Gotham Academy chapter 10

Wow. Like, 8 reviews in 1 night? A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Thank you so much for all your support. No, I'm not ending the story here. Thanks. And you spelt aneurysm wrong, btw. On with the chapter! I'm sorry if Aqualad/Miss M/Superboy is/are a bit OOC-I'm not used to writing for them. I'm sorry that this chapter is just a teaser chapter- I didn't have time to write about the mission yet and I wanted to make sure the mission chapter was the best. I am aware that this chapter isn't one of the best-so please don't feel the need to be too cruel with reviews. Wally knows the whole of Robin's past. He knows Bruce's ID, but is a bit forgetful.

Robin was just chilling on the sofa, drinking lemonade with a straw and trying to troll Artemis, who was doing warm-up exercises with her bow. He wasn't training because the previous night in Gotham had resulted in some bruised ribs for him and a new jail cell for Harley Quinn. Apparently I make a great piñata, he thought wryly. Every now and then, he would throw a rubber-tipped batarang at her bow whilst she was trying to shoot. This would knock the arrow off course, and Artemis kept complaining loudly that if he wasn't going to do anything useful then he might as well go train on the gymnastics equipment.

Wally found this hilarious, for some reason, and he laughed every time she said that. Conner stood in the kitchen, helping M'gann make a batch of cookies, and occasionally accidentally-on-purpose dropping some cookie dough for Wolf to pick up. Kaldur sat next to Robin on the sofa, occasionally laughing due to mistakes on the Life Undersea programme they were watching.

"Recognised Batman, 02." The metallic voice announced as the Caped Crusader entered the room. Immediately everyone (who wasn't standing already) jumped to their feet, except Robin. He pulled at the straw in his lemonade, flinching slightly when it just sucked up air, making a loud noise. At this, Wally burst out laughing-the combination of Batman's stony (cowled) face, the rude noise of the straw, and the team's slightly scared expressions. Robin just looked relaxed and amused.

"Team," Batman growled, before being interrupted by Robin making the noise with the straw again. Wally stifled a laugh. The big bad bat gave them a toned-down version of the Batglare to shut them up-it worked-Robin stood up, wincing only slightly as he jarred his ribs painfully. Batman shot him a look, and he stared back. Nods were exchanged, and Artemis remembered a conversation she'd had with Barbara Gordon about how people communicated without talking. Robin shrugged after a few minutes of stare-talking, and walked over to his teammates, lemonade in hand. "There is a surveillance mission in Gotham for you." Batman said again.

"Your mission is to investigate and try and find and unauthorized surveillance equipment, or anything else that looks suspicious. You will stay there for a week." Batman growled.

"Wait, unauthorized surveillance equipment? Why would there be any at all?" Artemis smelled a rat here.

"Because the place in question is under heavy surveillance already for a number of different reasons- for one, the protection of its inmates."

"We're going to a prison?" Kaldur asked, a little confused. "Why?"

"Like I told you, a number of unpleasant people have been seen around this area, possibly recruiting. You need to stop any suspicious behaviour by staff or inmates." Batman said impatiently.

"How are we supposed to get there if we don't know where it is?" Conner asked bluntly.

"I will tell you where it is. It's in the centre of Gotham, just next to Gotham Central School," Batman continued, "You are going to be checking Gotham Juvenile detention Centre, and you will have to pretend to be inmates."

Superboy saw Robin losing the grip on the glass in his hand. He thought the boy would catch it; he'd seen Robin had some pretty awesome reflexes in training. So he didn't try and intercept the beverage, and it surprised him immensely as the younger boy made no effort to catch the glass, which fell to the floor and shattered, small fragments of glass flying off everywhere.

M'gann, Kaldur, and Artemis jumped back, startled by the sudden spray of sharp glass. Conner just stood there – it wasn't as if the glass would hurt him, anyways, and Wally blurred next to Robin, with a stony expression.

"Robin-?" M'gann looked confused

"J-just the ribs. I'll be fine,"

"The rest of you – go wait over there" He gestured to a corner, and the team obliged "Robin, a word before you go." No-one was brave enough to defy the Bat's orders, but Aqualad was surprised to see Wally still at the acrobat's side. He didn't say a word, instead just staring blankly at the mess of glass and lemonade on the floor.

"Robin." Batman said, conveying worry, anger, regret, and a hundred and one other emotions in those five letters. "You know you can always pull out now – I won't be angry at you." Wally was a bit shocked that the big bad Bat was capable of showing concern-let alone being friendly.

"I know. I can tough it out – it's not like I haven't done it before. Though this time having to pretend I deserve to be there… will be hard." Batman nodded, before waving the others back over. Wally frowned at him on behalf of the younger boy.

