I just got out my notebook and started to write, and it's a good thing that I write really small or I would have run out of pages FAST. So enjoy.

Chapter 3

Normal Kid…? Yeah Right!

Danny and the other kids cringed at the sound of the shrill whistle piercing their ears, and being part ghost made the young halfa's senses a little more keen and sensitive, even when human, making the noise worse for him.

Coach Boomer didn't waste any time and quickly picked the weakest looking kid from the group in front of him. The poor kid was practically trembling in fear as he stuttered out his name to the man who would pretty much decide the student's fate for the next four years. Everyone waited as the boy walked up the steps to the platform to stand facing the entire freshman class; to either show off a cool power or possibly be humiliated.

"Alright, go on ahead and power up, kid," Coach Boomer instructed, clipboard and pen ready in hand.

A swell of pity rose in Danny for the kid: being first to get up in front of the entire class was always something that made the infamous ghost boy grow weak kneed and want to hightail it out of class as fast as possible and hide in a dark hole for a few years. He and the rest of the students there watched in anticipation as the kid took a deep breath and stretched out his arm in front of his body towards a set of bleachers.

Nothing happened.

A few people looked around, confused; to see if anything had happened yet. Coach Boomer started to grow impatient and was tapping his foot rapidly against the platform floor. Danny, however, could sense a strong amount of power building up in the boy's outstretched hand.

Coach Boomer had seemed to reach the end of his patience though. "Any day now," he snapped. "I have better things to do than to just—"

"Um…sir?" Danny had no clue what had caused him to interrupt the larger man, and a twinge of regret rose when the teacher sent him a dirty look. He didn't need for a teacher to already hate him… and before lunch too!

"What is it, kid," Boomer spat out.

Danny gulped nervously under the coach's icy stare. "M-Maybe we should wait a little longer?"

"And why should I?" Boomer demanded, putting his fists on his hips and looking darkly at the raven-haired teen that had the audacity to interrupt him.

"Nothing," Danny raised his hands in surrender. "I-I-I j-just think that you should give him a chance…" he stuttered.

Boomer glared down at Danny, making the ghost-boy fidget slightly in his spot.

'Why do gym teachers have to be so scary?' was what crossed Danny's mind as he felt Boomer's eyes bored into him.

Danny let out a breath and continued, "If we just let him have a little more time I'm sure that—"

"Look," the gym teacher cut him off, "I got at least twenty-two kids here to place." He held up his clipboard and jabbed his finger in the ghost-boy's direction. "I don't need some smart-mouthed punk telling me how to—"

BOOM!!!

Everyone jumped in surprise and turned towards the sound of a very powerful blast; a set of bleachers that had previously been there not even a second ago were now nothing but a pile of charcoal and smoldering ashes. Students closest to the pile of ashes trembled in fear as the slowly turned their heads to see the kid panting slightly as he lowered his arm back to his side.

Coach Boomer blinked before regaining his composure. The gym teacher took out his pen and scribbled briefly on the clipboard in his hands. "Hero," he simply said. The kid sighed in relief and was about to step down when Boomer addressed him. "What's your name, kid?"

"Um…Jordon, Jordon Peace," the boy named Jordon replied.

"Any relation to Warren Peace?" Boomer questioned.

Jordon nodded. "Yeah, he's my cousin."

"Better not be another hot head…" the coach muttered under his breath. "Alright you can step down now, you're done."

Jordon complied and jumped off, and walked back to where he had been standing before. Several students took a few steps back in order to let him pass. Danny starred at Jordon who stared back for a second before giving the halfa a small smile. Danny smiled back, unaware of Boomer's eyes suddenly landing on him.

"You, smart-mouth." Boomer pointed at Danny in a manner similar to an executioner picking out a prisoner to torture. "Get up here," he commanded in an authoritarian tone.

Danny whipped his head around. "W-W-What?" he stuttered.

"Didn't you hear me? I said to get up here. Now!" The authority in Boomer's voice was crystal clear and there was an edge of his infamous sonic boom in it as well.

The young hybrid didn't wait another second to comply and walked up the steps with every step increasing the rate his heart beat, pounding roughly against his rib cage, to the point that it could probably make a hummingbird's look like it was going at a snail pace. Clenching his fists in order to keep his hands from trembling so much, he took a few breaths to calm his fluttering heart. His instincts were screaming for him to run away from there, away from the eyes that were all centered on him. But for some reason he stayed put on the platform.

