Disclaimer: I do not own Sky High.

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Sunday passed quickly, and as such, Monday came all too soon. Waking up in the morning, taking a long, burning hot shower she didn't feel any of the tension release from her back. She dried off, and wrapped herself in her white towel, clinging to it the way a child would cling to a blanket. She looked at her shoe-box, and lifted the syringe. She was still unaware if it prevented her from using her other powers, but even if it did, touching people was worth it. She injected the serum into her left forearm, and stared at herself in the mirror as a literal ripple passed under her skin from toes to head.

She stared blankly into her closet, and decided she was in a black mood. She decorated her hair with the familiar black streaks, and pulled on tight dark denim jeans and black boots, with just a plain form-fitting black t-shirt, and her black Guess jacket. She brushed her teeth, straightened her hair out again, and then grabbed her messenger bag. Locking the door behind her, she had a bad feeling about the day and groaned as she got into the elevator.

The bus came and she took a seat by the window, staring out at her gray sky. She could tell it was a beautiful day, bright and clear, but she only saw shades of gray. That's such a good album. Staind is wonderful. The bus landed at Sky High, and she unenthusiastically walked into the school. She went through her morning classes the same way she always did, staring out the windows, and when the lunch break finally came around, she went into the cafeteria and just got a bottle of water. She headed towards the exit when Warren stopped her.

"You didn't return any of my calls." He said. "I was worried."

"I was busy." And she walked around him to leave.

Warren returned to his table and Layla looked at him.

"Is she OK? I don't understand. What's going on?"

"Lay." Will looked at her asking her to stop all questioning. He turned his attention back to his best friend. "We should talk to Principal Powers."

"And say what, Will? 'Oh, we went to club and Ivy freaked out after dancing with some dude'?" Magenta looked at Will stupidly. "Yeah, great plan."

The table fell silent and remained silent throughout the remainder of lunch.

Ivy's classes after lunch went by just as slowly as she thought they would, making the day seem like it was taking years to finish. Finally, last period came around, and just her luck, it was a Save the Citizen day. Everyone changed into their PE clothes and gathered in the gym. Taylor and Speed decided they'd be the first villains of the day, and Taylor felt the need to "embarrass the new girl", so she called Ivy down to be one of their hero's to fight against. When Taylor looked over at Warren and saw anger rush over his face, she called him as Ivy's partner, thinking it was time to teach him a lesson about respect.

Ivy sat her messenger bag on the bleacher closest to the arena, and pulled on the protective gear. Warren walked over to her and stood by her as she made sure everything was fastened on properly. Ivy ignored Warren's stare, and looked up at Coach Boomer angrily. She saw his face pale and a sad attempt at a smile that ended up being more like a worried lip-twitch. She focused again at the arena.

"Ivy." She looked at the coach annoyed. "Go easy on them."

She smirked and turned to face Taylor who was already forming ice spikes in her palms. Boomer yelled "Battle!" and Taylor launched a spike at Ivy, who just barely made it out of the line of fire. Warren threw a fireball at Taylor before he was knocked over by Speed. Ivy saw Warren crash to the ground, and the lights above them flickered. She looked back at Taylor who chucked another spike at her, and the lights flickered again. Ivy hid behind one of the benches momentarily, before it was frozen solid. Ivy stood and glared at Taylor who smiled a wicked smile and sent a blast of ice straight at her.

Ivy rolled out of the way, and stood to stare at Taylor. All her patience was officially lost.

"Would - you - stop - trying - to - freeze me!" Ivy yelled at the top of her lungs as she ran forward, and all the light drained from the room; overhead lights and outside sun included. All the students screamed, and Boomer used his sonic voice to tell everyone to stay seated. The light slowly returned and the students began to calm. Warren looked over to where Ivy had been just a moment before, and he saw torn remnants of her gym clothes and protective gear. He looked back and forth all over the arena, and opened his mouth to call her name.

