Chapter Fifteen: Revelation

Na-Na: I've been gone for so long. So many months on end. Not having my computer tends put a halt on any and all writing I do. I'm sorry that I haven't been keeping up with it though. There have just been a lot of things I've had to work through to get back the urge to write. Now that I have gotten it back though, I'm prepared to finish this story. I have two faithful readers I'd like to give a shout out to. Tinuel and superdani152003. Thank you two so much. It's good to have people on top of me making sure I'm working. Being the incredibly lazy person I am, I need a good kick in the butt from time to time. (Okay, maybe all the time.)

This is warning though. I have been making a lot of edits and changes to PULaI. I read it over a couple of times over the months and I saw a lot of things I needed to fix at some point. Don't worry though, most are spelling and grammar mistakes. I hope I got all of them. Just figured I'd tell you now, incase you re-read this later and find some things different (whether or not they're significant).

Well, you all must know it by now, but I don't own Sky High. Tenni is a character of my creation, and now she's finally and officially not a Sue. For a while, someone declared her a Sue and put my story into a C2 for stories with OCs who are Sues. Since my story is no longer there, I'd like to assume that Tenni is no longer a Sue. Hurrah! Time for celebrating. By the way, we're still in WILL POV, incase you wanted to know. Also, this chapter has a whole lot of swearing involved (a certain stretch-boy), and is pretty lengthy compared all of the chapters previous.

Now that I'm done with my announcements, it's story time!

The owner of the Paper Lantern ended up kicking me out. I'd waited for who knows how long wallowing in self-pity and shame. Warren didn't make another appearance. Layla apparently was not going to show either. For some reason, on my way out, I saw Coach Boomer and Medulla leaving, Medulla with a pair of blonde twins on each arm. (Maybe I hallucinating or something…) So I trudged home in defeat, not looking forward to having to face Mom and Dad again for sneaking out late after being grounded. More importantly, I knew I'd be facing Tenni, too. I'm not sure I'm ready to face her yet after everything. Now that I think about it, I don't think I was ready for Layla either. I was just too desperate to talk to her after that whole thing with Gwen that I couldn't just let it slide.

Before I knew it, I was back home, standing there in front of the house with a sinking feeling in my stomach. There was a light on in the living room. Someone was awake, and probably waiting for me. Gulping down the nervous feelings swirling around in my gut, I went to the door and let myself in.

"Will!"

It was my Mom, standing there in a robe and slippers, her reading glasses perched on her nose a little precariously.

"Mom?"

"Where have you been young man?" She demanded sternly, her voice sounding just a touch shrill.

"The Paper Lantern, Mom. I really needed to see someone there," I answered, kicking at the rug.

"You were just grounded. Who could've been so important?"

"I— It's just, it was Layla." I looked down at my shoes.

"What about Layla, Honey?" Mom asked me, concern creeping into her tone.

"I don't really wanna talk about it." I mumbled, my eyes still turned downward.

"Alright. Well, I guess it's late. You and I should be heading to bed. We'll discuss your punishment tomorrow morning." She put a hand on my shoulder.

"Okay," I said, allowing her to start steering me up the staircase. Suddenly, something occurred to me, "Hey Mom?" I stopped, each foot on a different step.

"Yeah?"

"Is Tenni still awake? I really needed to talk to her." I looked down at her, pleadingly.

"Tenni? Why, she's not even here Will."

"Not here?" I asked, confused, "Where is she?"

"I can't believe she didn't tell you. She's sleeping over at Gwen's house. Said she needed help for tomorrow with Homecoming."

My mouth fell open in surprise. At Gwen's? Why would she be there…? I wanted to question Mom further, but I decided against it when she continued past me up the stairs. What was going on?

No one sat next to me on the bus the next morning. Not for lack of trying. Everyone I wanted to sit next to me— Layla, Zach, Magenta and Ethan— were all in the back ignoring me. When I tried to go back there to sit with them, I was constantly tripped by something. I had a sneaking suspicion it was plant roots. Layla looked too smug. So I was seated near the front of the bus, conversing half-heartedly with Ron. If only I had Tenni here. I really needed to talk to someone. She was always the one right there for me to depend on when I needed help, ever since she first came to the family.

Than again, if she was here, she'd probably be in the back of the bus ignoring me like the rest of my friends. Feeling even more depressed by that thought, I sunk even deeper into my seat. This could possibly be the worst day of my life, ever.

Well, maybe after the first day of school.

Once the bus landed, I got off as quickly as I could, making my way straight to Mad Science. There was no way I'd be getting to Layla at this point. So my best bet was getting to Tenni first. She always tried to get to class early. If she was anywhere, it would be there. Once I reached the classroom, I threw the door open. Unfortunately, I used too much force and it went flying off the hinges. I tried, without success, to re-attach it to the doorframe.

