Disclaimer: I do not own Sky High, any Super!references or X-men, only ideas... If I did I'd have Warren and Remy as SLAVES! MWAHAHAHA...

FROSTBITE

Chapter One

Why is God so evil?

I mean hello, he gave my mother the great idea of sticking me into a school that teaches superheroes… super-stuff. I may be the daughter of Shadow-cat and Iceman but good God! I'm being treated like I'm made of china or infected with the plague! Of course this is my first day as a senior and I have to say, somebody (the coach) needs longer and less tight pants. What was with that anyway? Jeez, and I thought Piotr was weird. But of course here I am, being inducted into the flawed system that is the hierarchy of this particular school. At least I still had the possibility of going to the Institute…

"Name?"

"Emma Drake." I heard whispers from the kids, so my parents were heroes for the super-race and are, like, the talk of the town 24/7, no biggie right? WRONG!

"Power?"

"Ice and cold manipulation, hydrokinetics, and intangibility."

"Alright… Flamethrower." He said pulling out a stopwatch and clicked the button when the large machine descended from the ceiling. I went to ice mode and my body became a moving, living piece of ice. I got down on one knee, positioned my hands with my wrists pressing on each other while my hands were open and a large stream of ice soared at the flamethrower, effectively coating the nozzle in thick ice and frost. I powered down from my ice mode and stood, alert and ready for anything. "Car." He called and I went intangible as the car crashed down, I walked forward and when the car was out of my body I went solid again. "Hero." The car was lifted and I walked off the platform.

Lunch, why did God make lunch so awkward for new kids, I mean really, does he not have anything better to do than to embarrass us? I looked around for open seats, but most were taken. Then I saw it, the silver lining in this storm cloud called school, an empty table! I fast-walked casually to it and sat down… right when someone my total opposite sat down across from me. Right when my day was going good. He was obviously a pyro, seeing as he was all moody and his clothes were red and black. Does everyone have a color scheme here? I really shouldn't be talking, since I wear black and blue everyday.

"Move." He said; one simple little word. I rolled my eyes and looked around; everywhere else was booked up with friends talking and laughing… Where's Jubilation when you need her? The whole cafeteria was quiet except for a whisper from some green girl about a guy named Warren and 'getting into a fight again'.

"To where, the restroom? Your name isn't not on the table, so why should I? We live in a free country and I don't believe there is a little part of the continent that is Pyro-pia!" I said before he stood up and his arms ignited… Now I know what dad and Pyro went through. I smiled, 'this was going to be fun' went through my head, got up and powered up, my body and clothes becoming ice. "Bring it Fire Lad." I said motioning him to try and get me. He charged and I went intangible and he went through me. "Hmm, that felt weird." I sighed before going solid and throwing a quick ice blast in his direction. It froze the back of his waist down since he was stuck in the wall still. "You need to chill dude." I laughed before he sent a fireball at me. I jumped up, just like Jubilee taught me and did a back-flip in the air before falling gracefully into my feet, just as another fireball hit me square in the chest. I flew back, and in the process powered down and became flesh and bone again. I hit the wall hard, and I heard a few bones snap or crack. Pyro-kid stomped up to me, holding in his hand a fireball hot enough to burn me alive and let me suffer in pain afterwards for the rest of my short life before dying. Having an ice manipulating father with a pyrokinetic archenemy teaches you a few things about fire and pyrokinetics. I started whispering my Last Rites… What? It's not my fault that Rouge and her southern philosophy helped raise me! Not that I just don't love my Auntie Marie and Uncle Remy… Anyway, just before I met my fiery and painful end, I looked up at Fire Lad and saw Principal Powers standing there, not exactly looking happy. "Thank God and all his angels." I whispered as I felt two pairs of hands help me up. One belonged to the green girl, and the other belonged to All American Lad, he wore way too much red, white, and blue for my taste. Principle Powers escorted Fire Lad to her office while I went to the nurse for my broken bones… Okay, my spine was fractured and broken in numerous places but eh.

"Here dearie." The old lady with super X-ray vision said handing me a grape lollipop. "We'll get you to Saint Clark's soon so the real doctors can look at your back." She walked out and I sighed, longing to lie down on my back and count those weird dark marks on the ceiling like I usually do when I'm in an office of medical people... God do I sound lame.

"I'm Layla Williams." Hippie Green Girl said smiling. I couldn't help but smile back. "And this is my boyfriend, Will Stronghold." She said motioning to All American Lad sitting down patiently on the other side of the small room. "What's your name?"

