Chapter 1: Some Assembly Required

For the city of Metropolis, it wasn't an uncommon occurrence to hear about an attack from some manner of giant monster, an army of evil robots, or even an attack from one of the many evil organizations that plagued the world such as Hydra or AIM. Luckily, there were people who fought these threats head on.

From the invincible Iron Man, to the Dark Knight, Batman. From the uncanny X-Men, to the symbol of peace himself, Superman.

All of these heroes fight for the values that all heroes strive for: Truth, justice, and hope. However, like all heroes, they all start from humble beginnings.

For our true story begins, as most stories do, in the backseat of a station wagon as a young girl with bright red hair and wearing a purple hoodie sat and watched the latest news report on her LexPad. The news spouted various headlines such as "Iron Man Says 'Lights Out' To Living Laser" and "Superman Saves The Day Again". But the most interesting headline was about the sighting of a new hero, or rather "heroine", saving several citizens from a monster attack just the previous day. The story kept asking the same question over and over:

"Who Is The Wonder Woman?"

"So, pumpkin," The middle-aged man spoke up from the front seat of the car as they drove along the road, "Excited for your first day of school?"

"I guess," Barbara said halfheartedly, "But I can't believe you had us move just before school started! I was just getting used to school back in Gotham! I almost found my te- I mean, uh… my group!" She complained.

"Uh… group?" Jim Gordan asked, a tad confused by his daughter's teenage slang.

"You know? My group? My homies! My tribe! Friends!" Barbara tried explaining.

"Oh! You mean your, uh, clique?" Jim asked.

"Sure. Yeah," Barbara sighed, slumping back into her seat as they entered the school grounds of Metropolis High School. Barbara looked around at the various students that were hanging around the entrance and courtyard of the building.

She took in a deep breath and sighed before grabbing her backpack and exiting the car.

"Have a nice day at school, pumpkin," Jim said before driving off, leaving Barbara to face her first day at school.

As she stared up at the large building she heard another girl speak up, sounding somewhere between irritated and actually angry.

"All I'm saying is I don't see why I'm being punished for something I didn't do!" The voice huffed as she caught sight of a girl with short blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and dressed like a bit of a punk glaring at her… they didn't seem like her parents, at least not in looks.

"Yes, and we hear you saying that you 'didn't do it', but lets reframe our thinking, dear. Maybe think of this not as a punishment, but an opportunity or an adventure." The woman said.

"Yeah! One that can help you be the best Kara you can be. And as your legal guardians it's our job to help you on your journey towards impulse control."

That last statement was apparently a step too far as the girl growled and slammed the door hard enough the window cracked and the car itself balanced on two wheels for a moment before righting itself.

'Well, that was… interesting.' Barbara thought, not exactly sure what to make of it just yet.

Just then, a limo pulled up, and a boy around her own age, with hair a darker shade of red than her's, stepped out, looking embarrassed as near all eyes went to him.

"See, this is why I said we shouldn't take a limo, people don't go to school in limos, dad." The boy said, rubbing his neck, red in the face.

"Yeah, well most people aren't you. Besides, it might have caught the attention of a few pretty girls," A man's voice said from the limo. The boy sighed.

"I'm going inside now. Please, whoever is getting me after school, don't bring a limo." He said seriously before closing the door and walking not inside, but to the side of a school bus that had just pulled up, waiting for what Babs didn't yet know.

Just then, a short, dark-skinned girl with her hair done in a pair of buns wearing a black and yellow sweater stepped off the bus carrying a large duffle bag, looking about before turning to the boy and smiling a little as she made her way toward him, only to trip over the uneven sidewalk and spill the contents of the bag across the ground.

Seeing a person in need, Barbara went over and quickly began helping the girl and boy pick up the bag's contents.

"That was quite a fall, huh?" Babs asked in a polite tone, trying to start a conversation.

"Uh, yeah. It was." The short girl said in a nervous manner as she frantically picked up the things that fell out of her bag, which seemed to be various bits of hardware, such as circuit boards, pieces of metal and wires, and what looked like a yellow helmet.

"Thanks for the assist. We got it from here, I think." The boy said as he picked up the last piece, put it in the bag, and helped the girl back to her feet.

"Oh, well my names Barbara, or my friends call me Babs… well they did. Anyways I'm new here! Have you both been going here long? What's it like and why are you carrying around a hardware store?" Barbara asked excitedly.

"Thank you, but we really have to go! Bye!" The girls said before, with surprising strength, dragging the boy off in a rush.

"Bye...?" Barbara said, confused and just a bit hurt.

Just then, the bell rang, signaling everyone to begin to head inside and towards class. As Barbara walked through the halls, she took notice of some odd things that didn't make much sense to her. For instance, she noticed a young latin girl seemingly arguing with a young man.

