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FLAMEBIRD
Issue #4: "Bat Girl's New Rival"
It was the perfect amount of time to let them stew, Bette thinks. Her friends had been waiting for her to return to her apartment after her "date" with Nightwing. She had let them think she was pissed off at them for helping Nightwing set up his little test of her resolve* for about five minutes before she admitted that she wasn't.
*Last Issue - DT
She really wasn't upset. They had done it because they knew she'd come through. They had faith in her. To be honest, it actually made her smile that they had done it. It didn't mean she didn't make them suffer a little bit, but she was glad she had such good friends.
So after the guys had left and she and her roommate Misty had made their good nights, Bette had gotten undressed, thrown on her favorite Titans West t shirt and gotten into bed.
She fell asleep immediately fell asleep and began to dream.....
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It's Bat Girl's best adventure yet! Just when Robin is finally beginning to respond to her crush, there's a new girl on the scene and she's out to get Robin for herself.
There's a splash of Robin and Bat Girl watching a pretty girl with red hair and orange skin in a red and yellow costume flying in front of them with Robin saying "Golly, you're an alien!"
Hang on to your hats, kids. Because now it's time for Bat Girl to meet Flame Girl in:
Bat Girl's New Rival!!!
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The story begins, as many of our stories do with Bette Kane, the pretty high schooler who's secretly Bat Girl, sharing a malted with her friends at their local malt shop.
"I can't believe we got so much homework in Math today. I'll never get it done" moans Matt Logan, Bette's pal and the class clown.
"It wasn't so difficult, Matthew, I was able to do it in minutes." Eugene Weiner, their brainy friend tells him. Eugene is dressed in a white shirt with a pocket protector with heavy glasses. Eugene looks at his watch. "Gosh I've got to go, I've got to get back to my experiment in the lab!"
"Yeah, me too, I've got to get on that math homework." Matt says as he gets off his stool.
Matt and Eugene walk out and as they do, they pass Misty Collins walking in. Misty is Bette's best girl pal and the captain of the cheerleader squad. Misty is dressed in her cheerleader outfit (complete with pom poms) and is full of pep and enthusiasm.
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"Tillinger, you jerk, are you out there?" Misty still in full cheerleader regalia says. The malt shop scene is frozen behind her.
Yes, Misty, can I help you? - DT
"What the hell is this cheerleader crap?"
Misty, you did notice that this was a retro story right? Comic type, malt shop location?- DT
"Yeah, so?"
Well, first of all, the prettiest girl in school in a retro story is always the captain of the cheerleaders. And secondly, struggling actress/beer commercial bimbo doesn't translate very well into this sort of story, so you ended up as a cheerleader. - DT
"It sucks."
Complain to Bette, it's her dream sequence. Can we please get back to the story now? - DT
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"Hi, Bette!" Misty says brightly.
"Hi. How was practice?"
"Just terrific. Wanna hear our new cheer?" Misty takes a step back and raises her pom poms. But before she can begin her cheer, the radio blurts out a desperate bulletin.
"This just in, criminals have just robbed the Gotham First National Bank. They are armed and should be considered dangerous."
This is a job for Bat Girl, Bette thinks to herself.
"Gosh, that's right by my house. I'd better go see if my aunt Kathy is OK. Bye, Misty."
Bette runs out of the shop.
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Bette changes into her Bat Girl costume and is soon racing to the bank on her sporty Bat Girl scooter. She gets off her scooter, checks her hair quickly in the mirror on the handlebars and goes over to one of the police officers who are standing around asking questions of witnesses.
"Can I help here, officer?" Bat Girl asks politely.
"Of course, Bat Girl. Always glad to have some help from one of Gotham's caped crusaders." The officer response with a friendly smile.
"Do you have room for one more, then?"
Both Bat Girl and the officer turn to see the speaker. It's Robin, the boy wonder.
"Hi Robin." Bat Girl says with a dreamy little lilt in her voice.
"Hi, Bat Girl."
Further witty banter between the two teen dreams is cut off by an amazing sight. A pretty girl with long red hair and orange skin, wearing a red and yellow costume descends from the sky carrying two men in black outfits and ski masks.
"I believe that these are your two bank robbers, Officer." the girl says.
The police take the two criminals into custody and the girl walks over to where Bat Girl and Robin are standing.
"Golly, are you an alien?" Robin asks.
