What man could not do, machine has finally done.
Batgirl
was mechanically and methodically unmasked yesterday at the
abandoned
Hamilton Hill Amusement Park, according to a woman who witnessed
the
incident while hiding in a nearby ticket booth. The park was used by
the
Joker and his men as a hideout.
"The
thing nearly ate her entire costume off of her," 25-year old Deanna
Powell
said. "I felt so helpless, and so sorry for her. I wanted to help
but
couldn't."
The
Joker and his men lured Batgirl high in the air to the apex of the
Ferris
Wheel ride, where he attacked her with his trademark laughing gas.
Moments
later, a visibly affected Batgirl toppled from the ride nearly
three
stories up and barely managed her way to the ground safely, quickly
wrapping
her batrope into the Ferris Wheel.
On
the ground, her cape entangled just below the ride in the large gears
and
machinery that drive the Ferris Wheel. The machine slowly began to
devour
her cape as the laughing gas began to affect the frenzied Batgirl.
"She
was very emotional, I guess from the gas, her voice was so shrill and
hysterical.
She screamed out, pleading 'My mask, no ! " while the Joker
and
his men were up there waiting for that slow moving wheel to reach the
ground.
She grabbed at her collar and tried to yank the cape off her
neck."
The
superheroine unclasped the cape from her neck but Powell soon got a
surprise
about superheroine costume design. "The cape was attached to her
cowl
along the neck, except for at the hole in the back where her red hair
shows
out of. I suppose that's to anchor the mask and cowl to her face to
keep
he from being unmasked, only this time it was causing her unmasking!"
The
Bat-Clad Daredevil grabbed her cape and was soon in a losing tug of
war
with the machine. She was yanked to the ground holding her hands over
her
batmask while the cape disappeared further into the teeth of the
machine
as the impatient Joker and his men leered at her from above.
"It
was horrible," Powell said. "I was so afraid for her. Those men were
getting
closer to her and she was so out of it, with the gas making her so
agitated
and excited. And I was afraid of them; everyone's heard of the
Joker
and what he's capable of-so I stayed put-I was so scared I could
barely
breathe!"
Then
came Powell's biggest surprise. "Her mask began to split. It tore
under
her right eye. She got dangerously close to the machine, it almost
took
her hair in!"
The
machine had most of her cape in its grasp. As she reached to her face
to
protect her mask, Powell said the machinery grabbed a piece of her
costume
at the shoulder.
"That's
when it really got bad for her," the young witness said. "Her mask
stretched
badly, and split at her forehead! The machine kept tugging, and
her
red hair just started popping out of the top of the mask in small
holes
caused by the stretching of the mask. Her little bat-mask ears were
turned
sideways instead of pointing up."
Powell,
who was exposed recently in tabloids as the witness at the scene,
denied
she recognized Batgirl's face under the mask. "I didn't see her
face,
that's why I'm talking to you, the mainstream media about this. I
want
to make it clear that I don't know who she is. The forehead of the
mask
split, but not at the bridge of her nose, which would have opened her
face
up to a full view. I was more embarrassed for her the way it tore her
batclothes
off and exposed her."
If
Powell did not see under the mask, she did claim to see under the
costume. "The machine ate her costume right off her, except for those
canary
colored boots, but she had on a protective-type of bodice
body-briefer
underneath. It was black and had a low cut top and high cut
legs.
When she turned around it had a thong back! I had never seen her
exposed
rear end like that under that costume, but she's very sexy!"
As
the Joker's men landed and rushed Batgirl, she recovered from the
effects
of the gas and discarded her mask into the machine. "She gave a
quick
head toss and her long red hair fell forward and covered most of her
face.
But I didn't see her face, her hair was in the way," insisted
Powell.
With
the Joker laughing hideously after her, Batgirl ran from the park to
fight
another day.
"I
heard her Batcycle crank up," she said. "and I knew she was safe. The
Joker
and his men went in her direction, and that's when I left out the
back
way."
Powell said she had had personal reasons for being at the park. "
I
went to the park because it was the anniversary of my sister's death,"
she
said. "She died three years ago on this very Ferris Wheel when the
seat
gave way when she was at the top of the ride. Shortly after that the
park
was closed because of standards violations, but I was glad t see the
same
ride helped Batgirl today, the way she wrapped her batrope into it
and
made it to safety. I wish she had been here when my sister Shelly was
in
danger. With Batgirl's skills, I have a feeling she could have helped
her."
Powell
is an unabashed admirer of Batgirl. "She's great, such a strong
woman.
She's done so much for women and women's self esteem. She's
beautiful,
and she's showing that a woman can do anything a man can do.
She's
my heroine."