by T. Trolley

The way the TV show "Batman" portrayed her, Batgirl was a mild-mannered librarian by day, the meek and demure shorthaired brunette named Barbara who was the daughter of Commissioner Gordon. But by night, she turned into Batgirl -- the leggy, high-kicking female combatant who teamed with the show's star and came out on top in many battles with arch villains.

In a way, that is how I saw Liz. Liz was a 5-4 and 120 lb. brunette from Cinnaminson, NJ. She and I dated for about a year back in the 80s. At first glance, she wasn't a super attractive woman. Her face wasn't all that great. But she had a very attractive body and a very nice tan. She was in her early 20s and was working as a secretary.

At first glance, Liz looked kind of nerdy. Glasses, somewhat short hair, very quiet -- she looked a lot like a librarian who couldn't hurt a fly. But Liz also had a certain spunk in her that for some reason was very attractive to me. Having participated on the track team in high school, her legs were in great shape. And when crossed, she would stand up for herself in no uncertain terms. I always had the feeling that there was a certain physical strength within her that would reveal itself if the situation called for it. In other words, if necessary, this seemingly mild-mannered, librarian-type secretary had was strong enough to turn into a modern-day version of Batgirl if need be -- displaying physical power that would astound those around her who would be shocked to find out that this mousey-like woman was much more physically adept than they realized!

Liz knew she wasn't all that attractive in her face so she did everything she could to keep up her great figure. This caused her to make some occasional trips to the local gym. During her trips to the gym, she happened to meet up with a very attractive Hispanic woman by the name of Janet. Now, Janet was gorgeous -- short, curly hair, a beautiful face, a curvaceous body, perfect legs and was just a little bit thicker than Liz in the body. But that thickness was not excess body weight -- it was firmness that she acquired in the gym.

For some reason, Janet just did not like Liz. Don't ask me why -- it remains a mystery to me. Perhaps Janet was just a female bully. As I said, Liz was quiet and seemed somewhat mousey and nerdy in her street clothes and perhaps Janet simply saw her as someone she could push around and humiliate to elevate herself in the eyes of those at the gym as well as boost her own ego.

Janet would ride Liz incessantly at the gym. It wasn't that Janet would give Liz a hard time for the full 30 minutes to an hour that Liz was at the gym. It was more like Janet just couldn't get through a session without throwing some snide remark at Liz. Most of the times the remarks would be directed at Liz's lack of attractive facial features. The remarks would be pretty subtle, but Janet was always bright enough to make sure they were direct enough so that Liz knew she was cutting her down.

Of course, these remarks hurt Liz and made her angry. She was very sensitive about her face and the fact that Janet was giving her a hard time about it meant that Janet had noticed her face wasn't attractive. And if Janet noticed it, then the entire world noticed it as well. Add the fact that Janet was ribbing her about it only hurt Liz the more and made her more and more angry at Janet.

Liz would ignore Janet's cruel and snide remarks, but one day Liz's spunkiness finally came out. The two women were lifting weights on the arm curling machine. The two women wre at the gym, so they were dressed in their workout clothes -- Liz in black shorts and white muscle shirt and sneakers while Janet was wearing blue shorts, a white muscle shirt and sneakers as well. I always used to love to watch Liz do curls because when she would curl the weights, I could see her little bicep bulge out. This fateful day, I was watching Liz and saw that little bicep bulge out. But then I noticed Janet and saw that her bicep was a little bigger than Liz's. Janet looked over at Liz's arms, noticed the same thing, and then said, "Can't you lift any more weight than that?"

Liz said nothing and continued to curl. Janet then said, "I'm lifting more weight than you, I have a bigger bicep than you, I'm better looking than you ... maybe you need to step it up a notch, girl! And that face of yours ..."

Liz suddenly stopped curling. She put down the weight, put her left hand on her hip and used her right hand to point directly at Janet and say, "You've been riding me ever since I came here for no good reason! I've had it! Cut it out!"

Janet stopped curling her weight and stood up, face to face to Liz. It was obvious that Janet's body was bigger and stronger than Liz's and I thought to myself, "Liz is getting into a peck of trouble here!" Janet, confident in her size and strength superiority over Liz, laughed at her and said, "What if I don't stop? What are you going to do about it? You gonna make me?" She began to laugh at Liz again.

Janet's public ridiculing of Liz caused Liz to finally reach her limit. Liz looked at Janet and said, "Yeah! I'll make you stop!" Angry, Liz then did something that she probably shouldn't have done. Sure, Janet had been picking on her for too long and, yes, Liz had to do something to make her stop. And looking back on it, I can't say that Liz had any better alternative than to do what she did. But looking back on it, I would have to say that Liz should have done something other than what she did.

Liz took her right hand and pushed Janet on the shoulder.

Bad move.

