A/N: The title is Latin for "Where are we going?"
This one-shot is for the challenge that ladyisme posted on the forum as follows:
I would like to see more stories about the fallout from the homecoming dance I've read some, but I believe that there is still a lot of untaped material there. My rules are as follows.
(1) Time frame: I assume the dance was on a Friday so your story can be anywhere from that night through the following Monday.
(2) No Romance: This can not be a love story although I will allow the passing mention of couples so long as they are in the canon. Example: Will/Layla, Zak/Magenta, Mr. Stronghold/Mrs. Stronghold
(3) Named Characters: Your main characters must be characters that were named in the canon. Example: Baron Battle can be used Ice Girl can't. Even though Barron Battle never appeared in the movie, he was still named in the movie and so he can be used, while the ice girl warren danced with was not named and so can't be used as a main character.
(4) Bonus Points: Bonus points are given for use of one of the side characters. Example: Mr. Boy
(5) Unnamed and Original Characters: Unnamed or even original characters may be use in passing just not as the main characters
(6) Due Date: The challenge ends on December 1st.
Please Email me to let me know of your entries.
Quo Vadimus?
Principal Powers walked slowly from the detention room back to the gym, shaken at the thought of how close they'd come to complete disaster.
I'm not Wonder Woman, you know.
Perhaps Wonder Woman wouldn't have made the same mistake they had. But then again, she might also have started to get complacent and overconfident. That was the problem with success as a superhero – you began to think it would always be that way. You began to think that you – or at least, superheroes in general – were unbeatable, and that no villain would even dare to attack your protected fortress.
They'd been safe up at Sky High for so long, they'd just expected it to continue ad infinitum. They'd relied on the old hero-sidekick tradition because it was what the public were familiar with. And while saving the world was not a popularity contest, the people needed to have confidence in their heroes. So they stuck with the system that the citizens expected.
However, the public were just going to have to get over it.
The Principal quickened her pace along the corridor. She needed to find the other teachers and organize an emergency planning meeting for the next day.
Some things needed to change.
Coach Boomer sat at the edge of the gym, morosely nursing a glass of punch and wishing it was something stronger.
The greatest superheroes on the planet had been there, and yet even they had needed to be rescued by a bunch of… sidekicks. Sure, Hothead and Stronghold had done their bit, but who had actually stopped the school from falling out of the sky? One guinea pig! Possibly the most useless shape-shifter he'd ever come across – second only to the geeky popsicle – yet it was the guinea pig girl who had saved all of their butts.
He took another gulp of punch and wondered if Medulla had any alcohol in his lab that wasn't deadly if you drank it.
The science teacher didn't seem too bothered by the whole affair, bopping around like he was convinced that destroying the villain's weapon made the entire problem simply go away. On the other side of the gym, Jonathan was floating around on cloud nine, thanks to a kiss from Jetstream or so he'd overheard. Or maybe it had something to do with the sidekicks being the heroes for once.
Why did his thoughts keep returning to that point? Possibly because there was no way he could keep denying it, to himself or anyone else.
He'd been wrong.
There, he'd managed to at least think it. Maybe one day he'd be able to say it out loud, possibly even to the people who deserved to hear it from him.
All those kids he'd always considered inferior.
All those kids he'd made sidekicks because it made him feel better about himself, about the fact that he'd never been able to make it on the Hero circuit. For years he'd told himself that he was tough on them for their own good, but the truth was, it was just to boost his own flagging ego.
So, the flower child had been right. The system was flawed.
His system.
He glanced up and saw the Principal walking into the gym, looking like she was on a mission.
Well, so was he.
He got up and went over to her. Before he lost his nerve, he had to admit, if only to one person, that he'd been wrong.
And that some things needed to change.
Magenta slept until almost noon the next day, when her younger brother flew into her room to tell her that she had a visitor. Of course, in his shifted form he couldn't speak properly yet, so he just nudged her with his beak until she turned over with a sleepy groan and backhanded him off the bed. The juvenile eagle flapped awkwardly a few times in mid-air before landing somewhat ungracefully and shifting back into his 10-year-old human self.
