Heroes Journey

by Ragemoon

REWRITTEN It's a new year at Sky High after the Royal Pain homecomming fasico last year. Princpal Powers has a game plan for the students to get then ready for the threat from Royal Pain's students. Will the students beable to cope with the class load?

2. Bonding

Heroes Journey

By

Ragemoon

Chapter 2: Bonding

The next morning at the Peace household, Warren looked at his Mother he knew she be up and in the kitchen that morning so he adjusted his morning ways accordingly. He smiled at her and she smiled back. "Good morning Mom." Warren kissed his mother on her cheek. "How was work yesterday?"

"Morning Honey." Faith smiled at her son. "Work was annoying. Sean was there and you know how he is." She sighed seeing the anger that flashed in her son's eyes.

"Why don't you report him Mom?" Warren asked as she placed a plate of steaming hot pancakes in front of him. He put real maple syrup on the fluffy pile of cakes and sighed. His mother never bought fake brand anything when it came to food and he had to admit that the real stuff was always better.

"I know I should but then it turns into a he said she said thing and we don't need that on top of everything else life has tossed at us Warren." Faith sighed rinsing the dishes and putting the breakfast dishes that were done being used in the dishwasher. "I hear you all have a new teammate."

Warren looked at his mother oddly. "You've started talking to Mrs. Stronghold again?"

"Yes, now answer the question Warren. Don't sidestep." Faith laughed lightly at her son's try on getting out of explaining what was going on. Josie had filled her in on the new girl in her son's team mates class. She also told her of the type of powers the other girl had. She hoped that they would all be able to meld together ok. Two temperamental people on the same team was not going to be an easy thing, not for any of the others or for the two with changeable tempers.

Warren blushed lightly. He hoped his mother would not notice the color on his cheeks as he answered her. "Yes, her name is Brigid. She controls the weather or she will when she learns how to handle her emotions. Like I'm one to talk." He added in, grimacing at the other thoughts that were flowing though him. Find time for his libido to start reacting to someone. He stuffed those traitorous thoughts away and knew that a friendship first would be better.

Faith watched the emotions her son could not hid from her. She also read his emotional state like she always did and had to hide a smile. Warren's confusion, irritation and another emotion she knew he was not ready to admit to yet; was playing within him. She knew it was not easy being a teenager this day and age and Warren having her as his mother and no way to hide what he was feeling must have been harder on him. "You will both be fine. Plus the friendship would be good for both of you. Just try and not give your teammates a hard time hun."

Warren smiled at his mother as he finished his breakfast. He got up rinsed his dishes and grabbed his lunch out from the fridge and kissed his mother once more. "Off to school Mom, see ya afterwards."

"Have fun today hun. Don't get into trouble." Faith smiled watching Warren leave for school. He waved at her as he took off out the door and made his way to the bus stop.

That morning in school, Warren noted abstractedly once more that this year was going to be hell; as Layla and the others gathered about his locker. Layla looked worried, something he knew she eventually spit out with the correct prompting. He grabbed the book he was reading in the French language. No one knew that he spoke, read and wrote quite a few languages because of his mother. He liked no one knowing that about him. Warren had recognized both languages that Brigid had spoken her first day of school he knew that Layla and Magenta had recognized the French she had spoken the other day; the two were currently taking a French language course in school. He dropped his book in his backpack and looked at her.

"Spill it Hippie." His tone brooked no arguments from his red haired friend; she was surprised at his forcefulness. She knew he hated beating around for whatever was bothering anyone of his friends he always demanded that they tell him. Fire types were like that, it just took some getting used to.

Layla shot him a look for ordering her to orate what she was worrying over. She then sighed, gave in to Warren's demand and leaned on Will. Her boyfriend put a protective his arm around his girlfriend looking like he was shielding her from Warren. This thought amused the pyrokinetic to no end. "I didn't see Brigid yet this morning. I'm worried, most people don't miss the second day of school."

"She might not be back to school today Hippie," Warren pointed out to her. "She was exhausted yesterday; she could sleep most the day away. I hope she does, Brigid needs to rest, considering what she did yesterday and what happened." He closed his locker and moved into the sea of students again with his friends in tow. He felt like the scout ship for the students parted before him and his friends got though the crowded halls easier.

Ethan smiled a little. "I'm sure once she is able too Layla, she will come to school." He paused knowing more of Brigid then the others just because of everything he uncovered when he was researching her yesterday. "She is going to need our study group too," he murmured.

Magenta looked at Ethan before speaking as they all wandered to their shared homeroom, all except Warren who had a different homeroom; by the virtue of being an upperclassmen. They waved at him; he nodded before they lost him in the crowd of students. They then filed inside their homeroom and took some seats near each other. Warren made his way to his own homeroom to claim his spot. He plucked his book out of his backpack and began to read.

Back inside the other classroom, "What do ya mean by that?" Magenta asked him. Ethan shot her a look then realized that all his friends were just as confused by what he had said.

Ethan spoke softly. "She does great in physical classes. But the book learning she struggles with."

"Oh," Will said. "Don't we all struggle with it?" He felt like he himself struggled with it a bit more then the others. There were times he felt inadequate to what his duties would be. He had a lot to live up to; two superhero parents and a grandfather who was also a very famous superhero in his time.

"I think what Ethan is trying to say is that some people always assume that the new girl is some kind of super perfect being that does no wrong," Layla stated with a sigh. "Which is totally wrong." She shook her head in amazement over this line of thought.

"That's crazy, yo," Zack looked at the others. He was drumming a tune that only he knew on his desk as he bounced in place. "All new girls super perfect, ha." He was also amused by what Layla had said for it had made sense no one was perfect new or old in his school, they were all human with special abilities when it came right down to it.

"New girl," Magenta poked at her boyfriend correcting him with a small smirk. "I swear you only listen to half the conversation." Zack smiled at his girlfriend and she winked at him causing him to smile at her rebuttal of his own words.

As the teacher came in she spoke the students turned around in their desks to pay attention to her. She reminded them of their ineluctable duty of learning there in Sky High with just her presence. "Good morning students. Welcome to your homeroom. I am Miss Fae," she smiled at them. "Homeroom runs for thirty minutes. You are to talk about tactics with your teammates, if they are in the same room with you or create training programs. You may even just catch up on homework." She nodded to the students and watched them break apart into smaller groups.

Some of the students used the rest of homeroom to finish homework, some used it to start the layouts for their training programs for their teams or like Will's group, they used it to talk over tactics. The teacher was impressed by the way they all took to her words. She would have to remember to tell Principal Powers about it.

"Are you working on the training programs Ethan?" Will asked remembering Warren mentioning them over the summer. They all looked at their resident geek who dazzled them all with his brightest smile. Will knew he could count on his friend to come up with the training programs. He hoped they would not be too truculent when they started them up. "We can use the V. R. room that is in the Sanctum. My dad said it was ok," he smiled as he offered something he knew none of the others had access too. The Virtual Reality Room was state of the art. He asked his Dad and Mom if it would be ok that he and his friends made use of it for training purposes. Josie had been impressed by her son for asking and had given her consent. Although she insisted that when they used it either she or Steve would be present outside the training unit just in case. His mother understood they would want to train together outside of school as well as study what school was throwing at them together. Team bonding was the name of the game now and she was going to encourage it. She just wanted to impress on her son that their safety was her primary concern while they where in the V. R. Unit. "Mom said as long as they are present or at least one of them then we can use it," he added in remember his conversation with his mother. His friends nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, but I'm going to have to rework the team ones and create one for Brigid," he smiled happily. "I'm really enjoying this. Your mom and dad offering up the use of the Virtual Reality Room is a bonus." Ethan had taken to computer programming quickly; it was something he had always enjoyed. Creating these programs and making them challenging was fun in and of itself. He had already started his rework of the team training simulations that he come up with, adding Brigid in had not been that hard considering the research he had done on her yesterday. He just wished he knew the level of her power; she was a total unknown- a loose cannon. Knowing that would help him in creating the simulation to help her train as well as make it easier to change the team simulation. The bell rang ending their planning session.

In their next class, they all sat around Warren, it was one of those classes that all grades were taking at the same time. Warren gave them his long-suffering look that was now more amused then irked at them. He winked letting them though his mask for a moment before it resettled for the rest of the world. They knew he still prized his solitude.

They all looked up to see another new teacher. She wore an all-white pants suit and smiled frostily at the students. She was tall, with ice blue eyes and frosty white hair; her handsome face was marred by the look that crossed her face as she took in her new students. They all noticed that the temperature in the room had dropped when she entered.

Warren frowned, he personally hated being chilly and now he was cold; this was not shaping up to be a great class for him. He also recognized the woman commanding the attention of the teenagers before her and inwardly growled at the injustice of getting her as his teacher. He knew this class was going to be hell, officially now. He pondered finding out if he could transfer out; he knew that the teacher would not be able to teach without making the class suffer with him there. That angered him, for teachers should leave their personal life out of school.

