𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐃𝐨 𝐖𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥?

"With powers endowed by a fateful bite,

She soars above, embracing the height.

Her burdens masked by laughter and jest,

Yet beneath the mask, a soul under duress."

Gotham Academy granted scholarships once a year. Due to recent events involving the Joker, the academic test was pushed back to before the winter break. The aspiring students would be tested in English, Math, and Science. These three subjects were what Gotham Academy was known for. There would be a singular scholarship awarded to one student from each grade level from Freshman to Senior.

Penny had to be one of them. At age seventeen the girl qualified for the Senior scholarship, as did ten other teenagers. Looking around the room she was seated in, it was evident that she did not fit in. Even with this being a scholarship opportunity for those who cannot afford tuition, it was obvious that a majority of the people she was surrounded by did not need it. The jewelry the girls were wearing and the shoes the boys were wearing looked as though they cost more than Penny’s rent when she and May lived in Queens.

The mutant shook over her observations and focused on the paper on her lap. Information was written down sloppily in pencil. Information such as her birth date, current residence, and emergency contact. Hesitantly, Penny wrote out Tony Stark on the emergency contact line, as well as a 10-digit number that would directly lead to the run-down house phone in Penny's new living quarters.

The door to the room opening gained Penny’s attention. A woman in a white blouse and a black pencil skirt stepped in, her heels clicking against the marble floor. She smiled politely at the parents and children in the room, the grin dropping when she saw a bruised and dirty Penny seated on the chair closest to her. With a low hum, she looked back to the crowd of seniors.

"If you would all please follow me and bring your papers." She requested before turning around. Somehow, Penny ended up at the back of the line, behind the chattering group of her peers. No one even spared a glance in the Parker girl's direction. They slowed to a halt in front of an open door, where they were directed inside by whom Penny could only assume to be the principal. Eleven wooden desks were lined up in a row, one in front of the other.

"Take a seat." The woman ordered, grabbing a stack of papers off of the table at the front of the room. Penny grabbed the closest chair and pulled out a pencil as long as her index finger from her pocket. The door to the room was shut, containing the company.

"You will have an hour to complete the test. Any conversation will result in immediate disqualification." The principal explained whilst the woman collected the contact information and laid the stapled test packet in front of each child.

"You're time begins now."

Penny opened to the first page and could not prevent the smile that graced her face. This was the work that she began to do when she first started interning for Stark Industries. She could practically hear Mr. Stark's words in her ears. She walked herself through the problem step-by-step and soon found herself at an answer. It was no difficult feat for the teenager to solve the dozen or so math problems on the piece of paper. Her notes and final answers were written neatly, the girl not wanting to lose a point for illegibility. By the time she reached the English section, the majority of the room was still on the third or fourth problem.

The girl was never the best when it came to literary terms or figuring out the theme of a story. Even so, Penny gave it her best shot, reading the passages over and over and jotting down notes wherever she could. This section of the quiz took her longer than she would have liked. She had hoped to finish the entirety of the test with thirty minutes to spare in order to review any answers she was unsure of.

Penny looked over the science questions and breathed a sigh of relief. It seems that chemistry is still a common factor across the multiverse. The topics covered in the paper were radioactive decay, molecular geometries, Le Chatelier's Principle, and even NMR spectroscopy. Half of the questions you would never find in a high school chemistry class, even an honors or AP one. Nonetheless, Penny remembered her conversations with Bruce Banner whenever they worked in the lab together and figured out each and every question asked. She then returned to the first section of the test and reviewed her answers. She placed her pencil down as soon as she heard the woman at the front of the room pause her stopwatch.

"Thank you so much for attending the test today." The principal began, causing the other teenagers in the room to stop mid-way through a question. "If you would please return to the waiting room, we will be out shortly to reveal the scholarship winner."

Penny, along with the rest of her peers, rose to their feet and exited the room. They silently walked down the hallway, the only noise to be heard was the squeaking of trainers on the sleek floor. As soon as they entered the waiting room parents rushed up to their respective children to interrogate them on the difficulty of the test and if they thought they were going to earn the scholarship. Penny, having no one to discuss such things with, retreated to her chair by the door took a seat, and waited.

