Chapter Thirty-Five: The Mystery of Nightwing Part Two.

Claire stepped back away from Kara. Kara folded her arms across her chest, peering back at her cousin. Claire didn't blink from her. She stared back. Silence caused an awkward moment to be created.

Kara wondered what Claire would have to say for herself. A part of Kara dreaded what Claire said. The last time they spoke to each other, they never parted under the best of terms. The breeze blowing through the docks in Metropolis broke the silence, as unsettling as said silence was. Kara raised a hand and placed it on Claire's shoulder.

Claire avoided flinching underneath Kara's grip. The hand remained firmly placed on her shoulder.

"So, you figured it out."

"Wasn't too hard," Kara said. "Lois pretty much saw you. Old habits die hard, don't they?"

Claire took a step back. Kara's hand fell back to her side. The two cousins didn't know what to say.

Diana cast a nervous look. At least tempers didn't flare, at least for now. The woman put her hand on the lasso, keeping at ready.

'Hera, give me strength if I need to break up this fight.'

Hera didn't get involved, rather Helena did. Helena crossed between the two of them, forcing a barrier. Kara backed up and allowed Claire to be the recipient one own good old fashioned Wayne glare of discomfort.

"You were annoyingly frustrating to get ahold of."

Claire considered her words, before answering it.

"Are you trying to tell me you had no idea where I was?"

"I have my theories, but let me here your explanation."

Claire knew the moment approached. The individual who took her in and gave her the training all but told her the moment approached. Claire refused to let herself be bothered by anyone. Helena, Diana, and Kara, all of them were owed explanations to varying degrees. Claire wasn't exactly certain how willing she was to give them said explanations for the obvious reasons.

Regardless, the woman fixated her gaze on them.

"I needed to disappear. I needed to disconnect myself from everything. I needed to do what was necessary to save my city, to save Metropolis. Even if I needed to become something else, even if I needed to become someone else."

Kara gritted her teeth. Thoughts formed in her head, but the girl of steel struggled to articulate them.

'Can't believe her. Can't believe she would do something….didn't she learn what happens when she distances herself from her emotions?'

Helena managed to spare Kara from ripping into her cousin and step in towards her.

"I know better than anyone else the flaws of emotionally distancing yourself."

Claire turned her full and undivided attention to Helena. The two of them locked eyes with each other. Diana turned her attention away from Kara and Claire, to Claire and Helena.

'Hera, this is something I really need strength for.

"Are you trying to tell me I'm being stupid for cutting off my emotions? Because I swear, it's what you're trying to tell me."

"Well, of the shoe fits, Claire, you put it on, it might…."

A jolt from inside the ship caused Kara to stand up. The ship began to rock on its own accord. A loud growl caught their attention.

"Do you think we can try and has this out later?" Kara asked. "Because, we've got a really serious problem right about now."

The ship rocked back and forth. The cargo inside the ship caused a loud crash to echo. The prominence escalated inside the ship. A large beefy hand smashed its way through the window.

Kara stepped back to get a better look. The wind blew through her hair. The caped heroine leaned towards the ship.

"Titan," Helena said.

The figure burst out of the ship and jumped on. Helena avoided the attack by going out of the way.

Her efforts to get out of the way left the Titan Beast open for Diana. Diana fired a rapid fire series of kicks and punches, staggering the beast. The beast reached towards Diana and whipped her head back like she was nothing at all.

Diana crumpled down to the ground like an overused piece of paper. The Amazon Princess pulled herself up to one knee, to avoid the Titan's charges. The Titan tried to take Diana's head off.

Kara nailed him with a kick to the face. The bone cracked and the Titan dropped to his knee.

Claire jammed a gauntlet onto her hand, and her hand started to vibrate. She drilled the creature in creature's neck in the back. Knuckle prints left in the back of the creature's hands.

The creature swung a violent back hand at Claire. Claire shifted her weight away from the creature. Kara drove down a double axe handle blow to the top of the creature's head, hitting a series of rapid fire punches.

"I have it Claire, back off."

Kara lured the creature out on a rickety dock. Claire made a step back.

The creature snatched Kara around the throat. Kara returned fire with a rocket buster of a punch, wobbling the creature. The creature staggered back, and Kara plowed it with another series of punches, rocking it with all she could give it.

Through blurred vision, the creature tried to take her down. Kara jumped at the last minute.

The full weight of the Titan monster splintered the docks beneath Kara. The creature wobbled and plunged into the murky depths below.

Kara paused, with the creature smashing through the docks. The creature staggered, but collapsed. The beast's heart gave out.

"Onto the ship," Helena said.