Danny gulped nervously as everyone waited for him to demonstrate how much of a wimp he was or if he had a good chance to survive the next few years to come.

'I better just start with the basics,' Danny thought. 'That way I'll know if what I do is just fine or if I should show more.' And besides, those were the powers that he had the most control over and probably wouldn't give him away of being a half-ghost.

Boomer gave the go ahead and Danny instantly disappeared a second later, making a few people gasp. Danny smiled at their reactions. 'Alright, so far so good.' He dropped the invisibility and switched to intangibility, sinking into the floor and phasing out to levitate a few feet off the floor next to Coach Boomer.

As soon as he dropped to the ground, Danny became aware of the stifling silence all around him and the gaping stares many kids were giving him; even Boomer had an odd expression on his stern features. No one seemed to move, they were all staring at the halfa, who was feeling like a deer in front of a pair of very bright headlights at the moment.

Boomer was the first one to snap out of it, clearing his throat. "Hero," he simply said, breaking the silence in the gym.

The teen nodded and was more than happy to finally get off the platform and out of the spotlight but he could still feel the eyes of several people boring into him like a drill. Nervousness shot up the half-ghost's spine as he tried to ignore the curious stares that his future peers were giving him and the hum of whispers around him. To take his mind off of them, he diverted his attention to the next person being placed.

A girl was up there now. She was pretty, and sort of reminded the blue-eyed boy of one of the dolls that Jazz used to play with when she was seven.

'The only thing missing is the frilly pink dress and big bow in her hair,' he mused with a soft smile.

She flipped her long brown curls and addressed everyone with a tone of confidence. "You might want to stand back," she warned.

Everyone walked backwards a few feet. After what Jordan Peace did, everyone wanted to be on the safe side to avoid any injuries. The girl brought her hands parallel to each other and clapped them. A sonic wave was released, efficiently shattering every window in the gymnasium (along with several ear drums in the building).

She smirked, turning towards Boomer. "Well?" she asked, bored, sounding like she already knew the answer, but just merely wanted to make sure everyone else knew.

"Hero, but fix that attitude of yours, missy," Boomer ordered, shooting her a glare. No one would give him any lip or bratty comments, not while they were in his domain. "You want to start off with a detention your first day here?" he threatened seriously.

The girl sniffed haughtily, getting off the platform. Danny could have sworn he had seen her smirking at Boomer, like the gym teacher had said something humorous, and she was the only one who caught the joke. She noticed Danny staring at her and gave him a flirty smile and winked at him. Danny could feel his face heat up a bit; he turned his head to try and hide his blush and the confusion advertised on his features.

Was she flirting with him?

Boomer then called forth a really big guy, who looked like he could've easily crushed a boulder with his bare hands in a second. Heck, Danny bet he could even make Dash and the entire Casper High football team run home crying with just a twitch of a finger. A few of the kids around Danny were whispering bets about how the guy probably had superhuman strength or was indestructible.

That seemed like a pretty safe bet in Danny's opinion.

The semi-pro like teen stood ready to get the placement over with already, brows knitted together in impatience.

Before he started, though, Boomer addressed the class. "Okay, before we continue on with Power Placement, in order to avoid any more destruction to the school, and more importantly my gym…" He sent a dirty look at Jordon, who stared down at his shoes in embarrassment, and at the brown haired girl who just smiled innocently. "You will therefor have to tell me your power before you demonstrate. That way I can turn on the necessary defenses to prevent any more damage."

With that said he stepped aside and let the big guy have center stage. In a deep, gruff voice he said, "My name is Bruce and…I shrink."

Well… that unexpected.

Bruce took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Immediately his large size became smaller and smaller until he was about as big as a five year old and then, suddenly, he stopped.

"That's it?" Boomer asked, unimpressed, "You can't shrink any more than that?"

"Um… no," Bruce admitted lamely.

"Side-kick."

Bruce grew back to his normal size and walked back down the stairs dejectedly with his shoulders slightly slumped and a sound coming from the back of his throat that sounded slightly like an animal growling. No one dared to make fun of him, considering the vibe he was sending out practically screamed, 'You say one word or if I see you laughing, I'll crush you with my bare hands.'

