Your Angel of Death Awaits
Night over National City was a very peaceful affair unlike other cities around the country that seem to never sleep because they have a healthy nightlife or cities draped in the fear of a never ending crime wave. National City was on the rise with a police force that under Maggie had become the best in the country and of course it did not hurt that National City had a healthy hero population. For the team adjusting to National City had been a smooth transition Diana, Kiara, and Pamela had acclimated quite well to life in National City all having successful careers. Leslie and Lena also adjusted to normalcy and for Leslie the transition from villain to hero was not that hard of a transition to enjoying her radio career again and heading the PR department for Kane Industries. Of course Alex and Kara had grown up in National City so this was their home through and through and both couldn't imagine living anywhere else especially now that they both had great relationships with Lena and Sam respectively, and Alex got a chance to be a mother even if it was not official yet to Ruby. However the one exception to this is Kate Kane. Since the redhead CEO came to National City everything looked to be on the up and up. In the Business world she was the queen of National City positioning Kane Industries as a global juggernaut. On a personal level she had the woman of her dreams Dr Pamela Isley as her girlfriend which was her whole motivation for coming to National City. However, Kate found it hard to really adjust. Growing up on the streets of Gotham City was anything short of a picnic. On any given day a plethora of different crimes took place and the police and the politicians were in the pockets of mobsters like Sal Maroni and Carmine Falconi. Its one of the reasons why she became Batwoman to begin with, but if she was honest with herself she loved being batwoman terrorizing the gotham under world beating criminal to a bloody pulp it thrilled her. To say that she missed it was an understatement; it was like that itch she just couldn't scratch. Plus she was not able to be herself now that she was part of the team because to some her methods were extreme and would go too far at times it was a philosophical approach that few on the team agreed with outside of Kiara and her. She had been showing cracks lately going out on patrols by herself, and reviving the vigilante lifestyle that she missed so much. Yes she had been chastised by the team and she and Alex had words a few times because of it fearing that eventually she would go too far at times. At one night it seemed that their fears would come true.
Chucky Sol was one of the only remaining mobsters in National City that did not fold up shop or get locked up. He endeavored to keep as much of his criminal organization in the shadows and turned some of his business legitimate to get the police off his back, and put a lot of his resources in business like the joker's wild casino. He had used the casino to launder millions of dollars and till this point the police could not find the way they were doing it. Chucky had his inner circle in the penthouse for a meeting. He was outlining his new counterfeit money scheme which he planned to launder through the casino. He was outlining that he wanted millions to be staggered out over the next few months. As Chucky was concluding from the skylight, batwoman landed on the long table in between everyone. Almost instantly Chucky's henchmen went after Batwoman. Chucky backed up on the wall in fear of seeing Batwoman. Kate was easily despatching the mobsters avoiding gunshots climbing under the table and tossing the table over one of the shooting mobsters. Before long Kate cleared the room and looked around for the person she was her for Chucky Sol and noticed one of the doors open realizing Chucky had made a run for it she went to pursue him.
Chucky had made it to the parking garage running towards his car. When he was stopped in his tracks by a fog of smoke coming from the shadows, and from the smoke an ominous figure emerged " Chucky Sol, your angel of death awaits." Chucky started to fire his gun, but to his shear terror not of the bullets looked like they hit anything not even richochets. The dark figure got right to Chucky and before Chucky knew it the blade clad hand of the figure sliced Chucky's gun clean in half like a blow torch through butter. Chucky evaded what would have certainly been a kill shot and made for his car. As soon as he got in he started the car and hit the pedal as quickly as he could. The dark figure jumped on his car, shattering the wind shield. Chucky tried to shake the masked prowler loose and took a sharp turn throwing the figure off the car. Chucky looks in his rear view mirror seeing the figure dazed on the floor, and turns the car around going to ram the figure. The masked figure saw the car coming right at it and used the fog to disappear before the car hit. Chucky could not do anything and drove through the fog not hitting anything and drove out the other way. Chucky realized too late that he was about to drive through the wall. The bystanders on the ground could only look up and the crash and screams of terror of Chucky as he drove of the parking garage and crashed into into one of the middle floors of the casino and exploding killing him instantly. Batwoman arrived a few seconds after Chucky had run his car off the structure and looked