I stood in front of the Dynacycle once more.

It had been a few weeks since Luthor's 'let's find new and interesting ways to make Superman disappointed in me' moment, which quite frankly he could do without repeating. The incident involving a giant murderous robot duck rampage had came and went (seriously how is Toyman still a relevant Superman foe), and coming up was a pivotal moment- preparations for the Lex Luthor Museum of Natural History's grand opening were in progress.

I'd told Mercy that I'd find a rock that could brain Superman. Luthor had already found it, and even put it on display- he just didn't know it yet. And now I was going to do science on it.

Super Geologist powers will soon be a-go.

Using the bullshit powers of the pattern recognition system, I'd created a helpful tutorial on stealth based off of the shenanigans of Batman and the two Robins. Still, this was to be my first attempt sneaking around for...

Well. Not quite heroic purposes because of the whole 'stealing a chip of kryptonite', but still. Science.

I pressed the 'on' button on the motorcycle's magnetic thrust. Slowly it hovered upwards, and I pleasantly noted how there hadn't been a storm of ferromagnetic flechettes spontaneously being sucked in or whatever and eviscerating me or something ridiculous like that.

Motionless and silent in the air, I let it hover as a brief performance test while I hopped out of it and went to check my other equipment. The amount was... well, quite frankly excessive for a superhero, but sometimes you just wanted a utility rucksack rather than a utility belt.

Based off of a combination of geology field work and the average RPG adventurer, it had everything I could possibly need and currently carry. A signal whistle, chalk, a lighter, the normal acid bottle, one of those ice pack thingies, a towel in a waterproof bag, a yellow sun torch (in case of vampires or that time a guy filters the sun and Superman needs to punch him), a sheet of lead foil, some water, a burner phone, baking powder, a hairpin and a first aid kit.

(Most of it was very small. It was somewhat sad I couldn't bring a whole roll of lead foil, for example.)

Oh, and a taser, collapsible ten-foot pole, a can of pepper spray and a multitool aka swiss army knife. All on the belt., and all very good for use with the amazing power of an average six-year-old. Truly I am to be a master of fighting crime.

As for my costume... It was adorable and no one was going to tell me I couldn't wear it. In fact, I was wearing it already.

It consisted of gloves (with spares in the pockets), a small purple jacket... coat... shirt thing, with a pair of baggy beige joggers tucked into some decent walking boots. A short yellow cape was behind that, with a quick-release red button on the front (designed to also be adorable). On the shirt thing there was my logo- a stylised ladder emblazoned on the front, designed to look like DNA with the frames meeting in the middle. And also an F. Plus a red domino mask, everyone loves a good domino mask. Ultimately, I'd decided to go for a headband rather than a hat- just to be slightly less of a blatant ripoff.

I turned towards the screen, where I'd set up the camera to act as a mirror. I looked at myself, and smiled.

"I. Am. Adorable," I said. "I. Am. A blatant Hat Kid ripoff!"

I thrust a finger into the air dramatically, for absolutely nobody to hear as I shouted at a computer screen.

"I. Am. Framework, Hero-In-Progress of Metropolis!"

I held the pose dramatically for a few seconds...

"Mmph, close enough to decent," I mumbled contentedly to myself as I packed up my gear to head out.

The Dynacycle had continued to not spontaneously explode or zoom into a wall. Carefully, I hopped on, and slowly not-revved the non-engine or however you say 'I made the magnet thingy do the stuff'- and it moved forwards.

I pressed a button, opening the super-secret bike entrance to the... whatever my secret base was called. Tentatively, I let the bike move forwards- I'd reverse-countershaded it to deal with the Metropolis nights, purple on the bottom to match the sky and the same light beige as my joggers on top to help it blend in with the streets. Apart from a bit of the seat, I needed a bit of purple up there to break up my own outline as well. I could do better- active camouflage systems and whatnot- but as a first attempt I was pretty satisfied.

Best of all? Totally silent, beyond a quiet hum of power. I'd checked in the infrasonic and ultrasonic ranges, too- even the dogs would have trouble hearing it unless it was next to them. Superman would... have a reasonable chance, because Superman, apart from the fact it sounded like every other electric hum in the city.

