Dick had never been someone you would call studious, but he was without a doubt brilliant. His brilliance, however, only made school all the more frustrating. In his mind he was going over the schematics of the new engine he hoped to outfit his motorcycle with while his teacher droned on about the nature of gerunds. Somehow Dick couldn't imagine gerunds helping him out in any way… ever. He'd always loved books and the English language, but at this point he figured that the students who were going to understand gerunds had just about figured them out. Three days straight spent on them… Batman hadn't even given him three days to figure out how to use a grappling hook to scale a building. While he was on the thought of Batman, the all too familiar buzzing came from the Batsignal in his pants pocket. The Batwave. Oh thank God.He raised his hand.

"Uhmm, excuse me. Can I go to the restroom?" The teacher looked at him suspiciously. It wasn't as though the teacher could tell him, 'no, he couldn't relieve himself,' but Dick Grayson had the nasty habit of disappearing from the bathroom. Sometimes for a week on end. He rolled his eyes. Wayne's kid.He nodded. It wasn't exactly like the ward of billionaire Bruce Wayne needed to learn much of anything with the kind of wealth he'd be inheriting. That was his thought process anyway.

Dick stepped out into the hallway, saluting his teacher with a smile after he'd turned back to face his class. Oh thank God. I could use some butt-kicking. He ran down the hall and into the boy's room. He'd figured out long ago that the window for ventilation in the boy's bathroom was just large enough for him to shimmy through and he could easily meet up with the Batman at one of the many cave entrances, this one being about a block away. He used all of his skill and cunning to sneak through the bushes to where he could jog without being seen. He was still picking leaves out of his hair as he got his costume on.

Batman was flying his jet which meant either that Batman was in a marginal mood, or whatever was happening was pretty serious. The jet lowered just enough for Robin to catch it with his grappling hook before heading off to their destination. Wally reached out to grab his hand once he'd gotten close enough and pulled him in. He offered his friend a smile before he felt the tension in the air. Wally and Artemis were sitting in the back while Bruce flew. It was a strange group. Wally and Artemis should have been at least a town away in class right now. He raised an eyebrow at his friend who blushed deeply and sparing a glance at the Batman shook his head to say, don'task.Artemis focused intently on her spotless uniform, dusting off imaginary dirt and Batman was scowling. Bruce was showing about the same face he had when he had to describe pornography to the young(er) Dick. Robin gave Kid Flash an impish grin which was returned in kind. He turned his attention to his silent mentor.

"So, where are we headed?" He relaxed gracelessly in the passenger side of the cockpit. Batman didn't even turn to look at him.

"We're going to Lexcorp Headquarters in Metropolis." His scowl deepened. Lex Luthor. Now that was coincidental timing if he'd ever heard it. Unless…

"Where's Superboy?" He tried to stay calm, he really did, but panic was written all over his face. Batman looked even more agitated.

"He's already there." Shit.Shitshitshit.This is my fault. Batman consoled his young charge, "Superman's on his way. He got a call from Luthor a couple minutes ago." There's no way Luthor wouldn't milk this for all he could. There had to be a catch. Whatever it was, he would soon find out.

Rather than landing, Batman ordered the jet via voice command to hover while the crime fighters jumped in through where the 50th story window had once been. Clearly Superboy had a similar idea. Superman flew to Batman's side, barely acknowledging the rest of his reinforcements. They were standing in Lex Luthor's office. The office itself was incredible, there were priceless artifacts on practically every surface and the walls were lined with dark wooden bookcases which matched his large, glossy desk and chair. The chair turned slowly, revealing a seemingly benevolent Luthor. Robin could practically hear Batman's blood boil beside him.

"I wager I can guess why you've all come." Batman's slits narrowed and Superman's shoulders tensed.

"We're not here to play games, Luthor. Where is he?" Luthor's façade slipped away before their eyes and he grinned like the cat that got the canary. He leisurely reached out and pressed a button on the underside of his desk which caused one of the bookcases along the wall to spin. Superboy was chained to the back of the case, looking pale and breathing heavily. Batman began to assess the boy's health. Considering the boy's genetic combined coding, he could theoretically be susceptible to all different kinds of poisons and toxins… It didn't seem like Luthor to miss an opportunity to flaunt his Kryptonite, however. Batman could feel that he was being watched and turned toward the megalomaniac which only made Luthor smile more.

"I went with Kryptonite this time, Batman," he gloated, holding an empty syringe in his hand. "I would have liked to pump him full of all sorts of terrible things, but I figured it would be long before you all showed up." He used the back of his hand to motion to the group. He stopped when he saw that Robin with shaking. It was truly criminal that heroes like Batman could get away with exploiting such young boys. Laws and governing systems caved at their feet like simpering fools. It didn't really matter though, in due time he would correct the indecencies of Superman and Batman and the like. And for now, he had everything he needed.

"You can take him now. I've gotten the samples I needed." Luthor turned back to his desk dismissively.

"And what will stop us from bringing you to justice?"

"The law, Superman. I suggest you get out of my office before I call the police and inform them of a break in." Seeing that they'd lost, Batman moved to gather Superboy. "Oh, and he'll need immediate medical treatment if he wants to live… but you already knew that."


So uhhh... Turns out that everything in italics doesn't get spaces. I've corrected that.