Don't think you know what's under here just because you know my name. You don't want to look in my eyes, Batgirl. 
Batgirl (Volume 4) #13 is an issue of the series Batgirl (Volume 4) with a cover date of December, 2012. It was published on October 10, 2012.
Synopsis for "A Blade of Memory"
Having just been stabbed by Knightfall, Batgirl has begun hallucinating rainbows. Leaning over her, Knightfall comments that Batgirl looks younger than she thought - about her age. She asks whether there is anyone Batgirl would like to call; to notify of her death.
Batgirl reveals that she knows Knightfall's identity, which is no news to her. She responds that Batgirl should not assume that she knows who she is, just because she knows her name. Leaving Batgirl on the floor, Knightfall calls her subordinates to take the body away, but there is no response. While she's distracted, Batgirl pulls herself up, and unleashes a violent volley of punches hoping to bluff her opponent into submission.
Meanwhile, from another room, James Gordon, Jr. watches as Batgirl fights, and Batwoman and Detective McKenna break into the building.
Batgirl suggests that Knightfall's cronies aren't coming because her team has got them. Annoyed, Knightfall removes her mask to reveal that she is, indeed, Charise Carnes. While her father was a successful business man, that success was born of corruption. Even so, she had wanted him to be proud. She didn't care about boys until she met one - trevor - who didn't care about her family's money.
Unfortunately, that boy abused her trust, and one night, he murdered her entire family before her eyes. She had said nothing about him when she was tried for their murder in his stead, because she knew she could never make him understand what he had done if he was in prison. She went to Arkham to learn the craft of madness, and then when she got out, she found Trevor and has been keeping him captive for months. Now, she believes that she is helping the city by committing murder in the name of vigilante justice.
Batgirl realizes that her opponent is too obsessed with causing pain to be saved. She can, however, save Trevor and Ricky - the would-be car thief that Knightfall mutilated. When she realizes Batgirl's plan to take Trevor, Charise becomes enraged, and begins beating Batgirl until she is nearly incapacitated. Suddenly, though, Ricky grabs Knightfall's arm through the bars he is trapped behind, and urges Batgirl to finish the job. Though it is unladylike, Batgirl uses her remaining strength to knock her to the ground. Unfortunately, she also collapses from her wounds.
Coldly, Charise remarks that it would take a cop with a death wish to arrest her, given the influence she has in the justice system. As it happens, Melody McKenna is just such a cop, and she and Batwoman place her under arrest, helping Batgirl, Trevor, and Ricky out of the room.
Fortunately, McKenna knew a doctor who wouldn't ask questions, who could sew up the stab wound Barbara incurred. Awkwardly, her room mate Alysia Yeoh tries not to ask how Barbara got the wound, instead deciding to introduce their new cat, Alaska. Barbara notes the strange coincidence of how her family had the same breed of cat whose name was also Alaska when she was a child.
Alysiah reports that Barbara's mother is on the phone, but when she picks up, the woman is clearly panicked. There are strange men at the door, and they break it down with an axe. Barbara warns her mother to get out of the house but she is too late, as three men dressed as clowns in Hawaiian shirts brandish their weapons and suggest that tonight is a night for making new memories.
Elsewhere, Knightfall's minions, The Disgraced, help get Mirror, Gretel, and Grotesque out of prison, with the task of killing Batgirl.
Appearing in "A Blade of Memory"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Villains:
- Knightfall
- James Gordon, Jr.
- The Disgraced
- Bonebreaker
- Katharsis
- Bleak Michael
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- Despite being billed as the prologue to Batman: Death of the Family, this issue is foremost the conclusion to the previous arc.
- Solicits for this issue indicated a plot that was used in Batgirl Annual (Volume 4) #1 instead.
Trivia
- The scene in which Barbara's mother is attacked is a recreation of the scene from Batman: The Killing Joke where Barbara was shot.
See Also