I passed the threshold of my base, entering the cool night sky. I set the destination and travel methodology- and then with a rush of momentum through my bones, it shot off into the sky.

A startled noise of intense discomfort at the supposedly-expected motion escaped my throat, and I breathed quickly for a few seconds before I coughed and adjusted my cape in a dignified fashion. Then I fixed my eyes on the vista ahead to ensure that we weren't flying directly into a building.

After a few seconds more to ensure the validity of my calculations, I finally allowed myself to relax.

The Dynacycle was cruising almost above the skyline, and the wind was pleasantly cold as it rushed around the front screen. Metropolis wasn't, as you might expect, a temperate city- it never snowed, ever, and sometimes it even got hurricanes. Which is, in retrospect, exactly where you'd expect to find an alien that relied exclusively on solar power as the source of its powers.

It glided through the sky on an invisible cushion of magnetism, taking advantage of some generally-obscure electromagnetic interactions to do so. It was more nimble than I'd imagined (though it fit the calculations well enough), and being able to cut across roads from a few hundred feet above them made it a lot faster than most vehicles purely by virtue of journey length. I smiled. Successful, so far!

The screen beeped, and I took note- it had only been a short journey to my destination. The sky-scooter banked as it came into hovering range of the place. The building itself was beautiful, and yet I still sighed at the big 'L' tastelessly emblazened on the front of the museum.

"Don't you have any taste, father?" I muttered to myself as I booted up the scanning systems.

Mmh... There was a big window, there. Luthor had relied pretty much entirely on high-tech electronic defenses, which meant anyone able to access the systems could pretty much waltz in like they owned the place.

I remotely opened a window and, thanks to its prodigious size and lack of effective security systems, drove in like I owned the place instead. Because I'm a jerk like that.

The museum was dark, so I unslung my backpack and took out the torch. The camera systems were under my control already, so they'd loop whenever I was actually moving. I could turn on the lights if I wanted- but inevitably I'd forget to switch one off, so the torch it was.

Slowly I passed through the side halls, looking for that classic green glow. "Where are you..." I muttered, my eyes flicking from exhibit to exhibit- I'd have time to look on open day anyway, I could afford to ignore them for now.

Then I entered the main hall. And my jaw dropped.

"Father, you son of a bitch," I said, free to curse at will in the museum's utter silence.

There, in the darkness, was not just a robot tyrannosaur- but a whole horde of robot dinosaurs. A parasaur here, a trike there, a whole pack of velociraptors...

Of the small, dingo-sized variety- which was about the only thing correct on the prodigious gathering of lizard-scaled, bunny-handed abominations. I approached, torn between awe that my father had built so many and irritation at the fact he'd all got them completely incorrect. Did he ever listen to a single thing I complained about whenever I was discussing dinosaurs?

Well, I thought, no. But still!

I took a look at them- all animatronic, none bolted down... All dangerous. In case he... needed to murder someone in a museum? With the exhibits? I wasn't going to question his motives. Instead, I took a look where I'd expect a control panel to be, and quickly unscrewed the plate covering it.

It would be easy. So, so easy.

"...I shouldn't," I told myself. "People would notice..."

...eeaaugh. The flesh is strong but the mind is weak. Let's do it. I carefully recoded it, and copied the procedure onto the others. It was simple by my standards, but it would do well enough for now. I clapped my hands, and the velociraptor pack activated- before trotting off in the direction of my craft.

I'm calling that my Christmas present if he finds out it's me, I thought.As long as I can fix them up to being actual robot velociraptors rather than these things.

But my greed was purely a digression from the real point of interest- that, purely by virtue of my preference for dinosaurs, I'd vastly lowered Superman's chances of survival. No planning necessary- if he was locked in a room with three of these things and a chunk of kryptonite, he'd quickly be rendered less a superhero and more a badly-made pancake. And I couldn't just rewire them, Luthor would need a night's work to connect them up to his office, and they'd just get repaired-

Which left me one option. Grand Theft Kryptonite. Which was what I'd wanted to do in the first place but lacked a decent excuse for. I stretched out my hands and clicked my fingers, an evil grin stretched across my face. "Showtime," I said.

