Split

Legend tells of a caped crusader Batman, guardian of New Gotham and his one true love Catwoman, the queen of the criminal underworld. Their passion left behind something extraordinary: A daughter, Huntress. Half-metahuman, she has taken up her father's mantle and under cover of the night fights to protect the innocent and helpless. Joining her in this struggle, Oracle who was once Batman's protÂ¨Â¦gÂ¨Â¦e, Batgirl. She was caught in the crossfire of the war between Batman and Joker. Now she fights crime a different way: A master of the cyberrealms and mentor and trainer to heroes. Together, they have taken in a young runaway, Dinah. A metahuman herself with powers to open hidden doors to the mind powers that she is only beginning to explore. Together, these three are the protectors of New Gotham the Birds of Prey. My name is Alfred Pennyworth, and this is their story. You have the right to remain silent. Hey. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. Can I just ask you, do you have to do that? - What? - Beat the person till they bleed. There's a name for that. It's called excessive force. Let's go. - Mm, I like the sound of that. - Yeah, I noticed. There's only one problem, it's illegal. I like to look at the law as sort of a guideline kind of a helpful suggestion. Yeah, I was thinking of it more as the line between civilization and lawless anarchy. Really? Is that why I had to talk you out of shooting a suspect last week? Don't worry, I didn't actually shoot him. I thought about it. Now, get in the car. What? Don't look at me. I thought he had it coming. If it wasn't for the paperwork I thought you'd have to do I wouldn't have said anything. Were you looking for me for any particular reason? No. Actually, I was tracking him. Saw him hold up a store on Miller and Varley. Really? I'm gonna need you to come to the station and make a statement. You're a witness. You know I can't do that. Why can't working with you ever be simple? There's nothing simple about whatever it is we're doing. You know, it's only complicated because you make it that way. If you followed the rules like everyone else Bad guys would get away. Crimes would happen that could have been prevented. And innocent people would get hurt. Is that what you want? What I want isn't the point. - You're welcome. - You know what I mean. It's just not the kind of help I Need. Why can't things ever be easy with Reese? I mean, we're both fighting crime. He's a cop, you're a vigilante. What do you want me to say? Good point. How about you just find me something to hit? Delphi's reporting a jewelry-store robbery on Kane. - Looks like four, maybe five bad guys. Good. Men. Can't live with them. Might as well beat the crap out of them. Are you sure we're talking about work? Of course we are. What else is there? And I'm not going near that one. It's not like I need some man to work with. I'm perfectly fine all by myself. What the hell? Hey. I don't know you or what you're doing. I'm guessing by the outfit and moves you're in the life. Well, actually Okay, so let's get something straight. This is my city, I do the fighting. I don't need to be saved, I do the saving, okay? You're welcome. Guess I should've seen this one coming. Did you just hear something? - I don't see anything. - Hmm. Guess it's just my imagination. What are you doing? Please, don't! Go away! Please leave me alone. Boyfriend's saying she was grabbed by some sort of monster. Butt-ugly, strong as a gorilla. Of course, somebody snatches my girlfriend I'd be saying the perp was, uh, King Kong too. Well, he may be right. I mean, how else do you explain this? Something ripped this door off its hinges. No normal person could manage it. So, what are you thinking? You, uh, put an APB out for Sasquatch? I don't suppose you have a suggestion that fits the facts, do you? Well, I don't know, PCP, meth-heads, a really big can opener? Sorry, but, uh, the big-can-opener theory of the crime's not doing it for me. Look, detective, if you need me, I'll be on planet Earth. Good, you're back. Listen, I was gonna call you. I know what you're gonna say. I was too harsh on Mystery Superhero Boy, right? You didn't see this guy. He swooped in out of nowhere, dropped into my fight. Who does this guy think he is? I don't suppose you, uh, missed any of that. Huntress, this is Darkstrike. He's an old friend. He's here on a case. Looks like we'll be working together. Great. Great. Oracle, a word? Uh, would you excuse us? - What's this guy got? - Uh, what's he got where? Powers. What kind of metahuman abilities are we talking about here? Speed, strength, agility, enhanced hearing and sight. Actually, a lot like you. How advanced is his hearing, exactly? Oh, don't worry, he won't listen in. It's not really polite. - Oh, a