Despite the feral look in Bruce's eyes, Danny couldn't help but feel slightly better. It ruled out the possibility that people had been staring at him because they thought he was some wimp. Especially, after seeing some of the other kids' powers (one kid could change colors, another could talk to ants, and another could even turn into a giant M&M).

That didn't mean that there weren't others who intimidated him, such as the Jordan kid. Danny was impressed by other powers that could be pretty useful, such as, supersonic hearing and speed, telekinesis, and one boy even had x-ray vision (he had used it on a girl to see through her clothes and had received the a nice slap/punch in the face). The ghost boy couldn't help but notice, though, that all the kids had displayed only one type of power…

'Maybe they have other powers but just didn't want to show off,' Danny felt a little stupid and awkward, thinking that he had made himself look like a showoff. Probably even really arrogant. He didn't want people to think that he was some sort of egotistical jerk. That would be worse than people labeling him as some sort of geek.

The sound of the bell, signaling the beginning of lunch, drew the youngest Fenton out of his thoughts.

"Alright, people, we have five more to go. We'll pick it up right after lunch." Boomer waved his hand in dismissal, never taking his eyes off his clipboard. Everyone eagerly rushed through the double doors of the gym and headed towards the lunchroom. As the year's batch of freshmen stampeded out the door, Boomer's eyes glanced up and followed a certain raven-haired boy out the door, then back at the clipboard in hand.

He quickly scanned down the names until he found the one he was looking for: Daniel Fenton.

Boomer grunted despondently, tucked the board under his arm, and pressed the button on his remote to retract the platform back into the gym floor. This kid… was going to give him problems. He just knew it in his gut.

Danny had no clue where the Lunchroom was, so he just followed the mob of hungry students. Staying silent the whole time, blending into the background, Danny entered through a set of double doors that had a sign over them that read "LUNCHROOM". Well, at least he managed to find the lunchroom without getting lost, which was a big relief.

He got a tray and filed into the line of hungry students waiting to get something to eat. Even though the food there seemed much more appetizing (and actually edible), Danny chose to simply get a sandwich and an apple. He handed the lunch lady the money and started to look for a place to sit.

The cafeteria was already packed and the fact of the matter was, despite facing enemies on a daily basis who wished to annihilate him through various and violent means, meeting new people was still an experience that the youngest Fenton child was less than adept at. If Danny Fenton had to choose between introducing himself to other kids his age or fighting Skulker, he'd choose the obsessed hunter that wanted to hang his pelt on his wall hands down.

At least with the hunter ghost the ghost boy knew what to expect and how to react.

Someone calling out from across the room drew Danny out of his thoughts. "Hey, hey! Over here!" The kid from the bus, Zach, was beckoning him over to a table near one of the windows. Danny felt a wave of relief hit him as he walked over with his tray in hand. He smiled out of politeness and gratitude at Zach and sat in the empty seat across from him.

"Hey man, how's it going?" Zach held out his fist in greeting, which Danny pounded returning the warm welcome.

"Okay, I guess," Danny simply replied, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

"So what category did you get put in?" Zach took a sip of his juice, watching Danny for his answer.

The blue-eyed boy swallowed before answering. "Um…hero."

"Really? Sweet man." Zach seemed genuinely happy for the boy across from him. "That's uh, really great." He was about to say something else when the other two kids from that morning showed up and took a seat each next to Zach.

There was another kid with them that Danny didn't know who took a seat next to Danny. He had long, black hair that reached down to about an inch past his shoulders with a red streak on one side. The kid also wore a lot of black and leather, and had the whole "don't mess with me" vibe coming out of him. The leather wearing teen glanced over at Danny.

"Who's this?" He pointed at Danny.

"This is Danny," Magenta spoke up, absently opening her juice. "He's new here. Danny this is Warren."

"So you're a freshman," Warren clarified.

"I-I guess…" was the oh so intelligent response that the nervous ghost boy was able to give.

"Well in that case, you must have already met Boomer then." Warren gave a sincere smile.

"Yeah." Danny nodded. "Is he always—"

"Yes," everyone chorused in a monotone.

"Nice to know," Danny grumbled into his sandwich. Great, just what he needed—another insane, military nut-like gym teacher.

"Don't take it personally; he treats everyone like that," Magenta reassured him.