Which amounted to complaining internally as I first searched for the rock, then secondly as I had to heft it all the way back to the bike.

I piled the robot raptors onto each other, hooking their limbs together before having the one on the bottom clutch onto some convenient handles. I set up a magnetic tether to doubly secure them- it would be incredibly embarrassing for someone to get brained by a raptroid falling from the sky. Then, carefully, I sat down with the kryptonite sitting on my lap. "Chop chop, Dynacycle- we're bringing this back to the... secret base place."

Unfortunately my bike was not voice-activated so that was purely for my own entertainment as I pressed the button to actually perform the command. I flew up, and flew out through the same window again- as far as I knew, getting away scott-free.

Still, if I wanted to avoid anyone having a decent attempt at figuring out the thefts, backup might just be helpful. My father was smart- he might still find out the truth. Which meant...

I entered a command to reverse-engineer the intrusion attempt I'd used to open communications with the Batcave. "Boop," I said as I booted up the two-way connection.

"Wha- who is this!?" cried an indignant girl's voice.

I paused. "It's Miss Luthor, did I get a wrong number?" I questioned, utterly perplexed.

"No, this is Batgirl, and I'm-" There was a grunt of exertion and a thud of impact. "-kind of busy with a home invasion here!"

"Oh," I said. "I'll wait." I paused. "Unless you need some assistance? Wayne Manor, I presume?"

"Wha- yes! Just let me fight!" There was the sound of her hanging up, which of course did nothing to stop me from continuing the connection. Nevertheless, I muted my end as well.

"Let's see..." I checked the speed settings. "There we go. Let's hope this works."

I clicked it to the fastest one. The cockpit moved, starting to close up-

-then I cringed as my own voice responded, "Warning! Obstruction detected. Stop that."

With a fake sniffle, I knew what I had to do- I set down on a random rooftop, offloaded all but one of the robot velociraptors, and waved a tearful goodbye as the cockpit closed completely. "Farewell, friends," I said- "I hardly knew ye."

Then I was promptly pinned like a bug on a windscreen as the bike really accelerated.

I had always needed speed, absurd speed, if I ever wanted to be decent backup for the Bat Family. I was a Metropolis girl through and through, but only Gotham had superheroes anywhere near my own age. The Dynacycle was aerodynamic, powerful, stealthy- it could get me to Gotham in time with room to spare.

Unfortunately, I had made a mistake that was- in retrospect- terribly obvious, but only occured to me when I heard someone knocking on the window.

Going fast gets very loud very quickly.

I looked up sheepishly to see a certain fellow with nice hair and a red cape looking through the window with one eyebrow raised. He was most fortunate that I'd included space-capable radiation shielding in the glass, because otherwise he would be most unhappy right now. I undid the backpack to wrap the kryptonite in the convenient lead foil I'd brought. Then I attempted to communicate.

Because the aforementioned loudness and glass were both barriers to communication, I tried sign language. Superman shook his head- he didn't understand. Then I tried morse by knocking on the window, to which he nodded. Not the epic first meeting I was hoping for, but I'll take what I can get.

HLP BATGRL, I explained, pointing forwards to the horizon.

WHY U, asked Superman, tilting his head in confusion.

BAD RCK, I said, gesturing to the wrapped-up chunk of kryptonite. WNT HLP FRM BATMAN.

Superman frowned. WHY BAD

I grimaced in sympathy. PROB HRT U BC SCIENCE, I informed him. RCK OF LEX IS BAD FOR U

He frowned again, but nodded. WL HELP, STY IN RCKT

I nodded in thanks. TY FRND

Despite himself, he smiled back. NP

Then I jolted forwards- Superman, too, from my perspective- as the craft decelerated. Gotham alreay lay before us.

A towering maze of miasma and gargoyles, it was... well, Gotham. That city with more curses than I can count. The place where a guy dressed as a bat regularly beats up clowns, ecologists and ventriloquists and gets praised for it. The Dark City. The Wretched Hive.