"Bring standard Gotham kit. Robin will help you. Go pack and come up with identities, I've got stuff to do," And with that, the dark knight swept out of the room, leaving some very confused teens and an amused bird.

"Robin… dare I ask?" Kaldur didn't need to change clothes-as he had no secret ID, he was always Aqualad and therefore always had his uniform/costume on. "What is 'Gotham Kit'?" Robin only sighed in response, before clearing his throat to begin what he knew would have to be a long lecture on Gotham.

"Okay peeps, listen up," He said. Everyone looked over eagerly. "Gotham kit, for starters, is the worst-case-scenario stuff for you to bring. Everyone must wear trackers so Artemis and I can tell where you are at all times. Any and all non-lethal weapons must be brought along and also…" He rummaged in his utility belt, before pulling out a small, sheathed dagger, and looking at it with a haunted expression "…A few lethal ones, if you have any."

Everyone objected to this. "We're heroes-we don't kill!" He wasn't sure who said that, but had to explain anyway.

"That's why. If you don't want to be shot, tortured, murdered, whipped, stabbed, mauled by hyenas, gassed, poisoned, mind controlled, see your worst fears," Robin flinched before carrying on, "see your worst memories, be eaten and regurgitated by plants, tricked, kidnapped, murdered or attacked, then please do as I say." Artemis and Wally stopped bickering, shocked by Robin's outburst. M'gann and Kaldur were more affected by his words.

"Could-Could all that happen, in Gotham?" The Martian asked timidly. They all knew that this hero business was dangerous, but they'd never had it spelled out so clearly for them. It was scary to think about.

"Every single one of those apart from being murdered has happened to me so far," Robin deadpanned. M'gann gasped in shock, and even Kaldur looked uneasy. Wally's skin turned a faint greenish colour- sure he knew things in Gotham were rough, but this was something new altogether. "So, yeah. Gotham kit is basically anything and everything you can bring that may help you. I'm gonna go change into civvies, re-pack my belt and take some pain meds for the ribs – I suggest you guys go and pack your, uh, whatever it is that you pack. And you need to wear the oldest, scruffiest clothes you can find." And with that, Robin left the room, disappearing like a ninja.

"Did you know about this?" Aqualad asked the room in general, referring to the horrors of Gotham. One by one everyone shook their heads, except for Artemis.

"Artemis?" The Atlantean asked gently, "What is it?"

"I, uh, have a cousin in Gotham City, so I go visit quite a lot. It's not – it's not a nice place to grow up in, let's just say that."

Everyone left the room to pack their pockets full of weapons and useful stuff. Conner felt the sarcasm- as he didn't have a costume, (No capes, no tights – no offence,) he just wore combat trousers, which happened to have at least ten pockets. However, due to his Kryptonian DNA, he didn't think he would need many gadgets. He took some anyway though, raiding the weapons room of the Mountain.

They all rendezvoused back in the central room, and none of the team were surprised to see Batman standing there next to Robin, who was massaging his sore ribs slightly, with an unreadable expression on what little of his face could be seen under the cowl. Wally wore some jeans with torn knees and a dark shirt- M'gann a red miniskirt that was ripped slightly with a blue hoodie, Superboy his usual combat trousers but this time a plain black t-shirt, Artemis was also in ripped jeans, and a long sleeved green t-shirt with holes in it. Kaldur wore black trackies and a t-shirt with a shark on it. The acrobat was wearing a too-long pair of brown trousers with frayed edges, and a t-shirt with what Kaldur thought was meant to be a skull on it with a grey hoodie. He wore sunglasses, but ones that were a different style and that had cracks in - though they still couldn't see his eyes.

"Are you all ready?" Robin asked, and everyone nodded nervously. They were all a little bit scared because, well, Gotham. The city was poisoned enough to bring anybody down, so to speak, and from what little Robin had told them wasn't exactly praising the city.

"You will, as I said earlier, have to pretend to be inmates. And that will require names and crimes to be made up. Do you have any suggestions for names for yourselves?" Batman asked. Everyone jumped- they weren't aware he'd come back into the room. M'gann raised her hand timidly.

"Could I still be Megan?" She asked. Robin nodded, and Batman left the room whilst they prepared.

"You'll need to change your appearances… Megan, could you turn Caucasian, and maybe make your hair a little uneven?" She did as Robin suggested, "And Voila! We have here Megan Moss, guilty of minor to moderate theft charges. That should be enough to get you into a class C or below block, anyway." Artemis frowned. Something was off; how come Robin knew so much about this Centre? Another puzzle piece joined the ones swirling around in her head.