Helena, Claire, Kara, and Diana made their way onto the ship. Several crates lingered in the ship. The creature smashed a few of the crates through his rampage.

Kara leaned down, grabbing the clasp of one of the crates. She swung it open to reveal absolutely nothing inside.

Nothing wasn't exactly accurate upon second glimpse. A crudely drawn smiley face in yellow paint taunted Kara. Kara clenched her fist, counting to ten before taking a deep breath. Then she counted to ten one more time to ensure she remained calm.

She turned to ask Helena something, but she disappeared. Claire followed her lead.

"And now there's two of them, wonderful," Kara said.

"We better find some answers," Diana said. "There has to be a hint of what else was on this ship…..although the beast might be a big enough hint."

Leave it despite Kara's constant frustrations for Diana to put things in perspective. The Amazon and the Kryptonian scoured the ship, for any other traces of what the Joker's plan might be.

Claire kicked herself for being seen. She shouldn't have been seen, but yet she was scene. The woman slumped against the wall of the underground hideout she adopted. She took a long look at the pumping station which Metropolis abandoned. Outfitted with a few pieces of furniture and some old, but still functional equipment, it worked just like home.

Four months ago after Kara and Claire had their confrontation, she did some thinking. Claire never would have lost her powers if she had not been so careless. So, she decided to seek out a means to restore them on her own, and to more importantly train without using them.

Claire packed and left, when she dropped by. At first, Claire doubted her intentions, but over time, the woman proved to be an able teacher. Whipping Claire into shape, pulling out potential which had not been seen. Potential Claire struggled to fulfill thanks to her powers.

'My powers were my greatest weakness to achieving my full potential.'

Claire achieved her full potential. A wide grin passed over her face. She slid the mask off of her face and peered into a slightly cracked mirror.

The young woman struggled to detach herself from her emotions. Jor-El's AI attempted to teach her the lesson. Claire only grasped what he taught. Emotions clouded her judgment and forced her not to live up to her full potential.

Potential, talk about a world which haunted Claire. Claire sank down on the moth eaten couch.

'I was stupid to reveal myself this soon. Lois…..shows I have a lot to learn.'

Claire laughed. The day Lois ceased finding trouble would be the day she stopped being Lois. Yet, Claire recalled one other thing. Lois didn't really get into trouble on her own accord this time. She became a victim of the increased crime in Metropolis which stopped the moment Superwoman fell.

Kara did her best. Claire thought under the circumstances she did a good job, but she made the same mistakes Claire did, trying to live a duel existence. She tried to be Superwoman and attempted to be Claire Kent, and at times, it lead to her neglecting certain aspects of herself.

Claire vowed to right the wrongs of Superwoman as Nightwing.

'I need to become something else if I really want to save my city.'

Claire switched focus to the Joker. The madman's plans seldom made a whole lot of sense, but the Titan goon and the missing shipments pointed towards something dastardly.

'I have to figure out what he's up to.'

Claire sat at the edge of her seat. She made her way onto the laptop, logging onto the Internet. Normally, Chloe's assistance helped her with these technological manners.

Another thing Claire picked up during her training. She relied a bit too much on others. When she really needed to help herself, she started to fall.

Regardless, Claire made her way into the police reports about Intergang's latest activities. She needed to find some common point of origin.

Every couple of seconds, Claire peered over her shoulder. Helena didn't show up just yet, but Claire half expected her to do so. Call it her being paranoid if one wanted, but Claire knew how the woman operated.

Did she strike something tangible? Time would tell.

A distracted Kara returned to the apartment where Lois shared with Claire. In the hallway, she ran into Lois.

"Finally got checked out of the hospital," Lois said. "About three days too late, but hey….at least I finally twisted their arms enough."

"Did you get checked out or did you get kicked out?" Kara asked.

Lois turned to Kara, to raise her eyebrow. A small smile passed over the face of the reporter, pretty much answering Kara's question without words.

"Well, what do you think?"

Kara smiled; she knew the answer in an instant without really thinking about it. The two women made their way to the apartment. Lois fished a key out of her pocket and unlocked the door. The two of them slipped inside.

"Don't mind the mess….don't know how it can get so messy….."

"Maybe because Claire used to be the one who did all of the cleaning?" Kara asked.

Lois blinked at the casual use of Claire's name from Kara. Kara broke the unspoken agreement not to bring Claire up, and Lois wondered why.

She took one look at Kara. Kara looked more worn out than someone with super powers should be.

"You look frazzled," Lois said.

"I've just been from the docks….the Joker shipped something into Gotham City," Kara said. "One large hulking beast hopped up on the Titan formula."

