The Apprentice

New Prospects

The H.I.V.E entrance hall is spacious. It stretches many floors up in the shape of a half cylinder, adorned entirely with yellow hexagonal panels. Robin squints up in the direction of the ceiling, finding it obscured by the bright light emanating from it. It's hard to tell if he's too far underground for it to be a natural skylight or not, the elevator ride down having been deliberately disorienting, though not as disorienting as the drive here. He's not sure if he's even still in the city.

It doesn't matter, I won't be here long, he thinks to himself, then cringes inwardly. I guess it would be important to know, if I was still a Titan.

He doesn't let that line of thinking distract him again, flexing his fingers and looking around to keep his attention on the present moment. He's one of five teens gathered in this room, waiting for some sort of formal introduction. None of them look familiar, though they all seem to recognize him. Three of them stare when they think he isn't looking, their whispers scratching through the stagnant air. One stands apart from the rest, seemingly content just to watch over the group. Finding no better use for his time, Robin sizes him up.

The boy looks perfectly at ease, his posture relaxed. He's wearing a grey and white jumpsuit with one opening for the lower half of his face, and another on top of his head to let out tufts of red hair. A simple white cloud decorates the front of his chest. It doesn't look especially intimidating, though Robin supposes that presentation will be one more thing for him to learn at H.I.V.E.

The boy winks, flashing him a knowing smile. Robin balks. Realizing he was caught staring, he hastily turns away. He finds a particularly interesting crack on the opposite wall to focus on as the initial embarrassment subsides, but he finds that even then, something about that smile keeps nagging at him. Was it only because he'd been staring, or did it have a deeper meaning? Robin sneaks a glance back in his direction. He's never been one to like being kept in the dark, but if he's interpreting it right, then whatever that boy knows, he seems to think Robin is in on it too.

The echo of clacking heels pulls his attention to the main hallway ahead of him, and he stands at attention, hands clasped behind his back.

"Welcome, prospective students." The headmistress announces, stepping out from the shadows to address the group. She adjusts her angular glasses and looks over the clipboard held in the crook of her arm.

"As you well know, orientation week is an opportunity for undecided young villains to explore what H.I.V.E academy has to offer, and use this time to develop your skills in preparation for the upcoming entrance exam, should you choose to take it."

Her gaze tracks each of the nervous faces in front of her. She straightens, letting the clipboard drop to her side. "No need for the pale faces. Your debuts have already earned you a place here: your unique skills have proven to be of interest to the H.I.V.E."

Her narrowed eyes linger on Robin. He holds her stare stiffly.

"Of interest, indeed." She repeats in a low voice.

Robin bristles, hackles rising. His hands twitch, the sudden need to be armed like a burning itch beneath his skin. A taller boy in a red suit chuckles, elbowing Robin. It shatters the tension, Robin twisting his neck to look up at the boy in frustrated confusion. The headmistress regains her air of professionalism, finally taking her eyes off the ex-boy-wonder to address the group once more.

"You'll find last semester's top graduates in the cafeteria, down the hall on your left." She tells them. "They will act as your guides during your stay, so please direct all future questions to them. I hope to see you all at the exam at the end of the week. Until then," She glances at Robin for the last time, expression schooled into impassivity. "Good luck."

Effectively dismissed, something releases in Robin's chest when she turns away. He slumps his shoulders, letting his hands rest at his sides.

"Boy howdy. She's got your number, stranger." The boy in red whistles, nudging Robin a second time. Robin steps back, taking in this boisterous villain.

"Stranger?" He repeats. Robin hadn't heard that in a long time. Being Batman's sidekick usually meant he was well known. "You don't know who I am?"

The boy sniffs, "Sure, s'pose I heard'a you. But I don't actually know you, do I? And evidently no one else does neither, since you're here."

That makes a surprising amount of sense. "I... hadn't thought of it that way."

"Name's Billy Numerous." He holds out a hand, and Robin takes it. The handshake's aggressively energetic. "Speakin' of, that was some debut, Robby! I bet that's what headmistress is all fussed up about, not your ex-hero nonsense. You still go by Robin?"

Robin nods in confirmation, admittedly a bit relieved by Billy's friendly nature. The top right of his new mask arches upward as he quirks a brow. "What do you mean, my 'debut'?"

"That what you pulled in Metropolis, stupid!" Billy laughs, and the others nod in agreement, crowding closer as Billy pulls out his phone. He shows Robin a grainy picture of himself, standing in the street over a crater with Superman hunched in its centre. He pales at the sight. He'd been so focused on Alfred, he'd practically forgotten what he'd done to Clark.

"You did not have to go that hard to get into H.I.V.E, you know, makes the rest of us look bad!" Billy teases, oblivious to Robin's sudden shift in mood. Robin stamps down the swell of guilt and dread threatening to overwhelm him, and forces his gaze up towards the others. He's starting to understand the premise. Of course they wouldn't let anyone waltz into the academy, they had to prove themselves first by entrenching their public reputation with a crime.

"What were yours?" He asks, both to understand them better and pull attention away from himself.

"Billy kidnapped a football team and played in their place!" Billy Numerous boasts, jamming a thumb into his puffed-up chest. "Was most of the audience, too. And the cameramen."

Billy snickers at the look of confusion on Robin's face. He checks over his shoulder for the headmistress, then bends down to say more quietly "'M not s'posed to do it outside'a training, in case I'm some sorta spy on the H.I.V.E, but what the hell."

Robin's vision doubles, and there are suddenly two versions of Billy standing in front of him, giving jazz hands and speaking in synch. "Ta-daa! I'm Billy Numerous!"

He fuses back together as Robin's face breaks out into a grin. The division sign on his suit makes a lot more sense now. "Impressive! How many can you be?"

"Haven't found the limit yet." Billy brags, adjusting his goggles smugly. Robin's gaze drifts to the green-skinned alien standing behind Billy, and taking that as their cue, they speak up.

"I'm XL terrestrial," they declare, and Robin appreciates the pun on Beastboy and Cyborg's behalf. "I can increase my size. I ripped the engine off a rocket before takeoff."

Their smile sharpens at the memory, and Robin is darkly reminded that he's talking to villains, not heroes. He looks to the third person, who turns out to be aptly named Angel.

"I stole from a church." She shrugs, flapping her large white wings pointedly. "They believed anything I told them."

"Diabolical." The final initiate comments from his spot a few feet away, sounding almost sarcastic. The group's attention turns to him, and he straightens, giving them a little wave.

"Windstorm. I infiltrated H.I.V.E last night."

Robin's eyes widen. Now that's impressive. He'd tell him as much, but his reply is cut short by Billy Numerous' groan.

"Which is, by the way, the most boring option." Billy complains, throwing his hands up in the air. "It's barely even a crime! People infiltrate H.I.V.E all the time for their debut, I bet you just copied someone else's strategy."

Windstorm simply maintains his smile, eyes twinkling with well-kept secrets.

"If you say so." He placates, angling his body to the hall leading to the cafeteria. "Shall we?"