by Lisa Yee
“Yes, Principal Waller!” the Supers yelled.
“What?” Waller asked, cupping her ear.
“YES, PRINCIPAL WALLER!” they yelled again, this time rising up from their seats.
It just didn’t seem right. There was something going on with the Boom Tubes security door, but no one could figure out what. A general feeling of unrest floated among the students and the faculty.
“It looks even more battered,” Supergirl said, bending down to examine the fresh dents in the door. “Look!”
Hawkgirl nodded. “It’s like someone or something is trying to get in.”
“Double duty!” Waller proclaimed as she did the first of many night rounds, checking to make sure the school was secured. “Triple duty, if necessary!”
Supergirl looked over at Katana, who nodded and motioned to her sword as if saying, “I dare them.”
“Katana and I will take the night shift,” Supergirl volunteered.
As the girls settled into their sleeping bags, someone said, “Hot cocoa with marshmallows?” Both turned to see Granny balancing a tray heavy with cookies and steaming hot mugs. “Drink up, dearies,” she said. “There’s plenty more where that came from.”
Supergirl drained her mug, then asked for more. The warm, chocolatey goodness filled her belly and gave her a pleasant feeling of satisfaction.
“Katana,” she said, nudging her friend. “Wake up! We’re supposed to be guarding the Boom Tubes.”
Katana sat up and rubbed her eyes. It was after midnight. “I must have dozed off.” She took another sip of her hot chocolate, then reached for a cookie. Some sparkly sugar sprinkles fell onto her costume.
“We’ve got to stay awake,” Supergirl insisted. Her eyelids felt heavy.
“Awake!” Katana repeated, trying to blink away sleep.
“This is how you guard the Boom Tubes door?” Hawkgirl said, looking stern. “You are not following protocol!”
Supergirl and Katana bolted upright. They had fallen asleep on the floor. There were new scratches on the bottom of the door.
Hawkgirl shook her head and Poison Ivy looked embarrassed for them. “You two, go on and get breakfast,” Hawkgirl said with her hands on her hips. “We’ll take over now.”
As Supergirl sat down for breakfast, she looked over at Wonder Woman, who had scribbled all over several sheets of paper. She was absentmindedly shoveling cereal into her mouth. Wayward pieces of colorful sugary bits were scattered around. “I’m mapping out a plan,” she explained, turning a piece of paper upside down. “Only, I’m having trouble keeping the coordinates straight.”
Supergirl looked at the papers but couldn’t make out what they meant. At the next table she could hear The Flash and Bumblebee talking. “Look at him,” The Flash said.
“He doesn’t even care, does he?” Bumblebee said, pouring more honey into her tea. “I mean, to be so blatant? Really?”
Supergirl followed their gaze. It ended at Gorilla Grodd, who was enjoying a huge bowl of bamboo. She tried to remember what Barbara had said about jumping to conclusions. Still, there was that article Granny had unearthed about Grodd’s criminal past and the bamboo leaf found by the Boom Tubes doors. Twice. Coincidence?
During her Battle Refresher drill, Supergirl did her best to focus on what the teachers were saying. She asked questions and made sure to help in every way she could. Plus, she was super-friendly and encouraging with everyone. She had to be. Supergirl was determined to put the disaster with Giganta behind her. Bumblebee had seemed to forgive her. And so had many of the others.
Everyone was hyper focused on strength, powers, and weapons training. Some were perhaps too focused. With adrenaline surging, accidents were happening at a much higher rate than usual. In a strange way, Supergirl was glad she wasn’t the only one messing up. At the same time, she chided herself for even thinking this. Lives were at stake, as Waller had impressed upon them. Everyone needed to be at their best.
Not wanting to panic anyone, The Wall instructed the teens to make their days as normal as possible. That meant regular meals, regular bedtimes—except for the volunteers on guard duty.
“Look at this,” Harley was saying. They were in the computer lab. Supergirl peered over her shoulder. On the screen was a Web broadcast by Lois Lane. She was doing an analysis of who could be amassing an army.
“I guess everyone knows,” Supergirl said.