polite crime-fighter, of course. - Yeah. So, uh, who's the gorgeous guy? Don't get used to him. He's not sticking around. Where are you going? I'm just being friendly. Hi. Look, Helena, I know you're a little frustrated with Reese these days. Well, actually, men in general. All of them. As a species. Okay, well, Darkstrike is definitely a guy but he's also a really great fighter. This case that he's on, it's a bad one. There's this guy who abducts women, then kills them. Goes by the name of Crawler. You might wanna team up. Wow, you have her eyes. Oh, you worked with my mother? I was barely a kid, it was years ago, but, yeah. I fought alongside the Black Canary. We all mourned when we heard the news. Yeah. So, Darkstrike, will you be needing a place to stay? - Oh, you should stay here. Definitely. - No, he shouldn't. What, he might feel uncomfortable with all the girl talk. Uh, it's okay, don't worry about me. I'm at a hotel. Reese triggered the Batring. Who triggered the what? - Ugh, it's this cop she works with. They act like there's something going on. They never do anything. It's complicated. Dinah. Thank you. - What do you think he wants? - He's out at Lover's Lane on Mill Road. Delphi's flagging an incoming police report from that same location. A girl's been abducted. So you got plans for the evening? Jesse. Hi. Lynne, what are you doing down here? The joys of being assistant DA. You're the one who gets the page in the middle of the night. How you been? Good. I'm good. I'm gonna be overseeing this case. Mind if I take a look? I've checked the entire outside perimeter for footprints and tire tracks, there's nothing. You wanna know what he's saying? Can you really? No, of course not. Look, I don't need your help, okay? With Reese or anything. I'm sorry. It's my mistake. I thought that you and he were, you know No, no, please, strictly business. So, what can you tell me about this Crawler guy? Everything. I've been tracking him for years. I've got files on disk at the hotel that we should take to Oracle. Details of other cases. - She'll spot something that I've missed. - We'll pick it up after we talk to Reese. I'm not so good with the cops. They always wanna know my name. And they tell me to stop beating on the bad guys. - Heh, yeah, I know what you mean. - Um, why don't you talk to the cop? I'll do one more sweep of the area. We'll meet at the hotel. - Sounds good. - All right. Well, keep me posted. There's gonna be pressure coming down on this one. Pretty girl, midnight abduction, it's gonna be ugly. - I'll call you, if we hear anything more. - Good. And, Jesse, you can call me even if you don't find anything. Why do you always have to do that? Sorry, nowhere to knock. - Get down. - What? There's somebody in the trees. Oh, relax, he's with me. He is? He's a coworker. He was just leaving anyway. I thought you worked alone. I keep trying. So you called? Yeah. Abduction. Amy Harris, 17 years old, kidnapped a few hours ago. I put an APB out on her and the possible perp. But other than what you see around here we don't have a whole lot to go on. Could be this guy from Central City, they call him the Crawler. I'll get a description to you, see what you can dig up. Well, it's pretty obvious he's a metahuman, huh? Either that or they don't make American like they used to. Well, listen, I'd appreciate a hand with this one. That's why I'm here. It seems like you have all the extra hands you need. What was that? Nothing. Nothing. - How's McNally? - He's all right. He's all right. - He'll get out of the hospital next week. - Good. Seems like you and your new partner have everything under control. My partner? - Oh, what, do you mean Lynne? - Yeah. No, she's not She's from the DA's office. She's tried some cases I brought in. So you two must work well together. I mean, we've got a lot in common. This thing about upholding the law kind of works for her too. Too bad criminals don't always play by the rules. Yeah, well, I'll talk to a police psychologist and get a profile. Isn't this romantic? You're so young. So beautiful. I want you to know why I brought you here. I watched you there in the car with your boyfriend. You're in love. And love must die. Darkstrike, hello? I would've knocked Well, I never knock. Oracle, are you there? What's up? I'm in Darkstrike's hotel room. Something's wrong. - What is it? - Place is trashed. It looks like Is that a body? Hang on. Someone's coming. Huntress, what's going on? - What? What is it? - I think the Crawler's been here. The Crawler. He's got the girl and he's gonna kill her like all the others. He kidnaps a girl and then leaves all the evidence in your room? Yes, it's a game to him. All of this. Even the killing. I don't understand. He does the same thing every time. It's his way of