"Either you're on his good side or his bad side," Zach added.

Everyone at the table stopped talking to eat their lunch for a bit. Warren was the first to break the silence at the table. "Well it's been nice meeting you, Danny, but I got to run." Warren's chair screeched against the cheap tiles of the floor as he got up to leave.

"Off to get some before class, eh, Peace?" Zach said suggestively; he raised his hand for a high five. "Nice! Up top." Warren sent Zach a glare and he nervously lowered his hand to his side, gulping in fear at the intensity of Warren's glare. "…or not."

Warren stalked off without another word. If Danny didn't know any better he could've sworn he had seen that guy's hands start to smoke a little.

Quick, in order to keep himself from looking like a fool in front of the new kid, Zach cleared his throat, coughing a bit into his hand, and tried to come up with something smart to say. "Yeah, well—uh…"

"Smooth," Magenta said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Danny bit back a laugh and just watch, amused.

Zach shifted uncomfortably in his chair before abruptly changing the subject to something that wouldn't end with Magenta, or anyone else, downplaying his so called 'street cred'. "So, Fenton, what's your power?"

Danny was caught off guard by the simple question and nearly choked on his sandwich. Magenta cut Danny off before he could reply. "Hey, did you guys hear about that one kid in Power Placement?"

"What about Power Placement?" Danny wondered anxiously, a feeling of dread started to form in the pit of his stomach.

"Apparently there was this one kid who has three powers," Ethan informed him, holding up three fingers to emphasize.

"No way!" Zach exclaimed. "Three?"

Ethan nodded, confirming it.

"What's so bad about that?" Danny asked casually, trying to keep the rising panic in his chest down.

"It's not bad," Ethan explained. "It's just that… most kids only have one power. Two powers are rare and occur most often in kids who have two super-powered parents."

"But a kid with three powers is like really, really rare," Magenta finished. "As in only one in a million, and even that's only if you're lucky."

Danny stared down at his half-eaten sandwich in his hands, all of his hunger leaving him as soon as he heard those words. 'Great,' he thought miserably. 'And just when I thought I could finally be normal, I end up being the 'special one' in a high school for super-powered kids.'

"So what are this kid's powers anyways?" Zach asked curiously.

"I didn't hear what they were," Ethan admitted. Then turned his attention to the new addition to their lunch table. "Hey, Danny," he said, drawing Danny away from his half-eaten lunch. "You were there, right? Do you know who this kid is?"

Danny felt his heart speed up. He was a terrible liar and this time he didn't have his friends or his sister to help him out of this one. "W-Well, I uh… um—"

"Hey guys."

Danny turned to see two people behind him. The one who had spoken was wearing a lot of green, adorned with numerous environmental buttons, and had long flaming red hair that was tied up in a ponytail/ Her whole outfit made Danny think of an exotic plant when he looked at her. Her companion next to her was a boy that had brown hair and seemed about an inch taller than Danny. He wore a red shirt that had blue and white stripes going down the sleeves and around his chest, and plain blue jeans.

"Hey, Will. Hey, Layla." Ethan greeted the newcomers warmly.

The two known as Layla and Will sat next to each other in the last two available seats at the table.

Danny glanced at them; so these were the two that he was hearing about on the bus. He was eternally grateful for them appearing at that moment, saving him from having to reveal his powers to everyone and the awkward gawking that was sure to follow.

"Oh! By the way, you guys, this is Danny Fenton." Zach gestured towards Danny.

He waved shyly and greeted them politely. "Hi, nice to meet you."

Will stretched his hand over the table to shake Danny's hand. "Same here. I'm Will."

"Hey, Danny, I'm Layla." She smiled warmly at him and looked at him curiously. "So you're new here right?" Danny nodded. "Well, you're going to like it here. The student system is a bit less biased than it was last year."

"Good to know." Danny smiled back, a little less tense now.

"So how was your summer, you two?" Ethan asked Layla and Will.

"Actually… not that bad." Layla nodded, sending a smile at Will, who smiled sincerely back.

"You two crazy kids kept it clean, right?" Zach mocked in a deep father like tone. Will coughed nervously into his hand and diverted his head to keep anyone from seeing him blushing. Layla shot the blonde a dirty look and made the veggies in his sandwich slap onto his face. "Okay." He wiped some mustard off his face. "I deserved that."