at the aftermath. Many people on the ground saw her and instantly thought that she was responsible for the fatal act. She backed away from the ledge and looked around for clues and saw that some of the shattered glass was coated with some type of residue and took one of the pieces for analysis. Batwoman Looked up and saw a dark figure lurking by the staircase thinking instantly that this is the actual perpetrator she ran after it, but when she got to the end of the staircase the figure was no were to be found. All she had was the piece of glass, and she knew that the fact that so many people had seen her near this is going to look bad so she figured it was best to get out of there and investigate the residue. Kate was in her lair analyzing the shard her cellphone was going off non-stop ranging from a call from Kara to Maggie probably wanting to know if she lost her damn mind. Kate was interrupted by the arrival of the only person to actually know where her lair was and that was Pam " tell me you did not lose your mind and through someone of a building Kate" Kate had never seen Pamela this upset before " I know what people are saying Pamela and i didn't do it. Yes i was there i broke up a meeting with Sol and his boys talking about a counterfeit money racket they were starting and using the casino to launder it. I found a residue on a piece of windshield at the scene and I saw a mysterious individual at the scene, but they got away in a fog of smoke almost like a Phantasm." Kate's explanation calmed Pamela to a point, but the red head was still upset. " Have you seen the news?" Kate motioned her head no " this ruckus has started a very hot political debate now spearheaded by Councilmen Reeves who is calling on the police to for a task force to arrest you, and Maggie is refusing till an investigation and a forensic analysis of the evidence can be conducted to see if you were in fact the culprit. Problem is Reeves is beating the drum hard never being a fan of Maggie's to begin with and it looks like he is positioning himself to run against Maggie in the Commissioner election that's coming up. He is calling her soft on crime. Maggie asked me to find you and make sure you had nothing to do with this, but Maggie wants to talk to you, and I think you owe her that because she is sticking her neck out for you right now in a big way, Kate maybe even doing damage to her career." Kate did look mournful knowing that even thought she did not do this Maggie was still taking heat from it, and she promised Pamela that she would, but needed to run this down because the quicker they could find the real culprit the quicker she can vindicate herself, Maggie would get out of the hot seat and that political opportunist Reeves would shut his mouth. Pamela left to the DEO to inform them that yes she did find Kate and to tell them the situation and that Kate is willing to meet with Maggie about this.
A few hours later the team and Maggie assembled on the rooftop of the DEO to not attract unwanted attention. Kate arrived a few minutes later and upon her revival she was hit from all sides. Kara and Alex were very critical thinking that she was guilty because she was a loose cannon. The cooler heads in the group calmed the Danvers women to let Kate explain, and Kate insisted that J'onn be there to tell the team that she was not the whole who ran Chucky Sol off the parking structure. After explaining everything and J'onn giving his stamp of approval that she was telling the truth got even the hot headed danvers sisters to calm down. Kate started to explain to everyone the information and evidence that she discovered at the crime scene. She talked about the residue essentially accounting for the fog that Kate saw at the scene essentially playing the role of Kate's gas grenades which allows her to essentially disappear. Kate was not able to see who wanted off Chucky Sol considering that much of his competition left the city, and only those that could adapt like Sol stayed. The team agreed that Kate needed to keep her head down, but Kate being Kate resisted the idea, but would stick to the shadows. On the other side of Town at the National City cemetery Buzz Bronski and his bodyguards arrived. Bronski instructed his men to stay with the car while he went to the grave site of Chucky Sol. Bronski made his way up the hill of graves till he found what he was looking for. He stood in front of Chucky's tombstone. Bronski and Chucky had a long business relationship and semi friendship also being old guard in the mob before things got hard. Bronski said some less than flattering things about Chucky and through the wreath of flowers he brought on the grave knocking over a pot of roses that was there. As Buzz prepared to leave a melancholic voice called his name " BUZZ" Bronski was scared out of skin by this and looked around quickly for the origin of the voice, but saw nothing but tombstones everywhere he looked . He backed up and was startled when he hit something turning around immediately till he saw it was just Chucky's tombstone. Then however the cloud of fog rolled in and from it the same voice and then the dark figure stepped out of the fog " Buzz Bronski your angel of death awaits." Buzz was scared out of his life and started to run " get away from me you freak" running further into the cemetery. He ran and looked back and saw nothing backing up until he tripped on a wheel barrel filled with dirt causing