A little bit of drama, a hectic morning, and a bet that's going south faster than migrating birds. This chapter's got a lot of crazy to it. Next chapter school will continue, and there's going to be an oddball introduction to a character that's bound to be important later on, so watch for that. And my last public notice, HI BENMEAD95! He'll understand. Anyway, enjoy!
I was jolted awake from the first peaceful sleep I'd had in a while when Alfred started tearing open the curtains over every window of my room.
"Ugh, it burns," I muttered, trying to roll away from the light but embarrassingly rolling off my bed and smacking down on the floor. "Ow!"
"That's what you get for getting yourself shot at in your nightly escapade," he said, coming over to help me up.
"You know that first night when I told you I could embarrass myself later?" I muttered, getting off the floor with his help.
"Yes, quite clearly," he replied.
"I think I've made my quota," I whined.
"I would have to disagree," he said with a playful smirk. "Now you must start getting ready for school."
I looked at the clock and nearly died when I read the time. "At six in the morning?" I questioned. "I don't even think I've woken up before six thirty in my entire life."
"Well, when you have to do the equivalent of painting the colour onto your skin in the morning, this is how early you have to wake up," he said, walking over to my closet. "Here you are," he said after pulling out a light grey outfit with hints of blue, "your school uniform."
"Uniforms suck," I whined, taking it from him and walking towards the bathroom. Even though I couldn't wash my hair, I could still try to wash off the feeling of failure of getting chased across Gotham by Riddler last night.
Five minutes later, my usual short shower was over and I was getting dressed. Then it was up to Alfred to help me "paint" my skin to a normal complexion. Really, that's what it felt like. Lots of foam sponges covered in what seemed like industrial-strength foundation (basically girl's skin paint for boys) and a ton of after powder so it didn't rub or sweat off. Then I added the finishing touch of focusing my eyes to make them look like they weren't bloodshot. In the end, I felt ridiculous, but I looked normal. As long as nobody scrutinized too hard, no one would even notice I was anything but normal. Then we had to get my arm in a bogus cast so that nobody questioned my healing factor. And that process took until seven o'clock. I couldn't believe it.
At that point, Alfred ran to go wake up Dick and Danny, both of whom were smart enough to have showered the night before. I felt like I was going to fall asleep in my breakfast by the time they came down in their uniforms. Danny- James, had to remember that-refused to even make eye contact with me. Dick was going into total spaz mode trying to tell us every detail about the school there possibly was, who to stay away from, and what teachers would pass you as long as you claimed they were your favourite.
"Dick, chill!" I finally said, watching him realize how crazy he'd gotten before sitting down at his seat to eat. I sat back and sighed, taking a few bites of food off of my plate before I got distracted.
"Want a morning riddle?"
"Bruce, I swear to god, I will use ninja skills and ghost powers to make your life a living hell if you even mention that one more time. I wanted you to learn how to be fun, not an evil tormentor," I complained, looking over to the entrance of the room where he was walking in.
"Hey, I think I sound exactly like you," he defended, taking a seat next to Dick.
"I do not sound like that!" I cried indignantly.
"Yes you do," Dick and Danny said at the same time.
"This so has all the markings of prank-war coming," I said, finishing the small bit of food left on my plate.
"As much as I'd love to entertain a war between a teenager and a grown man, it's about time I take you all to school," Alfred said, walking out with his driving cap on and four lunch bags in hand.
The boys both jumped from their seats, grabbed the bags with their names on them from Alfred, and ran outside. Bruce and I were both slow, anti-morning people and took our time going over to him to grab ours. Apparently Bruce had meetings all day and after our late night, neither of us were going to enjoy our days.
"I would say I feel like I have a hangover, but I have nothing to compare that to," I complained as I got in the back of the luxury car, sitting next to Bruce.
"You'll get used to it eventually," he claimed, but I could still detect sleep in his voice.
"Obviously you haven't," I pointed out.
