One day, at the Gotham City Public Library, college student Barbara Gordon finds a book she's never seen before. The moment she touches it, her mind floods with memories of the future. Her legs paralyzed in a car accident. The Joker's bullet shattering her spine. Every tragic event that would end her career as Batgirl.
'No. Screw this. I'm changing this future.'
The first tragedy was just 24 hours away: the car accident. Barbara desperately tries to avert her fate. But the more she sees the fu
DC: Batgirl — In the Breach of Fate - A ruined amusement park, a stage of madness.
Wednesday.
A lukewarm wind blew across the campus past 1 a.m.
Olive Ground.
Only the yellow light spilling from the 24-hour café stretched long and thin into the dark street. Outside the window, the damp air blurred the orange of the streetlamps.
Inside the café, near closing time.
The young clerk behind the counter wiped cups, looking bored.
Only two customers.
A table in the back. Two shadows sat facing each other.
One was Barbara Gordon.
Her red hair, cut blunt at the shoulders, was tied back carelessly. Dark circles hung heavy under her eyes as she stared at her laptop. Her green irises were bloodshot. Last night's battle on the Trigate Bridge — the pain in her ribs still lingered in her side.
The other was Kathy Kane.
A woman with long silver hair braided and draped over her left shoulder. Pale hazel eyes. Her fingertips trembled slightly — too much caffeine again tonight.
Two mugs sat on the table.
Steam rose from them. But Barbara's nose caught no scent of coffee.
She picked hers up.
Touched it to her lips.
Hot? Cold? — She couldn't tell.
Temporal Erosion. The side effect of the prophecy book. Her sense of taste had vanished long ago. Touch, too, was nearly gone. Now she couldn't even feel temperature.
Barbara set the mug down.
Her fingers trembled faintly.
"[serious] I looked into yesterday's incident again."
Kathy spoke. Her usual smile was absent.
"[serious] I traced the Venova Syndicate's funding trail deeper. Used every resource Casa Notturna has."
She turned her tablet toward Barbara.
The screen showed bank transaction records. A list of shell companies. Offshore account numbers. A tangled web of arrows all pointing to one name.
"[cold] The assassination on the Trigate Bridge — the client was Joker."
Barbara's entire body went rigid.
The blood drained from her fingertips.
Joker.
The prophetic memories flashed back — white skin, green hair, a grin split wide. And — a gunshot. The searing agony of her spine shattering. Herself in a wheelchair.
"[cold] That's not all."
Kathy paused for a breath.
"[cold] His next target — Barbara Gordon. You."
The words echoed inside her skull.
Her heart hammered.
Her breathing went shallow.
The pain in her ribs suddenly felt twice as sharp.
"[scared] How… do you know that?"
"[serious] From a source tracking Joker's movements. A reliable one. He already knows Batgirl is you. Knows your department at the university. Your dorm room number. And —"
A split-second pause.
"[cold] That you touched the Chronocodex."
Barbara's palm clenched around the mug.
No sensation. But her fingertips kept trembling, independent of her will.
(He knows everything.)
The prophecy book. The side effects. The memories of the future. Everything about her — losing taste and touch, yet still fighting against fate.
"[angry] Why would Joker…?!"
Her voice shook.
Fear and rage tangled in the back of her throat.
"[serious] I don't know his motive. But —"
Kathy gently laid her hand over Barbara's.
Warm.
Barbara couldn't feel it.
But the weight of that hand — just barely — remained somewhere deep beneath her skin.
"[gentle] We should still have time. We just need to move before he does."
Something switched inside Barbara at those words.
Fear — turned to anger.
Don't run.
Stand and fight.
Fate can be changed. Didn't she prove that yesterday?
"[cold] Do you know where he's hiding?"
The tremor vanished from her voice.
The moment it became Batgirl's voice.
Kathy swiped the tablet.
A new screen appeared — satellite imagery. An abandoned amusement park. A Ferris wheel coated in orange rust loomed black against the darkness.
"[serious] Starlight Park. Southwest Gotham. Shut down after the Arkham riot eight years ago. There's been abnormal power consumption recorded since last week."
"[cold] Power consumption?"
"[serious] Yes. Someone's using electricity in a closed amusement park in the middle of the night. And it perfectly matches Joker's past hideout patterns. He favors ruins. Especially — places where people once laughed."
Barbara stood up.
"[cold] I'm going. Now."
"[serious] Wait. I'm not letting you go alone."
Kathy stood too.
Her tall, 175-centimeter frame. Silver hair swaying.
"[cold] It's dangerous. This is my fight."
"[gentle] No. It became our fight. From the night I approached you at Olive Ground."
Her hazel eyes stared straight at Barbara.
No smile. No calculation in them.
Just fierce resolve.
Barbara was speechless.
She tried to say something — couldn't.
"[gentle] Let's go. I'll navigate. We'll stay linked by comms and get ahead of Joker together."
Barbara gave a small nod.
"[serious] …Fine. But if you sense danger, run immediately. That's not an order — it's a promise."
"[laughing] An order would've been fine, you know."
Kathy offered a Mona Lisa smile.
"[gentle] If it's your order, I'll obey."
For an instant, something pricked deep in Barbara's chest.
What is this — no, this isn't the time.
The two left the café.
The streetlight caught something at Kathy's neckline.
A crescent-moon pendant.
Its tip sharp and pointed. Silver, almost like a blade.
Barbara stared at it.
A mountain of questions she wanted to ask.
But — not now.
"[serious] Let's move."
"[gentle] Yes."
They vanished into the late-night Gotham streets.
* * *
3 a.m.
Starlight Park.
