Gladiatrix

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 fights to protect the innocent and helpless. Joining her in this struggle, Oracle 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 trainer to heroes. Together, they have taken in Dinah. A metahuman herself with powers that she is only beginning to explore. These three are the protectors of New Gotham the Birds of Prey. My name is Alfred Pennyworth, and this is their story. What do you want? I've been watching you. Oh, my God. Don't come any closer. On the contrary those electric hands of yours are what attracted me to you. You see, I have been watching you. Run. Sorry, not really my style. Picked the wrong night to hit the town, creep. Hey, what are you doing? You said I could have this one. Like there's not enough scumbags in New Gotham. Of course, they're not usually this ugly. Dinah. I got it. Go after him. I said, I got it. Now he's getting away. Relax. The head start makes the chase more fun. Ugly and slippery. Irritating combination. Found it on the street. Thought maybe he dropped it. Yeah, before he escaped. There's some encoding on it. Looks like it's a keycard. - To what? I don't know. But figuring out what the symbol means is a good place to start. Better figure it out fast. That girl would have been the fifth to go missing this month. Who knows who he's gonna go after next. - A metahuman woman, I'm guessing. - Why meta? Well, I did some more digging. Cross-checked with the metahuman database. Turns out that's what they all have in common. I should go down to No Man's Land, tell Gibson to put the word out. Reese. He's down by the river. One of the women has shown up dead. Well, I'll go talk to Gibson. That much I can do on my own. I thought having a sidekick was supposed to make things easier. I'd be happy to give you a lift. Uh, are you going uptown? Well, no. But neither are you. Who said chivalry's dead? Did you talk to Gibson? No, I played pool. What did he say? He said a junior crime-fighter like me should run and hide. - Dinah. - Ugh! He put the word out, okay? - Look, I know you've gotten better. - I'm good. But you wouldn't know that, would you? Fine. You're good. In fact, I could probably take you on. Whatever you say. No. You versus me, powers even, I'd have a good shot. See, that's your problem. You don't know your limitations. It's dangerous. Then test my limitations. Let's go. - I don't have time for this. - You scared? Are you kidding? We've got another abduction. Yeah, I'm on my way. Why don't you go rent Rocky? Let it go. A waitress named Claire Fordhart was just reported missing. - Meta? - Yeah. Called Gibson, he knows her. I'm gonna kill that creep. Are you making popcorn now? No, I'm analyzing hairs Reese gave you from the dead woman. Mud on them contains astrophyllite. - Astro-what? - Uh, it's a mineral found in granite. Which makes it nerd-worthy because? Because there's barely any granite left in New Gotham. The city was built on tectonically engineered slabs after that earthquake that toppled Old Gotham. You realize that every time you talk like that you remind me of Charlie Brown's teacher? - Remember, "wah-wah-wah"? - Okay. The mud sample is identical to the samples taken from Old Gotham. The woman that was killed was killed in Old Gotham? - Yeah. - It's impossible. - The entire city was destroyed. - No, not all of it. Parts of Old Gotham are still intact underground, below the sewers. Which would explain how the one-eyed scar guy got away so fast. He went underground. I'm gonna get back to where we lost him. Wait, I'll get Dinah. Ahh, no, I wanna do this one solo. Barbara, someone's targeting metahuman women like her. And you. Which is why it's important we work as a team. Come on, you can't shelter her forever. Just this once, all right? All right, take this. You might need it. Thanks. Alfred. Are you going fly fishing? I heard the word "sewers" and I know how much you hate to get your shoes wet. Not as much as I hate being a fashion don't. Thanks anyway. Crime-fighting today, it's all style over substance. I think I found where he went in. I'm going down. That manhole should lead to an overflow chamber. I should have taken Alfred up on those boots. Head north. I'll guide you into Old Gotham. Hey, Alfred. What's going on down there? - Did we get a lead? - I believe so, Miss Dinah. In fact, Miss Helena is currently on her way to the