"I am Morgan Frost; you shall call me Mrs. Frost. My superhero name is Lady Snow," their new teacher said. She was not too pleased at seeing Warren in her class. She was not going to let him be comfortable in her presence. She was still not happy that her daughter had dated Barron Battle's son. As far as she was concerned he was no good, just like his father. It did not matter if his mother, who had been a friend of hers before being shunned by the superhero community, had raised him he was tainted by what his father had done.

"This class is about survival in battle. Survival of yourself, your team, and the citizens you will be pledged to keep safe." She paused watching them all shiver and not feeling any pity for the students. The only students that seemed not to be affected by her cold aura were the ones surrounding Warren. She was not pleased when she noted that. "You are to read chapter one today, answer the questions and the last fifteen minutes of the class we will have a q and a session to see if you actually read the chapter," her inimical gaze took in all her students. "The syllabus is on each of your desks. I expect you to read the entire book list that I have given you as well, or you will fail my class." She sat down in her chair looking regally around the room the cold temperature made her smile.

Her students all picked up the syllabus, paling when they realized it was a hefty list of over thirty books for them to read that semester. They sighed then started to read their course book. Morgan watched them all amused, at their shivering. She supposed that Veronica would take her to task over freezing her class, but at the moment she did not care. The fact that Warren was keeping his comrades warm was making her angry. The other students continued to read as the temperature continued to spiral it's icy way down.

A few of the students rubbed their hands together as they fought to stay awake, none of them were dressed for cold weather it was still summer at the school. The cold was starting to cause them to fall asleep in their desks. One by one the students in Mrs. Frost's class collapsed on their desks in various states of frozen sleep. Their lips were turning blue and their eyelashes had tiny bits of ice attached to them. Only a few managed to fight the cold sleep, though the ones near Warren were all still awake. Their pyrokinetic friend was keeping them and a few of the students brave enough to sit a little closer warm.

Warren kept his friends warm by bringing up his body temperature as they all read their course books. He silently cursed his luck to end up in the class with his ex-girlfriend's mother as his teacher. He prayed that the bell would come soon. He also watched as the students around them soon fell into a cold induced slumber. That made his irascible temper flare at the wrongness of the situation they were all in.

Principal Powers peeked into Mrs. Frost's class and noted the students were turning blue. With in moments, she also realized that most of the class had fallen into a cold sleep. She noted that the students near Warren were the only ones looking healthy. She frowned before she spoke and noted her breath came out white. She knew that what was going on was ridiculous. She could feel the arctic temperature rolling about her making her feel cold as she stood in the door of the classroom.

"Mrs. Frost, the students need to be unfrozen to make it to their next class. Power down please. You are not Mr. Freeze and need the room in sub-arctic temperatures in order to exist. It can be a normal temperature. Don't abuse your students no matter how you feel about them," Principal Powers spoke sternly as she looked at her co-worker, and then she took in the class her eyes noting that Warren and his friends were there. She realized why Morgan reacted the way she had though Veronica did not approve of the vendetta at all. She also did not like seeing her own breath from the cold that her fellow teacher was using to try and punish someone she aught to know she be unable to touch.

Morgan Frost frowned and let go of the cold. It faded, and as it did the students all started to unthaw, some of them started to stir as the cold left their bodies allowing them to wake, color returned to their cheeks and they all noted they could no longer see their breath. They were all happy about this, most of them started the chapter over, and the cold had made it hard for them to comprehend the words on the page in fount of them.

"I will see you after school Morgan." Principal Powers gave Morgan Frost a look then disappeared. The class went on without another cold front coming into effect. The bell rang after a cheery exchange of facts from the book. All the students filed out. Warren felt his teacher glare ice daggers at his back and was glad to get on to his next class.

Back in her office Veronica let out an explosive sigh. "She promised," she said, shaking her head in irritation. "I will have to replace her for that hour. I will not have her behaving in such a manner. It's unprofessional." She took out her phone and rolled though the names of a few others who could take time out of their day for only one class. She smirked suddenly and laughed, dialing. "Hello Josie, could you possibly take over a second hour survival class for the rest of the school year?" She listened to Josie. "I would not ask Josie, normally, I know you are busy." She paused again to let Josie speak. "It is just that Morgan Frost cannot remain professional with Warren Peace as her student." She smiled, feeling grateful as Josie understood just who was in the class she was going to be teaching. "Thank you, it's the survival class," she reminded her once again. "I'll send over the overview of the class by fax right now. Thank you Josie."

She stood up, after hanging up the phone and closing her eyes to gather herself once more. She took up the outline she had drawn up for the survival class and faxed it over to Josie Stronghold to review and begin her own lesson plans. She picked up the paperwork and refiled it with the rest of the new course work that was being done throughout the school.

She prayed that the students would not break under the strain of what she was going to put them though. She knew that Royal Pain's academy would be graduating its first class that year. She needed to have her seniors ready as well as the under-classmen for this new threat. Even if the parents of her students had no real clue about the threat. Which bothered Veronica a great deal but the Bureau had tied her hands in the matter.

The Bureau of Superhero Affairs had decided on keeping what had happened at Homecoming last year under the radar. Veronica was not sure if that had been the best way to deal with that situation. The entire superhero community should know and should be taking steps; instead they were being kept ignorant as the civilian population they protected. That honestly bothered her. She took her chair again and started to work on looking over each new team, to see were they were strong and what their weaknesses were. She knew it was going to take her a while to go though them. She also realized that it was going to take them a while to mesh as true teams.

Back at Brigid's home, Dylan looked at his still sleeping granddaughter and smiled. "/Sleep girl-child, I will call you into school./" She burrowed under her covers clutching her two stuffed animals; a phoenix and a dragon. He left her sleeping in her bed and walked quietly down the hall to his study. He sat down and picked up his phone, dialing the number to Sky High he waited. "Hello, Dylan McShea here. I'm calling my Granddaughter, Brigid McShea, in for this morning. I believe she will be in around lunch today." He paused. "Yeah she is sleeping off overexerting herself yesterday." He paused again this time smiling again. "Thank you and have a great day." He hung up the phone and sighed. "/My poor granddaughter I will have to let her invite her new friends over today. Might as well test their reactions to how she lives./"

A few hours later, Brigid opened her eyes, stretched lazily and looked at her clock. Her sleep fogged mind panicked as she started to comprehend the time, and she sat straight up in bed. "/I'm late for my second day of school./" She hurried over to her bathroom, showered quickly and got ready for the rest of the day. "/I wonder if Grandfather will take me to school?/" she hurried down the hall, opening the door to his study. "/Grandfather can you take me to school?/" She did not want to have to deal with James the normal driver, plus she did not get to talk to him about her first day of school like they usually did. Considering she fallen into the sleep of the truly exhausted yesterday after school.

Dylan looked up at his granddaughter's clothing; blue jeans and a t-shirt that said 'shockproof' across her chest. She looked like a normal American student, and he had to smile. She tossed her wet, braided hair over her shoulder, and waited for him to answer her.

"/I will take you to school. Get your backpack and put on your shoes./" She smiled brightly at him and took off quickly down the hall, her bare feet making almost no sound on the wooden floors.

He stood up, leaving his office and met her at the door. He hid a smile at her tossing her cousin's beat-up cast-off motorcycle jacket over her body. They piled in his car. He handed her two paper bags, and she looked at him oddly, "/Breakfast and lunch, eat child./" She smiled at him and dug into her bagel as Dylan flew the flying car up to her school. He then parked the car, Brigid slid the binto box out of the paper bag and placed it in her backpack before exiting the car, and they walked up to the school. The two went into the office and Dylan signed in his very late granddaughter.

Brigid kissed her Grandfather on his cheek. She saw the time and heaved a sigh of relief that she could just start her afternoon classes and not intrude on any class with her arrival. "/It's lunch time. I'll go see if I can find them. Thank you for bringing me to school Grandfather./"

"/You're welcome Granddaughter,/" he responded watching as she disappeared out the door to head down to the lunchroom. He looked at Principal Powers who was just walking into the office. She flashed him a smile. He nodded at her. "Do you need my help for anything as of yet?"

"Not yet," she said her smile strained. "I have a feeling I will, but not as of this moment, no. Thanks though, I do have things covered." He nodded and left her standing there. She looked at her aid and then walked into her office to go over her paperwork. Sitting down she shook her head. "He makes your head swim just by breezing in. Watch your head." She laughed a bit at herself.

