Issue #1 - Second Bat

Gotham is a city of mystery, danger, and divided in two between who's on the right side of the law. And the other, you probably know what that would be, the criminals, gangsters and mob enforcers who believe they own the streets. When I first put on the mask of Batgirl, I made a vow that I would do whatever I could to make change. Even though, it would be nearly impossible. You can lock up all the bad guys in town, but crime doesn't ever just stop. My father knows that from experience and tries to fight back against crime every single day.

That night it was raining again, I squat down on one knee on top of a water tower trying to listen into the radio system that the cops use to report any criminal activity, which I totally hacked into." Sometimes I'd even hear from my dad on the radio of what's going on.

Breaking the silence between me and the radio was the loud banging of thunder. Looking up, I could remember thinking to myself 'if the weather keeps up like this, I'll have to go home and call it a day.'

From the phone, an officer asked "Bullock, what's your status on those drug dealers?" He was referring to Harvey Bullock, my dad's partner in the GCPD.

"Nah, we lost them." He answered. "Boss says to be sure the drugs get to the harbor. Stop the deal from going down. Be sure they never get onto the market."

"Understood."

"Get as many officers available to converge and engage on Gotham Bay in the next 30 minutes."

The harbor huh, I would need to get there before they arrive and the car can. Taking my phone away from my ear, I looked for where the call took place. I would need to hurry if I want to get there before the cops do.

Standing back up, I took a higher vantage view of the city, but it wasn't quite high enough for me to see the harbor. Taking out my grappling gun, I shot it out to get up to one of the taller buildings. Then, I ran until the harbor came into view. Once the harbor was in enrage, I stopped to see two people talking, the others scattered around. Seemed to be the group guarding the tower. The deal was probably going to take place inside the building, and the buyer seemed to be already inside judging by the boat parked. Now was my chance if I wanted to take down both groups. But I also couldn't just run in and fight them off. One thing I've learned from experience is that you never just want to just charge in. Analyze the situation, think of a strategy, and then execute. And, my dad would pretty much kill me if I came home covered in bullet wounds. It's already hard enough sometimes to cover up the bruises from fights.

Lowering the night vision lenses from inside my helmet, I could get a closer look at what was happening down by the bay. There's a dozen hostiles on the outside, eleven on the inside of the building. There wasn't anything to get in the way of getting down there as I backed up. Making a run, I jumped off the building, and extended my cape, I glided down against the winds to land on the roof of the warehouse.

To be honest, the roof wasn't the stealthiest option because if I was seen, there would be wouldn't be anywhere for me to hide. But it was the best way to get a drop on them as well. Staying low on top of the roof, I moved to the front. Seeing how I could catch them by surprise. The street lamps won't work in my favor and those would need to be taken out first 'Barbara Gordon you can have all the tech knowledge in the world but sometimes you need to get your hands dirty in order to get the job done right.' I thought to myself taking out a batarang. Throwing it, it moved around the lamps, shutting them off. The sound of the glass breaking, before returning to my hand.

The goons almost immediately noticed the lights go out as they frantically started looking around. "What the hell was that?" One of them asked.

"How would I know? Someone turned the lights out." Another replied.

"Sure, this is the perfect time to play the blame game." A third goon said sarcastically.

"Will you idiots idiots shut the hell up!? We have a job to do!" A fourth called out taking charge of things. "Boss says no one gets in or out of the bay until the deal is done. Use tracers and flashlights. If you see anything moving, open fire." Once he was done talking, they separated and got back into position and turned the flashlight and sniper lights on their guns.

From back on the roof, I waited to make sure they were all at a safe distance for me to go down and fight. I was out of time, I would have to get down there now. Jumping down, I landed on top of one of the guards, rendering him unconscious as he fell. The others were quickly alerted as they turned to face them. As I stood back up, there was a loud clash of lighting as I could be seen for a quick second. They figured I was batman or affiliated with him as they open fired. Moving quickly forward, I managed to dodge the bullets and tackled the second guard down. Grabbing him by the face, I gave him a hard punch to the face, leg sweeping the other that was next to him. He quickly got back up along with me, before he could land a punch, I dodged with the back of my hand and landed a counter hit as I headbutted him. Once was trying to run up from behind as I used my elbow then swung my leg around to kick him back.

Finishing the attack back on the third guard, I turned back and countered another attempt of a punch. Lowering his arm, I twisted it and used the back of the back of my other hand to land a hard hit on his face. Turning around, the others on the other doc could see me as well. Lifting up my cape, I used it to block the bullets. Good thing the fabric and material on the cape and suit is sturdy enough, or I would be horribly dead. Keeping a move on, I ran to get to the rest of the guards before they could get their ammo and reload. Jumping onto one of the poles near the dock, I jumped and hand my hand in a fist. Landing, it was a direct hit as he got knocked down. As the others moved in, I landed a series of hits, with my arms extended in a martial arts style. Moving one of them back, I moved my leg up to do a hard kick down.

Inside the building, the drug buy was having a conversation and were about to finish up the deal, but they were interrupted by the sound of the guns firing and the fight going on just outside.

"What the hell?" One of the men asked confused as to what was going on outside.

"Is it the bat?" Another one asked.

"No fricking way, he's on the other side of the city." A third replied.

The supplier wasn't convinced that everything was alright as he took out his pistol and ordered his men "lock the doors."

Slowly moving forward, they followed their instructions. But first they would need to make sure there was actually no one outside. Opening the door, the two looked to see the goons outside were down and, or, knocked unconscious. "Gah crap!" one of them muttered.

The other announced to the boss "Louis and the boys are out-cold! It's one of the bats."

"Then hurry up and lock those doors already." He replied. "If you see anything move in here, shoot it."