"I keep telling you I want no part of this, Hal. You know I don't agree with the corps's methods." She whispered.

"You know that's not how it works, Jess. The ring chose you," He said, placing a green ring in her hand. The rest of their conversation was drowned out by the chatter of the hallways.

As Babs passed by a row of lockers, she saw a girl with violet hair doing her makeup using a compact. After finishing, she closed it and, to Babs' confusion and surprise, the compact seemed to disappear, leaving only the fresh scent of sparkles.

The day seemed to go by quickly for Barbara as she soon found herself in the cafeteria. She looked all around her and knew there was something up, especially with those people she spotted earlier. She knew there was something off about them, but she couldn't tell exactly what it was.

She spotted the blonde girl from earlier sitting a couple tables away from her. Looking down at her school lunch, an idea came to her head.

She just needed to pick the right person, and timing. She looked around sighting the boy and girl from this morning eating Spaghetti and bent over a notebook. Then she sighted that Kara girl leaning back in her chair and laughing.

"Perfect!" She said before taking careful aim as the boy left to get more and hitting Kara square in the face with a large glob of her lunch. Kara looked around glaring before she sighted the other two and assuming, just as Babs had hoped, they had thrown the food. She then threw hers at them, which knocked the girl clean over the table. A little stunned looking, she let out a small "Eep!' as Kara threw another burger at her. Only for it to bounce hard off a tray, "Leave her alone, you big bully!" The Latina girl growled, holding her tray up like a shield

"My hair…" A low growl of a voice said as the purple-haired girl from before stood, "MY HAIR!" She screamed before picking up a milk carton and throwing it at Kara, who ducked and got the boy hit instead.

"I go to get seconds one time." He muttered before seeing Kara scoop up someone's potatoes and throwing them at the violet-haired girl, who ducked and got the Latina hit.

"FOOD FIGHT!" Barbara declared, standing up on her table, and the next thing she knew all hell broke loose as food flew in every direction, none of it seeming aimed for anyone in particular.

Needless to say, it didn't last too long as the doors clattered open and the Principal stepped inside, "Enough! Who's responsible for all this!?" He demanded to the now mostly silent room. The entire student body seemed to part like the Red Sea as everyone pointed to the group in the center of the chaos, still fighting despite everyone else ceasing.

Noticing that they were now the center of attention, they immediately stopped their fighting and smiled nervously at the furious school principal.

"Detention." He said in a low tone before barking out "NOW!" scaring everyone into upright position as they quickly followed him to a lone room where he unlocked and opened the door, signalling them to enter.

"Hey LeBeau. Good for you, you've got company." The principal said. Everyone looked to see the room only had one other occupant, a young boy with black hair wearing a purple tank top, fingerless gloves, and black jeans, who was playing solitaire at one of the front row desks. He seemed to stop only for a moment, only to continue playing his game without so much as a glance at the group.

Once everyone was in the room, the principal closed the door behind them and left them to their own devices. Barbara leaned forward, eager to see where things would go from here, as the next phase of her plan was more of a freeform.

"I sense that I have missed quite the show. Am I correct in my assumption?" The boy asked with a French accent and a smirk as he completed a row of cards. He looked up for the first time and both he and the others were somewhat surprised by one another. Himself being surprised to see the mess the group was in, the others by, of all things, his eyes. They were red eyes with black sclera.

"Hmm, Johnny assumed correctly." He said before going back to his game.

No one wanted to point it out, but they all knew then and there what this kid was: A Mutant.

Barbara was in shock and awe. She's never met a Mutant in person before. This just made things even better! Maybe Metropolis would be fun. However, when someone else finally spoke, it didn't go exactly as intended.

"I hope you all have really good lawyers," The violet-haired girl said, taking out her compact to try and get bits of food out of her hair.

"I mean, I do, but really, what exactly do you plan on suing any of us for?" The redheaded boy asked sceptically.

"Yeah, you gonna sue us for having better aim than you?" Kara asked, leaning back in her chair.

"Ugh! I knew it was you who threw those potatoes!"

"Now come on, lets not start fighting again." The Latina girl said, trying and failing to play peacemaker as Kara turned her glare towards her.

"You threw more nuggets than anyone!" She declared.

"I only did that to protect Karen!" She defended.

"Jess, you didn't have to do that. Really." The short girl said timidly.

"Can I just say that I've done literally nothing wrong here?" The red-haired boy asked, only to have his request get shot down by Kara.

"Oh, zip it, Stark. Far as anyone here's concerned, we're all in the same boat." She said, puffing her bang out of her eyes and propping her legs up on her desk.

"I just want to say if I somehow offended or hurt anyone, I am truly sorry." Karen said in a small, meek-sounding voice.