It was lunch time, and the murmur of conversation buzzed all around them, Will, Warren and the others had all settled down at their usual table. Magenta smiled, seeing someone hurry toward them, it was Brigid. She looked frazzled and irked at the same time. She also looked extremely pale; she took the only seat they had left vacant next to Warren. The two exchanged glances at their friends' duplicity at leaving that spot open. She then took out her lunch; it was a binto-style box that only Warren recognized from working with the Lee's for so long. He smiled slightly recognizing rice and sushi that were inside it. He shook his head; her lunch was giving him cravings that he knew that he could indulge in later, when his shift at the Paper Lantern was over.

"I'm sorry. I'm so late. I woke up at eleven this morning," she frowned as she spoke feeling out of sorts. "I'm making such a great impression. First I stand you all up and then I'm late to school. I don't just say one thing and do another, it is dishonorable." She let out an explosive sigh as she picked up her chopsticks and ate some sushi and rice. "I was supposed to take my first bus ride to school today too." She poked at the rice doing her best to keep her temper that was honestly still fraying around the edges making her feel ready to fly apart before too long and without too much notice. "I always keep my word." She went on with a wince. "Yesterday was the first time I've ever broken my own word." She was honestly angry with herself over it. It was dishonorable in her eyes to have given her word then not do as she said she do.

Warren squeezed her shoulder letting her realize that she did not need to feel bad. "Don't I did not expect you to be there. You were totally drained Brigid." Warren looked at her. "Don't even belittle yourself over it."

Layla smiled at her. "I realize that I'm really friendly." She looked at Brigid seeing her bristle a bit knowing they have a long ways to go to earn her trust. "Trust us, we are not going to turn on you."

Brigid looked at her still unconvinced. They all knew it was going to be a long road. Earning Brigid's trust was going to take doing, none of them minded for they won Warren's trust and they had to work at that too. Warren did not mind for he knew she did not have a choice much like he was not given one. They both adapt, eventually.

"Really?" Magenta asked, sounding puzzled. "Why, when you can be dropped off and picked up?"

"I don't want to call attention to myself." Brigid said still reining in her temper over her own anger at herself and no one else, she looked at them they could tell that she was having a fight with her highly explosive temper. "It would make me appear that I don't care about the rules." She shook her head trying not to growl like she was used to doing to people. "I want to fade as best as I can in the background. I don't want any repeats of yesterday at lunch coloring my stay here."

"I don't think fading in the background is going to be allowed," Ethan sighed, knowing that they would all have to do their best to guide the rest of the student body into learning that attacking another student was not a good idea. No matter what their parentage was. That was going to be one of their more interesting battles for between Warren and Brigid; he and the others where going to have a lot of defending to do. A lot of fixing of others thoughts toward the two, it was not going to be easy to change the judgments that everyone took of the two but Ethan knew it be worth it in the long run. "That and I don't think Principal Powers is going to allow what happened at Hero High to happen here. She's a very able principal." He also knew that Principal Powers would not want to have Nurse Spex over-worked and that would happen if the student body did not learn to respect others no matter what their parentage was. Brigid had that sort of history, she finished what others started.

Warren noticed that Ethan's words had brightened up Brigid quite a bit. He also noticed the struggle with keeping her temper and power under wraps so not to have another repeat of yesterday. He knew that she did not want to spend her time fighting with everyone. Fighting with people you would eventually have to work with was never a good thing. Brigid did not hide her emotions well, like most people hid theirs. Her emotions played across her face for the world to see, changing with startling frequency, much like the weather changed. He knew his did not show for he was used to wearing his mask of calm indifference. The contrast between them was something he talked with his mother the night before. She had been way too amused by him too. He had to wonder what his mother had been thinking. Not that he could lie to her; it was impossible to lie to the Harmony. She had told him the reason why she been amused, kindred spirits. He could see it, but he knew they were different, quite different.

Lunch had no repeats of the other day, which they were all grateful for and they retired to their meeting room. Layla and Magenta both took things out of their backpacks. Will and Zack looked confused as Layla and Magenta added touches that made their meeting space homey. The two were humming as they added some pillows, a couple of throws of different colors and some knickknacks amongst other things.

"We'll need to keep bringing things in Magenta," Layla smiled enjoying their handiwork on their shared space. "It's a start. The room will look so much better after we make it ours and not so institutional."

"Yeah it will," Magenta said hanging up a purple tapestry that had a beautiful Celtic knot-work in it. She placed it on one of the walls. "I think I'm going to try and find the colors I think represent each member of our team." She then hung up a green one. "Alls I have is a green and purple knot-work one right now."

"Why did you choose knot-work?" Ethan wondered looking at the two tapestries. His eyes started to trace the designs trying to find their ends. He realized that it would take him hours to figure out where the beginning and the ending of each of the tapestries were.

"Well, because we are intertwined as a team," Magenta said smiling. "Each one of us has some part to play." She was glad to have come up with a way to convoy her thoughts when she was looking though her things at home and found the tapestries that her Aunt Rhi had given to her when she come back from Scotland.

"I like the metaphor of the tapestries," Warren spoke up startling them with his comment. "I have a gray one and a crimson one at home I'll bring them in tomorrow, then all you have to figure out is one for Popsicle, Glowstick and Stronghold." Magenta shot him a grateful look. The others were surprised that he would have something like that. Warren just shrugged it off. "Who else has things to give up?"

"I do," Brigid said as she sat down on the love seat. She opened her backpack and drew out a large can of dark roast hazelnut coffee, some filters and a box of oolong tea. Cook had been very helpful when Brigid had quickly detoured by the kitchen for some goodies for her new friends and herself.

The others took the other seats, once again forcing the two emotional driven duo to sit together. They pretended that it was their choice and not their hand being forced by their friends. Nether were sure if they should be upset or just shrug it off, they decided that not reacting to the situation was better then giving their friends; both old and new, the satisfaction of knowing that they were driving them crazy with forcing them to be together; they did not like being the brunt of others' amusements nor having them control how they interacted with each other. When they were ready to interact with each other they would and not a moment before then.

"There, I hope everyone likes coffee and tea." Brigid smiled starting to warm up to the others though she still watched them warily almost expecting them to turn on her at any moment. The others all grinned as Layla gathered up what Brigid had brought with her and placed them in the cupboard. Layla's green skirt swooshed around her calves as she rejoined them to sit down again.

Warren had to smile a small bit over the hot drinks Brigid brought with her. He opened his backpack and set on the table before them; a box of jasmine tea, a box of chai tea and a container of sugar. The other guys looked at each other. They had not brought anything; no room decorations, drinks or even food. Warren picked them up and put them away before Layla could react to his generosity. Hunting though the cupboards Warren found a coffee machine and a tea machine. Taking them out, He plugged both in on the counter, filled them with water and prepared the coffee for the coffee maker. The tea machine just heated up the water so each one of the friends could choose their own tea.

Magenta took out some flatbread style crackers and a few other snacks that would keep with no refrigeration at all. She smiled as she put them away. There was going to be plenty of sugar filled goodness for those days that they all needed a pick me up as well as things that were actually good for them. She adjusted an apple from the fruit basket that Layla had set up on the coffee table.

Brigid watched them for a moment trying to decide if they were just acting that way because it was how they were. Or if they were going to turn on her after pretending to be friendly. She shook her head and plunged in enjoying the different feel of the interaction with her newly made friends. She was still not too sure about them and knew it would take time until she felt that they accepted her for who she was. Plus she had promised to try and trust them, so she tried.

They started to look though the cupboards themselves. They found coffee cups, some bowels, a first aid kit and other supplies that someone must have thought they would need. They all joked and elbowed each other in fun as they stepped around each other to see what surprises that were hidden within. They found snacks as well as another type of coffee and plain black tea.

"Amazing, yo," Zack said. He was dancing in place as his eyes caught sight of something that none of the others had noticed. There was a radio sitting in one corner, and he bounced over and turned it on. Soft pop music filled the room he smiled at the radio. "All of this. Awesome." He started to dance to it; not caring what any of them could possibly say to him.

"Oh," Brigid spoke up getting their attention. She smiled a little at them, took a sip of her tea that Layla had handed her, before going on with what she was about to say. "My Grandfather invited all of you over after school. He felt bad about me missing our study session yesterday."

They all regathered around with cups of coffee, tea or hot chocolate in mugs, sitting down en masse in their seats; it took a few of them a minute to process what Brigid had just offered. Gathering his wits a bit faster then his friends for once Will answered first.

"I'll need to call Mom," Will said looking at the others. "I know they will all need to call their parents too." He watched as his friends' nodded their heads in agreement.

"Not a problem," Brigid nodded. "You can call from the limo." She hoped not to make them upset at stating the obvious to them. She knew how people reacted to such bald statements normally, badly. They all laughed in comprehension that they could call from the limo that picked Brigid up. Zack continued to goof off to the music he had found. He had not rejoined them as they all sat down.

