Chapter 22
"That's the recipe?" Kara asked Fatima. They were still in the interrogation room and the woman actually amazed the Kryptonian. She had been able to pull the information out of her head, no notes, no nothing. She'd been handed a pen and a piece of paper by Agent Rainwalker and just scribbled it right down.
"I have a photographic memory. It's part of why Enigma never tried to use her tricks on me. My brain remembers everything so trying to trick it is much more complicated. Plus, she didn't want me messing up the Snakebite," Fatima admitted.
"What about Pike? She use that stuff on him?" Alberta wondered.
"Pike, Enigma, and I are part of the old school group that broke away from Safiyah. We were already heading down a road that would lead us to prison or worse, so there's a level of respect there. Respect that the others have to gain, even if it is via Snakebite or hypnotism. Honestly though, I'm surprised that Safiyah hasn't tried to get rid of us permanently yet, but we aren't really encroaching on her turf. Still, if she had the opportunity…" Fatima shook her head.
"Well, if this works, you'll remain safe here," Supergirl promised.
"I didn't develop an antidote for the poorly mixed Snakebite. The rats were killed if they hadn't killed themselves. If Enigma starts trying to make that stuff, you're going to have to get your hands dirty. I'm not sure that you have that in you, despite our earlier discussion," Fatima gave her a look.
"Why couldn't this formula be used to assist in making an antidote for the bad Snakebite?" Alberta asked.
"Because it's completely dependent on how much of the psychedelic mushroom oil is mixed in or the purity of the Fear Toxin. I made a version where I had to substitute an ingredient in the Fear Toxin. While it made just as good Fear Toxin, it didn't bind with the mushroom oil in the right way. The chemical reaction changed the color of the serum from red to blue. I didn't really think about it until the rat I injected tried to eat its own tail," Fatima frowned. The thought made Kara want to shiver but she knew she couldn't show that to the criminal in front of her.
"So, unless we know the original mixture, there is no fix?" Alberta wanted to know.
"Not necessarily, but I'd need all the ingredients listed there and then I'd need to experiment to see if it would work. In order for the person to not try to eat themselves or anyone else, they'd have to be unconscious. It gets tricky when you try to give someone medicine when they are so doped up that you don't know what would interact or if it would fix it or how many tries you get before you kill them. Also, part of the fun, but somehow you probably wouldn't see it that way," Fatima said.
"Yeah, not fun," Kara gave her a look. Alberta handed her the piece of paper that the criminal had written on.
"I suppose I'll find out how this goes, one way or the other?" The woman asked.
"Very soon," Supergirl nodded and left the room. Lyla offered her science team to assist in synthesizing the concoction. Kara agreed and handed the paper to her. The two walked down to the lab and the leader of ARGUS explained what was going on to the scientists.
"How much of this should we make?" Was of course the first question that was asked. For now, only one dose to test on Marie. The team got to work and Lyla pulled Kara aside.
"What will Diana do if this doesn't work?" Lyla asked.
"I don't know. She'll be pissed, like anyone else would be, but I think Fatima prefers to keep her head safely where it is so we should be in the clear," the blonde was confident. Lyla nodded.
"We'll make more once we have confirmation from you that it worked," she said.
"Good idea. We may need quite a bit," Kara said. Her phone rang and she quickly answered it. The call was very short but Lyla could tell there was something afoot.
"Agent Todd Smith was just found unconscious with a bullet wound to the abdomen outside of National City General Hospital. A car dumped him there and took off," Kara said.
"How bad is it?" Lyla asked.
"He's in surgery. Why would they dump him? If Enigma had him… something doesn't make sense," the blonde was concerned what this meant.
"They could be heading out of town. He's a liability but I'm surprised they didn't make sure he was dead," Lyla admitted.
"We need to get a team down there and look at the security camera footage. We also need to make sure that he hasn't been injected with Snakebite," Kara said.
"Go. I'll have the antidote dropped off at the Tower. I'll get a team of agents to meet you down there," Lyla promised.
To Be Continued…