Disclaimer : Disney owns Sky High and it's characters , all the OC's belong to me
Back to School
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Williams Residence , Maxville, U.S.A
The door creaked open as two large Great Danes , one brown and one dark gray , padded silently into the darkened room. The gray one headed to the large window and began tugging the curtains , flooding the room with sunlight. His brown companion headed to the large green bed in the center of the room. There amongst the pile of rumpled blankets a small pale hand peeked out at the edge of the bed . The dog approached the and and began licking at it. A muffled mumble was heard from under the covers and the hand withdrew Both the dogs sat back on their haunches and looked at each other. The gray dog then went to the foot of the bed , snagged the trailing bedclothes with his teeth and began dragging it off the bed , revealing a still sleeping Layla . She was flat on her back , her red hair tussled , the large brown dog leaped on the bed and began sniffing at her ears.
Layla gave a surprised shout as she felt a combination of moist nose and warm doggy breath broke through her sleep dulled senses.
" Ozzy !!" Layla pushed away Ozzy's face and sat up.
The large Dane jumped down on the carpeted floor , stretched and sat down.
Layle looked at the large gray Dane who is now sitting on her bed covers scratching his neck.
" Looks like it's time for another flea bath for you Morris " Layla said.
Morris stopped scratching a let out a soft whine.
" 'fraid so boy , but we can't have you spreading fleas to the others now , can we " Layla apologized.
Stretching a bit , Layla reached over to her bedside clock and looked at the time. She sighed Ozzy and Morris woke her up an hour early. Oh well , she thought now that she's awake might as well get ready for school.
" Plenty of time for a bath " She yawned.
Getting out of the bed , and stretching one more time , Layla headed for her wardrobe. After choosing a white undershirt , green sleeveless shirt and green pants she headed for the bathroom. Awhile later Layla still barefoot but now fully dressed began fixing her bed , afterwards she gathered her books and placed them on her schoolbag. Then she tidied her room a little bit more and when she's done , with her hands on her hips she looked at the two Great Danes who are now lazing on the floor.
" Well , summer's officially over " Layla said.
Ozzy yawned.
" Yeah , so much for waking up late " She sighed.
Despite feeling a little sad over the end of summer vacation , Layla is also curious what will the classes in Sky High be like now that she's a Sophomore and newly classified as a Hero.
" Wonder if Will is awake? " Layla asked the dogs.
A loud crash from the Stronghold's neighboring house , and seem to have emanated on the second floor and in the vicinity of Will's room. Then almost immediately after the crash Layla could hear Will's disgruntled yelp.
Yup , she nodded to herself , he's awake.
(_______________________________________________________________________((V))_________________________________________________________________________)
Stronghold Residence , Maxville , U.S.A
Will sat on his bed scratching his head as he morosely stared at his cracked bedside table and the shattered remnants of his alarm clock.
Nuts, he thought thats the seventh clock he smashed . He was buried deep in his bed sound asleep when his alarm clock rang in full volume , instinctively he raised his hand and slammed it down on the clock. a habit he had developed when he was very young , before his powers manifested , Will always does this same slamming action to shut his clock up which in the past did the trick quite nicely , only this time adding his power in the equation ends up with him pulverizing his hapless alarm clock.
Will turned his head as he heard a knock on the door.
" Will , are you ok ?" his mom asked.
" Uuh , yeah , yeah , Mom just had a little accident that's all " he answered. then winced as the damaged table collapsed with a loud crash.
" Are you sure everythings ok " Josie pressed
" Yeah , mom , I uh kinda smashed my alarm clock thats all " he admitted
" Oh ok , I'll buy you a new one when I go out shopping this afternoon "
Will listened to his mom's fading footsteps , then sighing he got out bed , stretching and yawning he headed to his bathroom and began washing up.
Fifteen minutes now fully dressed in a blue and red shirt , denims and rubber shoes Will hurried down the stairs towards the kitchen. His Dad , already finished with his breakfast , was totally engrossed with the morning paper. Will reached for the cereal box and milk , then pulling a chair he sat down and filled his bowl with cereal and milk and began digging in. Steve lowered the newspaper and smiled at his son across the table.
" All set for the first day of school , my boy? " Steve said jovially
Will looked up from his bowl , swallowed and nodded.
