Synopsis: "Team Batwoman attempts to narrow down the list of possible locations of where Mary may have been taken within Gotham, while Ryan attempts to enlist Whisper's help in the search and Julia informs a shaken Sophie about operation: Knightfall. Meanwhile, Saifyah has an important discussion with the captive Mary, revealing a truly shocking revelation about the Desert Rose cure that was previously considered to be impossible even by Safiyah herself."
"Glad today is finally over, I've got a headache. I really need to clear my head." Kate Kane said looking at Luke, who nodded in agreement.
"Certainly been a long day you bet. I know we've got a lot on our plate already, but we probably should keep working on maintaining all these businesses you own and projects we're working on." Luke reminded her.
She sighed. "You're right, I just hate all this technical crap. And that forsaken paperwork, definitely not my speciality. How do you manage all this? In fact, how the hell did Bruce do it?" Kate questioned.
Luke smiled and shrugged. "Practice I suppose. And it's what I've been working with for a majority of my life. Not a big deal." He responded sarcastically. "Also about Bruce, he had my dad helping out, nothing could've been done without him. Bruce was a pretty smart guy, but being Batman made him beyond busy. My dad definitely was essential in making his life balanced. Bruce did the same for him."
"Sounds like everyone needs a member of the Fox family in their life." Kate remarked with a smirk.
As they spoke, Julia was looking concerned. "I can't reach Sophie."
"Is that concerning? Maybe she's asleep?" Luke asked, not understanding.
"Sophie always answers in my experience. How many times have you tried?" Kate asked, looking uncertain of the situation.
Julia took a moment. "4 or 5 in this hour. She texted to say she was with Mary and that's the last I heard from her."
"Should we try Mary then? Could something be wrong?" Luke wondered.
She looked at her phone. "No doubt worried for nothing. She's probably just having her ear talked off by Mary. Just feeling paranoid from the radio silence going on with our Safiyah problem." Julia doubted herself.
Then, Kate's phone rang. It was her father. There wasn't even a chance to speak first, he got right to it instantly.
"Kate? Where are you?" He asked, sounding out of breath.
She looked at the team. "At Wayne Tower, why? I was just about to go home."
"Don't move and don't let anyone into the building! Mary, she's been kidnapped. I'm sure this is Safiyah's doing. Find somewhere in the building, you have a safe room right? Stay there for now." Jacob responded.
Kate was shocked and looked around feeling like the world was spinning for a moment. "Mary has been taken!?" She shouted back into the phone holding onto her forehead, then looking at the batsuit determined with grit teeth.
Batwoman
Casting
Ruby Rose is Batwoman
Vanessa Morgan is Ryan Wilder
Stephanie Beatriz is Renee Montoya.
Grace Gummer is Whisper
Adesua Etomi-Wellington is Knife (Tahani)
Sam Jaeger is Brian Krauser
"We're going to find Mary, I promise." Jacob replied seriously as backup Crows and GCPD finally arrived way too late.
Kate ignored that. "When was she taken? Wait, Sophie! Have you seen her?" Kate was instantly trying to process this information without having a lot of time to take in the news.
Luke and Julia were hanging off each word she was saying now, as Kate put the phone onto speaker.
"What? Why would she be here?" Jacob wondered.
"I heard she was checking on Mary, just make sure she's okay dad. I haven't been able to reach her." Kate replied feeling concerned about Sophie's fate and lying to cover for Julia being right next to her.
Jacob over the phone looked at his people. "We're going to clear the building, move it now! We might have Crows down!" He shouted at them. "I'll call back soon Kate." He then hung up heading inside.
"I'm going myself, I can't wait." Julia replied, preparing to head out.
Kate stepped in front of her. "We have to be smart if Safiyah is launching an attack against us. My dad will call back any moment now. She's going to be okay."
"Regardless, I want to be there with her. The cave and building is secure, Safiyah can't get in here. I'm going to check on Sophie." Julia replied, walking past her.
"What about Mary? We need to start looking for her right now!" Kate reminded her starting to follow after her.
"You've got it covered." Julia departed, to Kate's disappointment.
Luke frowned and shook his head. "Did she really just abandon us?" He sighed and turned back to his computer. "I'm going to track the vehicle that grabbed Mary. The security footage has got to give us some clues."
"Keep me posted about that and double check we're secure, I don't want any more surprises." Kate replied, heading towards her suit. "I'm going to scour the city until I find her. Safiyah can't hide from us."
"We should wait for Ryan first." Luke pointed out.
She stopped taking a breath. "You're right, I'm going to call."
"Oh and one more thing, I don't think you're going to like it, but maybe we should tell your dad about Mary's clinic? Could be evidence there, who knows." Luke then added, looking not too pleased with his own suggestion.
Kate sighed heavily. "You're right, if we don't find her soon. I'll tell him. I just hope he won't be too mad and that Mary won't either, when we find her."
Mary was pulled out of an unknown vehicle with a bag over her head. "What's the plan here? Bad guys come on, this isn't a good plan! Taking me is going to backfire big time! You're kicking a humongous hornet nest!" She paused. "Is anybody even there? I'm starting to feel embarrassed if I'm speaking to a wall!"
