This was originally going to be one long chapter but I decided to break it up into two smaller chapters. I did this mainly because my life just got incredibly busy so I haven't had a lot of time to write. I also thought it would be bette to have a shorter chapter every week instead of one long chapter in two weeks. Anyways enjoy the first half of chapter 11.
"I need your help." I didn't know those four words would cause me so much trouble. The trouble started when I got the bright idea that the H.I.V.E. trio should have the experience of going to school. During my last visit, I'd heard about their previous form of education, the H.I.V.E. Academy. The school where they learned how to become villains. From what they told me it wasn't exactly paradise. Manipulative teachers and staff members ran the school and they forced students to fight each other to progress in their studies. No offence to Gizmo, Jinx, and Mammoth, but disregarding the whole being alienated due to their powers, I could see why they turned out as villains. Being forced to fight people you know, who are usually your friends, makes it easier to be ruthless and give into darker impulses.
That's why I wanted to get them into a real school. They need a positive place to learn. A place free from all of their past problems. There might be a few problems with trying to bring hopefully former villains to school but I do have connection. Namely the Titans. I just have to convince them to go along with my idea. Robins going to be the toughest but I'm sure I can convince him.
And that brings me to the trouble. I have to ask the Titans to post bail for their former enemies that nearly killed them and took over their house. That's going to be fun.
I decided to talk to Robin first. He is the leader and decision maker for the Titans. We were hanging out at the Coffee Bean when I decided to talk to to him. Actually it was as the Titans were leaving that I asked Robin stay for a few minutes to talk to me.
"What do you need?" asked Robin. As he tapped his foot impatiently. The Titans were going to have a video game tournament when they got to their tower so he wanted to get back quickly.
"I need a favour" I said.
"Didn't I already do you a favour" said Robin suspiciously as he narrowed his eyes. Actually he narrowed his mask, I can't actually see his eyes, but I'm sure that's what he intended.
"I know, but I think you might want to hear what I have to say" I said reassuringly.
"Alright, what do you need?" said Robin.
"I need the Titans to pay the H.I.V.E. trio's bail and enrol them into school." I said completely seriously.
"WHAT! ARE YOU CRAZY!" yelled Robin. Everyone in the restaurant immediately looked at him. Looking embarrassed Robin continued in a whisper. "I know that you've been spending a lot of time with them recently, but they are the bad guys. They are in prison for a reason and you just want to set them free and put them in a building full of teenagers for five days a week." How did he know I visited the H.I.V.E. trio. Wait he's Mr. Paranoid so it makes sense that he'd keep tabs on the H.I.V.E. trio's visitors. I'm just surprised he hasn't brought it up sooner.
"They aren't bad people, they are just victims of circumstance. They just need a chance to turn their lives around. And I think that going to school is just what they need." I said. Robin furrowed his eyebrows in concentration, as he tried to process the information. I went in for the kill. "If it works than there will be one less team of villains for you to constantly catch and throw back in prison."
"Ok I'll try it but I'm going make sure the H.I.V.E. can't take advantage of this" Robin said. That sounded ominous, but at least I accomplished my goal. Robin left, as he was eager to start the tournament, like a bat out of hell. Actually that would be more fitting for his mentor Batman. I guess he left like a robin out of … his nest. Great, now I've lost some of my witty banter skills.
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The Next Day
I stood in Jump City Penitentiary with Robin as we waited for the the H.I.V.E. trio to be released. Somehow Robin was able to enrol them in my high school and pay their bail all in one day. The other Titans weren't here, I'm assuming Robin didn't want them to know so they wouldn't question his decision. I'm sure the Titans would agree with him or at least follow him without questioning. Robin'll learn, I guess it's baby steps for now.
The door to the room we were in opened and in walked Gizmo, Jinx, and Mammoth, hands bound and escorted by police officers. Once they were in the room the police officers removed the handcuffs. "They're all yours" said one of the officers to Robin. Robin gave a nod and the police left the room.
"You actually did it" said a surprised Jinx.
"You didn't believe I would. After all I've done for you." I said feigning hurt. "We have an hour until school starts so we should …"
"Before anything happens I'm going to set some ground rules." interrupted Robin as he pulled out three object. All three of them were a dark grey and appeared to be made of some sort of thin metal. Two of the objects were in the shape of a thin rectangle and had clasps at each end. The third item was shaped like a square and was almost paper thin. "You three will be wearing these. They are tracking devices and they have a built in tranquilizer. Your teachers have the remotes that activate the tranquilizers. If you do anything destructive, dangerous, or illegal, they will activate the tranquilizer, putting you to sleep instantly were you will be brought back here and you will be locked away with no hope of leaving. Do you understand?" He got nods from Gizmo, Jinx and, Mammoth. Robin walked over and put the rectangular devices around the wrists of Jinx and Mammoth, while Gizmo got the rectangular device stuck to his back. It's probably there so he can't reach it to try and deactivate it. "You will be walked to and from school everyday until you prove you're trustworthy. If you want to participate in extracurricular activities have Danny contact me and I will approve them"
"How will I do that?" I asked. I don't have a cell phone and I'm sure that you can't look up the Teen Titan's phone number in the phone book.
"You'll be using this" said Robin as he pulled out something from his pocket. He handed it to me and I saw that it was a miniature Titan communicator. It was about half the size of a normal communicator and it only had one button on it. I was kind of hoping for a cell phone but I can make this work. This is harder to trace anyway.
"Thanks" I say.
