Author's Note: Alright! Here we go! No distractions, no tangents! Let the fic begin! I've been wondering for a while where I was going to take this fic now, but now I know!

A throng of students rushed through the doors to the Sky High, cheering, talking, yelling, and whooping. It was the last day of school. Sunshine fell down unhindered by clouds, and the dislodge of students dissipated onto the school's front lawn. While everyone struggled to find their clique, Warren Peace leaned against one of the cement statues commemorating another one of the great heroes they were supposed to know all about from hours of Hero History. Will, his boyfriend, was floating ten feet up in the air, serving as a beacon for their friends. Magenta was the first to find them, dragging a very smitten Zack behind her.

"Hey, there's Warren!" Zack said, giving a wave to the newest member of their circle. "But how did you know he was here?" he asked his girlfriend. She rolled her eyes upwards, and Zack's followed the motion in her gaze.

"Oh." He said, abashed. "Hey Will."

His friend nodded, and continued to levitate, scanning the crowd for Layla and Ethan. They arrived a moment later, having followed Magenta and Zack vicariously through their brightly-colored ensembles. Ethan was out of breath, and Layla was her usual rosy-cheeked and smiling self.

"So, what are you guys doing for summer break?" Layla asked, now sitting cross-legged on the grass.

There was a long-standing policy on the last day of the school year at Sky High to allow the students one whole hour to socialize before two months of separation. The group was contentedly lounging about in the broad shadow of the statue Warren had been leaning on. Now he was sitting on the lush lawn of the school with his legs outstretched, and his boyfriend's head in his lap. Zack had his arms locked around Magenta's elegant waist, which she would probably tolerate only for the next ten minutes, even though she loved it.

"My Mom got me into a summer science camp at her work." Ethan said. "But truth be told, I'm not that interested." Eyebrows flew up all over the place.

"You not interested in science? What's wrong?" Will asked.

"My Mom's weird." He offered in explanation.

Divorcee Emily Turner, formerly Emily Drummond, worked at NASA as an astro-physicist. The only thing she and her son shared was select genes and a love for science. Her ex-husband had been a superhero, and neither of them had been able to adjust to the others lifestyle. Thus their relationship ended in an earth-shattering divorce battle over the house, the cars, the investments, but not Ethan. He'd felt left-behind ever since that joyous family court hearing, when neither of his parents declared an irrevocable need to have him. He figured he had to give his Mom some credit for trying to engage with him though, and for accepting his lack of astounding superpowers.

"At least she doesn't try to set you up with mushy, wimpy, dual-powered brunettes." Warren joked, giving Will an affectionate smack on the stomach. Will feigned hurt with a perfect pout and creased brow. The effect was ruined when he burst into laughter at Warren's trademark smirk.

"What about you flower-girl?" Warren asked.

"I'll be volunteering at my Mom's vet clinic, but other than that I'm free." She said nonchalantly as pink carnations and azaleas sprang up around them.

"I've got nothing." Zack said. Magenta elbowed him in the ribs. "Except for dates with my awesome girlfriend." He quickly added.

"Two months of free-time for watching movies, eating junk food, and not doing work." Magenta said with a very rare smile plastered onto her face by purple-painted lips.

"I'll be working three-on/four-off at the Paper Lantern, and spending most of my days off terrorizing Stronghold."

"My Dad's got that covered – he wants to go camping for two whole weeks. Kill me now." Will whined.

"Get a summer job, then you can't go. There's no way they'll give you two weeks off when they only have you for two months." Ethan suggested.

"He'll insist that I work at his and my Mom's office, in which case I will get two weeks off for the ridiculous camping trip."

"Suck it up babe." Warren said.

The hour passed far too quickly for anyone's liking except for Boomer and Medula. The two steered students onto the buses and rooted cliques out of their hiding spots. The school year was over, and no one was looking forward to kicking up their heels more than the staff of the school. Medula had once again managed to keep his summer school schedule clear, which had caught the attention of Principal Powers. He was anxious to escape the school parking lot before she found him.

Maxville was buzzing with the spirit of summer. Picnics, barbecues, fireworks on most nights of the week, and students complaining about summer reading assignments floated through the air as threads of the season. Not everyone was celebrating the warm weather though.

"We're getting weaker by the second!" the black-haired man yelled. He was lean, pale, and his eyes were the iciest shade of blue. "We have one week until the summer solstice! One week to enact our plan, and you've uncovered absolutely no information useful to us!"

The object of his intense, momentary hatred was the pretty, young, blonde girl sitting at the table across from him. Her eyes were the same crystalline blue, and her skin was just as milky pale and opaque. The girl flinched, causing her sleek stands of blonde hair to rustle. The angry man turned to the only other male sitting at the elegant dining room table.

"Please tell me you've got something for me Lucian." He demanded. The boy had the same blonde hair as the girl, but his eyes were black and his skin was tinged just a shade or two darker.

"Father, I beg your pardon, but I think you have misunderstood me." The girl cut him off before he could even open his mouth to speak. "I said that I did not know how to retrieve the crystal form its hiding place, not that I did not know where it is hidden." Her smile was sickeningly sweet and bitterly cold. The man with the dark hair's features changed instantly. A smile spread slowly over his face, and he turned back to his daughter, all trace of his former anger vanished.

"Then enlighten us Monica, where is the crystal?"

"Steve stronghold embedded it in King Kamaya Mayhem's surfboard." She answered.

"Then why don't we just break into the Stronghold's house and steal it?" her brother asked impatient and frustrated. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Because it's not there Milo, you imbecile. The Strongholds loaned out that particular piece of their collection to NASA, to study how its previous owner used it to increase his strength and power." Monica answered.

"Milo, Monica, be civil. Which of you can tell me how King Kamaya Mayhem's surfboard increased his abilities?" he looked at each of his children in turn. Neither offered a reply. Monica averted her eyes to her plate. Miles focused on an all-blue portrait hanging on the opposite wall.

"He subverted the ice-based powers in the crystal inside of the fire-based power of his surfboard. It's not that it made him stronger, it just made him invulnerable to ice – the first thing anyone could think to throw at him."

The voice came from a girl leaning in the doorway. Her hair fell in soft red-brown curls half-way down her back. Her eyes were a vibrant green, and her lips were set into a firm line. She was wearing a black leather jacket over a purple t-shirt, blue jeans, and black boots.

"Elizabeth." The man said, gesturing for her to come closer. She stayed put, and he stared at her coolly.

"Morgan." She said in greeting.

"What is she doing here?" Monica demanded snottily.

"I assigned her to monitor the movements of Will Stronghold and his little gang. After all, they threw quite a wrench into Sue's plans this fall, don't you remember?" Morgan replied. He nodded to Elizabeth, and she was gone in a flash of black leather and dark-tinted blue jeans.

"Can she be trusted?" Milo hissed the question to his father.

"It's not as if she remembers, and besides, the resemblance is not that profound. Even if the boy does notice, it will only unnerve him and make it easier for us to work our plan. Now stop flapping your tongues and start being useful to me." His voice turned deadly cold at the last sentence.

His children got up from the table and left him alone. He took his glass of wine in his hand, and made a toasting gesture to the largest portrait in the room. It was of a blonde-haired and blue-eyes woman, much like Monica.

"To you Maria. It's all for you."