The Universe's Mixer

Barbara swung her fist, connecting the yellow gloved knuckles with the side of the face of a rogue clown that had been terrorizing one of the dark alleyways of Gotham. When the blow collided, the man shouted in surprise and Barbara grinned. Pulling her fist back, she tilted her body backward at an angle enough to lift her leg up and kick outward. The movement was sent with enough force to send the man flying backward into a pile of trash in the alley. Satisfied, Barbara put her hands on her hips and her feet flat on the pavement, peering down through the eyeholes of her mask at the man laying on the concrete.

"You look better with pavement as a backdrop. Maybe next time you decide to make a deal for Joker you'll think twice about doing it on my streets." Her back was twinging some but she ignored it. With the flap of her cape, Barbara turned and fled from the scene. In the distance she could hear sirens. Someone must have called Gotham's finest because of the shouting and fighting noises. Fighting was not the most silent of activities unless the fighters truly wanted it to be, but in their case why would they? It didn't matter who was listening, it mattered who won.

She exited the alley and mounted the motorcycle that was parked at the corner of the street, kicking the thing into life with the pushing down of a yellow clad foot against the ignition. The key was turned and she was off down the street with her cape flapping behind her. Where there were one of those guys, more lurked around and word seemed to get around quickly through the villain grapevine that trouble was about. Barbara was curious to know if Joker had some kind of personal vendetta against her or if it was just one more way to get close to Bruce. Probably both.

And as afraid to face the Clown Prince of Crime as she was, Barbara remained undeterred. She had to keep fighting. Her interest in it, though, had waned some since her recovery. There were so many in the Bat Family besides her that roamed the streets. Honestly, she figured that taking up her old post was to prove to herself that she could do it and to prove to Joker that he had not gotten her down. But was all of this really necessary? She obviously still felt the pain from the shooting, now and again the aches crept into her body and she felt lifeless when it did. Other times she couldn't move at all from the fear. Her dreams were full of laughter and gunfire.

Distracted, Barbara didn't see that the scenery had changed. Where it had once been night time, the sun shone brightly. It took her a moment to realize that something was different, and since her mind had been in two places the young woman didn't know until it was too late that she was careening right into a pack of velociraptor. Wait....Velociraptor? She had to be dreaming.

Blinking, Barbara wove her way through the pack of now interested carnivores. They turned and began to chase her bike as she threaded her way through the bright streets. One of them snapped at her leg, tearing through the matte black strip of leather and flesh. She cried out and winced, before the bike turned. It tipped and Barbara pushed herself from it, rolling down the street as the bike lay against the pavement.

A raptor mounted the fallen bike like a perch, emitted a roar of triumph and approached the fallen girl. Barbara struggled to sit up, her leg being the least of her worries. Her brown eyes filled with fear but there was a sense of wonder there too. Those were dinosaurs. Honest to God dinosaurs. Did she fall into some tainted version of Jurassic Park? This didn't seem like an attraction or any CGI or 3D training program that she was familiar with. The bleeding wound brought that evidence to light.

"Great. I'm about to be a snack for a dinosaur," she mumbled, then winced. Pressing her palm against her leg for a moment, Barbara pulled herself to her feet. Removing her hand, she turned and ran down the street knowing it was futile. But she wouldn't just stand there and die.