Chapter 20
"So have they told you anything?" Kara asked ARGUS agent Alberta Rainwalker a little while later. The blonde had let the agency question the two men who had been following the SUV after it left the motel. The two were meeting outside the interrogation rooms the agent had been using.
"They refuse to give names or give us anything useful. The passenger told me that he wanted to see a doctor. The last thing he remembered was seeing you coming at their vehicle and thinking 'oh shit'," the agent explained. She was a member of the Navajo Nation and Lyla had sought her out, not only as she was a former member of the Navajo Nation Police, but also because of her extensive knowledge of the way of her people. The Navajo have a deep, rich cultural oral history that actually was quite helpful when dealing with aliens and seemingly supernatural events.
"That smirk isn't really helping," Alberta continued as she chuckled at the Kryptonian.
"Sorry. I couldn't help myself. Since they won't talk – what about their DNA or fingerprints?" Kara asked.
"Oh, those will be singing, that I am sure of. We're running them now," the agent let her know. They started moving down the hallway, toward the break room and the coffee machine.
"Matt is secured as was his wife. What worries me is what Enigma wanted," the blonde shook her head.
"What did she want?" Alberta stopped in the hallway and gave her a look.
"She wanted the plans for the project. Apparently, she did not make this her first request. She kept asking him for what he viewed as small things and stringing him along, without paying him. When she asked for the plans, he had a bit of a freak out, and that's how the bomb vest ended up on Marie. He had no idea about former DEO agent Todd Smith. I fear that he is no longer with us," Kara heaved a sigh.
"Let's hope not but I can understand why you'd think that. There has been no word since he disappeared and Marie is still under Enigma's spell," the agent said as the two started walking again.
"J'onn thinks magic is involved. It would explain why he couldn't break through. Part might also be Marie's mental training," Kara admitted.
"You said that Mary could not be fully reached either, so I would go with magic. Mary does not have the training that Marie does. This Enigma – where would she have learned this magic?" Alberta asked. The two entered the break room and went straight for the coffee machine. Kara's phone chirped and she pulled it out of her outfit.
"Where were you hiding that?" The ARGUS agent was surprised as she reached for a paper coffee cup and started pouring the hot liquid into its intended receptacle.
"Old Kryptonian secret," Kara teased before she checked the phone. She smiled slightly and then announced,
"I asked Batwoman if she had any information on Enigma that we might be missing. She forwarded me some information that she found in her archives. Seems Enigma may be the daughter of the Gotham villain, the Riddler. He never used magic but his intelligence rivaled Batman's. The intelligence combined with her gift for hypnotism, it is possible she found a way to dabble in the dark arts… she was working with Fatima. Perhaps it's not magic but some sort of chemical that works with the hypnotism? I just can't see how deep the hypnotism can be as a chemical wears off." The second the words left her mouth, Alberta's eyes went wide. She almost dropped her nearly full coffee cup.
"Hard to wear off when you're addicted to it," the agent told her.
"Ummm what now?" Kara wasn't sure what she meant.
"You said that Fatima was working with Enigma… Fatima has had some other interactions in her criminal career with her beloved Fear Toxin on Coryana. Before she joined Enigma, it was believed that she created a drug called Snakebite. Basically, it's Fear Toxin mixed with psychedelic mushroom oil and highly addictive. It can also be lethal if it is not mixed to the exact requirements. Instead of causing the user terrible fright hallucinations, it causes them to become highly euphoric. The more you take, the more you become detached from reality. It would be my guess that once you're in a highly suggestable state, Enigma steps in, and takes an already altered mind, and alters it again," Alberta explained.
"Believed? What would the Many Arms of Death want with something like that?" Supergirl was surprised by this development.
"You know how Safiyah is about loyalty. Safiyah would use this as a weapon to restore those who she viewed as useful to her. Retain their loyalty, keep them in her fold. These were people who already committed crimes and did so willingly. Enigma, however, is using her talents to make people loyal to her – people who would not join her normally. While all these actions are criminal, they are distinctly different," the ARGUS agent said.
"We need to check Marie for needle marks. How do we defeat this Snakebite?" Kara wanted to know.
"The reason it is called Snakebite is because it is administered with dual-pronged injector needles – almost like a pair of snake fangs. As for defeating the drug, the user should go through the DT's but with Enigma in their head… My guess is that Fatima would know if there were an antidote. There is one for the Fear Toxin so something that has Fear Toxin as a component…" Alberta suggested.
"So maybe if we remove the Snakebite from Marie's system, we could then see if J'onn could break through?" The blonde was hopeful.
"Let us hope so because the other option would be to capture Enigma and make her tell how to release her captives," the agent said.
To Be Continued…