The only reason I'm putting up the second chapter at the same time as the first is because I know sometimes it's hard to get a feel for a story with just the first chapter, all the others will be released at weekly intervals until I put up the last chapter. I might put them up faster if you ask really nicely. But you'd have to be really, really nice to me. ^_^ Anywho, I hope you enjoy Fireproof.

Fireproof

Chapter 2: Mouse Sees Red.

Mouse felt her nose flare and her left eyebrow twitch at the sight before her.

Those.

Damn.

Shorts.

She would have nightmares about those shorts.

Forever.

After lamenting the loss of her poor mind's purity –Holy Hell, those shorts!- she brought her attention away from the blindingly hideous sight to focus on his face. –Equally hideous but that might just be her vindictive streak shining through.- Tommy Boomowski looked just as he had in his pictures, older, maybe, and more intimidating, but not too altogether different. He'd worn shorts in most of those pictures too.

They just weren't quite that short.

Still mentally scarring though.

Mouse resisted the urge to clamp a hand over her eyes to rid herself of the image. –Not that it'd do any good. The image was already burned into her retinas, she was sure.- Her mind went over everything she knew about 'Coach Boomer' as she moved to the outside edge of the group of unfortunate, unsuspecting freshmen.

She had hoped one of her three had noticed her action and mirrored her but no such luck, she was one of the few not almost bowled over by his power, though her ears did ring slightly when he was done. The following performance only solidified in her mind what she already thought of him, he was the stereotypical sadistic gym teacher, taking pleasure in the humiliation of his students. She was not particularly surprised.

The ruling on Zach's power, though she really couldn't disagree on that one, caused her to forgo her need for self-preservation to move closer to her friends. She silently gave Zach's shoulder a comforting squeeze, he sent a brave smile towards her in return but she knew the boy well enough to see the disappointment in his eyes. He would bounce back though, of that there was no doubt.

She turned her displeased gaze on Boomer and watched as he evaluated the power(s) of each student to stand before him, his blatant disrespect to those deemed 'sidekicks' only proving to make her temper flare that much hotter. Then it was Layla's turn. The perpetually cheerful girl seemed to actually be displeased herself with the situation at hand, but still managed to keep a happy demeanor. Mouse moved closer to Layla's side supportively.

She noted the moment when he realized who she was.

The only things that really gave it away were the tightening of his grip on the clipboard and the slight clenching of his jaw. "You." His tone was different too, colder, harsh. "Denim Girl, let's get on with it."

Even if he hadn't pointed at her it would have been obvious that she was who he was talking about. Black strait-leg jeans that made her look taller than she was, light-gray denim shirt with the sleeves rolled up to ¾ length, completely unbuttoned over a black t-shirt with the mask of Deadpool on it, her matching red tank top just peeking out past the t's bottom edge. She also had brown denim flats with a pattern of powder-blue guitars on her feet and a black denim head band, decorative as it did nothing to keep her bangs from hanging down against her forehead, set against her dark brown hair.

She smirked, waving her hand in a 'yeah, yeah' gesture as she climbed the steps, her silver fingernail polish flashing under the spotlight. She gave off an air of relaxation but the three freshmen that knew her could tell that something was pissing her off severely. "Name and power."

He knew though, he knew exactly who she was, what she could do. "Emryn Kelly. Observation and instigation of chain reactions, usually in the nature of catastrophic failure. Also, I'm fireproof." If things were fair, if she'd had a different judge, her first ability would have landed her an automatic 'hero' once she displayed it. But it wasn't another judge. It was Tommy Boomowski and with her he was anything but fair.

Before she could blink he had pushed a button that caused a turret to drop down and shoot a stream of fire at her, not saying a word. She cussed him out mentally as she pulled something from her pocket and tossed it skillfully at said fire spewing turret as she moved out of the line of fire –Ooh, a play on words, she was on a roll.- in an attempt to keep her clothes from getting completely destroyed. For a moment nothing happened, then suddenly the flamethrower started shaking and, not a second later, exploded.

Mouse inspected the holes in her shirt, glad she had a tendency to layer. Then she turned to Coach Boomer, "Thank you for helping me demonstrate the difference between fireproof," she waved a hand to indicate her face and unsinged hair, "and fire resistant," the hand indicated her relatively unharmed clothes. "I do think perhaps a little more warning next time might be prudent, as I could have needed to activate my power first." She didn't though, her abilities were 'always on', they were integrated into her physical self.