Ethan looked at her. "I wanted some clarification on your abilities Brigid. That way I can tailor your training program." He pushed his glasses up his nose and smiled at her startled look. He figured getting her to speak about her abilities would be a good thing. He did have quite a bit of information from his research yesterday on her. He just wanted some clarity. Taking possession of his notebook from his backpack, he picked up his pencil to write down notes.

She nodded realizing that she needed to tell him what she knew of her abilities so that she could continue to learn and fit in with her teammates. She gathered herself up to talk about herself again, not something she enjoyed; for she rather hear about the others and their lives. People who had normal lives were lucky. Though unlike many who have had harder lives, her Grandfather taught her that life is always sweeter then one first thought. Even those who have dramatic pasts don't have to live though their pasts, it was the present that truly mattered; not the past.

"Well," she paused then collected her thoughts. "I can only change the weather depending on the conditions. Example on a warm day I can't create a snow storm, only rain." They nodded feeling suddenly relieved that they did not have a demigoddess in their mists. "Grandfather also watches to see how severe weather is coming though and where," she paused closing her eyes. "If it's severe enough that he thinks that people could die I take a sleeping potion before bed."

"But why?" Will asked looking at the others. He was honestly startled and from the looks on the rest of her new friends faces Brigid realized that they all were stunned.

She opened her eyes; they looked haunted by a memory. "If I don't, and people die in the storm, I feel them die. I hear them scream," Brigid shivered rubbing her arms. "I die with them." She looked out the window watching the clouds trying to regain her sense of calm and failing at it. Some days it did not take much to shake her unsteady control of her emotions. Warren and the others could read her emotions easily as they flew almost too quickly across her features to recognize. She then went on her voice shook a little as she spoke, "then I feel guilty that I could not have stopped the storm that murdered them." she pulled her knees up and laid her head on her knees and closed her eyes trying to calm the raging emotions inside of herself as she spoke.

"You can't stop nature." Layla said reaching over to squeeze Brigid's hands. "That's prolly why your Grandfather gives you that sleep aid." She paused tilting her head sideways. "He knows you would try and change it and he doesn't want you reaching that far."

"He says I'm too young to reach that far. Not that I should interfere with the natural course of things," Brigid spoke softly grateful to Layla's understanding. She knew the others understood as well, Brigid felt the love seat warm up and looked over at Warren. He gave her a small smile. The warmth made her feel better. "I really should stop with the angst," she laughed at herself. "Though it's not a pleasant thought to dwell on, truthfully."

Ethan nodded filing the information in his head. "Seems that your power, though it at first appears so cool, isn't such a great thing to get stuck with. I think I'll stick with being the puddle."

Everyone laughed.

After lunch, they headed for the gym locker rooms to suit up for their first Gambit runs. The girls were talking nervously together as they suited up in their armor. They soon joined the boys in front of Coach Boomer for their briefing before their run. Coach Boomer looked at this assorted group of hero class and sidekick class students and wondered privately once more if this team idea was such a good thing. He would have to keep his thoughts to himself until he had proof that this was not the best route to take.

"Ok, here is how this is going to work. I'm breaking you up in smaller groups at first," he paused letting them take in what he said. "The Gambit is comprised of eight levels. There are exactly seven of you so I could and will do one on one sessions with you later. Now I'm breaking you up in half, well mostly in half," he paused again, looking at Brigid who made the team an odd number. "The first group is going to be Stronghold, Flower Girl, Goth Girl, and Puddle." He looked at them as they divided themselves up. "Very good, there are some smarts here."

"Um, Coach Boomer but doesn't that give one side too many hero powers?" Ethan asked hoping not to get yelled at. The others held their breath they wanted to know the same thing.

"I'll be mixing you all up all year. These groups are not set in stone." Coach Boomer looked at them all. "The first run is a puzzle run." He gazed at them as if sizing them up and grading them before they even started the run. "Each of the levels is normally stands for what power level a student is at. I've had to reconfigure all the levels. Now they are like separate Virtual Reality units." He looked at them and smirked pointing to the doors. "Move out."

They walked in front of their doors and each crew stepped in wondering what they gotten themselves into. They all heard Coach Boomer's voice. "Well kids, one of you has no powers while you are in the Gambit. You will have to figure it out and protect the one that has no powers. They are your citizen."

Will looked at his teammates as they all moved forward. At first they appeared to be creeping along down a hallway. Upon reaching a door they opened it and the world beyond them changed. Brigid frowned swaying on her feet, she felt suddenly dizzy. "I don't feel so good." Her eyes rolled back and she crumpled to the ground out like a light. That did not surprise Layla at all, she knew that the Coach Boomer would have picked either one of them, being that he seemed to have views on young women and their places.

Layla looked at the two boys. "Well I think we have who our citizen is," she went on as the boys nodded. "Will carry her. You are the strong one."

Ethan smiled as he spoke. "You know we need to decide team leaders." He pointed out. Layla smiled at him she already had an idea of who she thought should be the leaders.

"I know." Layla agreed as Will carried Brigid. "I think it should be Will and Warren." That got her an odd look from her boyfriend. "You both are good leaders even if Warren hates to think he could lead anyone. He can and he has the right attitude for it, really."

Will sighed as he carried a very light weight Brigid and they maneuvered though the maze, each having to use their powers to get though a part of the maze. The first was Ethan's ability when he turned into a puddle he passed though the maze that was within the glass of a door that was blocking their path. He followed in his liquid form and tripped the mechanism that opened the door then flowed out and regained his human form after the door burst into nothingness.

Then Will knocked down several pillars down in a pattern to get them though the next part. Ethan had figured out the pattern and Will with his super strength and flying executed the pattern to get them on to the next challenge.

They stopped suddenly, a sphinx barring in their way. "I have a riddle for you. If you solve it, your citizen remains with you. If you fail, she disappears and you will have thirty minutes to find her and get her to safety." They nodded knowing they had no choice; they had to meet the challenge.

"What walks on four legs, then on two legs, then on three?" The Sphinx asked them. "I will wait for your answer." She sat down and looked at the three waiting for their answer. They looked at each other. They also looked at Brigid who was suddenly under one of the sphinx's paws, the large mythological creature looked a bit too pleased with its trick.

Ethan looked at the sphinx and thought about the riddle. Layla twisted a bit of red hair around her finger as she pondered the question. Will just looked confused and left the thinking to the other two. Though he felt the riddle was strangely something he should know the answer of that they all should know the answer. Only he was at a loss to where he had heard the riddle before.

Meanwhile up in the control room Coach Boomer watched the split up hero team work though their puzzles. He frowned watching the readings for Warren Peace's team. The V. R. room apparently had deviated from its programming and Coach Boomer did not like what he was watching unfold in front of him. He hit the com button. "Principal Powers you might want to come down here. The V. R. room with Peace and his two teammates is starting to get odd readings. I think it's changing the game and I don't like it." He growled unable to abort the program while it was running. He was about to loose his temper and break the machine to bits if it did not start to act the way it was supposed to act.

"I'll be right there." Principal Powers said from her office. She soon joined him and they both watched in horror as the V. R. room glitched and threw something at the three they where not expecting. Principal Powers drew in a shaky breath as she watched in horror at who the V. R. room was throwing at her students. For she and Boomer could not interfere the room had locked them out and was not aborting the V.R. Simulation even though Boomer was hitting the abort button sequence.

Within the chamber the three watched as the landscape suddenly shifted. It had become barren and desolate, nothing moved. Warren frowned. "I don't think it's supposed to be doing this." He looked at the other two they did not look happy. Warren kept his calm mask in place even as his instincts shrieked at him of the danger he could sense was about to hit them.

The room resettled around them; they all felt it warm up quickly they were soon sweating. It was then they realized that the room was on fire. They then heard dark laughter coming from behind them; turning around their eyes took in a face they hoped to never meet in real life- Barron Battle stood before him in all his insane pyrokinetic fury. He laughed at them as he suddenly attacked them without warning. He hurled fireballs at the trio. Zack and Magenta both noted while they dodged that Warren tossed his fireballs the same way. Warren started to toss fireballs back at him. He wanted Barron to focus on him and not on his two teammates. He did not want either Zack or Magenta getting fried. He knew he could handle the heat, he was immune to fire after all; they were not.

All around them the landscape burned with flames that Barron battle called into being. Warren noted distractedly that he was seeing those lizards once more playing in the flames. He growled inwardly at himself as he forced himself to face the reality of the situation. If he did not think of something quick his teammates would be toasted and he found he did not like the idea of loosing them at all. Not that he'd admit that to them at this point in time but he knew that he would miss them if they were taken from his life. He did not want to be lonely anymore. He knew that eventually Brigid would feel the same, he hoped that she not take as long as he had to realize it.

