Shade stood atop the three story building in downtown Gotham, watching as a man, clearly drugged on Burgeon hit a dumpster repeatedly with his knee. He then lept on top of it. He was accompanied by a woman who appeared to be tearing her hair out and dropping the locks onto the ground. It was a horrifying sight. But she could not involved and help them, she remembered her promise to her husband.
She would stay away.
"Not going to get in on the action?" Shade heard a voice behind her say. A woman's voice.
She turned quickly and saw a woman there dressed in all black and wearing a mask over her eyes. She had enormous brown eyes and bold red lipstick. The Catwoman. Shade was wondering how the woman was able to so quietly sneak up on her.
"You," Shade said.
"Me," the woman said and began to walk closer.
Her walk was snakelike, seductive, distracting.
"Don't come any closer," Shade warned her.
"Or what?" the woman asked and simply slowed her walk.
Shade stood still as the woman walked right up to her. She was prepared to fight this woman, if necessary. The Catwoman stood a few inches away from her and looked her up and down, sizing her up.
"You're shorter than I imagined," the Catwoman said, realizing she was almost two inches taller than Shade.
Shade watched as the Catwoman's hand moved slowly towards her face. She grabbed the Catwoman's forearm before she could touch her.
"This isn't your real hair," the Catwoman said with a smile as she looked closely.
Shade pushed the woman's forearm away.
"Don't attempt touch me again," Shade gave her a second warning.
"And your eyes," the Catwoman said, still smiling slightly. "Contacts."
"Get back," Shade ordered. The woman was observing her too closely. Even though the lighting was dim and the air was slightly foggy, this woman seemed to have incredible eyesight.
"Hmm..." the Catwoman said and crossed her arms, tapping a finger against her chin.
A passive move...she seemed to know that Shade would not attack her unless provoked.
"Why would you go through so much trouble?" the Catwoman asked. "Surely, being a vigilante is hard enough without having to worry about concealing your hair and eye color. This job can't be easy with a wig."
"None of that is your concern," Shade said.
"Only a public figure would go to such lengths to conceal who they are," the Catwoman said. "A public figure and a vigilante. There sure are a lot of those in this town."
The Catwoman walked over to the edge of the building and looked down at the drugged woman who was half bald after tearing out over half of her hair. The Catwoman's back was to Shade and Shade fought the urge to attack the woman who had been part of her husband's blackmail. She knew the Batman's true identity and had been part of whatever group had sent threats to expose his identity.
"The police are slow tonight," the Catwoman said.
"You're behind this," Shade said to the Catwoman's back.
The Catwoman turned around.
"Behind what?" the Catwoman asked in a tone that was both innocent and patronizing.
"This drug," Shade said. "Burgeon."
The Catwoman's eyes remained neutral but one side of her mouth moved into a half smile.
"Answer me," Shade ordered her.
"Am I being interrogated?" the Catwoman asked.
"Why don't I just hand you over to the police," Shade said. "They'll do the questioning."
The Catwoman turned back to the ledge, seeming to ignore what Shade said. She placed her hands on the brick and spread her arms slowly and looked back down at the drugged pair.
"Notice anything different about them?" the Catwoman asked Shade.
Shade looked down at the man and the woman.
"Less aggression perhaps?" the Catwoman asked.
Shade had to admit...the couple looked pretty tame compared to some of the horror she had see from people using Burgeon.
"Burgeon is done," the Catwoman said. "The people selling now are cutting it with other things. Less effect. These two will be fine."
"And how do you know the supply has run out? Are you behind this?" Shade wanted to know.
"Burgeon was an experiment," the Catwoman said. "The people I work for had hoped the Batman would be the one to deal with it. But you sure are a persistent one aren't you?"
Shade knew she had to detain the woman. She had confessed.
"The police would love to hear all about it-" Shade said as she prepared to grab her.
"I have a proposal," the Catwoman said.
"No," Shade said. "Tell me why you've been drugging people."
"I haven't," the Catwoman said. "However my boss put the drug out there as an experiment. He wants the Batman. He wants him broken. But the drug was obviously not enough, since you could handle it. And the Batman doesn't seem interested."
"Then why keep drugging them?" Shade asked.
"We haven't been drugging them," the Catwoman said. "Well, not continually. One large supply of Burgeon was put onto the street at one time. It's running it's course. By my guess, it should be impossible to find in the next week or so. There is no more."
"And why should I believe you?" Shade asked.
"Look at them," the Catwoman said, referring to the drugged pair on the street below. "Their behavior is changing. Burgeon is already being mixed with other things to stretch it, It's in limited supply. You should be relieved."
"Since you're being so open," Shade said. "Tell me who you're working with."
The Catwoman glared at her.
"I am not the villain, " the Catwoman said. "I'm forced to comply."
"Forced?" Shade asked. "If the people behind Burgeon are forcing you to do anything, I can help you-"
"No one can help me," the Catwoman laughed. "Have a good evening, Shade."
"Wait-" Shade said as the woman appeared to leap off of the side of the building. But the time Shade made it to the edge she was gone.
.
.
.
"The autopsies show..she may have been telling the truth," Dr. Kapoor said to Bruce and Adriana. "The degree of swelling in the pineal glad was over 70% less than seen in previous users of Burgeon."
"Which means the drug is either getting weaker or..." Adriana said.
"Being diluted," Bruce said. "Meaning the supply is dwindling.."
"All eight of the last arrested users seem to be recovering," the doctor said.
"Why would she do this? come to me and tell me..it makes no sense," Adriana said to Bruce and Dr. Kapoor.
"If we are to take her word for it, the worst is behind us," Dr. Kapoor said before leaving.
Once he was gone, Adriana turned to Bruce.
"You were right," Adriana said. "They were doing this to get to you...she basically admitted it. So..you were right...Sidi was right..there's someone out to get you and-"
"I trusted what Sidi predicted all along," Bruce said. "We have 2-3 years before anything major happens. This was just a blip on the radar. We will be fine."