Magenta grinned and just couldn't resist as an idea crossed into her mind. Taking a slice of ham, she slapped it onto Zach's face, much to his astonishment and everyone else's amusement, completing the sandwich on his face.

"What was that for?!" he cried out in disbelief. What did he do that he deserved to have a slice of meat put on his face?

She shrugged and beamed at him innocently. "It's a good look on you, Zach," she said with a sweet smile that could have given anyone cavities.

"That's whack, yo," he grumbled, taking some napkins and wiping the food off his face.

Danny just sat there, silently watching and laughing in his mind as he watched an almost exact replica of what his friends would normally do at lunch time (though he wasn't too sure if Sam would have touched any meat at all). Just any little thing that reminded him of his friends back home helped to calm his mind and provide a small ray of hope that maybe, just maybe, he'd be able to fit in for once. Even if he had more powers than the average student he could just simply not show them.

Easy enough.

And yet… why did he still feel like an outsider, somehow? He shook his head to try and get rid of those conflicting thoughts. The whole thing reminded him about something Tucker had told him a while ago.

"…Danny, sometimes I swear that the whole ghost hunting thing is turning you into more of a pessimist than Sam. Lighten up and enjoy the moment!"

To be fair the comment had gotten him a Nasty Burger shoved down his throat by Sam but still…

Danny laughed inwardly, as he excused himself to go and throw the rest of his uneaten lunch away. He wasn't that hungry anyways. He made his way across the lunchroom to where the trash cans were, neatly aligned against the wall. People chatted away, soaking up the little freedom lunch brought them during the tedious school day. Danny paid no attention to them as he tossed his trash and headed back to where he had been sitting.

Just as he passed by a table that held a group of snickering kids, he suddenly felt himself tripping over somebody's outstretched leg and nearly ended up in a puddle of spilled juice near him. Had it not been for nearly a year of ghost hunting sharpening his reflexes, he would have been the butt of a very cruel joke. He brought his hands in front of him so that his palms took the blunt of the fall and then pushed himself back up with his arms and knees, much to the disappointment and surprise of those around him.

"Well, well, well," someone from behind Danny said in a mocking voice.

The person who had tripped him?

'From ten feet away?' he asked himself. Then again, this is a school for kids with superpowers,a voice in the back of his head pointed out.

"…Looks like we got us a freshman with some moves here, eh, Lash."

"Yes, it would appear so, Speed."

Danny tensed a bit when he saw the two guys that he had seen bullying some poor kid that morning heading towards him before stopping just a few feet in front of him. The ghost boy straightened himself in order to keep from looking too defenseless. These guys must be the ones that Zach, Ethan, and Magenta had warned him about— Lash and Speed. The skinny one was leaning casually against the larger of the two who had his arms crossed in front of his chest. Their eyes studied him like a hunter would study his prey before deciding if it was good enough game to hunt.

"What's your name, freshman?" Lash asked, bobbing his head at Danny.

"Danny," the young halfa replied hesitantly, "Danny Fenton."

"Well, Danny, welcome to Sky High. I'm Lash." Lash pointed to himself and then to his friend. "And this here is Speed."

"We're here to personally ensure that your stay here is as… pleasant as possible." Speed smiled, sounding much like a doorman at some hotel. But there was a soft warning underneath the sentence that Danny quickly caught. He didn't know much about these two but he knew that he had better be careful around them.

"Um, thanks?" Danny didn't know what else to say. Something was off here; he didn't like the way that several people were starting to watch them or the way the way his new friends had gotten tensed and were even glaring at Lash and Speed when one of them had tripped him.

"Oh course… our services do come with a price." Lash extended his hand in front of Danny, palm up and signaling for the ghost boy to hand over his cash. Danny's eyes widened in surprise as Lash's arm stretch out like rubber. He quickly got over his shock and mentally slapped himself for not expecting that in a school such as this.

"Hey, why don't you back off, Lash," Ethan said, walking up behind Danny along with everyone else.

"Oh, what's this?" Lash said mockingly, retracting his arm. "Looks like Popsicle finally grew a backbone." He laughed and put his hands behind his back. "Why don't you go back to your little loser friends."

