by Lisa Yee
“What do you want…Calculator?” Batgirl asked.
He smiled as the circuitry in his jacket pulsed and blinked. “Hmmmm…what do I want? Maybe I want to take down the Internet and accelerate the virus and BRING THE EARTH TO A SCREECHING HALT!”
Batgirl wondered why he felt the need to scream.
“Why would you want to do that?” she asked.
“Why would you want to hog all the glory from the TechTalkTV show? If you hadn’t insisted on bringing your entire Super Hero High school to the show and throwing the votes, I would be champion, not you!”
Batgirl sat in stunned silence. Was that what this was all about? A vendetta? The Calculator didn’t want to just destroy the world. He wanted to hurt her. Batgirl reached for her com bracelet.
“Oops, bad Internet connection,” Batgirl told him, shutting off AboutFace. She spoke into her bracelet. “Supergirl, can you come back?”
Supergirl tapped Batgirl on the shoulder.
“Could you at least knock when you do that?” Batgirl asked, startled.
“What’s going on?” Supergirl said.
“It’s worse than I thought,” Batgirl told her. “Noah—he’s calling himself the Calculator—is the smartest tech person in the world.”
“Correction,” Supergirl said. “You are. You beat him on the TV show.”
“No…,” Batgirl said slowly. “He won two out of the three competitions. I only won because all of you and the studio audience and judges voted for me after he did that ridiculous dance. If we went strictly by the numbers, he would be champion.”
“Not really…You won two contests and came in second on one. Kuttler only won two contests. This wasn’t just a popularity contest! You deserved your win! What does this have to do with the virus, anyway?” asked Supergirl.
“It has everything to do with it,” Batgirl explained. “He wants to prove that he’s better than me and that I can’t stop him.”
Batty flew around the room and snuggled into Batgirl’s hand.
“But you can stop him, right?” Supergirl asked.
“I’m not so sure,” Batgirl said, stroking Batty’s tummy. “He’s brilliant.”
“So are you,” her best friend said. “What true super heroes have in common is their ability to try, even in the face of overwhelming odds.”
Batgirl didn’t know what to say. Supergirl went on, “How do you think I felt when my planet was destroyed and I lost my parents? I wanted to quit. I really, really did, because I felt so alone. But the Kents and Wonder Woman and everyone else—especially you, Batgirl—told me that I needed to go on. That I was to be defined not by what I lost, but by what I had to offer. Now I’m telling you the same thing.
“Batgirl, you have so much potential and power. You owe it to yourself, you owe it to me, you owe it to the people you swore to protect when you came to Super Hero High, to help when you can, where you can.”
The two best friends stared at each other. Supergirl looked more serious than Batgirl had ever seen her. Batgirl nodded and asked, “How do you feel about crunching numbers?”
“Huh? Crunching numbers? Like doing math?” Supergirl asked.
Batgirl allowed a smile to slowly appear on her face. “I was thinking more like crunching the Calculator?” she said, raising an eyebrow. “POW!”
Supergirl laughed, then held up her hand and said, “I’m right there with you.”
And with that, the two best friends high-fived, happy to be back on the world’s finest team once more.
“Let’s meet back at Super Hero High,” Batgirl told Supergirl. “Tell Principal Waller I’m returning. Ask the other Supers to keep doing exactly what they’re doing—saving lives and preventing chaos. Except have the Junior Detective Society make a world map isolating where the main damage is being done. And have Cyborg on standby in case I need more computer help.”
“Anything else?” Supergirl asked.
“Yeah,” said Batgirl sheepishly. “Please accept my apology. I’m sorry I ran and hid, but Batgirl is back now.”
Batgirl knew that returning to Super Hero High would cause problems. Not with Principal Waller, who needed her to clean up the mess she had made, but with her father. After all, as part of their agreement, she was to stay away from danger. But she had no choice. There was only one way to stop the potential meltdown of the Internet, and that was to go to the source. Confront the enemy. Get face to face with the Calculator.
