A trail of torn bushes across the College Quadrangle and the corpses of a few unlucky college kids showed the Hyena's path. Interestingly enough, it led back to Leakey Hall, the location of Gotham State's small anthropology department.

There had been a number of murders, all within the space of two nights, in which the victims were clawed to death. There had been no reports of animals having broken loose from the Central Park or the Bronx Zoo, so I figured that it had to be a supernatural creature committing the murders.

Oddly enough, the victims had been professors in the anthropology department at Gotham State, with the exception of the latest one. The Dean of Arts and Sciences had been cornered last night near her car and had been slashed to death.

As Bruce Wayne, I had an ongoing scholarship established for the criminal justice program at Gotham State, so I had an interest in the students there. All the students were on a 10-o'clock curfew, although I saw a few skulking around here and there.

One professor, Summer Day, had gone missing a few days after her tenure was disapproved by members of her department and the Arts and Sciences administration. All of the professors on her review committee had been killed, and now there was only one administrator left alive who had turned down Day's tenure. It was interesting that the Hyena's trail led back to where Summer Day's office used to be...

I had prepared a tiny high-pitched sonic emitter to hit the Hyena with when the time was right. I had followed her into the building and was lying in wait outside her office door, so I could hit her with the emitter and capture her...

But all of a sudden, a blinding light emerged out of the near-darkness of the quadrangle, and there was a loud-whirring noise as the hovercraft of the Super-Unit Police arrived.

Through a window, I saw them leap out of their hovercraft. First came Photon, a woman who zoomed out of the hovercraft in the form of light energy. Then Doc Samson, the powerful but intelligent gamma-powered giant, emerged. Next came Powerman, a masked powerhouse, and the Black Condor, a talon-wielding winged hero. Lastly came the Guardian, who was the leader, and the Trapster, the group's ensnarement expert.

I could hear the Hyena going into a fearful frenzy in Summer Day's office. Books were crashing to the floor, and I could hear papers that Summer Day had worked long hours writing being slashed to ribbons.

I heard Photon shout to the others. "I've spotted the Hyena, Guardian! She's in an office on the ground floor of this building, and she's tearing the place apart."

"Lead the way, Photon! Forward, Super-Unit Police!"

A bright light outside told me that Photon was using her powers to fire a concentrated ray of light to cut a hole around the window to Summer Day's old office. The window fell to the ground with a smash and the Hyena turned to face the Super-Unit Police. It was at this moment that I slipped into the office myself. I was determined to not let the Hyena get away, no matter who was involved in her capture.

Doc Samson leapt through the open window and grabbed the Hyena in an iron grip. The creature howled and scratched at the muscled hero, but he did not show a scratch for all of the Hyena's effort.

"Put her in the SUP-wagon," Guardian ordered. "Read her her rights and restrain her."

"Yes sir," Samson replied, leaping away with the Hyena still writhing in his iron grip.

"Look, everyone," the Black Condor said, "Batman's here, too!"

The Black Condor must have night vision or some other enhanced sight powers, I thought.

The Super-Unit Police then turned their collective attention to me. I knew that for a while they had ordered to bring me in if they found me. I thought, however, that I could reason with them.

"Look," I said as the Super-Unit Police began to crowd around me. "The bad guy has been caught, and you can bring her back to the stationhouse. I don't have any quarrel with you people...in fact I think you do a lot of good."

"We've still been ordered to bring you in, Batman," Guardian barked. He held up his badge. "Vigilantism is a Class A misdemeanor in New York. You're under arrest."

"You can't be serious," I replied.

The rest of the group advanced toward me. Photon energized herself, while Powerman and Guardian walked at me from different sides of the room, and Black Condor rose into the air, landed, and closed the door to the office, locking me inside.

I was surrounded, but I had a plan. I waited until the Super-Unit Police were all within a few feet of me, and then threw a Bat-smoke bomb which made everyone start coughing, except Photon.

They coughed as the cloud of smoke spread through the room.

"Get your gas masks out of your belts, people!" Guardian ordered. "You know what to do in this battle scenario!"

I threw a small Bat-incendiary pellet at the overhead lighting for the room. One blast was enough to put the lights out.

I didn't intend to give my opponents time to figure out a plan to stop me. They had been after me for too long for me to just run away this time. I had to teach them a lesson, so they would learn to leave me alone.

I tossed a Batarang at the Trapster, who was fumbling for his gas mask. It hit the vulnerable area of his neck that his helmet did not protect, and he fell to the floor.

"Black Condor! Open that door. Powerman! Use your super-speed to blow that gas out of here!"

The gas was starting to dissipate through the broken window, so I knew I needed to press my advantage while I could. I strung two Bat-stars together and tossed them at the Black Condor's wings. They looped around the tops of his wings, causing him to fall to the floor.

Powerman's eyes lit up with unearthly power. "I see him, Guardian. He's been attacking us from over in that corner!"

"I'll get him!" said Photon. In her light form, she was almost like a beacon for the other heroes to follow. She began firing power blasts at where she thought I was. As they missed, they blew giant holes in the cement walls of the office.

I was fighting the big guns of the Super-Unit Police now. It would take every ounce of speed and intelligence I had to fight them now.

The smoke had cleared, and I was in plain sight now. Photon was still firing power blasts at me, and I had to find a way to stop her. The Super-Unit Police had a lot of respect for their leader, and I was going to exploit that. I lured Photon into firing at me, and then made a mad rush for Guardian.

He was surprised, and had to leap out of the way as Photon's blast, meant for me, seared the floor next to him.