With a sigh Safiyah pulled off the bag, revealing a white empty room with only the chair Mary was placed in. "You're very talkative. Talk, talk, talk. I like speaking too. Perhaps we have something in common, though I lie. Not exactly in the same manner we act along those lines. Ms. Mary Hamaltion."
"True, we've got nothing in common. You're a super villain and I'm a doctor. My life is dedicated to helping people, meanwhile how many people have you harmed or killed?"
"You're right and there is a great irony in you being a doctor, for what's up my sleeve." She smirked, then was interrupted turning to the person who stepped in. "Why are you here? Is the site secured?"
"Fatima wants you, Ma'am." They responded.
Safiyah looked at them and grabbed the phone walking out of the room leaving Mary alone tied to the chair. "I'm busy."
"And this is serious. The board isn't pleased with your operation in Gotham continuing, we've lost a lot of assets. Including Crane, whom you had killed."
"Yes, yes. I'm aware and explained myself already. My time in Gotham is almost over and then we'll never have to deal with this petreate city again."
Fatima sighed, unhappy. "The board is in agreement you've dropped too many bodies in Gotham and there is a risk of your capture, which is growing each day."
"Why wasn't I informed of this meeting?" Safiyah questioned.
"You're acting reckless and this needs to stop. All the resources you are throwing into this plan are costing our organization a lot." Fatima reminded her and ignored the question.
Safiayh moved the phone down, looking unhappy. "I'm the leader of this organization, tread lightly when speaking to me."
"Of course, I apologize." She didn't sound sincere.
"Don't have anymore meetings behind my back or there will be consequences." She hung up, handing the phone back to her helper. "Inform our scientists I'll be coming to see them, I want to know our status. We're on the clock." She said criptically.
Ryan was trying to sleep, while her phone continued to ring making her relectly investigate answering getting out of bed apologizing to her love. "Hello? Why are you calling, is there a problem?"
"Mary has been abducted. It was Safiyah, can you assist? I'm going to need all the help I can get, we're not sure what the intention behind this was. Frankly, I'm scared." Kate admitted to her.
She glanced over at Whisper who was awake now. "Uh, yeah. I'll be there. Meet you at Wayne Tower."
Hanging up, Ryan looked unsure of herself, knowing she had to help out and knowing consequences would be had leaving her love again.
"Why do you have to go back this late at night? This is seeming ridiculous, I'm concerned Ryan this isn't normal." She pointed out seeming skeptical.
Ryan looked down knowing she would have to give some truth. "Kate Kane's sister was just kidnapped, she's a good person. I guess she wanted help to find her."
"How are you going to help?" Whisper wondered and shook her head. "I can help, talk to some people and find out if they know anything."
"I don't know." Ryan put her hand over her mouth thinking. "She mentioned it was Safiyah Sohail who was responsible for this."
She was surprised. "Excuse me? Why the hell are they connected and what's her deal here targeting your boss's sister? That's a big deal!"
"I know, I know. It's not good. Mary, the person who's been abducted right now, is a good person. A doctor who helps people at no gain to herself. She doesn't deserve what's happening right now. If we could help, we have a responsibility to do that!" Ryan exclaimed pasinitely.
"Alright, yeah. I'll help. She reminds you of your mother, doesn't she? They share a similar profession." Whisper pointed out looking skeptical, but also sympathetic.
Ryan nodded looking down. "Yeah, I'm sure mom would've liked her and respected all she's done for this city in private, not looking for glory or money. Only doing it cause people needed help."
"Okay, I get it. All I'm saying is, this doesn't seem on the up and up. And Safiyah doesn't seem like a person to cross, I thought we agreed on that?"
Ryan nodded. "Nothing has changed, so be careful." She hugged her. "Stay safe and don't get into trouble alright? I'm going to take the van."
"Same with you Ryan." She looked at her not looking too happy, as Ryan went to leave and immediately picked up the phone lowering her voice when about to speak. "Hey, I'm going to need to cash in on some favors."
Elsewhere, Julia arrived on the scene immediately finding Sophie being checked out with Jacob Kane by an ambulance.
"Thank god you're okay!" Julia exclaimed, rushing over.
"I'm the only survivor." Sophie replied. "Honestly, I don't really understand why she left me alone. Besides to get a point across I guess."
Jacob pressed his forehead. "And she threatened your family if you speak to us. We don't have enough evidence to bring down legal action on her."
"We all have a very clear idea who's responsible for this anyways. And I didn't see any clues, besides how well armed they were." Sophie shook her head. "I'll be fine sir, go find Mary."
He nodded, walking away, leaving the two women alone.
"Does Kate know you're okay?" Julia then asked.
Sophie nodded and looked around, concerned greatly. "Safiyah, she really hates Kate and Batwoman, mentioned a lot of secrets and lies. I don't really understand why she's doing all of this." Sophie admitted. "Do you know anything about what she's talking about?"
Julia paused for a moment. "Not entirely sure on all the details. To be safe, let's keep our mouths shut about that." She said covering the situation, but knew it'd only be a temporary solution. Sophie couldn't ignore everything happening, she could piece together the coincidences going on. She couldn't be kept in the dark much longer. For now, there was something to keep her distracted, she realized. "We can't do anything to help Mary, but there is something we can do to help Batwoman." She whispered.
"Help Batwoman how?" Sophie wondered.
