Behind the Mask

Chapter 1

“Sir, we have finished the DNA enhancement. All tests have come back positive.”

“Good. Alert Doctor Desmond.”

“Of course, sir. When should he proceed?”

“We need a subject first. I’m thinking hero.”

“A hero, sir?”

 “Yes, that is what I said.”

“Sir, won’t one be hard to capture?”

“A sidekick then. A human one, one without powers: the procedure requires pure human DNA.”

“Of course, sir, but how will be get a sidekick?”

“We won’t have to. They will come to us.”

“But how-?”

“Set the upper levels on fire. I know who I want.”

oOo

Dick Grayson balanced precariously on a chair, his arm stretched high above his head, wobbling slightly as he tried to keep his footing on the tips of his pristine shoes. Why did he have to be so short? He asked himself angrily, attempting a lunging grab that almost ended in a face plant into the floor. He couldn’t even reach a stupid textbook. Textbooks should be within student reach if teachers ever expected students to use them. Even if said students were vertically challenged. Of course, Robin would have no problems whatsoever of retrieving the textbook, but Dick Grayson wasn’t Robin. Dick Grayson had to act like any other thirteen year old kid, even if it meant resorting to standing on tip-toes for twenty minutes while he fruitlessly tried to reach a cabinet that, with a little acrobatics, could be reached in seconds. Multiple identities suck. 

Sighing in momentary defeat, Dick relaxed from his extended position and hopped down from the chair, loosening the red tie around his neck, tempted to rid himself of the annoying accessory and accompanying blue blazer altogether. He crossed the small supply room and yanked open the only resident window, coughing slightly as a small cloud of dust engulfed his face. How long had it been since that thing had been opened? How long had it been since someone had even been in this room? Judging from the dust that accumulated on nearly every surface, it had been far too long in Dick’s opinion.

The summer sun shone brightly through the foggy window, casting shadows and displaying all the dust that was now floating around in the air. Dick sighed, leaning against the counter in front of the window, tugging at his tie again as the sun made the already stifling room almost unbearable hot. And why was Dick inside on a summer day, extracting old textbooks from dusty, unused rooms? School was why. And why would anyone be worried about school over summer vacation? Because Dick Grayson was smart; smarter than all the other kids his age, though that was hardly a reason to study over the summer. No, the reason Dick Grayson was in school, studying over summer vacation was because he was trying to enter Gotham Academy a year early at the age of thirteen. And apparently being genius level intellect and a straight “A” and the top of his class by practically a mile wasn’t enough. In order for Dick Grayson to enter into Gotham Academy the coming school year he had to prove himself ready by taking classes over the summer to demonstrate his “above-average work ethic and appreciation for the finer points of education”. Come again? No, Dick Grayson didn’t really care for the finer points of education. Not anymore.

Sighing, the Gotham school made his way back over to the unconquerable cabinet. Throwing a glance around the room Dick’s cobalt eyes landed on a stack of boxes in the corner. The sides of his mouth turned up and, with an eerie cackle, he quickly picked one of the biggest ones up. It was empty, thank goodness, but Dick only hoped it would his weight. He placed strategically on its head, the top resting on the seat of the chair he’d been standing on previously; hopefully positioned this way would maximize the amount of weight it could hold. Dick carefully picked his way onto the top of the make-shift tower, wincing as the box sagged slightly went he stepped on it, but he let out a deep breath as it withheld its shape. Finally! He thought, opening the cabinet and reaching for the textbook, when the sounds of a door opening reached his ears. Dick whirled, Robin instincts taking over, as the door to the supply room swung open revealing a young, red-headed girl with something of a smirk on her face.