"Normally I don't have to be up this early, but apparently the science department has made some huge, possibly life changing or life ending discovery that needs to go through the approval process before they can begin testing, and seeing as something like that could majorly influence the company, they think I should be there."
"But you're more the 'lay back and let everyone else make the money while I busy myself being Batman' kinda guy," I said, staring up at the ceiling of the car and trying to stay awake.
"They only let me pull that stunt so much," he sighed, staring out the window.
"Mornings suck," I groaned.
"How can you be complaining? Today's gonna be awesome!" Dick said, his voice fully awake and laced with excitement.
"Dick, you're one of those people I want to blast into oblivion before locking in level zero of Doom," Danny said, sending Dick a glare that could send his grandchildren to their graves.
"What kind of a threat is that?" Dick questioned, giving him a strange look.
"One you don't want to come true," I assured. "So what's so special about this school?"
"It's one of the most prestigious schools in the country," Bruce said tiredly.
"Boring," I sighed. "I'm gonna get lost in the first five minutes."
"Probably," he replied.
"You know the first time I went to school, I got lost going to the bathroom. Gotham schools are ten times the size of that one," I said as we entered the outskirts of the city. The good news was it was only a ten minute drive into Gotham. Honestly, by the time my powers decided to quit being stupid, I'd probably just make a quick flight to school.
"Don't get too overwhelmed, you'll get used to it."
"B, this is me we're talking about, I don't get overwhelmed," I said, shooting him a cocky grin.
"We'll see about that," he said smugly.
"Is that a bet I'm hearing?"
"What do you think?"
"Alright, if this place doesn't make me freak out before the day is over, I get unsupervised access to the Batcave for half an hour," I said.
"Twenty minutes at max, but if I win, I'll be your training partner this week, not Dick," he wagered. A few more bruises and a lot more beating versus the chance to setup evil pranks all over the Batcave without a prying bat.
"Given the fact that I don't know when my pride should take a rest, you're on."
"You're gonna get your butt kicked into next week," Dick said with a grin.
"Only if he wins, and he won't," I said with a grin.
"We'll see," Bruce said, sending me a mischievous look. I'm fairly certain forcing him to have fun was the best thing I ever did. I could see why super villains liked to mess with him. Is that a bad thing?
Time Skip…
"See you later Bruce," Dick called.
"Bye Alfred," I added as we back-stepped towards the school.
"See you tonight, and don't forget our bet. I'll know if you're lying," Bruce said before Alfred pushed the door shut and went around to the driver's side.
"He will," Dick said, giving me an odd look.
"Oh, I have no doubt," I said as we turned around and faced the school. "Too bad for him, I plan on keeping a level head."
"You're going to lose, and then you're going to get mad and complain when you face plant the floor literally a hundred times," he said.
"BS. I'll prove him wrong this time," I said.
"I said that same thing for the first month. By month two, I figured out that never works," he said, narrowing his eyes at what probably included some not-so-great memories.
"Well then, I still have a few weeks to go before I escape denial. Right?" I said with a smirk as we walked into the building.
Something felt… off. A school like that should have been noisy and bustling with movement, but it went dead still as the doors closed behind us. "Well, this is unexpected," I said in a tight voice, looking at Dick as Danny wandered off acting like he didn't know me. "You may want to take after our wonderful brother Dickie."
"I'll stick with you. What's your locker number?" he said, ignoring the glares.
"793," I said, looking at the card with my schedule on it.
"Alright, follow me," he said, grabbing my left wrist and trying to pull me though the crowded hall.
"Uh, you get the feeling we're getting stared at?"
"Kira, don't be stupid. You're getting stared at. I'm just material," he said as we stopped in front of a set of lockers. "It's that one."
"Thanks D2," I said with a smile. "Now get out of here before I start lowering your social stature."
"Okay. If you need any help, just ask. I really don't want you to lose that bet with Bruce," he said, turning around.
"He can't be that scary," I said, waving him off before putting in the combination to the built in lock.