him to fall. He picked up the pick axe that was left with the wheelbarrow looking around for the shadowy figure and saw nothing until he heard " It time to pay for your sins mister Bronski " causing him to turn around and from the shadows almost like a demon from hell the figure emerged. Buzz charged at the masked figure with the pick ax, but with the blade sliced the head of the pick clean off stopping Buzz in his tracks and disappearing again into the night. Then Buzz turned around to see the figure coming at him again not knowing how the figure could move so quickly. Buzz used the handle in the Pick axe as a spear and threw it at the figure " okay you creep catch this" the figure was then enshrouded by the fog as the spear passed the cloud, and emerged again untouched. Buzz could not believe what he was seeing was not human, and ran for his life screaming for his men to come and help him. His two bodyguards started to run up the hill to help their boss. Buzz running terrified through the cemetery didn't see that a grave had been dug, and fell right into the grave with a big thud covering him in mud. He did his best to compose himself and try to get out of the grave staring up at a big stone angel overlooking the grave " you always were a loser mister Bronski" Buzz whipped around and saw the figure standing over the grave causing him to run to the other side and try and climb out to no avail as he could not get a grip " farewell mister Bronski" once more Buzz looked back but this time just saw the clouds of fog disappear and the figure nowhere in site causing him to take a relieved breath of air. However he did not realize that the fog had appeared behind the statue and the angel started to fall forward. He noticed the shadow coming over him and looked to see the statue falling on him cauinsg him to scream in terror until finally everything went quiet. A few minutes later his bodyguard saw the aftermath of what had just happened, shocked to see their Buzz slain in such a horrible fashion. They looked around and saw a shadowy figure in the distance and thought it to be Batwoman considering what had happened to Chucky Sol and started firing their guns hitting nothing as the figure disappeared. Back at the DEO Maggie got a phone call which unnerved her and she turned to the group who saw her demeanor change " well it looks Batwoman is in the clear amongst us. There are reports coming in of gunfire at the cemetery, and responding officers found the body of another monster Buzz Brinski crushed to death by a statue in a grave, and eyewitnesses said it was Batwoman, but by the description given to the officers it was a shadowy figure that disappeared in a cloud of smoke just how Kate described. So we have a serial killer on our hands targeting people with known mob ties.
The team went to investigate this trying to figure out why this figure was knocking off mobsters and what connects everything, and Maggie was dealing with a lot of internal pressure from city hall, mainly councilmen Reeves who wanted Batwomen brought in and prosecuted which was never going to happen. In fact in her press conference she hit back at Reeves for trying to stoke up fear and panic, putting forth that a new criminal had come to National City. When asked what the name of the figure was she simply said the Phantasm. The name stuck and it looked like many were being receptive to the redirect by Maggie about the phantasm being the one responsible, not Batwoman. However there were still those people that were listening to Reeves and his people even people from within the department started to split with Maggie thinking they should be tougher on vigilantes. Maggie knew that Reeves would challenge her in the upcoming commissioner election. One of the things Maggie hated about the job was the electoral politics of it. Here crime was at an all time low, the gender gap between female and male officers was both narrowed in both representation and pay, community relations was better than it ever was and it still was not enough. Maggie knows that a many were still skeptical that she could do the job she won a special election because the long time police commissioner had passed and he represented the old school mentality and not to many people were happy with Maggie's new school approach to things and Reeves and some of the police brass who were already looking to join him during the campaign. Maggie said to herself if she was going to take this job that she was going to do things the right way and play politics and that is what she was going to do.
Kate was doing everything she could to break this open at the DEO and her hard work was rewarded in some small measure when she figured out that back in the day Sol and Bronski worked together in various ventures, all of them having mob connections when they were part of the Grissom organization. After Grissom was gunned down Sol, Bronski, and two others Sal Valestra and Jack Napier took over his operations. This was the connection that kinked both of them and they had two leads now Valestra who was still in National City retired because of health reasons and no one had heard from Napier in a while. However this connection did not prove what the connection was between the Phantasm and the mob. Kate stayed on trying to find the Phantasm's identity while the rest of the team split up and went to help NCPD protect Sal Valestra and try and find the location of Jack Napier.