Minutes soon turned to an hour. Everyone was growing restless. Some of the parents were even contemplating leaving. Until the door opened once more and the principal entered.

"Hello everyone. My name is Patrick Marshall and for one of you I will be your future principal." Said man introduced himself with a broad grin. "Now attending Gotham Academy is a privilege, not a right. Whoever earns the scholarship today must maintain a 3.5 GPA as well as engage in at least one extracurricular activity. Things such as uniforms and supplies will be provided for the rest of the school year."

"Which child was it?" A woman impatiently interrupted. She tapped her foot repeatedly on the floor while she rubbed her son's back reassuringly. Principal Marshall looked down on the woman through his circular glasses before raising the paper up to read.

"Penelope Parker." He announced. He looked around the room, seeing no excited face among the crowd of twenty or so. "Which one of you is Penelope Parker?"

"Me, sir." Penny meekly raised her hand. All eyes shifted to her, most gazes set in a glare.

"Well, Ms. Parker, congratulations." Principal Marshall said, slightly surprised at the disheveled state of the teenager. Nevertheless, he handed over a sheet of paper to the girl. "We expect you to be here tomorrow, five-thirty in order to give you the necessities."

Penny looked down at the acceptance letter she held and swiftly nodded her head.

"Yes sir."

▀▄▀▄ ••••••••• ▄▀▄▀

Penny had always preferred red.

That wasn't to say she hated blue. She simply preferred red. Her original Spider-Man suit was a blend of one color she loved and one she tolerated. When Mr. Stark asked her why she chose the colors she did, the teenager simply shrugged her shoulders and informed her idol that wrestlers usually wore 'loud' colors like red and blue. That was also the day Mr. Stark learned of Penny's very brief underground wrestling career when she first got her powers.

When Penny was accepted to Gotham Academy she had hoped their uniforms would be red. Unfortunately, she was met with a shade of deep blue instead. It took just under an hour for the girl to be given a uniform, school supplies, and her schedule. The list of classes was relatively similar to her one at Midtown.

1st Period:  AP Calculus BC (1:30 Minutes)

2nd Period: AP Chemistry (1:30 Minutes)

Lunch Break (45 Minutes)

3rd Period: Honors English 12 (1:30 Minutes)

4th Period: AP Coding (1:30 Minutes)

The teenager brushed off the nerves that were racing through her head and stepped out into the hallway. There were dozens of people rushing around, brushing by her and nearly knocking her over. Penny quickly looked at her schedule and realized that she had less than five minutes to get to her calculus class on the second floor. With a deep breath, she pushed through the crowd and managed to reach the stairwell. She scrambled up the steps and turned the corner. Her spidey-senses alerted her of oncoming danger, but it was too late.

Penny Parker collided with Tim Drake, sending both sprawling to the floor. Their books were scattered across the marble ground and papers went flying. Penny blew her now disheveled hair out of her face and looked at the boy sitting across from her. His hair was an ebony black and his eyes were as blue as a butterfly’s wing. His skin was pale, much like Penny’s, but it was accented by the bags beneath his eyes. 

”I’m so sorry.” The two teenagers apologized in unison. Both were blushing bright red. It was then that Penny noticed the spilled cup of coffee that covered the floor.

”Was that yours?!” She frantically asked as she began to gather the papers before they got soaked.

”Unfortunately.” Tim sighed, looking at the remains of his drink.

”I’m so sorry! I’m a little lost right now and I wasn’t looking where I was going and-“ Penny’s rambling was cut off by a wave of Tim’s hand.

”It’s okay.”

At the girl’s terrified face he smiled reassuringly.

”Seriously.” He told her. Quickly, the two began to gather their dropped supplies before the bell rang. Penny’s words then seemed to register in Tim’s mind. “You’re lost?”

”Yeah, it’s my first day.” The mutant admitted sheepishly.

”Let me see your schedule.” Tim requested, holding out his hand. Penny handed it over and watched as the boy read her list of classes. ”AP Calculus.” He whistled before nodding his head.

”Any idea where that is?” Penny asked hopefully. “I know it’s on the second floor, I just have no idea where.”

”Follow me!” Tim declared, beginning to walk towards their destination.