“It’s hard to keep a secret around here,” Harley answered, smiling sweetly, then letting go of a big laugh and doing a backflip. “I love a good secret, and so does this!” she said, holding up her camera.
“But it’s not just at Super Hero High that super heroes are being on guard,” Lois reported. “My sources tell me there’s unrest on another quadrant of outer space at this very moment. That means it could be Darkseid or Mongul or Massacre or any number of evil villains who are itching to take over Earth.”
Hawkgirl stepped into the room. “You have a phone call,” she said to Supergirl. “It’s your aunt Martha. She sounds worried.”
Supergirl took the phone. “Yes, no, yes, I’m safe. Well, I mean, I’m here to keep you and everyone else safe. Yes, Aunt Martha, I’ll be careful. I promise. Give my best to Uncle Jonathan. What? Oh, okay. Hello, Uncle Jonathan, yes, I can tell she’s worried. I know. I know. Okay, I’ll call you later.”
Hawkgirl nodded in sympathy. “Abuela Muñoz is worried out of her mind,” she said. “I’m not sure what’s worse—having Supers in the family who know firsthand the kind of danger we could be put in, or having non-Supers who believe everything they see on TV.”
Supergirl gave her an understanding smile and shrugged.
“Is it true?” Barbara asked, rushing in. “I just saw Lois Lane’s report. Not only are we possibly under siege, but there are even more battles brewing elsewhere. What can I do to help?”
Supergirl looked at her friend. Barbara wanted to help so badly. Then it hit her! “I think I know,” she said. “Come with me, Babs.”
Supergirl dragged her over to Wonder Woman, who by now was practically buried under a mound of papers. “How’s it going?” Supergirl asked.
“It’s not going,” Wonder Woman said, sounding un-characteristically dejected. “I thought I had a great plan, but it’s so hard to map it out.”
“I know how you can get this done,” Supergirl said confidently. “Barbara here can help.”
“Welcome to the team,” Wonder Woman said to Barbara while shaking her hand.
“Ow.” Barbara flexed her fingers to make sure they were still working. “I’m not sure how my dad would feel about me being on the team. He’s always telling me not to do anything dangerous. This week he suggested I be a florist.”
“Ivy accidentally exploded the science lab again last week doing an experiment on killer thorns,” Supergirl pointed out. “That wasn’t safe. Besides, this isn’t official. We just want to borrow your brains to help sort all this out.”
Wonder Woman pointed to the mess of papers scattered everywhere. Barbara picked up a couple and studied them. “Hmmm…okay. Right. I see what you’re trying to do.” She pulled out her B.A.T. computer and began punching in numbers.
Supergirl looked over her shoulder. “Wow, your computer does everything!”
Barbara laughed. “I wish! It’s hyped up since I added mega memory, fluid dynamic calculation abilities, hologram graphics, and other stuff, but it’s not like it’s a Mother Box.”
“A what?” Wonder Woman asked.
“A Mother Box,” Barbara said, scanning in more data. “That’s a small supercomputer created on Apokolips. It’s said they can do almost anything from coordinating Boom Tubes teleportation to energy manipulation.” Barbara’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “I’m going to ask Santa for one!”
“What’s happening?” Supergirl exclaimed as a long set of numbers, letters, and symbols scrolled in a circular pattern on the computer screen.
“What are we looking at?” Wonder Woman said, conf
used. “I’m getting dizzy.”
“One moment…,” Barbara said, typing quickly. “I ran some numbers using your coordinates, sketches, and notes. Then I applied my alpha beta delta triplicate trig formula, and voilà!”
Supergirl and Wonder Woman blinked. Nothing was registering. Babs started laughing at herself. “I get so into this stuff I forget that most people think I’m speaking gibberish. Here, look.” She turned her screen toward them. “I’ve mapped out and dissected what you were trying to figure out on your papers.” Wonder Woman’s eyes widened. “It’s your plan!” Barbara said. “I’ve just streamlined it and corrected some of the coordinates.”
Supergirl beamed. “See, Super Hero High needs you! Besides, it’s more dangerous not to get involved than it is to help.”
