Disclaimer: I do not own Sky High or its characters, settings etc, all of which belong to Disney. Original characters and concepts belong to me.
Chapter 11: From the Ashes
"I hate to be the cynic all the time," said Magenta, "But how do we know that the antidote will work on the rest of us the same as it did on Layla?"
It was early on Saturday morning and they'd all had their antidote injections. They were busy packing their gear for the 'hike', which included their aviator sunglasses, neutralizing bracelets, spare syringes of the antidote and plenty of Twinkies for Zach.
Ethan and Denise shared a glance. "We don't," Ethan admitted. "Ultimately we'll only know for sure when she actually tries to control us."
"But there's no reason why it shouldn't work perfectly," Denise reassured them.
"Layla?" Kate suddenly noticed that the redhead had stopped in the middle of packing her backpack and was just staring at the handful of neutralizing bracelets in her hand.
Warren squeezed her shoulder. "Hey, you still with us?"
She turned to him with a look of amazement on her face. "I've just remembered what she programmed me to do!"
"No need to sound so happy about it, man," remarked Zach uncertainly.
"No, this is great," she replied excitedly. "It means that I might be able to play my part in this plan convincingly enough to not give the whole thing away."
The others exchanged glances, not too sure that it was such a good thing that she was remembering something from the time she was under Hypnotic's power. They couldn't help being wondering if it was maybe a sign that the antidote wasn't fully working.
Layla continued, concentrating as she thought out loud. "At some sort of signal I'm supposed to neutralize all of you so that she can inject you with her drug."
"All five of us at the same time?" asked Will doubtfully.
"Well, I'd suggest Will first and the rest of us pretty soon after," offered Kate.
"I think we can assume that she wants us at the botanical gardens so as to give Layla plenty of ammunition," said Ethan.
"Yeah, that makes sense," Layla agreed. "So I guess you'll just have to play along when I string you up in vines or something."
"Without being too obvious about it," commented Warren.
"Everybody packed?" asked Zach cheerfully from next to the elevator, and then continued without waiting for a response as he pressed the 'up' button to get to the roof where the van was parked, "Cool, then let's go."
"Down, Zach," Will corrected him. "We're not going in the van."
"Why not?"
"Because that would be a giveaway that we know this isn't just a hike, idiot!" said Magenta as she reached past him to hit the 'down' button.
When they left, the headquarters was suddenly very quiet. Warren and Denise shared an amused glance at their friends' antics and then turned their attention to Zach's monitors. The gang got downstairs and activated their sunglasses' cameras as they left the building, keeping up the casual chatter as they got into Will's SUV and drove off. There wouldn't be much to watch until they got to the botanical gardens, and the two of them sat in a reasonably comfortable silence.
Warren wondered how things were going with her and Ethan, but he didn't really feel comfortable with asking such a personal question. It wasn't just that he didn't know her that well; it was the same with the others these days, even Layla to a certain extent. He suddenly realized how much he had let slide during his self-imposed exile, and how much his relationships had suffered for it. That was something he would really need to work on.
In the meantime, he opted for a more straightforward topic of conversation. "Thanks for helping with the antidote for Layla."
Denise smiled. "Well, part of my doctorate was on Hypnotic, but it was mostly theoretical. This was the first time I had a chance to study her compound first-hand and work on devising an antidote, which I did attempt when I was studying, however without the serendipitous discovery of the effects of the sedative I had no starting point."
"Uh, right." Warren wasn't entirely certain how to respond to that. His eyes flicked over to the TV screen next to Zach's monitors which was, for obvious reasons, permanently tuned to Maxville News 24, where a reporter stood in front of a raging fire in the downtown area. There were firefighters behind her struggling to contain the blaze, but the wind was spreading it awfully quickly between the closely packed apartment blocks and even across the narrow streets.
Forcefully reminding himself that such crises were no longer his personal concern, Warren turned his attention from the news report back to Denise and the current issue. "So, where does Brainwave fit into all of this?" he asked. "Hired minion or partner in crime?"
" 'Hypnotized' minion, more like it," Denise replied. "Obviously his purpose was to create the diversion of the bank robbery, and she probably also had him use his powers to tell her that Layla would be the weakest link." Warren opened his mouth to defend his wife, but she raised a placating hand. "Just in the sense that she'd be the easiest one to inject with her formula."
She had a point. Both Will and Kate had needed to be neutralized to take their antidote injections that morning, so Layla would have been a much easier target for Hypnotic at the bank.
"Okay, so if Brainwave was her pet, it was pretty careless of her to let him get busted."
Denise looked thoughtful. "Not necessarily. He was no longer useful at that point, which would make him entirely expendable. And if she's trying to gather minions or something, that old guy is probably not much of an asset."
