Oracle Begins

Chapter One

One Month Later…

I've performed better than I had ever hoped to as Batgirl, and not only that, I've enjoyed the luxury of life and went back into the world fearless. I re-applied at Gotham University for the Winter Courses and was accepted back; in addition, working again at Gotham Press. I made sure to tell them both that I had been going through some "Family Problems," and they saw that was a chance to bring me back in, if I hadn't been going in so long. And I'm doing great at Gotham U; as a matter of fact, one of the best in all five of my classes. It must be that my confidence has grown since that night I rededicated my life to the Life of Batgirl. That was the best move I've ever made.

And at Gotham Press, I'm catching up on all the projects that I've missed and I'm making some ground. I should've done what I did sooner if everything's this easy. Not only am I confident and fearless; I'm more active and making new friends that I can relate with. Smart. Friendly. I know anything good like this can't last forever, but I'll make an effort to enjoy it while it lasts. As for Robin, he's attending classes at Gotham U, too. And it's official. We're boyfriend/girlfriend. Alfred is still Batman's pretend-father, and Batman is still working the Carnival Nightmare Case, to find out who the accomplice is. He has a hunch that it all started at Ace Chemicals, and that the one he's looking for is there. And when he's done with that, he's going to talk to the Joker. This time, he's going to use a more refined method to find out his answers; aside from a more aggressive response. More of a caring approach. Lately, he's been able to deal with his anger more, and a little nicer which makes me feel better about him and myself. Because even with someone like him who's been doing what he does for so long, he's vulnerable like the rest of us. It makes me glad knowing he's actually human.

I've had to bundle up a lot more this winter since it's the Coldest Winter Gotham's Seen. Thermostats turned on temperatures that would've burned everyone up at first; and at that temperature, little progress is made. Even in the midst of this new Ice Age, I'm still enjoying life. So long as it means I get to cuddle next to Robin for warmth. Lately, haven't been afraid to go on dates either at fancy restaurants. He usually shows in his mundane attire with me wearing these beautiful dresses with money from Gotham Press. Eight-fifty every six hours a day every week adds up. But to my defense, I wear the same dress. We've been hitting it off great, too. Oh, and at Gotham U, I joined a Scholars Club. That seems to be everything that's happened over the course of a month.

One night, as I'm getting ready for bed, I hear the police band go off, announcing a museum heist, and to bring some thermals. Must be the origination of the new Ice Age. I make my way to the Cave and find Robin is finally going with Batman. And so am I. Dick and I have been less strict about missions lately since we have other things to do. But today, I feel like going. When I make it to the cave, Batman informs us. "Good, you're all here. I've triangulated the source of the origination of the frequency over the police band and found that the officer is at the Gotham Antique Exhibit, apparently it's frozen over and the temperatures are too critical to go in with our normal suits."

He's standing near a control panel, typing in some code and up comes three display cases with armored masks instead of cowls. The suits seem a little bulkier, along with some gridlines around the suit in some spots. The color schemes of the suits are the same. Batman answers the questions on our minds, which Dick and I probably know the answer to anyway. "I designed these suits when the cold front started to exasperate. The suits will automatically read the temperature and adjust itself to a level where it can counter the cold."

I'm guessing the gridlines will light up according to the main colors of your costume, and will light up whenever the suit's trying to fight the Cryogenic environment around you. We suit up and I notice it's just as lightweight as my other suit. Good. And I wouldn't expect anything less. And when I get out of the changing area, I found Batman made bigger cycles to go along with my bulkier suit. I can always rely on him to think ahead. We drive out of the Batcave and make our way to the Museum. When we arrive, I see Batman wasn't joking. It's literality frozen over. The police are shivering even when they're not close to it. One turns around when he hears us coming along, and he waves his hands, shaking. His face is about to turn blue. He shouts at us with chattering teeth. "He-hey! Yo-you got-gotta st-stop th-this befo-before i-i—"

Batman finishes his sentence. "Trust me. We will."

We park our cycles next to the police cars and run towards the Exhibit. The door is frozen shut so Batman puts his hands on the surface, his gridlines lighting up grey and as the door heats up, he punches it open. We progress further into the Exhibit and find everything is practically frozen over, like it's transformed into a fortress. Fortress is the best word for it. I look at Robin and Batman; their gridlines are lighting up. Must be what Batman said about adapting to cold temperatures. Robin's are green. I look at mine and they're golden. Dick comments. "This was a great idea, Bats."