“I feel funny working alongside all of you,” Babs confided as she sent Wonder Woman’s plans to the printer.
“Why?” Supergirl asked. “You’ve been working here as long as I’ve known you.”
“True,” Barbara said, nodding. “But that was in a support capacity. Fixing your computers, setting up security for Waller, that sort of thing. But now you’ve asked me to help come up with strategies and fight alongside you—figuratively, of course. That’s something completely different. I mean, you guys are trained to be super heroes—”
“We’re not fully trained yet,” Supergirl corrected her. “Remember, just a few months ago I didn’t even have any powers.”
“Well, that may be,” Barbara said, “but look at you now. Plus, you look the part of a super hero. I look the part of a nerd.”
Supergirl appraised Babs’s black crop top, jeans, and lace-up boots. She thought she looked just fine. But suddenly, Supergirl had an idea so awesome that she startled herself!
“Black,” Katana said, drawing furiously. “Black, sleek, simple…”
Supergirl leaned over and took a peek at Katana’s sketchpad. “Perfect!” she said as Katana triumphantly slammed her pencil down.
“Let’s raid Crazy Quilt’s fabric closet,” Katana said, already out the door. “I can quickly stitch it together.”
“I don’t know if we should,” Supergirl said, hesitating.
Katana chuckled. “Rule follower! You sound like Hawkgirl. Of course we should,” she insisted. “This is for the good of Super Hero High, the good of the world, and the good of the universe!”
“Okay!” Supergirl brightened up. “When you put it that way, we sort of have to.”
As the girls made their way quietly down the corridors toward Crazy Quilt’s classroom, Supergirl thought she saw a small monster scamper around a corner. Bigfoot again? Nah. Grodd?
“Um, did you see that?” she asked.
“See what?” Katana said as she silently opened one of the classroom doors.
“Never mind,” Supergirl said, figuring she was seeing things again.
“This is for you,” Supergirl said, practically bubbling with barely contained excitement. She held out a plain white box. “Katana made it.”
“Open it! Open it!” Wonder Woman said to Barbara. “What could it be? Or is it just the box, because that would be nice, too. A box to put things in!”
“I hope you like it,” Katana said. Though she was normally fierce, with an I-can-do-anything attitude, she looked just a little nervous.
Babs lifted the lid off the box. “Pow! For me?” she cried, holding up the simple black unitard.
“There’s a belt for all your tools and matching gloves, too,” Katana said, enormously cheered by Barbara’s huge grin.
“Thank you!” Barbara said, hugging them both. “I love it! Oh, but let’s not tell my dad, okay? For now, anyway. He’ll get all weird if he knows I have a super hero costume. You know how he feels about me doing anything dangerous.”
Before Barbara could try on her new outfit, the security alarm began to blare. Waller’s voice blasted over the PA system. “ALERT! Activity alert at the Boom Tubes!”
Several Supers and teachers stood staring, not sure what they were looking for. “Stand back!” Waller ordered. “We don’t know what’s happening yet. Our isolation motion sensors detected movement at the door that did not match the DNA of anyone from Super Hero High.”
The blinking warning lights cast a red glow over the area.
Disobeying the principal’s orders, Barbara pushed her way to the front. Waller was about to chide her, but stepped aside. Using her equipment, Babs began to analyze the door. When she knelt down and shined a blue light on the door, deep grooves became clear.
“I need an electro marginalizing magnetic sieve and a metal conductor to play it off of,” she said.
No one moved.
“Talk in terms we can understand,” Supergirl suggested kindly.
“Right. Okay. Metal and a conductor, stat!” Barbara said, palms up like a surgeon awaiting her operating tools.
In a flash, Wonder Woman handed over her cuffs and Katana gave up one of her swords. Cyborg offered himself up as the metal conductor. Barbara tinkered with the weapons, attaching them to wires and doodads, then plugged the whole thing into the back of Cyborg’s head.
“You’re the best metal conductor I’ve ever seen,” Babs told him. He blushed, then, remembering the seriousness of the situation, stood still as Barbara waved the device centimeters away from the door. The arrows on the small monitor on the box began to go haywire.