"Kane, he's got himself a task force to bring down Batwoman. That's what I was looking into earlier, he wants to bring her in. Alive or dead. Right now, we're the only ones who can help protect her." Julia expressed.
Sophie looked confused. "How do you know he's planning this? And there is no way in hell he'd risk Mary's life trying to bring down Batwoman right now, she's going to be trying to help rescue her surely."
"Seems like all the more reason keeping her out of this, Kane wouldn't want to risk Mary's safety and it would stand to reason he'd not trust Batwoman." Julia shot back.
"Okay. To be on the safe side, we should look into it more. Besides, like you said I can't do anything to find Mary without putting my family into the line of fire." Sophie accepted, glancing over at Jacob. "What should we do first?"
Kate Kane was pacing around the batcave, as Ryan finally arrived. "Thank you for coming, suit up." She said quickly, handing Ryan her brand new suit.
"Wasn't exactly how I planned on wearing this the first time." Ryan admitted starting to get suited up quickly.
"Hope it fits right. Really should've done more training wearing it before going into the field and the gadgets." Luke added talking fast.
"Hey, we'll find her Luke." Ryan said, reassuring him.
Then unexpectedly his phone rang. "What? It's your dad Kate."
She looked confused. "Don't answer it, we don't know why he's calling."
After it ended, Kate's phone began to ring next. She carefully picked up, skeptical. "Dad? Have you found anything about Mary?" Kate questioned immediately.
"One no detail has come to light, Luke Fox was the last person we have on the phone record of talking to her. Did he mention anything about that? Do you know where he is we're trying to track him down." Jacob replied, sounding in a rush.
Kate glanced over at him. "He left a little while ago, I haven't heard from him since. I'm sorry dad."
"It's alright, just call me if you hear from him and stay safe." He hung up.
She approached after the call ended. "You talked to Mary?"
"Uh yeah, the last thing she mentioned to me was saying something about Scarecrow's fear gas didn't affect her. She was trying to get to the bottom of that. I didn't know if she wanted me to share that. I don't know what to think anymore."
Kate and Ryan were shocked.
"How couldn't it have affected her? That's impossible!" Ryan pointed out rightfully so.
"You should've told us sooner, that could be connected. Her abduction might not have been a personal attack, what if there is something we're missing here." Kate added and started to pounder this new information.
"I'm sorry! Look, I've been looking into anything those people have had their hands in, thanks to Bruce's journals. I've narrowed it down a bit. Along with my own findings which I was about to share." He took a deep breath. "It appears Safiyah and The Many Arms of Death are cleaning house so to speak. In the 20 minutes it's been reported at least 3 workers tied to the Kail Corpration have been murdered. I've got the address of the supervisor. There is a chance he could know something Safiyah doesn't want reported to the police and us." Luke explained showing the address on screen.
Kate looked at the information then turned to leave with Ryan. "Alright, good work. Keep trying to find any leads you can. We'll contact Montoya on the way there. Come on Ryan, be prepared for trouble. This is Safiyah's endgame. Whatever she's planning now, there is no way she's going down without heavy resistance."
Ryan nodded understanding as they headed out. "By the way, I asked Whisper if she could help us out."
"Glad to hear that, I know she's skilled at finding people. In this case I'm willing to get anyones help. Apart from Alice." Kate replied then stopped looking like she remembered something. "I forgot, Luke and I had one more surprise planned for you. It just arrived earlier." Kate revealed a second batbike, one made for Ryan.
"You're getting a major, major hug once all this is over." Ryan replied happily, while trying to remain serious about the situation.
"A good partner needs a good vehicle, hope you like it." Kate replied.
Ryan hopped on. "Love it already Batwoman."
"Glad to hear that Black Bat, let's go." She replied as they rode off.
Safiyah returned to visit Mary looking pleased with herself.
"Were you bitten by the overly cocky bug? Or do you always look so smug?" Mary asked sarcastically.
She sat down in front of her ignoring the comment. "I've underestimated you Ms. Hamilton. See, I always thought your mother was the smart one. I kid of course, you aren't so clever. Not as much as Catherine, she was underhanded and could cover her tracks. If you did destroy that work, you could've avoided a lot of trouble that my scientists are discovering. More accurately delay it."
"You don't know crap about my mom!" Mary shouted at her.
Safiyah continued. "A man of mine tried to steal a gun which could kill Batwoman, unfortunately your mother destroyed the blueprints after Alice stole it for me. If that woman was alive I'd have killed her myself for making life significantly more difficult. From Alice I expect that at least. My saying is, don't you believe it's odd that your mother would build such a weapon. Seems suspicious to me, sadly looks like we might never get an answer. At least not today. I've got a feeling it wasn't for moral reasons and maybe for less moral friends."
Mary shook her head and crossed her arms. "You're just trying to tick me off, is that where Alice learned it from, huh? It sounds like you spend a lot of quality time together, at least that's what I heard from my sister." She leaned closer. "Alice improved on your little nasty bag of tricks and manipulation. You don't scare me. Not one bit lady, I've faced off against Alice. Besides, my sister is going to knock you around good!" Mary said, standing up for herself.
After an awkward silence, Safiayh stood up and kicked Mary to the floor out of the chair. "You should be careful, I'm not going to kill you, just yet. Alas, there are ways to make your time here mighty painful without spilling a drop of blood!" Safiyah then left walking past Knife who she motioned to stand guard.