She didn't move for a few minutes after he gave her the message and left the room. Finally, curiosity won over grogginess and she dragged herself out of bed to get dressed.
Her visitor turned out to be Layla, who handed her a framed picture. "I brought you a copy of the photo from last night," she announced brightly.
"Uh, thanks," said Maj, looking at it. The six of them and Ron were standing with Mr. Boy and the Hero of the Year award, all grinning at the camera like they were high on adrenaline. Which they had been, come to think of it. Smiling slightly, she had to admit it had turned out to be quite a good evening. She'd actually found her powers useful for once, plus she'd gained a boyfriend.
Or whatever. She wiped the warm expression off her face before Layla saw and thought she was going soft.
"Well, don't get excited that they're going to start treating us any different, just because we saved the school," she said, a bit more harshly than she intended.
Layla's face fell. Poor girl, obviously she'd really believed things would change now. "But, Maj, the Commander called us heroes. That means he considers us all equals. Surely that's going to count for something."
"Is he on the school board? Is he even a teacher?" The redhead shook her head in response, and Magenta went on, "Exactly. He's not the one making the decisions. Face it, the chance of Sky High ever truly accepting us is about as good as the chance of Will becoming best friends with Warren."
"That's not completely impossible, come to think about it," Layla replied thoughtfully after a moment. "Warren's not so bad when you get to know him." Maj walked her to the front door. "Stranger things have happened, you know."
Magenta closed the door after her. She gave the photo another fond look, and then shook her head. Poor Layla, she was going to be so disappointed when she realized things would be exactly the same at school on Monday.
Some things just weren't going to change.
When they arrived at school on Monday morning, things looked just like usual at first, and Layla began to think that Maj may have been right.
But then she noticed the sign outside the school. It usually read 'Equipping Tomorrow's Heroes and Hero Support!' when it didn't have anything topical to announce, such as 'Do You Have a Date for Homecoming?' the previous week. Now it read simply 'Equipping Tomorrow's Heroes!' There was also a new banner at the top of the stairs to go with the ones for Freedom, Strength, Power and Knowledge. It said Teamwork.
The biggest surprise came when the day started with a special assembly. The whole school filed into the auditorium and the teachers sat on the stage behind the podium where Principal Powers stood.
"I'm sure that by now you all know what happened at the Homecoming dance, even those of you who didn't attend," she began. "In the light of that, there are going to be some changes to your curriculum. Of course, not everything is going to change overnight, or even over a weekend, but to begin with you will be issued with your new class schedules as you leave the auditorium." She paused and waited for the murmurs to die down. "You will notice that you will all be taking the same classes now, regardless of your original Power Placement."
She had to pause again and hold up her hands for silence, while Layla's heart soared. All her fondest dreams were coming true – first her new relationship with Will and now the end of the dichotomy she'd opposed so vociferously. She shared a triumphant smile with Magenta, who looked quite shell-shocked at the turn of events.
"There are obviously still some kinks that need to be worked out, but we believe that this is where the school needs to be going if we are going to properly prepare you to be the Heroes of tomorrow," the Principal continued, but Layla hardly noticed that she was still talking.
Her attention returned to the auditorium suddenly when she heard her name called. Will squeezed her hand as they went up on the stage along with Zach, Ethan, Magenta and Warren. The Principal didn't even need to say anything to introduce them, because it seemed everybody knew who they were. She wouldn't have been able to, anyway, considering the thunderous applause that erupted. Then it turned into a standing ovation … started by none other than Coach Boomer!
Layla felt tears starting to form in her eyes as she hugged Will, trying to contain her emotion. Releasing her, he shook hands with Warren, who also looked quite overwhelmed at the crowd's approval. On her other side, Zach was so thrilled that they could practically see him glowing, even in the bright light of the auditorium, and Ethan looked like he'd just got autographs from the whole of the Justice League, past and present.
And Magenta … believe it or not, Maj was actually smiling, genuinely, without even a hint of a smirk. From that unguarded expression, Layla knew that her friend was quite happy to be wrong this time.
Some things could change.
And the next thing they knew, Will might even end up being best friends with Warren.
Stranger things had happened already.