He still doesn't say thank you; fortunately, he's been nicer like I've said. He tells us to split up and stay sharp after we reach a three-way pathway. Batman goes forward, Robin goes right, and I go left. Assume that we need to call in whatever we find. It'd be logical. After looking for about ten minutes, all I find is ice and more frozen artifacts. I find a broken display case and call it in. "Found a broken display case. Not sure what was in it before."

Robin confirms he hasn't found much either, and Batman confirms that he's found some goons with ice guns. I make my way to him and hear people talking, and some laughing. They comment about how thankful they are that they have something to protect them from the cold. I hear something fire and it's probably the ice gun. I hear three voices. I can't peek over a corner because they're so close, judging by their voices. Batman tells us. "Engage if necessary. They don't seem to be that big of a threat, but be warned."

I make a mental note. I wait until they've passed my corner and I elbow one in the face, dropkicking another. I roll out of the way of the ice gun that freezes the ground even more. I leap to my feet and dodge the ice gun again, lifting it upwards after grabbing hold of it and bringing my elbow down on it, busting a part of it, but not the entire gun. I punch the thug in the face twice and kick him to the ground. When that thug goes down, an ice gun is already pointed at me, firing my way. I couldn't duck in time but this suit is defrosting the ice buildup on my suit as we speak. That's one less problem to worry about. They keep firing their guns and I find out they all have ice guns. I side-step my way out of the ice and get my Batarangs out at the same time, throwing one at each of the guns firing at me, exploding on impact in a burst of fire. Down for the count. And with a new feature added into the Batarangs: They fly back to me so it's not a wasted Batarang. I get a closer look at them and find that in the center of them, there's fire inside the core of them. Thermal Batarangs. I examine the gun I smashed with my elbow and call it in. "I'm taking one of the ice guns for you to examine, Batman."

"Good." He answers back.

It's like a quiver, and I put it around my back just like one under my cape. Robin, I suppose, is still searching and confirms. "I found a giant, futuristic icebox."

"Must be the man in charge. Wait for backup." Informs Batman, and Robin acknowledges. And in the course of a month, Robin's been more like me, too. Less fearful, more confident, more willing to go into action. It's like tragedy is changing us into people we never thought would be stronger versions of ourselves. I make my way to Robin and I see he wasn't joking. It's a man in a seven foot, armored cryogenic suit. He's accompanied by goons with ice guns strapped around their backs, one of them telling their boss. "Boss, we've been compromised."

The man turns to them, replying in a metallic and cold voice. "Then get out of here. We can't lose those diamonds."

The man sees us in his peripheral and I see his skin is bluer than the officer's I saw earlier. Why? And how? He shouts to us. "You've forced my hand!"

He points his cannon at us, shooting ice as we leap out of the way of it. The ice, it seems, from the cannon, is obviously deadlier. I see it impact on a wall and the spread of ice is wider and it's going to be colder. And it'll take longer to melt that if that hits my suit. He keeps firing on his glacier from above. "Why do you have to stop me now?!"

Robin strikes back, while dodging the ice. "Because you froze this entire place!"

"Because it's meaningless." He spits back. Robin comes to a standstill as he crouches behind a pillar, shouting back. "The diamonds sure weren't."

I can hear him grunt from here, and he comes walking down his glacier, firing at me and at Batman, that is to say if he could get us. Batman disappears from my line of sight and I look around for him, not seeing him anywhere. Without warning, I almost dodge the ice blast my way and it freezes my cape just by the moisture. Before he has the chance to fire another blast, Batman appears on top of him, planting a device on his back. "Get out of the way!"

He yells at me. I do and he backflips off the icebox's back, him propelling into a wall. It was one of Batman's rocket patches. It must've set at a high power to propel someone of that size and weight. He removes himself from the wall and gets back on his feet, and when he does, Batman lands a kick to his helmet that cracks his fishbowl. The icebox kicks him in the stomach, Batman taking a few steps back and while Batman was temporality disoriented, he fires the ice blast at him. Robin leaps in the way of the blast, being shot into the giant glacier the icebox was standing on earlier. I can see ice building up on his chest. The icebox swings his cannon my way and knocks me out of his way, making more than just a dent in my armor. I drop a smoke pellet and hide behind an iceberg. I hear the walking icebox shout. "Enough! I have more important engagements elsewhere."

His thundering footsteps are accompanied by the shattering of ice on the ground, and the mechanical whirs of his armor. Robin recovers from the ice seconds later. Batman advises all of us to let him go. When his back is turned, Batman throws a tracker on his back. It wasn't as bad as I thought, good. He doesn't put up much of a fight, which is better. Batman looks around for something, maybe what could've caused the new cold front, but with how we've searched around, we don't find anything. Why freeze a place to the core when you're only interested in diamonds? Diamonds for his cannon? Plus the ice guns? Good idea as any.

