Foot pressed on the gas. Wind pushing against her face. A hundred thoughts running at once. Blood pumping in every vein of her body. Violence and retribution on the mind. Batwoman was glued to the bike seat as she wove between traffic. Speeding to Alice's destination, pointed out by her GPS. It was about six miles out from Wayne Towers, near Gotham Industrial. Around the same general area where Kate's plane crashed. Parking by a busted open gate, Batwoman continued on foot into the docking section of a delivery harbor. She crept through the cover of night, looking for where Alice may be.

She tapped into the earpiece. "Luke, I'm here. You got anything?"

"Far as I can tell from the city map, there's a small storage unit close by. Try checking over there."

"Copy that."

Batwoman moved on towards the far end. Laying outside of the building she sought, was a bodyguard face down. Batwoman kneeled and rolled him over. Eyes in the back of his head. She checked his pulse. Dead. The front door creaked, making her draw a Batarang. None one came out, but it was dark on the other side. Could be dozens of goons with guns waiting to shred her like Swiss cheese.

"We got dead security out here. Any way to let me know if I'm outnumbered?"

"Your communicator has a thermal vision feature. The button is labeled as TH." Luke replied.

Batwoman activated the thermal vision, scanning the entire building. "I'm only picking up one heat signature on the second floor. If it's not Mary, then it's Alice."

"Be careful."

She cautiously walked inside the dimly lit warehouse. Every sense on high alert. Prepared for any and all surprises. Her first step created a crunching sound. She raised her foot to find a crushed cracker. From where she stood, a trail of crackers was placed in a neat line. Leading up the stairs to an office. An invitation if there ever was one. Batwoman ran to the room, which sat in the corner of the building. The lights were on, and Alice sat inside at a desk drinking tea. Upon noticing Batwoman on the opposite side of the window, she smiled and waved. Batwoman sneered and came in the side door. The office itself was small, lit by a flickering bulb on the ceiling. With just enough space for a couple pieces of cheap furniture.

Alice clapped her hands, looking awfully cheery. "Batwoman! I'm so glad you made it."

"Cut the shit."

"Ooo, feisty, are we?" Alice refilled her teacup and poured an extra one. "Why don't you have a seat?"

Batwoman folded her arms. "No. I'll stand."

Alice chuckled as she poured sugar into her tea. "I don't think you heard me." Her smile faded. "If you have any desire to see Doogie Howser again, you'll have a seat."

Fine, she'll play Alice's game for now. Batwoman begrudgingly sat down, a couple of inches away from the desk. Alice placed the teacup in front of Batwoman before drinking her own. Making loud and obnoxious slurping noises.

"Ah, that's good." Alice rubbed her chin, confused by what she saw. "Wait a minute. You're not Batwoman."

"Yes I am."

"No you're not."

"I'm wearing the suit, aren't I?"

Alice sighed. "Yeah, but you could have bought that from a Halloween store."

Batwoman rolled her eyes, irritated by the stupid questions. "Then what the hell would I be doing here?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe you're a noble idiot who's scratching for fame. Although you're trying the wrong woman for that." Alice leaned back, tapping her lip. "It may be the drugs, but I don't remember Batwoman being..."

Batwoman put bass in her voice. "Think very carefully about the next word that comes out of your mouth."

After thinking for a brief moment, Alice threw her hand up. "Ethnic?"

Fed up with the conversation, Batwoman swiped the tea set onto the floor and yanked the blonde psycho to her feet by her jacket collar. "I'm not fooling around Alice. Where's Mary?"

Alice grinned in the face of danger. "Why should I tell you?"

Slamming Alice face first on the desk and applying pressure on the back of her neck, Batwoman replied, "because if you don't, I'll be forced to fracture your skull." She raised Alice's head, slamming it once more with authority, making a loud thud. A small dent was left in the wood.

Pain started to set in with the drugs wearing off. Whoever this lady is, she wasn't giving the liberties that Kate did, and Alice quickly realized that. "Okay! Okay. I'll call my people and get right on that."

Multiple footsteps echoed in the distance. No doubt those were Alice's goons. Batwoman turned her attention to the window for a millisecond to see how many she'd have to deal with. That was all Alice needed. She slipped from Batwoman's grip and pulled a hunting shotgun from under the desk. Another courtesy of the deceased Vaughn couple. With enough time for a single reaction, Batwoman placed a boxer's guard with her arms over the suit's exposed face.

