene of the crime, plus the former bad boy had once picked a fight with him about using his powers against the weaker kids.

But Warren Peace was a pyrokinetic like him, everyone knew that. No, it had to be someone with fire-neutralizing powers; yeah, maybe it was that Freeze-Girl Warren was dating for a while.

Except she emigrated last year. Oh, right.

The final straw was lunchtime on Friday. There he was, minding his own business trying to score some extra lunch money. He had this tried and tested method of turning one wimp's lunch into charcoal as an object lesson to the others at the table. He was careful to work the intimidation factor while making sure he didn't cause too much damage to school property – after that fight with Peace he'd had enough detention to last a while, thanks. Often, all he had to do was lean on the table with his sleeves rolled up. The kids took one look at the menacing pyro tattoo that wound around his right forearm up to his elbow (so what if Peace had one on each arm; his was much more cool) and handed over the cash straight away.

But now and then there would be some wannabe hero who'd try to stand up to him. Like this kid who looked even dorkier than the one in Stronghold's geek squad. Speaking of one of Stronghold's friends … Brett looked around quickly, but Peace wasn't anywhere in sight.

However, his mystery nemesis evidently was. The moment he powered up, his fire disappeared. But he had a rep. to protect so there was no way he was going to let this one go in front of all these witnesses. He tried again, with the same result. He glared at his flame-free hands.

The little brats started giggling and Brett looked up, furious. Sure enough, there was Peace … and Stronghold, leaning on either side of the square support column they'd obviously just been hiding behind. They shook their heads in mock sympathy and casually strolled out of the cafeteria.

Now Brett had had enough.

He caught up with them at the lockers. "Look, I know you two know what's been going on."

"Really?" asked Will innocently, sharing a glance and a shrug with Warren, "What's been going on?"

Brett regarded Warren suspiciously, "Well, no one's been messing with you, so you must be in league with whoever it is. And you're always around when it happens, so I reckon you're the one who gives the tip-off."

"Interesting logic, Simmonds," replied the other pyro sarcastically, leaning against his locker, "I like the way you think."

"So, what makes you think we'd tell you anything?" Will challenged. He closed his locker with a bang that made the rest of the lockers rattle a bit.

"Here's the deal: I win Save the Citizen today, you tell me how who's been messing with my powers, and they stop it."

"And if we win," replied Will, not wanting to waste the opportunity, "You leave the sidekicks alone."

"Deal!" Brett stuck out his hand. Warren just smirked.

Will shook. It took all his self control to not crush the jerk's hand.

It wasn't that surprising, come to think about it, that Brett chose Save the Citizen as his battleground. He and his partner, Jerry Holme a.k.a. Carbon Copy Kid, had been on a winning streak lately. Possibly the fact that they'd been pretty cunning in their choice of opponents had something to do with it.

"Stronghold, Hothead, these knuckleheads have issued the challenge," announced Boomer, who was evidently enjoying himself like usual, "As reigning champions, you get to choose; I expect you want to be heroes like usual?"

"Actually, we'd like to try being villains for a change," replied Will offhandedly. A chorus of 'oooh's rippled through the spectators in the stands.

"Ooookay," the coach made a note on his ever-present clipboard, "You know the rules, Stronghold. One power only - I wanna see your feet on the ground the whole time."

Will and Warren shared an amused glance at the reminder of the new rule Boomer had instituted in the hope of giving the other kids a fighting chance against them. Not that it helped much.

Boomer gave the usual spiel and the countdown began. Brett took up an aggressive stance, ready for business. Jerry waited tensely for the action to begin so he could decide who to mimic in order to cause the most confusion.

The champions, however, leaned casually against the edge of the mulcher.

"So, Warren," Will said conversationally, "What do you think of the new Super-Suit Calendar?"

"Way better than the last one," replied Warren, "I really rate February."

"And how about that – " started Will but he was interrupted.

"Hey!" yelled Brett. "This isn't lunch break! Power up!"

"You first," Warren replied calmly.

The other pyro ignited his hands. Warren regarded him for a few seconds. He stepped slightly in front of Will and crossed his arms across his chest as if he was powering up, but when he flung out his hands there were no flames. Brett watched in horror as his fire left his hands and flew into Warren's waiting grasp. Before he could recover from the shock of finding out who his secret non-admirer was, Warren threw the stolen fire back at him, knocking him off his feet. There was a cheer from the stands and Boomer wondered idly if he should stop the match. Nah.

"It was you?" Brett couldn't believe it. "But you can't do that."

"Surprise," smirked Warren.

Brett powered up again and Warren just shook his head. "You're a sucker for punishment."

As Warren pulled the same trick again, Magenta turned to the rest of the group in the stands. "Hey, what about Boomer's One-Power-Only rule? Won't Warren get them disqualified?"