The illusion of Barron Battle taunted him, "So you think you can play with fire boy." He laughed chilling them all as he powered up more and tossed a huge fire ball at Warren sending the young man flying though the air and into a wall. Warren felt the intense heat from the ball of flame and then felt himself connect to the wall and that was the last thing he felt as darkness claimed him.

Magenta watched in horror as Warren crumpled against the wall clearly knocked out. She looked back in terror at Barron Battle wondering if they were about to die as Barron faded from view as well as the landscape. They looked at a blank room; Zack and Magenta ran over to where Warren was laying. Magenta was very unhappy for he was laying a bit too still for her liking. She realized that the walls must have been reinforced to withstand super strength which was why Warren had not broken though the wall after taking the hit from his father.

Zack spoke in a hushed voice. "He's breathing Magenta." She sighed looking at her boyfriend as he drew her in his arms. "He'll be alright, Warren is tougher then all of us combined. He will pull though." He was not sure if he was saying that to reassure him or her; he had a feeling it was a little of both.

Nurse Spex, Coach Boomer and Principal Powers all rushed in the room to their aid. Coach Boomer found himself carrying the knocked out Warren to Nurse Spex's office while Principal Powers reassured Magenta and Zack that Warren would be well taken care of. She also talked to the other three as well. Their session had been aborted before anyone could answer the question posed to them. All five of them watched Warren's comatose form disappear into Nurse Spex's office to be taken care of.

Principal Powers allowed them to just go to their meeting space for the rest of the school time to regather themselves. She promised them that their teachers would send them their homework to complete. She wanted them to have a chance to talk over what happened and to watch over their teammate and friend until he woke up.

She needed to go make a phone call so she left the students in their meeting room and went to her office she had to call Faith Peace and have her come and look over her son. She dreaded the conversation but knew it needed to happen.

Warren woke up in the infirmary with his friends; all crowded around him. He noted that his mother was also standing there looking a little worried. All of them smiled as he woke up. He realized that he was in a hospital gown and his leg was in a cast. He shifted and frowned as his chest screamed at him dully. He touched his ribs and realized that they where wrapped.

"Good to see you're still with us Warren," Layla said. She looked worriedly at him. "You gave us quite a scare you know." She felt Will squeezed her shoulder, she looked up at her boyfriend and exchanged a small smile with him. Both had been worried about what had happened in there other V. R. chamber. Warren had not reacted well to what he had seen, nor had he been prepared for the physical reality that the V. R chamber could throw at him or his team.

Brigid leaned against the wall near the door trying not to take up too much space. She watched their interactions and wondered to herself if anyone other then her family could care about her the way as Warren's friends cared about him. She knew she wanted what they had, but could she trust them enough to let them all in, only time would tell. So she silently watched.

"Glad you woke up just in time to leave school," Ethan added ruefully to the pyrokinetic. He was glad that Warren had woken up. He knew the others felt the same way, not that they would not have stayed until he woke up. All eyes were on him, Warren did not like the feeling of being scrutinized so he decided to try and deflect their concern with his own questions.

"Was Magenta hurt?" Warren looked at them his mind comprehending what Ethan had said switched gears and realized what they had said. "I slept though school?" They all nodded, he looked at his Mother. "Mom, why are you here?"

Magenta looked at Warren confusion clear on her face. "No I was not hurt, you were." She looked at the others. "He does not remember..." her voice trailed off.

Zack spoke up, "Dude you took a blast that should have killed you. Ouch, Magenta that was my foot." He looked at Magenta, who had stepped hard on his foot to stop whatever else he was going to say. Zack sighed giving into the silent plea in Magenta's eyes. He then looked at Warren. "You don't remember what really happened do you?"

His mother saw the confusion in Warren's eyes she then spoke in a quiet tone of voice, one that she knew would soothe her temperamental son. "You got hurt bad in the training setting Warren," Faith Peace said softly. "You fractured your leg and broke three ribs and bruised all the other ones." She looked at her son. Her worried look did not soften, that was when he realized she was in her Harmony outfit. "I still need you to go with your friends to the study session. I am not going to be home, I am needed at a peace conference."

Warren nodded. "Mom?" His voice full of questions he did not want to ask with an audience, questions Faith recognized and answered so he would not have to form them.

"After the study session you will return with Will to his parents' house," Faith sighed with a small smile gracing her face as she took in her very strong son. He was her miracle for he was nothing like his father. Warren, no matter what his fears were to the contrary, he would never become his father. He did not have his father's fatal flaws- no compassion and no remorse. "I already asked Josie. The conference is going to take all week."

She watched her son groan and eye Will. "Mom, I can take care of myself." Warren knew that was a lie but he did not want to stay at the Stronghold's, he still was not sure of his welcome there even after knowing Will for a year. Though neither of Will's parents ever referred to him as Barron Battle's son he knew it was a conscience choice to refer to him as the Harmony's son.

"How are you going to get up to your room?" she asked him, she watched as he stubbornly gave in to what she just pointed out to him. "You are on the second floor, we have no elevator to take you up there." Warren sighed knowing his mother was right, he just wanted to be irrational about it and he knew that in his semi-drugged up state; it was hard to keep a pyrokinetic drugged for the drugs burned out of their systems too fast; that he might let his mask slip more. He was not ready to let Will see him in such a weakened state. Nothing ever infected a pyro long which is another reason why Warren would never have a sick day, his body was too warm for a viruses to infect him.

Nurse Spex came in and shooed his friends off. She smiled at Faith who also left with Will and the others. "Lie still Warren, I need to look at you before you leave." She checked him over. She handed him the prescription that his mother had gotten filled out for him. He read what it was and his eyes widened. "You can go. Just remember to rest and don't emotionally strain yourself."

"Yes Nurse Spex," Warren agreed as he joined his friends. "So what did I miss today?" he wheeled himself out to them. He sighed, not liking being stuck in a wheelchair at all. He hoped that none of them would get the brilliant idea to try and push him around while he was stuck in it.

Nurse Spex and his Mother stood there watching the teenagers go off. Nurse Spex turned to Faith, "Your son is suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome."

"I noticed, he will never remember what happened." Faith drew herself up before speaking again. "It is better that way I think. He did not react well to the virtual reality version of his Father at all. He seems to have replaced it with a delusion of grandeur though, which is also not healthy."

"No, he did not and a delusion of grandeur his mind came up to cope with seeing his father's depravity first hand is undoubtedly a blessing as well as a curse." Nurse Spex shook her head. "I watched the tapes along with you, Boomer and Principal Powers." The two women looked at each other. "Luck on the conference Harmony." Nurse Spex smiled as she watched Faith draw herself up and nod. She watched as the other woman left to go do her duty, which was not as flashy as Jetstream's. Nor did it get the news coverage as the Commander's exploits, but she was still vital to the world's peace.

Meanwhile the teenagers were descending upon the transportation that Dylan had provided for his granddaughter for the evening, It shimmered in the light of the sun. The driver was already in place opening the door for the teenagers. They all piled in the limo settling into the leather seats they all looked at each other. The interior of the limo was plush.

The driver reached out to help Warren into the limo. The pyrokinetic glared at the driver, shook off his assistance, hobbled into the limo and dropped down hard into the seat next to Brigid. He glared at the others almost daring them to say anything. They for once kept their thoughts to themselves. The driver folded up the wheelchair and placed it in the trunk; he would remove it once they arrived at the mansion.

"Not much," Will said; he and those that were with him were still in the dark about what had happened to Warren and the others in their run though. Magenta and Zack both were unwilling to talk about it. Whatever had happened had unnerved them completely. He hoped that they would learn what happened eventually, secrets were not a good thing for them to be keeping from each other.

Warren grunted not sure if he believed them. Though he noted that Will had carried his backpack with all the homework he had undoubtedly had from missing his afternoon classes after the training run. He watched his friends noting their expressions with the wealth that surrounded them even in the limo. He realized that Brigid lived in a much different world then any of them. Yet she did not act like anyone who was extremely wealthy had the tendency to act. She was very down to earth, he pondered; much like the others; if her grandfather had anything to do with this different attitude toward wealth that she had. Refreshing as it was to all of those surrounding her.

Brigid looked a bit embarrassed, not realizing she was being scrutinized by her seatmates, before handing the phone to Will to make his call. After he was done he handed it to Layla and the phone was passed around as they explained to their parents were they were going. They were all a bit surprised that their parents already knew where their after-school destination. Warren was the only one who had not needed to make a phone call. He looked down at his fractured leg saying nothing to no one.

"Your Mother mentioned that you have always been a quick healer ever since you've powered up." Layla said softly holding Will's hand. "I don't think you will be in that cast for long."

"Two weeks maybe three weeks at the most. I heal in half the time of a normal person." Warren admitted ruefully with a small strained smile. "What happened?"

