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Chapter Thirteen: When Things Go Wrong

Before either of the three could blink, she was behind them, their backs still facing her even before they could make process of her absence. Lash and Speed tensed as they abruptly pivoted around to face her, both swearing vehemently under their breath as they realized just exactly what was soon going to follow next. Brody, however, was completely oblivious.

Both villains, including their initiate, neither had the time nor the room to react before they were thrusted powerfully into the open air and through the absent hallways, their bodies smacking sickly against the tiles of the Sky High walls. Their groans of abrupt pain made Evelyn smirk appreciatively, 'fucking bastards deserved it...'

Anger soon replaced their expressions as they bitterly stood up and glared over in seething contempt.

“I’ve just about had enough of this bitch,” Lash snarled, his arms building up with rigid tension. Speed grunted his agreement. Narrowing his eyes into slits, he reached out his arms, slinking and coiling them out intentionally toward her destination.

Taking the lead of his partner, Speed began hurtling himself forward, his plump form moving swiftly and soundlessly down through the hall. Ethan, taking notice, purposefully melted himself along the boy’s path, making certain that the wetness clouded around him trailed hazardously down the floor tiles.

The portly, blurred form went skidding, his body crashing solidly against the nearest wall for a second time.

Zack, standing up himself, huffed a breath of underlying relief.

A cry alerted his attention and his eyes widened as he saw Evelyn get thrown and flung viciously backward, her backside impacting loudly against the exterior of metal lockers.

'Oh shit...'

Brody.

The boy’s arms were raised and a vindictive, gleaming smirk was plastered chillingly across his face.

His form was rapidly approaching her, his strides purposeful and his hand hovered in front of him.

The boy not only had levitation, but also gravitational abilities for as Zack gazed over at Evelyn, he saw her standing and pinned unwillingly against the wall, as if by an invisible, unforeseen force.

Shit…!

Gazing below him, Zack hissed, “Ethan…”

A melted, orange puddle suddenly materialized and pooled itself next to his feet. “Go get the guys, I’m gonna try and hold them off.”

The puddle hesitated.

“I mean it, Man. Go! This is about to turn fuckin’ ugly…”

8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8

They were all standing lazily around Majenta’s locker, conversing quietly amongst themselves. Maj was flipping busily through her textbooks, trying to figure out which she needed the most and talking casually to Layla. Will and Warren, however, were exchanging class notes in a conspicuous fashion.

“Don’t even start, Stronghold,” Warren hissed, “I spent two hours on those pages and yours had better be good...”

Will rolled his eyes. “Dude, I wasn’t mocking you. Last time, you took your notes by the lectures. I’m just saying that the tests usually go by the books, the teacher’s an ass that way and mine are usually more detailed than yours.”

Warren snatched the notes gruffly out of his hand, his eyebrows arching critically as he read off the pages. “Okay, so what? And by the way, your spelling sucks.”

“I could say the same about your handwriting,” Will shot back.

The two scowled at each other.

Layla rolled her eyes dramatically. Even Majenta eavesdropped on their conversation, retorting rather tonelessly. “You two argue like my grandparents.”

Both turned their attention simultaneously towards the girls, each glaring at their loudly out-spoken input.

“WILL!” a voice interrupted.

Arguments and words were abruptly forgotten as Ethan came skidding toward them, his face contorted in pure panic and his chest heaving wildly. “Guys, you two need to come quick!” he squeaked, his gaze set purposefully onto the two boys in front of him.

Will rolled his eyes. “Let me guess,” he spoke in an unsurprised tone, “Lash and Speed, right?”

“Not just them,” he breathed, “They have this new kid with them named Brody, and he’s pretty big and has powers of gravity. Elektra and Zack need your help-“

That got Warren’s attention. “What?"

The question came out as more of a biting growl, making bystanders and even his friends snap around abruptly to attention. Ethan visibly cringed.

“Elektra...?” Layla questioned.

“Yeah,” Ethan gushed out heatedly, his eyes fearfully avoiding Warren’s. “Zack is trying to distract them off of her like we learned in Hero Support but this Brody kid… He’s really powerful and last I saw, she wasn’t doing too well. Three against one isn’t exactly looking to be very favorable odds right about now…”

Not needing any further insight or information, Warren grounded out angrily, “Where?”

Ethan wasted no time, “C-hall,” he answered.

Warren took off abruptly, Will and the rest of the sidekicks quick at his heels. Flames seeped and erupted vigorously out of his arms, spreading with erratic intensity from beneath the heavy, coated planes of his leather jacket.

Will glanced over nervously, his hands shifting compulsively down at his sides. When Warren became this enraged, it was most certainly a frightening sight to see. No one would even dare dream of wanting to be at the receiving end of his often deadly, and near blinding, fury.

He just hoped that no one would end up getting hurt… or, at the most, killed in the aftermath of all of this.

He hadn’t seen Warren this angry since sophmore year.

8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8

Zack was pinned to the floor, Lash straddled atop of him. He couldn’t move and his way of “distraction” had been by barreling the elastic boy down to the floor and punching him square in the jaw. Unfortunately, that had only served to further fuel the villain kid’s anger.