We make our way to our cycles and go back to the Cave. I congratulate Robin and Batman on a good job, Robin thanks me. When we reach the Cave, Batman switches suits to head to Ace Chemicals. When I switch back to my regular clothes, and so does Dick, I sneak in a kiss on his lips, staying there for a while until I let go, joking. "Stay frosty."

Dick replies. "Can't. You're melting me."

I laugh, and so does he. I remember the ice gun on my back and I set it on the workable in the workshop of the Batcave where the magic happens for all the new and old gadgets. The next day, at Gotham Press, I'm editing a paper and Allan stops by for a little chat. Our new boss is one of the more honorable employees we had before Brenden was killed. Allan hasn't made that much of an effort to ask me out since he's probably learned from my objections. Lately, he just checks on me to see how I'm doing, which I can agree with. Even after what I've done. This time he apologizes for being so rushed with trying to be my boyfriend. I reply back in a nicer voice than usual, but there's still an essence of me being closed off. "It's all right."

"It is?" He asks nervously. "Yeah. Don't sweat it." I reassure.

Allan puts a folder on my desk, after looking around to see if anyone was looking. I look inside, slowly, and Allan whispers to me. "I know you're Batgirl."

In the folder, I see images of me in my Armored Kevlar Batsuit. I look at Allan who's concerned for me. "I solved the puzzle when I heard about you on the news about stopping the incident at the hardware store."

I knew this would happen eventually, and I've stopped wearing my wig since I ended up using the new suit. I whisper back in a strict voice. "Listen, if you tell anyone about this,"

"I haven't." He finishes, gulping when he says this. I remind him. "No one can know about this."

I look in his eyes, looking for more answers. Then I solve the equation myself. And with swift action and vengeance, I leap up and kick away my office rolling chair, putting Allan in a headlock so tight you'd think I'd kill him. But I won't. I fiercely whisper to him. "What the hell are you doing working with Child's Play? And why the hell are you using me!?"

His next words come out improperly because his oxygen is almost cut off. "What!?"

"You know what I mean. Because by some possibility that he has spies everywhere, watching my every move, I should've known better than to trust you. And why tell me now?"

"Because-"

I hear something like a bomb going off. I think it's inside him. I let go of him and, when I do, he spazzes out like he's been electrocuted. There's nothing I can do, so I just watch him writhe and spaz out on the ground; drooling and when the scenario runs its course, I find that Allan was electrocuted enough to singe his skin and melt off some of his clothes. I rush to the bathroom and seal myself away in a stall. I call Bruce, half hyperventilating and half controlling my emotions. "Bruce, Child's Play has spies everywhere and I just watched one of them die."

"Which one?"

"Allan. A friend,"

I think to myself that friend isn't good enough anymore. "Someone that I knew at Gotham Press. That's how Child's Play knows my identity. I'm always been watched. He's going to reveal my identity sooner or later. We have to stop him."

Bruce's voice is calm as usual. "He won't reveal your identity to the public. He has to have a bigger plan in motion if he hasn't revealed it yet. But the next time he broadcasts live, we'll stop him."

I quickly catch my breath and ask Bruce. "So, what's the progress with the accomplice?"

"More like accomplices."

"What?" I answer back confused. Bruce answers back. "I went to Ace Chemicals and found someone calling themselves, Harley Quinn. Named after Joker's therapist Harleen Quinnzel at Arkham Asylum. Joker brainwashed her with his insanity and, in the midst of her inoperable sanity and blinding love for the Joker, she's transformed into another psychopath like the love of her life. Though, she's not as smart."

I feel both scared for Harley and comforted. Comforted because she's not as intelligent, which means she won't be thinking about any complicated and heartless ploys. Scared because she's still insane. "How dumb?" I ask jokingly, smiling. "Dumb enough to tell me everything I needed to know."

I end up covering up my mouth with my jacket, laughing my head off in it. Laughing at the major difference between the two. I think Bruce hears it, too. "She led me to a man named T.O. Morrow in his own headquarters. He wasn't expecting my arrival so I apprehended him easily. That said, he wasn't expecting me to bypass his security either. I've taken him to the Asylum after showing every piece of evidence I've gathered on this case to the authorities."

I smile, recovering from my giggle fit and asking. "So, case closed?"

"Yes. I've already started on the Sniper Victims."

