"Barbara?"
Bruce recognized the voice on the other end of the phone, and his gaze instantly grew serious.
Barbara's voice came in fits and starts, hoarse with tears, yet filled with disbelieving joy.
"I'm standing... I really... I'm standing again..."
Those words struck like a thunderclap, stunning everyone present. They all stopped what they were doing and turned their eyes toward Miaomiao's phone.
How had Barbara been injured? Everyone present knew all too well.
Back then, the Joker had chosen to fight Batman to the bitter end to prove his theory: "All it takes is one bad day to drive even the sanest person mad." He believed Batman was his other half. They were both madmen who had simply chosen different paths.
And killing Batman clearly wasn't the best way to prove his point. He wanted to drive Batman insane, to turn him into the next, even more terrifying and deranged "Joker."
The Joker had prepared thoroughly to achieve that goal. He knew Batman possessed tremendous willpower and extraordinary fighting prowess, so attacking him directly would accomplish little. Instead, he set his sights on Batman's most trusted partners at the time.
James Gordon, commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department, and his young, courageous daughter, brimming with justice and vitality-Batgirl, Barbara Gordon.
He found a double, dressed him up to look like himself, and left him in his room at Arkham to keep Batman occupied, while he led his men into Gordon's home. The Joker shot an unsuspecting Barbara. The bullet struck her waist and shattered her spine, robbing the once-agile Batgirl, who had ranged freely through the streets and alleys, of her ability to walk. He also abducted Commissioner Gordon and took him to his hideout, where he bound him and subjected him to degrading abuse as though he