Zack winced as another blow crashed solidly into his face, the boy’s knuckles no doubt branding themselves harshly into imprints upon the soft, pale contours of his skin.

A crowd had gathered, encircling themselves everywhere as the on-going fight continued around them. He didn’t know how Elektra was holding up but this was most certainly not the outcome he had anticipated.

Beyond him he could hear Brody’s taunting voice… “The great Elektra’s daughter, huh…? Pathetic. I’m almost disappointed…”

“How do you like that, sidekick?” Lash snarled above him, punching him for another round.

Zack, despite the intense numbness and throbbing pain, gritted his teeth. “You punch like a pussy,” he hissed, hoping to distract him and his exploding anger long enough until the "calvary" could show up...

8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8

They pushed through the crowd, everyone’s gaze averting when they saw Warren’s enraged countenance, “MOVE!” He snarled.

Will quirked a silent smile of amusement as the Sky High student body parted abruptly down through the hallways in fearful silence, their eyes widening into the size of saucers as the snarling, combusted form emerged aggressively from behind them

As they moved out of the way, however, Will’s smile faltered.

Zack was pinned to the floor, Lash hovering above him. Blatant anger was etched across his features, no longer set into the usual patronizing expression. This wasn’t just a mere bully picking on a victim, this was a pure and outgoing fight of pent up animosity.

'God, what in the hell did Zack actually do to piss him off so much...?'

A riveting chaos had ensued the halls and beyond the vantage point of Lash and Zack were Evelyn and a new, unfamiliar face. No doubt, this “Brody” character that Ethan had made mention of.

Not wasting any time, Will picked up Lash, hurtling him, hard, against the nearest adjacent wall. Speed was off in the distance. At first, a triumphant smirk had been plastered across his face. That is, until he saw Warren and Will show up...

Zack sat up slowly, blood trickling down the front of his nose and shirt. “Thanks, man,” he murmured, his voice thick and heavy with underlying pain... and relief...

Will kneeled down next to him carefully, Majenta suddenly at his side. “You okay, Man...?”

“Yeah, I’ll live,” Zack groaned. After gaining his bearings, the albino looked over beyond them, his eyes widening.

Evelyn Elektra was up against the wall, her eyes glazed and her face taking on a tint of blue as an invisible force constricted itself vengefully around the base of her throat. Brody, neither as skinny nor as thick as his comrades, was standing gleefully in front of her, his hand held up in the air.

“Leave her alone!” Warren roared, hurtling a blistering, circular inferno out toward his opponent.

Brody yelped loudly, the flames effectively impacting his backside and sending him, skidding, down toward the end of the hallway. Flames etched and radiated down along his torso, making the younger boy howl loudly in agonizing pain. The material of his shirt was seared through and the smell of burnt flesh reeked and lingered through the open air around them.

Extinguishing the flames abruptly at his arms, Warren stepped toward her, effectively catching her slumped form with protective ease down along the wall. The girl, this time, was conscious and she coughed and gasped piercingly, her hand massaging gently down the soft and tender flesh once abused and gripped with bruising, constricted force.

“You okay...?”

She gasped in a couple of breaths, calming herself back into normalcy...

Seeming to realize their positions and gaining her bearings... “I’m fine,” Evelyn answered curtly, recovering, and a bit miffed by the resulting conflict. Her pride was most certainly wounded...

She looked up wearily at Warren. “… You can let me go now, Peace.”

Warren, his arms still encircled around her, shrugged and backed away from her in silence. It was odd watching the two. He hovered over her by a mere few inches, but both were staring fixedly at one another and with the same, underlying intensity.

Warren seemed to regain his composure. His eyes, however, held anger. “Next time you decide to do something that stupid,” he rebuked harshly, “Make sure you have someone there that can actually back you up.”

“I was fine,” Evelyn hissed. “And I don’t need you, of all people, telling me what to do as if you were a condescending parent.”

Warren arched a mocking eyebrow, retorting rather sarcastically, “Yeah, you looked like you were handling yourself quite well. After all, the kid was only trying to choke you to death.”

Evelyn’s eyes flashed dangerously as she glared with visible irritation.

Warren merely stared back challengingly, unperturbed.

Their standoff lasted for a mere few minutes before it was abruptly interrupted by a curious Will and a slightly disoriented Zack. “You okay, kid?”

From Warren’s side, Evelyn shrugged. “I’m fine. You look worse for wear though,” she answered sympathetically.

“Heh, you ain’t kiddin’…”

A small group was forming around them and Evelyn shifted uncomfortably with the attention she was gaining. Warren, taking immediate notice, stood closer to her rigid frame, his face blank and void of emotion.

Zack, however, was actually stunned and thrilled to death that she had actually acknowledged and even spoke to him...

The moment, however, was short-lived.

“AHEM...!”

The interruption was sharp and crisp to their youthful ears and all eyes, fearful, turned simultaneously in near dread.

There, in all of her disciplinarian glory, stood Principal Powers, her arms crossed and a disapproving scowl narrowly engraved across her face.

This was by far from being a good sign of positive outcome...

Will gulped fearfully. Evelyn and Warren merely stared at her with blank expectancy and everyone else... Well, everyone else just scampered away and cleared the halls like a pack of silent rodents.

'What a great way to start the morning off...'