"Titan formula?" Lois asked. "I thought the project was aborted due to side effects. You know, they thought it could be a formula to control the impulsive behaviors of criminals."

"Well, it became the opposite," Kara said. "Guess, you couldn't hope for too much from a formula derived from Venom."

Lois recalled Venom as well. She noticed Kara's face scrunched up. Lois leaned in and placed a hand on Kara's.

"There's more, isn't there?" Lois asked.

"How could you tell?" Kara asked.

Lois whistled and smiled at Kara, leaning in towards her.

"Just call it a silly little hunch," Lois said.

Kara sighed, Lois hit the mark full on.

"I ran into Claire tonight….you weren't concussed, you actually saw her."

"Well, I was concussed, but it doesn't mean I didn't see her," Lois said. "You did more than run into her, didn't you?"

"If you mean I talked to her, than yes, I did. Helena, Diana, and I ran into her. She….has been training."

"Did her powers return?"

Kara shook her head and sighed.

"She's become…different, weird different. A new kind of weird different than you're used to Claire being. She's so cold, distant….it's like she's gone full Batman, only worse."

Lois groaned at the thought.

"She's really too far gone, isn't she?" Lois asked.

"I don't know," Kara said. "She's received training from someone….and she's pretty good, even if she doesn't have her powers back. I'm just….I don't know."

Lois noticed how much the last couple of months got to Kara. She made her way to the cabinet and fixed Kara a drink.

"Was going to fix you coffee, but I think you need something a bit stronger to get your thoughts together."

"Thanks," Kara said.

"Not a problem," Lois said.

She placed the drink out in front of Kara. Kara downed the drink and took a long sigh. She cleared her thoughts after a couple of seconds.

"It's just with Intergang, the Joker, Livewire, and the Anti-Vigilante task force all after me….not to mention an invasion from Apokolips….it all happens at once."

"It does," Lois said. "No one said your job was going to be all sunshine and rainbows."

Kara sighed at Lois's casual statement. No one did say her entire life would be sunshine and rainbows, far from it in fact. She raised her hand to the side of her face, brushing the lock of hair away from her face.

"Claire's changed; she's not the Girl Scout we used to know."

"I don't know about her changing, Kara," Lois said. "I mean, she…she can't change too much. It's only been four months."

"She snapped a guy's neck, and killed the Intergang guys…..I have roughed them up a little bit, but….."

Unless the Black Kryptonite warped her mind, Kara knew where to draw the line and when to hold herself back.

"We're going to have to sit down, and have a talk," Kara said. "The problem is finding her."

Kara sighed.

"But, Claire isn't a high priority," Kara said.

"Yes, you have another problem, don't you?" Lois asked.

"Joker shipped something into the city," Kara said. "I ran into his little present, and…..it didn't end too well for me."

Lois raised an eyebrow.

"Understatement?"

"I beat him," Kara said. "But, the Joker's men managed to unload the ship. I don't know how they did it. The Intergang stooges on the dock were just beaten up."

Kara mentally gave the Joker a little bit of credit. The savvy nature of the criminal ensured he would be able to think outside the box.

A buzzing fired off in Kara's ear. Kara sat up straight and listened in close.

"Hey, Kara, it's me."

"What do you have, Barbara?"

Claire adjusted the frequency. She hacked into the communication between Supergirl and Oracle. She heard her cousin and Barbara talk back and forth.

"So, it's coming into Gotham by air?"

"Yes, it's coming in at three in the morning…..rumors have it, the Joker commissioned it….."

"Do you think he'll gas all of Metropolis?"

"The Joker? Yes I think he'll gas all of Metropolis….it's nothing on the plane, if I had to guess. But rather it's the plane itself."

Claire found herself being grounded to be more difficult. The Joker's final act of his masterpiece was to smuggle a plane.

"Busy night?"

Claire dropped the headset and stood up to her feet. Helena leaned against the wall approaching her.

"You found me."

"You don't seem surprised," Helena said.

Claire raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

"I'm not surprised," Claire said. She crossed the room towards Helena. "You always had a knack of finding people when they didn't want to be found….sorry if this place is a bit makeshift. I didn't intend to stay in Metropolis for too long."

"And you obviously didn't intend to have Kara or Lois see you."

Claire didn't answer. She folded her arms underneath her chest, peering back at Helena.

"Never mind, you answered my question."

Claire moved the laptop out of the way and offered Helena a seat. Helena took it, sitting down next to Claire.

"So, you've known I've been back for a while?" Claire asked.

"I've been searching for you," Helena said. "You've been difficult to find. Who has been helping you?"