Zach stepped up now. "Hey! These losers were the ones who kicked your sorry butts last year at Homecoming." He smirked at seeing Lash and Speed frown at the reminder and unable to resist, he also added, "Or have you two bone heads forgotten?"

Speed growled menacingly at the insult and in an instant was in front of Zach, shoving a finger accusingly at Zach's chest. "What did you call me? You little glow worm."

Now Zach was aware of the mistake he had made. "Who me? I-I didn't say a thing," he stuttered, wincing at the pressure on his chest that was definitely going to leave a bruise.

Speed backed off. "That's what I thought," he sneered.

"Why don't you guys pick on someone your own siz?" Will said as he narrowed his eyes at the two bullies.

No one noticed how the cafeteria was suddenly quieter and how all eyes were on them. Everyone in the cafeteria was now focused on the middle of the room. No matter what type of school this was, it was still a high school, meaning that people could easily pick up the smell of a soon-to-be-fight and would draw towards it like a pack of hungry coyotes on a freshly killed deer.

"Playing hero now, Stonghold?" Speed grinned. "Still sticking up for these loser friends here?"

Will unclenched and clenched his hands, trying to keep from just beating these two bozos back into detention.

Layla noticed her boyfriend's sudden flaring temper and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and whispered softly in his ear, "Don't, Will, they're not worth it; remember violence isn't the answer."

Will's demeanor calmed a bit as he took a deep breath and addressed the two tormentors. "My friends were the ones who beat you guys—"

"Through dumb luck," Lash cut in. "They may have been lucky then but what's to say they'll be lucky again this year?"

No one noticed that Lash's arms had stretched and slithered on the ground like snakes behind Ethan and Zach. Without warning he grabbed hold of their ankles and lifted them up to hang upside down as they yelped in surprise and tried to comprehend what had just happened.

"Hey what the—"

"Okay, this is seriously not cool, yo."

"Hey, let them go!"

Everyone was surprised when Danny spoke up. Even he was surprised at himself. Normally he stayed away and tried to avoid fights but he just couldn't sit back and let Lash and Speed hurt the few people who had actually helped him out today and had tried to be nice to him. His hero complex just wouldn't allow for that. No chance in hell.

Lash glanced over at Speed. The larger boy gave a sly smirk. "You want us to put them down? Alright we'll put them down…" Speed rushed over and grabbed two trash cans before anyone could do anything and positioned them directly underneath the two that were upside down. He turned to Lash and said casually in a mock friendly tone, "Alright, Lash. You heard the guy, let 'em go."

With that said, Lash let go of his grip on his two hanging victims and let Ethan and Zach fall into half full trash cans with a couple of 'oofs'.

Layla, Will, and Magenta rushed over to help their friends out of their nauseous confinements. The young Stronghold easily lifted the two out of the trash bins with his super strength as the girls began to try and clean some of the trash off of them. Will had half a mind to throw those two villains-in-the-making into trash cans…or in jail, where they were sure to fit in with the rest of the scum of the super powered world.

Unfortunately, they were still minors and only juniors so that meant they were still not able to graduate. The best anyone could hope for was for their sorry butts to get tossed into detention for the rest of the semester.

Zach looked over his now dirty (and smelly) threads in disgust and discouragement. "Aw man!" he whined, scraping off some mushy pink stuff off his shirt. "How am I suppose to keep my rep' up with the ladies smelling like last year's tuna fish casserole?"

Magenta and Layla looked at each other and rolled their eye before getting back at the task of cleaning their friends up as best as they could.

Ethan wasn't paying much attention to his tall friend and was more preoccupied on fruitlessly cleaning his spectacles with his dirty shirt. He put them back on the bridge of his nose and turned his head, squinting as hard as he could while trying to see past the smear of what he thought to be (or rather hoped) was chocolate pudding. He let out a sigh when he realized that it was no use.

The teen turned to his right when he felt someone put a gentle but firm hand on his shoulder. "You all right there, Ethan?" Even though Ethan had no way of seeing past the grotesque colored food on his glasses he knew that it was Will who was talking to him.

Ethan nodded with a sigh. "Yeah I guess." He pointed at his once translucent lenses with some regret. "But I'm not going to be when my mom sees me like this." He referred to his now ruined clothing. Which was an understatement… she was going to downright kill him. His ears picked up the voices of Speed and Lash and he remembered in a flash all about what was going on, prior to him being dumped into rotten food.