"Good." I remark. One thing is for sure, he never gives up. Which is good. Someone with nervous steps comes in the bathroom and I slide down the lid, sitting on it and keeping my feet up, keeping quiet so no one notices I'm here. They'll know something's up when this stall is locked. They go in the stall beside me and I slowly hang up my call. I listen in on the conversation beside me. Another spy?

"Boss, we just lost a spy."

I hear a voice over the phone, it's him again. But his voice is stricter. "Which one?"

"Allan."

He chuckles. "Always the weak one. He deserved it."

"I agree."

I grit my teeth and keep my anger in. The spy continues. "Do we resume protocol?"

"Yes. Just one thing you need to do."

"What?"

"Batgirl is in the bathroom with you."

Damn it, I think. When the other stall opens and they start kicking open the other stalls, I unlock mine and, when I see the footsteps over my stall, I kick open my stall and knock her back. The spy crosses me in the face twice. I grab her arm, sidestepping behind her and jerking her arm back, kicking the back of her knees as she falls down, face-planting one of the stands for the stalls. I kick the elbow of the arm I still have hold of, and kick her back, flattening her onto the ground. I can hear her groaning, but she isn't screaming. I kick her side, rolling her over. She looks at me with disgust, so do I. I squat down to her, grabbing her shirt and demand. "Why are you working for Child's Play?"

She spits in my face and I know this will never go anywhere good, so I punch her in the face, knocking her out. I have to hide her somewhere. I don't have many options right now, so I stuff her in the trash can. I exit the bathroom, clock out for the day, and head home. I know that Child's Play had to be monitoring me somehow, and I have to find out how and why. I look around for any spies mounted on rooftops, none of them. Broad daylight, too. Two hours until sunset. I'm constantly being watched like s lab rat in a world-changing experiment. Or I'm the prey and they're the Eagles.

If there's a point where the good ends, this might be the point when. But this time, I'm stronger. More aware. More capable of defending myself. And smarter. Things will only get worse from here, and I'm ready for whatever comes. I decide to make my way back to the Cave on foot, since I don't have any means of transportation nearby. And since I can't allow anyone to drive me into the Batcave. So I calla Taxi to take me to my house, giving them directions. Upon entering the Cave, I find Bruce is doing research on the Sniper Victims and I greet him from afar. He turns around his chair and he announces back. "I've got something for you."

He gets up from his chair and leads me beside the Display Cases where Bruce steps on a panel, and a part of the wall opens up, housing a smorgasbord of computers with a chair mounted to the ground like the one to the Batcomputer, but can still turn around freely in place. Some of the computers are active, some are fuzzy. I turn around and hug him tightly. But I don't kiss him. My lips are for Robin. Bruce informs me. "I figured you wanted something like this."

Off the top of my head, I think to myself a new name and pronounce it aloud. "Oracle?"

Bruce shakes his head in agreement and tells me. "It's a work in progress. It'll be operational shortly."

I acknowledge him and question. "Anything I can do?"

"No."

"All right."

He goes back into the Cavern and I go to the elevator up to Wayne Manor to do some homework. I could've done it at school; then again, there's nothing like living in Wayne Manor where it's Luxury Paradise. There's even a fountain in the Living Area. I go to one of the bedrooms and settle there. Alfred gave me a tour of the place a month ago. As I'm halfway into my homework, the power goes out for longer than it should. I greeted Dick on the way to the bedroom earlier and he casually came walking my way, asking for some sort of explanation. Unfortunately, I don't have one either. And all of a sudden, we hear a voice over the darkness. So close you'd think it's here. It's coming from the TV in the next room. Child's Play. He did this. Dick and I head to the room together and we find that there's a banner on the bottom of the screen like a headline: Gotham Blackout. "I interrupt your regularly scheduled propaganda and ill-advised actions with a message of my own,"

I think to myself, How is Bruce going to track him now? Unless Bruce knows how to restart the Batcomputer. He anticipated it. He doesn't want anyone tracking him; nevertheless, he'll tell you where he is when he feels like it. Figures. He continues. "As a child, I played with fire. As a child, I burned my face. As I grew up, I realized how pathetic child's play is; and yet, we still do it. Justice is blind, and so is crime. Crime is blind because it doesn't see the error of it's ways, because it's looking for a chance to die. Sooner or later, you will crumble as your struggle of making it out of this one on your own becomes amplified. You're also blind without your technology, and I estimate the deaths to come immediately. For some of you, technology is your life. Your foothold on life. But you put your faith in something that can easily be destroyed."

