DC Super Hero Girls #3

by Lisa Yee

  Katana flipped her sleek black hair back. “No, I can do better—and I will, in our Intro to Super Suits class!”

  Everyone waved to Hawkgirl, who was the hall monitor, and then to Green Lantern, who was using his power ring to carry the monthly care packages his brother had sent him.

  A soft buzz got louder as Bumblebee got bigger. Her golden wings stirred the air and she alighted behind the administration office counter. “You’re here to see Principal Waller?” she said. She loved being a student assistant and knowing all the buzz about Super Hero High.

  Batgirl opened her mouth to speak, but Supergirl beat her to it. “Yes, Batgirl’s reporting for her first day as a student at Super Hero High!”

  Bumblebee’s smile lit up her face. “I know!” she squealed, before remembering that she was working. “I’ll need you to fill out the proper paperwork.”

  Batgirl looked up to see The Wall towering over her. Her dark gray suit and severe haircut matched the serious look she usually wore. “Welcome, Batgirl,” Principal Waller said, holding back a smile. “I am so glad your father had a change of heart.”

  Did my father have a change of heart? Batgirl wondered. Or was he putting her on probation at Super Hero High because it might prove to be too tough for her?

  “Thank you. We’re so thrilled,” Supergirl said.

  “I was talking to Batgirl,” Waller pointed out. “Supergirl, shouldn’t you be somewhere?”

  “Huh? Oh! Yes, class. Okay, see you later, Batgirl!” Supergirl said before racing down the hallway. She got all the way to the end before turning around, zooming back, and giving Batgirl another hug. Then she finally headed off to join the Supers in Liberty Belle’s history class.

  “Have a seat, Barbara—I mean, Batgirl,” the principal said. “Bumblebee! Oh, you’re here?”

  Bumblebee handed the principal a folder and winked at Batgirl on her way out.

  “Your transcripts from Gotham High School came in, and your grades and test scores are excellent.”

  Batgirl blushed. She had always been a top student and planned to continue the practice at her new school.

  “However,” Waller added, “Super Hero High is a very different place from what you’re used to.”

  Batgirl nodded. In the hallways, many of the students used the flight lanes. In PE, instead of running laps around a track, they were often asked to run laps around the city. And in Weaponomics, they were learning about devices that could cause mass destruction—or save the world. As the school’s part-time tech wizard, Batgirl had seen it all.

  “…you’re here in a different capacity now,” Waller was saying. “I want you to cease being our tech whiz and start being a full-time student. Although I may reserve the right to call you in on special assignments.”

  “I can do both!” Batgirl said. Computers, weapons, electrical, explosive, and incendiary devices: she could start—or stop—them all.

  Principal Waller shook her head. “I’ve already begun looking for your replacement in that department. No, I want you to focus. Because you are a transfer student, you have a lot of catching up to do. This isn’t like your old high school. Here, we train students to save lives, make the world a better place, and lead by example. There are villains who will aim to bring you and the world down. We have to be prepared for that.”

  Batgirl nodded. Her heart was racing. She had wanted this for so long.

  “Do you have any questions?” Waller asked. She was looking at her telephone—all the buttons were lit up and blinking impatiently.

  “Just one,” Batgirl said, hesitating. “May I keep my IT annex? The one where I stored all my technical equipment and computers?”

  “Of course,” Waller said. “Since you’ll be commuting to school, it will be good for you to have a place for your things.”

  Batgirl was relieved that she got to keep her annex, or as she referred to it, her Barbara-Assisted Technology Bunker. This was also called the Bat-Bunker.

  “Thank you. For everything,” Batgirl said. “I won’t let you down.”

  “I believe you,” Principal Waller said. “But first there’s someone I want you to see.”

  Batgirl knew that every student at Super Hero High had to have an interview with the school counselor, Dr. Arkham. After all, there was a lot of pressure when it came to training to be a super hero. The job was not for everyone.

  “He’s really nice,” Wonder Woman said as Batgirl joined her friends in the dining hall for a late breakfast. She was already digging into her third helping of cereal. Every morning, Wonder Woman lined up seven bowls and worked her way through them until there was not one crunch of cereal left.