Batgirl turned to Batty. “We need to get to the Bat-Bunker. All my equipment is there. I’ll fight Calculator tech with Batgirl tech.” She looked at the photo of her and her father when she was little. “Sorry, Dad, but there’s something I have to do.”
With mixed emotions, Batgirl sat down at her desk and pulled out the stationery her father had given her for her birthday. Across the top, in fancy print, was From the Desk of Barbara Gordon.
Dear Dad,
I am not asking your permission to fight crime but telling you that it’s in my blood—just like it’s in yours. Because of something I did, the world is being threatened. It’s up to me to fix this. Yes, it may be dangerous. And yes, I am aware of the consequences.
Dad, I love you. You are my role model. You’ve always told me about the risks of fighting crime, and of the battle of good vs. evil. You’ve told me of the dangers…and the rewards. But most of all, you’ve taught me that to ignore injustice is a crime itself.
And so, I must do this.
Your loving daughter
She crossed out Barbara Gordon at the top of the stationery and wrote Batgirl, then placed the letter on her nightstand.
Before she left, there was one more thing to do. Batgirl walked over to her closet and pulled out her Batsuit. As she put it on, she felt an energy surge that she hadn’t felt in days.
She looked into the mirror. “Believe in your super self. Believe in your super self,” Batgirl repeated over and over, slowly and softly at first, her voice getting stronger and more urgent as she went on.
Finally, she broke into a bold smile. “Watch out, Calculator,” she said confidently. “Batgirl is back!”
“Batgirl,” a loud voice called. “A minute of your time?”
Batgirl froze.
“While I am thrilled to have you back, the circumstances are less than ideal,” Waller said sternly. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
“That this is my fault, and that I aim to fix it,” Batgirl said. She told Principal Waller all about the Calculator and his evil plan.
Waller held up her hand to stop her. “Batgirl, are you aware of the risks and dangers involved?”
Batgirl nodded. She was. Her teachers had been telling the students about this from day one. Going to Super Hero High was not all flying and fun. Everyone knew the risks. When it came time to rescue, thwart evil, and help the world, everyone had to be focused. They weren’t ordinary teens, they were super hero teens who took their roles very seriously.
“I am well aware that danger is involved,” Batgirl assured Waller. “I know how the Calculator thinks, because we’re alike in so many ways. There is no one better suited to take him on than I am. I made the mess; let me clean it up.”
Waller stood stone-faced. Her eyes narrowed as if she were looking into Batgirl’s soul. “I know you, Batgirl,” she began. “Maybe even better than you know yourself. You are brave, and bold, and smart. Go get the Calculator. Stop the chaos. Afterward, we’ll talk about your future here.”
Beast Boy joined Batgirl as she rushed to the Bat-Bunker. She handed him Batty’s carrier. Normally, Beast Boy was all jokes and laughs. But not now. Not today.
With each button she pressed, with each toggle she turned on, with each computer that emitted a familiar blue glow, Batgirl felt a new strength running through her body.
“Here,” Beast Boy said, handing her a map. “It’s from the Junior Detective Society. The Flash and the others are at the Gotham City airport control tower redirecting the planes. The computer system i
s down, but Cyborg’s working on getting it back up and running.”
Batgirl unfolded the map. She recognized Poison Ivy’s flowery handwriting. The numbers in the legend were clearly Hawkgirl’s doing. And the precise coordinates were all The Flash.
“According to this,” she told Beast Boy, “the Web meltdowns are all starting somewhere around here.”
“How can we stop it?” he asked.
Batty landed on his shoulder as he and Batgirl watched scenes of confusion on the screens. Big Barda was using her Mega Rod to stop criminals at the Metropolis Bank. “Just because the security system is disabled doesn’t mean that gives you freedom to clean out the bank!” she roared, leaping into action.
On another screen, they saw Lady Shiva delivering power generators to the hospital, while on a third screen Cheetah was comforting a group of kindergarteners trapped in the dinosaur room in a museum while on their field trip.