A snarl made the entire gym freeze, and Warren's voice never came. All the students looked towards the entrance to the arena where the snarl had come from, and a larger than normal white panther stood staring at Taylor. The panthers black, grey and white eyes stared, fixated on the freeze-girl, and Taylor's blue gaze was locked in terror staring back at the panthers. The panther took a few steps towards the girl, making her take twice as many back.

Speed was the first to react to the panther, and he super-sped to try to knock the cat off its feet. The panther was completely un-phased by Speeds' speed and tore into his route, ripping him straight off the floor. The cat held Speed's leg between it's teeth, and tossed him aside like he was no bigger than a twig. The unusually large panther turned it's attention back to Taylor who began throwing more ice spikes. The white cat dogged them, quickly making its way over to terrified girl.

When the panther was nearly ten feet away, it pounced from the floor, knocking Taylor down, pinning and holding her there, growling and snarling at the girl. The panther lowered it's large head until it was but inches away from Taylor's, and it's stare bore into her eyes. She screamed as the panther hissed at her, it's black iris's and white pupils growing larger and more pleased with her response by the second.

"Stone!" Boomer used his sonic scream again, and the panther backed off Taylor, but not before giving one last growl. The panther turned it's attention to the citizen who was about to be sliced and diced, then it turned its large head to Warren who had been staring in amazement at the entire spectacle. The cat snarled at Warren who in turn looked in the citizen's direction. Warren shook his head clear of the distractions and ran over to save the dummy.

After he cut the dummy down and the match ended the cat stalked away to the changing rooms. Re-emerging more than fifteen minutes later, Ivy was changed and angry. She went straight to Boomer and his conversation with Warren, Will and the rest ceased immediately. Boomer turned to face her and immediately jumped back when she lunged her fist towards his face. Her knuckles collided with his right eye and he yelled in pain.

"I'm not--" He mumbled clutching his eye.

"Do you have any idea what you made me do! Do you understand what I could have done to her!" She screamed at the coach causing all her friends to leap back and give her plenty of space. "I could have killed her! How could you allow me in there!" As Ivy's voice rose and her eyes grew narrower and darker, her hair slowly started to fade from it's natural white to a flaming red. Her eyes turned her panther black, and her pupils split down the center more-so than they were already, and not white but red. Her ears slightly pointed in the cartilage, and her hands flexed while her nails grew and extended into something between hands and paws. She stopped yelling at the coach, unaware that her appearance had changed. All her friends simply gaped at her. The coach's face paled more than it had already, and he took a few more steps back from her, still clutching his eye.

"Ivy--" Zach started but stopped quickly when she whipped her head to face him and their friends. With only a side view before, they now saw her black and red eyes and their worry turned to fear. She saw the looks on their faces and she realized that she was no longer human. She took a step back, as if trying to escape herself. She looked down at her hands and she shut her eyes as hard as she could. When she reopened them, her hands were normal once again, and she felt her hair fade back to white with it's black streaks. She looked at Boomer who stared at her in complete horror.

"I-- I'm sorry-- I didn't--" Her wide, shocked eyes tried to apologize when her voice failed, but there was nothing she could have said at that moment that would have made a difference.

Boomer looked towards her friends. "You all should take her home. School is over and she shouldn't be here right now." His voice was dry and shaky, and he did not look at Ivy again, but walked out of the gym.

Warren went to her, and reached out to take her hand.

"Don't -- touch me." She said, unflinching. His hand froze midair at the cold warning, and he retracted it immediately. The light in the room grew dark and heavy, and she looked at her friends. Their fear had been replaced by confusion and questions, and she knew at that moment that should she wish to keep them in her life they needed answers. She turned to walk out of the gym and stopped when no one followed her.

"Are you coming?" She asked over her shoulder. Will looked at Layla, who nodded and the five friends followed their feline friend.

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Next chapter clears everything up, I promise! Reviews!! =)