"Guardian! Are you okay?" she said. In her concern for her leader, she transformed out of her light form and back into human form, which made it a lot darker in the room. As Photon rushed to the Guardian's side, I tripped her and she fell flat on her face.

Powerman was the only one left standing, and he was angry. His eyes began to flash with a red, bright light.

I barely had time to dodge the first blast of what seemed like solar radiation. There was a possibility that my cape might be able to absorb one of his blasts, but the force of it would probably knock me out. There was a small mirror of Summer Day's that had fallen to the floor in the struggle. I picked up the cracked mirror and held it up just as Powerman fired another eye blast. The blast reflected back at him and knocked him down.

I had stopped the Super-Unit Police single-handedly, but only for a moment. Guardian and Black Condor were ready to fight again, and Photon had again changed into her light form. Powerman was recovering already; someone with those kinds of powers and invulnerability could not possibly be human. I was busy sizing up my opponents when a sticky substance suddenly shot out from the corner of the room and ensnared my feet.

"Got him!" a voice cried out. It was the Trapster, who had recovered as well.

The tables had turned, and I was about to get quite a thrashing.

"What are you doing here, Samson?" Guardian asked. "I told you to stay out there with Hyena! She's dangerous."

"I saw the fireworks from outside," the gamma-powered hero replied. "I wanted to see if everyone was OK."

Powerman turned toward the wall and his eyes lit up. He concentrated for a moment, then turned back toward us.

"My x-ray vision shows that the Hyena is not in the SUP Wagon. She must have escaped the restraints, or Doc Samson did not put them on correctly."

The Super-Unit Police looked at each other, and then looked at me.

"Can't I give him one little power blast, just to pay him back for tripping me?" Photon asked as she rose to her feet.

"I know where she's going next," I said.

"Like we're supposed to believe you, vigilante," Guardian said. "Be thankful we don't pummel you into unconsciousness."

"No, he must know who the next victim is," Samson said. "I've studied Batman's methods for some time now. He's a master of criminal psychology. He uses the bat motif to encourage feelings of..."

Guardian interrupted him. "Can you translate that for us non-Ph.D's, Samson?"

"Sorry. We should listen to Batman. I have a feeling he was here because he had figured out the Hyena's identity, just as we did."

"So you know who the Hyena is going to hit next?"

"Yes," I replied. "I'll lead you to the Hyena if you promise to let me go. I'm just as interested in her being captured as you are."

The Super-Unit Police were still thinking about the matter.

"There are kids out there whose parents have entrusted the security division of this college to protect them. The Hyena has already killed innocent students who have gotten in her path. The longer we fight, or stand here and do nothing, the more likely it is that more kids are going to be killed."

Guardian frowned. "Trapster!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Get your solvent and spray it on Batman's feet so he can get loose. We have a Hyena to catch!"

"That's the office of Fred Kumperburgen, the Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences. He's been known to work late into the night, and I think the Hyena knows this, too."

It was evident even from down below the building that a struggle was going on in the office above.

"Powerman! Photon! Get up there and check out what's happening."

The two heroes soared into the air, looked into the window, and then smashed through it.

"There must be trouble up there," Guardian said. "Samson and Condor, can you give us a hand!"

Doc Samson stepped forward. He grabbed me in one arm, while Black Condor grabbed the Guardian. Samson used his super-powered leg muscles to do a standing leap up to the ledge of Dean Kumperburgen's window, while Black Condor gently alit on the ledge.

"I'll just take the stairs!" Trapster exclaimed from down below.

We landed on the ledge to see Powerman and Photon inside Dean Kumperburgen's disheveled office.

"You think you have me captured, don't you? Well the last guilty one dies tonight!"

She raised her claws and prepared to rake his throat when I pulled my sonic emitter from my belt and turned it on.

She reeled in agony and dropped the Dean. Instantly, the Super-Unit Police sprang upon her. Powerman held her in a steel grip, while Doc Samson watched her closely to make sure that she would not escape again.

"Thank you, Super-Unit Police," the Dean said. "You have done Gotham State a great service in capturing this killer."

I purposefully kept to the shadows.

"We'll take her away now, sir," the Guardian responded. "Photon, call an ambulance so we can get Dean Kumperburgen checked out."

All the Super-Unit Police left the room with Hyena and Dean Kumperburgen. The only ones left in the office were myself and the Guardian.

"Well, you ended up helping us in the end."

"Still want to try to bring me in, Guardian?"

"Let's leave it at we'll try to avoid each other's path. We'll pretend we didn't see you...and you let us bring in the Hyena."

"Fair enough."

We walked away from each other--I could sense that Guardian and I had more in common than we wished to admit. Hopefully, we would not have to pit our talents against each other again.

The silent red alert was running across the bottom of all of the monitors hooked up to the Bat-computer. Buttons to trigger the silent alert were in each area of Wayne Manor so that Alfred could signal me down here in the Batcave if the Manor were to come under attack somehow.

I didn't dare risk appearing in the Manor in costume, so I quickly changed into some casual clothes and went up in the hyper-elevator to the main floor of the Manor.

When I got out of the elevator, I saw a squad car light circling through the window. Alfred had the door open, and he was obviously covering for me. It was time to give him a break.

"What is this about?" I asked.

Harvey Bullock and Ralph Dibny stood outside the door with their badges in their hands. Both had angry expressions on their faces.

"We told you not to leave town, Wayne," Dibny explained. "We expected you to be here in case we needed to ask you any more questions, and you weren't here. So, we're going to have to take you downtown so we can keep an eye on you."

"Get in the car, Wayne!" said Bullock. "You're under arrest!"