Disclaimer : Disney owns Sky High and it's characters , all other OC's belong to me
Summer's End
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Paper Lantern , Maxville , U.S.A
A shaggy haired boy in a red , white and blue shirt paused in front of the Paper Lantern for a moment , and then opened the door , Will Stronghold
stepped into the Chinese restaurant and looked around It's late in the afternoon and there were a few customers at this time of the day. He made a
beeline to an empty table in the rear and sat down ,
For a few minutes Will just sat there rapping his fingers on the table , then when he got bored he began to read the condiment labels , After
that he began opening them and sniffing them on after the other. The Oyster sauce got a quirk from Will's brow , then the Sesame Oil got a nod
off approval , the soy sauce got a frown . Then he curiously sniffed the container with some black powder
" Aaaaaachoooo!!!" Will sneezed when he accidentally snorked what turned out to be pepper. Quickly , furtively and a bit guiltily he looked around
if anyone was looking at him. He sighed with relief when no one seem to notice his sniffing session. He decided to just behave himself and
just quietly sit there waiting for his best friend Warren Peace.
For awhile he just sat there just spacing out , until he got bored again , this time he began to reach for a dipping bowl with the intention to mix some
of the condiments out of sheer boredom.
"Don't even think about it " a deep gruff voice said behind him.
Will jumped a bit and snapped his head around , behind him with his long dark hair in a ponytail , wearing a black sleeveless shirt with jeans and
apron was the gang's resident hothead and pyrokinetic Warren Peace.
" I wasn't doing anything " Will said defensively
" Right " Warren said as he slid the bowl away from his friend's reach then leaned a hip on the opposite side of the table.
" So what are you doing here?" he asked as he wiped his hands on his apron.
" Its movie night remember" Will answered smiling really big.
" After dinner remember?" Warren retorted.
" Hey can't a guy just spend time in a Chinese restaurant with his best buddy in the world" Will said with a pretend hurt voice.
" Stronghold " the taller boy warned.
" Layla and Magenta went to window shopping and I told them I needed to give you the book you left at the house , since you kept bugging
me to give it back to you" Will confessed
Warren frowned " I didn't leave a book in you place"
His friend grinned " I know"
the pyro rolled his eyes " you just wanted an excuse to worm out of being dragged into a clothing store with the Hippie and the Gerbil "
" Yeah " Will admitted sheepishly.
" Where's Glowstick ?" Warren asked as he folded his arms.
Will chuckled " Maj dragged him along with them , she shot down every excuse he made and finally shut him up with " The Look " "
Warren shook his head imagining their tall , lanky , glowing friend going through all the tortures of guy-hell as he's dragged from one
clothing store to another.
" Soooo I figured I'll just kill the time with you until we meet up at my house for movie night " Will said
" My work shift won't be over for almost an hour" Warren warned.
Again Will smiled really big " That's ok I'll just sit here and wait until your off from work "
his friend's eyes narrowed " Fine , as long as you stop messing around with the condiments , I don't want Mrs. Kwon giving me grief cuz of you "
Will gave his most innocent look " Don't worry about me , I'll be at my best behavior "
" Yeah , right " Warren muttered as he straightened up and walked away intent on collecting the plates left by customers on the nearby tables.
(_______________________________________________________________________((V))_________________________________________________________________________)
A couple of hours later the two friends were walking in the suburban area of Maxville , they were heading for the Strongholds residence where the gang
are supposed to meet for movie night.
" I can't believe you made me eat that stuff " Will with his face still slightly green said for probably the tenth time during their walk.
" At least we didn't have to spend money for our dinner Stronghold so quit complaining " Warren retorted as he shoved his hands in his black leather jacket's pockets
" I'd rather pay for a subway sandwich than those icky stuff we had " his friend griped . " What were those black and brown cold gunk bits anyway"
Warren looked at his friend , then he quirked a brow
" The black stuff was Century egg " Warren answered casually
" Century Egg? whats that, some kind of Chinese cultural thingy? " Will asked curiously
" Kinda , its basically a preserved rotten egg " Warren smirked
" What!?! " Will squeaked
" And the brown stuff was Sea Cucumber-" the pyro continued
" Wait! wait! Sea Cucumber isn't that weird disgusting worm thing that looks like a...a doodie !?! " Will squeaked his voice going an octave higher , his face
turning several shades of green.
" Yeah your right it kinda looks like a .... doodie " Warren said using his friend's rather tame term for crap. In the past months that
Warren knew and befriended Will he noticed that the kid tends to avoid swearing and offensive language " And the darker brown are strips
of Jellyfi-"
Will clapped his hands on his ears " Stop! stop! stop! I heard enough I'm sorry I asked !! "
Warren obediently stopped talking but his shoulders were shaking slightly in silent laughter. For awhile they walked in comfortable silence , At first glance
one would never think that these two teen-aged boys are the best of friends , the shorter of the two with his red , white and blue shirt , blue jeans and boy next door looks and walking beside him , taller ,darker skinned , more muscular with long dark shoulder length hair with a single red streak and wearing a black shirt , heavy boots , torn jeans and a leather jacket.