I check my phone and it's not working. An EMP. Dick looks at me through the darkness with only the moonlight and TV Screen. I look for any signs of distress; all I see is a face that's scared. Scared for us. For Gotham. Child's Play certainly did step up his game. But how'd he do this? "In a city where you're driven by technology and corruption, there's only one way to end this. The only way that makes a difference,"

He pauses for dramatic effect and the embers around him grow in numbers, making a flame behind him. His next words are spoken in a tone that brings chills down my spine. "Burning Gotham to the ground."

The screen fades to black. Dead silence falls over the mansion. Silence that makes the dead roll in their grave. I feel uneasy. Dick and I hold hands tightly. Alfred enters the bedroom, calling my name. By Ms. Gordon. He sees us in the next room and opens one of the curtains, a distant fire is seen in the distance. Only a small one, though. Dick and I would make our way to the Cave, but the elevator isn't working. I tell Alfred. "I need to get to the Batcave. Are there any other means of getting down there?"

He turns around from the window and pauses for a second, thinking, then he answers. "There is another way."

He leads me and Dick out of the room and to a hatch in the Living Area. He opens it up and hands us both a torch, him coming down with us. He tells us to strike the walls and the torch lights up. We descend the stairs and I ask Alfred. "When did you have time to make this?"

"It was Bruce who did it. He foresaw that the elevator would eventually become obsolete in the future and created this secondary mean of access."

Always the smart one, Bruce. I thank him in my head. With luck, our suits and some of our gadgets will still work. Dick breaks the silence to Alfred. "Any idea how he EMP'd Gotham, Alfred?"

"My guess is that he attacked the Government or got his hands on some technology that would do it for him."

"The Government can do that?" I reply, baffled. It'd make sense, though.

"Yes, Ms. Gordon. To our dismay, that may not have been what he did. Most likely, he did the latter."

Probably why he sole those computers…

We reach the bottom of the stairs and we encounter another hatch, opening it and we end up in the Infirmary. We make our way to the General Bay of the Batcave where the Batmobile would be. Inoperable. What would Bruce do in this situation if he had no means of transportation? Use something that's not technology, I guess. Bruce is inside the Batmobile with a torch mounted on the side of his car…hotwiring? Every now and then, the car would whir back online. After a while, the car is active. I guess he wasn't expecting this one. Bruce is in his Batsuit, too. How'd he access his Display Case if the power didn't work? I presume he smashed the case open and changed where we was. We make our way to the display cases and smash them open, Alfred stands near us with a torch, setting ours near a wall. He closes his eyes and tells us he won't look. When we're suited, we make our way to the Batmobile. Luckily, there's enough room for more than six people inside the car. Before we drive off, Bruce barks out an order to Alfred. "Alfred, stay here in the Cave."

"Will do, sir."

A thought occurs to me. How is Batman going to get out of the cave now? He answers my question when he rams through the wall that would open up for passage, and smashes through the other one. The Batmobile is unscathed. When we turn around the corner, we see the fire has grown exponentially. In the midst of this chaos, I think to myself. Technology and Corruption isn't Child's Play. And without your daily necessities, corruption will grow like a wildfire. Crime is blind, and now, you'll die blind. That's what I think he's thinking now, Child's Play. No doubt he's planning this. My other theory is that he's been training to be a better fighter. This time, I have Batman and Robin with me. And when I said I was prepared for anything, I hadn't realized the outcome of jinxing myself would come to this elevation of madness. Child's Play must've had plastic surgery for his burns, and now looks like an ordinary person. He did, in fact, say he could be anyone. However, one would have to pay attention to his combat skills and intellectual prowess. Unless he's really good at hiding it.

As we reach Gotham, the first thing we see is someone hung by a traffic light with their shoelaces. Either that was Child's Play's gang doing that, or someone else did it. Batman must be making his way to the GCPD, to the roof. But how? Then he tells us to unbuckle, get ready, and we come to a complete stop in the Batmobile, launching ourselves to the roof. I scream at the excitement, which is something good that's going to happen tonight. We find my dad is there, waiting. My dad catches his breath, explaining. "Thank God you're here."

"Don't thank him just yet." remarks Batman. Calm as ever. But how? "What'd you know?"

My dad answers back, nervously. "Well, you're not going to like it, but I'm one of the few GCPD Officers still alive."

I turn to Robin and hug him, he sniffs like he's crying. I think him seeing me in pain like this all the time hurts him too much. But I won't cry. Batman questions. "What can we do?"

I hear the sound of a gun getting ready, and I turn around, not knowing what to think of this situation when my dad says the words I wish he didn't in a time like this. "You're going to help me stop this."

He fires a bullet in the air to seal the deal, to signify the moment that one or all of us are going to end up dying tonight.