Barbra held out her hand expectantly. Sure enough, Bruce frowned. Well, his mouth formed a slightly thinner line, but for Batman, that was a scowl.

"You can't really expect to be driving," she snapped. He sighed and looked down at his arm, which was in a cast and sling. Reluctantly, he handed over the keys and walked around the Batmobile to climb into the passenger seat. When they were safely underway, he turned to her, frowning.

"I thought you said you'd stay off the roofs for a few days," he stated.

"I said I might," she replied calmly. "And then I decided that you could use some help." Bruce turned away, which she knew was the closest he'd come to admitting she was right.

"So you confronted the new villain?"

"He's fairly impressive," Barbra reported, "Though hardly as dangerous as the Joker. I'd put him above Penguin or Poison Ivy." Bruce nodded, consenting to her ranking of the new villain.

"Though I'd say same level as them once we figure out what he wants," he retorted. Barbra rolled her eyes. Like she didn't already know that.

"We could always interrogate him, assuming he isn't out of prison by tomorrow," she suggested, parking the Batmobile its spot in the Batcave and climbing out.

"I agree." Barbra hopped onto her motorcycle, putting her helmet back on.

"I'll come over tomorrow then, so we can interrogate Halloween-man," she said before zooming out of the cave. She smiled at Bruce's reaction to her nickname for the new villain. Seeing him amused was much less frequent these days, and it was nice when it came.

Slade sat in his jail cell, rather angry. What had he been thinking? Had he really let that girl outwit him? Idiot! Sure he'd discovered some things. The Batman was quite intimidating, and, as much as he hated to admit it, very impressive. It was good to know what he was competing with. But what really interested him was the girl. He assumed she was Robin's replacement. And she was good. Very good. She also was much more levelheaded than Robin. Perhaps he could use her to irritate Robin sometime. Once he got out of jail of course. Another prisoner came over.

"The Bat-chick dumped you in here?" the guy asked in a funny accent. Slade skeptically regarded the stout man and his tuxedo before nodding. "She's no fun."

"You are?" Slade asked.

"The Penguin," the man replied. Now that he said it, Slade guessed that the man did resemble a penguin. "And don't let the girl get to you. It's the Bat you've really got to watch."

"I've yet to really make Batman's acquaintance," Slade drawled. "But she seems to be enough to deal with." Penguin nodded.

"It was worse a couple years ago," Penguin said. "Now at least you can keep some of your dignity when you're beaten half the time."

"And what do you mean by that?"

"You been living under a rock?" Penguin asked.

"This is my first time in Gotham." Penguin laughed.

"Well, it was much worse when you got taken out by a couple mocking kids," Penguin replied. "Now that bird-brain's gone, the girl's more serious."

"Bird Brain?"

"You've never heard of the Boy Blunder?"

"Do you mean Robin?"

"You know of any other Bird related teenagers?" Penguin replied.

"Oh, I'm very familiar with Robin," Slade replied. "He's the reason I'm here. So this girl worked with Robin?" Penguin rubbed his jaw, as though remembering an old injury.

"Very effectively. So how do you know the Boy Blunder?"

"He has…resettled elsewhere. I thought I should uncover the past he tries so hard to hide." Penguin smiled.

"Can I be of assistance? Anything that messes with that kid, I'm in."

To Barbra's annoyance, she had been dragged into the office by her father the next day. She was ambling through the second floor hallway when she was nearly run over by a female officer. Barbra couldn't quite place the name, but she'd met the woman before.

"What's going on?" Barbra asked.

"Just need to talk with the Commissioner," the woman replied, hurrying past Barbra, who rolled her eyes and followed the woman, leaning against her father's office door once the woman went in.

"The man from yesterday has broken out of prison," the officer announced. Her dad groaned in frustration. "And he was sharing a cell with the Penguin."

"Why on earth was he sharing a cell with the Penguin?"

"I don't know sir, but we can't find him. We believe they escaped together." Barbra took this as a good time to knock on the door. Her dad opened it, and she smiled at him.

"Dad, can I please go home now? I was going to hang out with friends this afternoon," she asked. Her dad sighed, looking into the room behind him.

"Alright Barbra, just stay with your friends, alright? It looks like it might be another long night."

"Thanks Dad!" Barbra grinned and hugged him before rushing out of the office. She wasn't really lying. Bruce could be called her friend.

"Bruce, what does this earpiece really accomplish?" Barbra protested as she observed the Gotham skyline from a rooftop.

I don't want you to be completely on your own. We don't know what this guy wants, and the Penguin can be pretty dangerous. Bruce's voice hissed in her ear.

"Alright," she grumbled. Overprotective Bruce could get pretty annoying. "I'm heading to Penguin's favorite hideout now." She pulled out her grappling hook and swung through the sky, finally landing on the roof of an old frozen storage place. Sure enough, the power was on, which always meant the chubby man had set up shop. She glanced through a window, noting Penguin, Halloween-man, and a couple dozen Halloween-man duplicates.

"Looks like Halloween-man has goons that look like him," she informed Bruce in a whisper. "I count twenty or so."

I've only got two lifeforms on my heat scanner.

"Robots," Barbra noted with a smile. "This shouldn't be too hard." She pulled out a Batarang and leapt down into the shadows behind a block of ice, landing softly and silently.

"I get the plan, I just don't see why you would want him in the first place," Penguin said.

"Just think," Slade started to say. Then one of the robots started beeping. Barbra frowned. Stupid sensors. However, she stood and threw her Batarang, slicing the beeping robot's head off. While her Batarang flew, she did a handspring off the block of ice, planting explosives on the other two robot's who charged her. She landed neatly on her feet and caught her Batarang as they exploded.

"Hello gentlemen," she said. "And I use that word very loosely."

"Batman doesn't feel threatened enough to come himself?" Halloween-man asked.

"Don't see why he would," Barbra replied, throwing her Batarang to slash the two robots attempting to sneak up behind her.

"Don't let yourself get cocky now," Penguin chuckled. A couple witty retorts popped into her head, but instead she just took out the two more robots by hand and threw another small explosive into the middle of the rest of them, leaving her standing alone with the two villains. Actions spoke louder than words, after all.

"Um, I'm not so sure about this plan right…" Barbra threw a ball at Penguin, which sprung into ropes that wound their way around the chubby man as he attempted to doge out of the way, effectively cutting him off.

"You really are much better than you get credit for," Slade remarked.

"Why thank you," Barbra replied sarcastically.

Careful. Bruce warned.

"Why do you stay here as a sidekick if you could get so much more credit elsewhere?" Barbra shrugged.

"The people here are just so much fun," she replied. "I mean, where else would I find myself fighting Halloween-man?" Slade was clearly affronted by the name. "Did I forget to warn you that if you won't tell me your name, I'd make one up?"

"Why don't you just call me Slade?" Barbra cocked her head, as though considering it.

"Nah, Halloween-man has a much better ring to it." She grinned as she rolled out of the way of Slade's foot.