A/N: Hi guys! Thank you for reading so far! I hope to finish this story within the next week or so. It's going to be a trip from here on out, believe me. Please comment, it fuels me!

Cassandra was a lot of things. A fighter, a genius, an ex-assassin, to name a few. But she was definitely not a people person.

And the funny thing about the state fair, which she probably should have expected, was that it was full of people. All kinds of people. They weren't just people-everyone was a wide-eyed tourist. It wasn't like traveling in the streets of Gotham, where everyone knows where they're going and wandering around is scoffed at. And everyone was either really old or really young, or attached to a member of either group.

So she hung close to Barbara's side.

Barbara knew better than to question Cass, which she was grateful for.

"You know, if you want to go on the coasters, you should go with Steph." She finally said as they roamed past a big sign.

Cass took a second to look at the sign, reading the colorful letters in a deliberate manner. Arcade. What was an arcade?

But then she turned back to her friend. "Are you not going?"

"Nope." She tapped her wheels before pushing forward again. "No space for my ride."

"Oh." Her voice was laced with guilt for asking.

But Barbara didn't mind at all. She waved Cass off, saying, "I never really liked them, anyway. Fake danger is boring after seeing the real thing."

She nodded, not quite understanding. But 'not quite understanding' was her neutral position in situations like this.

They had to go through the arcade pavilion before heading towards the food and animals. It was strange, similar to what she would see in one of Joker's traps. Even if it was out in the sunshine, each booth looked like a different room. Bright reds, blues, and greens covered everything. Each stall had a big sign and animals or toys pinned to the sides. And everything was lit with colored bulbs, despite being the middle of the day. It was so festive it seemed almost dangerous.

"...the big striker?"

She looked around. Someone seemed to be asking her a question. A man was staring at her. He had a big smile on his face, but it was clearly well-practiced. He was a very round man, with a slouchy stature and reddened neck from the heat.

"Did you hear me? Do you speak English?"

The way he asked that bothered her. Slow, enunciating, as if she was a baby. And even if she wasn't exactly a master at the language, he shouldn't have just guessed that.

"What's going on?" Barbara asked, stopping when she realized Cass was still staring at the man. She watched him as well.

"Just asking your friend if she wanted to try her hand at the The Big Striker." Then he leaned against the machine, which was like a giant ruler. Except the measurements were things like 'wowza!' and 'super manly tough!', and lightbulbs on the two sides that went from yellow to red. There was a giant mallet resting on one side, and a button in front of it.

He continued, "What do you say, little lady? Care to try your hand? The only person who beat this game was a circus strong-man. But hey, I bet you could knock his score off the board. You get a jumbo prize if you reach the red!"

That must have referred to the highest lights on the machine. There were only three rows of those, as opposed to the orange and yellow, which had seven and ten, respectively. And there was a large bell at the very top.

"Ugh, let's go." Barbara said, rolling her eyes.

Cassandra put a hand on her shoulder. "No." She smiled slyly at her. "He said I might beat it."

She pushed her glasses up and nodded, smirking back. "Sure, try your luck."

That was all the blessing she needed.

The man took her hundred-dollar bill, fumbling to make change. Meanwhile, she picked up the mallet and examined it. It was a big but lightweight tool, completely made of wood with a long handle. Which must have been intended to make it difficult to get a good center of balance. The button had scuff marks around the edges. Difficult to hit it straight on, making the sensitivity to the mallet weaker.

Incredibly simple. Get enough momentum to hit the target, hit dead-on. It wasn't a strength test, not really. Not that such a thing would be possible with basic tools such as the ones she was looking at.

She lifted the mallet, stretching it all the way up in the air. That got a nervous comment from the man, but she didn't notice. Her eyes were focused on the button, measuring distance necessary. She leaned back, poised tightly like a bowstring.

Then she swung down, hitting it expertly.

The sound of the bell rang in her ears before she could look up.

Barbara cheered as the bell chimed again and again. People turned around, looking at her in awe.

She dropped the hammer, smiling sheepishly. Then she turned to the man, who was staring at her in shock.

"Could I get the dinosaur?" She asked, as if nothing happened.