At Sal Valestra's mansion Maggie had assigned at least a dozen units to protect and swat. While Alex took a team of DEO agents to assist as well. Diana, Leslie, Lena, and Kara had also joined to protect. Sal Valestra refused to let cops in his home believing they just wanted to snoop around to get dirt on him, but he was scared for his life knowing that someone was out there taking out members of his old circle and no one knew why. Honestly it could be just about anybody for anything really back then they had their hands in everything and people got hurt or worse. It was just after midnight everyone was on guard Lena and Kiara were in the air surveilling the premises. Kara Lesie and Alex were joined by Maggie who decided to lead the operation finally this was too important to leave in the hands of someone else. On the back yard of the mansion the same cloud of fog moved towards the mansion, and made its way into the mansion through the second story balcony door. Sal Valestra couldn't sleep off course how could he know that he was a target. He was pouring himself some scotch when he saw out of the door the fog start to roll into the room causing him to drop his glass. Then he heard it " Sal Valestra your angel of death awaits" Sal fell backwards trying to crawl away from the dark figure and letting out a scream in scere terror. Everyone outside heard the commotion inside and rushed inside as quickly as they could. Kiara and Lena were the first to arrive through the study window. Both saw the Phantasm for the first time, a dark spectre-like figure surrounded by the fog. Lena tells the Phantasm to surrender or they will put it down. The phantasm response " this is not your fight these men have to pay for their sins." Lena says again " that's not for you to decide your not judge, jury ,and executioner you're no better then them by taking justice into your own hands." The Phantasm shows no signs of backing down Overgirl used her heat beam and Iron maiden used her una beam and fired at the Phantasm but to their shock the Phantasm disappeared in the fog and reappeared with not a scratch and the attacks hit the wall behind. The Phantasm again disappeared " you made a grave mistake if you align with my enemies then you have made yourselves my enemies." from behind the Phantasm ambushed them striking Lena first causing her to send a farrell shot with her unabeam hitting Overgirl square in the chest sending her into the wall. The Phantasm started sending strikes at Iron Maiden. Lena tried her best to avoid but the Phantasm moved with an inhuman speed that even in her armor she could not match and eventually with a massive kick to the midsection sending Lena into the wall. Sal could not believe that this person, whoever they were, just took down two of the city's greatest heroes like it was nothing. It was at the point that reinforcements had arrived and the various officers and DEO agents converged weapons drawn. The Phantasm turned its attention towards them. Maggie screamed " freeze your under arrest. Put your hands up and get on your knees." The Phantasm defiant stood its ground. And everyone opened fire on the Phantasm, but to the horror of everyone none of the bullets seemed to be connecting and passing right through hitting everything behind, but the Phantasm did not move and did not flinch. Every shot was fired as many went to reload. The Phantasm made a decision to cut its losses for now and retreat into the fog " his time will come you can't cheat death not even with an army protecting you." and just like that the fog disappeared. Maggie, Lena, Kara, Alex, Kiara, and Leslie were talking, reviewing the footage Lena had recorded. It was just like the eyewitness accounts . The Phantasm moved with an inhuman speed, some maybe even thinking that the Phantasm would be a Kryptonian, but the mobsters had no ties to Kryptonian anything. Valestra was still in the study surrounded by a few cops because there was every reason to believe that the Phantasm would try again, and honestly there was very little that they could do till they found a way to neutralize the Phantasm. Something however did not sit well with Maggie just how easy the Phantasm had given up. You could say that the Phantasm had an advantage but its retreat made it seem like it had a back up plan to get Valestra that they were not thinking about. Maggie was staring at it right next to the chair where Sal was sitting was an oxygen tank that Sal uses for his condition and the fire from the fireplace. Maggie's eyes widened " OH MY GOD EVERYONE GET OUT OF THAT ROOM NOW !" Maggie started to run, but it was too late. The open tank of oxygen had vented enough to reach the fire and the fire ignited the gas and exploded. Maggie was sent flying but was caught by Supergirl, and all they could do was look on with horror as the room was a burning inferno no one could have survived. The grim reality that with all of them there the Phantasm still got its mark with over two dozen officers and agents and four powerful heroes there. The only thing they could do was find Jack Napier, who they thought was the last person on the Phantasms list.