Women argue all the time about various subjects, but they very rarely touch each other during their forays. The fact that most women are able to refrain from getting physical keeps them from getting into a lot of out-and-out fist fights. However, there is something about "getting physical" with somebody else that causes a quick, dramatic escalation. That seems to be a principle throughout the world. When two countries are not seeing eye to eye, their leaders can call the other leaders every name in the book and even make outrageous allegations. But nothing happens until the first shot is fired. Once that shot is fired, then the disagreement turns from a battle of words to a battle of might and strength on the battlefield where one country fights the other with every weapon and soldier it can muster until one country defeats the other, forcing it to capitualate.

Well, that's exactly what happened here. Up until now, the battle between Janet and Liz had simply been a one-sided war of words. But suddenly, not only did Liz battle back with a bunch of words herself, but she had taken the disagreement to an entirely new level!

When Liz pushed Janet, Janet backed up a couple of steps. Then a look of disbelief that Liz would attack her physically appeared on her face. That look, however, quickly turned into a look of anger and intensity! Janet was about to stage a counter attack -- and by the look in her face, she wasn't getting prepared to throw more words into the fray. It was all-out war!

Janet tore after Liz. Liz turned her back on Janet ever so slightly and, to my surprise, Janet put her in a full nelson! I didn't have the slightest idea that Janet knew any wrestling moves, but there she was, holding Liz in that full nelson and taking Liz's arms temporarily out of the battle, baring down on Liz's thin and vulnerable neck!

Janet really bore down on the hold and in the process displayed not only her own personal strength but also showed her power advantage over Liz. She was really hurting Liz's neck to the point of tears! Liz managed to wriggle her way out of the damaging hold and I noticed she had tears in her eyes as well as a look of downright fear!

It became apparent to me that Liz had never meant for the situation to get so far out of hand that it became physical. But now that it had become an out-and-out fight between her and Janet, she knew she couldn't back down now. It had gone too far now and if she began to shrink back, Janet would be all over her and beat her up quickly and without mercy! That's just the kind of person Janet was -- especially when it came to Liz!

I wondered if my assessment of Liz would be proven out. Would I see Liz turn from Barbara Gordon into the combative Batgirl? Thus far, that seemed like just a pipe dream as the apparently stronger Janet was humiliating Liz!

Liz was indeed afraid but she was also very angry that Janet had hurt her neck so badly. Janet then tried to kick Liz in the shins but an upset Liz moved away and pushed Janet down in an attempt to get Janet away from her and stop the attack! Liz then, to my surprise, went after Janet and got on top of her, trying to pin her!

This surprised both me and Janet. Liz seemed to be no match at all for Janet and her librarian type personna certainly did not include entering a physical fight such as this one and actually trying to assert her might over someone as tough, fit and strong as Janet!

Was I seeing the meek little secretary being taken over by an alter ego that ran counter to every perception of her that anyone had? Was she turning from Barbara Gordon into Batgirl? It seemed like a combination of anger and downright bravery motivated her to go after Janet in an attempt to actually beat her and get her to shut up once and for all! Perhaps this inspiration that normally would have caused women like her to shrink away and get beaten up by a more assertive woman gave Liz what she needed to make her metamorphosis into that woman I had always thought lived deep within her -- the woman of strength and power!

It was strange to see Liz, obviously weaker than Janet, on top of the stronger Hispanic girl. The fact that Liz was there in the first place could be attributed to the surprise factor -- or the Batgirl change in character! Janet certainly didn't think that Liz could stomach a fight with her and assumed she would run away as soon as it looked like something would happen. Janet didn't allow for the possibility that Liz would be assertive rather than back off. In other words, Janet didn't see the Batgirl in Liz like I did. All she saw was the Barbara Gordon.

But then Janet brought her strength into play and quickly pushed the lighter woman off of her. Janet got up, but was surprised again when Liz ran at her and pushed her down again! I wondered if I didn't see the slightest hint of the grace and flair of Batgirl from the TV show as Liz made that move against Janet! Liz then tried to pin Janet again, but Janet again rolled Liz over -- even quicker and easier than she did previously!

But this time, Janet rolled on top of Liz and tried to pin her! Liz was really frightened now and seemed to mirror Barbara Gordon more than Batgirl as she let out a little squeal, knowing that a stronger woman was on top of her now and that she was in danger of being put away by Janet! In fact, in comparison to Liz, Janet was so strong that Liz was barely able to wriggle free and almost was indeed pinned by Janet!

The fact that Janet so easily avoided Liz's two pin attempts and that it was so difficult for Liz to get away from Janet's pin showed me just how overmatched Liz was and that my concept of Liz having some Batgirl in her might have just been a pipedream. Liz had rolled over onto her stomach to avoid the pin, but unfortunately there was just no escape for Liz as Janet locked her hands underneath Liz's chin and pulled up, straining the unsuspecting Liz's neck and back in a camel clutch!