"I don't know if we should talk about it." Magenta said looking at him. "It was terrible; I hope that we never have to go though it again- never ever." There was something in her voice that made Warren not press his suit to know. He could felt the fear that she was holding within herself, fear for him or about what happened he hoped that eventually he would know.

Warren looked at her then let the subject drop; something that Magenta was grateful for, they arrived at Brigid's home; it was a mansion on the more trendy side of Maxville. It was also isolated; as it was in the middle of huge grounds, well manicured met wilderness within the lands that Brigid's grandfather had found for himself and his granddaughter.

They were all stunned at the size of the home that Brigid lived in. They looked at her their expressions were various as they looked at her realizing suddenly understanding why she reacted the way she did. She blushed under their surprised gazes. They landed and the driver came over and opened the door as they all got out of the limo; Zack, Magenta, Layla, Brigid all walked up to the front door. Will carried Warren and his chair up the stairs to the door. Warren was looking positively stormy about his situation. Will set the pyrokinetic down and Layla shot Warren a look as he realized that in his shimmering rage that he'd heated up the chair for Will was blowing on his hands. Warren growled lightly and took a firm rein on his emotions knowing that this was going to be trying to him.

Brigid sighed, looking at her home and seeing the various looks across her new friends' faces. She inwardly winced it was about what she expected, that did not mean she had to like their reactions. "It's monstrous. I just wanted a nice small normal house but no. I have to live in this." She shook her head motioning to the grounds and the house itself; as the butler opened the door. "Give Jervis your backpacks guys. We have to go see Grandfather first." They handed the older man their packs. He took them without question nor did they seem to strain him at all. "Thank you Jervis."

Jervis nodded holding on to the packs that to him were not heavy at all they where light as feathers; then again that was part of his power. Making things lighter then what they were although the power only worked for himself. "You are most welcome Miss." He disappeared down the hall leaving the teenagers to find their way to Brigid's grandfather. Jervis deposited the backpacks in Brigid's rooms where they would find them. He then tidied up the room a little bit shaking his head that the teenage girl's neatness. It always surprised him how she was about everything being in its place.

Brigid led them down the hall. "I know this is a lot to take in. I'm-," she stammered feeling embarrassed. "This is why I lose friends. They think I'm just trying to buy them off. Or that I'm showing off to make them feel like I own them or something..." She finished off in a rush a faint blush colored her cheeks, a blush that none of them felt was going to truly disappear while they were all there.

Layla was not too surprised by the confession as the others where. Layla had noted the shyness and how withdrawn their newest friend was. Even with her hair trigger temper that was bound to go off if someone provoked her in the wrong way. How anyone could think what they did of Brigid astounded her. Not everyone who was rich were braggarts, she had an uncle who was making quite a bit of money selling natural cosmetics. His line at the time was worth millions. Not that she told anyone about him or it either so she felt for Brigid in that way.

Warren looked around everything in the house was old, antiques. There was not one bit of modern furnishings anywhere in the house as far as he could see. It gave the house a charm he could not honestly deny. Warren knew that the furnishings were worth a lot, just because they were old, yet he wondered if the more modern technology was hidden. It had to be hidden and hidden well for he did not see any superhero being without technology.

Will frowned looking around it then hit him why he seemed to remember this place so well. His Mother had given him a tour of the house before she sold it off. He had been impressed by the empty building then; he was more impressed by it filled with Brigid's family's things. There where things to look at everywhere his eyes were delighted by the sights.

Ethan looked at Zack and Magenta both looked at him in awe, then Magenta winked at him. Ethan suddenly felt uplifted he knew that everyone was taking the different bumps along the way well. He looked at Warren wishing once more he could read the young fire master. Warren rolled along beside them all his eyes roaming the halls. His silence was unnerving, in a way Ethan felt Warren was punishing them for their refusal earlier to explain what had happened in the Gambit.

Brigid opened the door to her Grandfather's study. "Grandfather I'm home with my friends." She spoke in English so they all understand what she was saying. She did not want to offend them any more then she thought she was just because of the house and the way the house was furnished.

Dylan smiled at the youngsters. "Good eve to you all." His heavy Scottish accent made him almost hard to understand. Yet he managed to make his words understandable to them. "I hope you all will stay for dinner. It's a special treat, pizza. Go show them your rooms Granddaughter and show then the parts of the house that we use."

Layla stood there feeling stunned. There was something about this man sitting behind the oak desk. Something very different, she just could not figure out what it was. He did not feel like most people. He felt close to her element but that was ridiculous. He did not have any earth-type powers. She unlike the others had noticed that there was no iron at all in the house. She thought that was odd.

The thought of pizza for dinner made the teenagers smile and make various sounds of excitement. Brigid nodded , smiling then frowning at the thought of showing off the wealth would make her feel. She offered her grandfather a small smile that was not too strained; yet he could see it. He understood what she was feeling but it was the only way. They had to get used to what she was normally surrounded by or else their friendship would be strained all their lives.

Dylan was amused knowing his granddaughter was undoubtedly the most happy with this idea of dinner; a non-formal dinner. Then showing her new friends the mansion, she hated it for it was too huge and she felt that it was too much.. Dylan knew that the informal dinner would be a treat, one that he was perfectly content to allow when she had her friends over. He planned on keeping that thought to himself. He wanted to see how long it took them all to realize that when they all came over that dinner was always an informal affair.

"Thank you Grandfather." She flashed him a smile that he wished she would always wear but he knew better than to think she would wear it often. She took her friends with her down the hall. She stopped turning to look at them all. She noted the looks on their faces which were various states of emotions. The only one she could not read was Warren. He had drawn his mask up again.

"Ok," she started looking at them. "I realize that this is all quite a shock."

Before she could go on, Will spoke up looking embarrassed. "I knew this was where you were living." The others shot him looks of astonishment. "My parents sold your grandfather this place." He flushed scarlet. "I just did not realize it until we walked inside. Mom was afraid that they would never sell this monster of a house."

Layla laughed suddenly, her voice ringing down the hall. "Well your Mom keeps selling houses to our friends lately doesn't she?" It then hit Layla that Will's mother had also hired someone with powers to change different metals into other metals. She remembered hearing her own mother talk of the Metal Smith, who must have changed all the iron into copper or bronze. Josie would have been perfectly content to do that so she could sell the monstrosity of a mansion.

Warren caught the reference to the fact that Will's mother had sold the new house that he and his mom just moved in. When she was finally able to reclaim her place in the superhero world, she could finally afford to move up and get out of the small house they were renting. Warren's eyes took in all the opulence and could not help but feel the tug of envy that he always felt when he visited his friends' homes. He could not be mad at them for having better lives then he did. Or having the ability to live in comfort or luxury that until that year he and his mother had been denied. He sighed as he and the others followed Brigid on their nickel tour of the monster house as she had referred to it. He was honestly amused and agreed with her dubbing it the monster house. He could not get over how she turned red as soon as they reached there. She was not your usual rich child, she was more down to earth even normal. Warren had a feeling that it had to do with how her grandfather raised her. He seemed the type to impress that wealth is not everything to life. He rolled along as the others walked grateful that no one was trying to push him along. He would have snapped at them if they had even tried, he was more then able to push himself along after them.

Brigid opened a dark oak door. "This is the library, I spend most my time here if I am not in my room." They followed her in and Ethan thought he died. There were books everywhere, from floor to ceiling. He noted the ladder to climb up to the top was on a library rail so it could be moved around the room. You could smell the leather. Comfortable chairs were scattered about the room with tables and reading lamps to make the reader's enjoyment of the book they were reading much easier. There were maps under glass and other things here and there in the room.

"Wow," Ethan said his eyes widened. He wondered if he could use the library as an excuse to visit more often it looked extensive and he was itching to go and look though to see what Dylan had collected over the years and what knowledge was within these walls.

"Well now we know Puddle's part of the house," Warren spoke up looking from his wheelchair at all the different types of books. "It's even dewy decimaled. That's eccentric."

Layla nodded as they all followed Brigid out. Layla noticed something else there were a lot of plants everywhere. All were well taken care of she could tell. She smiled. "You've a lot of indoor planets."

"Grandfather likes to be surrounded by nature," Brigid smiled as she spoke. "He says it makes the house feel more balanced." They walked farther down the hall. She opened another door. "This is the conservatory." They walked into a room full of tropical planets. The room was warmer then the other rooms that they had gone though, within moments they were all sweating; well Warren was not sweating, but the others were.

Layla smiled seeing the tropical birds flattering from branch to branch a few monkeys were even looking down at them. She looked at Brigid in question. The others were just as entranced by all that was in the conservatory.