"What makes you think I've had help?"

Helena stared down Claire. Much to Helena's surprise, Claire didn't blink at the stare down. Many people melted underneath the look, but Claire sat up straight and proud underneath Helena's gaze.

"You didn't have powers when you left," Helena said. "And I'm guessing you didn't regain them."

"It's a work in progress."

"Which means you've had help."

Claire couldn't dispute Helena's logic. The two of them locked eye to eye with each other.

"The Joker intends to bring a plane into Metropolis."

"Too obvious, even for him," Helena said. "The Joker wouldn't bring a plane in from Gotham City. Even at three in the morning…"

"So, what's his plan?"

"His plan is one last laugh for the entire city," Helena said. She slapped down a file folder. "The last known records from Arkham, of the Joker."

"Wasn't he believed to be dead for years, after your father….."

"Yes," Helena said. "But, there's plenty of clues to indicate he wasn't of the best health before then."

"You mean physically, don't you?"

Claire flipped open the file folder after Helena gave a distinct non-answer. Each piece of information shined out in her face. She frowned as she looked it over.

"You don't have to hold all of this guilt and your anger inside…..take off your mask."

Helena slipped off her mask. At the encouragement, Claire did the same thing.

"After my parents died, I tried to bottle up my emotions. And let's face it, you helped me through some really tough times, you and Diana. Your compassion is one of your defining attributes."

"The compassion caused a lot of problems," Claire said.

"You didn't listen to me," Helena said. "It's helped a lot of people. Instead of running from your demons, or masking yourself, you should face them."

Claire rose up to her feet and for a second, Helena thought she'd walk off.

"Are you walking away from me?"

Claire stopped at the door. The woman turned around, staring down Helena. Helena stepped back for an inch.

"I'm surprised you haven't taken up the mantle of the Bat."

Helena raised her eyebrow. Claire's statement caught her a bit off guard.

"It never struck my mind. I wanted to keep the mantle dead and buried with my father. There's no reason for me to go there."

"It's a shame," Claire said. "You're worthy of the mantle….just like Kara's worthy of the Superwoman moniker now."

Helena didn't say anything for the longest time.

"Did you tell Kara you thought she was worthy?"

Claire didn't say a word.

"You know for someone who has detached herself from all of her emotions; you are the sentimental type."

Helena waited for Claire to say something, anything, but Claire said nothing, not a thing. Helena experienced a bubbling sensation of frustration.

"Have you spoken to your mother at least? Let you know you're okay."

"I'll call her, when I'm ready."

"Martha wouldn't be pleased with how you're acting."

"I said I'll call her when I'm ready."

Helena frowned. She sounded more like Helena on a bad day than Claire sounded like herself. Claire stepped closer towards her.

"If you're done lecturing me….."

"You might not to hear it, but you need to hear it," Helena said. "The way you're acting, you're going down a dark and lonely road. I wonder who taught you to fight like you did."

Claire rolled over the matter in her head. Helena would find out eventually, and if she did, so be it. Claire vowed not to make it too easy on her.

"I've taken a vow not to tell anyone who has been training me."

"I figured as much, swearing an oath like this is dangerous."

"Sounds like you have other problems, namely the Joker," Claire said. "Question is, do you want my help or not?"

"If you're willing."

"I am."

The two exchanged a tense handshake. Claire vanished four months ago, and returned as a completely different person.

A lot could change in four months, mostly because of the fact more than four months passed. By Claire's point of view, a good sixteen months passed thanks to the properties of time dilation offered by her trainer.

Harley wished she had a whip, but Mistuh J forbid her from carrying one after the chaos from the last time she had a whip.

"Alright, Mistuh J has gotten a nasty little surprise for the people in this town. While the heroes are too busy catching a plane….he's going to complete his masterpiece."

"Right you are, Harley."

The Joker stepped out from the shadows.

"Tonight is going to be the night where I get the last laugh on Metropolis. The day ends with Metropolis as it is now. The new day begins with the entire town being driven mad. But, hey, madness sets you free, doesn't it?"

The Joker cackled at his own words.

"This is for all of the marbles, this is the end game. You're either in or you're all out. There's no turning back now. You have to go the distance!"

The Joker's laughter continued. The Intergang goons scrambled like worker ants in an attempt to get all of the moving pieces in order. With their numbers thinned, they worked twice as hard.

"So, move it or lose it, chumps!" Harley yelled. "For breakfast, I want a bunch of capes on toast!"

"Couldn't have said it better Harley….well I could, but you have such a way with words."

"Gee, thanks puddin'."

To Be Continued on November 13th, 2015.