With those orders, the others also took out their guns as well and took a look around. "I knew this wasn't a good idea." The buyer stated as he grabbed the bag with the drugs. "Tell your boss that our business is over."

"Shut your trap." The supplier retorted in defense. "In my defense, the guys with guns are always the ones that win. Plus, it's just a guy in a suit. How tough could it be?"

They had noticed that I knocked out the outside goons but weren't aware that I went around the back of the building. Using my grappling gun, I got up to the window. The sound of glass breaking as I went through it and got onto the balcony. The rest of the gangsters were alerted to my presence as one of the goons yelled and announced "up there!"

As they all looked up, the boss ordered "don't just stand there, light it up!"

Gunfire erupted the roof as I kept moving so I couldn't get killed. But by the time they ran out of ammo, the ledge was badly damaged as the wood cracked apart. Falling down, there was no time for me to use a grapple as I hit the ground hard. I was also pretty sure that I at least bruised my leg. Trying to rub off the pain, I forgot that I had now been seen. Hearing the sound of a gun loaded, the leader of the drug dealing had a gun aimed at my instructed to me, "get up, and put your hands above your head. Slowly."

The pistol was in too close of a range for me to try and move or dodge it without taking a bullet. So, I did as he said. Smooth Batgirl, real smooth. Of course that was sarcasm because the one thing you never want to do is get caught.

The rest of the goons seemed relaxed seeing how I looked with the mask. "Not as tough as I thought." The buyer commented. "I was actually expecting the bat to show up."

"Well I guess she'll have to do." A third goon replied.

As I was grabbed, the buyer lowered the gun to my head and put his other hand on the top of my mask. "Before we kill you, why don't we take a peek at who's underneath."

I took a deep breath as I used my head to knock the dealer off of me. Dropping gun as he squinted his eyes as he put a hand on his nose bleed. Turning around, I kicked the buyer away and blocked a punch from the third goon. Countering it, I landed a series of fast hits before he went down. The fourth and last one was the furthest at the back of the warehouse. Using my grappling hook, I pulled him in a landed a straight punch to his face. Now the dealer was the only one still standing. He had managed to regain his pistol as I threw a batarang to clog it. By the time he could pull out a knife, I walked close enough to him as I grabbed his hand and squeezed it. The knife dropped to the floor as his next move was a punch. I was easily able to block it. Now having a hold on him, I moved forward and pinned him back against the wall. Finally able to get some information.

"Who's supplying you with the drugs?" I asked.

Taking a couple of deep breaths, he commented "go to hell."

Keeping a tight grip, I moved forward and slammed him again, even harder. I could make my own threats too. "I won't ask a third time."

"Alright, alright." He gave up. "I don't know who he is."

"Like hell you don't."

"I swear, he's the one that contacts us and gets me and my boys to do all his dirty work."

"What did he refer to himself as?"

"He called himself, 'the Black Mask.''

"What do you know about him?"

"He's one of the higher up gangsters in Gotham and he got the name from his face. Or, some of us think he's just wearing a literal black mask. But that's all. The boss isn't open to sharing any personal information."

That was all the information I needed, but before I could knock him out, the police had arrived as the sirens and a voice could be heard from outside. "This is officer Bullock, we have the place surrounded. You have 3 seconds to come out with your hands up or we're coming in."

As the count went down, the cops broke open the door and ran in. "Batgirl, you are under arrest. Drop him." One of the officers announced pointing her gun

Dropping the guard on the floor, I backed away and tried to find a way out. The bullets from earlier opened a whole in the roof. I slowly took out my grapple gun and got ready for a quick getaway.

"Don't try anything or we will shoot." A second cop threatened. Sorry boys but there was no way I was gonna let myself be arrested.

Taking it out quickly, I got up to the roof, allowing them to open fire. As the gunshots went off, I started running.

"That's enough, she's gone!" Bullock stated.

"What do you want us to do?" An officer asked as he walked up to him.

Letting out a sigh, he looked over at the knocked out goons. "Guess she did us a solid this time." He muttered to himself.

"Bullock?" The officer asked looking at him.

"Let the batgirl go for now. I want the rest of these clowns backup and taken away." He instructed.

By the time I stopped running, I looked behind to see if I was being followed. Thankfully I managed to get away that time. The hard storm from before had seemed to subside. It had stopped raining but the clouds still covered the night sky. It was a clear shot to my dad's apartment from where I was standing so I just steadily made my way over there.

As usual, I got into my room from the window and got out of my suit. Putting on some pajamas, I could take a look at where I injured my leg earlier. Didn't have any broken bones this time but definitely a few bruises that are going to make me feel sore for a while. Looking over at my clock. It was 2 am. At the university, we were allowed to set up our own schedule. I set my classes for the late morning. So getting as much sleep as possible was a first priority. Slamming my head onto my pillow, I pulled the covers over me and closed my eyes. I never know how Batman does this, doing the job all night on a daily basis.

The next morning there was a knock at my door. I didn't know who it was and I didn't want to get up just yet as I let out a moan. It was my dad as he opened the door and asked "Barbara, you up yet sweetheart?"

There was a blinding sunlight hitting my face. Sitting up, I answered "I am now."

"I gotta head out early today so I brought you some breakfast."

Letting out a smile, I replied "thanks dad."

He put the plate on my nightstand. He had a mug of coffee in his other hand and I assumed he had to get going. Giving me a kiss on the forehead, he instructed "be sure you're not late for classes, and have a good day. I'm probably gonna be home late so don't wait up for me."

"You got it." I answered. "Now go arrest some bad guys."

Smirking, my dad headed off to get to work. Allowing me to eat with some privacy. You think that me being batgirl was the only interesting part of me? Well think again, there's a lot more where that came from. Once I was done eating, I got myself cleaned, dressed, and ready to get out the door. Now to get to the other half of my life.