"Yeah," responded Warren vaguely, distracted by the news report again. He couldn't help feeling that almost-forgotten urge to save the world, and it was becoming quite irresistible.
Completely irresistible, in fact.
"Where are you going?" Denise asked in surprise as he got up and put on his jacket.
Warren jerked a thumb at the TV report. "I can't just sit and do nothing when there's something I can do to help. Even without my powers, I'm still a fully qualified firefighter."
"Yeah, but your work experience involves being immune to fire."
"Don't worry, I'm kinda getting used to being vulnerable," he replied darkly.
"At least wear your Kevlar uniform."
Warren shrugged. "All my clothes are fireproof."
"Why?" asked Denise, her scientific curiosity in gear as always. "I always thought that a pyro's powers protected their clothes, in the same the way as a shapeshifter's transform with them."
"Only while the pyro is wearing them."
She sighed. "You really shouldn't be doing this, you know. You could get seriously hurt."
"What are you, my mother?" he said with a mock scowl, but still he dug out the gloves from his uniform and switched his usual leather jacket for his long duster coat. "Happy now?"
Denise didn't think that made much difference. "Not really." He shrugged and turned to go. "Will's going to have a fit when he hears about this!" she called after him.
"So for the sake of his health and mine, let's not tell him about it, okay?" he replied as he entered the elevator.
Turning back to the monitors, Denise just sighed again and wondered quite how she was going to explain this to Will.
As Warren arrived at the fire scene, he could see that the wind had recently changed direction, causing the flames to spread on a new course. The situation was getting worse all the time, and there were still people trapped in the first buildings to catch alight. The firefighters were completely unable to keep up; on the upside, however, that meant Warren was able to slip into the nearest burning building unnoticed in the general chaos.
There was the sound of a scream from upstairs and a burning beam fell just behind where Warren was standing in the lobby. A stab of panic suddenly hit him as he realized that he was entirely surrounded by flames. His stomach clenched and he could feel his heart racing as he struggled to catch his breath.
He couldn't believe it. For the first time in his life, Warren Peace was afraid of fire.
"Totally bogus," commented Zach as they all heard an obviously fake bird call. It was mid-morning and they had reached a less popular section of the botanical gardens.
Layla stiffened. Somehow she knew that was the signal from Hypnotic she was supposed to be reacting to. As the others traded quips about the strange birdlife in the gardens, she looked around surreptitiously.
As Ethan had suspected, Hypnotic obviously knew exactly who she was dealing with when she set up this rendezvous point. There were a number of large thorny rosebushes lining their path, perfect for 'ammunition'. Will and Ethan were walking just ahead of her, Kate was to her left and Zach and Maj were behind.
It was showtime. Will and Ethan would have to be first; Will for obvious reasons, and Ethan because he could melt and escape easily. The others she could neutralize after immobilizing them. After taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Layla caught up with the two guys ahead and asked Will what the time was. Predictably, they both looked at their watches, even though Ethan hadn't been asked, and she slapped a neutralizer around each of their wrists.
With a silent apology to her teammates for the pain she was about to inflict, Layla took control of the rose bushes and bound each of her friends to the bush nearest them, trying not to hurt them too much with the thorns. In a moment she had Kate, Maj and Zach neutralized as well. Of course, if this had been a real combat situation, they would never have allowed themselves to be captured like this. She hoped that Hypnotic didn't suspect it was too easy.
"Very good, Layla," said the super villainess in question, appearing from behind a nearby hedge. She was about 10 to 15 years older than them, with a face that wouldn't particularly stand out in the crowd. Then again, considering that her approach seemed to involve having others do her dirty work while she lurked unnoticed in the shadows, her unremarkable appearance was probably not such a bad thing, possibly even an asset.
Layla smiled stiffly, uncertain how to respond as if she was 'hypnotized'. Fortunately, Hypnotic turned her attention to the rest of the group. She walked up to each of them in turn and injected them using the same spiked ring as she had on Layla.
When she was finished she turned to them all, and announced, "You will obey me. You will not feel pain, you will have no fear for your own life while under my control. You will not allow anyone to know I am controlling you and you will not allow anything to hinder my plan."
Layla glanced around at her friends. They were certainly giving a good impression of being 'hypnotized'.
She could only hope that it was merely an act.
For a few moments Warren concentrated on taking several deep breaths and reminding himself that his clothing was entirely flame retardant. That succeeded in pushing the panic down to a somewhat manageable level, but at least it was a start.
There was another scream from above him in the building, which helped to force him into action. Picking his way carefully between crackling flames and sparks he moved as fast as he dared up the stairs to the second floor.