She stepped into the room and lifted Mary off the ground putting her gently back into the chair going to lean against the wall.
"That boss of yours isn't very nice you know!" Mary exclaimed.
"She's my best friend, but yes. Sometimes her temper gets the better of her. There is no reason to harm you further than needed. It's a shame you have to die for our plans." Tahani replied looking genuine.
Mary was puzzled. "You don't want me to die?"
"You're a doctor, a free doctor. How many of those are there in this country? Most countries for that matter, always seek a form of payment or need a card or a piece of paper, you don't ask questions. Just help. It's respectable. I greatly hate Kate Kane, but her sins aren't yours. Your fate is Alice's fault, not your own."
"Alice's fault? How so?" Mary tilted her head thinking back.
"I've spoken enough, Safiyah wants to be the one to share the truth. I just wanted to let you know my own feelings." Tahani responded not looking over at Mary.
Mary looked over. "You don't seem like a bad person, why help Safiyah? I get she's your best friend, but come on. She's hurting a lot of people. To adduct me your bestie murdered a bunch of guards who only wanted to keep me safe!"
"It's all for the better, everything she's doing. I trust her with my life and she's the only person who's been there for me. Why should I care about all these others who stand in the way of her goals?" She replied looking at the door.
"Safiyah doesn't care about you! I'd say that woman doesn't care about anybody but herself!" Mary exclaimed.
Tahani seemed to have enough exiting the room leaving Mary alone once more.
Standing outside, she found Safiyah waiting for her. "Next time, leave the sad little girl alone, please and thanks?"
"I'm sorry Safiyah, I know everything she said was bull." Tahani replied looking concerned and hurt.
"Of course my dear, she's a liar and a silly girl, whose life will soon be over. So don't worry about that." Safiyah corested her face momentarily before leaving again.
Elsewhere, Batwoman and Black Bat arrived on the scene of the location given to them. The commissioner with some police arrived right behind them.
Naturally, Kate and Ryan weren't going to wait around entering the house getting attacked almost instantly by some guards who appeared to be Safiyah's people from their choice of clothing.
Black Bat used all her body's strength to push one against the wall kicking into their stomach and punched them out in the face. While she did, Batwoman creaked one guard's lag and spun kicked another into a wall. A forth larger guard managed to hit her hard to the ground, but this didn't stop her as she grappled above guard number 4's head and landed back down knocking them out.
Two more armed guards rushed down the stairs immediately opening fire on the heroes, Ryan ducked to the ground avoiding the incoming shoots. Kate rushed over to them tanking the bullets grabbing both guns smacking them in the face with them knocking both shooters down.
"I think we're in the right place." Black Bat remarked heading up stairs with Batwoman only to discover a formulier face, The Archer.
"Ah, your sidekick is here. With a new suit, I see, glad to have our first meeting wearing a proper suit." He remarked while holding their target firmly with a sharp arrow to their throat looking cocky.
Batwoman looked at her partner, giving a secret signal. "You don't have to do this, Archer. You're not loyal to Safiyah, let him go. This whole place is going to be surrendered with police officers." She began saying, as Ryan moved carefully to the side which caught his attention.
"Are you trying some funny business? I don't particularly wish to kill this man, we've had a nice conversation and card game while waiting for you." He replied keeping a closer eye on Ryan.
"I'd really like to live through this!" The man exclaimed.
Batwoman stood still. "What exactly is your plan here?" She demented to know.
He scoffed. "Simple, I'm waiting for a helicopter, which shall be arriving any moment now. It's why this lovely home has a skylight. Quick extraction."
"Then why didn't you take him away sooner?" Ryan jumped in.
"My orders were to kill him, like the rest. Unfortunately for him, Safiyah was overruled unbenounced to her. I really want to take him alive to complete the request given to me, so don't try anything stupid." He responded, looking over at Black Bat, which was exactly part of the plan. Batwoman swiftly threw a tiny batarang at the arrow making it split and fall apart.
"Nice timing." He remarked and then tossed a flashbang hidden in his sleeves at the heroes giving enough time to try shooting at Ryan grabbing his bow, which instead hit Kate fortunately. Until said arrow blasted back her body against the wall. "Come along, we're leaving." He said to the man, who resisted giving a chance for Ryan to attack getting into a close fight with The Archer. His movements were incredibly fast blocking all her hits, which inspired her to play a little more dirty trying to kick below the belt realizing how skilled the man was and managed to get the hit making him go off balance long enough to hit him twice across the face. Then for good measure spin kicked the guy in the face which made him fall to the ground.
The police rushed up the stairs as Batwoman stood back up with some assistance from Montoya. "You okay?"
"Yeah, thanks. Grab him quick." She replied, darting her eyes to their target.
The Archer spun around getting back to his feet tossing out more flashes quickly making a break for the back exit as the mentioned Helicopter arrived. "I like an opportunity to play dirty! Reminds me of the older days!" He exclaimed running away shooting an arrow hooking into the helicopter while Ryan was in close pursuit nearly about to grab him only missing by a few inches. The cops tried shooting, but seemed to miss as he escaped.