BOOM! The cannon like sound of a fresh shell ejecting from an old school piece of hardware broke the silence. Blasting with enough force to send Batwoman flying and crashing through the office window.

Batwoman landed on the walkway. Not injured but feeling the impact in her chest. "Uraghhh, fuck!" She could rest later, as the goons appeared in her upside-down view. Alice ran to window, ready to pop another shot. At this point, natural instincts kicked in.

Batwoman dropped a smoke pellet, creating a wide fog. Someone went off with an Uzi and shot blindly, hoping to hit anything.

"Stop shooting dumb ass!" Screamed Alice. "I'm over here!"

"Sorry boss!"

Alice kept her gun pointed, finger on the trigger. Waiting for this so called "Batwoman" to emerge and get blown to hell. Her palms had begun to sweat. Withdrawal setting in. Her vision blurring the lines between her world and reality. She needed another fix and fast. What did emerge was a Batarang that lodged itself in the shotgun's barrel. Then it beeped.

Alice's mouth twisted into a frown and muttered, "damn." She dropped the gun and dove for cover as the gun exploded.

The goons stood with bated breath as the smoke finally cleared. Batwoman had disappeared.

"Where'd she go?" Asked one of them.

"I don't know but keep your eyes peeled. These bat freaks like to sneak around like rats." Replied his buddy.

Fortunately for them, Batwoman had no intention of sneaking. There was a lot of built-up aggression that she wanted to release, and these saps were the lucky recipients. She had zipped away into the ceiling rails, mapping out her strategy. Five of them. Two with submachine guns. The other three carrying pistols. One dual wielding. Light work.

Chains, the idiot who popped off with the Uzi, called out to Alice. "You okay boss?"

"Go get Batwoman!" She hollered.

Coming down from the rafters, Batwoman landed on top of the goon trailing behind. Taking him to the ground, she took his pistol, dropped the clip and emptied the chamber. She followed that with a stiff punch to his ear. That'll leave him ringing for a good while. With two Batarangs in each hand, she tossed them at the remaining four, who were all clumped together on the tight walkway. Three of them got hit, as Chains pulled the submachine gunner in front him. That guy took the Batarang to his shoulder. He loudly yelped as Chains tossed him to the side.

Batwoman somersaulted into the dual wielder blocking her path. She rose up, tased him in the chest and pushed him backwards in the goon right behind. Catching his buddy, the second guy shot Batwoman in the chest with his pistol, which she shook right off. Whipping out the retractable baton, she whacked the gun from his hand, then swung back to his face. He hadn't been smacked that hard since moving out of his mother's place seven days ago.

"Eat this bat bitch!" Yelled Chains.

With no care left, Chains just smashed the trigger. Splitting his comrades back with bullets. He yelled in agony until the clicks of empty chambers signaled that it was over. His body slumped on top of Batwoman, who came out of it untouched, as the poor soul had become a human shield in the middle of her attack. She watched the life drain from his eyes as drops of blood poured from his mouth onto her mask. This act of ignorance pissed her off. While Sophie never gave criminals the moral high ground, the blatant disregard for someone willing to kill for you is completely disgraceful.

Taking advantage of Chains frantically trying to reload, Batwoman gently pushed the dead man to the ground and charged him. Chains swung his gun. Batwoman grabbed his arm, pulled herself in with a spinning motion, and cracked him with an elbow to the throat. She bent Chain's wrist, disarming him. She kicked out his left knee, bringing him to a kneeling position. Throwing her leg over, she sat on his shoulder, and jerked it backwards with a Fujiwara armbar.

"AAAHHHH! I GIVE!" He cried.

Too late for that. She jumped and came down, separating his shoulder. His arm went limp as she released it. Then put him to sleep with a knee to the jaw. Good riddance. The last fool was curled in a ball, trying to pull the Batarang from his shoulder. Shuddering with each fragile attempt. Batwoman gave a helping hand by covering his mouth and yanking it out. His quick scream was muffled but having that pointed metal ripped from his flesh caused an immense amount of inner pain.

When her hand moved away, he mumbled, "thank you".

Batwoman faintly smiled and knocked him unconscious with a fist. Now on to Alice. She was already out the door after hopping over the guardrail down to the first floor. Batwoman followed suit and gave chase. Alice darted for a white van and got into the driver's seat. Batwoman went full speed to try and catch it but was fatigued and weighed down by the suit. She reached the van just as Alice drove away. But not before getting a glimpse of Mary tied up in the back. Batwoman went for her bike.