" Yeah , have all my books and stuff ready " he grinned
" Time flies doesn't it? " Steve shook his head " feels like it was yesterday that you were gearing up for your freshman year "
Will smiled to himself as he remembered how different his situation was last year . His parents were so excited that Will was starting his freshman year in Sky High , but unbeknownst to them he had yet to manifest his powers. For awhile Will despaired that he might not have any powers at all , and most of all disappoint his folks. It was a rough few weeks in the beginning , first being enrolled in sidekick class , then living under the continuous pressure of hiding his dilemma from his mom and dad , and finally forcing himself to reveal the truth to them. Fortunately he did power up , when he was forced to fight his former arch enemy and now best frient Warren Peace.
" Yeah , still can't believe that I'm a sophomore either " Will admitted " hope I'll survive my classes though , I heard that it's a lot tougher than the ones we had during freshman year,"
" Sky High's second year curriculum is a whole different level from the one you experienced during first year " Steve agreed " but I'm not worried , the fact that you easily passed last year means your ready for sophomore year "
Steve leaned back looked at his son's now worried expression " I won't lie son , it's going to be tough , really tough ," then he smiled " but look , you kids fought and took down Royal Pain then saved Sky High , so I'm sure you guys can handle anything they'll throw at you "
" Thanks , Dad " Will smiled back
Steve winked " no problem son "
The kitchen door opened and Layla walked in. Will's mom who was standing near the stove turned and smiled at the redhead.
" Morning Layla " Josie offered her a basket of freshly bake muffins " want some ? "
" No , thank you Mrs. Stronghold , just had a heavy breakfast " Layla smiled " is Will ready ? "
Josie looked at the dining table where her husband is back to reading the newspaper and her son guzzling down a glass of orange juice.
" Yes he is , he's just finishing his breakfast " Basket of muffins in hand and gesturing at Layla to follow her , they both headed for the table.
" Hey , Will ready to go ? " Layla smiled
" Layla , hi !! " Will grinned " Yup , I'm all set " then eyeing the muffins his mom was carrying.
" Here" Josie chuckled as she wrapped a paper napkin around a muffin and handed it to Will " you can eat that on the bus "
Layle smiled as she turned to Will's dad.
" Good morning , Mr Stronghold " Layla chirped
" Oh Layla , good morning " Steve smiled as he peeked from behind the newspaper " how are your parents ?"
" They're fine , mom just left for work and dad's taking it easy for a few days before reporting back to the Agency " Layla sighed " he had a difficult time with the Venus Flytrap incident last week "
Steve nodded as he set down the newspaper , " Yes , I heard , that Villain was trying to spread his mutant seeds in the Amazon rainforest , thankfully you dad was able to uncover his plot before he succeeded with his diabolical scheme , hope he didn't get hurt badly or anything "
Layla smiled slightly " Thankfully his injuries were minor and the Agency's medics were able to treat him right away , but the doctor recommended that Dad take a few days rest before going back to active duty "
Josie smiled " The doctor's right , it's better for your dad to have some time to recuperate so that he'll be in tip-top shape when he accepts more assignments from the Agency "
Layla nodded , then remembering she looked at her watch.
" Ooops , sorry about this , but Will and I really need to head for the bus stop , the schoolbus will be there in about ten minutes " Layla said
" Oh dear , you right , Will, honey get your things , you guys should get going " Josie said as she urged her son " you wouldn't want to miss the bus on you first day now , would you?"
Will nodded as he snagged his bag and followed Layla out the door , his parents followed them to the porch and stood there waving at them. Will and Layla waved back at them as they headed down the street towards the bus stop.
While standing by the bust stop sign they talked about the activities they did during the summer , a few minutes later the school bus rolled down the street and stopped in front of them. Then the door slid open and the first thing they saw was a skinny guy with long dark blonde hair and deep tan skin wearing the Sky High bus driver unform sitting on the driver's seat.
" Duuuuude " the blonde bus driver said while giving them the peace sign.
Layla's eyebrows shot up while WIll's jaw dropped.
" Uuuuh , what happened to Ron?" Will asked
" The Ronmeister had to cut back on his work schedule , cuz ever since he got those gnarly growth powers the Mayor requested the Agency to assign the big dude to him fulltime " the driver grinned " so the school decided to find a replacement to pick up the slack "
Then the blond driver made another peace sign " Hi I'm Dusty Donners your temporary bus driver " he pursed his lips " that is until the school decides that I qualify , then I'll be here permanently "
Dusty grinned and gestured towards the interior of the bus. " Hurry and find a seat dude and dudette , we really have to get movin' , we can't have you young ones late on your first day school "
Nodding and a bit bewildered Will and Layla entered the bus and headed down the rows of seats towards where their friends Zack , Magenta and Ethan were sitting.
