"What a pretty bird he is," Dick heard a voice, the woman's voice, say. Things were still black and despite his best efforts he was unable to move. Whatever she had hit him with packed one hell of a punch. He could feel that he was sitting upright, with his hands restrained behind his back. In fact, his whole body felt restrained. He opted to 'play dead' and see what information he could gather from his attackers, since there seemed little more he could do.

The voices of several men grumbled about leaving money and one of their comrades behind, but the woman just laughed it off and said it was the price of business. He was certain now, if he hadn't been before, that she was their leader.

That was something that struck him. What kind of bank robbers aren't concerned about leaving money behind? The thought buzzed around in his head and after a moment it seemed so obvious. He remembered what she had shouted when he deployed the gas spheres; it wasn't a bank robbery at all, it was designed to look like a bank robbery to lure him there, but why? What was this woman's endgame?

I suppose I'm about to find out, he thought as a slender hand grabbed hold of the bottom of his face. "Waaaake up, birdy," the woman purred. There was an excitement in her voice that sounded almost psychotic.

Dick pulled his eyelids open and saw a beaming pair of green eyes staring at him from behind a black domino mask that wasn't unlike the one he was wearing. Up close the woman was something else. She had thick, curly black hair that bounced about as she moved; well defined features, powerful red lips, and a sweet scent that seemed beyond description.

She marveled at him for a moment before biting her lower lip and pulling away, "My name is The Black Mask and these lovely gentlemen are my very strong associates, The Masks," she said.

This was just the opportunity that Dick needed. He did a quick scan of the room. It was an office, a small one, with grey walls, one door and a large window covered by white window blinds. An old factory or warehouse somewhere, that's where he was, no doubt about it. Despite Gotham's rich architectural diversity, everything in the warehouse district was built more or less the same. He glanced over at her three goons, who were huddled in the corner around a small desk and on the desk sat his belt.

"You know," he said as he began to slowly investigate his bindings, "we've already got a Black Mask. I'm sure he's got a copyright on the name, or something. We'll call you…hm, I don't know, I'm sure we can come up with something clever." He grinned as he finished speaking. The longer he could keep a dialogue between them, the more time he had to free himself.

She turned and glared, "I'm The Black Mask. I'll deal with that fool in due time. Capturing you was my first priority."

"And why is that?" Dick tilted his head perplexedly as he replied.

Her face beamed with excitement and once again she came in close to him, "Because when I kill you it will have proved that I'm someone to be taken seriously."

Definitely psychotic, no question about it, Dick thought as he continued to wiggle his hands free.

"Too bad," she continued as she turned from him again and move towards the desk, "you've got the nicest blue eyes."

"Flattered, truly," Dick replied, "but I don't suppose I can dissuade you?"

His question was met with silence, an answer whose meaning he expected.

She picked a gun up from the desk and this time he doubted that it would fire tranquilizers. She turned back and began to approach him, her face was still radiant and beaming with excitement.

"Time to clip the birdy's wings, how exciting!" She squealed.

Not tonight, He thought as slipped his hands free and dropped a gas sphere on the floor that had been hidden in his glove. He held his breath and waited as the small office exploded in a cloud of smoke that had The Black Mask and her goons all blind and choking. Dick slammed his heel on the floor, exposing a knife from the toe of his boot. He removed it and quickly cut through the rope that bound his legs.

"Get him! I want him dead! NOW!" She shouted between gasps for air. Dick could hear the goons stumbling about and decided that the situation needed to end.

"Sorry to spoil the party, but I rather like my wings!" He shouted as he tapped the side of his mask and threw the chair he had been tied to at one of the men. It exploded into a dozen wooden fragments and the man stumbled backwards, eventually falling flat on his backside. The ball was in his court now. The eyelids of his mask were now opaque and provided a filter that allowed him to see through the clouded office, an advantage he doubted The Black Mask to have.

He moved through the smoke towards the table to retrieve his belt, encountering and quickly neutralizing the other two men in brief stints of hand to hand combat. But as he made it to the desk and reached for his belt shots rang out, followed by the shattering of glass. The Black Mask had fired her weapon at the blinds, breaking the window and causing the smoke to leak out into the rest of the warehouse.

Clever, Dick thought.

He slipped his belt on and dove on the other side of the desk, trying to put something between The Black Mask and himself. The smoke had cleared out rapidly enough that she knew where he was and began to open fire, blowing holes clear through parts of the desk. He pulled two batarangs out and leaned out around the side of the desk, sending them flying.

One planted itself nicely in the back of The Black Mask's hand, causing her to drop the gun in an instant of pain. The other nailed her near the collar bone, knocking her off balance and putting her on the ground. He rose from his spot of cover and let out a brief sigh before tapping his earpiece and calling Gordon.

GCPD were on the scene within moments of his call. While "The Black Mask" and her crew were picked up and loaded into security vans Gordon made his way over and spit the usual small talk, "You alright, son?"

"Yeah, peachy." Dick replied with a smile, "Tell me, who is she?"

The Commissioner referred to the large file under his arm, which was filled with pictures and police reports galore, "Name's Dotty Nelson. Career criminal by the looks of it, says she was tied to some thug named Rusty Nelson at one point. Never married, but she took his name. Ended up doing some serious time, killed a state trooper who tried to pull her over. Served twelve years of a twenty-five year sentence, let out on good behavior," Gordon paused and looked up from the file at the van that Dotty and company were detained in, "No tie to Black Mask or any other crazies, though. You think we've got another one for Arkham?"

"I'm no expert, Commissioner, but she was planning to kill me, usurp Black Mask and take over his gang," Dick said with a chuckle.

"Just another night in Gotham," Gordon sighed as he pushed his glasses up and rubbed his eyes.

Yeah, just another night in Gotham, Dick thought with a smile as he snuck away back into the night.