"You did nothing wrong, Karen. You were just minding your own business. I couldn't tell who started it all, really." Jessica said kindly as Nolan nodded.

Before any of them could speak anymore on the subject, or Barbara could admit to her genius plan, the door to the classroom swung open again to reveal the principal, followed closely by a police officer.

"Found her wandering the streets," The officer said.

"Skipping school on the first day. Tsk tsk, what is the world coming to? Get in here with the other delinquents while I figure out which homeroom you're in." The principal said as a cloaked figure walked into the room and the door was closed behind them.

"Okay, and now there's a… someone dressed like a warlock. Wonderful," Nolan sighed as they reached up and removed their cloak.

Beneath was a girl of breathtaking beauty with long black hair, olive skin, and bright blue eyes that seemed to shine like Sapphires. She was dressed in what they all could only call old school armor, like that of the Greeks or Romans.

It was red and blue with gold W's on the breast plate and a tiara with a red star in the center atop her head. Needless to say, everyone present was awestruck by this newcomer.

"She's…" Jessica started.

"Beautiful." Karen finished.

"Radiant." Zatanna added.

"The Wonder Woman!" Barbara whispered with stars in her eyes as the new girl set her cloak down around a desk's chair and took a seat.

"Ha!" Kara laughed, getting everyone's attention.

"Do you find something amusing?" Wonder Woman asked with a small frown.

"Oh come on! That's not Wonder Woman! That's just some cosplay girl!" Kara said before continuing to chuckle.

"I am not a girl! I am Diana! Princess of the Amazons! I and I alone survived the twenty-one trials of Athena and Aphrodiate! By right I am not a girl, but a woman!" She said, standing up and placing her hands on her hips.

"I mean that all sounds impressive, too bad I have no idea what most of it meant." Nolan shrugged as Karen nodded and Kara chuckled.

"Okay, well look, 'Princess', take my word for it, you do not want to start with me." Kara said standing up and stopping in front of Diana.

"Is this a challenge?" Diana asked.

"Well, maybe for you." Kara shot back.

"Very well then, I shall allow you first strike!" Diana said bracing and catching Kara off guard.

"Alright, if you insist on taking a beating, but I warned you," Kara said, taking her own fighting stance. She got into a boxing stance and readied herself before making a left jab at Diana, who more than easily sidestepped the strike, confusing Kara.

"Again," Diana said before they both retook their positions. Kara, blowing her bang out of the way, took another swing at Diana, only for her to block and counter with what looked (And frankly sounded) like a powerful kick to Kara's stomach, sending her back a few inches.

Diana looked confused by this, as if expecting her kick to have done more than that. Kara too looked taken aback. Like she was surprised that she was moved in the first place.

Glaring at each other, the two then continued their fight, with Kara throwing punches wildly in a desperate attempt to hit Diana, who was dodging the strikes with relative ease and countering them. However, despite getting hits in, the strikes didn't even seem to phase Kara, only seeming to infuriate her further.

"Why. Don't. You. Just. Stand. Still!" She grunted before delivering an incredibly powerful punch to Diana's sternum, sending her flying across the room and through a wall, causing everyone present to gasp in wide-eyed disbelief and horror.

"Oh my gosh! I am so, so sorry!" Kara said frantically as she approached the hole to see if she was alright, only to have Diana burst forth and tackle Kara to the ground before punching her in the face so hard that it cracked the linoleum floors.

"This is getting really good or really bad, depending on how you look at it." Johnny said, watching with interest as Kara kicked Diana off her, only for Diana to flip in mid air and land on Karen's desk, who shrieked and dove out of the way as Diana began to throw books at Kara.

Kara blocked them with a desk as they impacted into it. The fight continued to get wilder and less controlled as objects were thrown everywhere and the two girls chased each other around the room. Through it all, Zatanna sat filing her nails, seeming, if anything, bored by proceedings.

Kara and Diana now stood across from one another on opposite sides of the room, glaring daggers at each other before charging full speed… Only for a giant green spring to appear between them.

"Enough!" A voice spoke as the two girls were launched away from each other and the spring to dissolve into green light and return to none other than Jess, who was holding up a green ring.

"Violence is never the answer!" She proclaimed.

"Yeah the answer is… running away!" Karen declared, pulling on her own makeshift armor and shrinking to an insect's size before trying to fly out the window with no real luck as the fight resumed, growing even more chaotic. Jessica had a Green shield up blocking punches from Kara.

Nolan had pulled out a small device, and placed it on the floor. It created a blue forcefield around himself, Karen (who was still tiny), and Johnny who simply found this all very amusing and just watched. Through it all, Zatanna continued to fix her makeup before seeing a shadow on the other side of the door.

"Teachers coming," She said calmly.