It wasn't hard to find the source of the screaming. A child of three or four was standing terrified on the landing, entirely surrounded by fire, giving a piercing shriek every time she could catch her breath. A few yards away of solid flames away, her mother was trying desperately to get to her but the father was holding her back, evidently terrified of losing his wife too. They were both coughing from the smoke and the woman was almost hysterical.
Warren had never hated losing his powers as much as at that moment.
Still, there was at least something he could do. If he could only pull himself together, that is.
He passed the child's parents who barely noticed him and then began to pick his way across the landing. The first few steps were quite easy-going and he managed to step around the flames, but then he came to a solid bank of fire barring his way. Panic warred with his so-called hero complex, as Layla had once described it, and every moment he hesitated the flames came closer and closer to the little girl.
It was time to be a real hero. Forcing down his fear, he stepped into the fire and quickly covered the rest of the distance to the trapped child. Strangely, the flames didn't feel as hot as he expected them to. When he reached the girl he took off his long coat and, picking her up, he wrapped her in it for the return trip through the fire. Even though she was protected by the Kevlar of his coat, he held her as high above the flames as he could until he reached her parents. The girl's mother just sobbed as she pulled her from her rescuer's arms into a tight embrace.
Putting his coat back on, Warren shepherded them down the stairs.
"I can't thank you enough, sir!" the woman sobbed. "You must be some kind of superhero!"
"No, ma'am. Just fireproof clothing." They had reached the bottom of the stairs by now, and Warren hesitated. "Do you know if there's anyone else still in the building?"
The woman shook her head as she coughed again, still clutching her daughter so hard the poor kid could barely breathe. Fortunately her husband seemed to notice this and gently loosened her grip as they carefully made their way across the lobby to the door. Warren kept an eye on them as he started back up the stairs to check the rest of the apartment block in case someone had collapsed from smoke inhalation, unable to call for help.
The rescued family were about half way to the door when something warned Warren to look up in time to see a burning beam falling towards them from high above. Without thinking, he automatically threw a fireball to knock the timber out of the way. The husband and wife jumped as the flaming debris landed near them and they hurried out of the building without a backwards glance.
Walking back down the stairs, Warren was breathing heavily as he quickly thought over what had just happened. Not only had he been able to create fire, but it was his pyro-psionic sense that had warned him that the burning timber was falling. He stood in the middle of the lobby and closed his eyes. As he concentrated, he could feel the fire in the building he was in, and then also the buildings on either side and then, with some more mental effort, the entire area. He could even sense that someone in the gathered crowd of rubberneckers was smoking a cigarette.
Well, not anymore. Warren smirked at the thought of how confused that person must be, and then turned his attention to the more serious issue of the raging fire. While he knew he could wipe it all out in one go, he decided it would probably be an idea to take it more gently and extinguish the flames in sections. Starting with the areas where he knew people were trapped, he methodically worked through the two and a half blocks of burning apartment blocks, quenching one building at a time.
By the time he was finished, the expected headache was pounding but he really didn't mind. Weird as that seemed, it was quite a relief – anything was better than the intense cold that had heralded losing his powers last time. Even the searing pain on his wrists and chest as his tattoos branded themselves onto his skin again was bearable. Definitely not pleasant, he thought, gritting his teeth, but in a strange way he welcomed it.
When it was over, he stayed sitting on the lobby floor where he had sunk in exhaustion, breathing heavily. He didn't need to check his hair to know that the red streaks were back as well. Tempting as it was to just stay there, he needed to get back to the Guardians headquarters to see how the others were doing. Now that he had his powers back, he might actually be able to help them.
Pushing himself up a little shakily, he made his way over to the door. One brief look outside made him pull back quickly, the sudden motion causing his head to throb even more, but he had to stay out of sight. The street was crawling with firefighters and policemen, all looking for the reason why the fire was suddenly extinguished. If he was going to make a quiet getaway, Warren needed to create a diversion.
He just couldn't resist the temptation to show off a little. After all, pyro-construction was his favorite.
Nobody in the crowd noticed a young man in a long black trench coat leave one of the blackened buildings, walk to his car and drive off. They were far too busy noticing the fiery phoenix hovering triumphantly in the air among the remaining wisps of smoke.
Somewhere in the throng, among the murmurings about a bird or a plane, an ace investigative journalist couldn't help grinning as she snapped a few photos and hoped that Will would get to her with the official line in time for her deadline because this definitely belonged on the next day's front page.
Nearby, a 'newspaper seller' turned to an 'ice cream vendor' with a wry smile. "Guess he doesn't need us anymore."
