Author's Note: All right so I'm back with the next chapter. I hope you guys like it.

Adventure Academy

Chapter 3

With the freshman orientation over Robin, Kid Flash and Bucky were free to roam the hallways a few minutes before class and get a taste of what the new academy was like. It didn't take long for them to notice the diverse range of students that populated the hallways; hell they were aware of that the minute they walked in. Within this school were students of all shapes, colors and sizes. Some appeared human while others had more alien features, and like any other high school appeared to have its own unique cliques, one section of lockers had three silver skinned girls chatting amongst themselves in gothic attire each with wildly contrasting hairstyles and colors. One with blue cropped hair in a matching robe that went down to her knees had her back to the group, talking to another girl in a black and purple dress with two large pigtails that were dyed pink, with matching eyes as they looked back at the group. While third one was in her own little world, leaning against a locker with spiked black hair and scarlet bangs dressed in a strapless black dress, with matching full length arm sleeves and a red serrated skirt that came down to her knees, with black boots, and a crimson letter 'A' tattooed on her chest, jamming to alternative rock with a pair of oversized headphones with her eyes closed.

The boys grimaced as they walked past the trio as the blue haired and pink haired girls shot daggers as the brightly colored trio and continued walking. Beyond them was a group of male students with superhuman strength talking to girls some of whom appeared to be cheerleaders. And had powerful physiques, clean cut looks, real All-American boys that the girls were fawning over some of whom included a boy in a black t-shirt with a red 'S' symbol, jeans and had short black hair and blue eyes. While another one a little further removed from the group had the looks but was decidedly foreign and could be seen slipping on a dark green military jacket with a white circle and a red star in the center, along with a matching fur hat with symbol, and an emerald visor that he was slipping on, covering his short red hair, and green featureless eyes. Further up the hallway were the aliens who had their own line of lockers as several of them hovered infront of their lockers including Starfire. Others included a girl with green skin and long red hair in a white t-shirt with a red x pattern over her chest, a blue cape with matching short skirt and buccaneer boots who also had her back turned to them, a young man that was more alien than most and who's flesh seemed to be composed of superheated plasma in a black bodysuit with quarter sleeves and a red sash.

Another boy wearing what appeared to be a black suit of armor with blue accents on his shins, chest and shoulders, and a large metallic beetle perched on his back for some reason wearing a blue rubber mask with a black face and blue stripes running down his eyes with amber colored lenses. Next to him was a teenage girl that was the most human with long blonde hair and dressed a blue long sleeved top that showed her stomach and had a red cape, and pleated short skirt and boots with a familiar yellow and red 'S' symbol on her chest who would be recognized almost anywhere.

"Is that Supergirl?" Robin asked.

"Yeah…wow…who knew she went to school here?" Kid Flash answered.

"Super...girl?" Bucky said confused to which Robin looked over at him and explained.

"Uh yeah, she's a famous teenage hero in this era." He said.

"She's Superman's cousin." Kid Flash added.

"And sometimes she's his sidekick." finished Robin.

"Oh, that's…good to know. Is she any good?" Bucky asked as Kid and Robin looked back at him.

Since coming to the future he had been brought up to date on every major historical event thus far but was still in the dark about modern heroics. During his time in WWII there were hardly any female superheroes aside from an ally and one time love interest of Captain America's that fought alongside them named Spitfire. Despite the social climate Bucky once grew up in, he learned that girls were every bit as capable as guys such as the time when Spitfire managed to pin him during a sparring match and proving her worth to the boy soldier. And would go on to be a member of the Allied superhero team called the Invaders of which Bucky was a part of. Since then he has learned to have a healthy respect for women in all that they could do, but still couldn't get used to the sheer number of superheroines that were now active in the present. At times it was hard for him to accept all the changes but he was working on it and tried to be as forward thinking as his beloved mentor.

"She's a little rough around the edges as far as her training goes but yeah I hear she's pretty good. She has to be if she wears the 'S'" Robin told him. The boy solider turned back to him.

"By the way I saw another one wearing that symbol only it was black." He said.

"Oh yeah, that's Superboy his other cousin and sidekick they team up sometimes." The Boy Wonder said.

"Why do you think they're here?" he asked.

"Probably the same reason we are. Doesn't matter how famous you are, if you're eighteen and under you belong here. Whether we like it or not at least until the public feels that they can trust us again." Robin stated. Bucky looked back at the students that populated the school.

"You think they ever will trust us again?" he asked.

"In time I think so, but until then we'll just have to hang tough." Robin replied.

"I hope so, I hate to see what previous generations have worked towards, be for naught." The solider told him.

"Well that's why we have to work for it Bucky, think of what you and Captain America accomplished during the war." He said. Bucky hung his head.

"That's just it…I don't feel like we accomplished much of anything. Sure we punched out the bad guys and destroyed a few of their operations but I wasn't actually involved long enough to feel that I made any kind of lasting impression. And the war was still going on when I was brought here…I don't know Robin, I just…don't feel like I amount to anything personally." He said despondent. Robin and Kid Flash frowned as they walked alongside him as the Boy Wonder touched his shoulder.