"No," replied Layla who had been watching carefully for exactly that. "He's only using pyro-psionics."

"That's why he needed Brett to power up first," added Ethan.

Brett wasn't exactly a fast learner but he soon realized Warren had the upper hand. He tried to go for Will instead, only to have his fire stolen and returned rather violently yet again by Warren.

It was time for Jerry to pitch in. Shape-shifting into a copy of Will, he came up to Warren as Brett was picking himself up off the floor.

"Nice save, Warren, thanks," said 'Will'.

"So, who's your favorite?" asked Warren without breaking eye contact with Brett.

"Favorite what?"

"September, the spandex babe," called the real Will from his post next to the mulcher, and Jerry realized he was busted.

Warren took his eyes off Brett for a second to give the shape-shifter a nasty grin as he backed out of firing range, morphing back into himself. Luckily for Jerry, Warren couldn't power up until Brett did, and the other pyrokinetic was getting a lot more cautious.

Meanwhile, Magenta had picked up on Will and Warren's conversation. "What's the story with this Super-Suit Calendar? It's disgusting!"

"Whoa, Maj," said Zach, "You sound just like Layla." The fact that Zach didn't immediately agree with her was a sign that their on-again-off-again relationship was in yet another off-again phase. However, apart from a few small clues it was hard to tell, so their friends never took their fights any more seriously than they did.

Layla answered, "Funnily enough, it doesn't really bother me."

"You and Will fighting or something?" asked Ethan, concerned.

She shrugged. "No point in getting fussed over a calendar that doesn't exist."

"Oh, they're bluffing," realized Ethan, "Right, got it."

"Damn!" Zach exclaimed, "I was gonna ask where I could get one." And then both Magenta and Layla hit him.

At this point Warren and Brett were having something of a staring contest behind Will. The situation was a bit like a typical scene from a Western movie, where the two gunslingers are standing with their hands hovering over their guns, tensely waiting to see who's quickest on the draw. Will checked the remaining time (60 seconds) and waved to Layla and his friends while he was at it. Jerry took advantage of his distracted attention to morph into Warren, and went up to Will at the mulcher.

"Hey, Will."

Will pretended not to notice that 'Warren' had called him by his first name. "So what do you think of June?"

"Yeah, she's a real hottie," improvised 'Warren'.

"Actually, June's twins," Will replied casually before punching him.

"Hey, my man!" cheered Zach as Jerry went flying into the Perspex side barrier, and then he turned to the others. "Reckon that Carbon Copy Klutz should be a sidekick just like us. I mean, what good's his power now they're not fooled by him?"

"Well, we all know how he got to be a hero," Ethan commented darkly, referring to their Power Placement where Jerry had morphed into the coach, "And to think Boomer accused me of kissing up."

"Actually, he could be quite useful in hero support," remarked Layla.

"Except for the fact that he'd be in our class," Ethan pointed out

"No, I mean in a real saving-the-world situation. If they were in danger, he could imitate his hero and the villain wouldn't know who to attack."

"Or even better," suggested Maj with her trademark sarcasm, "He could trick the villain into attacking him so his hero could make a dashing and courageous retreat."

The end of the countdown drew their attention back to the game.

Five, four, three, two, one … and the citizen was history.

The crowd cheered their reigning champions, even though it was their easiest victory ever. The defeated duo slouched off to the showers while Will and Warren exchanged high fives with Zach and Ethan. Magenta gave them a rare genuine smile and Layla hugged them both before stepping back to stand between Ethan and Maj.

Funny, thought Warren, Stronghold and Layla didn't seem so lovey-dovey lately, but they didn't appear to be fighting either. He was pretty sure he'd hear all about it from both of them (separately) if they were.

Warren's musing was interrupted by a voice behind him. "I'm sure you know about that school rule that requires you to disclose any changes to your powers." Warren turned around to face Boomer, trying his best innocent expression. "Don't you, Mr. Peace?"

Damn. If Boomer was calling him by name, he was seriously in for it.

And so Warren got what would be the final detention of his high school career. He'd tried to plead mitigating circumstances, he'd tried to feign ignorance about the rule, he'd even pointed out that he'd done the school a favor considering the faculty obviously weren't either willing or able to do anything about the sidekick harassment problem.

He reflected that it was possibly the last argument that had sealed his fate for the next two hours.

Warren took out his homework with a satisfied smile as he remembered the look on Simmonds' face when he found himself neutralized, and settled down to finish his assignment on Cracking Super Villain Passwords And Secret Codes.

It was worth the small price of a couple of hours in detention. Oh yeah.

A/N: Thanks again for the great reviews. Oh, and Celestial Pendent must have been psychic… ;)