connecting to me. All of this. It's a taunt, a challenge. He dares me to find him, and when I do, he makes me watch her die. - Why? - I tracked the Crawler in Central City for a couple of years. You know profiling, getting inside his head, and I was so close to nailing him. And then one night, I'm out and he abducted my fiancÂ¨Â¦e. It took me three days to find her. And when I arrived, he was waiting for me, and he killed her in front of me. And every time he kidnaps a girl, he leaves evidence. And he dares me to find him, and every time I am moments too late. I've never been able to stop him. We'll stop him. What's this? Part of the missing girl's ponytail. Looks like our boy's trying to play a little game of cat-and-mouse. Thought you could use it for forensics. Part of it. Where's the rest of it? Kept it, for analysis. This way, if one of us misses something - The other might actually catch it. - Yeah. Well, I think that might be a huge mistake. We have state-of-the-art equipment here. Are you using a private lab? Very private. Okay, what if it's not up to the task? Look, I understand that you can hold your own in a fight just fine. But don't you think this is out of your area of expertise? I have a lot of areas of expertise. Look, this isn't exactly standard police procedure to work with half the evidence. I gotta doubt your facilities if you won't tell me where or what they are. I don't think it's my facilities you're doubting. - That's not fair. - Let's not have this conversation again. - We've gotta work together. - Yeah, you're right. Okay, well, speaking of working together, um that guy I saw you with at the crime scene the other night, is he? Is he a what? Is he working with you on this case? I gotta tell you the truth, I really didn't like the looks of him. Heh, Reese, you don't have to worry about Darkstrike. Darkstrike? Who comes up with these names? He strikes after dark, it's descriptive. - Point is, he's professional like me. - Yeah? He seems to be just like you from what I can see, even the clothes. I mean, what, is there some kind of vigilante dress code? All Darkstrike cares about is seeing justice done. Just like me. Don't worry. If the girl can be found, Oracle will find her. I know. I know. It's just that I can't stand the waiting. I gotta do something. I'm not too good with the patience thing myself. No matter how hard Oracle tries to teach me. Well, it seems as if you've learned a lot from her. I have. I just don't know if I'll ever be able to fill my mom's shoes. That is, if I ever fill her shoes. Barbara keeps telling me my mental powers are getting stronger, but You're afraid that you're not gonna be the same kind of fighter that your mother was. - Is that it? - Yeah. You knew her, you fought with her. She was amazing. And it's like, no matter how hard I train even if I get a handle on this telekinesis thing Dinah, being a crime-fighter is not about how fast or how strong you are it's about the choices that you make. Protecting the innocent every day, even though it means risking yourself body and soul. Profiling is all about the origin moment, detective. Digging down through the layers until you hit bedrock. That's where you need to be to reconstruct the killer's mind: The origin moment. So this guy, the Crawler. You need to know when he first killed? Not at all. I need to know, to understand what happened to him that turned him from a normal person into what he is today. That single defining moment when everything changed. When he turned into a vicious, sadistic killer. It's all in the eye of the beholder. I suspect this Crawler, as you call him sees himself very differently, possibly even heroically. He kills young women. He seeks out targets he thinks need to be punished. The question is, punished for what? He chooses victims in relationships. I suspect that's the key. You make him sound almost rational. He's just trying to do what we all try and do, detective, find what we've lost. Youth, happiness, love. Look for a trigger. A suspect with a badly broken relationship in his past. Someone sometime has been very cruel to your killer. You find that, and you'll find him. You know, your insight into the criminal mind is, uh It's very impressive, Dr. Quinzel. It's a fascinating study, detective. Evil's so much more interesting than good, don't you think? The police have taken the car to the impound. Darkstrike's on his way. Meet him, see if you find anything the police have missed. On my way. Yeah, I cannot find anything. Don't worry, we'll find her. Are you all right? There was nothing I could do. I understand. When I was 16 my mom was stabbed right in front of me. The guy got away. There was nothing I could do. It changes you, huh? It changes the way you look at life. It changes the way you