Chapter Nine

            "When the explosions went off, I was busy doing a tap dance with Killer Croc. He was big and strong but he was also slow and stupid. I kept dancing out of his way and in his blind fury to get to me he was knocking over more of his guys than I could have hoped to.

            "Then the Joker started his stint and we were all caught off-guard. When he shot Jason, Batgirl - Barbara - wasn't the only one who went after him. I launched myself forward at the same time she did, but I was on the far side of the cavern. I saw her go down and I thought she was dead.

            "That's when Catwoman appeared. She'd climbed up the wall behind them as Jason had and came down hard. She tackled him and they both rolled to the edge of the platform. She got to her feet first but he quickly followed, flashing the remote in the air in front of her, taunting her, his grin bigger than ever. But she'd equipped her gloves with steel claws and she knew how to use them. She slashed and the Joker screamed. When we saw him later, I was shocked at how much damage had been done. She'd caught his forearm with her claws and laid it bare to the bone.

            "He dropped the remote and it shattered when it hit the stone floor.

            "She clawed furiously at the Joker, driving him onto his back. She'd sliced open his chest and shoulder and across his cheek. He had his hands out in front of him, trying to protect himself. She pulled her hand back in what probably would have been a killing blow if Batman hadn't stopped her.

            ""Selina!" he yelled. When he wanted it to, his voice could stop an army in its tracks. Catwoman held he hand inched from Joker's face for a brief moment before dropping it and stepping away from him.

            ""She's still alive," Catwoman yelled back across the room. When I heard that I let out the breath I didn't know I'd been holding. "But she won't be for long if we don't get her some help."

            "Batman looked around at the hoards of men surrounding him and I did the same. The last few minutes had shocked everyone into silence. They were all standing still, rooted by the scene that had just played out. The Riddler had fainted. Batman looked across the room at Two-Face.

            ""How far are we going to take this, Harvey?" he asked.

            "Harvey Dent - Two-Face - just glared. His scarred eye was almost swollen shut. Someone had gotten a good shot in. Slowly, he removed a silver dollar from his vest pocket and flipped it. We all knew that famed silver dollar, scarred on one side just as he was, was how he made his decisions. It spun through the air and into his open palm. From where I was, I couldn't see which side had landed face up. He looked at it before closing his hand into a fist.

            ""I surrender," he said loudly.

            ""Aw, the hell with it," came another voice. It was Croc, who simply sat Indian style on the floor, his chin resting on his fists like a bored kid. "I give up, too. It's not like they'll be able to keep me locked up long."    

            "I looked back at the scaffolding. Catwoman had moved over and knelt over Batgirl. Given his injuries, I was surprised when the Joker staggered to his feet and produced a small, single shot pistol from his pocket. He pointed it at Catwoman's back. I was about to yell for her but she'd apparently been paying attention. She leapt up and delivered a roundhouse kick, connecting to his chest. He somersaulted backwards off the platform and landed with a cracking thud. He didn't move again. She glared out as if daring anyone, especially Batman, to reprimand her. 

            "He didn't. He simply produces a small transmitter from his belt and pressed the button. Unknown to us, agents had been tracking us from the surface. Even though the trip to the cave made it seem like we were deep underground, in reality we were only a few yards under the surface of a school playground. Using construction equipment, they were able to get to us quickly. It also made getting the wounded, including Barbara, out a lot quicker. She would never have survived the trip out, otherwise.

            When they managed to get her to the surface and pulled off her mask, Commissioner Gordon spun through every emotion possible. The surprise and grief at seeing his daughter lying on the stretcher gave way to an anger and fury I'd never seen in him before. He spun on Batman and yelled at him, demanding to know why batman had put his daughter in such danger and what gave him the right to play with her life in this manner. He took a swing at Batman and connected under the chin. Batman staggered back a step. He stopped the second punch by grabbing Gordon's wrist.

            ""She did her job," Batman said. "I'm sorry she was hurt. She knew the dangers going in. We all did."    

            ""Really," Gordon said, relaxing his stance. He pointed to the dead body of Jason Todd being pulled from the cavern. "Did he?"

            "Batman said nothing. He turned and walked away, ignoring the agents' demands that he not leave the scene until they got his statement. I was standing in the back of the crowd, in case anyone from the cavern tried to make a break for it. When batman brushed past me, I could see tears in his eyes.

            "It wasn't until everything was cleared that I realized that Catwoman had disappeared as well."