A new time.

Silent night had just finished his last bag of jerky, licking the salt off of his fingers. Watching Santos run, he lost all respect for the man. "Coward! How dare you run! A true fighter stands and faces his enemy to the end, even if it means taking a bullet to the chest!" He rose, disgusted that anyone would back down when challanged, he almost didn't hear Batgirl. Looking between her and the trapped Santos, he hesitated, caught between his overdeveloped sense of honor and the danger she was in. On one hand, if he helped her, Santos might escape, and he hated to let anyone he saw as a coward live so much it was almost a physical pain to him. On the other hand, if he went up to finish Santos off, Batgirl may not make it. Paralized with indesicion, he continued looking back and forth for annother moment. Then annother thought crept into his mind. Batgirl had fought Santos, not him. She had captured him so if anyone had the right to kill him, it was her. This tipped the balance, and he jogged forward. Skidding to a halt, he grabbed her hand. The moment he did so, it was obvious there was something differant about him. His skin was soft like any human's, but there was something much harder than bone or muscle beneath it. As his hand closed around her wrist, whatever it was shifted as if made of interlocking plates. Drawing a Glock from the back of his belt, he grinned, a savage light glinting in his eyes. "Let's hope you trust me, love. I wouldn't move if I were you." He leveled the pistol at the wrist extending below the hand. "The Glock goes... Kaboom!" Zack laughed, squeezing the trigger as he yanked Batgirl back, his shot shattering the bone, though he missed, clipping it rather than hitting it dead on. Fourtunatly, his tug managed to snap the weakened apendage, and he managed to toss her roughly onto the street behind him, grunting with effort as he did so. Laughing as he lay on his back he spoke between gulps of air. "That could have been worse, eh? I may not be quite as trustworthy as I thought when it comes to shooting things." He continued to ramble, regaining his breath as he did so. "Hmm, how sad. Here I thought I was some super awesome shot. I may need to practice." He looked at her, sitting up. "You should probably get after little painter boy. He may get away, and that's no fun."

"Thanks, I really owe you one"! She started to run off towards the painter guy but stopped "Here..." She threw a bat shaped card to him. "Unlike Batman I have a cell so...call me if you ever need help" She said smiling and
thinking 'He would be good to be allies with'. Hoping he accept her help Batgirl resumed her pursuit of the criminal. Using a batarang as a grapple to get ontop of a building she searched for him thinking 'High places are always good catching criminals'. Spotting him she smirked and swooped down infront of him. "Stop right there you criminal"!

Silent Night raised an eyebrow as he caught the card, entertaining the notion of him calling for help. "This would be fun, if I could afford the cell phone. I'm not exactly sure whoever attacks me will let me use a payphone." He started giggling as he thought about it. "Next time I get into a fight I should try it. That could be entertaining. Looking up as she told Santos to stop, he stood, laughing. "Since when does that work, love? Life isn't a videogame, you only get one. Stop wasting yours and take his already."

Batgirl felt perplexed "I'm wasting my life"? she asked while dragging Santos in the direction of the police station.

He walked up to her, leaning back with his hands behind his head as if reclining in a chair. "Consider this one, girly. You're one of those galavanting caped crusaders who want to rid the streets of bad guys, right? Well, what do you think a guy like him would do in prison? Come on, ya give the guy a stick and some dirt and he summons a dinosaur. And unless he's one of those types who really enjoys having a husband in prison, he's gonna find himself a stick and somethin to draw on. So, if you wanna keep him in prison, you'd have ta cut off his hands and feet, feed him nothing but broccoli, and keep him in a padded spongelike room. Or, you could shoot him in the back of the head now. Save yourself the worrying about him escaping anyway, save him a lot of pain, and get a lot less blood on your pretty little outfit." He grinned, a cruel light in his eyes. "But if you're too squeemish, I could shoot him for you."

She put her guard on. "You're not shooting him"! She shouted. Her eyes narrowed, shocked at what he was saying. "It wouldn't be justice if I harmed him in that way...". "I won't let you harm him either, it's up to the authorities to decide what his punishment should be". She paused. "Don't you want justice that is proper or someone's else's version of justice that really is twisted"? Batgirl tied Santos to the nearest lamp-post and then took out her cell to call the police.

Silent Night pondered for a moment before shrugging with a grin. "Riddle me this, bats. Is it really justice to give him free healthcare, a free bed, and free food? Is that how you punish people here? Is it really justice when all he gets is a time out? I am perfectly willing to bet the first thing that pops into your head he escapes at some point, most likely in the near future. Then what? He goes right back to terrorizing people. All of those cops would have died in vain." He pointed to the destroyed street. "You put him in jail now, you might as well untie him here and now, give him a free potshot at you, then go and find each and every woman who is a widow because of him, tell each child why daddy won't be coming home. You find them, and explain why you let this man go to his eventual freedom. Think about it, love. Think long and hard."