By this point Kate and the others had heard about what had happened with valestra and now it was even more important that they find Sal Valestra . However, Kate thinks that she found a key piece of information to finding the connection between the three mobsters and the phantasm. Kate called the team and Maggie to the DEO, and when everyone was here Kate began to explain ' So I think I know the phantasm's motives, but also the identity of the Phantasm." this information perked up the group especially Maggie because after what happened to Sal Valestra under her nose she was not in the best of moods. Kate continued " so after Grissom's organization fell Valestra teamed up with Bronski, Sol, and Napier to unseat Grissoms true successor Carl Beaumont. They did not agree with Beaumont thinking he was just an over glorified accountant, and this caused a civil war in the organization then ended up with the murder of Beaumont, but he was able to get his wife out of the country to Europe where she stayed to this day remarried leaving behind the past." Pamela was the first to say " So are you saying that maybe Beaumont's wife is the Phantasm or maybe she hired someone to knock these guys off?" Kate turned to her girlfriend " I thought that at first but there is no record of any abnormal payments that look like a pay off in her recent history, and she has not left Europe in over five years so it's unlikely. However I am sure that whatever this is, the Phantasm is related to the death of Carl Beaumonts death." Alex then asked " what about children did beaumont and his wife have children?" Kate turned to her " as far as the records I have seen so far they did not have any children despite trying for years." The group knew it was progress but they still had very little knowledge on the Phantasm so they were still looking for a ghost as far as they were concerned. Finding Jack Napier was proving to be an impossible task. They had records of him up until a few months after the death of Carl Beaumont, but after that he disappeared and no one knew what happened to him. There were no signs that he died or left the city; the most logical thing was that he changed his identity. The only thing that gave the team any type of solace was that if it was this hard for them to find with all their resources the Phantasm has to be having an equally hard time but that will not last. One of the things that has made the team struggle is that this new class of villain that had come up against were not like mobsters who fold at the sign of struggle against long olds. Doc Ock, Victoria Von Doom, and now the Phantasm were all formidable, but most of all they were intelligent, ruthless and it was a lethal combination to be sure.
After days of investigation trying to find the identity of both the Phantasm and Jack Napier Kate may have finally found a lead. Another former member of the old Grissom organization. Grissom had a specialist in his organization, one Thomas Andersen. From everything that kate could find he was not immersed in the mob life, and may have been an unwilling participant in their acts. What Kate could tell is that he was a specialist in identities. It looked like for whatever Grissom and later Beaumont, and then Valestra when he took over after Beaumont's death was the person they would go to for anything that had to do with identification. From passports, to identification cards to social security numbers, but he had a talent for helping people disappear and its this reason that kate now focused on Napier to disappear he would need someone who specialized in this kind of stuff and from what it looked like Tom Andersen is a master whether he wanted to or not. It was a thin lead, not even sure that Napier or Andersen had any type of contact with each other for years or if he even helped Napier disappear, but it was the best lead that Kate could find in days of non-stop research. Kate tracked him down and found out that he was a computer science professor at Berkeley for the last 10 years, and knew she needed to find out for sure if he was involved and if he could help. Kate informed the team and said that she would go and investigate, and the rest of the team stayed on alert for the Phantasm sightings. Pamela offered to go with Kate and Kate accepted not being one to say no to her girlfriend. They used the Batplane to get to the Bay area in a little less than an hour hoping that this lead would bear some type of fruit.
Professor Andersen was in his study grading his students midterms like he had done every year for the past few years. In the recent weeks he had become increasingly unnerved by the events in National City seeing that three men like Sol, Bronski, and Valestra died and he knew it had to be all connected to what happened to Beaumont back in the day. However he knew that someday someone may come for him. It's no secret to anyone that Sal Valestra had Carl Beaumont killed and that Sol and Bronski helped him with the act, but there was another piece to that puzzle and that was Jack Napier. Jack was an unwilling participant being very good friends with Beaumont, Jack honestly had no idea what Sal was going to do, and if he did he would have let Carl know to protect him. Jack was so haunted that he failed his friend and left the mob business but didn't want anyone to find him again. So one day Jack came to him and offered him his freedom from the mob by giving him information that he would use to blackmail the mob in the future which then Thomas used to set up many protocols in case he or any member of his family was hurt or threatened. It honestly was the only reason why Valestra did not kill him after he left. He created a new identity for Jack Napier, and then from then