Hey everyone

Disclaimer: I own nothing… not even The Batman.

Directions: This installment is the second part in a series documenting Batgirl's story throughout the episode "Strange New World."

"Strange New World" Part 2

The streets of Gotham were relatively calm, during the day at least. That night, the ordinary rumble of cars along the dark highway was broken when a sleek motorcycle cut through the traffic, weaving between cars and almost noiselessly accelerating towards the Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane, more commonly known as "Arkham."

"Turn Right in 0.5 miles." Said the automated GPS system embedded in her helmet. "Barbara smirked as the instructions for where and when to turn right popped up on her HUD inside the helmet.

This thing is worse than my obsessive compulsive driving instructor. She thought when an arrow popped up to remind her which direction was right.

I have got to ask Alfred to take off some of the training wheels on this thing. But just then, a more important message flashed up on the screen. It appeared that the Batmobile, whose signal she had been following, was moving. And, being much faster than her bike, it was already almost back to the city.

Just great. He won't answer my calls and now I'm in a wild goose chase after him. She decided that it couldn't hurt to try and reach him again, so she spoke clearly into her helmet's mike, "Contact Batman," but the computer only flashed a message that he was unable to be contacted. "Contact Robin" but the same message flashed again.

Then came her first clue that things were not as they appeared. The Batmobile disappeared off the GPS map. Now something was definitely wrong. By this point, she had almost reached Arkham. Just then Alfred's face popped up next to the map on her HUD.

"Great!" she said sarcastically to him, "I've been chasing those two around town and they wont pick up my calls. Now I'm headed to Arkham but I don't know where they are or where they're going!" She was getting really frustrated by this point. One of her few pet peeves was being ignored. And she had gotten a lot of that tonight.

Alfred's words came out in one long rushed sentence.

"Ms. Barbara, I have been told to inform you that the Batman wishes for you to meet him by the Bat-signal. Apparently they have been out visiting Mr. Strange and he has released some type of poison into the air. Do be careful that you don't breathe any of it!" The usually stoic Butler's voice was uncharacteristically worried.

This was troubling news, but if there really was toxin, why hadn't anyone noticed? Batgirl leaned hard to the left and pulled the bike into a U-turn. "Alfred, I haven't had my filter on at all and I'm fine. Nothing seems out of the ordinary where I am. What's going on?"

Upon hearing that she was alright, the Butler let out a sigh that had been pent up for some time. "Oh, I am glad to hear that you are unharmed Miss." Barbara could just imagine him sinking down into a chair and dabbing his forehead. Though he might have been a little overprotective, she loved the ageing man anyway.

"Don't worry Alfred, I'm fine. Are you safe in the Batcave?"

"Yes. Oh, my, I had a bit of a scare there."

"Don't worry." She reassured him again, "I'm Ok. If you can, run a sample on surface air and let me know what you find out."

"I will miss. And you should go meet Master Bruce at the Batsignal. Something is not right. He has turned off all active communications from the Batmobile."

Well at least he's not just avoiding me. She thought.

"Ok, I'm heading towards the signal, let me know what happens back at the Batcave."

"I will, Miss. And do be careful!"

"SHIT!" She swerved to the right, narrowly missing a small sedan that she had not noticed while re-setting her GPS to Gotham Police Headquarters. The Sedan honked and swerved madly before righting itself on the road.

"Barbara Gordon!" said the Butler furiously, "What have I told you about such language!?"

"Sorry, Alfred!" She squeaked. Even though he was far away at the moment, just the thought of the aged butler angry was enough to scare anyone.

"I will not take that kind of behavior from you. When this is over we will have a stern talk about manners!"

"Woop-de-doo!" She muttered sarcastically. "Maybe then I can have my fingernails extracted. Or listen to Robin talk about how much he loves Counter-Strike."

"You know," retorted the Butler, "Maybe it would pay to listen to that driving instructor you hate so much."

A thousand witty retorts came into her mind, but then her stomach grumbled. She realized that if she wanted a snack when this ordeal was over, she had better be nice to him. Butler happened to make the best cookies known to man and three types of monkeys. Best to get back down to business.

"Don't worry about me Alfred. Just take care of yourself."

"Thank you Miss Barbara. Now good luck." With that he signed off.

Now I'm not getting any cookies for sure. She thought glumly.

She shook her head, trying to forget the smell of Alfred's freshly baked cookies and focus on the job at hand.

Batman would not just turn all communications off unless there was an absolute emergency. she thought. Something is wrong.

She neared Police Headquarters. When she arrived, she knew by the sounds of fighting on the roof that she was indeed right.

Ooh! Cliffhanger. Anyway, sorry this one is late. Please know that constructive criticism is encouraged.

For the Next Chapter, I plan to show the fight scene on the top of the roof from Barbara's POV. Here is the big question though. Do I make Batman and Robin Zombies, or are they just deluded? In other words, should they look like zombies or should they just stagger around thinking that everyone else is a zombie? TO vote your opinion, either state your opinion and reason in a review, or if you are lazy, just write a 2 second review that either says "zombie" or "deluded."

Remember, the first 100 people to review get one of Alfred's cookies shipped to them piping hot!