Ignoring him Batgirl continued to ring the police. "Hello yeah it's me I have caught a criminal, I'll give you a minute to track him down". She closed her cell and sighed "I still owe you one but I take back what I said, if you ever get into trouble and want some help, I won't come". She started to sound quite angry now " I thought I could trust you but if your version of what you call 'justice' is that then you, have just made a new enemy because I won't stand for that kind of injustice"!

"Which means, one, your version of 'justice' is weak and blind. And two, you can't be trusted to keep your word. You are just as bad as he is. You are letting a murderer walk free. However he is yours to kill or not, you defeated him. Remember, love, this life is not a videogame. There's no respawn here. We both know he'll escape, and when he does, my guess is he'll be gunning for you. We are doomed to act out our respective parts through honor, pride, faith, or stupidity, we all tread our own path, unable to back down, unable to give in. If you insist on sending him to jail, at least take this." He stepped forward, drawing his Glock. He aimed it at her chest for a moment, walking up until he was only a few feet away. Reversing his grip, he spun the pistol around. Now holding it by the barrel, he held it out to her. "When he comes after you, I've got a feeling you'll need it more than me."

Her anger washed away as as he offered the Glock to her. She gulped "Uh...um I don't like pistols and my mentor forbid me to" She said nervously. "But thanks for your concern, I know that every villain you put in jail will always want to get revenge back on you and try to kill you...so I'm prepared for that danger...I'll just be doing it on my own this time..." She felt slightly horrified at the thought of not being able to call her mentor to help when she was in severe danger but it up by saying. "Even if he comes after me I'll be prepared"!

Silent Night laughed in her face. For a long moment, he couldn't speak. Still giggling, he responded." And people say I'm crazy. Very brave, love, but if your idea of being prepared is having a fancy rope with a metal thing attatched, you'll get yourself killed faster than I can eat a bag of jerky. You may need to call me for help if that's how you fight." He sighed, regaining his composure. Raising an eyebrow, he realized she was serious. "Oh. Well, if you need me, let me know. Though a better solution is still exicution."

IC: Batgirl

"If you think I'm weak then you have underestimated me because I can handle criminals like him and I have fought the Joker and even captured him"! She said trying to sound experienced. "Also what's the point of killing him when he's going to be sent to jail, which is his first time"? She paused and then heard the siren of a police car but ignored it. "...and one more thing stop treating me like a kid"!

Silent Night grinned wildly, shaking his head. "The man can summon anything he draws. If I can fight my way out with a combat knife and a lead pipe I'm rather certain he can get out. It isn't exactly rocket science, breaking out of prison is simply a matter of force. And I don't think the police are going to be able to handle someone with his ability. From what I here, the Joker's got nothin worth bragging about, he's just some wacko dressed like a clown. And I treat you like a kid..." He leered, leaning closer. "Because you are. You have never fought to survive, never taken a life. And I wouldn't be surprised to learn that you grew up with both parents. Tell me you've grown up when your parents heve been butchered before your eyes, and you've been turned into a weapon by people who constantly hunt you." for a split second, his mask of sadistic humor slipped, and he stared blankly past her, not really seeing anything. "Talk to me when everyone you know is dead." He muttered, his voice filled with sorrow. Then, as if waking up from a daydream, he jumped, looking around. "You know nothing of true villans, love. To truely rid this world of people like him, you must go a little overboard."

OOC: Santos can't talk?
IC: Batgirl
Feeling slightly hurt she stared right into his eyes and said darkly "Well then from what I hear, you're just a sad little boy who's parents were killed and now you want every criminal dead so it won't happen again...and by the way I don't even know my parents they disappeared when I was a baby so I don't how it feels to have them"

ooc: I don't really know. Did I say something that indicated he couldn't? If i did I didn't notice it...

IC: Silent Night grinned as he placed the pistol on the back of his belt. The weapon hung in place without any visable means of support. Drawing a wickedly serrated combat knife from the same spot as his pistol, he replied, twirling the blade around in his hand as he spoke. "Oh, I'm not sad, I'm mentally unstable, there's a difference. And I don't just kill villains, I am perfectly willing to kill anyone who tries to kill me. I don't kill for vengeance, I kill because I love the thrill of the fight. I kill because death is a side effect of war. I gave up on vengeance the day I died. Now, I'm stronger than I could have imagined, my body has been rebuilt. Don't get me wrong, I miss my dear old parents, love. However their deaths caused mine. Zack Wylder died and Silent Night was born. Now I wander from city to city, looking to fight anyone who presents themselves as a target. And I know my parents won't die again, they were cut to pieces like I was. The difference is I stand before you now, and they were burnt to ash when one of you fought one of him." He pointed the handle of his knife first at Batgirl, then at Santos. "You think you do good, but all you do is create more destruction. You defeat a man, beat him down, then place him in a facility with hundreds like him who all share a common hatred. In killing, there is peace. If he dies now, thousands more may be saved. When you choose whether or not to kill a villain, think about his ability to escape. Because when he does, he will go on a rampage, all jail does is provide fuel for his anger."