" Sup " Zack high fived Will and made space for him , while Layla sat beside Magenta.
The bus began moving the moment they settled down. Students began talking to their fellow passengers and sounds of mixed conversations filled the air.
Zack turned to his friends and grinned " Man , I can't wait to see what the classes are like in the sophomore level "
Ethan nodded and smiled " Yeah , even though the Hero-Sidekick system was junked , all our classes last year were purely theoretical , but this time we'll be having more hands-on lessons "
" I just hope we ex-sidekicks can keep up with the rest of you guys " Magenta said folding her arms
Layla leaned on her goth friend " Hey , remember what we learned last year , it's not just ones power that makes a Hero"
" Yeah , it's how you use it that matters the most " Will said.
Magenta opened her mouth and was about to say something when suddenly the safety belts snapped place around her and the other students' shoulders. They looked out the bus windows and saw that the finally reached the abandoned bridge where the bus can convert to aerial mode without civilians seeing the transition.
" Okaaaay people , we're about to take of , please sit back and prepare for lift off " Danny said
The students prepared themselves and the bus began picking up speed. They have grown so used to it that they didn't even flinch when the bus fell off the end of the broken bridge. Dusty yanked the transformation lever initiating the bus' tranformation sequence. It's wheels retract , a pair of large streamlined wings slides outward , and finally a set of large thrusters folds out in the vehicle's rear section. The bus lurches upward as the thrusters fire into action. A few students cheered as the bus began ascending rapidly.
Magenta wryly looked at Zack as he raised his arms and whooping with enjoyment as if he was riding a roller coaster ride.
" Man! then never gets old !! " Zack laughed.
Danny caught up in the moment turned to his passengers and grinned " How bout' we make this ride even more exciting " he winked " Spent some time a few years back as a exhibition pilot on an extreme air show , I'm a bit rusty but I'm sure I can still pull of some sweet radical maneuvers "
Ethan looked at the driver apprehensively " Uuuh , I'm sure we all have enough excitement for now and-"
" Hooo!! , yeah let's see what you can do Mr Hotshot Driver Dude " Zack cutting him off as he gave the Danny a thumbs up sign.
Layla and Magenta looked at each other their eyes wide , and Will gaped at Zack
Danny's eyes gleamed with excitement . " Righteous , ok then , brace yourselves dudes and dudettes and prepare for the ride of your lives !!!"
" Wa-Wait let talk about - " One of the students protested
Danny suddenly pulled the bus's controls all the way and the bus surged upward in a almost vertical angle , the bus' thrusters going into overdrive. And cries of panic filled the bus.
(_______________________________________________________________________((V))_________________________________________________________________________)
Maxville South Gardens , Bus Stop , Maxville U.S A
Jules is definitely no a happy camper. He fixed his shirt collar , for probably the tenth time in the last five minutes , and glared at an ant scuttling on the pavement. He never have been so miserable in his life. His mind flashing back to the events that took place back in his Grandfather's house. He was deep in slumber dreaming of high fashion clothes and his friends back in Wales , when suddenly a loud jovial roar pierced his ears.
Jules ,still wearing his sleeping mask , jumped out of the bed in a fright , his head jerking around to find the location of the voice .
" Rise and Shine !! Julie , time to get ready for school !! " Tobias boomed out.
Jules hastily removed his sleeping mask and glared at his tall burly Grandfather.
" Grandpapa , really!!, you could have just knocked !! " Jules huffed.
Tobias folded his thick arms and chuckled " Just wanna make sure, your dad used sleep like the dead when he was in high school , and I had to throw him out of the bed to wake him up"
" First of all I'm not a heavy sleeper like Papa , secondly next time just knock the door and I assure you with your capacity for loud noises I'll defnitely wake up " Jules said tartly while holding a hand over his pumping heart " Good Lord , you nearly gave me a heart attack!!"
Tobias totally unaffected by his grandsons histrionics merely laughed and began heading for the door.
" Breakfast is almost ready , Julie you better get out of your... uuuh.... dress and wash up " His grandfather said.
Dress !?!?!? Jules looked down at his red oriental silk pajamas and jerkilly ran hand over his platinum hair.
" I'll have you know these are designer silk pajamas, a lot of men I know wear sleepwear like these " Jules said pompously.