“I’m not sure how to stop it yet,” Batgirl said, bringing up a world map on her computer and inputting the information from the Junior Detective Society. With a few keystrokes, points on the map began to glow, showing where the HarleyWhams were causing the most damage.
“By scrambling the computer viruses, we can slow the current chaos,” she said, inputting more information. “That’ll buy us time. What I have to figure out is how to stop more HarleyWhams from happening.”
“It’s you!” someone yelled accusingly, pounding on her door.
“Hi, Harley,” Batgirl said, her eyes still on the computer. Using a simple reverse AboutFace program, she was locking in on the location the Calculator had broadcast from.
“This is all your fault!” Harley yelled from the other side of the door. She wouldn’t go away.
“Yes, I think we’ve established that,” Batgirl said calmly.
“Well, you’ve got to stop it NOW!” Harley ordered.
“Focus,” Beast Boy said. “You can’t afford any distractions right now.”
Batgirl nodded. “Please secure the Bat-Bunker from the inside,” she directed him.
For once, Beast Boy didn’t protest and did what he was told. Soon they could hear Harley pounding on the door with her mallet. “Hey!” she cried. “I can’t get this door open! Is it broken? Hey! Wha…Oomph!!!”
Batgirl and Beast Boy looked at each other, then at the broadcast from the security camera outside the Bat-Bunker. Harley was caught in one of the traps that Batgirl had set for intruders and was flailing around in a net suspended in the air.
“Okay,” Batgirl said. “Time to get down to business.”
It was worse than she had originally thought. Batgirl had managed to slow the damage by isolating the areas where the HarleyWhams had infected computers. As a precaution, she also blasted antivirus software through a series of geosynchronous satellites. Still, she couldn’t figure out why the virus was getting worse, not better.
“I don’t believe this!” she said, shaking her head. The HarleyWhams were jumping off their keyboards and seeking out new computers.
Beast Boy looked over her shoulder. “Seriously?” he croaked. He had turned himself into a frog and had been leaping up and down to release excess energy as Batty flew around the room. “That’s the last thing the world needs right now.”
“This is no ordinary virus,” Lois Lane was reporting from one of the many computer windows feeding Batgirl information. “This is a full-blown epidemic. The HarleyWhams must be contained! We caught up with Harley earlier today! A word for my Web viewers?”
On the screen, Harley opened her mouth and nothing came out. She flapped her jaw and tried to speak, but it was as if her volume had been turned to mute. In a panic, she somersaulted away from the camera.
Lois looked into the lens and reported, “Harley’s Quinntessentials, at one time the most-subscribed-to video channel, has virtually no viewers left. That’s right, Harley Quinn has lost all her viewers. The channel has gone dark.”
“Well,” Beast Boy kept asking. “Well? Well? Anything? Well?”
There wasn’t much to see other than Batgirl sitting in various poses, thinking.
“Are you still…,” he began.
“Yes, still thinking,” she said, now sitting cross-legged, eyes closed, trying to focus as she had seen Katana do.
There was a loud THUMP outside the door. Batgirl and Beast Boy looked at the security camera feed. Harley was back. She had gotten herself out of the net.
“Hey, Batgirl, let me in! I want to HELP!” she cried.
“Harley helping with computers is like Granny Goodness’s Parademons helping in the kitchen,” Beast Boy said, referring to the mischievous little scamps that had recently run amok at the school.
“Will you explain to Harley that though I appreciate her offer, she might be a distraction?” Batgirl said.
“A distraction?” Beast Boy snorted. “More like a destruction.”
With Beast Boy out of the Bat-Bunker soothing Harley, Batgirl allowed herself to slump in her chair. She had to stop the HarleyWhams, but what she really needed to do was to stop the source of the destruction. And the computer software to do that from a remote location would cost money. Something she was quickly running out of.
Batgirl’s stomach began to cramp. It was only then that she realized she had been so busy that she had skipped several meals. She made sure Batty was content and then snuck past Beast Boy and Harley.
As soon as she got to the dining hall, Batgirl scarfed down a couple of ham sandwiches.