"Luke, Alice is in a white van with Mary inside. I'm gonna tail her. And get Gotham police down here to book her men."

"I'm right on it."

Alice didn't know where she was going, or what to do next. This chick claiming to be Batwoman ruined her entire plan. The only concern right now was staying awake. Her fingers tightly gripped the steering wheel as she ran a red light across a four-way intersection. Grinding her teeth while other cars on the road honked trying to avoid disaster. Mary bounced around in the back, unable to brace herself from smacking against the van walls.

Batwoman stayed on Alice's tail. Stuck in between hitting the gas and driving carefully to not cause potential accidents like her adversary. With that in mind, this needed to end before more innocents got hurt.

"Luke, Alice is out of control. What are my options?"

Luke tracked Batwoman's location, watching her move on the virtual map. "It looks like Alice is headed for the Gotham City Bridge. Wait until she's open and shoot her tires out with the bike's rifle."

"Got it." Batwoman pulled her communicator, giving Jacob a call.

Jacob sat by his phone, praying for Batwoman to get back to him with news on his daughter. He got his wish. Answering the phone after the first beep. "Hello?"

"Kane!" Said Batwoman in her distorted voice. "Alice is in a white van headed for Gotham City Bridge. She has Mary and going to stop her!"

"Wait, don't do anything-" The dial tone cut off his response. Jacob radioed his squad. "ALL CROWS REPORT TO GOTHAM CITY BRIDGE IMMEDIATELY!"

Batwoman kept her focus on the van with the chase eventually leading to the bridge. Alice's sight began to twist, mixing the black roads with a wooden floor that fell apart from both sides, trapping her on a single path to nowhere. She clipped a pickup truck and swerved the three lanes, bumping into a Mustang.

"MOVE GOD DAMN IT!"

Batwoman closed in. She pressed a button that raised a metal plate covering up the rifle. The barrel extended, and Batwoman checked the auto aim from her camera on the dash. Just a few more feet. They reached the bridge's middle point. Once the cross hairs locked on, Batwoman fired. The rifle shot went off with the volume of a suppressed weapon, bursting the van's left tire. The shock caused Alice to lose control, spinning out sideways as the rim screeched. Popping sparks from rubbing on asphalt. Batwoman came to a halt, successfully stopping Alice's road rash. A woman busy texting on her phone took no notice of the mayhem and sped past Batwoman, who didn't get an opportunity to stop her. The black car crashed into the van's driver side.

Batwoman wasted no time checking on the female driver. Stepping over broken glass and metal chunks. She opened the door, finding an unconscious brunette, sunk into the airbag. Batwoman carefully lifted her up into the seat and listened for a heartbeat. The girl stunk of alcohol, but she was alive. Better leave her there until the medics arrive.

Someone coughed. Batwoman checked to see if it was the girl. It wasn't. Alice fell from the van's passenger side. Coughing and wheezing as she peeled off her jacket. Batwoman jumped across the hood and stormed towards Alice. Alice raised a pistol in her hand but was too weak to pull the trigger. Batwoman snatched it away. Alice crawled to Batwoman's feet, pulling herself up to the waist. There was a cut below her right eye. Two streams of blood poured from her head. She cackled like a menace and Batwoman no sold her insanity.

"I gotta say," Alice mumbled, "you proved me wrong. You really are...Batwoman." Alice patted her on the chest and grinned. "You know what that means?"

"What?" Batwoman angrily asked.

"It means you're...my...enemy!" Alice's bloodshot eyes expanded. "And if you don't kill me now, I'll kill you."

Batwoman pushed the mad woman off. Then she squeezed the gun's handle. Finger rubbing the trigger. Alice got on her knees and spread her arms wide.

"Sophie, what's happening?" Asked Luke.

Batwoman pointed the pistol at Alice's forehead without a word.

"Sophie!" Luke yelled.

Sophie was as calm as ever. Her adrenaline pumped furiously, contemplating ridding Gotham of Alice for good while Luke screamed in her ear to say something. This was her only shot in more than one way. Let Alice go and continue to serve Gotham as Batwoman. Or kill Alice and go back to being just a CROW. If there was ever a reason to do so, Sophie figured this was it. Before she could make that choice. Alice grabbed the gun, pushing Batwoman's finger on the trigger.