he did not hear from him after that and worked his life to distance himself from the mob and build a life for himself without that spectre over his shoulder. For ten years no one has come for this information, but with the events in National City he thought it was only a matter of time before someone would come for this information. He was preparing himself for bed when he heard a noise come from the balcony of his room. He started to get scared because if its the Phantasm these may be the last seconds of his life. He grabbed what he could as a weapon knowing it was honestly futil. However when he entered the room he still saw a dark figure just not the figure he thought it was going to be. The red head stepped forward into the light followed by another red head with greenish skin dressed in a green one piece. " Mr Andersen, I think you have the information I need." Tom relaxed seeing that it was Batwoman and Poison Ivy. " I had a feeling someday someone would come seeking this information. I am just glad it's you and not that Phantasm." His response confirms her suspicion that he did know at least the identity of Jack Napier. Tom went to sit at the desk " I have been seeing what's happening in National City and given the three dead guys it's only a matter of time that someone comes for Jack." He opened one of the drawers of the desk and gave her a file. " Jack came to me one night asking for a new identity, giving me the information I used to blackmail the mob for my freedom. I sent him up with the identity Arthur Fleck." Pamela and Kate were shocked that he gave them the information without a fight. " ladies its honestly not shocking at all this was my last tie to the mob and i want it cut plus jack does not deserve to die he wanted nothing to do with what happened to beaumont and the guilt caused him to end his life as Jack Napier, and i owe him because without him i may still be under the mobs finger." the two thanked him now having the most important piece of information, but before they left Tom spoke up again " there is something else you need to know about the death of Carl Beaumont" the two redheads stopped and turned to the professor " i have no proof for sure just speculation, but i wager it's better then what you have in the identity of the Phantasm. You see, one of the reasons Beaumont sent his wife to Europe was because they just found out that she was pregnant. However his wife after his death wanted nothing to do with that life anymore and when the baby was born she gave it up for adoption. I think that child, whoever it is, is the Phantasm." Kate was stunned. In the matter of a few minutes they found the identity of Jack Napier, but also a major clue in the identity of the Phantasm because before this the world thought that Carl Beaumont did not have a child, and this did merit investigation.
Pamela and Kate returned back to National City and Kate immediately went to investigate Mr Andersens suspicion while the rest of the team tried to find Arthur Fleck aka Jack Napier and get him protection. Kate then found that yes Victoria Beaumont did in fact give birth to a daughter who she immediately gave up for adoption not even giving the child a name. No one new because it was paid to be kept quiet. She found the orphanage the baby girl was given to, but no record the the girl was adopted by anyone. It was clear that this could be the Phantasm because like the Phantasm this little girl was a ghost. Across town the team tracked down Arthur Fleck in a run down tenement building in the National City projects certainly a far cry from the glamorous mobster life he led back in the day, but from what Kate and Pamela said about him he really took Beaumonts death hard and became somewhat self destructive. The team walked into the building and made their way to the apartment and arrived at room number 274 which was the last known residence for Arthur Fleck. Alex knocked on the door, and after a few minutes they heard a voice " who the hell is it?" Alex answered "my name is Alex Danvers. I am with the DEO sir, we believe you are in great danger" The door opened " what the hell is the DEO?" Alex didn't want to waste any time knowing the Phantasm could pop up at any time " sir are you Arthur Fleck " Who wants to know?" Alex looked at the man " Sir we don't have time to mess around, we believe that the killer known as the Phantasm is going to make an attempt against your life and we are here to put you into protective custody." the man looked at Alex " Why would the Phantasm kill me?" Kiara was now annoyed at this game " Jack Napier if you want to keep playing these games that's fine we can leave and you can take your chances that the Phantasm will never find you, but if you want to stop pretending that you don't know what we are talking about. we need to get you out of here before she comes." the man's whole demeanor changed at the mention of the old name " i have not been called that name in years. So it really is true that the sins of the past have come back to haunt the present. I knew that someday what we did back then would come back one day. The others thought I was crazy, but it turns out I was the smartest one considering I am the only one still standing. I knew that it was only a matter of time till someone came looking for me it looks like i got lucky it was you guys, and not the Phantasm, but honestly i wish it was the Phantasm after what i help Sal and the others do even if it's not what i wanted to happen i deserve what's coming." Alex looked at the man " you may have made a mistake years ago that does not mean you deserve to die. We need to get you out of here now. I am sure that Carl Beaumont wouldn't want his best friend to go out like this." for