love people, if you love people. Makes you hide from things that might hurt you. There's not a lot of people that can understand that. Do you ever wonder how it's so easy that we can call each other by codenames get all dressed up in black and take our aggressions out by kicking ass? It's like we become someone else. - Anything from the victim's hair yet? - No, not yet. I've got a lot of samples, some distinctive pollen signatures. It's just figuring out what they all mean. Don't worry, I'll figure it out. This waiting is driving me crazy. I'm gonna go. - Stay reachable on coms. Will do. Well, I think Darkstrike's great. You should really forget about Reese and go for him. Excuse me? I just meant that you two would be great crime-fighting partners. Oh. Uh, look, you're always talking about how hard it is with Reese. But with Darkstrike, you two have so much in common. You work the same way, you think the same way. It is kind of nice not having to hide anything, just being myself knowing he isn't hiding anything from me. Maybe that's the way it should be. Easy. Huntress, do you copy? Right here. I've got something. The amalgamation of spores and pollen suggests a specific combination of plants. There's only one place in New Gotham you could find them. There's an abandoned house at the Old Gotham arboretum. That's where the girl is. Dinah's on her way. Amy. Are you okay? Oh, come on. I know you can do better than that. - So you're Darkflight's little bitch. - We're just friends. And I'm nobody's bitch. Huntress, are you all right? Yeah, I'm fine. What happened to you? The guy hit me. One minute, I'm behind you. - The next, I'm flat on my back. - We're gonna need an ambulance. On its way. He got away, but we stopped him. - Yeah, this time. - There won't be a next time. - How is she? She's in shock. She's not gonna tell us anything. We have to get her to the hospital. I could find out what she knows, my way. - I don't I don't think so. - Yeah, but I could get us information. We could find out where he lives, what kind of car he drives. Helena, we could stop this from happening again. Do it. Dinah! Dinah. Dinah. - Is she all right? I don't know, she just passed out. Get her back here now. I'm gonna stay till the ambulance comes. You take Dinah back to the Clocktower. I don't think there's any permanent damage. I think you were just overloaded by the power of the girl's trauma. But nothing like this ever happened to me before. Your powers are getting stronger, getting more from a hit. That's why it's affecting the way it is. What'd you see? It's hard to describe exactly. I saw the Crawler's face. It was so empty and hopeless. And this other girl she was terrified. But she knew something, something about the Crawler. Something important. I can feel it. I just don't know what it is. I got a decent DNA sample from the blood on the window. I'll analyze it. See if he's got any weaknesses we can use against him. - He's still out there. - Yeah, but the girl's safe. And we'll get him. He's evil. Tell me about it. Look what he did to my favorite shirt. - I'm gonna go home, get changed. - Try to get some sleep. - You're gonna need it. - Okay. This isn't over yet. Okay, you're sure it was the same M. O? Young woman, romantic relationship, abducted, and then killed? No, no, no. It's just Just something's weird. All right, listen, thanks, man. I owe you big on this. Yeah. Helena. Thank God, you're all right. - What's going on? - The Crawler, he wants to kill you. Okay, so another bad guy wants me dead. - Take a number. - No, you don't understand. He knows where you live, and he's coming to get you. Okay. Okay. We'll face him together. Is DNA supposed to do that? This doesn't make any sense. I mean, it's so unstable. It can't decide what it wants to be. Reese. He's trying to contact Helena. - Hello? Detective Reese? - Who's this? - I'm an associate of the Huntress. - I got your message. - Wait a minute. You're the voice, aren't you? The invisible friend, whoever it is that she's talking to all the time. Huh - That's funny. I figured you for a guy. - You contacted us, detective. