"You just tap your thumb on this and-" Dick says, holding his thumb to a secret panel. An orange glow fills the box. As I'm zapped back into existence, I stumble a little, and my mouth tastes like lemons. "You okay?" He says, tugging my arm from my face.
"That," I whisper, "Was exhilarting!" I squeal. I hug Dick before thinking better. He has a girlfriend.
"Remember, secret identities." Dick hisses, handing me a pair of sunglasses. A orange haired boy appears in front of me.
"So, you're the famous 'Batgirl'?" He says, bored. "Sorry to say, dude, but kind of a let down." He whispers loudly in Dick's ear. I sigh.
"Um...Batgirl, this is Wally West. Kid Flash." Dick says, trying to smile. I look Wally up and down.
"Hey." I say. Wally doesn't respond. A blonde girl and a brown haired martian run in. Well, the martian levitates.
"Oh, hi!" The Martian squeals. "I'm M'gann! But you might've heard of me as Miss Martian! But you can call me Meghan! It's an Earth name!" She says, hugging me tightly. I am not used to hugs. Dad isn;t really the 'touchy, feely' kinda parent, and well Bruce is...Bruce. The blonde pulls us apart.
"Artemis." Artemis says cooly, holding up her hand, as if she's about to wave, then lowers it.
"Hey, don't you go to-" I start, but Dick elbows me. "I mean, uh, don't you go to...Star City! With Green Arrow! Yeah." I say quickly.
"Newbie forgot the secret identity." Wally laughs harshly. Artemis kicks him.
"Hey, BG's been in the game longer than you, Kid Flash." Dick says defensively. There's a click of heels, and a dark haired girl in tights and a tuxedo style leotard wearing a top-hat walks in. "Oh, hey Zee." I stare at her. She's like a supermodel. Perfect body, perfect hair. But I bet there's barely any brains in there.
"Should I have heard of her?" I hiss in Dick's ear. He looks guilty.
"Um, Zee, this is Batgirl, my...um...a friend from Gotham, and Batman's protege. B, this is Zatanna." Dick says, wrapping an arm around the girl's waist. I guess my green eyes flash, because Wally just has to whisper loudly:
"Ooooh! Catfight! Or should I say 'bat-fight'." I want to kick Kid Flash.
"So, Batgirl, I guess I'll just give you a tour." Dick says, looking like he's trying to take his arm away from Zatanna's waist, but she keeps it wrapped around her. "Ok, well, this is the common room...
Dick finishes the tour showing me my room in the cave. Furnished with black and yellow decor. Guess they got the memo about my uniform. "So, B, if you need anything, feel free to ask-"
"Artemis and Meghan!" Zatanna interrupts. Dick looks confused under his sunglasses.
"Right. Artemis and Meghan." Then my door slides shut. Ok. I knew Dick had a girlfriend. I wasn't too bothered about that. Ok, maybe I was a bit bothered. Actually, more than a bit. My point is, why is it her! She's just so...Zatanna. I shake the feeling, somersaulting onto my bed.
"At least I'm in Mount Justice. Mount Justice, for heavens sake!" I think aloud. Just at that moment, my door opens. Meghan and Connor step into my room.
"Hey." Connor says. Meghan elbows him. It can't feel like anything, he's the clone of Superman, for bat's sake. "I mean, hey, Batgirl."
"Batgirl, we just wanted to say hi and check on how you're doing." Meghan says sweetly. It's kind of impossible to imagine her fighting people, or having a sob story. But everyone has one. It's like an entry card to the hero club.
"Thanks, but I've been alone for literally a minute." I say. Just as I close the door, Dick's voice booms through the PA.
"Team, report for training." I sigh. Can't I get just five minutes to think about life like a normal teenager? I try to remember where the training room was. I find it quickly.
"So, today we're going to be sparring with each other. Batgirl, Connor, you're first." Dick says, in his most serious, leader-like voice. I take my position on the opposite edge of the battle ground. Connor hurls himself at me, but I dodge, grabbing his right arm. I slide my leg under him and flip him onto his back.
"SuperBoy, failed." The computer says. Connor growls. Wally grins.
"Let's see how well you go against the fastest person in the room." He says. He looks at Impulse, Bart, or whatever his name was. "Second fastest." He starts spinning circle around me. I equip a rebreather and switch my cowl to infra-red vision. I throw a smoke bomb to the floor, then I tie a rope around his legs. Once the smoke clears, Kid Flash is hanging from his ankles from a beam on the roof.
"Ok, now, Kaldur and-" Dick begins, but Zatanna cuts him off.
"Hold on, I want a turn with the Bat-Chick." She says innocently. I remember she can do magic. I know that much. I pull out a batarang, and enable the built in tasers on my suit. I hot-wire the batarang to stun. Dick counts down, then Zatanna begins speaking.
"Epor eht-" I throw my batarang, and it hits her arm. It doesn't draw blood. But she falls to the floor.
"Zatanna, failed." Zatanna stands up, her fists clenched.
"How dare you, you slut!" She screams. I smirk.
"Says the girl in nylons and a leotard. At least my suit has some practicality." Zatanna screams. Dick gets an alert. He looks torn.
"Guys, we really should take this." He says quietly.
"We'll finish this." Zatanna hisses as she stalks off to Dick's side. She pulls his around her.
"Ignore her." Artemis says. "She's just jealous of us. We can beat her without superpowers. Plus, I think she thinks NightWing likes you."
"Trust me, I have no trouble ignoring her. And Di- I mean, NightWing wouldn't be dating her if he liked me in that way." I say. Artemis smiles.
"C'mon." She says.
"Zatanna, Batgirl, you're with me. We're Alpha. Artemis, Miss M, BeastBoy, You're Beta. BumbleBee, Superboy, Robin, Delta. Everyone else, you're going on a mission with Kaldur." Dick orders. I'm with the Magician? Great. "Move out!"
"Don't think I won't take any opportunity to get you killed off." Zatanna hisses, before walking over to Dick and kissing him. I walk over, determined to get out of here. I'll desert the lovebirds first chance I get.
"Let's go." I say. Zatanna climbs behind Dick, and puts her arms on his chest. I rev up my own motorbike. "Where's this mission, anyway?"
"Washington DC." He says. I move into the Zeta-Beam. "Batgirl- wait up!"
"You have Miss I-can-turn-anything-into-a-bunny. What do you need me for?" I screech, louder than I meant to. I zeta out, then speed off before he can follow me.