Black Bat sighed in disappointment and headed back up stairs finding the man confronted by Batwoman. "You're going to tell us everything. Now!"
"Of course. I'll give a complete confession, but-"
"There is always a but." Montoya interrupted, annoyed.
He leaned close. "Minimum security prison. I want that in writing."
Batwoman turned to her. "How long will that take?"
"Fast as humanly possible." She replied and went to leave, making a call.
Julia took Sophie home, while getting her entirely up to speed on everything happening with Operation: Nightfall, of which they were aware of.
"This is insane, I can't believe commander Kane is planning this and has been keeping me in the dark! There was a time, I saw him as a father figure. A person I could always count on. Those days are long gone, aren't they?" Sophie accepted looking a bit heartbroken by realizing how far out of his good graces she's fallen.
"I'm sorry Sophie, I know this is a lot to take in, but we've gotta pull it together now and help out Batwoman. It's all for Mary." Julia expressed.
Sophie nodded and sighed deeply. "Alright, so how exactly are we going to find out more information?"
"I've got an ally who can help." She replied simply.
"Who?"
Julia smiled. "Oh just some bloke who's not a fan of the Crows, ex Crow." She lied as it was in reality Luke, but she couldn't outright say that without follow up questions. "We're going to break inside of areas we shouldn't be in and get access to information we need, thanks to the power of hacking."
"Your contact is an expert hacker?" Sophie looked confused.
"Not exactly, another contact. I've got two helping out here." Julia replied quickly with her lie looking confident. "I want this to go off without a hitch. We'll do it together. Break into the centel mainframe and hack into it, find any information and we'll be good."
Sophie looked uncertain. "I think I should go alone."
"Why would you?" Julia instantly asked.
"Easy, it'll be less suspicious. I'm still a really high ranking member of the Crows, people won't question me as much, if we're going together or by yourself. That would be more dangerous, I don't want you to get caught."
"Dito. I won't let you get caught. Let me do it." Julia persisted.
Sophie put her foot down. "I can handle this, it's the better call."
"And I'm a professional spy, not getting caught is my specialty. I should be the one taking the risk here." Julia replied, persistent in herself.
"Please let me do this, okay?" Sophie continued saying.
Julia relented looking away. "Alright fine, we'll do it your way. We're going to plan this out completely, best we can."
"This might not be something we can plan completely, especially with how inconist the guards are. And from the sounds of it, time isn't on our side." Sophie expressed.
"You're right. Let's get this done, fast then."
Around the sametime, Jacob was hard at work putting together everything they had on finding Mary's location. Then agents Krauser and Proctor arrived before him.
"Sir, we've gotten reports that Batwoman has been spotted, along with her partner sporting a new suit. Working with Montoya, probably going to search for Safiyah and your daughter." Proctor shared.
"This could be a situation sir, Batwoman could screw everything up, don't you agree?" Brain Krauser added in.
Jacob Kane stood up. "What are you suggesting, agent Krauser?"
"Your operation, Knightfall. It could be time to put that into play sir. Bring down Batwoman before she can cause you any more issues." He suggested.
"My team isn't ready yet. Our operation is a risk, if Batwoman becomes aware of everything going on this could be the loss of our only opportunity. The element of surprise is over."
"Of course sir, but it's something we should consider."
Jacob looked over at Proctor. "And do you suggest?"
"Whatever you believe is the right call sir." Proctor replied.
Kane turned around looking away from the two thinking about his call. "I think Krauser might have the right idea, I can't risk Mary's safety with Batwoman in play. Her life could be on the line. Either we wait until Mary is safe or we strike now. We'll see how it plays out, alert the rest of the team. From this point on, Operation: Knightfall is imminent. We're on standby to move forward if necessary, only if necessary." Jacob said seriously, staring back at them with deterimended eyes.
Back with the heroes, Montoya returned. "Here. It's in writing. Look it over fast." She then turned to Ryan. "Love the new suit Black Bat, a vast improvement over the original. A lot more professional. Before it looked like you stole it from an elementary school. No offense." She remarked with a hint of sarcasm, it was unclear.
"None taken, I think?" Ryan replied a little insulted.
"Start talking." Montaya said, looking pissed at the guy.
He sighed and cleared his throat. "Okay, as you know my name is Albert Lee, but that isn't important. My job is to transport important equipment into the city for The Many Arms of Death, a few days ago it was a device into Gotham City undetected by anybody. And once I learnt of its function I for once decided to do the right thing." He paused leaning against the wall.
"What device?" Batwoman demanded punching the wall.
"A type to release something into the air around us, quickly and not be dedicated to searches. A virus." He revealed.
Batwoman got in his face. "That's in the city right now?"
Lee nodded. "Yes, it's in play. I saw it myself."
"If you knew exactly what it was, why didn't you alert the police? Anybody?"
"My phones are tapped and I'm under 24/7 watch, these people don't play around. Clearly this is very important. It's why I convinced them to keep me inside of the city in my expensive home, and figured someone would've figured out a clue. And I left my tracks behind. Thought someone like you would arrive sooner." He replied.
Montoya turned to Batwoman. "You know this device?"
"Yes, I do very well. My team has been trying to destroy it, but it looks like we failed. Safiyah Sohail is going to release a virus then, that was the worst case scenario. Honestly, I didn't believe she'd be willing to go through with this. I should've warned you sooner this was a possibility Montoya."
