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Chapter 4 - Chapter 4: Freed and Hunted

The mysterious figure took Shirley to the dungeon and chained her. Then the mysterious figure hung the key on the dungeon wall and left Shirley hanging on the wall in her cell. Shirley tried to reach for her hair clip, but couldn't because the chains were holding her arms up. Shirley said, "Where's Batman or Superman when you need them?" Shirley looked behind her and saw her backpack. Shirley said, "Oh, wait, they're in my backpack."

Shirley whispered to both Batman and Superman. Shirley said, "Batman, unzip my backpack." Batman unzipped Shirley's backpack and hopped out with Superman in his hands. Shirley said, "Now, go out of this cell and get the key." Batman looked through the cell window and saw the key on the wall. Batman dug a hole under the cell and escaped. When he made it out, he grabbed the key and went back into the cell. He put the key in the keyhole of Shirley's chains and unlocked them. Shirley said, "Free at last."

Shirley put Batman and Superman back in her backpack and climbed out through Batman's hole. Shirley left the dungeon and heard a noise coming from outside. Shirley said, "What's that sound?" Shirley walked up to the window, looked out, and saw a van with a satellite dish. Shirley took her camera from her backpack and took a picture of the truck. Shirley looked at the picture and put it in her backpack. Shirley said, "That van must connect with this mystery somehow."

Shirley heard somebody coming her way, so she hid in a suit of armor. The mysterious figure walked past Shirley, feeling a strange sense that someone was in the room with him. When the mysterious figure left, Shirley tipped over and got out of the armor by breaking it. Shirley reached into the armor's helmet and found a sheet of paper. Shirley opened the paper and read what was on it. Shirley said, "Right 23, Left 45, Right 17. What does that mean? Wait, that sounds like a combination to a safe. Too bad there's no safe in this castle." Shirley kicked the wall, and the painting of the king and queen, with the queen holding their princess as a baby, fell. When it did, Shirley saw a secret safe behind it. Shirley typed in the combination she found, pulled the handle, and the safe opened. Shirley looked inside and saw a dark tunnel.

Shirley took her flashlight from her backpack, turned it on, and headed into the safe. After Shirley went in, the mysterious figure shut and locked the door. Once Shirley got to the end, she saw a bunch of air tanks labeled PT and smelled one of them. Shirley said, "This smells familiar. PT? Hmmm." The mysterious figure saw Shirley on his security monitors and flipped a switch on his control panel. Then, the iron doors slammed down on all the exits in the room where Shirley was. Shirley said, "What's going on?" The mysterious figure pulled a lever on his control panel, and the ceiling in Shirley's room opened. Then jewels started falling from the ceiling and flooding the room. Shirley said, "If I don't get out of here, Batman and Superman and I will die with riches." Shirley tried to open one of the iron doors, but they were bolted to the floor. The room was already halfway filled with jewels when Shirley saw an axe. Shirley took the axe and used it to chop the iron door open. Shirley said, "This isn't easy, but I think the door is breaking." Shirley took one big swing, and her axe broke instead of the door. Shirley said, "I'm gonna need a new plan."

The room was almost filled with jewels when Shirley had another idea. Shirley looked above her and saw an air vent. Once the room was nearly filled, Shirley opened the vent and crawled through it. Shirley saw an opening, looked through it, and saw that she was in the mysterious figure's control room. Shirley said, "I can't go down there; the mysterious figure will see me and know that I escaped." Shirley crawled further through the vents and saw another opening straight ahead. Shirley opened it and saw that she was back in the throne room. Shirley looked around the throne room for clues and found a remote on the king's throne. Shirley said, "What's this?" Shirley pushed a blue button on the remote, and it activated the satellite on the van she saw. The mysterious figure saw that his satellite had been activated on his security monitors. The ghostly figure said, "Hey, who activated my satellite in the throne room?"

The mysterious figure walked to the throne room. When the mysterious figure grabbed the handle, the mysterious figure pulled the doors open. Then Shirley saw him come in, put the remote back, and hid behind the queen's throne. Shirley quietly opened the window and jumped out of it. When the mysterious figure saw the window open, he looked out and saw Shirley trying to escape. Then the mysterious figure jumped out the window and chased after Shirley. Shirley ran into a horse rental booth and rented a white horse. Then she rode away as fast as she could on it, but the mysterious person rented a black horse and chased after her. Shirley rode her horse across town, but the mysterious figure was hot on her trail. Shirley looked behind her and saw the mysterious figure on his black horse chasing her. Shirley said, "That creep never gives up."