"Emma, Emma Drake. I'm a senior." I said quietly. Apparently my hairline fracture in my jaw got a bit bigger during the collision with the wall. "My host family is so gonna get pissed when they hear about the fight."

"Who's your host family?" Layla asked looking down at me while I lay hurting on an examining couch thing. I won't say examining table because that would imply I'm dead. I'm not though, thank you very much. I looked up at the hippie and sighed.

"The Commander and Jet-stream. Will, you kinda remind me of them… Did your parents ever drop you off at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning?" I asked.

"Yeah… When I was little and they'd go out of the country… Whoa, Vicky, is that you?" Will asked getting up and grabbing my dangling right hand. There, on the back of my wrist was a scar from when I scrapped it against a tree my friend Willie and I played in back when we were five. He always thought I had bugs crawling in me afterwards. "Yep, it is you!" He went to hug me but when he remembered I had to lie on my stomach, he gently messed with my hair. I shook my blonde hair and it got messier and curlier.

"So you're a super now? Who'd you take after, Josie or Steve?"

"Both actually. I'm a weird child." He said trying to fix my hair for me. He failed horribly and Layla intervened long enough to fix my hair back into its overly dramatic curliness. "So you got Iceman's powers? Cool… I mean cold." He joked. I chuckled at his silly attempt at humor, but I ended up gasping from my spine fragments trying to pierce my lungs. "Hey you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine. You and I are in the same boat though Willie, I got Shadow-cat's powers too." I decided enough was enough of lying around and doing absolutely nothing while Willie and his gal-pal felt bad for me. I calmed any bad chi I had against Fire Lad and thought of every crack and broken piece of spine in me and felt them freeze over or be stuck into place by ice. Soon I felt a thin layer of ice over my spine acting as metal pins and discs would, though it bent like normal and wasn't pain. I sat up and stretched, feeling my bones and muscles move and fit back into place. Layla grabbed my arm, trying to get me to lie back down but when I explained what I did and Nurse Spex checked if I forgot anything, they let me out and told me to go see the family super-doctor as soon as possible. My family doc was Jean or Logan… and then my parents would find out about the fight…eep! "Hey Willie, can I go see your parent's doc? Mom and Dad would make me a Popsicle if they found out about me fighting. I'll pay and everything!" Since I lived in New York with Mom and Dad at the Institute, and I'm now in sunny California, I was stuck with a host family and in need of a job. I had a bit saved up but I wanted to spend it on a Homecoming dance, but a doctor's visit about my health was way more worth it. As we walked out of the school, I saw Mr. and Mrs. Stronghold waiting with Fire Lad, the principle and a very pretty Asian woman, who could be Fire Lad's mom.

"Emma! You're okay!" Mr. Stronghold said running up to hug me but I let him pass right through, not willing to hurt any other major bones. "Emma?"

"Sorry Uncle Steve, but my spine is totally destroyed and I had to temporarily put an ice cast around it. No more hugs from you or Junior for a while now." Will rolled his eyes at the names I call him, but Will is just too boring, even though the name Willie belongs to a wet finger in someone's ear.

"Why'd you get into a fight sweetie?" Mrs. Stronghold said walking up to us and giving me a gentle hug and a kiss on both cheeks. I wiped away the lipstick marks and glared at Fire Lad. He shot one right back. I looked up and saw the curiously defensive faces of the elder Strongholds and knew the truth would be best. That look they had on when I got in trouble is why Mom and Dad chose them as my guardians if anything should happen.

"I was invoking my right to the freedom of sitting at a completely empty table that Fire Lad over there didn't want to share." I turned to said pyro. "You don't need to be so mean about wanting space, you could have asked nicely, I would have moved to the other end. Didn't need to ruin my spine for it either." I sighed. I knew I had the numbers on my side; people who instigate fights rarely got any real back-up. That's why villains go as lawyers, also so they can be evil 24/7.

"Is that true Warren? This is a turn for the worse and you were doing so well these past years. Steve," The Asian woman said walking over with Warren AKA Fire Lad in tow. Will stood in front of me and blocked the glares Warren was trying to give off. "Your boy did wonders on Warren's attitude, could I send Warren over everyday after school-"

"Whoa, hold on there ma'm… I'm staying with the Strongholds and they don't need more than one elementalist there, let alone total opposites on the same premises. School will be bad enough with that crazy destructive son of yours there-" I felt Will's hand go to my mouth and saw smoke come off Warren.

"Sorry Mrs. Peace, Emma's a bit angry right now. She doesn't know what she's saying." I bit Will for that remark but I was still silenced. I shot him a glare that said his ass was mine when we got home. I heard him swallow saliva and smirked behind his hand. If I only knew them what was going to happen.