"You should've, yes." She agreed.
Black Bat looked at Batwoman. "What are we going to do now?"
Batwoman thought about it. "That machine can be used to spread a cure as well, before Safiyah had mentioned a rare flower called the Desert Rose that only grew on the island she's in control of. What if she's planning on using that flower somehow, she claimed it was a cure all to anything. Which sounds impossible, but now I'm wondering if that's true and if this is all connected to her final plan."
"How does this connect to the kidnapping of Mary Hamelton?" Montoya questioned not fully grasping it and looked at one of her officers. "I'm going to need a pen and paper." She expressed wanting to write down all this new information.
"So we might have to stop the release of a virus then?" Black Bat questioned shocked.
Batwoman nodded. "Indeed, looks like we're going to need all the help we can get to make sure this doesn't get out."
"I'll alert the CDC, hope they'll get here before anything major happens." Montoya replied, rushing out calling.
At the sametime when Kate and Ryan were alone now, her phone rang. "It's Whisper. I gotta pick up, hopefully she's found something." Ryan said and picked up.
"Where are you right now?" She asked immediately.
"Wayne Tower, why do you ask?" Ryan replied quickly.
There was a moment of silence. "No reason, I'm still talking to contacts about where that Mary person could be. So far nothing."
Ryan understood. "Actually, I'm glad you called. I was going to as well, uh. I saw on the news there is a threat of a virus being released, so maybe you should stay safe."
"The news? You're sure, I think one of my contacts would've been freaking out if something like that was shared." She replied.
"Maybe it's not been made aware to everyone in Gotham yet, just look out for anything dangerous okay?" Ryan persisted.
"Okay, you too." She hung up and walked over to someone.
The man looked at her, handing her an envelope. "All your money is there."
"You better not be lying." She replied looking quite serious.
"Hey, you can trust me. I know better than to lie to you." He responded, putting up his hands. "After all, if you can't get out of town, I'm going to be the guy you're pissed with and pay an unhappy visit." He remarked, making sense.
Backover with Mary, her lonely stay in the white room was once more interrupted by the return of Safiyah.
"Hello again Mary, I'm pleased to finally have news for you." She said, looking cocky with a sinister smirk.
Mary scoffed. "Oh yeah? I doubt it's good news!"
"Right you are, see we cracked the secrets of your blood. That mysterious cure to Crane's toxin, that's indeed in your veins. A cure to anything that could harm you, besides a bullet and such. A cold, the flu, a deadly virus. Your body would naturally create antibodies." Safiyah began to explain.
"So I have magic blood? Did you bump your head or something?" Mary asked, shaking her head.
"Magic blood? No, no. The night your mother died, you both were poisoned and Alice gave you a cure, then later on your blood was needed again. A vampire or something? Perhaps bad intel, I don't care. My point is, you could see that your blood was more than normal couldn't you?" Safiyah questioned getting in her face.
Mary laughed. "There is no way I have magic blood or whatever you are currently believing here! That's outlandish at best! You must've been banging your noggin against the wall! I mean seriously, I see where Alice gets the crazy from!" Mary mocked.
Safiyah looked less than amused, but took a deep breath, continuing. "No, you see I think that cure given the amount you were given, that being a full dosage, it's given you residual effects of its properties. It bonded with your immune system, that was thought impossible, otherwise I would've taken it myself. That cure was the Desert Rose, it was meant to be given in small doses, however Alice gave you the entire contents of the flower. Nobody ever dared to try it for fear of wasting its gifts. Naturally why would Alice give a damn? You were a test subject and an insult given to me by Alice, only in the end looks like everything has worked out." Safiyah smiled.
Mary tilted her head looking confused. "This is insane!"
Safiyah nodded and continued. "And yet it's more than likely true that you cannot be harmed nor killed by any kind of known disease, natural or artificial, perhaps even toxins like Scarecrow's fear gas, or perhaps even high levels of radiation. You could survive it all, mind you I suspect it would do lasting damage depending on how dangerous the scenario or exposure would be. Say if Crane kept dosing you with significantly higher levels of fear toxin instead of the low level he gave you, perhaps it would actually harm you. Who's to say? I certainly don't want to test it, I would rather go with our now proven method." Safiyah remarked.
Mary looked like her brain had stopped working momentarily after this revelation. "So, do I have a superpower?"
"It would appear you do. Congrats, enjoy it for the remaining day or two of your life." Safiayh replied with a nasty smirk.
"Seriously? You're going to kill me when I have this super power? Are you out of your mind lady?!" Mary questioned furious and puzzled.
Safiyah shook her head. "No, we reverse engineered your blood to create a cure for the virus we created. Mind you we already made a ton of progress finding that cure, just seeing your antibodies cure the small sample we used proved it. By taking your blood, by bleeding you dry, we could find a handful of cures to viruses. One life, for a most ambitious goal. At least that's the theory. It's why I send Crane after you, to test my outlandish original theory, so let's take another leap of faith, shall we?"
Mary sighed, accepting. "Well, at least I'll die for something noble."
"Don't worry we're not ready yet and second. No, this isn't a noble death. See, the virus we created, I'm going to release it onto Gotham and your blood, that cure we're going to create, probably, is going to be the city's only hope, at a price."