"You did plenty. Trust me and history will remember you Bucky." He said. The boy soldier looked back at him and smiled slightly and looked up the hall.

"I want to know what great things I'm destined for, but part of me is scared to know. What if I don't like what I find out?" he asked looking back at Robin. The Boy Wonder was silent for a moment.

"You'll learn about those things in due time, right now let's just concentrate on the present and how we're going to complete our superhero training." He told him.

The bell rang as they went to their first period class. For Kid Flash that meant reporting to speedster training in the gym where they were taught the physics and physicality that went into maintaining superhuman speed. Which was taught by two of the leading authority on such powers, Jay Garrick and Johnny Quick. Jay a man in a red sweater with a yellow lightning bolt, and blue pants with similar theme down the sides, red buccaneer boots and a silver discus shaped helmet was the original Flash. While Johnny Chambers was his rival from the golden era wearing a red t-shirt and trunks with yellow leggings and gloves with red knee high boots, with short gray hair and a black domino mask.

Although there was a noticeable lack of speedsters within the school totaling about five students total as superhuman speed factor was concerned which included Kid Flash, his cousin Impulse, Savatar, Jesse Quick and Quicksilver. Impulse as his name implies is a quick-witted, look before he leaps kind of speedster, who had a narrow frame, decked out in a white jumpsuit with a broad red lightning bolt themed racing stripe the middle of his body, with red double bounded boots, and matching fingerless gloves and a scarlet cowl with amber bug eyed goggles with little yellow wingtips covering his ears and an explosion of brown hair that was parted down the middle volume that defied gravity.

Savatar was an African speedster in purple spandex with black highlights running down the sides of his suit that ended at his hips while the purple theme of his costume continued down his legs with silver gloves and yellow boots, with a purple mask showing his short black hair, and a white disk with a yellow lightning bolt for his chest symbol.

Jesse Quick wore a red leotard with a stylized yellow 'Q' with a lightning bolt for the tail and yellow highlights along the sides of her leotard with gold knee high boots and gloves, wearing a red visor for her mask and long blonde hair that came half way down her back done up in a high ponytail. While Quicksilver was a young man of equally narrow build with white slicked back hair and wearing a green jumpsuit with a black lightning themed racing stripe down the middle with white body armor on his chest, shoulders, forearms and shins, and wore what appeared to be regular white track shoes with three green stripes on the side.

As the two teachers got started on their lesson though their students mainly blocked it out with the exception of Jesse, as they already knew how their own powers worked and had pretty much mastered them as far as they were concerned until Jay brought their attention to the fore. The four male students snapped out of their haze along with a jab or two from Jesse as their instructor addressed them with his hands on his hips.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go a few laps on the gym floor here?" he asked.

The students looked at each other and stood up in a group as Jesse glared at her classmates. Quicksilver rolled his eyes in annoyance with arms folded.

"So what's this supposed to do exactly? We already know how to run, hell the majority of us can already break the sound barrier and you want us to do laps around a little gym?" he said with an aire of superiority causing his fellow students to cringe. Jesse clinched the bridge of her nose beneath her sunglasses in annoyance.

'Well if that's not enough of an exercise to you Quicksilver then let's spice it up. How about we add a little bobbing and weaving with your classmates see who can dodge each other at the last second without crashing into each other will have the most control over their powers. How does that sound?" he asked.

Quicksilver's features lit up with a confident smirk.

"Now your talking my language maybe next we can have a few laps around the planet." the speedster said with cocky arrogance.

"Let's see how this goes first, then we'll talk." Jay smiled back as though he'd done this before.

"All right let's have Kid Flash, Impulse and Jesse Quick on this side of the gym. Quicksilver and Savatar you got the other, now I want you guys to crisscross without hitting each other, there are no teams basically every speedster for themselves. Ready?" Jay asked grabbing a whistle and blew into it.

The two sides took off and were off to a good start at first with all the speedsters managing to dodge each other as they raced around the gym floor in all directions. Quicksilver however started to play rough and would shoulder his classmates on each pass and then started ramming them knocking Kid, Impulse and Jesse out before moving onto Savatar. The other speedsters would quickly get back in as he continued his sick game as Jay looked on punching Impulse in the face, elbowing Savatar in the stomach before lightly hitting Jesse in the cheek. Kid Flash had enough and raced past Jesse kneeing him in the stomach and punching him in the face as hard as he could, sending Quicksilver skidding across the hardwood on his face and knees ending the skirmish. KF remained where he was clinching his fist close to his chest. A gentle round of applause could be heard from one end of the gym as he looked back and saw his teacher Jay giving the gentle ovation.

"Way to look out for your teammates their Wally. As for you Quicksilver that little stunt has earned you a few laps around this school, minus powers. I suggest you get to it as soon as you regain consciousness. Okay next up…" Jay said going to his clipboard.