  Katana sat down with a tray of tropical fruit and, in the blink of an eye, sliced it into beautiful flower shapes. A plate piled high with wheat toast drenched with honey flew overhead and landed on the table as Bumblebee grew to her full size.

  Wonder Woman continued, “Dr. Arkham practically invented power naps. Plus, he’s written several books, and many of them say the same thing!” Having been homeschooled on Paradise Island before enrolling at Super Hero High, Wonder Woman had a rather interesting view of what life on the rest of the planet was like. A born leader, she was always the first to volunteer for anything. She was forever trying to help Harley Quinn clean and organize her room, not realizing that it was an impossible task.

  “You’ll do great,” Bumblebee assured Batgirl. She had left the crust from her bread on the plate and was licking honey from her thumb and forefinger so it wouldn’t go to waste. “We all had to talk to Arkham before becoming students. It’s part of the process.”

  Batgirl stopped mid-chew. She suddenly realized that—yowza!—she was a student now. She had really made it! “What does it take?” Batgirl asked. “You know, to be a super hero?”

  “Conviction,” Katana said.

  “Dedication,” Wonder Woman added.

  “Strength,” Supergirl said, sitting down next to Batgirl.

  “Heart,” said Poison Ivy.

  “Humor!” Harley said, cartwheeling over while eating a bowl of cereal and not spilling a drop of milk.

  Soon Supers all across the dining hall were yelling to Batgirl.

  “Loyalty!” said Cyborg.

  “Flexibility!” Beast Boy offered.

  “Money,” Star Sapphire interjected.

  “Cleverness,” Cheetah purred.

  “Stealth,” Lady Shiva contributed.

  “Speed,” said The Flash.

  “Commitment,” said Hawkgirl.

  Batgirl smiled, soaking it all in. Everyone’s answer was so heartfelt. It made her more excited than ever to be at Super Hero High. She was determined to be all these things and more!

  Dr. Arkham stared at her from behind his oversized glasses, then stroked his beard. Batgirl wondered if she would be able to see her reflection in his shiny bald head.

  He shuffled through a stack of papers before finding what he was looking for in a purple folder on the floor. Arkham was old-school when it came to technology. Batgirl knew this too well. She had often helped him turn on his computer, shut off his phone, and even open the door when his key got stuck.

  “Hmmmm,” he said. “Barbara Gordon…so now you’re Batgirl, is that right?” She nodded. “Your test scores at Gotham High are stellar, and I see that you’ve never gotten in trouble or even had so much as a tardy slip.”

  She nodded again.

  “So tell me, Ms. Gordon—oh, excuse me! Batgirl!” He chuckled at his own mistake. “Tell me, Batgirl, what makes you think you will do well here? You know you don’t have any superpowers, correct?” He leaned forward. “Or do you think you have some?”

  “I’m well aware of my capabilities,” Batgirl said. “Principal Waller says that you don’t have to have superpowers to attend Super Hero High. She says that she’s not looking at who you are today, but who you will be in the future.”

  Dr. Arkham closed the folder and leaned back in his leather chair. It was so
big it made him look like a little boy. A bald little boy with a beard.

  “I know what she says,” he told her. “But I want to hear what you have to say.”

  Batgirl took a deep breath. How could she tell him what she felt inside? It wasn’t logic that was leading her desire to be a super hero, it was her heart.

  Arkham was pressing the tips of his fingers together and waiting. Finally, Batgirl said, “It’s who I am. It’s who I am meant to be. Have you ever just known something deep inside that transcends words? When Principal Waller offered me the opportunity to be a student here, it was as if all the planets aligned and suddenly, for the first time, everything in my life made sense.”

  Dr. Arkham was silent, his face stoic. Batgirl wondered if she had said the wrong thing. Then she noticed a tear running down his cheek. “Dr. Arkham, are you all right?” she asked.

  Momentarily unable to speak, he nodded. Then he said, “Yes, yes, I am, Batgirl. You make more sense than most of the students here. There are things that cannot be measured in a test, like the depth of human emotion. Take me, for example. I am a brilliant counselor and therapist. But I harbor a secret desire to be…an opera singer.”