"Probably?" Mary asked.
"Yeah, it's not exact science, but we shall see. My Plague, this gloriously named Plague of Madness. It's going out in less than an hour and a lot of people are no doubt going to die, or be greatly harmed. Either the city will have its cure, or it'll burn. No matter the outcome, I win." Safiyah declared to a horrified Mary.
Batwoman
In Response To CG
Thank you, I'm glad you are impressed with that chapter, I sincerely hope this chapter kept up the quality. I was checking my past notes and reviews you had given quite a lot throughout this, I certainly had a faster turn around this time so I hope it didn't affect anything storywise. Happy too I did a good job with the facility stuff in your option and that Star Trek part it's a nice detail I liked to add. Now you mentioned that, I do regret not having a situation like you described. It would've set up more of the threat this anti Batwoman team poses which I wish I did a better job of showcasing besides just the physical and extend that. I regret it a lot now not thinking of including something like that. I think it'll unfortunately make the finale weaker. You're right too I probably should've put more positive comments, I didn't want to go overboard, but even a couple more might've helped express how impressive her fighting and skills were which is important for Jacob to remember when it's too late. I was contemplating doing that having more of a conflict between the two, I feel like Julia would be the most likely to get into disagreements. I wanted to test the waters to see how that'd work out, I think I'd like to pursue more conflict there. Happy I handled it well and I am looking forward to writing about their interactions.
In regards to Superman and Lois - Understandable you were disappointed by that. It certainly would have spared a whole lot of issues and questions about its placement. It makes sense that season 1 would take place in the Arrowverse. It seems so yeah it's Covid 19's fault for this happening, that Batwoman crossover would've probably canonisted it. I do wonder what's happening behind the scenes.
In regards to Failsafe - Thank you for giving that added explanation as to why Failsafe is messed up when going online, it makes sense this would occur and I really like it tieing back further to the events of 2015.
In regards to Ryan requesting Whisper's help to find Mary - That makes sense, I'll be sure to add that. Either in this chapter or the next. (If I haven't already done that)
In regards to Earth-Prime comics - I have done my best to keep up, that was a pretty big shocker. I wasn't expecting that to happen. I hope that's followed up in some way. It's a weird trend of losing arms for archers, Oliver lost his in at least one bad future father like daughter I guess and yeah that makes sense Kate would have a Batman Beyond type of suit. I'm curious if this major event will come to pass, it seems like it'll be in the comics, so hopefully that does happen if not on the shows unless they're planning a major surprise. That's very strange, I don't know what any of that might mean, but it's annoying that the Superman and Lois issue was probably a waste of time. Also I didn't know that, very interesting and fortunate that won't come to pass.
In regards to the Spider-Man story you suggested - I understand why you'd be interested in that it's certainly a question assuming Spider-Man 4 happens, seems like that number is cured, though 3 seemed to be as well and that's no longer the case. Anyways, I do wonder too how it'll happen. I would like his friends to get back their memories. I don't want Peter to have a different love interest. That's nice of you commenting on the author doing good, I'm sure they did appreciate it and I understand why you gave them theories, sure they appreciated that too. I certainly hope nothing has happened and that they'll return to continue the story soon enough. I understand your worry. I hope it'll be okay.
In regards to choosing Gilda Dent as a Season 5 villain - I can understand that reasoning, surely she would've been mentioned before and yeah I agree with that point about the other sister. I do love that idea of having all that history with the Kane family and the Bruce Wayne of course, it makes sense too she would've known the Kane family before that tragedy occured. Also yes I realized it was their birthday which is why I believe Kate really really hates her birthday considering her entire life changed for the worst on her 13th. I understand why you would forget, the show did a poor job with that detail I believe. (Yeah I guess 13 is a really unlucky number for them) It makes a lot more sense with all the history you've given Gilda to be able to run for Mayor. Along with having Harvey and Kate supporting her. I love the idea a lot of having Harvey present during all this and watching his wife become Two-Face is an interesting twist on how things usually play out. I love it too that it would be Duela who would do the action, it would be more impactful this way having more of the Dent family present for that turning point. (It makes sense she might've escaped Arkham, I do wonder what she was doing for all that time. Maybe she was found by the Arkham Knight sometime ago explaining her absence?) It makes sense as well they'd figure out she didn't have the brains to pull it off by herself. (I suspect Maggie will be the first to figure that out) I love everything you described here, I completely agree this would be the better choice. I'm understanding your point of view better now. Thank you.
About your ideas for Wolf Spider - I certainly did like it and I agree he would be a great ally in that capacity. It'd be very interesting, hopefully.
About your idea for the second John Diggle episode - Of course, I liked the idea of the scene a lot, thank you for further explaining how this whole scene will play out with Diggle showing up and the bits of conversations, along with trying to keep it mostly canon with the rest of the Arrowverse.
About Luke not telling Kate about the quick upgrade to her Batsuit in your Season 2 - It makes sense yeah with everything going on you mentioned there he wouldn't have enough time thank you for pointing that out.
In regards to Jacob Kane learning about Mary's secret clinic - I think he'd be upset in the moment, then get back into the mind state of being greatly concerned about Mary's safety. Also, I'm going to have that play out in the beginning of next chapter, I didn't have anywhere to fit that into.