"Artemis… hmmm… what kind of name would you like?" the acrobat mused, thinking. Artemis, for all her great combat skills, wasn't very imaginative when it came to words. "Can you be Emily Davis for a week?" She nodded, "Asterous. So, you won't need to change your looks much-maybe keep your hair unwashed and tied back for a bit," She made a face before letting him continue, "And a crime to suit you…one charge of violent assault should do. Class B to C, probably."

"Conner-well, I think it's safe to say you can keep your name – but change Kent to Nelson. Conner Nelson. Your looks can stay the same, and you can have five counts of antisocial behaviour." Wally snickered- this charge suited Conner perfectly.

"Kaldur, you can be Kal. And a surname… how about Smith?

"Can I be Kal Currie instead? That is Aquaman's human identity's surname, just spelt differently." Robin nodded, before looking him over and nodding. "You look fine- assuming you can cover up those gills?" Kal obliged, closing his gills so they just looked like normal skin, "And your blond hair stands out too much." He chucked a bottle of dye at him, before explaining the crime. "You'll have time to dye it in the bioship. Anyway, you'll be charged with trespass and a minor assault case."

"Wally…what d'you want to be called?" Robin asked, and Wally blushed. He didn't like his name much but he thought Robin had it worse off than him. "How about West?" Wally nodded.

"I'll need a different surname; I can't be West West," He pointed out. "Hey, can I be West Wayne?" Wally said teasingly.

"No. Too much alliteration." The excuse was lame but all the acrobat could think of.

"Aw, but if M'gann gets to be Megan Moss – arrgh. Sorry, bro." He realised his mistake and felt stupid about it. "West Jones?"

"Yeah, okay. Your hair could make you an easy target for bullies though…" Robin trailed off, looking at Wally – looking at West uneasily. Wally suddenly felt a rush of gratitude for the younger boy, as well as a surge of respect and pride that he was on this mission and the team. He knew Robin's time at the centre had been brutal to say the least, and he knew most of that was because of the other inmates.

"I'll dye it with the same stuff Kal will use. We can pretend to be related – third cousins or whatever."

"Wally…that was actually a good idea!" Robin said.

"Don't sound so surprised!"

"You can have charges of joyriding, vehicle theft and mugging- should get you into A or B block."

"Okay, so I only need an ID for me, now…" Robin thought for a second or two, before coming up with a person. "Daniel Silva. I just need to-" he removed his hoodie, revealing several scars on each of his arms (no, not those. Just scars from being Robin), and what looked like a gunshot scar that could just be seen from under the sleeve of his t-shirt. He changed his facial expression to a sneer, and pulled out something from his trouser pocket before putting it into his mouth and grinning. It was a real gold fake gold tooth. (I mean it's made of gold but that it's just a cover for a tooth, not a whole new tooth)

"How's this?" He asked the team. His posture was also changed to slouching, and with that, the expression, the scars and the clothes, he almost seemed to be a different person altogether; so much so that if the team didn't know he was Robin, they would think he was actually this Silva person. He reached into his pockets and pulled out some weird shaped blocks, which he popped into the soles of his worn out trainers – giving the illusion that he was taller.

Everyone apart from Wally stared at him in shock- he seemed to have aged three years, and he looked like a sixteen-nearly-seventeen-year old instead of a scrawny thirteen-year old.

"Wow." They all agreed with Artemis' statement of slight shock.

"Um, I'll have charges of armed robbery, armed assault and theft as well as illegal possession of weaponry, and one count of manslaughter." Robin- no, Silva, said. His voice also made it sound like he'd grown three years in three minutes.

"Wait – Why have you made your charges so much worse than ours?" Artemis asked. She knew something was up here.

"So I can get into a worse block- probably A block," He explained casually, as if he hadn't just accused himself of killing someone.

"But Robin - won't that be dangerous? Should one of us-?" Kal said cautiously. Robin/Silva's face turned into a deeper sneer, and he growled back. Megan took an involuntary step backwards – Silva was much scarier than Robin, and she didn't like it one bit.

"I'll be fine. Let's go." And with that, the not-sixteen-year old turned on his heels and walked to the bioship, only stopping to have a quick unspoken conversation with his mentor who stood in the corner.

Yeah, I know the ending (and a lot of the chapter) sucked. The next chapter will hopefully cover the whole week that they're there for. Please tell me what you think, but please don't be too mean. I'm aware that this chapter isn't as good as previous ones. But it was longer (2538 words)

-reviews appreciated, next chapter in probably a week or two due to lots of things which I won't bore you with.

Bye.