23A/N: Hey y'all! First ever Sky High fic! Do support :D Nicely-constructed criticism is appreciated, flames are not. I'm not sure how old Warren is in the movie, so I made him a junior. I've also made Lash, Speed and Penny juniors. I'm not familiar with how the schooling system corresponds with the ages, so I'm just going to assume that freshmen are 14, sophomore 15, etc. Okay? If you can explain it to me, I'll be so very grateful, and you'll get a shout-out in the next chapter. It might not be this story, but one of my other stories, depending on what comes out next. :D
Contains SlightlyOOC! Warren, PossibleGood! Lash
Presenting, the first chapter of Blackness in Thy Heart!
RINGGGGGGGGGGGGG!
The alarm clock on the white bedside table vibrated as it rang loudly, piercing the eardrums of the sleeping girl. She groaned, head pounding from the annoyingly loud sound. First day of junior year at Sky High. Dayum.
RINGGGGG-
What was previously known as a clock now lay in smithereens on the marble floor of her bedroom. She lay back in bed, trying to catch a few more winks of sleep.
"VAETRIX NOIRE! GET UP!" the white figure of her mother's head floating above her screeched.
With a lazy flick of her hand, she dissipated the cloud of magic with her own.
Vaetrix Noire. Daughter of the White Maiden, courtesy of her white and gold magic, and some unknown person whom she had a one-night stand with. Step-daughter of the Elastic Man, and unfortunately, step-sister of Jason Livingston, more commonly known as Lash, school bully at Sky High.
She has the ability to manipulate magic, much like her mother and grandmother.
Magic being like the sparkly substance that most children see in movies or fairy tales. Though, she's not a fairy, more of sorceress. She can manipulate magic with ease, forming things such as force fields, wings, weapons, etc.
Most would kill to have this power, but they don't know the little secret this family power has. When she uses this power, it slowly consumes more and more of their soul.
When it completely "consumes" the soul, one has to pass a test. If one passes, one'll remain the same. If one fails, one lose their powers, or worse, die.
Scary? Not really.
One other little thing. They're ALL allergic to roses. Yes. Roses. The ultimate flower of love. That means no pretty roses for Valentine's Day because that makes her ill and completely fucks up her magic.
Grumbling as she crawled out of her comfy purple comforter, she headed to the bathroom. Floor-length mirror facing her, she ran her brush through her unruly mane that most call hair.
Her vibrant purple eyes stare right back at her, taking in her long black hair and pale skin. Her distinct and unusual eye colour usually mean that she always wins staring contests. People seem to find it unnerving when her eyes start glowing after a while.
Vaetrix was about 5"4ft… Decent figure, C cup chest, sort of small waist and wide-ish hips. She also had black birthmarks in the shape of swirls and some runes on her arms, much like her mom.
After completing her morning hygiene ritual, she flung open the doors of her rather impressive wardrobe, if she does say so herself.
Hm, what to wear, what to wear? Ah, there we go. With a literal snap of her fingers, her chosen outfit came floating out of the wardrobe, aided by small black and purple particles of magic.
A long-sleeved black dress, the top part was just black with a simple V-neck, and the bottom part was something that resembled a voile skirt, with purple and black stripes with a few black layers to finish off. It reached to just below mid-thigh. Along with her black combat boots which were totally badass by the way, her purple sling, a touch of eyeliner and lip gloss, and she was ready to go. The unique part about her wardrobe is that all her tops or dresses all have open backs to allow for less ripping of clothes every time she form her wings.
Downstairs, her mom was making breakfast with two teenage boys and her step-dad sitting at the table. James, her step-dad isn't so bad. He's always looked out for her, comforts her when Lash bullies her or just about life in general. In fact, Vaetrix has zero problems with him. It's just his son who happens to think that 'hey, messing with Vaetrix is fun!' The idiot never learns, but he's still her brother, evilness and all.
His best friend, Speed, or Raymond Veto, is just as bad. There's just one difference. He has a crush on her. Years ago, back when they were kids, Lash dared Speed to tell him one of his secrets and with her using her powers trying to blend into the wall, she overheard. The guy still doesn't know that she knows. Apparently the theory 'boy likes girl, so boy teases girl' is true, because, Speed has never relented on the pranks he and Lash play on her.