"I see your control hasn't gotten any better."

I swung around, and was met with the sight of the only person in the room other than me.

"Gwen."

"You seem surprised to see me." She sat there on her stool, legs crossed, watching me. Her eyes were intense. I froze.

"I, uh, yeah."

"You know, Will, it's still not too late to get on your hands and knees and beg for forgiveness. Maybe I'll even still let you escort me to Homecoming." My fists tightened and my teeth gnashed. Squaring my shoulders, I faced her.

"I don't want to go with you to Homecoming. Can't you get it through your head? Just because you're the school President, just because you're a hero, just because you're popular, doesn't mean you can just treat people like they're nothing! Those were my friends you were making fun of last night. Layla's is," I paused, frowning, "was," I amended, "my best friend. And now, you've ruined it. I don't know what you said to her, but now she hates me. My life has officially gone to hell and it's your fault! So why don't you just leave me the hell alone?" I glared at her, not holding back any of the anger I was feel towards her.

Throughout my whole tirade, she'd been sitting quietly, listening to everything I said. By the end of the whole thing, her mouth had fallen open. Suddenly, her eyes began to well up.

Oh God, please don't tell me she gonna do… that?

"I-I…" Sniff, "I just wanted…"

"Please don't cry!"

Too late. Gwen dissolved into sobs. Anything she may have been trying to say was so jumbled by her crying, it came out as unintelligible screaming. For some reason, the first thing I thought of was Layla. Compared to Layla, Gwen was pathetic. Layla never really cried. Not this pathetically. Layla was strong, she could take something like this and hold back. The thought calmed me in the face of Gwen's tears. I couldn't just let her make me feel guilty. She was the one who was in the wrong.

"Just stop it Gwen."

Surprisingly, she did. Her sobs ceased and she looked up at me, her eyes hard.

"Well," she said, collecting herself, "If that's the way you're going to be, then fine!"

And with that, she stood abruptly, and brushed past me, bumping me none to gently with her elbow as she went. I stood there, gaping after her, totally confused by what happened. It took me a couple of minutes to realize that I had let her walk off without an interrogation as to the whereabouts of Tenni.

"DAMN!" I cried, smacking my forehead.

RINGGG!

It was finally the end of fifth period, Basic Hero Skills. Gwen hadn't returned to Mad Science when she had walked off after I had yelled at her. At the moment though, Gwen didn't worry me. Since I'd been switched to the hero classes, I had almost all of the same classes as she did. Tenni hadn't shown up to a single one of them. Now that it was lunch, I needed to track down someone who would know. I didn't want another confrontation with Gwen. I doubt that it would end in anything other than another pointless argument. And no closer to finding out what was up with my sister. So I had to go to the only person I could think of other than my ex-girlfriend who could tell me where she could be.

Lash.

I really didn't want to talk to him. I could remember all of the times I'd been bullied by him and Speed when I was a powerless Sidekick. All of the times he had messed with my friends and my sister. More importantly, the fact that the prick was DATING my SISTER! Without my permission. When I'd first gotten wind of their relationship, I had been prepared to beat the guy up and then challenge him to Save the Citizen so I could beat the shit out of him again. Gwen had ended up restraining me from marching my merry way down that war path. Now, he was my only hope.

Dammit. Maybe I can beat him up a little after I squeeze some answers out of him. Yes, that sounds like a great plan.

The first place I looked in was the bathroom, since there was a good chance he was giving some poor Sidekick a swirly. That got me nowhere. Then I tried the halls. Only Speed was there, waiting to pounce the next unsuspecting Sidekick he saw and shove them in a locker. When I asked him if he had any clue where Lash was, he just mumbled something about the Cafeteria. So it was then I made my way there, hoping that this was finally going to be it. Once I got there, I stopped at the entrance, scanning the area for the tall boy wearing stripes. Momentarily, I caught sight of red hair and green, but I ignored it, in priority of finding Lash.

Finally, I spotted him, sitting at a table in the back, by himself. He was staring blankly at the table top in front of him, as if the answers to the universe had been scribbled onto it. I made my way over and took a seat across from him.

"Lash." His head shot up, his eyes meeting mine.

"Stronghold."

"Have you seen Tenni?"

I blinked at him.

We'd asked the question at the same time.

"Have you seen her?" I asked again, glaring at him.

"What do you mean, have I seen her? You're her brother! You should know where she is!"

"I'm not my sister's keeper! And what about you! You're her boyfriend! Aren't you supposed to know where your girlfriend is?"