The look of surprise, anguish, fear, pain and shock on Liz's face as Janet pulled up on that camel clutch was unforgettable. Liz had never been in this position before and it became clear to me that Liz would probably have to give up or else Janet would simpy keep pulling back until either Liz's neck or back gave way. I was certain Liz's neck had to be hurting her in a big way. Taking that into account and knowing that Liz had never been in a fight like this before that was so similar to hand-to-hand combat during war led me to the belief that Liz would be looking to give up mighty quickly.

But like I said, Liz had a lot of spunk and a surprising amount of pride. Plus, as luck would have it, both women were sweaty because of their previous workout and Janet's hands slipped from off of Liz's chin do to the immense amount of perspiration on her hands and Liz's chin!

After experiencing the shocking pain of a camel clutch, Liz would have done anything to escape that. So she instinctively rolled back to her back. But then she found herself in a perilous potential pinning predicament once again! So, to avoid the pin, she used the palm of her right hand to strike/push into Janet's face!

This move caught Janet right in the nose and did force her off Liz, but she was so upset by Liz's move that she quickly got to her feet, pulled up Liz by her short hair as Liz was slow in getting up, grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her toward the wall of the gym! Liz tried to get away, but Janet was too strong for her!

Liz ended up against the wall face first and Janet tried to smush Liz's face into the wall! But Liz used her two arms to push away from the wall to keep from being smushed against it, and then used her right foot to back kick Janet in the knee!

To my surprise, Janet screamed in pain and grabbed her knee! I thought that somehow Liz amazingly may have gotten lucky and somehow seriously hurt the knee with that kick! If that was true, then Liz might actually win the fight! Holy mule kick, Batman!

But either Janet got so angry at that point that the adrenaline going through her body due to the fight had made her immune to the injury to her knee or else that knee wasn't hurt that badly. Whatever the case, Janet used the foot on that same supposedly hurt leg to kick Liz in the lower stomach, sending Liz back and causing her to hit the back of her head against the wall!

With Liz stunned, Janet went about what she originally wanted to do -- turning Liz around by the hair and smushing her face into the wall in a tremendous display of strength and dominance over Liz! She then began to move Liz's face along the wall, leaving a smear! This move caused Liz to scream in pain and grab her face as she fell to her knees!

"Well, that's got to be it," I thought. "Hello Barbara Gordon, goodbye Batgirl." Liz was on her knees in pain and I thought the fight was over or close to being over. But then Liz did a really crazy thing.

No, it wasn't her Batgirl alter ego that took over. Let's be honest. It was just down and dirty fear of getting hurt badly that filled Liz as she got up and began to run away from Janet! But Janet was into this fight now and cornered Liz on the other side of the room! Faced with no choice but to fight her way out like a cornered animal, Liz charged Janet!

But Janet deftly moved out of the way and Liz ended up running all the way over to the other wall! Cornered again, Liz charged Janet and caught her with a flailing elbow that reminded me of an elbow thrown by a basketball player as he tried to get a rebound! This elbow caught Janet by surprise and caused her to stagger a bit toward the wall and then trip over a weight, causing her to fall to the floor!

As I oggled at Janet on the floor, I thought that once again Liz may have gotten lucky and now might be able to beat Janet! Or was it that Batgirl part of her that I at times thought was there, then didn't? Whatever the case was, Liz was now angry at having her face smushed and, when Janet got up, pushed her into a set of weights in an effort to bully her around and keep her off balance! Janet hit the weights rib first, but wasn't hurt!

Liz was now in a frenzy! Realizing there was no way out of this fight, she actually moved toward Janet! I was surprised she was being so aggressive now against a woman who seemed to be stronger than her in a physical fight like this! However, this wasn't the smooth, effortless, calm, cool-headed attitude that Batgirl took in her struggles against the villains she faced. Rather, Liz had turned into a wild, crazed animal bent on nothing but survival and a determination to destroy anything that was threatening her existence -- and that was Janet!

But Janet was even more aggressive as she stood up straight and socked Liz right in the stomach as she approached! Liz grabbed her belly and let out a squeal of pain as she stumbled backward! But now the combination of anger, fear, pain and rage boiled up in Liz and she threw caution to the wind, racing at Janet! But Janet -- who was just as ticked off as Liz was if not more -- grabbed Liz by the shoulders and stopped the charge!

The two then jostled around briefly like two NBA players in the paint, fighting for position. Liz threw an elbow to Janet's face but Janet avoided it. Janet pushed Liz away and then moved toward her! This time, Liz looked like she had turned back into Barbara Gordon and wanted out of the fight as her two offenses aimed at Janet had been easily repulsed and now Janet was coming on, looking just as tough and as mean as ever!