"Vae, a little help here please?" her mom calls from the stove where she's expertly frying bacon and scrambled eggs.
When she's not out stopping crime and saving lives, she works as a chef in a very high-class restaurant. Vaetrix can cook basic meals, but a gourmet five-course meal? No way.
The five plates of scrambled egg sitting on the counter beside her look like they're all gonna crash to the floor if she so much as tries to shift any of them a single millimetre. Shaking her head, she transported the plates from the counter to the kitchen table with her sparkly-floating-thingy.
"Thanks hun!" Mom flashes her a quick smile before she herself sends over a huge plate of bacon.
"Morning Vae," James nods to her from behind his newspaper.
"Morning," she replied, flashing him a smile.
Speed and Lash, who immediately started gobbling down the food as soon as it was set down, simultaneously looked up and mumbled something unintelligible before continuing with their pig-out fest. Rolling her eyes, she piled her plate with food.
As soon as they finished breakfast, the two boys rushed out the door with barely a goodbye.
"Have a good day at school!" Mom yelled as the door slammed.
Sighing, she sent something out the window, no doubt giving the boys the message they so obviously had not heard. They'd probably receive it on the bus. She never took the bus, not since the first day of high school…
Not five minutes after Lash and Speed left, she too left the house. Yay for school! Note sarcasm…
Kissing Mom on the cheek and giving James a hug, Vaetrix headed into our backyard so their neighbours wouldn't see and formed her wings. Her wings were in fact tattoos on her back, 'printed' on in its most basic form, much like Angel Salvadore's from X-Men. However, if need be, her wings could morph into that of a real angel, like a bird's, feathers and all, only in black with some undertones of purple. Basically her magic could form solid objects if need be.
Her wings unfurled from their position around her shoulders and back, fluttering a few times before actually lifting her in the air. Smiling as she zipped up into the air, Vaetrix felt the wind gently caressing her face. Ah… It's like nothing one would ever experience, the freedom of just hovering in the clear blue sky…
Vaetrix turned into a small black blur, hurtling through the skies until she saw the huge floating platform that was Sky High. The school building was very well architectured, though it kinda looked like a library to her…
The big yellow school bus emerging from the cloud beside me seemed to be full of freshmen, all airsick from the bumpy ride that only Ron Wilson could guarantee. She'd sat in the school bus on the first day of freshmen year, and vowed to never sit in it again unless absolutely necessary.
She slowly descended onto the middle of the school, her boots dragging on the ground slightly, the downward draft causing her hair to whip around her like some crazed maniac. Pshhhhh, she's not, is she?
Her wings curled slowly as they flattened themselves against her back and shoulders once again. Vaetrix saw the group of freshmen stumbling down from the bus, looking a little queasy. Haha, they were gonna have to suffer through 4 years of this. It was kinda funny to realise that 2 years ago, she was one of those currently slack-jawed freshmen, staring stupidly at the school and the student body. Watching Lash and Speed attempt to intimidate them was rather amusing, until Gwen Grayson stepped in.
Oh god. She absolutely cannot stand that girl. First of all, pink. Too much pink. She has nothing against the colour itself, but Gwen really wears too much of it. She gives her a sickeningly sweet feeling that makes her feel like puking whenever she stays in her presence for too long. She likes good girls as much as the next person, but she just gives her this off feeling that she can't really pinpoint. Lash and Speed are always hanging around her, along with Penny Larson.
She walked into the hall and headed to her locker.
THUD!
A book hit her head and dropped to the ground. Vaetrix whipped around, intent on finding the asshole who had the nerve to throw a book at her head, a ball of energy already swirling in her hand. Then she spotted a laughing redhead standing by a locker, presumably her own.
Elizabeth Collins, Vaetrix's best friend, possessed the power of telekinesis. She launched the energy ball in her hand towards her with a mere flick of her hand, causing her to panic and scramble for a hiding place, only for the fizzling ball of energy to dissipate only inches from her. Relief and irritation was apparent on her face.
Vaetrix walked towards her and smirked, "That's what you get, Collins."