She couldn't make them go away if she wanted to. She knew, she'd tried.

Boomer was scowling at her, because she was right of course, and that annoyed him. Also because she didn't seem all that frazzled by the sudden attack, as he had intended. So he was scowling, glaring even. "You're weak like your dad, Kelly. Sidekick!" He had intended to knock her off the stage as he had Zach but she saw it coming with ease and stepped to the side, avoiding the concussive blast of sound. That made him angrier.

The way she calmly walked off stage and rejoined her group of friends, as though nothing had happened, made him so very, very, angry.

Her friends knew she was anything but calm, her movements were sharp, precise, and yet she seemed to exude an air of lazy relaxation, all signs that she was barely controlling herself. It was surprising, to be honest, not one of them could ever remember seeing her so pissed off.

No, Layla recalled, no that's not true. There was that one time…

She shuddered at that memory, moving to stand next to Mouse and wrapping an arm around her comfortingly. Alarmingly, Mouse did not acknowledge her, at all. In fact, Mouse had not taken her eyes off of Coach Boomer since she'd stepped off the platform. Layla had a really bad feeling.

With good reason.

The bell rang. Layla had let go of Mouse in surprise when she heard that Will was next and so she didn't quite notice that the angry girl was not with their group as they moved to the lunchroom, none of them did. –It was another talent of Mouse's, the ability to slip people's minds, not a superpower like the other two, just an aspect of her personality.- She wasn't with the group of freshmen at all actually, she was standing in the doorway of the gym, glaring at the man who had dared to bring a personal vendetta against her father to her, at school. Her temper snapped.

"Hey! Boomowski!" He turned, surprised to hear his actual name, both of them oblivious to the students passing in the hall that had stopped and were now staring.

"Kelly." It was a hiss.

She sneered. "Car." It was a mockingly cheerful announcement and suddenly her wrist snapped forward, releasing a small projectile that hit Boomer square in the nose before bouncing up at an angle to just barely hit the brim of his baseball cap, shooting down to smack his right hand. The hand that was holding the dreaded remote. The hand which immediately spasmed at the collision, clenching tightly before loosening altogether, dropping the remote, but not before he had already pushed the button accidentally.

Boomer yelped as he stumbled backwards, away from the dropped car that had landed less than a foot away from him, before turning furious eyes to the gym doors, ready for a real shouting match. She was gone though, after all, she had a lunch to get to. The students standing in the doorway scattered at the angry look in his eyes, not wanting to draw his attention. The news of what had happened here would be all over the school before the start of the next class.

Only one curious person remained calm in the face of Coach Boomer's wrath, with a raised eyebrow he collected something from the ground; it was a red and black glass marble. With a mental shrug he pocketed it and turned towards the cafeteria himself, after all, Warren Peace had a lunch to get to.

Due to the general confusion and timidness of the group Mouse was ready and waiting before her freshman three –Plus two, apparently. She hadn't realized they'd picked up the melting kid and the girl who turned into a guinea pig.- were all the way through the lunch line. She fell into step beside Layla the moment they started moving towards an empty table, ignoring the looks she was getting from all around the lunchroom to the best of her ability. Her freshmen were, of course, completely oblivious to the sudden stir around them, though she doubted it would last too long. She wondered if she'd be getting her lecture from Layla today or tomorrow, she grimaced slightly at the thought.

The voice of Boomer snapped her to attention and when she looked up to see Zach stumbling over himself her eyes narrowed. She snarled. "Buzz off, Copycat!" 'Boomer' looked at her in surprise before laughing nervously and shifting back to his real self, tugging on his shirt anxiously. He patted Zach's shoulder and mumbled something about it being a joke before slipping back into his seat and avoiding all eye contact with her. Her freshmen though, they were staring at her.

She ignored them.

When it was apparent they weren't going anywhere anytime soon she sighed and started walking, she heard them scrambling behind her but didn't turn around. She could feel Layla's concerned gaze, and Will's confused one. Zach, on the other hand… Zach recovered quickly and was almost immediately beside her.

"Dude! Did you see that? I thought he was gonna pee himself or something! How'd you do that? And how'd you know it wasn't really Coach Boomer? He looked and sounded just like 'im! I sure couldn't tell th-"

"Because," she interrupted, "he wasn't pissed at me."

"Why would he be mad at you?"

"Besides the fact that I just dropped a car on his toes? My dad is dating his little sister."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a minute! Let me get this straight. Your dad is dating the coach's little sister?"

"That's what I said."