Just then, Supergirl flew up. “How’s it going, Batgirl?” she asked as Star Sapphire and Cheetah strolled past.
“It’s going to take longer than I thought,” Batgirl admitted. “I don’t have the extra funds to supercharge my Internet defenses. What’s happening is big-time. I can still think of a workaround, though.”
Batgirl loaded up some more sandwiches and an armful of fruit and headed back to the Bat-Bunker. It was going to be a long night.
As Batgirl sat at the controls, she noticed that the destruction was starting to slow down.
A chime from her private email startled her.
There was a message from the Metropolis National Bank. It was from the anonymous benefactor. Another substantial deposit had been made. Batgirl was ecstatic. This was exactly what she needed. Immediately, she purchased and began to download the programs she could cobble together to create a customized B.A.T. super program to thwart the HarleyWhams.
Another alert from her private email sounded. Happily, she opened the message, thinking it was from the bank again.
Wrong.
To: Batgirl
From: The Calculator
Subject: You Lose
Message: You think money can get you out of the mess you’ve created? Well, you’re wrong, Batgirl. Have fun watching the Internet self-destruct!
Batgirl was shocked. How did he know about the money? It was as if the Calculator was privy to her private information. Did he have access to bank accounts, too?
Batty flew around the room and then snuggled into Batgirl’s lap. “You sweet little thing,” she told the baby bat. “I’m glad you aren’t aware of what’s going on out there.”
There was a knock on the door.
“I’m working!” Batgirl yelled, not even bothering to look at the security camera video.
“It’s me!” a familiar voice called.
Cyborg was waving to the camera. He was carrying a paper bag. Batgirl pressed a button and buzzed him in.
The door to the Bat-Bunker slid open and then closed, apparently in Harley’s face. “Hey!” she yelled as a blinding light flashed.
“I brought you some food,” Cyborg said, holding up a bag.
“Thanks,” Batgirl said, motioning to her pile of sandwiches. “But I have those.”
“But do you have these?” he asked, taking out a smoothie and sweet potato fries from Capes & Cowls Café.
Batgirl couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks, Cyborg,” she said. Never had a
strawberry smoothie tasted so good.
“Anytime,” he said. “Okay, gotta get back to my computer. NASA is reporting a satellite shutdown.”
Batgirl gave him a weary smile. “I’m glad you’re on this with me.”
Cyborg smiled back. “And I’m glad you’re at Super Hero High. It’s nice having a high-tech friend.”
Batty was flying around the room again.
“Your bat is cute,” Cyborg said. “I think she likes me.”
“I think you’re right,” Batgirl said as Batty slammed into his head.
“Um,” Cyborg said awkwardly, “I think your bat is stuck on my face.”
Sure enough, she was.
“It’s as if she’s magnetically drawn to you,” Batgirl noted. “Literally.”
As she gently pulled, she noticed a teeny tiny lump in Batty’s wing. Putting her under a magnifying glass and shining an X-ray light on it, Batgirl saw something startling.
“What’s the matter?” Cyborg asked. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Batgirl said loudly. “I just have a splinter. Hey, would you mind asking Beast Boy to come to the Bat-Bunker? Or—wait, never mind. I’ll go find him. You stay with Batty.”
“Where are you going?” Harley cried, when Batgirl rushed past her.
“To save the world,” Batgirl answered. She ran up to Beast Boy and pulled him aside for a private talk.
“You’re seriously kidding me!” Beast Boy exclaimed. “Where is she now?”
“Still in the Bat-Bunker with Cyborg,” Batgirl told him. “Batty has been microchipped! That’s why her wing appeared injured. There’s a tiny device that’s been transmitting my conversations and probably even logging in my computer keystrokes. Do you remember anything about when you found Batty?”
Beast Boy shook his head. “Only that she was in the box and it had your name on it.”
“It’s got to be from the Calculator. He’s been spying on me all this time through Batty,” Batgirl deduced. Slowly, a smile replaced her frown. “But two can play this game!”