”What about the coffee?” Penny asked, looking down at the spill beside her. Tim  looked at his watch and his eyes widened almost comically.

”Come on! You’re gonna be late!” The Drake boy exclaimed, grabbed Penny by the hand and dragging her forward. If the two felt sparks at the their contact, neither mentioned it.

The two races through the now nearly empty halls, shouting apologies to those they nearly knocked over. For the first time since Penny was stranded in Gotham City, she was genuinely smiling.

“What’s your name?” The mutant asked as the question occurred to her. Tim glanced back, slightly surprised that she did not already know his name.

”Tim, Tim Drake.” He responded after a few seconds of silence.

”I’m Penny. Penny Parker.” Said girl stated. Eventually they skidded to a halt before the AP Calculus room.

”Thank you so much.” Penny said appreciatively, taking back her hand from Tim’s. The boy looked down at his now vacant hand and frowned. Quickly, he replaced the expression with a grin.

“You have AP Chemistry next, right?” He asked. Penny nodded her head in confirmation. “So do I! I’ll meet you here and show you the way.”

The bell suddenly rang. Penny jumped in a mixture of surprise and pain, due to her enhanced senses. She managed to mask her hurt with a question.

”Are you sure? I-“ Penny’s words were cut off by yet another wave of Tim’s hand.

”I’m sure. Call it an apology for knocking you over.” He told her. Penny, hesitantly agreed. “I’ll see you then.”

At that, he raced down the hallway to his first period.

Penny fondly smiled before entering the room.

▀▄▀▄ ••••••••• ▄▀▄▀

It wasn’t that Penny didn’t believe Tim when he said he would meet her outside her classroom. It was simply that she did not believe someone would go out of their way to help her. When she saw the Drake boy leaning against the wall by the door she could not prevent the smile on her face. Tim noticed Penny approaching and pushed himself into an upright position. Penny noticed that he had somehow acquired another cup of coffee sometime between the beginning of first period and now. Though she had questions as to how he accomplished this, she did not ask.

“Ready?” Tim questioned.

”As I’ll ever be.” Penny shrugged her shoulders. Together, the pair ventured forward through the crowded hallways. It did not take the mutant long to notice the stares and whispers directed towards them.

Tim seemed to have noticed as well as he slightly leaned down and whispered in her ear.

”Sorry about them. My adoptive dad is kind of a big deal in Gotham.”

”It’s okay.” Penny reassured him. “Also, is this chemistry class any good? My old teacher was alright, but I usually just worked on other projects during their lessons.”

”Mr. Novak is alright.” Tim shrugged. “Most of the time he hands out papers and lets you figure it out on your own.”

Penny nodded along, readjusting the books in her hands as she did so. It was then that Tim seemed to note something.

”Hey, where’s your backpack?” He questioned. Penny sort of froze at this. She racked her brain for a response and was only able to come up with one answer.

”I was mugged?”

This seemed to satisfy Tim. He didn’t notice Penny breathe a sigh of relief when he looked away. She had never been so thankful that Gotham was a violent city.

“And here we are!” Tim exclaimed, presenting the door to their classroom with jazz hands.

”Thank you again.” Penny said as they entered the room. Tim ushered the girl to a pair of vacant seats by the window. As soon as Penny placed her books down the teacher snapped his fingers. Yes, snapped.

Using his index and middle finger he gestured for her to come up to his desk. Penny and Tim exchanged a glance, the latter shrugging his shoulders. Slowly, the girl walked up to where Mr. Novak was seated. The man was elderly, somewhere in his mid-sixties. He had brown eyes, so dark they were almost black. His most noticeable attribution though was the snagged tooth sticking out over his bottom lip. Before she was even able to say a word a pile of papers were stacked onto her hands.

”This is the work that you will have to complete in order to catch up on the curriculum. These will be due at the end of the week.” He informed her. That was it. He returned his attention to his newspaper and ignored any of Penny’s attempts to converse.

”Okay.” She whispered, speeding back to her seat beside Tim and placing down the assignments. She dropped her head into her hands as she realized that she had approximately four days to complete months of work. Tim patted his new companion’s back.

”Welcome to Gotham Academy.”