ruins of Old Gotham by way of the sewers. Without galoshes, I might add. I can't believe it. It was an impractical choice. - She went on without me? - Ah. So you wish to wade in the sewage as well. It's amazing what appeals to the youth of today. Well, doesn't look like we're in Kansas anymore, Toto. Uh, I prefer to think of myself as the wizard. Yeah. Of course you do. And as for not being in Kansas your GPS signal's weakening. I can't tell where you are. Far as I can tell, I'm in some kind of prison. A what? You're breaking up. I think I found something. They've turned this place into some kind of arena. From the looks of the accommodations, it ain't Lilith Fair. Huntress? Huntress, do you copy? I am not receiving you. Huntress? Oracle. Oracle. Oracle. Well, looks like I'm on my own. What a pleasant surprise. Oh, I do love a woman that makes the first move. Huntress. - Huntress, do you copy? - What's going on? Another girl's been abducted. I've just lost contact with Helena. - Maybe she went off-line? - No, no. We were talking and her signal just cut out. Something about the Old Gotham substructure that was interfering with the comm link. Fight, fight, fight. So you wanna see a fight? Well, you came to the right place. Gentlemen, welcome to Gladiatrix! You can't escape. The bars are made from titanium-something. They're impossible to break. Even for the strongest of us. What's going on here? I shouldn't be talking to you. The guards say not to talk to the enemy, it just makes the end harder. Enemy? What are you talking about? Don't you come any closer to me, bitch. Relax. I'm not gonna do anything. Tell me the rule, Claire. No powers in the cell. No powers in the cell. Save it for the ring. That's a good girl. Can't have the merchandise damaging each other before the show. Shall we? You try that again and I'll kill you slowly. Lively. One of the reasons I lured you down here. You don't think I just dropped the disk key, do you? No, I wanted you to find it. Because I wanted you here. Because I can hardly wait to watch you fight. I wanna fight you right now. No, not me. You'll be fighting the other girls. Why would I do anything like that? The same reason all my girls fight. This: It's a special drug I designed to bring out your inner rage. I like this one. I hope she doesn't go too fast. Huntress. Huntress. There's no response. I found a match for the symbol. This is a set of evidence photographs from an arrest a few weeks ago. - It's the same disk. - Yeah. What does that mean? Maybe the arresting officer knows. Reese. - Yeah, Reese. - Detective Reese, this is Oracle. I need you to take a look at your computer screen. Not much for small talk today, huh? Hey, how you doing? How's the job? Good? Great. Computer, please. You know, this is a secure network. How did? Wait a minute. - I've seen this. - Look, you arrested a man who had this disk on him. Do you know what it is? Um No. No, not really. The guy carrying it lawyered up and made like smoke before I could get anything. I did a little snooping around, but all I got was a bunch of rumors. What kind of rumors, exactly? Something about an underground fighting ring. Except with women. So wait a second. Men actually pay to watch women beat each other up? Well, from what they say, it's worse than that. These women actually fight to their death. Why? I mean, what do you know about it? I mean, come on. This can't be for real, is it? I actually tried to look for this club, but I didn't find anything. Oracle? It's Huntress, detective. She was chasing down a clue, looking for the other abducted women. She's missing. Well, where was she last seen? Oracle? Damn it, Oracle, talk to me. If you know something, now is not the time to be playing your lone-vigilante games. I can help you. Okay, um Do you know where Old Gotham is, detective? Chow time, girls. Where's my food? You're fighting tonight. You eat after you fight. I'm hungry. Well, then I guess you'd better win. Eat. What did you do to it? Nothing. You put something in it. You're trying to poison me. Do you think I'm an idiot? Just eat it! I see the drug's working. Uh-uh. Your anger will become more intense, even harder to control over time. Until pop. Why are you doing this to us? You may have noticed that my otherwise flawless looks are marred by a slight imperfection. For some odd reason, it's always seemed to drive the ladies away. Really? Why, your