While Will and the others had been preoccupied with helping out Zach and Ethan, Speed had taken advantage of their distraction and was immediately in Danny's face with a similar look that the blue-eyed boy had seen countless times on Casper High's star quarterback. Only this time Danny didn't back down and pretend to be the weak little freshman he had lead almost everyone at his former high school to believe he was. Since this was a super powered place it was only fair that Danny evened out the playing field out a little. Especially since he could tell that the two guys in front of him weren't even going to try to play fair.

"I wouldn't butt in if I were you, freshman," Speed spat out menacingly at Danny.

"And if I were you I'd start by actually brushing my teeth," Danny shot back. Speed look taken back for a second, actually turning around to keep people from seeing him checking his breath, before growling and glaring at the fifteen year old in front of him.

Speed grabbed the front of Danny's shirt and pulled him close, raising his fist in a threatening manner. "How 'bout I just shut that smart mouth of yours with a fat lip."

"I'd like to see you try," Danny replied, showing no fear and refusing to back down.

Speed snarled and his shoulders tensed like that of an angered lion.

Okay, now was the time to act for Will and his friends, having sensed the danger that Danny was in. They barely got two steps closer when they had to come to a halt as Lash's arm and then his body stretched over to them blocking their path.

"Where do you think you're going? Huh?" He laughed, "Going to help your little charity case?"

"Let us through, Lash," Layla demanded firmly; despite her calm exterior she was more than ready to use her power to detain the bully if it came to that. "We don't want to fight you," she warned him, looking him straight in the eye.

Lash just shook with mirth and inhaled. "Yeah, well… I can't say that Speed over there doesn't want to fight as well." He shot them all a sarcastic smile, and with false regret sighed, shaking his head. "Oh well. Shame that your new freshman buddy is going to end up with a few bruises his first day here." He turned to Speed and asked, "Right, Speed?"

Speed smirked, raising his balled fists. "Right."

With a battle cry the junior swung his fist straight at the younger boy, using a bit of is super speed to add to the force. It was a classic move he usually used on the younger students of Sky High when they annoyed him or he needed to drive a point home. Danny seemed to fit the bill of someone who needed to be taught their place. As he swung his fist, the bully grinned with savage anticipation of watching the underclassman cower and fear him in the future; as most of the underclassmen had learned to do unless they could actually put up a fight against him.

This freshman was about to get a very painful lesson about the way things worked behind the scenes when the teachers weren't around.

At the very last second, before Speed's fist almost connected with Danny's face, the ghost boy turned intangible and easily avoided the punch lazily phasing his shirt out of the bully's grip. Speed gasped, leaving a wide opening for Danny to sink into the ground while grabbing hold of the large boy's ankle. Speed's eyes widened in surprise and fear when a strange tingling feeling washed over his entire body and gasped as his body literally sank through the floor up to his waist.

Lash was surprised to see his friend halfway sunken through the floor, like as if he was in quick sand. "What the—?" Lash started, surprised, but he was soon cut off guard by a strange tingling sensation that orientated from his ankles and feet and then traveled upwards through his legs and his abdomen. Then Lash could feel someone pulling him down through the floor.

Everyone gasped and looked on dumbfounded at the sight of Speed and Lash literally waist high in the floor. Speed desperately struggled to get out, trying to run as fast as he could, his body vibrating with his efforts, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, a very confused janitor in the basement below the cafeteria looked up with a bewildered expression at seeing the lower halves of two bodies sticking out of the ceiling. His mouth was slightly ajar and one eyebrow raised; a mop was clenched in one hand and an energy drink in another. He gulped and look nervously at the drink before throwing the half full can into a nearby trash can and walking silently away towards the nurse's office.... leaving behind two halves of students dangling helplessly in the ceiling.

There we go Danny sure is having a fun first day and the next day promises to be even more fun for him… I think…maybe… I don't know, maybe I should make Danny's life a bit more difficult. Just for the heck of it. Yes I'm mean but it does make for an interesting plot line don't you think.

In other news, I've learned two things: A) School should be illegal, and B) Never let your little sisters use your computer.

Thank-you to everyone who have been so patient and a special thanks to Inukagome15 for doing another great job editing this and preventing me from looking like an illiterate moron.