"You guys all right?" he asked helping Jesse up after helping Impulse.

"Yeah I'm all right thanks though." She said.

"No problem. That guy's a dick anyway. I never did like him. What kind of speedster wears armor anyway? That just doubles the pretentiousness." He replied making her laugh slightly.

"Yeah tell me about it." Impulse added walking up to them.

A few classes down Robin, Bucky, Starfire and others were sitting in a class known as Superhero Theory which was where the instructor would break down and analyze what it means to be one, certain parts of it were particularly interesting to Robin such as deconstructing the psyche of the standard supervillain and dissecting the levels of villainy such as the likes of Captain Cold compared to the more homicidally deranged villains such as Carnage, Joker and Two-Face and what separates a harmless villain from a complete psycho. During the discussion several hands went up about the diverse range of the supervillain psyche. Eventually their instructor admitted that the supervillain's mind and neurosis were as wide and varied any other type of mental illness and that there was no clear cut answer. While some of them could be placed in a certain category like those who were derived from child abuse that resulted in a fractured psyche later in life, others like the Joker were simply too chaotic to understand that even the best psychiatrists could never figure out. And while it was too difficult to explain Robin knew one individual who understood the Joker all too well.

Starfire's hand went up behind him as the teacher called on her.

"I am sorry I have trouble understanding this. But why is the Joker the way he is?" she asked, several other students groaned as the Boy Wonder remained silent.

"Um, well no one is sure Starfire. That's what I've been saying for the past few minutes." He replied in a patient tone.

"Oh…" she said as her hand went down. Robin cleared his throat and raised his hand.

"Professor if I may. There are several theories as to why the Joker is insane. Having faced him a few times myself; the Joker has told conflicting stories over the years as to how he came into being. In one of the stories he told Batman, he once related that he found his way into the mob while trying to provide for his wife who died the night he became the Joker. To this day I'm not sure if any of it is true but I believe that when he fell into the vat of chemicals altered his mind. And seeing his reflection drove him insane. The Joker's MO changes almost daily but the one thing that remains constant is that he's always trying to find someone or something to laugh at. To him life's one big joke and the more grizzly he can make it the better. He can kill people at the drop of a hat either because they offended him in some way or its hilarious. The Joker's mind is so warped and twisted that it'll never be fully understood. The only thing that remains constant in his life is his drive to kill Batman who he feels is the only person in the universe who is worthy of his game. Which unfortunately extends to those he associates with if only to get a rise out of Batman. It's pretty much the only thing he cares about in life, to cause as much misery as possible and to battle Batman." Robin clarified.

A boy in a scarlet sleeveless jersey with red hair and a black domino mask raised his hand and added to Robin's discussion.

"I've heard some of the psychiatrists at Arkham say that he has something called Super Sanity where he reinvents himself everyday to deal with the world around him. And that he could be a harmless clown one day and a homicidal madman the next." He said to Robin.

"Yeah I've heard that too, personally I don't buy it. In fact that's something they come up with to keep from killing him because he's fascinating to them." he replied in disgust.

"So then if he's so horrible why doesn't Batman kill him instead?" the red headed archer asked earning a death glare from Robin.

The school bell rang a second later to the teacher's relief.

"Okay that's all for today, tomorrow we'll talk about the failings of the antihero archetype of yesteryear. See you then." The professor stated as class was dismissed.

Robin continued to stare down at the archer as he stood up from his desk and left the classroom as the Boy Wonder remained by his desk.

"Why doesn't Batman kill him instead?" he scoffed as Starfire came up behind him and started to put a hand on his shoulder as he caught sight of her and halted.

"I'm sorry for the trouble earlier." She mentioned softly.

"It's not your fault, most people don't understand." He said relieving tension and caught himself as he turned around.

"I uh…I didn't mean to imply…" he tried to correct and Starfire put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It is all right, the Joker is very difficult to understand as you said. I am not offended." She said. The Boy Wonder sighed.

"Thanks, so what did you think of the class?" he asked gathering his books and slinging his backpack across his shoulder.

"The lessons are…interesting but I am not sure if I can contain it all." she said as they walked towards the door.

"Yeah I know it's a lot to take in. I guess superhero theory isn't for everyone." He smiled softly.

"I am not sure if I need to know how a villain's mind works in order to stop him. But I suppose that it'll be useful for future situations." She told him as they headed down the hallway together and Robin smiled.

"I think that's what they're going for, but its like you said. To be honest I can only see something like that working in a hostage situation but even then it's kind of a crapshoot." He replied.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"A fifty/fifty chance as in it might not work depending on the situation and how addled the villain's mind is. It's still useful to know. So are we still on for tonight?" he smiled.

"Definitely. I'll see you tonight." She said as they parted ways.

Author's Note: All right what'd you think of that. I decided to expand the class roster a little bit and I hope you were able to recognize some of the other characters. Bonus points if you can name them all. Anyway that's all for now more to come later. =)

Please review,

Green Gallant.