inner beauty doesn't shine right through? And not just the pretty ones. I've tried whores, skanks, even freaks like you. Tell me, what right does a walking aberration like you have to reject me? How could I? You're the perfect package, right? Maybe you and I should have a little fun before you fight. You know, while you still have your looks? Yeah. Let's start the fun right now. Oh, the fun's starting soon enough. I'm ready to go. And don't tell me it's too dangerous to go by myself or that we have to do more research. The longer we wait, the more chance of something horrible happening to Helena. I won't. You won't what? Tell you not to go. Oh. Because I had this whole rebuttal thing planned out. It's actually pretty good. Look, Helena may be in trouble. And I know if there's anybody that can find her and help her it's you. Thank you. I re-tuned the frequency on your comm set and put a booster on it to compensate for the bad signal in Old Gotham. So we shouldn't lose contact now. Okay. Dinah bring her back. Showtime, ladies. Final touches, please. We must look good for the paying customers. Your ass is mine when I get out of here. Yum. You are a feisty little one. But I'm afraid little laser Claire here is the next in line. She's going up against my champion, Kayla. She's 12 and O, aren't you, darling? Take her. Hey, you want to see a real fight? Let me show you a real fight. You're fast becoming my favorite. Take her instead. No Gentlemen, welcome to our main event. In the cage to the left, 12-time champion Kayla the Destroyer. And in the cage to the right, her challenger, the Green Scorpion Green Scorpion? - Of Doom. Great, because that makes it better. For a 12-time champ, you don't look so tough. What's your metahuman skill? The power to give dirty looks? Sorry I asked. I don't wanna hurt you. Okay, maybe now I do. Looks like you might need some moisturizer, Destroyer. Kill, kill, kill kill, kill, kill kill, kill, kill kill, kill, kill kill, kill, kill kill, kill, kill. Do you know what happens when one of my girls refuses to kill her opponent? - I am not one of your girls. - I have her tortured to death. You kill or you die, that's the rules. Well, I don't like rules. So I've noticed. You're fighting the drug harder than anyone has before. But you'll break. And the kill will be all the more savage and spectacular. Watching you lose control is gonna be worth breaking the rules just this once. Well, why don't you come in here and see what else I can break? I can't decide whether to send you out again tonight or just keep you as a pet. But I suppose I can't be selfish and deprive my customers of your skills. Finding someone worthy of you is going to be quite the challenge. Any luck? There was another drug in the woman's hair. It affects the amygdala. The part of the brain that controls anger and rage. That must be how he's making the women fight. In Miss Helena's case, a drug like that might be a trifle redundant. She has trouble controlling her temper as it is. If someone was trying to make her go postal Attempting to find an antidote might be a good idea. Yeah, I'll get right on it. Okay, this is a crime-fighter. This is a crime-fighter on drugs. I'm in. I'm trying to find a way to reverse the drug. Till then, you don't wanna get too close. I came all the way down here to find her, now you want me to avoid her? Just stay at a safe distance. What happens if we can't reverse the drug? Well, the longer the drug is in Helena's system the more it'll affect her. Eventually, she'll just tear herself apart. Hang on. Reese has triggered the Bat-Ring. That's funny. He's moving. Fast. Come on. Oh, hey. It took you long enough. Yeah, well, I'm kind of in the middle of something. Well, that symbol on the keycard? I paid a visit to the guy who had it on him and he didn't have his lawyers with him. Uh, so you decided to not play by the rules? Put it this way. It's funny how talkative a guy can get when he's hanging by his ankles out a window. Anyway, bottom line is, I got the lead on this fight club. It's called Gladiatrix. I'm on my way. - What about backup? - No. No, no, no. The guy running the show is paying off the cops. Even the deputy commissioner is a regular. And trust me, it gets even better. Turns out they're paranoid about their paying customers carrying weapons inside. You know, Reese, I don't know about this. Oracle, this is Huntress