She glared at her, but a small smile soon lit up her face as she stared past her shoulder at something Vaetrix couldn't see. Without even turning around, she knew who Elizabeth saw.
Lash.
It's the 'best friend falls for brother' cliché, but Elizabeth's been smitten with Lash ever since she came over in freshmen year. She was head over heels for him, who probably thinks of her as just his kid sister's friend. Although, she's been successful in making sure Lash never found out, keeping calm whenever he spoke to her, rare as that was.
Vaetrix rolled her eyes, and snapped her fingers in front of her face, breaking her out of her Lash-induced trance.
"Had enough of my brother, Liz?"
"Mm…" Liz sighed dreamily.
"Urgh, I'm off. Call me when you're out of Lashland, I'll be at my locker…"
"Haha, very funny. Say hello to him for me!" Liz called out.
Vaetrix ended up at her locker, which had been her original destination, at least before someone so rudely threw a book at her head. Her locker was located in a rather deserted hallway and was surrounded by nerds, who she had nothing against, just saying. The nerds carried their books around in their bags all day, so they barely ever used their locker. Which makes it perfect for…
"Hey beautiful," Vaetrix felt a pair of warm, muscular arms wrap themselves around her waist, and their owner's chin rest on her shoulder, while she was placing her textbooks into her locker.
"Hey yourself," she closed the locker door and turned around to look at her boyfriend, Warren Peace.
They first met in freshmen year, when they were paired together for Mad Science. They were a practically enemies at first, both being hot-tempered individuals, then slowly warmed up to each other after he sort of saved her from a couple of guys who were harassing her outside the Chinese restaurant he worked at. Vaetrix couldn't use her powers, because of the risk of exposure. However, Warren with his then already imposing figure managed to act as her boyfriend and scare them off.
They only started going out in sophomore year though, because they were both too "shy" to admit our feelings. Ironic for people who are pretty much notorious for their tempers. They'd never told anyone but Liz. Lash found out after a while, and Speed as well, by association. Though they made them promise not to tell anyone else, unless they wanted to either wake up in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean or burn a slow and painful death.
Vaetrix leaned in, aiming for his cheek, but he turned at the last minute, so she ended up kissing him on the mouth. Cheeky bastard. He gave a small smile and pulled her closer to him, nuzzling his face into her vanilla-scented hair. She pressed her nose into his hard chest, taking in his warm, earthy scent.
"How was your weekend?" Warren released her and leaned against her locker.
"I flew to Canada to get maple syrup for James, Mom ran out. Yours? "
Not even raising an eyebrow at the odd reply, he answered, "I went to visit my father."
Vaetrix froze. Warren never ever mentioned his father, even though he was too young to remember when his father was imprisoned.
"Really? What did you do?" acting nonchalant, Vaetrix took hold of a lock of his shoulder-length brown hair and coiled it around her slender finger.
Warren shrugged, "He asked about Mom, and school. I told him about you."
He looked at her in an almost-cautious way, as if seeking her approval. Well, he must have spotted some kind of change in her expression, because he continued talking.
"He wants to meet you. Is that okay?" Warren tilted her chin up, gazing directly into her eyes, his smouldering obsidian orbs filled with hope? Wow. He must really want her to meet his father.
"Of course," Vaetrix smiled.
"Thanks you," Warren leaned in closer to her, their noses almost touching.
"You do know that this means he's going to be the first one of our parents to know about us, right?" she murmured.
Warren gave an unintelligible reply before closing the gap between their lips. Her hand immediately tangled itself into his highlighted hair, while his hand wound around her waist, pulling her closer. This kiss was a gentle one, rare, coming from two very passionate people. Their lips melded against one another's perfectly.
After a few second, they pulled apart, smiling softly at each other while they tried to catch their breath. The bell rang and they headed towards their classes.
Class went on as usual, Vaetrix and Liz were in the same classes, slacking off in some, and paying attention in others like the good students they are. Heh.
Lunchtime came and the stream of freshmen coming from the gymnasium held a multitude of expressions. Some looked smug, a few looked relieved, and others looked like a puppy in a ditch, while the rest looked nervous. Vaetrix remembered her own Power Placement…
Flashback…
"Vaetrix Noire!" Coach Boomer yelled out her name, looking up from his clipboard to search for said student.
