It was barely the third week of school, and already someone had been expelled. The rumors were flying so fast that if you weren’t careful, you could get whiplash from trying to follow the speeding gossip. But when anyone asked Principal Amanda “The Wall” Waller about it, she’d cross her strong arms, arch an eyebrow, and say in her booming how-dare-you voice, “You weren’t talking to me, were you?”

Never had a question elicited so much silence. The super heroes-in-training at Super Hero High weren’t brave enough—or dumb enough—to ask a second time.

The buzz was big. Even the most studious Supers were finding it hard to focus. In Weaponomics class, Mr. Fox had to resort to stink-bombing the room to get everyone’s attention. If it had been light-fingered Catwoman or chilly Frost or even boisterous Cyborg who had been expelled, you probably would have heard things like…

“Yeah, I knew that would happen.”

“Why did it take so long?”

“Really? Wow. Now tell me something I didn’t know.”

But quiet and unassuming Mandy Bowin?

Instead, the most frequently asked question was “Mandy who?”

As a transfer student, Mandy had the audacity to be fairly normal in a school of abnormally competitive high achievers. Without superpowers, a superior IQ, or—much more important—a strong personality, it was a miracle she’d been accepted in the first place. Or maybe, according to some rumors, her acceptance had been a mistake. That made more sense. Naturally, thoughts of Mandy Bowin vanished as quickly as she had. Besides, there was a fresh new rumor to obsess over—not so much who had been banished, but the reason why behind the reason why.

Cheetah had come up with the theory, and it quickly spread thanks to Harley Quinn’s penchant for gossip, fueled in no small part by HQTV, her new self-produced “All Harley all the time!” video channel.

“It wasn’t that The Wall wanted Mandy out,” Cheetah purred to the camera, “but that she wanted a certain someone in. And with enrollment at an all-time high, well, au revoir, Mandy!”

As with many Internet rumors, it didn’t matter if Cheetah’s theory had any basis in reality…instantly, people began repeating it as gospel, even though most students knew there was no enrollment limit at Super Hero High. So—was it true, or was Cheetah just bored again and trying to scare up mischief? She was famous for her schemes. Like the time she rigged a fake Save the Day alarm just so she could get out of taking a super hero history test.

Most students were in the process of becoming whichever super hero they were destined to be. They still hadn’t fully mastered their superpowers, and some were not quite as courageous as they would be down the road. And unfortunately, a few might have even lacked much of a conscience. But no one was without an opinion.

According to Cheetah, there was only one person Principal Waller would forego the normal admissions channels for. Tales of this teen warrior princess’s exploits were legendary. She was, as Bumblebee overheard The Wall saying, a “one-of-a-kind catch.” Every school on Earth—and even a few on other planets—wanted her.

Which brings us back to the expulsion. When Mandy Bowin was forcibly removed, she was heard yelling at Principal Waller, “I’ll be back!”

It was hard to tell if that was a promise or a threat. And even more interesting was that if Cheetah was right, Super Hero High was about to be turned upside down.