It was Saturday and I had lived through the week, thank God. Remy sent me a pack of Tarot cards with pictures of my friends and family (Ironically he was the Fool and my parents were the Lovers, Rouge's idea no doubt) as a gift for living through the first week. He was the only one who knew about the fight at the Institute, since I knew Rouge would tell Mom and Dad. Will still had his ass (for a hat) and I had made friends with the rest of his group, even Zach's unsubtle flirting was starting to dull from annoyance to the occasional laugh. We were all going to the Chinese restaurant, the Paper Lantern, in town to celebrate my recovery, since the ice brace kept everything intact until I could get a blood transfusion with Logan or my boyfriend Jay. I couldn't partake in gym, but I still had to go to school. When our waiter came I was in the middle of reading Maj and Zach's relationship. When I whistled in atsonishment at the couple's future, everyone looked at me. I felt their gaze and looked up to see (DUN, DUN, DUN!) Warren Peace, my new archenemy/acquaintance. He was wearing a black tank with a red dragon on it, jeans, black sneakers, an apron and his normal leather cuffs. His hair was tied back so I could see his rugged features but I wouldn't let his looks get the best of me and make me a goopy mess. I had Jay to think about anyway. When I glanced down at the Lovers card that had shown up in the spread, I saw myself and Jay, just after we became best friends. We were hugging, but it looked like he was trying to protect me from the camera with his wings. I picked up the card and started turning it, watching it turn from my parents to Jay and I. "Hey, Emma! What are you getting?" Warren yelled and I snapped out of my trance.

"Oh, pork chow mein please." I got up and walked outside, pulling out my cell phone and dialing Jay's number.

"Hello?" His brother, Sam AKA Cannonball, answered. He sounded groggy and I remembered we were a few hours behind the East Coast.

"Hey Sam, is Jay there?" I asked beginning to get antsy. Jay always answered his phone…

"Nah, he's out with his girlfriend- Damn I shouldn't had said that. Emma, he's been meanin' to talk to ya about that long distance thing you guys had going on but he never got the courage… You mean a lot to me and the others, but he lost out on a good damn thing, so don't hesitate to call us to check up on the others." Sam was such a good guy, and I agreed I'd call him later after he swore he'd yell at Jay for me. I sighed and felt myself fall on my butt. I hid my face in my hands and cried for a few good minutes before the sky joined in on the tear fest. I heard the door open and looked up to see Warren looking down at me. I quickly dried my tears and got up to go back in but Warren guided me to the bench outside. This change of attitude from Fire Lad scared me for a second, but them I remembered that fire may burn but it also sooths and warms.

"What's wrong?" He asked with his warm hands on my bare shoulders. It felt nice, but I knew I'd have to tell him of my bad luck. I sighed and turned away, letting a frozen tear fall down my face, leaving a light dusting of frost in it's wake.

"My boyfriend's been cheating on me. I have no idea how long or with whom but… I don't see why. At the end of the year I'd be home, with him, probably being in more in love then we- I was. Who knows what the hell he thought we were… Guys with wings are such asses." I sighed. Warren pulled me closer and he somewhat hugged me.

"Most guys are asses when it comes to girls. I had a girlfriend like you, Anastasia Winters. We didn't know each other but during freshman year after we saved the world and crap, she powered up and her whole hand became like yours does, only more snow, and I powered up and we held hands and we just canceled each other out." He said that all like it didn't matter, when I knew he was really talking from the heart, telling me about something he probably didn't tell anyone who wasn't there to see it.

"Foreshadowing much?" I laughed. "But you and her, you guys were nothing like Jay and I, I mean we started really dating a year ago but we had plans… I'd work on getting a Ph. D. while he'd stay home and take care of the two kids I'd have had before I turned 26. I die at the good old age of 109 and he'd rip off his wings and die later that year." I looked over at Fire Pants and saw his smirk and heard the chuckles. I went to hit him with an ice covered hand but he caught it and powered up, melting the ice and turning my hand back to normal. He held my hand so gently, so kindly, that it was… strange to say the least. I looked at him and he seemed to suddenly return to bad-ass mode.

"Tell anyone about this and I swear I'll roast you were you stand." He threatened and I smirked.

"YOU tell anyone about this and I'll make it so you'll slowly freeze from the inside out until you can be made into ice-cubes." I said smiling and got up and walked back in, but not before having Warren burn the forsaken Lovers card. I could always ask Remy for a normal one of my parents later anyway.