Lash stood, glaring back at me just as angrily.

"Well, she's not exactly my girlfriend anymore Stronghold. We broke up last night, for your information. At your stupid party." I was on my feet and shaking my fist threateningly (well, as threatening as I hoped it was) at him.

"What do you mean, BROKE UP? If you dumped her, I swear to God I'll tear out your—"

"Shut the fuck up Stronghold! You don't know a thing. I did not dump her! She fucking dumped me," Lash growled out at me. I stared at him in shock.

"She… dumped you?"

"Do your ears not work or something? Yes! She dumped me! I bet you're pretty damn happy!"

"Um…"

"Not like we were even really dating! What the hell was I thinking, letting that bitch talk me into doing this! God dammit! Now the only person who actually treated me nicely fucking hates me!"

"Um…"

Okay… This was not what I had in mind. I hadn't gone into this expecting much. Just maybe a couple of answers, a little venting (A.K.A. Beating up Lash), and then I'd be on my way to finding Tenni. I didn't expect Lash to go all emotional on me. Not to mention the fact that he was causing a scene. Almost everyone in the cafeteria was watching us. Mostly, watching Lash, but I a certain group of people had their eyes on me.

Time to bail.

"Hey Lash," I said to get his attention. He paused momentarily in his rant, "I think I'm gonna just… go now. If that's alright?" I drew back, expecting him to yell again.

"Fine. Whatever. Just go," He said, sinking back into his seat looking defeated.

And with that, I gladly took my leave of him.

It was now the end of school., and still I had not seen Tenni. Not that I really thought I would. There was only one class that we didn't have together and it was sixth period, Elective. She has Art and I have Heroes Spanish. So I wouldn't have seen her then. All through P.E. my friends had been shooting me questioning glances. I really didn't know how to answer them. I knew what they were asking about. No doubt, it was about Tenni.

Zach, in particular, looked the most worried. Of course, it's probably because he and Tenni had Art together. He'd be the first to figure whether something was wrong. Even worse, I could tell Warren was watching me too, though there wasn't any glare. It was just… watching. Excuse me for feeling freaked out that I was being watched. I mean, come on! This guy's already tried to kill me once this year. So what if we had like, one, civil moment in each other's company last night. People just don't withdraw death threats that fast.

The nervous feeling stayed with me all through P.E. till I got off the bus and started heading home. I felt a little saddened by the fact that Layla had hurried off, not even wanting to walk along home with me. Letting it go, I gave a silent prayer to whatever God may be up there that maybe Tenni would be home or something. When I got there and all I saw were Mom and Dad zipping around the house getting ready for Homecoming. And no set of sneakers left neatly at the door, or a book bag sitting beside them, already prepared for school the next morning.

"Mom!" I called, trying to get her attention as she zipped around the house looking for stuff.

"Yeah, Honey?" She called over her shoulder as she continued shuffling stuff around in the closet.

"Did Tenni call at all? Say anything?"

"You know," Mom said turning around, a big box in her arms, "She did."

"You need some help with that?" I asked moving forward. Smiling, she gave me the box to hold.

"She called from Gwen's house. Said she'd meet us at Homecoming. Why, I didn't even know she was going till last night! She's been so put off of dancing since last year, I figured she'd never go to a school dance ever again. If I'd known, I would've helped her with finding a dress! I bet that's what that trip to the mall with those girls was for."

"Uh, yeah, so did she say anything else? Anything for me, maybe?" Mom frowned.

"I know I asked last night, but really, is there something wrong Will?"

"I—"

"Did you and Tenni fight?"

"No!" I exclaimed, "Although, I wish we had. Even a fight would've been good right about now…"

She took the box from me and set it on the floor before cupping my cheek, "Is there something wrong with the two of you? Something you want to talk about?"

"Yeah I—"

I didn't get to finish my sentence, because a hand dropping on my head and ruffling my hair cut me odd. I looked up to see Dad.

"Hey, Son. How was school?" There was a big smile on his face. Ever since I'd been switched to Hero, he'd been happier, letting punishments slide and hanging out with me whenever he had time.

"It's was okay."

"So, when are you gonna start getting ready for tonight?" I frowned.

"Dad, I'm still not going. Remember?" His face fell. Mom placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh yeah."

"Steve, it's okay if he doesn't go. I know you were really excited about introducing the Stronghold Three tonight," she looked at me for a second before continuing, "But maybe Will's just not ready for that yet. Besides, we should've thought ahead to include Tenni. It can't just be you me and Will. It wouldn't be a family thing if we didn't include everyone." Dad gave her a sheepish smile, looking properly chastised.