The black-clad girl stepped up to the podium, looking just a tad bored. Coach Boomer shot her a look and snapped, "What's your power, girlie?"
"I can manipulate magic, and fly," Vaetrix revealed her wings and the freshmen let out a collective gasp at the intricate wings sprouting from the diminutive girl's back.
Coach Boomer gave a small noise of disdain and pressed button that launched her into the air. Vaetrix caught herself in the air, as her wings moved rapidly to keep her steady. She zoomed around the gym, performing a few tricks before landing next to Coach Boomer.
"Alright, flight. Magic manipulation?" Coach Boomer wrote something down on his clipboard.
Vaetrix's purple eyes glowed, and Coach Boomer was lifted in the air by what seemed like a paper plane, but made entirely of black and purple particles. After a second or two, the paper plane hardened and became solid. It then descended and a small staircase formed at the side to allow Coach Boomer to get off. After that display, the whole plane just dissipated.
The students just stared slack-jawed at the display of power. Coach Boomer jotted a note down and proclaimed her as a Hero. Vaetrix flew off the podium and retracted her wings while Coach Boomer called on his next victim…er…student.
Flashback end…
Vaetrix and Liz were chatting as they queued up for their lunch, and spotted one of the new freshmen taunting what looked like a walking glowstick by shapeshifting into Coach Boomer. Said glowstick cowered and stuttered his apologies until the shapeshifter resumed his original appearance. The two girls simultaneously glared at the bully, and nodded once to each other.
With a small twitch of her finger, Liz lifted the bully straight into the air and pulled down his pants, revealing his underwear for the world to see. A large black sign solidified in front of his face, saying "Stop bullying sidekicks, at least not in plain sight." It only stayed there for a couple of seconds before it dissipated, but it was long enough for the student body to get the message and burst into laughter. The now steadily growing red freshman struggled in mid-air against Liz's telekinetic powers before she none too gently set him down.
Exchanging a discreet high-five, the girls retrieved their lunch and sat at an empty table to eat. Vaetrix caught Warren's eye across the canteen and winked.
She saw him roll his eyes, and stuck her tongue out at him. Then Warren's attention seemed to shift to a younger boy, presumably a freshman, and his friends who had sat down right in front of him. He glared menacingly at the boy who seemed to be a tad too patriotic in her opinion. She raised an eyebrow.
"Stronghold," Warren mouthed.
Nodding, Vaetrix continued eating. Liz tapped her arm and whispered, "Who is that your boyfriend is trying to burn with his eyes?"
"Stronghold," Vaetrix whispered back.
Liz's peachy lips formed an O before returning to her Hero Sandwich. They scrutinised the company Stronghold kept and quickly gave them new names, since they didn't know their real ones. Streaks, Hippie Chick, Glowstick, Orange, and Stronghold was just Stronghold. Lunch passed and they headed to their next class. History of Heroes and Villains.
They entered the classroom and sat down at the back of the classroom. Not long after, their teacher, Mr. Sanders entered the room. He was a non-nonsense kind of teacher, but one with a sarcastic sense of humour which made him one of the more well-liked teachers in the school. He also possessed perfect 360 degrees vision along with enhanced hearing, meaning nothing ever escaped him during class, especially since he taught a class that most students weren't really interested in.
"Alright, class. Settle down. I will be assigning all of you a partner, and they will remain your partner for the rest of the year. No exchanges, no complaints, unless it's a life-or-death situation. Understand?" Mr. Sanders stated, staring straight into each of the students eyes.
A chorus of murmured "Yes" or "Yeah" rang out. Nodding in satisfaction, he began calling out pairs.
"Peace! Samuels!"
Warren and a timid looking girl stepped up and sat in the first row. Vaetrix and Liz giggled silently at the way the girl seemed to be walking on eggshells around Warren. Mr. Samuels continued calling out names, until he reached Vaetrix.
"Noire! Veto!" Speed high-fived Lash and sped over to Vaetrix, pulling out the chair for her in a faux-gentlemanly way. Vaetrix rolled her eyes, but sat down nonetheless.