And towering above it all, Wayne Manor- and we were parking there.

Superman touched down gently. I landed with a light thump, and returned the cockpit to its normal, open state. I could see a grey getaway van parked by the roadside- with a frown I attached the magnetic tether to it. The front door was open already, and I could see the shimmer of ice from inside.

The Man of Steel flash-stepped to the door. He turned back to me- "She is in trouble," he confirmed. "Again, stay here!"

I let him charge inside... and smirked. I wasn't going to break an agreement with Big Blue, at least not if I didn't need to.

But technically a robot velociraptor leaving the rocket wasn't me leaving the rocket.

I slaved it to the control systems, and eagerly booted up the systems. "Okay, Rudie, let's see what you can do!" I declared- with an artificial screech it leaped from the bike and charged in after Superman. It wasn't my precise plan for my superhero debut- not even tangentially related to my planned style in the future, actually- but robot velociraptors.

Well. One robot velociraptor... I need to upgrade my bike.

Its cameras came online, and I got a good look at the chaos inside the building. Mr Freeze had attacked- with a bunch of scantily-clad girls in parkas with ice guns alongside him. Superman was firing his heat vision- directly at Alfred, melting the ice he'd been encased him. As Bruce charged towards Alfred to ensure his wellbeing, the ice-cold villain turned his gun on Superman-

-and startled back as Batgirl shot it out of his hands with a well-placed batarang. "Superman!?" she cried incredulously. "Don't you live in Metropolis?!"

"I was passing through, and saw a few people in need," he said with a smile, before he turned to Mr Freeze- arms crossed. "Unfortunately for you. Mr Freeze, is it?"

"It is," he replied. "I admit, this is an unexpected development- but I lost the feeling of surprise along with everything else."

"Let's see, shall we?" he questioned. Then he charged forwards- and put his hand directly through Mr Freeze's chest.

Bruce gasped. Tim gasped. Barbara gasped. I gasped.

He turned back and grinned. "His body's robotic," he explained. "Life support systems, mostly. But they're unconnected to the motor-" Then he cried out as he was blasted by a stream of ice-making stuff from one of his henchwomen.

If only Bruce were Batman right now, I sighed. He'd be calling us both amateurs. My robot charged, as it should have done the moment I saw the fight.

I pressed the jump button, and it tackled the henchwoman who had shot Superman, knocking the gun clean from her hands. I had it dodge backwards- a bola came out of nowhere, tying the goon up even as she tried to get to her feet. My raptor grabbed the ice gun and smashed it... which promptly exploded, turning my feed to static.

"Ugh," I groaned, jumping out of the vehicle.

Mr Freeze had been immobilised by Superman's strike. There was one henchwoman left- and she'd caught Batgirl and Tim out with a chunk of ice to the head. Batgirl was getting to her feet, rubbing the back of her head, but she wouldn't be up in time to avoid the criminal woman pulling the trigger.

Only one thing for it. I jumped onto the ice slide that had replaced the staircase, lashing out my ten-foot pole to extend it. "Mia eb eurt!" I cried- and the strike connected with the rear of her knees, knocking her to the floor.

As she got up, I... promptly realised I had no way to restrain her. On the other hand... I, unlike her, still had backup.

When the woman was almost on her feet, Batgirl pounced. A brief struggle proved her no match for the hero in martial arts- the handcuffs locked around her wrists with a firm click. The second... third...? protege of the Bat sighed in relief... and then glanced at her surroundings.

"That could've gone better," she said deadpan, looking at the destruction around her.

"You did well," countered Superman, landing on his feet near us- I glanced at the wall he'd been stuck to, and it looked like he'd laser'd his way out of the ice while I wasn't looking, judging from the melted craters in the ice where his wrists had been. "Mister Wayne and his associates are safe- that's all we could have asked for."

"Of course!" agreed Bruce Wayne, approaching as Alfred leant on him- tired, but apparently okay. I let out a quiet sigh of relief. "It's an honour to have you in my home, Superman," he said charmingly. "Though perhaps I could have redecorated first." He chuckled, looking at the destruction.