a minute Jack considered what they said and agreed to go with them. On the way outside to the vehicles they saw the dreaded fog start to roll in knowing what this usually meant " Jack Napier your angel of death awaits you." the Phantasm emerged from the fog " What's the matter Jack are you afraid of judgement? No matter, none of them can save you from atoning for your sins just like the other three." Instantly the DEO agents opened fire on the Phantasm, but just like what happened at Sal Valestra's mansion, the shots looked like they passed right through the ominous figure till they fired all their shots. The last thing they heard was the Phantasm said it was my turn, and disappeared in the fog, but before they knew what was happening the Phantasm was on them one by one immobilizing the agents. Kiara told Alex to get Jack out while she, Diana, Leslie, and Lena held her off. Alex rushed off with Napier, Overgirl used her heat ray , Iron Maiden used her unabeam, and Leslie and Diana used separate electric attacks launching them at the Phantasm but just like the gun shots they too passed through the Phantasm exploding behind. The Phantasm disappeared again, and the four heroes decided to huddle together back to back so it can't get the jump on them. The fog appeared again this time surrounding them. It unnerved the four heroes not seeing anything but the fog even more unnerving Neither Kiara and her x-ray vision or super hearing and Lena with every sensor that can possibly detect any signs of human activity detected nothing in the fog almost like the Phantasm was not even there. Then suddenly the Phantasm appeared striking at the for causing them to disburse. They were flying blind in this fog, and it almost looked like the Phantasm was able to fight them all on at the same time. Each tried to land a hit with their various attacks but to no avail. Overgirl charged at the Phantasm trying to keep the villain in front of her. Not aware that the Phantasm was leading her to it was too late and the Phantasm led her right in the path of attack from Wonder Woman and Livewire hitting Overgirl with two massive bolts of electricity taking down the kryptonian. Lena catches sight of the Phantasm and launches one of her wrist rockets, but just like with Diana and Leslie the Phantasm dodges the shot and the missle explodes right in front of Diana sending the amazon crashing into one of the DEO vehicles. Leslie and Lena were now the last two standing, still unable to land a hit on the Phantasm Lena and Leslie through everything they could at any sound they heard. In the fog the Phantasm skillfully dodges all the attacks thrown till eventually it sees the opportunity and just like it had done with Overgirl and Wonder Woman she waited for a feral strike from the remaining two heroes. Lena and Livewire both charged their attacks and fired at the Phantasm, but for the third time the Phantasm dodged the shot this time Lena's unabeam shot hit Leslie sending her into the wall behind her and Leslie's bolt hit Lena shorting out the Iron Maiden armor neutralizing it and living Lena immobil. With all her enemies defeated the Phantasm goes to follow Alex and Napier to get its revenge.
Alex and Jack were now running not knowing what had happened back there. In a perfect world they would have dealt with the Phantasm. This however was not a perfect world, and right before them the fog cut off their path " I told you Jack you can't escape judgement for your sins" from the fog the Phantasm stepped out of the fog. Alex drew her gun earning a chuckle from the Phantasm " pathetic a team of your agents, Livewire, Overgirl, Iron Maiden, and Wonder Woman could not stop me. What chance do you have on your own to stop me.?" Alex had to admit that she did not see a lot of chance at stopping the Phantasm on her own. The Phantasm walked toward the two, but then from the side something landed right in front of the Phantasm taking its attention from the two in front, but realized to late that it was a bad bomb that exploded sending the Phantasm back landing the first real hit any one had landed thus far. As the Phantasm regained her composure and looked from the origin of the throw and saw batwoman on the rooftop " well if it is not Batwoman looking to take her shot." Batwoman leaped from the roof in front of Alex and Napier " I have been waiting for a shot at you Phantasm. I got to give you your credit you have done what very few could only dream of happening, taking down some of the greatest superheroes in the world. However you have yet to face me in a fight, but I don't need any distractions." As if on cue the plants came alive around them and enveloped Alex and Jack, lifting them into the air where Kara and Ivy with the Batplane were waiting for them. Kara took Alex and Jack was placed in the Batplane. Supergirl and Ivy looked at Batwoman, and the red head looked at them " go i can handle her." Kate took one look at a clearly scared Ivy, and gave her a reassuring nod that this was not the last time she would see Kate. Supergirl and the Batplane flew away quickly. Kate could hear the yell of anger from the Phantasm causing her to look at the villain. The Phantasm looked at her " you will pay for that with your life. You denied me my shot at revenge." Batwoman got in a fighting position " good you will never see Jack Napier again right now Ivy and Supergirl are going to get him away from National City and we have set him up with new information so good luck finding him again. This ends here and now with you and me seeing everyone is afraid of you because they have never lived in the darkness before. They are all skinned fighters and I trust them all with my life, but the real warriors are born in the