"Yes, I am Princess Koriand'r of the planet Tamarran on the far side of the galaxy. On my planet I am a hero, too. Inspired by the daring feats of Batman and Robin, news of which have even reached my planet, I have become my planet's foremost hero, Flame Girl. I've come here to meet my idols in person."
"Pleased to meet you, Flame Girl." Robin says to the girl, obviously smitten.
"My friends call me Kory."
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"My friends call me Kory." Bette is saying, with a mocking tone, to her Aunt Kathy later, over supper. Bette's Aunt Kathy, secretly the heroine Batwoman, listens to Bette's story with a knowing smile.
Someone's a bit jealous, Kathy Kane thinks. But before she can counsel Bette on the folly of her crush on Robin, the doorbell rings.
Bette answers the door and its her pal, Eugene.
"Bette, I need to talk to you. it's really important."
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The two go up to Bette's room which is decorated in pink and white with pictures of Robin on the walls.
"I think I did something bad, Bette. I was doing an experiment, trying to design a device that would enable people to speak alien planets. I think it worked, because when I got back to the lab, the device was glowing and a saw a girl flying out of my laboratory."
"Wow, Eugene, that's amazing." Bette says, pretending ignorance.
"But you met her...." Eugene trails off. "Oops..."
"What do you mean oops?"
"I wasn't supposed to tell you we knew you were Bat Girl, Bette. Misty, Matt and I figured it out a while ago, but we didn't want you to know that we knew."
"Oh, no. No one's supposed to know. I must be a really bad superhero." Bette says with a sob in her voice.
"No, you're not. You've done a swell job as Bat Girl."
"I suppose." She pauses. "But why is it so bad that you brought this Flame Girl to our planet. Is she a menace?"
"Flame Girl herself is no menace, but her homeworld needs her, just like we need our heroes. Plus if she's here too long, it could have serious repercussions on the whole interplanetary balance."
Not to mention my relationship with Robin, Bette thinks. "So what can we do?"
"I need to fix my machine so we can send her back. Then we need to get her to agree to go."
"Well, I'll try. but she did seem happy to be here."
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Over the next several days, Bette's fears are realized. Flame Girl becomes the toast of the city and Robin's steady girl. Everyday it seems, the beautiful alien becomes more and more popular and Bat Girl, formerly everyone's favorite, is being shoved to the back ground.
Finally, Bette gets up the courage to confront Robin and Flame Girl about Eugene's warning, as Bat Girl.
"So you have to go back, Flame Girl...." Bat Girl concludes.
"But I so like it here. Baseball and picnics and television. I so like it all."
"But if your world needs you, Kory, you have to go. Besides, we can't upset the interplanetary balance." Robin tells her sadly.
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When the three heroes arrive at Eugene Weiner's lab, he's working in front of a huge computer covered with bright lights and a reel to reel tape machine. He is pressing a button just as they arrive and the machine springs into action.
"Hey, Eugene, is the machine working yet?" Bat Girl asks.
"We'll know in a moment." he replies. A second later, a card is shot out of the machine. Eugene looks at it for a moment.
"Well?" Flame Girl asks timidly.
"We can send you back to your home planet, Flame Girl, but we need to do it right away. if this is correct, your presence is upsetting the interplanetary balance greatly." Eugene tells her.
"{Sob} Goodbye, Robin, I'll miss you so." Flame Girl says, trying not to cry.
"I'll miss you too." Robin replies to her, taking her hands and squeezing them.
She steps away from Robin and waits. Slowly, she begins to fade.
"Remember me......." she gets out just as she fades away.
Bat Girl watches her fade and turns to Robin. "Are you OK? Do you want to go get a soda or something?"
"No, I can't. I just remembered, I promised to help Commissioner Gordon's daughter Barbara at the library today."
He gets on his Robin cycle and rides off.
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"Bette! Bette! Wake up."
Hearing Misty yelling from the next room, Bette rubs her eyes and gets up. Tossing on a robe, she goes into the next room. Misty, Gene and Matt are waiting there.
"I had the most amazing dream. You were there and you and you." She says pointing to each of them in turn.
"Whatever, Dorothy. We're going to Coffee Bean for coffee and a muffin. You want to come?" Matt asks.
"Yeah. let me go change."
She goes into the other room to change.
"I don't even get the man in my own dreams." She muses as she pulls on a t-shirt and jeans. "It still sucks to be me."
NEXT ISSUE: Bette takes on Darkseid. Really. Be here next issue for "Flamebird's Excellent Fourth World Adventure"