Last school year they have been enemies , Warren's dad Barron Battle a pyrokinetic Hero turned Villain was sent to jail and Will's dad The Commander
was the one responsible for his capture. But their animosity only lasted a few months after the two of them along with their friends Layla Williams ( now Will's
girlfriend ) Ethan Tyler , Magenta Vintz and Zack Steinberg were able to save the students and faculty for Sky High from Royal Pain's nefarious plan
Though Warren Peace is still the hot headed , standoffish loner he eventually accepted the gangs overtures of friendship. And in the months since they
learned about each others various traits and quirks. Warren learned that Will was a very easygoing and dependable friend though he can be a bit
dense and goofy , Layla can be a bit pushy but she always means well ,and she's always genuinely concerned for her friends plus she can be the sweetest of persons
, Magenta can be a bit sarcastic and sharp tongued , but beneath it all she's a very good and dependable friend , Zack is always hilarious to be around , his antics
and overly expressive personality does a great deal to loosen up the group , and Ethan bookish and super smart is always there for his friends.
And in turn the gang learned that even though Warren can be prickly , snappish and gruff most of the time he's loyal to a fault and very
protective to those he accepts into his inner circle.
Fast forward to the present , its now the last two weeks of Summer and the gang are trying their best to squeeze out most of each day before
Sophomore year starts.
" I can't believe Ethan got accepted for a Special Internship Program with the Hero Agency " Will finally spoke out
" He's been applying for that internship program since Freshman year and on top of that he scored the highest in the entire school " Warren
said
After the incident with Royal Pain , The Hero / Sidekick system was abolished and all students are now combined under one category...Hero.
Now the school made major changes in their curriculum , including classes that will help former sidekicks utilize their powers effectively , and in
some cases help them develop their powers even more. This included opening the Hero Internship program to them. Ethan wasted no time in applying
for the limited slots available , and the the gangs surprise and delight their friend aced the test and a little over a month ago with Superhero mentors
began his internship in the Agency.
" Wonder what he's doing in his internship " Will wondered
" He said it included power development and even on-site training with active Heroes" Warren said
Will whistled " Dang , looks like Ethan meant what he said that he's determined to reach Rank A "
Warren tipped his head " Seems like it"
The Rank system was implemented by the Hero Agency to determine the type of assignments licensed heroes are sent to. the higher the Rank
riskier and more important the mission
Will looked at Warren " Wonder what Rank we'll get when we finally get our licenses "
Warren shrugged " As long as its at least a Rank B so we get interesting assigments "
Will grinned " Yeah, get classified as Rank C or D we'll might end up with sucky assignments like clean up duty or even a helping-a-cat-out-of-a-tree
type situation"
Warren grimaced " That's a pleasant thought"
Will looked to the side " We're almost at my place"
" What are we gonna watch anyway " the pyro asked
" Let's see there's Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull , Staying Alive aaaand..." Will mumbled something
" What was that " Warred quirked a brow
" Mama Mia " Wll answered with a small voice
Warren stopped walking and stared " Your kidding"
" Hey, Layla and Maj chose that one " Will said a bit defensively
" You better have your Xbox set up in your room because there's no way in hell I'm watching that chick flick " Warren warned
" B-b-but Lilah will want me to watch Mama Mia with them , and Movie Night will be in the living room , can't you at least stay so that I can talk to someone?" Will whined
" Tough" Warren grunted
Will muttered something about uncaring best friends Warren simply ignored his grumbling and continued to walk towards the Stronghold
house , and after a few seconds Will followed.
Will's cellphone vibrated and he pulled it out of his back pocket.
" Hello? " Will answered
" Heeey , how's it going " Ethan's cheerful voice said
" Ethan!!! Hi " Will grinned and again stopped walking
Warren also stopped walking and patiently waited as Will talked to Ethan
" Dude, you'll never guess were I am " Ethan said excitedly
" Where ? " Will asked curiously
" I'm in Ocean High " Ethan said enthusiastically
" Wait! Ocean High?? that's in Asia , right " Will said in astonishment
Warren quirked a brow but said nothing
" Yeah , I know , this is so cool and Principal Powers ... I mean Comet is my current mentor too !" Ethan's excitement was palpable even through the
cellphone
" Duuude " Will said
" And guess whose here as well " Ethan continued
" Who? " Will asked
" The Commander is here too ! " Ethan answered
" Wait! Dad's there ?! " Will asked in surprise
Warren's brows came up , but still he kept quiet
" Yup and a couple of other Rank A Heroes are here too " Ethan chirped
" So what are you guys doing there , I mean it's summer vacation so the school's closed right? " Will asked
" Yeah , apparently their investigating some incident that happened here. " Ethan confided
" Investigating what ? " Will asked curiously
" Sorry it's classified " Ethan answered a bit smugly
" Awww, C'mon you can tell me. Promise to keep it all hush hush " Will wheedled " Look " he continued and looked around " I just between you and me " his voice
lowering to a whisper.
Warren rolled his eyes but still said nothing.
" Nope , Sorry "
" Please"
"Nope"
"Please"
"Nope"
"Please"
" We keep this up for as long as you want , but I'll still won't tell you" Ethan laughed
Will sighed " Okay , okay ,I get it James Bond your on a top secret mission "
" Your got it , I can't wait to get.... WHA!!!! " An loud explosion is suddenly heard through the cellphone
" Ethan! Ethan! what was that!! " Will tensely asked
Silence
" ETHAN!! ETHAN!! " Will was glued to the cellphone
The line went dead
Will lowered his cellphone , his face pale
" Stronghold , what's going on?" Warren frowned as he looked at his friends sticken face
" Stronghold .... Will what happened " Warren asked quietly
Will said nothing just looked at the pyro , then looked down at the cellphone he was gripping tensely , it's metallic sides bent by his super strength