dark where they have to fight tooth and nail in an unfair world. You and I were born in that darkness. I know your Beaumonts daughter is trying to avenge your father and trust me if anyone knows that burden it's me, but I learned a while ago that this is not the way to go about it." The Phantasm laughed " you can't imagine what it feels like to lose your father before you were even born, and to have your mother give you up at birth. Sent to an orphanage where no one wanted to adopt me. I learned a long time ago the true ways of this world, and the only thing that gave me solace was hate and anger and the thirst for revenge that I will kill the men responsible for the death of my father and the horrible life I lived." Batwoman looked at her " i can't let that happen" Almost immediately the Phantasm used the fog to enshroad them both the same tactic used against the others. Batwoman stood still " that may have worked on the other, but you and I were raised in the shadows, and because of that I know what you're going to do." as if on cue Batwoman twisted around and gave a massive kick to the Phantasm sending the villain back. The Phantasm looked up gripping its chest " that's not possible" Batwoman stepped closer " Unlike the other i don't have powers to speak off. I have to make sure that when I fight I have to use every advantage I can, and honing my senses is one of those things." The Phantasm charged at Batwoman, but for the first time found her shots being dodged by the red head, and Batwoman then punched the phantasm in the face, dropping her again. The Phantasm couldn't believe what was happening, and decided that she wasn't prepared for this fight obviously. Batwoman threw three batarangs at the Phantasm, but before they could connect the figure retreated into the fog. As the fog receded " this is not the last you and your friends have heard from me Batwoman I may not have been ready this time but next time i will cut out your heart and hold it in my hand just long enough so you can see your heart stop beating before you sink into the cold icy embrace of death." The fog was gone, and with it the Phantasm. Kate knew that this was not over and that they met the Phantasm again in the future and on that day Kate would be ready.
At the DEO everyone was liking there wound and nursing there pride a little, but happy that at least for now the reign of terror of the Phantasm was over. The team got Jack to a safe place that no one will be able to find him, but the real worry is they still don't know anything about the Phantasm or its identity. There was every reason to believe the Phantasm will return but when they just didn't know that. However the question on everyone's mind was just how Kate defeated the Phantasm while they all struggled. Kate smiled " it's simply the Phantasm and I fight the same way. I am the only one here other than Alex that has no powers and I learned a long time ago that I needed to fight not just harder, but also in a different way entirely. So I learned to fight in the shadows and become one with the shadows to defeat my opponents. The Phantasm also uses the shadows and because of that I was able to counter its moves better and avoid its attacks." The team understood and laughed for all their strength and power. It was the powerless Batwoman who saved the day and defeated what could probably be the scariest villain they have ever faced.
In the suburbs of National City was a mansion overlooking the ocean. From the balcony of the mansion the fog rolled in and entered the mansion from the fog walked the Phantasm " that insolent redheaded harlot stopped me from getting my revenge for years of planning and training wasted. I may never get another chance at revenge again." The Phantasm removed its mask and cloak to reveal a young red headed woman. The young woman was stopped in her tracks when she heard a voice from the shadows " Andrea Wayne its so good to finally meet the infamous Phantasm that has plagued National City and defeated the police, DEO, and many of the cities greatest heroes. Such talent, and I am in need of someone of your ruthless cunning." the red head turned around " who is there, reveal yourself immediately." from the shadows walked Victoria Von Doom aka Dr Doom the supreme leader of Latveria. " What can Victoria Von Doom need with me?" Victoria stepped forward " I like you have been stopped by the DEO and the Sirens. Just like they stopped you from getting your revenge, they stopped my plot to conquer Kasnia. I want revenge on those fools for standing in my way so i am forming my own team of like minded talents to destroy the DEO and the Sirens. So one like you Mrs Wayne and the Phantasm. Andrea considered the offer " one question for you: how did you know my identity when no one else did.?" Victoria gave that signature Von Doom smirk " that's the advantage of having a who government department of intelligence gathering agents at my disposal we tracked down everything Batwoman did, but also were able to pick up were here trail went cold and found you, and how you grew up and made yourself into the Phantasm, and i must say i am impressed very few woman like us have had to overcome so much it's one of the reasons i am here to recruit you so what do you say." Andrea looked at the blond intrigued and she did want revenge and she did take them down, but imagining what she could do working with Dr Doom herself. She did want revenge on the DEO and the Sirens, especially Batwoman. " When Mrs Von Doom you got yourself a deal, but if we are going to work together, call me my real name, Wayne is just a cover, it's Beaumont Andrea Beaumont." The two women looked at each other and started to laugh at this new evil partnership of theirs.