Chapter 8

Wilbur took a deep breath, glancing up at the large looming mansion. Normally, Penny's house looked warm and welcoming and he felt like he could just walk through the door. But then again, normally, he wasn't in the midst of an argument with Penny. He reached out his hand, and hesitated before slowly knocking on the ornate wooden door. His spell of nervousness was quickly broken as soon as he heard Bolt barking at the door. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and allowed himself a slight smile.

The barking slowed as footsteps approached the door, and before Wilbur could even blink, the door swung open, revealing a tired looking Penny, holding a squirming Bolt. Penny looked Wilbur up and down before going to close the door.

"Penny- Wait!" He yelled, pushing his foot in front of the door before she could close it all the way. "I just want to talk!"

Penny glared down at his foot, angrily wishing it would just vanish. "I don't want to talk to you Wilbur." She stated, pushing the door harder.

"Please- ow- just hear me out! I- ow- I brought ice cream." He cringed, biting on his lip to not yelp in pain.

Penny paused at the door, no longer pushing at it, and set Bolt down. "What kind?" She inquired, and Wilbur couldn't help but smirk.

"Butter pecan." He stated, knowing full well that that was Penny's all time favorite ice cream flavor. She opened the door, and finally allowed Wilbur access.

"Get in here before it melts." She began down the hallway, and Wilbur ducked in the door, closing it quickly behind him. Bolt jumped up and down, barking at him, and Wilbur knelt down, petting the white and brown dog.

"Hey bud! How's your day been!" He laughed as the dog barked and ran around in a circle. Penny glanced over at them, and couldn't help but crack a smile as she returned to the couch, around which papers were strewn about.

Wilbur looked around the room, slowly standing up. "Where's your mom?" He asked, taking note of the papers all around.

Penny sighed, sitting down and causing a flutter of papers. "Work. She got new evening shifts." Penny's mom was a nurse, and had been working day shifts ever since Penny started real school and stopped acting. Wilbur frowned, looking down.

"Oh, I didn't know she changed her schedule…" He bit his lip, realizing he hadn't talked to Penny about her life in a long while. Most of their free time together was spent watching movies, talking about their friends, and other things that couples just do in general. But Wilbur couldn't remember the last time they talked about their families with each other.

"You never asked." Penny stated simply, picking up a paper and skimming the contents. Bolt hopped up on the couch, crushing a few papers under his feet. Penny sighed in frustration and picked up Bolt, setting him down gently on the ground.

"I'm… I'm sorry. I… I've been an absolutely terrible boyfriend." He replied, saying the words as he realized the truth. Penny looked down, neither confirming or denying the statement that hung in the air.

"Do you even want to be with me, Wilbur?" Penny asked, her light brown eyes boring into him, almost like she knew the answer already. Wilbur looked down, swallowing a spoonful of ice cream.

"Penny, of course I do." He reached over, gently taking her hand. "You're my best friend."

"Best friend and Girlfriend are not the exact same thing." She stated, standing up and walking into the kitchen.

"Well sure they are." He followed her there, leaving the pint of ice cream behind on the coffee table. "I mean, at least I think so…" He rubbed the back of his neck, glancing down.

Penny sighed, opening a drawer and grabbing a spoon. "And that's your problem. You think they're the same thing. You think you're a good boyfriend. You think you think you think, but do you ever think about me and what I want?" She slammed shut the drawer, hurrying to the couch.

"I-..." Wilbur paused a moment, his hand fiddling with the ring that was still on his finger.

Penny looked down, taking a deep breath and trying to keep herself from crying. "Maybe we're just not meant for this, Wilbur. Maybe we're just better off as best friends." She stated with simplicity. Wilbur looked at her, his mouth gaping, and his heart feeling like it was being stabbed into. He swallowed the lump that was quickly forming in his throat, and took a deep breath.

"Are… are you breaking up with me?" He asked in disbelief. His mind honestly couldn't grasp the idea, he thought that their relationship was pretty good and happy. But.. apparently he was wrong.

Penny bit her lip, letting her her long hair fall into her eyes. "Yes, Wilbur. I'm breaking up with you." The words hung in the air, and Wilbur blinked a couple times. "We're better off as friends." Those last words were like twisting. Wilbur took a deep breath, and nodded a bit.

"Ye...yeah. I guess you're right." He looked down, scratching the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry…" She said quietly, not looking up, trying to keep the tears at bay.

"No… it's not your fault. You're just speaking your mind." He said softly, walking over to his stuff.

"Wilbur…" She bit her lip, guilt swelling in her chest.

"I'm just gonna go…" He walked over to his stuff, slinging his bag over his shoulder. He left the ice cream behind, and headed for the door, ignoring the dog who was hopping up on his leg. He glanced back at Penny, who was standing at the entrance to the kitchen, her hand slightly outstretched.

"You're still my best friend, you know." He said softly, and closed the door behind him.

Penny stood in the entrance to the kitchen for a few more moments, her heart thudding so hard she could feel it in her ears, so loud she couldn't stand it. She cried out in frustration, running upstairs to her room, Bolt following close at her heels. She flung herself onto her bed, curling up in the fetal position, and tried to cry.