"You have a lot of nerve coming back here," a boy's voice said behind me.
"Do you know where a Mr. Mast's English class is?" I asked after throwing my stuff in my locker and turning around.
"Did you not hear what I said?" he questioned.
"Selective hearing. I only hear things that don't get me into fights," I said casually, crossing my arms.
"Seems to me you messed that one up," he said with growing hostility.
"You don't know all the facts big guy," I said, staring him down. "Until you do, I suggest you keep your fists to yourself."
"And what facts are we all missing? From where I stand, you had a weapon with the power to take that ghost down, and you let him take Batman," he said as everyone around us sent glares my way too.
"How many times have you fought a ghost?" I questioned, refusing to let him win.
"Never," he said with a 'duh' tone to his voice.
"Then how do you know the weapon I had could stop him?" I said, giving him a pointed glare.
"You're the one that threatened him with it."
"Skulker's too strong for a tiny wrist ray," I said, looking down at the floor in annoyance. "All the good I could'a done was make him drop Bats into a face plant on concrete and get grabbed again. Besides, he told me to get out of there. I just didn't listen."
"Then why did you try to fight him anyway?"
"Why didn't you? I was hoping I could bluff my way into making the ghost let him go. Now if you don't mind, class starts in… three minutes and I have no idea where I'm going. So, I'll ask again: where's Mr. Mast's English room?"
"It's down that way, on the third left turn. It's the second door on the right," a girl nearby said.
"Thanks," I said, sending her a nod and turning back to the boy. "Have a nice day." His eyes widened in surprise and he looked like he was about to say something, but I didn't give him the chance. I was already walking away.
If there was ever a way to mess with someone, it was to play nice like nothing even happened. It didn't really do much but wrack their brains, but it was entertaining to watch. I got to the classroom quick enough. Danny was already there. Apparently when I purposely fail a placement test and Danny tries on it, we get stuck in the same place.
"Now that everyone's shown up," a man, Mr. Mast probably, said, standing up from his desk, "let's get started. Would our two newest students please come up to the front of the classroom?"
Danny and I shared a look, mine neutral and his a glare, before we obediently walked to the front of the room. "How can you still be mad?" I whispered when we got close to each other.
"Two words," he whispered back, "Box. Ghost."
"Seriously dude? Get over it. If we get this mad at each other every time we fight, we're gonna hate each other ninety percent of the time," I replied.
"If you two are done?" Mast said, coming to stand next to us.
"Of course sir," I said, turning to face the room.
"Alright, now if you two could please introduce yourselves, we'll get this over with as painlessly as possible," he said.
"Hi, I'm Jimmy Fenton," Danny said to the room.
"I'm Kira Blake," I added uncomfortably.
"Alright then, have either of you read Hamlet?" Mr. Mast asked.
"No," Danny said with a look of disgust. Shakespeare hater anyway.
"I have," I said with a light smile.
"Good. How much of it can you remember?" he asked, looking skeptical.
"I can quote part of his first soliloquy. That's my favourite part," I said.
"Well then, why don't you demonstrate to the class?" he said.
What is it with adults and always thinking you're a liar when you say you can handle yourself? Of course, I proved him wrong by quoting the majority of the section to him, but that's life. Danny just stared on and glared. Somebody doesn't like being upstaged. Neither do I, but that's why I normally do the upstaging. I'll learn to tone it down when I'm older and I actually care.
"That makes my job easier. I'm assuming you'll be right up to speed. We're nearly finished anyway, so James, if you don't feel like reading the entire play, you won't have to. Take your seats," Mast said with both joy and surprise.
"Show off," Danny muttered before we started moving.
"Sorry," I mouthed before taking my seat.
Ugh, it was going to be a long day if I didn't pick up some friends really quickly. It was going to be an even longer night if I didn't win that bet, and the odds were getting stacked against me. I had a feeling that school would be the end of me. Added to the fact that I had a monster feeling something bad was going to happen, and I knew it was going to be a bad day.