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, right. Um Listen, I was talking to a friend of mine over at Central City P. D. He was telling me about killings that match the M. O. Of the Crawler. You found something new on the killings? Well, actually, I found something strange. About a year ago, a girl was killed. It's matching the Crawler's M. O., except that there were two bodies. The girl and then a white male in his 20s, but never identified. What? The killing was never filed with the others, because it didn't match his profile. Two bodies, not one, one of them male. - So who was the male victim? - That's the really bizarre part. From the evidence at the crime scene it looked like he was the one who killed the girl. But that would mean the Crawler's dead. Thank you, detective, I'll let Huntress know. Yeah. When you got your hit off the girl, did you get any images of Darkstrike? I saw a flash of his face, I mean, it was jumbled with everything else. That's impossible. What? What's impossible? - She was kidnapped by the Crawler. - Uh-huh. Helena rescued her. When did she see Darkstrike's face? We really should be going. Don't worry. You're safe here. Wait, wait, this is where you live? Yeah, an apartment over the bar. That's the great thing about working where you live. It's a short commute. Can I buy you a drink? I'd love one. Huntress, do you copy? If you're with Darkstrike, get away. Do you hear me? Get away! No. No. I won't let you kill her. Do you hear me? I won't let you. You're gonna have to kill me first. No, that would be too easy for you. You sick bastard. You're the one that let your fiancÂ¨Â¦e die. You left her there, sleeping, helpless, alone. You don't deserve to love again. Not for a moment. And you never will. Darkstrike, listen to me. Helena I'm so sorry. This isn't you. You can fight this. Fight him. You're stronger than he is. You can beat him. He can't help you. He's a fraud. He's nothing. No, he's not. - He's a good man. I know him. - You don't know anything about him. He's got blood on his hands, hers and mine. Has she answered? He knows the earrings are her coms. - He must've taken them off. - Darkstrike or Crawler? - They're the same person, Dinah. - I know what I saw. I don't understand. Look, I can't be sure. But I think Darkstrike really did see the Crawler murder his fiancÂ¨Â¦e. In a blind rage, he killed the Crawler himself. He tortures himself for his failure by killing again and again. And now he has Helena. Let me talk to Darkstrike. He's burying deep. You'll never find him. If you wanna say something, say it to me. There is no you. You're just some parasite scamming Darkstrike's body. Then I guess it will be his hands that tear you apart. He won't let that happen. He's stronger than you. He's a pathetic, weak coward. And he's gonna watch you suffer. Hi. Do you wanna know why you have to die? Is this the part where you reveal your diabolical plan to kill me? Because I could care a little less if I put some effort into it. You have to die because you've tasted the beginnings of love. And the irony is that it's not with Darkstrike. You don't know anything about me. I can smell it on you like fear. The longing, the passion, the desire the need. Admit it. I don't know what you're talking about. I think you do. He didn't get you. I'm safe. He's He's me. Isn't he? I'm the Crawler. I'm so sorry. You don't have anything to be sorry for. It was him, not you. It was me. I'll never forgive myself. I'll forgive you, John. I'll forgive you. So, what do they do with him now? The police have decided to lock him up in Arkham Asylum where they put everything they can't understand. - Isn't there some way we can help him? - Mm-mm. Not that I know of. They put him in complete isolation, no visitors. Sorry, Helena. He said being a crime-fighter meant risking body and soul. But he gave up everything. Even himself. Our jobs are supposed to be so easy, heh. Find the bad guys, kick the crap out of them feel good and go home. Just because something looks simple, doesn't mean it is. And nothing worth having in this life is easy. So tell me about yourself. I'm into abductions, mostly. Torture, murder. It's all about the pain. Wow. Aren't you interesting. Tell me, why lovers? - You got something against love? - No. I just don't think everyone deserves it. You're the Joker's girlfriend. Heh, what's that like? - Don't be psychotic, I'm a doctor. - Please. I know some things about split identities, Dr. Quinzel. Or should I call you Harley Quinn? Get me out of here. I'll give you what you want. And what could you possibly have that would interest me? That useless metabitch. I almost had her. He called her Huntress. This woman, you know who she is? Hey, as you can see, I've already handcuffed this chump. You can go ahead and take a swing at him if it'd make you feel better. No, thanks. I'm good. Oh, that's too bad. You heard the lady. Listen, uh I'm sorry to hear about your friend. Yeah, me too. You two were, uh? I mean, worked together a long time? No, just the once. Seemed like we had everything in common. Should've been my first clue. If something seems too easy, it probably is. So, what, you're saying complicated's good? I'm saying it's not necessarily bad. So you and the DA working a new case together yet? No, no, not for a while. But it's just as well, really, um, there were issues. Mm. Reese, is she something to you? Yeah, yeah. She was a really bad blind date. Oh.