But she couldn't. The tears didn't come. She wasn't sad, she was just… angry. She sat up, straightening, and grabbed one of her multitude of pillows, launching it across her room. It landed on her desk, knocking down her jewelry box, and spilling out the contents on the floor. She sighed, standing up and walking over to the tangle of necklaces and bracelets. She groaned, trying to get the chains separated and away from each other, but she only managed to make them more tangled. She threw down the clump, and Bolt barked, whimpering at his owners distress. She shook her head, and then suddenly, one of the necklaces caught her eye. Green and black, with a long black leather cord. Penny picked it up, turning it over, feeling a wave of desire washing over her. Without thinking, she pulled the necklace over her neck, and pressed the button. She blinked, realizing what she was doing as the technology stored in the necklace flowed over her. Soon, she was covered in a tight suit with the same black and green colors as the necklace, that had grown with her body over the years. She took a deep breath, looking down at her gloved hands, turning them over. Part of her mind told her to just deactivate her suit and clean up the jewelry, but the other part of her wanted an escape, and this was the perfect opportunity. In the end, the escape won out. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes, and began to hover. She floated around her room, reaching up to the top of the ceiling, but quickly grew bored.

"It can't hurt to go out to the backyard, can it Bolt?" She asked the dog, who barked in response. She smiled a bit, rushing down her stairs and outside through the back. A euphoric feeling burst out her chest as she started to fly up to the air, reaching her height of twenty feet. She was right up with the rooftops of her neighborhood, and looked out over to Wilburs house, her heart and self sinking a bit as she recalled what had just went down. But… then she noticed the figure climbing down the tree. She furrowed her eyebrows, her eyes narrowing, then widening as she realized it was Wilbur. She watched as he hopped out of the tree, and began to walk down the streets quickly, with purpose. Before Penny could even think about what she was doing, she began to follow him. Curiosity was getting the better of her, and she just needed to know where he was going and what he was doing. She floated down, a little closer, but still remaining far enough that she couldn't be seen. Wilbur glanced around, before looking down at his ring, and twisting it. Penny's eyes widened as she realized what he was doing, and watched as his own super suit formed around the young man. She could hear him take a deep breath, and then he began running at top speeds. Penny gasped, rushing after him, pushing herself to go as fast as she could, but she simply couldn't keep up with him, he was just too fast. Penny cursed, taking a moment to pause and catch her breath.

"Dammit Wilbur." She muttered to herself, searching along the streets for the blur of the boy. She quickly spotted him near the entrance to his neighborhood, talking to someone. She frowned, narrowing her eyes, trying to get a better view of whoever it was that he was talking to. She floated down, getting a bit closer, and quickly recognized the familiar figure as Hiro Hamada. She gasped a bit, then quickly covered her mouth, noticing another slender figure walking towards the two boys, another figure that she realized was Violet Parr. She bit her lip, trying not to get mad at the fact that these three were gathering without her.

'You're the one that stopped hanging out with them.' Penny thought to herself.
"Shut up" She said to herself, before realizing that talking out loud was a very very stupid three looked up at nearly the same time, and Penny quickly ducked behind a tree, the leaves rustling as she did. She held her breath, holding tightly onto the branches.

"We should go." A voice said, one that she realized was Hiro's. "I don't think we're alone here."

Penny backed up, further into the tree. She felt like a stalker, but at the same time she felt extremely alone and without friends. Half of herself wanted to to stay in the tree and leave when she knew they couldn't seen her. But the other half of her wanted to come out and show herself.

But really, she didn't get much of a choice, as the branch broke, and she fell about 5 feet to the ground. The three teens turned to where Penny landed, looking over at her with shock. Penny scrambled back, her eyes wide.

"Penny?" Wilbur asked, walking towards her, his eyebrows furrowed. "What are you doing here?"

"I-... Well…" She brushed her hair behind her ear.

"You're not here to spy on us, right?" Hiro asked, crossing his arms.

"Wh...what? No. No I-, spying isn't the right word. I was just-"

"Just what?" Violet questioned.

"I just wanted to know what was happening and why you left me out of it!" Penny exclaimed.

The three of them glanced at each other, looking bashful and confused all at the same time. Wilbur sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Look, Penny, I was going to tell you, but…" He drifted off, looking down, and Penny frowned.

"It's not that we didn't want you here, Penny, it's just, we figured you wouldn't want to be here." Violet said quietly, not making eye contact with her.

Penny bit her lip, tears forming in her eyes. "Oh… I… I understand." She looked down, discreetly wiping away tears.

"I, for my part, told Wilbur to tell you." Hiro said, breaking the tension with his usual humor.

"Hiro!" Wilbur exclaimed, flushing a bright red. Penny took a deep breath, shaking her head.

"No, you guys weren't wrong. Ten minutes ago, I wouldn't have wanted to do anything like this. But now… Yeah, I'm all in. So long as I don't have to work with Wilbur." She stated, glaring at the taller of the two boys. Wilbur looked down, his blush deepening. "Anyway, I can put aside my…" She paused for a moment, "Personal feelings, and get down to business. Why are we here?"

Violet sighed, tugging at her short black blue hair. "Wilbur… Wilbur has reason to believe that Syndrome is back."

Penny's eyes widened, staring at her in disbelief. "Wait, what? No, you're playing a joke on me. This whole thing is just a joke, right?" She looked to Wilbur, her face full of fear.

Wilbur looked down, kicking a rock. "Penny, I tried to tell you, but you wouldn't leave your friends."

Penny's heart sank, realizing that she had been doing exactly what she had been mad at Wilbur for. "I… I'm sorry." She said quietly, looking at all her friends, lingering on Wilbur for a moment longer. She took a deep breath. "Is there anything we can do to find out if it's true?"

Hiro smirked, crossing his arms. "That's exactly what we're doing here. Wilbur, wanna show us where you heard the conversation?"

Wilbur nodded. "Yeah, follow me." He began walking, and the team of young heroes followed with purpose.

Alright, another chapter out! Hopefully you enjoyed it and found it worth the long wait that I unfortunately have because making lesson plans currently takes up all my time!

Enjoy!

-Mary