"Hey Speed," Vaetrix gave Speed a smile. The boy seemed to melt a little in the presence of his crush, but straightened up immediately after catching a smouldering glare from her hot-headed boyfriend.
"What's up?" Speed grinned at the raven-haired girl.
"The sky."
And the two burst out in laughter.
"Livingston! Collins!"
Liz's doe-like amber eyes widened marginally and sent Vaetrix a look that was something between panicky and ecstatic. Vaetrix just shook her head and just made a shooing motion.
Lash stretched over to his seat beside the redhead, and turned towards her. He gave her his trademark smirk and said, "Hey, you're Vae's friend, Elizabeth right?"
Said girl nodded hurriedly, and replied, "You're her brother, Jason."
Lash sent the girl a heated glare for the use of his real name, earning a smirk from the cheeky telekinetic. He leaned into speak into her ear, "Fiesty, are we? I like that."
A blush soon formed on the girl, but she managed to reply in a breathy whisper, "We'll see about that."
Lash chuckled and settled in his seat, his leg stretching out to trip another boy as Mr. Sanders called his and his partner's name. A smack on his arm revealed that his partner had seen what he did.
Oh, he was going to have so much fun this year.
"Vaeeeeeeeee, please please please… Just this once… Spare me the torture of sitting in the bus…" Liz shamelessly begged her best friend.
Laughing, Vaetrix shook her head, "No, I've told you a thousand times. People will notice if you suddenly arrive home on a floating platform or somehow fly home with wings."
Just then, a familiar striped arm wound itself multiple times around the redhead's waist before lifting her into the air, the striped appendage retracting back towards its owner.
"Bye Liz! I'll see you later!" Vaetrix bid her best friend goodbye, who was grumbling about having to take the bus, striped boys whom she somehow liked and selfish best friends who refused to help.
Nevertheless, Liz rose a hand in acknowledgement before she reached where Lash and Speed were standing. Vaetrix then headed to her locker, where a certain hothead was waiting for her. She pecked his cheek and placed the unneeded textbooks in the locker.
"Heard about Stronghold?" Warren asked, smirking just a tad.
Vaetrix smacked the side of his head lightly with her hand. By the end of school, everyone had heard about Stronghold washing out of Power Placement due to the lack of powers. Warren's mood seemed to significantly become better as soon as he heard.
"The boy hasn't done anything to you yet, don't start anything," Vaetrix placed both hands on her hips, trying and failing to make herself seem more imposing.
"Of course," Warren said, bending down to kiss her nose," Does it look like I would?"
She pushed him back slightly and put her arms around his neck, "Yes, yes you would."
He rolled his eyes and asked, "Any plans tonight?"
"Yeah, I'm meeting Liz for a movie and maybe dinner…at the Paper Lantern…" Vaetrix trailed off, noticing the glint in her boyfriend's eyes, before narrowing them at him, "You're on shift, aren't you?"
"Maybe," Warren teased.
Vaetrix 'hmphed' and turned away from him. He let out a husky laugh before pulling her to him, back flush against his muscled chest, "I'm free this afternoon. What do you want to do?"
"Hm…" Vaetrix twisted around in Warren's warm embrace, "Watch a movie with me."
"I thought you were already going for one with Liz?" Warren arched an eyebrow.
"Can't I watch one with you? My parents are at work, Lash will be with Liz for History, the house is all empty. Guess you don't want to spend time with me, alone in the house…" Vaetrix trailed a finger tauntingly down his chiselled jaw.
She got what she wanted. Warren growled and nipped her finger, "Well, in that case…"
Vaetrix grinned, before pulling Warren into a passionate kiss, her hand entangling itself in his luscious locks, while her other hand cupped his cheek. Warren had one hand around her waist, and another behind her head, trying to deepen the kiss. Vaetrix smirked into the kiss.
Works every time…
A/N: That's all for now! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the story :D Please tell me if you think there's something off with the story, or just the characters. Is Warren too OOC? I thought he would act differently when he's dating someone, so… Please give me feedback! No flames though. Reviews are love.
Vixen ;)