"The lot of them should be going soon to be replaced by others." Brigid looked up at the animals missing the look of horror on Layla's face with her words. "Grandfather helps heal them then they are released into the wild." Layla's look of horror slipped off her face and Will hugged her closely.

Magenta looked up at them. "Wow, he helps out hurt animals."

"This place so rocks so far," Zack smiled bouncing in place.

Brigid nodded not realizing the scene she neatly sidestepped. They went on to the next space down the hall. Zack noted that they did not go though every door. They went though a lot of doors in the quick tour Brigid gave them. She turned various shades of red during it, which made her new friends feel that she was truly being honest with them. They came to her room after seeing a ballroom, the kitchen, a formal dining room, a billiards room as well as a pool room; where they could swim if they wanted to. Brigid had not shown them the music room for it was on the other side of the kitchen and she did not feel like back tracking across the house to show a room that she felt would bore them. So she had not even mentioned it in her tour.

She sighed opening another door. "Here is my room, erm rooms." She drew them in closing the door behind her. They all looked around themselves. There was another bookcase filled with paperbacks, a sofa and a chair. On the stone coffee table sat their backpacks. Someone apparently gathered up cushions for them all to sit on that could not fit on the sofa. The room's colors were black, gray and crimson. There was also firewood laid in a fireplace near were they would be sitting.

"Dude, where do you sleep?" Zack wondered not seeing her bed. He could not believe the size of the room either. It was larger then his own room at his house. It was about the size of his living room at home.

"I need a bathroom," Ethan complained suddenly.

Brigid nodded in acknowledgment of Ethan's need and opened a door. "Here is the bathroom."

Ethan grateful walked though the door and shut it behind him. He had to stop short and admire the spa type bathroom for the moment before using the bathroom himself. After joining his friends; he noticed that they had taken out their books from their own packs. He dug out his books and added them to the pile.

Brigid looked at them. "Well, now that we are together again." She stood up and showed them another door. This door led to her bedroom. There was a fireplace; no fire was burning there at the moment. She slept in a queen sized four-poster bed. This room's colors were the same as the room before it. There also was a small reading area with a book sitting on the table next to the chair.

Warren noted rice paper screens covering one wall. They should have stood out, but they did not for they were as dark as the rest of the pieces in the room. He was amused by the infusion of East and West in her space, he was the only one to notice the Asian influences on Brigid's space, then again he had worked for the Lee's for years. He would recognize the influences the others missed. He noted that the sofa in the other room had a dragon and firebird motif on it.

"Everything in here is weather proof." Brigid sounded a bit embarrassed by the confession. Warren felt for her a bit. His Mother had finally been able to afford to get him bedding that was fireproof, now that she was active again as a hero. "Grandfather did not like having to fix my things all the time so he made sure that all my things could withstand the elements."

"Mom said the same thing to me." Warren's eyes roamed the room, not looking at any of his friends. "She said she did not want me to have a nightmare while she was gone and set her new home on fire. So she got me fireproof bedding and set up a personal sprinkler system in my room. And I hate being wet, so I personally am praying I don't have any nightmares that cause me to flame on."

Brigid nodded feeling his pain. "Nightmares are not good." They all went back into Brigid's sitting room and did their usual figure out where to sit. Everyone found a seat that suited themselves Warren rolled close to the coffee table, he for the time being came with his own seat. Layla had to smile at that. The two where kindred spirits and she wondered how the others could miss it. She saw a strong bond of friendship developing between Warren and Brigid. It would take time, but good things always took time; look at how long it took her to get Will to realize how she felt about him.

Zack looked over at Brigid and asked her. He felt this stomach give him the 'I'm gonna make a noise' warning. "Hey, your cook mentioned we could go back and get a snack before dinner."

"Oh the bottomless pit speaks," Magenta teased her boyfriend. "You might as well give him the directions back to the kitchen. He will not be able to think if he is thinking about his stomach."

Brigid nodded and gave Zack the directions to the kitchen from her room. She then explained how to find his way back. He nodded and made his way to the kitchen. He peeked in and saw Cook. She was a fairly large woman who took to her profession a bit too well. She smiled when she saw Zack appear.

"Here you go deary," Cook said, handing him a plateful of chocolate chip cookies. Zack could feel the warmth of the cookies though the plate. "Take this back with you. You remember the way? I have no one to guide you back right now," she asked kindly to his nod she let him return to his trek back to Brigid's room.

Zack nibbled on a cookie and realized he was lost. He had forgotten how to get back to Brigid's rooms. He opened another oak door and found a sunny sitting room. He shook his head; out of curiosity he opened another door a bit farther along and found another study lined with more books. He had to smile a bit for Brigid had not shown them every room in the huge house she lived in. Just when he thought that his was never going to find a room that was cool, he opened another oak door and almost dropped the platter. He set them down on a small side table in the room as his gaze was filled with musical instruments. He saw several guitar cases, a floor harp, a baby grand piano but what had arrested his attention was the drum set.

"Wow, cool a music room. Look at all these instruments!" his overly happy loud voice carried in his excitement all the way back to the others. Then they heard the sound of drumming after his words.

Brigid stood up. "Seems he found the music room, which is on the opposite side of the house from us." She shook her head. "Come on I'll show you. I didn't actually think it would be of interest." Her voice trailed off as she led the others to where Zack was still playing the drums like a mad man.

Brigid watched as Warren rolled over to a guitar, picked it up and began to strum on it. Then Layla wandered over and uncovered the floor harp and ran her fingers over the strings stirring up a beautiful melody. Will looked at the piano with distaste. Ethan and Magenta both noticed the look that Will directed to the piano.

"Will, what ever did the piano do to you?" Magenta asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"My mother made me learn to play when I was little. I'm grateful for feigning super strength as long as I did because it got me out of the musical lessons. Mom did not want to have to replace the piano if I forgot to modulate my strength," Will admitted with a blush; interrupting their conversation was the beginning of a familiar song.

"I wanted you to know that I love the way you laugh. I want to hold you high and steal your pain." Warren sang the first part of 'Broken' by Seether as he sung the words of the song; Brigid joined him singing the part done by Amy Lee. Her voice was not bad; her new friends could tell she had training as a singer along with the instrument she was playing. The two wove the music of the song together as they played the guitars in counter harmony. After they finished singing together they refused to look at each other, both were embarrassed by what they just given away. Warren almost never sang for anyone but his Mother.

"Wow," was Layla's comment. "That was beautiful you guys." Everyone was pretty much speechless as Brigid put away her guitar, Warren echoing her movements. He was watching her out of the corner of his eye. He had been surprised at her taste in music. Then again they all had a lot to learn from each other.

"Thanks Layla." Brigid said feeling shy all of a sudden. "I don't usually sing in front of others, well other then my family." She finished snapping the case closed. "I learned to sing with my cousins. They taught me how to play. My family loves music, all kinds of music."

"Neither do I," Warren admitted feeling like he just let another side of him slip out in front of Stronghold and his other friends. The fact that Brigid sung with him touched a part of him. "Thanks for the song Brigid."

"You're welcome Warren," Brigid blushed, Warren found he liked seeing her like this- happy and calm even if a little embarrassed. "I just could not help it, I've sung that song with my cousins." She shrugged helplessly. "I just happen to know it. We don't always play modern music. Grandfather loves classical and other instrumentals or old traditional Celtic songs." She looked at them. "Maybe if you like at a later time I could sing to you some of the traditional songs I know in Gaelic?"

"That sounds cool." Layla smiled at Brigid, she had a feeling she knew what that had cost her friend; both her friends, letting little bits of yourself away to others was always hard, especially if you were as private as Brigid and Warren were.

Before the others could make comments of their own; they heard the door open to the music room; one of the servants popped their head's in to smile at the teenagers. "Ah there you all are. Dinner is on the sideboards. Go eat now." She smiled at them disappearing back to whatever work she needed to do.

They all smiled as Brigid lead them to where the food was waiting for them. She nodded at her grandfather watching as he picked foods from the sideboard himself. There was three different types of pizza; one with everything on it, one with all veggies, one with all meat. There were BBQ wings, hot and mild. Bread sticks, garlic and buttered. A Greek salad was also there. On a second sideboard they noticed dessert was also out already. Cream puffs, cookies, cheesecake, chocolate cake and two pies.

Each teenager grabbed what they wanted to fill their plates. Layla sat next to Will and smiled at Brigid and her grandfather. "Thank you for the vegetarian choices."

"Well," Dylan smiled. "As a host you are supposed to take in all your guests likes and dislikes." He looked at her. "You do not eat meat so the vegetarian choices on the sideboard."

The rest smiled and Dylan watched as they ate. He had to laugh inwardly at the extreme appetites of the young men of the group. The boys had gone back to the sideboard five times; the girls only twice.

