Gotham Academy #1 (2014)

With a storm brewing over the prestigious Gotham Academy, Olive Silverlock worries about what fate awaits her after she and Maps Mizoguchi were called before the headmaster - whom Olive refers to as "Hammer-Head." Catching Maps in the act of calling him that, Headmaster Hammer warns her to treat him respectfully as he explains that he assigned Olive as Maps' "nanny" to help her acclimate to campus life as a first year student. He warns Olive, though, to avoid the North Hall in her tour, as an incident has rendered the area structurally unsound. Grumpily, Olive hurries Maps across the campus' courtyard through the rain, bemoaning the fact that she has been selected to chaperone her ex-boyfriend's little sister around on her first day of her second year at the academy. She feels trapped there, now, and after her unpleasant experience over the past summer, she's too afraid to go anywhere else. Lost in her thoughts, Olive accidentally bumps into the hated Pomeline Fritch, who mockingly reminds her not to be late for their shared history class, lest let her Wayne Foundation scholarship go to waste. Having dropped her books, Oliver frustratedly warns Maps to get to class so that she can be alone. In Ms. Macpherson's history class, Olive reflects on the diaries of Millie Jane Cobblepot, with whom she identifies as an outsider. Millie had had some inkling of her family's misdeeds, even at the age of twelve, and she had been an outsider among them. Her thoughts are interrupted again by Colton Rivera, who throws something at her head. Olive's relationship with her peers remains adversarial. At lunch, Olive overhears the other students spreading rumours that the North Hall she was warned away from is haunted, and in some ways, she feels envious of the ghost. Maps spots her sitting alone at her table, and waves. Without enthusiasm, Olive waves back until she realizes that her wave has caught Maps' brother Kyle's attention, and she hides her face, embarrassed. Maps invites her to join her at lunch, but Olive makes excuses, opting to go instead to the library. Her smile fading, Maps comments that she misses the way that she, Olive and Kyle used to share their lunches together before the breakup, and worries that her friend doesn't like her anymore. Olive doesn't answer, instead passing by Colton's spot at the lunch table and intentionally spilling his bag's contents onto the floor, revealing to the attending teacher that he has been trying to sell the other students fireworks. Afterwards, Olive returns to her room, and worries that she is becoming someone she isn't supposed to be - doesn't want to be. Annoyed at Olive's morose behaviour, her roommate Lucy complains that when Olive was normal, she was helpful in cleaning their room. Wiping tears from her eyes as she examines a photo of her mother pinned to her mirror, Olive stands and leaves the room without a word. Olive decides that she needs to get out of her funk, and turns to Maps, who still remembers exactly who she is. Feigning aloofness, Maps draws a map of the school grounds as Olive sits down beside her and offers to skip the imminent assembly in favour of exploring the creepy parts of the old chapel together. Seeing that Olive has softened in her attitude, and hopes to rebuild their friendship, Maps smiles. The assembly itself is being held in the chapel, but Maps and Olive head instead to the loft of the chapel, which is typically used for storage. Peering through one of the windows, Maps realizes that she can see into the North Hall from that vantage point, and she believes she can see something with glowing eyes moving over there. Tugging off the boards barring their way, Olive suggests that they go up to the belfry for a better look. Armed with a flashlight, Maps leads the way, though the stairs are old and the wood is weak, requiring them to cooperate in getting higher. Soon, they are at the top of the stairs, and Maps gleefully declares her intent to chart the whole grounds from that view. Peering into the North Hall through her binoculars, Maps tries to spot the ghost, but Olive is distracted by the sight of the Bat-Signal illuminated over Gotham. Suddenly, the parapet crumbles beneath Maps, and she falls from the belfry, clinging desperately to an outcropping gargoyle. Desperately, Olive thrusts her hand out, but Maps is too afraid to let go and grab it. So, Olive rushes back to the belfry, and grabs the rope and uses it to rappel down the side of the chapel, causing the big bell to ring. Though Olive grabs her friend's hands, a swarm of bats causes them to lose their footing, and they swing past the windows on the main floor, interrupting Bruce Wayne's keynote speech at the assembly. Bruce recognizes Olive, with a grim look. As Olive is examined by the school doctor, she hazily sees the silhouette of the Batman before her, and reacts with horror, triggering a flashback to a traumatic moment, in which he took someone from her. Worriedly, Ms. Macpherson tries to calm her, and Olive realizes that the man she had seen was Bruce Wayne and not Batman. He explains that he wanted to see that she wasn't hurt, and commends her for saving her friend's life. Maps and Kyle, meanwhile, show up to check on her as well, with Maps grinning that Olive had swooped down to save her like the Batman. Bruce Wayne sees by Olive's reaction that she has negative feelings about Batman. Returning to her room, Olive hears a scream and opens the door to find Lucy cowering under a blanket claiming that the ghost is watching them with shining eyes. Looking out the window for herself, Olive sees the Bat-Signal shining in the sky once again, pointing out that it does so every night. She promises that it will be safe for both of them to stay in the room, and agrees to stay with Lucy all night to comfort her. In the wall, though, there is a crack. And through it, something is watching them.