The rusted main gate gaped open like crooked teeth.
Once called the "Kingdom of Dreams and Magic," the amusement park had rotted away completely after eight years of neglect.
The Ferris wheel's frame stabbed into the night sky like a black tombstone.
The carousel horses, paint peeling, grinned eerily at the moon.
The rails of the abandoned roller coaster crawled across the ground like the carcass of a giant serpent.
The air reeked of mold and rust.
Barbara wore her batsuit.
Kevlar-weave body armor. Full-face mask. The built-in comms in the mask hissed faint white noise. A grapple gun at her hip.
"[cold] This is Batgirl. Beginning infiltration. Any anomalies?"
"[serious] None yet. The center of power consumption is the Ferris wheel's control room. But —"
"[cold] But?"
"[scared] It's too quiet. Unnaturally so."
Barbara stopped walking.
Too quiet —.
A fragment of that existed in her prophetic memories.
Darkness. Silence. And — a trap.
A chill raced down her spine.
"[cold] Pulling ba —"
Before she could finish.
Flash.
Light flooded from the abandoned Ferris wheel ahead.
One rusted bulb flickered on. Then another. Irregular blinking. An eerie orange glow swallowed the entire park.
The carousel began to turn — creaking, groaning.
With no one on it.
The roller coaster's safety bars clanked up and down.
The Ferris wheel gondolas swayed slowly, though there was no wind.
— A trap.
"[scared] Kathy, run —"
In that instant.
The park's loudspeakers shrieked with high-pitched noise.
"[laughing] Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!"
Laughter.
The air itself trembled.
A mad laugh — piercing highs and gut-rumbling lows fused together.
"[laughing] Welcome, welcome!! So glad you could make it, Batgirl — or should I say, Barbara Gordon?"
Barbara froze solid.
He knew — her name.
Kathy's intel was right.
The central stage.
Before the broken fountain, a single shadow.
A white suit.
Vivid green hair slicked back. But in moments of madness, it fell apart into wild disarray.
Yellow-green murky eyes with abnormally dilated pupils.
Scars carved into the corners of his mouth — a Glasgow smile.
Joker.
Mic in one hand, he spread both arms wide like a showman hosting an event.
"[excited] Oh, I've been waiting! So bored, so bored, I nearly laughed one of my own henchmen to death!"
Different from the loudspeakers.
His real voice was far lower, far quieter.
That made it all the more terrifying.
Barbara raised her grapple gun.
"[cold] Why do you know my name?"
"[laughing] Why? Why, she asks! Ho-ho-ho! My dear girl, now why so serious? Why the long face? You came to a secret costume party, didn't you? The bat cosplay suits you perfectly!"
He stepped closer. Another step.
No weapons in his hands.
But — something far more dangerous seeped from his very presence.
"[cold] Answer me."
"[laughing] But of course! This artist prides himself on dialogue with his fans. The answer — is simple. You know the Chronocodex, don't you? Touched it, didn't you? Saw the future? And I just came to watch the part where it all breaks!"
Her feet stopped.
"[scared] …How do you know that?"
"[laughing] I know! Everything, everything, everything! Your cute little study sessions at the library. The moment you touched that dusty old book. The breakfast that lost its taste. The palms that lost their feeling. Ah, you poor thing — tonight's coffee had no flavor either, did it?"
Barbara's breath caught.
Even the progression of her side effects — he knew.
"[serious] I don't necessarily want to kill you, Babs."
Joker tilted his head.
The gesture was strangely human — and all the more unsettling for it.
"[gentle] This, you see, is an experiment. A human who knows the future, struggling desperately, resisting, and breaking down anyway — observing that process. Pure curiosity. It's science, it's art, it's philosophy! Pick whichever word you like!"
No heat in his voice. No anger.
Just utterly detached curiosity.
That was the most horrifying thing of all.
"[angry] Go to hell!!"
Barbara broke into a sprint.
Grapple gun raised, charging straight at Joker —.
"[sad] Aaagh!!"
Kathy's scream from behind.
She spun around.
Wires.
Metal traps rigged into the ground — biting into both of Kathy's legs. Sharp barbs pierced flesh. Blood sprayed.
The next instant, the Ferris wheel's gondola suspension cables roared to life.
"[screaming] Barbara —!!"
Kathy's body was yanked into the air.
The wires hoisted her up, dragging her toward the top of the Ferris wheel.
Roughly 25 meters above ground.
Silver hair swaying in the wind. Pale hazel eyes wide open.
"[crying] I can't move — the wires, my legs…!"
Blood fell to the ground like rain.
"[angry] Kathy!!"
Barbara tried to rush toward the Ferris wheel.
— She couldn't.
From the darkness on all sides, Joker's henchmen emerged.
Clown masks. Metal bats. Chains. Stun guns.
At least ten of them. Every escape route sealed.
"[laughing] Now, let the experiment begin!!"
Joker's laughter echoed through the park.
Barbara clenched her fists.
No sensation in her palms.
She felt nothing.
But — despair pulsed undeniably deep in her chest.
She couldn't go save her.
She couldn't run.
Kathy was bleeding out.
Joker's murky eyes fixed on Barbara.
His pupils, even as he laughed, were contracting.
"[whispers] Why so serious? The fun's just starting, isn't it? The moment you break — that will be this artist's greatest masterpiece…"
The fate she had seen in the prophecy book was beginning right now, in this moment.
That certainty spread quietly through her chest.
The night wind blew.
The Ferris wheel's frame creaked and groaned.
Kathy's blood drew a single red line across Barbara's mask.
The Gotham sky was smothered by thick clouds. No stars. No moon.
Only darkness enveloped everything.
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