Tobias lifted his hand in a placating gesture " Hey , hey it's ok Julie I'm your Grandad , and I accept you as your are "
With wide smile Tobias left the bedroom leaving his speechless grandson gaping at him.
The sound of footsteps approaching him pulled Jules back to the present . He looked up and saw Serenity clutching her schoolbooks hurrying towards him. Jules smiled at her , seeing his friend lifting his mood a bit.
" Finally she decides to show up !!" He said in mock outrage " I was about to head for your house and drag you out before you miss the bus!!"
It turned out that Serenity family bought a house , thanks to the Agency , a block away from the Burke's residence. It was a large house with two floors , four spacious bedrooms and a wide yard. Jules and Serenity arrived in Maxville yesterday morning and and spent the whole day unpacking . Fortunately for Jules his grandfather already had his room ( thank goodness it was a large one!!) ready, all he had to do was unpack his clothes and toiletries. Serenity's family had a lot more to do however . The house was furnished with a modernist industrial design , which Rosa found the metal and glass furniture cold and impersonal , thankfully with the teleporter Zone's help they were able to bring all of their furniture from their house in Wales. They spend several hours rearranging the house , but Jules had to admit it was worth it .Now the Wright's new house looked so warm and cozy that he plans to spend a lot of time there.
Serenity pulled out her touch pad and began writing.
= Sorry , had to help my mom arrange her antiques around the house , we didn't have time to do that yesterday = She held her pad up to Jules
Jules smiled " Think nothing about it , I was just teasing you " He looked at his watch " Besides we still have a few minutes to spare before the bus gets here "
Serenity smiled back = So how's you and your Grandad doing ? =
He grimaced " I'm still getting used to him "
= I thought you said you and your family spend your summers with him ?=
Jules sighed " Yes we did , but thats only for a month and I had my parents as a buffer " again he grimaced " Now , I have to endure his loud and rough ways up close and personal "
he shuddered " Three years " he said " Three years of this , and I lost count the number of times he messed up my hair and nearly crushed me with his monster bearhugs"
Jules turned to Serenity " And what's with all tha back slapping , they say it's to give me encouragement but do they have to do it really hard!??!? " he said in a harrased tone. " And my cousins , Good Lord they're like my Grandpapas clones!! , I swear if they backslap me one more time I'm going to cough out both my lungs"
Jules' Uncle , his dad's older brother , had three sons all in college and all jocks. And like all the Burke males are loud , brash and in Jules' opinion have this penchant for back slaps!!
Serenity laughed soundlessly as Jules glared at her , then after awhile a reluctant smile curves his lips.
= I'm sure they mean well = She wrote
Jules made a face " Yes well , I must admit under all that they are a good and decent bunch " he flexed his back " large paws and back slapping notwithstanding "
They both turned when they heard a rumbling sound and they saw the schoolbus heading towards them.
Jules again straightened clothes and grinned to Serenity " Well , it's showtime , all ready pet?"
Serentiy grinned back and gave a thumbs up sign.
(_______________________________________________________________________((V))_________________________________________________________________________)
Warren looked up from the book he's reading when he felt the bus stop. That's wierd , he thought they should be heading for the take off site , last time he checked all the students in this route have been picked up and are now inside the bus. Maxville South Gardens had the least number of students so there are a lot of empty seats. He usually sits in the rearmost part of the bus while the other students occupy the middle and front rows , he suspects he's the reason for their seating arrangements , despite his involvement in saving Sky High most of his schoolmates still steer clear of him due to his dark coloring and somewhat menacing visage , which is perfectly fine with him. In this case he gets to enjoy a very spacious place to sit and even an extra place to put his schoolbag in or a vacant seat for him to stretch his legs on .
The bus driver opened the doors and a pair of students he never saw before get in.
The guy , at least he thinks it's a guy , has wavy platinum hair , a lanky build and is almost as tall as he is. The guy's clothes are ,for the lack of a better word , interesting , he's wearing a purple polo shirt smattered with tiny designs that he couldn't recognize , a pair of white pants and what appears to be a white bandana with violet spots tied around his neck. The tiny girl with him has so much chestnut hair that it would have covered her face if she wasn't wearing a slver headband , her white knit sweater was hanging loosely on her petite frame and her dark blue skirt reached below her knees. Her huge expressive brown eyes was the most strking feature on her delicate little face , it danced with life as she smiled and listened to her much taller companion.
They looked looked at the somewhat crowded front area , then the guy said something to the girl while pointing to some seats just in front of him , she smiled and nodded then they walked down tha aisle and sat a couple of rows ahead of him.