Click. The sound of an empty clip. Both women seemed surprised by the outcome, but neither one moved a muscle. A dozen CROWS joined the party. Emerging from black trucks with assault rifles drawn and Jacob leading the charge.

"Batwoman! Drop the gun!" Ordered Jacob.

Wanting no issues, Batwoman tossed the pistol and raised her hands. Alice sprung up, head butting Batwoman in the jaw. She stumbled backwards and Alice ran for the bridge's edge.

"OPEN FIRE!" Commanded O'Brien.

Bullets flew in mass amounts. Batwoman zipped out of the way with her grappling hook. Alice's mad dash earned her a bullet to the right shoulder, and one grazed her hip. She mustered every last bit of strength, jumping across the sidewalk structure and diving into the water below. Half the CROWS including Jacob, rushed to the side, hearing a large splash. The other half looked around for Batwoman, who dropped a smoke bomb in their circle. With the distraction, she got back to her bike and rode off.

O'Brien emerged from the gray cloud, trying to clear his lungs. He asked Jacob, "should we trail Batwoman?"

"Negative. Contact Gotham Police and have them set up perimeters within ten miles of this bridge. Alice is the main priority."

Banging started to come from inside the van. The CROWS aimed their guns, but Jacob ordered them to stand down. He opened the van door just as Mary prepared another kick. Her eyes watered seeing Jacob's face. Jacob untied her and held his little girl tightly. Holding back tears as she embraced him under the blaring sirens.

Batwoman drove into the Batcave through the secret entrance. Parking the bike and slugging her way over to Luke on the main platform. Sophie tore her mask off, sweating profusely underneath. Hair in a frizzy mess. She stared at Luke, who sat with his arms crossed. There was a tension in the air. Neither had spoken since she escaped the bridge. Sophie pulled down her lip in the computer's reflection. Her teeth stained in red. One of them chipped which caused the bleeding.

"Something on your mind?" Sophie asked politely, eyes still in the computer screen.

"What happened on the bridge?"

Sophie nervously chuckled. "If I said nothing would believe me?"

Luke wasn't amused. Only glaring a hole into Sophie's soul once she finally faced him.

She nodded and leaned on the keyboard. "Alice pulled a gun on me. I took it and aimed at her." Luke heavily sighed and rubbed his face. He prepared to say something until Sophie held a hand up. "Before you say anything, I want you to know. It took EVERY fiber in my body, to not pull that trigger. I have lost friends and family to scum bags that I've had to watch get taken away to live comfortably in jail. You know for a fact that Gotham would be better off without Alice. So please, save your pre-written speech about "that's not what Batman would do" okay Luke."

Luke raised his eyebrows.

She threw the cowl in his lap. "You don't approve of my actions, take the mask. Take the gadgets. Take the suit. I'll leave forever and forget about all of this. You have my word on that. But I want you to know, I wasn't going to pull the trigger, and I never will. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I get to be a part of something special. And to throw it away because of," she shook her head, "a worm like Alice, or anyone like her. It's not worth it."

Luke's jar rolled, listening to Sophie pour her soul. He smirked and folded his hands. "You talk a lot of shit Sophie. But I like it."

Sophie released a sigh of relief.

"I get it. People like Alice don't deserve the mercy we show them. But you kill one, then another and where does it end." Luke stood up and dusted off his vest. "This may not mean much coming from me, but I'm proud of you. This job can take a toll on people. If you're really willing, then I'll be ecstatic to have you permanently join the Bat family."

He offered back the cowl. She looked at it. Sophie was bruised. Exhausted. Sore. Drained. At the end of the day, she'd do it all over again. Sophie accepted his offer, solidifying her place as the new Batwoman of Gotham City.


Dr. Rowe stepped inside his home and locked the front door. Another day of treating patients and signing papers. Rowe pulled a pizza box from the fridge. A few slices left from the other night. He tossed some in the microwave, then dragged his tired body upstairs for a quick bathroom run. Closing the door behind him, Rowe relieved himself. The shower curtain flung open, and Alice tossed a cup of warm bleach in his face.

Rowe screamed as he flailed around. Slipping on the liquid and falling down. He scrambled and propped his upper half on the toilet. "Alice please." He pleaded. "I-I only wanted to help you."

"Oh doctor, you have. Thanks to you, I've made a new friend." The multi-colored chameleon poked his head from her shirt pocket, looking into Alice's dilated pupils.

"Remember what we talked about Alice?" Said the chameleon.

Alice grinned from ear to ear and whispered, "skin the cat."