Your story ideas - I hope I gave okay answers to everything and said everything right, you have some pretty interesting ideas.
Story Idea #1: I think I'm most interested in potentially going forward with that series. A continuation of what happened after Supergirl would be known to the world would be pretty interesting. And more so I'm curious what ideas you have for 2 seasons at least for that series. I've been very interested in what you had in mind since you posted this. (Along with the other two below) I also like the title quite a bit. You certainly have a talent for naming.
Story Idea #2:
I'm not sure about this one, it sounds interesting, but I personally can't think of much to write for this version of the series. Maybe I'll change my mind, who knows.
Story Idea #3: I'm interested in the sound of this story and I am curious about some of the ideas you have. Could be an interesting mystery of how any of that happened. I think it might have interesting potential. I'd love to hear more, I like the concept and the title of the story. (Interestingly, I had a dream a week before your suggestion here about going to see The Amazing Spider-Man 3 in theaters with my partner, which had Gwen Stacy become Spider-Gwen. Weird timing.)
Anyways, the only thing making me more skeptical then I would be otherwise is I had brainstormed a bit over the last few months about eventually doing another spider person related story. Basically having a transgender Spider-Woman inspired by the ultimate comics line only not being a clone going though that whole journey the normal longer way and having a "brother" in the form of Ben Reily who would be a clone. It was mostly in the thinking stage, not sure if I was going to go through with it, but it was something I thought about. (Strangely enough, since I mentioned this I've been thinking about it a lot more) Of course I could potentially do both, it was just something I wanted to mention.
Furthermore, I wanted to mention the other projects I had on my list as that could affect everything, I already mentioned one above there. Right now there is that Huntress series I want to attempt, probably next year at some point I think it's pretty likely I'll at least give it a shot. (Not Arrowverse connected naturally) Then there was an Avengers spin off thing, but honestly I'm probably going to toss it and same with the Scarlet Witch story sequel I had considered that I had posted a few weeks ago. (However I still have semi thought of a standalone Scarlet Witch series, but as I mentioned on my profile I've gone nowhere with that since 2018) On top of that, something I haven't ever shared anywhere I've concerned doing a "volume 2" to that Spider-Man series I'm working on now once I final finish everything in that series. Essentially it'd be like "screw it." I still have a lot of ideas, but also want to end on a satisfying note depending on how long everything takes and use that follow up for ideas I never got to do.
Then finally there is that Dreamer series, which is more relevant to this. I might just end on canceling it assuming I go through with your Supergirl idea and maybe could fold in some ideas for a subplot? I've had a lot of trouble thinking of anything for that series and figured it'd just end up a small few chapter project anyways if I ever completed it. That was all to say, I have a lot on my plate and the future isn't clear if my writing is going to continue along nicely or drop off again. My mind and motivation to write is a confusing thing, so it's hard to tell if I might go through with anything mentioned or all the ideas you've given. I certainly hope I'll be able to keep on writing. I love it a ton, guess we'll see what the future holds.
Name mixup - Hopefully I fixed that, thanks for pointing that out. I'm embarrassed by the little slip ups I've had throughout this series. I appreciate you pointing them out, I had a feeling I missed something in the last chapter I always do when I post.
Elaborations on WHY I think some version of Season 1 of "Superman & Lois" WOULD happen on Earth-Prime:
I agree with every bit of evidence you've given here, you clearly have been keeping a very close eye out on all this. I wish the people working on the series had been paying as close attention. Very good job on that. (Sorry for not having more to say to all of that you seemed to have thought a lot about it)
Remaining questions for next time - First one would be one I can't believe I don't think I've asked. How exactly does the cure work? I am under the assumption that once exposed there isn't much of a chance of survival due to how it works. So is it more of a way of stopping the virus from spreading further or cure everyone affected?
Second, is this the episode where Sophie is captured? I think it might be this with how I've written it that would make the most sense, then having 23 with Julia trying to break Sophie out leading to a cliffhanger of them running away into episode 24 so Sophie can learn about Batwoman, of course by the time it's to late and doesn't get to speak to it about Kate yet.
Third, I believe it'd be a good time to show how desperte Safiyah is at this point by sacrificing Tahani to insure the virus goes off potentially? Either this episode or the next, maybe the next which of course will fail. I think it'd be a great opportunity to make Tailia return in the finale to mourn her death after visiting the team briefly after Kate's seeming death giving condolences, perhaps remarking about the pareals between herself and Bruce, with Safiyah and Kate like you mentioned before? In the end giving an unhappy visit to Safiayh in prison.
Finally, I was trying to come up with an explanation for Mary's blood possibly being inconsistent trying to cover for the fact her blood could in theory cure anything if a sample of it could figure out the cure to Safiyah's virus, hopefully I covered well enough for that why Mary doesn't do that for real sickness. (Also I'm fairly certain we talked about having a later plot of Mary wanting to use her blood for the good of others, but putting her own life at risk potentially by trying to give too much blood. Was I right about that? My memory is foggy a lot unfortunately I have an absurd amount of notes and lots of organizing your reviews so far which helps thankfully. I wanted to ask before looking though all the reviews and my own comments again)
To SilverInfinte
I agree, kidnapping Jacob Kane's daughters is something villains seem to enjoy doing.