“What?” Waller asked.
Barbara looked grim. “Clearly this isn’t the first time there’s been a breach attempt. From the angle and depth and length of these marks, my analysis shows that the seemingly impenetrable metal has been put under intense pressure. Look, the metal fatigue factor is out of control!” When she held up her monitor everyone nodded, even though they didn’t know what they were looking at. “I know!” Barbara cried, adding, “I’m afraid that someone or something is very determined to take this door down.”
Though they tried not to show it, many of the students were nervous. It was one thing to learn about villains and criminals, but this would be the first time many Super Hero High students would face one in person. Who was this thing that was so determined to get into the Boom Tubes, and why? Miss Martian was nowhere to be seen, though she was always around. Beast Boy didn’t tell nearly as many jokes. Even Cheetah’s snipes had noticeably less bite.
Only Wonder Woman seemed to be herself. Confident and courageous, and going about her business with a level head, she conferred with Barbara, smiling and waving at everyone.
Nights were always the hardest time for Supergirl, and now with the threat of evil so close, she couldn’t sleep at all. What if instead of helping the cause, she messed up and jeopardized it? It had happened before.
She tossed and turned, and turned and tossed, and finally her body was so exhausted that it gave in to a fitful sleep, which led to a disturbing dream, or a painful memory…
“Go, Kara! Hurry!” her mom said with urgency.
Kara steadied herself on the handrail of the stairs, climbing up until she stood in the cockpit entry of the spaceship.
“Mom! Dad! C’mon!” she cried, waving them in.
Alura climbed the steps to meet her daughter, holding out a crystal necklace. She clasped it firmly around Kara’s neck. “This way I’ll always be with you.”
“What do you mean?” Kara asked, holding the crystal in her hand.
Her mother pushed a button. It closed the door between them. Kara began banging on the porthole window in the door from the inside. “No! Mom! Dad! You have to come with me! PLEASE!”
Supergirl awoke gasping for air. It felt like someone had poured a whole bucket of water on her face. She sat up with a start and was surprised to find Barbara, Harley, and Hawkgirl surrounding her bed.
“Are you okay?” Barbara asked. Her brow was furrowed in worry.
“Here, drink this,” Bumblebee said. She handed Supergirl a mug of warm lemon honey tea.
“You were crying,” Hawkgirl said.
; Supergirl was still holding on to her necklace. When she let go it stopped glowing.
“Come on,” Wonder Woman called from the hallway. “It’s going to be a big day. Maybe we’ll come face to face with the Boom Tubes perpetrator! Everyone, please make sure you eat a good breakfast. You’re going to need all the energy you can get.”
Supergirl gripped her mug of tea, still reeling from her memories of Krypton. And now this. She wondered if facing the unknown was something she was just going to have to get used to.
Instead of following her friends to the dining hall, Supergirl did what she always did when she wanted to clear her head. She went to the library.
“It seemed so real,” she said to Granny Goodness, recounting her dream. “And the pain was incredible. I can still feel it.”
“Dear, dear orphan child,” Granny said. “As long as I’m here, you have family. You know that, don’t you?”
When Granny asked again, Supergirl nodded, not wanting to hurt her feelings.
“That’s my girl!” Granny said, smiling brightly.
Supergirl’s mind had already wandered away. She didn’t notice when Granny touched her necklace and for a brief moment it turned black.
Granny pulled her hand back, still smiling.
Supergirl stood at the starting line of the empty Flyers’ Ed track. There was little time left to get her powers under control. She felt uncertain. The clock was ticking. Supergirl looked at Barbara. She couldn’t tell what her friend was thinking, only that she looked serious.
“Are you ready?” Barbara asked, raising her stopwatch in the air. Supergirl nodded, her eyes staring straight ahead. “Okay,” Barbara said. “Three…two…one…GO!”
Supergirl burst into the air and headed straight toward a series of staggered poles.
“Obstacle one,” Barbara called out, amplifying her voice via her wrist computer. “Tap each pole.”