Liz jumped up on a bench for some reason -- possibly to get a better position on Janet and jump on her! But Janet ran over to the bench, jumped on top of it to face the hesitant Liz and humiliated her by slapping her hard in the face! Janet slapped Liz so hard in the face that the sound reverberated throughout the weight room! I was flabbergasted by the force of the slap as Janet just totally embarrassed Liz in front of me with that move, treating Liz like she was a little schoolgirl -- or a meek little secretary! The face slap was so strong and so stunning, having hit Liz flush on her face, that Liz actually fell off the bench to the floor! Wow!

Janet then hopped off the bench as Liz got up, grabbed Liz by the head, and smacked the back of her head against a set of nearby weights! Oh, man, did that look like it hurt! Heck, that would have even hurt me! But for a sweet little secretary to have her head beaten against those weights -- well, I thought she had just about knocked Liz out there! She then pushed Liz against the wall! Liz hit the wall so hard that her head jerked upwards and she came forward a few steps involuntarily on impact!

I thought for a moment that I'd better get Liz out of there now. Janet, as far as I was concerned, had proven she was better than Liz and had burst my Batgirl bubble. For me let Janet continue to beat up on Liz like this when Liz was stunned on top of it would be bad for Liz's physical health! But the slap had infuriated Liz rather than discouraging her and she angrily pushed Janet into the wall and surprised me by copying Janet's move -- smacking the back of Janet's head into the wall! She then actually threw Janet to the ground, pulled her up by the hair, and drove a shoulder into Janet's belly!

"Uhhh!" groaned Janet as Liz, a Philadelphia Eagle fan, obviously used a move she had duplicated from her favorite football team! Just when I thought Liz was through, she had turned it around to such a point that I now actually believed Liz had a chance of taking Janet!

Then Liz jumped up on that bench again -- and I couldn't help but thinking of how Batgirl would jump on furniture to take the higher ground which enabled her to effortlessly kick her adversaries in the face when they approached her! But I didn't think Liz had this in mind. Why Liz got up on that bench a second time was just as much a mystery to me as why she got up their the first time. Maybe she was thinking of kicking at her from the higher position on the bench! Or maybe she had hopes of jumping on Janet! Or maybe she just wanted to survey the situation and see if Janet was ready to give up! But I never did find out what purpose Liz had on top of that bench as a now furious Janet pulled Liz off the bench by the legs to the floor!

"Uh-oh!" I thought. "Now there's gonna be hell to pay for Liz!"

Janet pushed Liz hard into a corner of the room, raced at her and drove a flying knee into Liz's stomach! Liz screamed and collapsed as no woman's body of her type was created to take that kind of punishment! Liz, with tears in her eyes, got up and desperately pushed Janet away from her while looking for the nearest exit! But Janet pushed Liz back into the corner and repeated the same move, jamming her knee into Liz's stomach on the run! Liz groaned loudly and doubled over as she grabbed her belly with both hands!

With Liz now giving only token resistance, Janet threw her into the weights again! Liz slowly got up and again I considered stepping in as Liz now was obviously a beaten woman. Suddenly Janet threw her body into the smaller-framed Liz and tackled her down to the floor!

Liz got up, only to be easily flung back down to the floor by Janet as she used Liz's hair! Janet was now in complete control of the "wimpy" Barbara Gordon version of Liz and was now displaying her superior strength over Liz. Liz, meanwhile, was showing less and less of a desire to fight on as she slowly got to one knee only to be kicked smack dab in the forehead! Liz went down on her back like she was shot!

Liz rolled to her stomach, resting her forehead on her right forearm and truly looking like a damsel in distress! She obviously didn't want to fight anymore! Janet saw her chance to finish Liz off and suddenly jumped on her back, grabbing Liz's left arm by the wrist with both hands and pulling the arm viciously up Liz's back in a vicious hammerlock!

Liz squealed in pain and then quickly sobbed loudly, "I give, Janet! Stop it!" But Janet was still wound up and continued to force Liz's arm further up her back and literally torture her! Liz squealed again in pain as Janet forced her arm further up her back and then yelled for me to help her, on the verge of tears!

Finally I decided to rescue my girlfriend, but Janet didn't give her up easily. At first, she told me to get lost. But I told her, "Look you've beaten her up. You've proven your point. What are you going to gain by breaking her arm?" Janet finally calmed down and released Liz!

Janet stood up and looked down at Liz, who lay at her feet! Liz had been humiliated by Janet, who had forced her to quit! It was obvious that Janet had proven herself better than Liz -- and that Liz was much more Barbara Gordon than Batgirl. I had reluctantly concluded that, compared to Janet, Liz was not Batgirl incognito but instead was just second-rate not only in looks and appearance, but physical strength as well. Janet asserted her mastery over Liz in a physical manner over Liz in an impressive manner, leaving Liz laying on the floor.

Janet had turned Batgirl into a Batflop!