"After school you'll be walked to apartments I found for your. You will stay their until you go to school the next day. The first two months of rent have been payed for. After that you are responsible for paying. You will be allowed to leave your apartments on weekends to search for a job or work at a job if you've found one. If you break any of the rules I'll make sure you are sent back here faster than you can blink. Got it" threatened Robin.
Gulping nervously Gizmo gave a small nod of confirmation. "Good. Your free to go, for now" said Robin.
We left the prison and walked to Jump City High. Along the way I told the H.I.V.E. trio all about what high school is like. I told them about all the fun things to do at school, like clubs, sports teams, bands, etc while steering clear of subjects like homework. I'll tell them about the horrors of homework later. I also answered any questions they had. By the time we got to the school they looked excited, with a hint of nervousness.
Waiting in front of Jump City High's front doors were Slide and Kelsey. I'd told them yesterday about my trips to Jump City Penitentiary and my plan to have the H.I.V.E. trio join our school. They were understandably nervous. Its not everyday your friend tells you that they want to bring dangerous supervillains to school. I did manage to convince them to go along with it though.
"Danny, your late. The bell's about to ring" said Slide as we walked up to the school.
"That's because someone decided to be a chatty Kathy" I said as I looked at Robin.
"Says the guy that spent the entire walk here talking" retorted Robin. "I will be going now" said Robin as he shot one last glare at Gizmo, Jinx, and Mammoth. Robin turned around and walked away.
"Slide, Kelsey, I'd like to introduce you to Gizmo, Jinx and Mammoth" I said.
Kelsey responded with a "Hi I'm Kelsey nice to meet you" followed by Slides "Glad you could make it. I'm Slide." So far so good. I'm glad that Slide and Kelsey don't seem nervousness around the three. Them being unafraid will make the transition to school easier for Gizmo, Jinx, and Mammoth.
"What kind name is Slide?" said a snarky Jinx. Oh boy, that's not a great way too start.
Slide remained unfazed by her comment. "My actual name is Steven. Slides just a nickname." explained Slide.
"He got it because he acted like an idiot and decided to try and slide down a stair rail. He ended up falling off and landed on the principle" said Kelsey with a snicker as she playful punched Slide in the arm.
Any further chance for conversation was cut off by the ringing of the bell. We quickly made our way to our math class. Robin managed to get Gizmo, Jinx, and Mammoth schedules that were identical to mine. He claims that I'd be able to show them around and they'd have someone they know in class with them. I think he just wants another person watching them.
The rest of the school went surprisingly smoothly. The principle had made an announcement at the beginning of the day about the situation and he asked the students to treat the trio like any other student. It seemed to work. No students had bothered the trio. They cast a few wary glances once in a while but that was all they did. There was only two incidents, during the entire day a number smaller than I expected. In gym, we were playing dodgeball. Mammoth accidentally threw a ball too hard at a guy. He missed but he ended up destroying an entire row of bleachers and cracked the concrete wall behind the bleachers with one throw. The other incident was caused by Gizmo. I learned today that while he is mechanically inclined, chemistry isn't his strong suit. He managed to create a small explosion during the lab we had today. I'm not sure how he managed to cause a neutralization reaction to explode but ho somehow did just that. The person that adjusted the best was Jinx. Kelsey was the reason for that. After only spending time with the boys on her team, she must have desperately wanted friend that was a girl. By lunch you'd of thought they'd been friends all their entire lives, they were trading makeup tips and spreading gossip. Or was it trading gossip and spreading makeup, I'm not sure. I don't really understand girl stuff that well.
It wasn't until after school ended that something happened. "The school's football team is playing today." said Slide as we exited the classroom. "Do you guys want to go watch?" asked Slide to the group.
Gizmo, Jinx, and Mammoth looked shocked. I guess they thought Slide just tolerated them today and didn't actually want to hang out with them. What they didn't know is that Slide would try and make friends with a gorilla if he had the chance.
"I don't think we are allowed to do that" said an unsure Jinx.
"I'll ask Robin" I said as I pulled out the miniature communicator. Pressing the button, I held it up to my face as Robin's face appeared onscreen.
"What do you want?" said Robin impatiently.
"Can Gizmo, Jinx, and Mammoth go and watch the school football game tonight?" I asked.
"I'm not sure if that's a good idea" said Robin.
"Come on, how much trouble can they get into while they are sitting there watching the game." I said.
"Fine, they can go" said Robin reluctantly.
"Thanks" I said before I pressed the button again, ending the call. "Let's go." I said as we walked out of the school and towards the bleacher. The bleachers weren't very full so we found good seats.
The game was pretty intense. I'm not much of a football person mainly due to the bad memories caused by Dash and the rest of Casper High's football team, but I was drawn into this game. Today was the big rivalry game between the Jump City Titans, it's ironic because they were named that before the Teen Titans showed up, and the Schwarzenegger High Eagles. The game was a close one. It was the fourth quarter and the Titans were down by two. They were about to kick a three point field goal to put them in the lead when the ground started shaking. Not the constant shaking of an earthquake but period half second intervals when they ground would rumble. It was almost as if a giant person was walking along.
I stood up along with Slide, Kelsey, and the H.I.V.E. trio. I started looking around trying to find the source of the noise. Suddenly, the lights on our side of the stadium went out. I turned around and saw that instead of burning out, the lights were being blocked by a giant figure made out of a purplish clay like substance. I stood there staring at the giant creature until I realized one thing. It was staring directly at me.