Warren felt the bus move again as it makes it way towards the unfinished bridge just outside the South Gardens. He opened his book and began reading again , it'll be another five minutes before they reach the site so might as well finish a chapter. The guy started talking to his companion , keeping his eyes on the book Warren could hear the guy's voice a little bit , and if his accent is any indication Warren guessed that he's British or something , the girl still hasn't said anything but for some reason they seem to maintain a conversation of some sorts.
A few minutes later Warren felt a slight bump , looking out the window he saw the " Keep Out " sign pass by as they enter the bridge site. Closing his book and stuffing it into his bag Warren prepared himself for take-off. A few seconds after he leaned back he felt the belts and harness snap around his torso. He was however wasn't expecting the show he was going to be privy to a two rows ahead.
(_______________________________________________________________________((V))_________________________________________________________________________)
Jules was trying to convince Serenity come with him to the nearest parlor and have her hair done , when suddenly he felt belts snapped around his upper body and a harness clamped in place around his shoulders
" What on Earth!??!? " he yelped
Suddenly the bus launched itself down the bridge and into a freefall
" BLOODY HELL !!!!!!!!!!!!! " Jules shrieked in a high pitched scream
Loud mechanical sounds could be heard as the bus undergoes it's aerial transformation. Seconds later with a loud blast the thrusters activated and the bus began rapidly ascending. All the while Jules began screaming and cursing quite colorfully. And Warren , Serenity and the rest of the students were listening in fascination to his rather creative swear words. Jules kept babbling as the bus made it's journey towards Sky High and blurting out a curse when they encounter an air pocket or turbulence.
Finally after a few hellish minutes for Jules the bus finally began approaching Sky High .It was only when the bus landed with a rather loud bump and an explosive curse from Jules the rather interesting ride ended. Then the belts and harnesses retracted and the students got up walking out of the bus , some of them sneaked amused glances at Jules who remained seated.
Jules was trembling , his face stiff and pale , jerkily he turned to Serenity , she was looking at him her eyes huge , she was chewing her lips and her shoulders were shaking suspicously.
" Don't you dare laugh " he shakily growled.
Serenity comically shook her head so hard that her hairband fell off , causing her thick wavy locks to fall foward and curtain her face. Thankfully her hair was thick enough to cover her entire face because she could no longer hold back her grin.
(_______________________________________________________________________((V))_________________________________________________________________________)
Warren remained seated and unnoticed as he observed the tiny girl help her taller companion get shakily back to his feet. And with his arm around her shoulder , and her's around his waist they unsteadily got out of the bus. And with a quick quiet chuckle Warren got up slung his bag over his shoulder he walked down the aisle and stepped out of the bus. He walked a few feet and looked around three other buses have parked in the field , but bus from the Maxville North Gardens route hasn't arrived yet.
A distant rumble caught his attention and Warren turned and looked at the horizon and at a distance he could see another bus rapidly approaching. It was flying wild angles and doing aerial corkscrews. His brows shot up as the bus did a loop de loop and frightened cries could be heard from the bus. Several students have stopped walking and watched the vehicle's aerial acrobatics. Finally after a few wild minutes the bus gracefully landed on the field. When it finally came to a complete halt the bus' door slid open and students hurriedly got out. Warren then saw his friends stumble out amongst the shaken passengers.
Zack ran a few feet then fell to his knees " Laaaaaaand!!!!!!!! " he yelled as he began to stroke the grass lovingly
Magenta with her hair a little mussed up stormed after him and without any hesitation gave him a solid smack in the head.
" Ooouch!!! , what?, what ? what? " Zack yelped as he rubbed his threatened body part.
" Yeah let's see what you can do Mr Hotshot Driver Dude " she mimicked savagely
Will was holding Layla's hand as she steadied herself and an orange puddle was following them.
" What was that all about " Warren asked
" New bus driver " Will said.
Warren nodded and quietly waited as his friends steadied themselves.
Ethan finally solidified " Man , I really , really hope we get a replacement driver soon , I don't think I can survive another trip like that "
Warren bit back a smile as his friend unanimously agreed , then he looked at the two new students who were standing at a distance away from them. The tall flashy guy was walking in a wide circle breathing deeply , his hands on his hips and trying to compose himself. The girl , with her back turned to them , was patiently waiting for him to calm down as she held his schoolbag for him.
This going to be an interesting year Warren thought