"Thank you, Mister Wayne, err..." Batgirl paused. "Superman." The name hadn't quite naturalised yet- it would need time still. She turned to me. "And you're that girl on the comm link?"

"Framework," I introduced myself. "Hero-In-Progress of Metropolis! Though," I rubbed the back of my head embarrassedly, "I haven't actually done anything in Metropolis yet. Apart from what I wanted to talk to Robin about."

"Yes," Superman said, turning to face me. "You said you had some sort of rock?"

"Yup!" I replied, popping the 'p' as I did. "Wait here a second, I'll get it from my cycle."

Then I took a look at the ice slide I'd travelled down to get here in the first place. I frowned- then nearly jumped out of my skin as Superman picked me up and put me on the landing. "Thanks," I said, and darted off to get the rock.

The kryptonite was- thankfully- just where I left it. I grabbed it, and headed back inside the Manor, this time staying at the top. "Catch!" I said, throwing it down- Batgirl caught it easily. "Superman, if you'd say peanuts once you've had enough exposure?"

The kryptonian tilted his head, confused. Alfred, fortunately, was on the ball. "It means 'ow, the pain, please make it stop,'" he informed the Man of Steel.

Big Blue turned to Batgirl and nodded. She unwrapped it, and a green glow washed over Superman's face.

The effect was immediate. He flinched backwards, covering his arms with his eyes, suddenly gasping and panting for breath. His legs began to tremble. "Peanuts!" he said breathlessly, and gasped in a fresh breath the moment the light was gone.

"What was that?" asked Tim, looking at the rock.

"A form of harmless radiation," I replied, looking down at them. "Harmless, of course, to us- at least in the short term. But its chemical composition suggests an extraterrestrial origin, and both its novelty and its half-life suggest it would have first formed... when Superman was a baby. And we've all seen that my prediction of its interaction with him was right."

"...You think this is a piece of Krypton?" he said, surprised.

I nodded. "Kryptonite, if you will. It was left in an open case in the Lex Luthor Museum of Natural History- at first I just wanted to check for excessive radiation, seeing as it was unstudied and glowed. But then I figured out its origins, and combined with the dinosaurs display being-" I gestured to the shattered remains of my poor raptroid. "-fully animate, I figured out it was likely a trap for Superman. I'm predicting a theft on opening day."

"And you brought Superman to us when you heard Batgirl needed help because...?" Tim questioned, one eyebrow raised.

"My bike was very suspicious while I was getting here."

Superman bobbed his head in agreement. "I thought I'd check it out. Turns out it was another hero- but I should really be going." He smiled and saluted, preparing to fly off.

A thought crossed my mind. "Wait," I said, "did we just have that entire conversation in front of Mr Freeze?"

As one, we all looked to the side- where Mr Freeze's body lay. Specifically his body- his head was... entirely absent. I blinked, and looked at Superman. Superman looked at Batgirl. Batgirl looked at Bruce. Bruce shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine," he blatantly lied to anyone who knew he was Batman.

"Either way," said Alfred, "you've been a great help to myself and Master Wayne. Please, stay a while- I'll-"

"Easy, Alfred," said Bruce, catching his butler as he tried to stride off and prepare a cup of tea. "You need rest- be thankful you weren't hypothermic." He looked at Superman. "We'll invite you another day- if there's a way to contact you?"

"I'll visit some time to organise it," he agreed. "There's a van outside- probably their getaway vehicle. I'll gather them up for Arkham." One at a time, he picked up the startled villains- and Mr Freeze's empty body- and took them outside. There was a sound of shifting steel, a faint rush of air, and then he was gone.

I turned to the others. "Well-"

There was a thump outside. "Framework?" I heard Superman say. "Your bike's attached to the van. Even though it's nowhere near it. Magnetism, maybe?"

I facepalmed. "We'll talk in a moment," I said. "And, err, good luck with the reconstructions."

Mr Wayne nodded. "Thank you," he said. "Though... if you took the kryptonite, why did you need to take the weapons, too?"

Damnit!