  To prove this, he stood and belted out strains from The Marriage of Figaro. Batgirl marveled at how loud he was. When he was done, Arkham bowed deeply to the four corners of the room. “You have inspired me to take up singing again!”

  As he wept with happiness, Batgirl shifted in her chair. “Um, Dr. Arkham,” she ventured, “aren’t you supposed to give me the other tests?”

  “What? Why, yes, yes. Thank you. Yes. Okay!” He held up a card with squiggles on it. “What do you see when you look at this?”

  “A knight in armor.”

  “And this?”

  “A bat.”

  “And this?”

  “A whale…umm, sorta.”

  “And this?”

  “The battle between good and evil.”

  By the time they were through, both Batgirl and Dr. Arkham were pleased with the way the session had gone. “One last question,” Dr. Arkham said before she left.

  Batgirl turned around. “Yes?”

  He pulled something out of his desk drawer. “Can you fix my calculator? Instead of adding up the numbers, it just keeps subtracting.”

  “How did it go? How did it go?” Supergirl asked, eager to hear every little detail. The Super Hero of the Month was always assigned to assist any new students, and Supergirl took her assignment very seriously. Maybe too seriously.

  “It went great,” Batgirl said as Supergirl accompanied her down the hall.

  “Ooh, this room is the forensics computer lab, where they use the latest tech to catch criminals,” Supergirl said, pointing like a tour guide.

  “I know,” Batgirl replied. “Remember, I hooked up all the computers to the server.”

  “Right!” Supergirl looked delighted that her bestie was already feeling at home. Then she whispered, “Look there, on the wall. That thing that looks like a school bell is really Hawkgirl’s hidden radar gun and video camera for catching flyers who break the speed limit in the hall.”

  Batgirl whispered back, “I know. I installed it for her.”

  The two friends tried to suppress their giggles as they made their way down the hall.

  “Here I am trying to show you around, when you could be giving me the tour!” Supergirl said as they continued to Doc Magnus’s Robotics and Computer Science classroom. “And now for your first official class!” Supergirl announced.

  “Thanks,” Batgirl said, pushing the door open. “See you at lunch!”

  “Later!” Supergirl said, flying away and barely missing Beast Boy, who was running to his class.

  “Please, sit up front, Batgirl,” Doc Magnus said. “I want to be able to hear whatever insights you have. Your reputation precedes you!”

  “That means he likes you,” Miss Martian whispered before turning invisible.

  “That means you’re the teacher’s pet,” Cheetah said as Batgirl made her way up to the desk with the RESERVED FOR BATGIRL sign on it.

  Harley turned on her camera and in a loud faux whisper reported, “It’s Batgirl’s first day of class. Everyone wants to know how this new super hero will fare.”

  “Camera down, Harley!” Doc Magnus called. “You know the rules. No filming in class.”

  “Oopsy! I forgot,” Harley said, laughing. “Sorry, Doc. Won’t happen again.”

  “Until the next class,” Killer Frost said under her breath as she rolled her eyes. Harley stuck out her tongue and returned her attention to the class.

  Batgirl was studying Doc Magnus. With advanced degrees in mathematics, particle physics, and mechanical engineering, he was a certified genius—someone she hoped to learn a lot from. His brown hair was cut short, and he wore a purple V-neck sweater with a green blazer and a black tie. Some of the students made fun of the purple he wore every day, but Batgirl understood that habits could be hard to break. She’d also noticed that Doc Magnus was always sucking on a grape lollipop. She wondered if he ever tried other flavors.

  Looking around the room, she could see Wonder Woman flipping her hair back, Hawkgirl lining up her pens, and Star Sapphire playing with the violet ring on her finger.

  “Who knows the answer?” Doc Magnus was asking with regard to the theoretical physics question he had asked but no one was answering.

  Like at Gotham High, Batgirl was always quick to raise her hand.

  “Teacher’s pet,” whispered Catwoman.

  “That would be me!” Beast Boy quipped, turning from a green teen to a hamster. He scampered off his desk and onto Catwoman’s. She was not amused when he began to nibble on her homework.