The fighting immediately came to a screeching halt as everyone began to try and put the now destroyed room back together. As the others all rushed and the doorknob began to turn, Zatanna finished, satisfied. She looked around and noticed the blind panic the others were in she sighed and pulled out a wand.

"Xif siht moor kcab ot eht yaw ti saw!" She declared, and with a brief but bright flash of purple light, everything and everyone was back to normal as if nothing at all had happened as the door swung open and the principal entered to find them all smiling politely at him.

"Everything alright in here?" He asked skeptically.

"Apart from being a little dull, yes, it's fine," Johnny said.

"Why do you ask Mister Chapin?" Zatanna asked in a sweet voice.

"I could have sworn I heard… it's nothing. I just forgot my keys," He said, grabbing his keys from the hook and shutting the door. The instant it was closed, Barbara spang to her feet.

"Aha! I knew it! I knew it! I knew you all were super!" She declared, pointing to Kara first.

"I knew it when you dented that door and tipped over the car because no ordinary person could do that! And you two," She turned to Karen and Nolan, her voice never slowing, it was truly remarkable she could talk so fast and somehow never stop to take a breath.

"You spilt all those metal things when you got off the bus and so I knew something was up with both of you!" She spun on her heel to Zatanna and Jessica.

"Then you made your compact disappear in sparkles and I thought to myself, 'Wow, that was weird!' And I heard you talking to that cute boy about a ring and some sort of Corps, and I knew something was up!"

"So, I decided to start a food fight so that we would all get detention together and then you two…" She trailed pointing to Johnny and Diana, "You weren't apart of the plan, but unexpected bonuses. Never look a gift horse in the mouth and all that! Anyways, my plan was that you would all keep fighting when you got to detention and you would all get so worked up you'd be forced to reveal you were super, and guess what? So am I! The one and only Batgirl!" She said, drawing her hoodie like a cape.

"Great, a hyperactive cosplay girl." Kara sighed.

"Huzzah! At last! A sister in arms! I didn't expect to encounter the spirit of an Amazon in the world of man! For you see it is my quest, my destiny, my crusade to bring the Amazon way of peace and prosperity to man's world and rid it of all evil! The gods have bestowed this honor upon me, and I feared I would have to do it alone. But now, now I have a sister by my side!" Diana said, crushing Barbara to her side, which seemed to shake her from her starstruck state.

"Wait! No, no, no you have five sisters and two brothers!" She declared.

"Yeah, no. Not happening. I use my powers, I get in trouble. Every. Single. Time." Kara declared.

"Not me, I am not fighting anyone." Jessica proclaimed.

"Sorry, petite. Mama didn't teach no fool. I ain't gettin' involved in whatever... this is," Johnny said, still playing his game of solitaire.

"Sorry, I'm an artist not a police officer." Zatanna stated simply.

"I don't think I was actually invited. Plus I know from experience being a hero seems to really put a strain on the whole 'trying to live a normal life' thing. I have enough issues with that as is." Nolan pointed out.

"I'm not really that, uh… good at it." Karen admitted nervously, fiddling with a pencil.

"Cowards!" Diana shouted slamming her hands on Karen's desk and making her jump back slightly, "I speak of destiny! The same mantle of greatness bestowed upon me has also been bestowed upon you." Diana proclaimed, spreading her arms to them all.

"You are a fantastic public speaker, but I'm still not sure." Nolan admitted.

"Come on you guys! How can you not be excited about heroes and villains and fighting crime, hidden lairs, secret identities and stuff!?"

"The thing about secret identities my dear is in order for them to remain secret, one must be able to convincingly pass for a normal human being." Zatanna gestured at Diana for emphasis and Barbara nodded a little.

"Okay, okay tell you what. You guys give being a team a teensy try, she can teach us to be heroes, and you can give her a makeover! Deal?" She asked hopefully.

"I don't see how either of us really plus with this deal." Johnny said moving a finger between himself and Nolan.

"You get to hang out with a bunch of attractive girls. How does that not appeal to you?" Zatanna asked with a smirk.

Johnny seemingly thought this over for a second before shrugging, "Fair enough. I'm in. Got nothin' better to do anyway," He said, finally finishing his game and putting away his deck.

"Who am I to say no to a makeover," Zatanna asked with a swish of her hair.

"Uhm, okay," Karen said timidly.

"Good for you Karen! I'm in too, but only to support Karen's brave decision," Jessica said with pride.

"Alright, I suppose if Karen's in, I am too. Might even be fun." Nolan sighed and stood by Karen, who mouthed 'Thank you' when she thought no one was looking. The group turned to Kara, who opened her eyes, stared at them for a moment and then,

"Fine sure, whatever," Kara shrugged, joining them.

"Yes! It's settled! Super awesome team of superhero-ness, here we come!" Barbara said as she somehow managed to hug them all to her and Zatanna teleported them out.