in there. I owe her. And more. Is there anything I can say? Doubt it. Yeah, okay. Well, you're gonna need a way to stay in touch. Take a left at the next light. Wait, how did you know? Basic triangulation on your cell phone, which is not important now. So if you would just pull up to the corner? - Okay. - Roll down your window. - What? - Just do it. Good evening, Detective Reese. - Hi. - Compliments of Oracle. Open it. It's a two-way undetectable. This way, we'll be able to stay in communication while you're underground. Listen, thank you Oh, come on. Not another one. All right, this is the deal. Huntress. Are you all right? I'm afraid she's not really herself right now. Huntress, is it? I prefer "Green Scorpion of Doom," myself. A little more flair. I recognize you from the alley. You're Little Miss Crime-Fighter-Junior. I won't let you hurt her. Such friendship, such devotion. How touching. I wonder if Huntress here will remember who you are after she tears the life out of you. The only thing I can think of better than a girl fight is a girl-friend fight. Take her. I don't know about you but I can hardly wait to see who wins. Oracle, the good news is I found Helena. The bad news is I'm about to fight her. Gentlemen, gentlemen. A very special treat for you tonight. No extra charge. I can't find Reese. He's just getting there. Sit back, relax and let's find out. Okay, I found him. He's in the crowd. Reese, listen to me. Don't make a move. I need more time to find a way to reverse the effects of the drug. Do not break your cover. Don't do it, Reese. All right, Dinah, you've gotta stall. We need to buy some time. Release them! Oracle time's up. Dinah, can you tell how strongly Helena's been affected by the drug? I'd say pretty strongly. I've gotta buy us some time. Listen, I know how she fights. She's gonna attack your weak side. A little more warning, please. Dinah, you've gotta hang on. Just a few more seconds. Someone better watch out, I'm getting pissed. Yeah. Yeah. That's it. Dinah, Reese, I've got it. I've analyzed the drug's antidote matrix and what we need to do is give Huntress another dose. It'll flood the amygdala and shut it down. We need to get another dose. You need to find a dose. You gotta get it to Huntress and Dinah. Just hang on, Dinah. Just hang on. Hey, what are you doing here? I was just looking for the restroom. I guess this isn't it, is it? Talk to me. Where does your boss keep the drugs? I tell you that, he'll kill me. Does it look like I'm gonna ask you to dance? Better ask yourself which one of us is gonna kill you first. Okay, okay. Down the hall, three doors to the left. Thanks. Go, go, go. Stop him! Take them, you cowards. Take them. We're out of here. Let's go. Come on. Stop! Come back! I'm sure we can come to some sort of understanding. Yes, I agree. You wanna talk about my limitations? - Dinah, this isn't you, it's the drugs. - Are you sure about that? Reese. So how does it feel on the inside? You want your money back? Is that it? Fine, we can deal. Just call them off. It's just a bit of fun. You can't say it wasn't fun, now, can you? I should probably say something about Christians and lions, but you know what? I don't have the energy. Everyone's out. So we get to go. I called Barbara. Thought she might like to know we didn't beat each other to death. Did you tell her about Malcolm? I left out a few details. What do you think's gonna happen to him? I don't know. I'm guessing, him being in a cage it's not going so well for him. But I guess you kind of got what you wanted. You know, you and me, Rocky versus Apollo. I don't remember Rocky versus Apollo being a deathmatch. Anyways, I sort of proved my point, regardless. What point is that? That you could take me if you were on a rage-induced super-drug? I kicked your ass. Anyways, you were under the influence too. Maybe. Or maybe I just gave you a really big shot at me. - Guess we'll never know. - Ha. You know what this sounds like to me? Rematch. Okay. You're a teenager, you have to fight. I'm an adult, sort of. So I get to win. And besides I know Barbara was coaching you over your comms. A little sore there? I'll give you a hand. - Go ahead, do it. - Promise you'll keep your hands off of him? And your mouth, no backseat fighting. - He's all yours. - Thanks. Give up yet? Give up? You want some advice, girlie? Turn and run. I'm sorry. Running it's just not my style.