  Just as she raised a paw and was about to bring it down on him, Beast Boy turned back into a boy and rolled off her desk.

  “Temper, temper,” he said, blinking innocently as Catwoman seethed. Batgirl smiled, thankful that he’d taken the attention off her.

  After school, Lady Shiva, Harley, and Star Sapphire closed in around Batgirl as she waited for her ride home.

  “Hi, guys!” she said brightly. She admired Lady Shiva’s bright red dress, which never seemed to wrinkle, even when she was practicing her lethal martial arts moves.

  “Oh, there you are,” Star Sapphire said, handing Batgirl her phone. She adjusted her glittering gemstone necklace. “My phone’s a mess. I have too many friends and fans sending me messages all the time. It takes forever to download anything, and Daddy’s IT support is hopeless with even the simplest requests. Can you reprogram this so it’s faster? Oh, and I’d like it back this afternoon.”

  “Can you come to my room?” Harley asked. “My camera is acting weird.”

  “I need a custom computerized spreadsheet for my mathematical calculations,” Lady Shiva said.

  “Well, technically, I’m not in the tech department anymore,” Batgirl began. They all stared at her blankly. “But sure!” she said. “I’d be happy to help.”

  “Hey,” Katana said, breaking up the circle. “That’s not Batgirl’s job. She’s here to be a student, just like the rest of us.”

  “Says who?” Star Sapphire challenged her.

  “Says me,” Supergirl interjected brightly. “I’m supposed to take care of her and help her adjust.”

  “Hey! Whoa,” Batgirl interrupted as the group bickered. “I can help until the new tech person is hired,” she insisted.

  Everyone stopped talking and stared at her.

  “What?” Batgirl asked. “Have I ever let you down before? I can do this!”

  Supergirl bit her lip and Star Sapphire looked triumphant.

  “It’s okay,” Batgirl assured her best friend. “I’m going to be fine.”

  She felt a wave of relief when Supergirl broke into a smile. “Of course you are!” she said. “I should never doubt you!”

  Katana didn’t look so sure, but she nodded.

  “Great!” Harley said, somersaulting away. “See y
a later!”

  As Batgirl watched her friends disappear into the high school, a car horn startled her. It was her dad. Her first day had been incredibly exciting, but she had a lot of catching up to do in each class. She could do it all, right?

  As the days turned into a week, and then beyond, breakfasts at home got weird. Or rather, weirder. Batgirl and her father didn’t talk about Super Hero High. The subject seemed to be a dark cloud hanging over them. In the past, Barbara had shared everything about school, and she loved hearing Commissioner Gordon discuss his detective work.

  The two still talked, of course. But it was mostly about the weather and other safe subjects. Except when the weather was menacing—then her dad got overprotective and insisted that she take an additional raincoat, umbrella, poncho, rain boots, and her long raincoat, just in case the other raincoat and the poncho weren’t enough to keep her dry. But discussion about her new life as a Super was off-limits. Whenever Batgirl tried to bring it up, her father would make some weak excuse, like, “Whoa, I forgot to polish my shoes. Better do it now before I forget again!” And then he’d excuse himself.

  If it was a Tuesday or Thursday, his teaching days, Batgirl got a ride to school in the police car. The other days, she took the Gotham Line to the Metropolis Metro, then transferred to a bus that delivered her in front of the iconic Amethyst Tower of Super Hero High. With just a few steps, she was back in the thick of her new routine.

  “Crazy Quilt lets us come up with our own extra-credit projects,” Katana told her as they made their way down the hall. Both ducked when a large and unusually animated snapdragon came snaking wildly in their direction.

  “Sorry!” Poison Ivy called, chasing the unruly plant. Her cheeks flushed the color of her red hair. The snapdragon kept snapping at Supers as it brushed past them, occasionally snagging a book or swallowing a backpack.

  Katana continued as if nothing had happened. Her focus was legendary. “I’m making you my extra-credit project,” she announced as Cyborg came barreling toward them. He skidded to a stop in front of Batgirl and stood awkwardly, blocking her path.