The mysterious figure brought out his wand and tried to take Shirley out with his magic. The ghostly figure tried to hit Shirley with his magic, but Shirley jumped over a broken bridge, and the magic missed her. Then the mysterious figure jumped over the bridge, put his hands together, and when he opened them, bats came out and attacked Shirley. Shirley said, "Incoming." Shirley rode her horse across town and through a tunnel. Once the bats got in the tunnel, they flew to the ceiling and just hung there. Then the mysterious figure rode his horse in the tunnel, too. Since it was so dark in the tunnel, Shirley made it out without the mysterious figure knowing. Shirley rode her horse back to her hotel and began thinking through the case.

Shirley opened her backpack, and Batman hopped out with Superman in his hands. Shirley looked at the picture she'd taken of the van and kept trying to figure out how it fit into the mystery. Shirley was thinking the case through when the mysterious figure saw her horse outside her hotel. Then the mysterious figure went to the front desk and asked the receptionist which room Shirley Hudson was in, as he was visiting her. The receptionist said, "Room 592."

The mysterious figure went to Shirley's room and destroyed the door with a laser. The mysterious figure said, "OK, Shirley, I know you're in here." Shirley heard the mysterious figure's voice and crawled behind her bed. The mysterious figure said, "I'm going to give you five seconds to show yourself, or I'll shoot every one of your past foes instead of you." The mysterious figure said, "Five, four, three, two, one." Shirley jumped out from behind her bed and pinned the mysterious figure to the ground. Shirley said, "Zero." The mysterious figure kicked Shirley off him with both his feet, and she got slammed against the door. Batman bit the mysterious figure's ear, and the mysterious figure held it. Then the mysterious figure grabbed Batman's ears and threw him against the wall. The mysterious figure said, "Stupid Batman Bunny." Shirley said, "Nobody does that to my friends and gets away with it." Shirley grabbed Batman and Superman, tripped the mysterious figure, and ran out of her hotel room. Shirley put Batman and Superman in her backpack while she was running. Then the mysterious figure saw Shirley running, and he chased after her. Shirley opened the door to the stairs and ran down them. The mysterious figure ran in the door after Shirley and saw her running down the stairs. Then the mysterious figure got on the handrail and slid down it. Shirley saw the mysterious figure sliding down the handrail. When the mysterious figure caught up to Shirley, he tried to grab her, but he moved so fast that he passed her. When the mysterious figure reached the end of the handrail, he fell off and landed on the floor.

Once Shirley made it to the bottom, she ran out the door and ended up in the lobby. Shirley locked the stairs' door so the mysterious figure couldn't get out. Then she ran out of the hotel as fast as she could. Then Batman tapped Shirley's shoulder, and she stopped. Then Batman Bunny gave Shirley his Batmobile Remote Control and wrote her a note since he couldn't speak. Shirley read the note aloud and said, "Simply speak into this remote and the Batmobile will hear you and do what you say." Shirley took the remote and did precisely as Batman Bunny told her to. Shirley said in the remote, "Come to Gotham City's Hotel." When the Batmobile heard her, it activated and drove itself to the Gotham City Hotel. Once it got there, Shirley got in, and Batman wrote what she should say next. Shirley said, "Go to the Batcave." The Batmobile then drove Shirley to the Batcave to keep her safe, and Batman blindfolded Shirley since the Batcave's location had to remain secret.

Once they arrived at the Batcave, Batman removed Shirley's blindfold and saw she was in Batman's Batcave. Shirley said, "That was way too close." Batman wrote another note and gave it to Shirley. Srirley took the note and read it. Shirley said, "I'm certain you are safe here." Shirley looked at Batman, grabbed his utility belt, and looked at it. Shirley sat down, put her arms on her knees, put her face in her arms, and started to cry. Shirley said, "I wish I had you guys back. Then I could for sure beat the mysterious figure and the dragon." Batman hopped over to Shirley, wrote her another note, and gave it to her. Shirley looked at the note and read it. Shirley said, "Don't be scared. Things may look hopeless now, but you've been in tight spots before and made it out." Shirley picked up Batman, rubbed his head, and put him in her backpack along with Superman. Shirley said, "He's right, I can't give up." Shirley took Batman's utility belt, put it on, and left the Batcave ready to catch the mysterious figure.

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