"You're right, as always Josie. Maybe next year." With a smile, he went back upstairs.

"So, Honey, do you still want to talk about it?" She looked back at me. I stared at her for a second before sighing.

"It's alright. I'm going to go and do something, maybe my homework."

"If you need to talk, I'm here until seven, okay Will?"

"Thanks a lot Mom."

I spent the rest of my time down in the Sanctum, not really doing anything, maybe tossing a ball around a little, but that was it. There were a lot of fun things to do down there, but I just wasn't very interested. I remember when I'd first been brought down here, I'd been pretty excited about hanging out down here and doing cool stuff. It took me now to realize that Dad had never brought Tenni down here to check out the Sanctum on the first day. I wonder if she'd been upset at all when I first told her about it. I'd been too happy at the time to stop and think about whether or not she'd seen it yet.

My shoulders slumped even further in my depression. This really sucked. I've such an idiot, all year long. She'd been trying so hard to make things easier for me when I'd been feeling down about being a Sidekick. Then, when she was down, I'd done nothing. I'd just ignored her and spent all my time with Gwen. I felt so selfish. I'd treated her, and Layla and Zach and Magenta and Ethan so badly. I was pulled out of my depressing thoughts by the sound of someone coming into the Sanctum.

"We're taking off now, Hon," Mom said, coming into view where her Jetstream costume, "Still time to change your mind and come with us." She gave me an inviting smile

"Nah, I don't think so." Shaking my head, I stopped tossing the ball. "Mom, you ever feel like you messed something up so bad that you'll never be able to fix it?" I looked at her, wishing she'd have an answer to all my problems.

"People make mistakes, Will. That's what high school's about. Heck, that's what life's about. The key is to learn from them." I nodded.

"I hope my friends see it that way." I doubt they would.

"If someone is a true friend, you'd be surprised at how understanding they could be," Mom said, giving me a very serious look.

To myself, I really wondered if she was right. She'd given me this advice once before, when I'd been very small and Layla and I had had a little fight. I'd been totally convinced she'd never forgive me. Running to Mom, I'd sobbed for an hour about it to her. She sent me off with those same words of comfort and when I apologized to Layla, she'd immediately forgiven me. Now though, I wonder if it would be just as easy.

"Thanks," I said, giving her a smile. She returned it before holding out a book to me. I recognized it as the Yearbook from her's and Dad's time at Sky High.

"Do me a favor? Put this away for me." Reaching out, I took it from her, "I caught your father sneaking it out under his cape. He's convinced that everyone wants to reminisce with him."

"I bet." I said, looking at the worn covering of it.

"Love ya." With that, she started heading for the door.

"Have fun," I called after her.

Once she was gone, I took a seat at the computer and opened the yearbook. The first page I landed on had Dad's face on it, all of his achievements listed near it. I started flipping backwards, when a certain name and picture caught my eye: Sue Tenny. I looked at it hard for a second, trying to remember something. The picture looked so familiar. Flipping forward a couple pages, I looked for further mention of her. It was then I saw it. On pages that listed clubs, in the science club picture, was Sue Tenny again.

Clasped in her hands was an all too familiar device.

"Oh no."

I swung around, to look at my Dad's trophies, pieces of some of his old battle, hoping it was still there. To my horror, the one thing I was looking for was not there.

"Oh no," I groaned, standing and rushing over to the empty platform, "Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…"

It all made sense now. The pictures in the yearbook, my parents, the missing Pacifier, and Gwen…

That's when it hit me.

"Tenni!"

Gwen had her. I knew it had been strange that she'd been missing. Now I knew why. My sister's life was in danger. Not to mention everyone at Homecoming right now. Including my parents. It was all my fault. I'd just doomed my parents. She'd been using me this whole time to get to them and to the Pacifier. It had all been an elaborate trap, pretending to be interested in me so that my parents could be lured to the dance. Everyone I care about is up there, completely unaware of what's going on. I needed to do something. Anything, to save them.

"I gotta get to Sky High."

Reaching into my jacket pocket, I felt around fro my wallet. Once I found it, I pulled it out and flipped it open. Inside, there was a card tucked into it. I pulled it out and looked at it.

"I'm going to save them."

Na-Na: Yay, end of chapter 15. While it was one of the easier chapters for me to write, I don't think I really liked writing this one. Something just feels funky when I try writing Will's POV. Maybe I'm just not comfortable with it yet. I don't think I'll write in it for anymore. Anyway, Merry Christmas everyone, or to be correct, Happy Chrismahanuhkwanzamus! Hope you've all had a really good year.

Next Chapter: Unveiling

Will be posted soon!