As the teenagers ate their desserts, Dylan disappeared back to his office. They stood up together and left the room. The others felt odd about leaving dirty plates. Brigid noticed their looks. She sighed. "I know it's different but the plates are already gone." They turned and found that she was right. The plates, the left over food, all was gone from the room so quickly it could have been magic.

Returning to Brigid's room after dinner to continue their study session, that had been interrupted by a musical interlude and dinner, they sat in her sitting room. Brigid sighed reaching for a safe topic to talk about before they dived into their study session. "I wish I had a fire starter." She looked at the logs sitting in her fireplace. "My room feels chilly and a good fire always warms it up well."

The others looked at Warren; Brigid missed the looks the others gifted the pyrokinetic with. He glared at them forming a fireball in his hand he wheeled over to a startled Brigid and laid the fireball on the logs, which caught aflame within moments. Brigid smiled seeing the salamanders reappear in the newly laid fire. She watched as Warren's eyes got wider and his mask carefully fell back into place she thought she missed it.

The magical lizards of fire prowled around the newly kindled fire like kittens. They swarmed over every log making a puckish smile grace Brigid's lips for she knew that she was not the only one who saw the magical creatures that inhabited this realm. Though she did not pin any hopes that any of her new friends would have that sight. It was a rare gift the gift of magic almost as rare as being a superhero. Though there where many different types of magic being practiced in the world. She wondered if any of the super heroes knew how much magic was used for both good and ill effects on their world.

Then one of the salamanders spotted Warren, 'Warren,' he heard within his mind as the salamander launched itself at the young fire wielding man. He barely managed to keep his mask in place as five salamanders cavorted around him. They warmed him like kittens and like kittens their claws actually prickled him. He did his best to keep a mask of calm indifference in place for he felt like he was going mad. He swore they were singing to him and saying his name within his mind. His mind pointed out to him that in any flames he'd been around lately seemed to be filled with creatures of fiery myth. He just was not ready to admit that he was seeing them.

Brigid also fought to keep her look of surprise hidden well. Watching at the others, she could tell they were not seeing what was going on with Warren or one of them would have said something. She realized that they must not see the magical creatures of fire. She just wondered how she would broach the subject with Warren. She would just have to wait for an opportunity to present itself and if she was lucky it would be soon.

Rolling back over to the table Warren pretended not to see what he was currently seeing. One of the salamanders was still in his lap. The little creature was purring at him. What Warren did not realize was that the creatures were healing him as they played around him. By the next day he would be fully healed and able to take care of himself. He looked up at his friends and spoke the question that had been bothering him. "What do you mean I did not heal Magenta?"

The others looked at each other, all were uneasy but Layla took a deep breath and spoke softly. "It didn't happen Warren. You can't heal from what we were told you overreacted to what the simulation had tossed at you." She paused. "Apparently Zack made a wrong choice."

"Yeah he did," Magenta sighed looking up at Warren. "We were told not to tell you what happened. It was horrible you overreacted because of it. What you saw pushed you beyond reason Warren. It scared the hell out of me."

Zack nodded. "I hope we never have to face what we faced in there." Zack looked down at his homework. "Dude I so don't wanna to deal with that."

"This is a superhero world." Will pointed out to them. "We could."

Warren wondered what they could have faced that would make his mind create the story he had thought he lived out of whole cloth. That bothered him to no end that he was the only one with false memories of what had happened..

Brigid spoke up lightly. "Maybe you were seeing someone else's life who is like you?" Her lightly pondered question which made the others smile and even gained a rueful grin from the brooding young man sitting in the wheelchair in the room. "But that is no moment, I still cannot believe how many heroes there were and are that have no real power." Drawing them back to what they were supposed to be studying.

"Yeah, Batman, Silver Sable, Black Cat." Magenta smiled looking at the list. "It is so across the board. Men, women, lots of different walks of life have chosen to become heroes without powers. It's amazing."

Ethan nodded. "They are what prove to me that 'sidekicks' can be so much more." they all looked at him startled. "These people all choose to be heroes for different reasons. They rose up to be heroes. They have no power, not like ours."

"Very true." Brigid smiled as she spoke.

"It's amazing the heroic power of the human spirit." Layla added.

Warren nodded he was indeed surprised at the amount of heroes that had no real super power. He was keeping his thoughts to himself for he was trying not to give away that he was seeing and the others apparently were not seeing what he was. He sighed as he made notes the salamander purred in his lap.

After they were done studying, Dylan took them all home. Dylan wheeled Warren inside the Stronghold's house he looked down at the young man before he spoke to him as Will talked with his parents. "Life likes to hand us strange occurrences sometimes young Warren Peace. Everything will eventually come to light. Knowledge will come." With those cryptic words Dylan left the young pyrokinetic to ponder what he meant.

Will looked at his parents as they had their conference while Dylan talked to Warren. "What do you mean he is escaped?"

"We don't know who helped him dear." Josie sighed. "I don't like it. I've already called Faith and informed her of what went down she said she take care of telling Warren."

Will sighed and looked at his parents and shook his head. "We need to get to bed for we have school tomorrow." They nodded and watched as Will carried a very brooding Warren up the stairs.

Warren wheeled himself over to where the guest room was. He was not too surprised that there was a bag on the bed with his stuff for inside packed by his mother before she left for her conference. He sighed, pulled off his outfit and pulled on his pajamas and rolled the chair over to his bed and heaved himself on it. He closed his eyes after wondering how he was going to itch his leg for it was maddening as he feel into sleep dreaming of fire and all it's mythical creatures that inhabited.

Meanwhile as the teenagers were studying at Brigid's home, outside of Barron Battle's cell, the man in question heard a faint sound. He stood up looking at his door. He watched in fascination as his door became a block of ice that suddenly shattered. Before him was an unearthly looking woman, he recognized her from her wanted poster; the Ice Demon was standing before him. He realized he was missing something else- sound, the prison was silent. He wondered if anyone had a chance to radio for help or if they make it out without some superhero stopping them.

"Well Barron Battle?" she spoke her voice like ice. "Ready to come out and take over the world?"

"Of course," Barron Battle smiled deadly as he walked out to stand next to her. He breathed in feeling better in the oxygen rich air that was outside his cell. "Yes, we must take over this world and wrestle it from the fools that currently run it."

She smiled as they walked out of his prison. He noted the destruction that she created to get him out. "Beautiful, but we need to get gone."

She nodded as she led him over to her car. They both got in and took off. They just finished getting into Maxville when Commander and Jetstream arrived too late to stop them both from leaving. They looked at each other the call had come too late for either hero to make a difference in Barron Battle's escape.

"Faith and Warren need to be warned." Josie said to her husband. He nodded as they flew off to tell Harmony that her ex-husband had escaped from prison.

The next morning Warren wheeled into Nurse Spex's office for she wanted to check on his leg. He knew it could not be healed yet for it itched something terrible. He sighed as he spoke up. "Morning Nurse Spex, I'm here like you requested." His voice was grumpy as he spoke to her.

Nurse Spex smiled at him and walked over to the sullen wheelchair bound pyrokinetic she used her power to see though his cast bound leg she blinked unable to fathom how she could be seeing what she was seeing. She was looking at a fully healed leg. She looked up at Warren. "This is unusual."

"Unusual?" He looked at her in question. He had never had anyone look at him the way Nurse Spex was looking at him. "What's unusual? My leg itches."

"Your leg, young man, is perfectly healed." Nurse Spex said softly. "It was broken yesterday. I know. I set it and placed the cast on you. But when I look today its perfectly healed. I now you don't have regeneration."

"I know I heal in half the time." Warren looked confused as Nurse Spex took the cast off him. He stood up and realized that she was indeed correct. "God, I'm healed. No way, this is way too weird."

"I concur, I will have to contact Dylan. Maybe that sly fox had one of his people heal you. He has surrounded himself with many minor talented as he says people. One of them could have healing." She looked at him. "Go to your first hour Mr. Peace. I think you will be fine."

Warren wandered out of the nurse's office on his own to feet to met up with his friends all of which were surprised. He swore that Brigid did not look as surprised as the others had. He could have been seeing something where nothing was. "Let's go to class." Warren growled not saying another word about the oddity of his healed leg to them. He had changed into a different pair of pants for he had been wearing a pair of break-away jogging pants that fit easily over the cast. Now he was in jeans and his usual pair of boots.

Brigid frowned at nothing none of the others could see. Warren frowned too but did not want to think about what his eyes told him he was seeing clinging to Brigid's hair at the moment. The sylph winked at Warren making him feel like he was going crazy. He turned to lead them to their classroom and drop them off returning once more to his own homeroom.

They all nodded and began their school day with their Homeroom class. Where they all continued their talk on Super Heroes that had no power but where still considered true heroes. While Warren in his own class pondered getting his eyes checked for he was sure he was seeing things.