Eight years ago, Batgirl stalks a villain through the streets
of New Gotham. The criminal is completely dressed in black with
only one identifiable feature - a green necklace. Outside of
an apartment block, she finally catches up with Shiva who wants
to deal with Batgirl some other place. Batgirl says its out of
the question - she decides where and when they do battle. Shiva
drops her loot and the two fight. Batgirl uses her bat-erang
while Shiva throws her own ninja-style throwing stars. However,
during the battle a gas pipe is punctured and the building explodes
leaving Shiva presumed dead.
In the present
day, Barbara (Dina
Meyer),
Dinah (Rachel
Skarsten)
and Helena relax at No Man's Land. Helena (Ashlea
Scott)
says she's waiting
to meet an old friend from school she hasn't seen in eight years.
Dinah laughs that it's weird thinking about Helena in school
with friends and pep-rallies, etc. Sandy (Sung
Hi Lee) finally
shows up...wearing Shiva's necklace!!
Helena and Sandy spend the night catching up on what's changed
in New Gotham and where everyone from school is. Helena says
to Sandy that she kind of disappeared without a trace very suddenly.
Sandy says she's sorry, but she found some distant relatives
and moved in with them. Years went by before she knew it. Now
she's a freelance head hunter. She asks what Helena does, and
she explains she's a bar tender. Sandy laughs that Selina must
be going nuts at the idea of her daughter serving drinks. Helena
then has to tell her that her mother died almost seven years
ago. Sandy says there is nothing worse than loosing your family.
Moments later, Oracle contacts Helena through her comms - Detective
Reese (Shemar
Moore)
has triggered the bat ring...there's been a murder. Helena makes
up an excuse and leaves, but arranges to meet Sandy
later.
Reese is at the crime scene examining the body when Helena arrives
a little later than expected. When she says she was busy, Reese
immediately thinks she was stopping an armed robbery or something
along those lines and is surprised to learn that she was actually
spending time with an old friend. Reese says the real reason
he called her wasn't the murder, but instead about something
round next to the body - a red throwing star with the Bat symbol
on it. The same symbol that was used by her father and Barbara
many years ago. Huntress tells him she's never seen anything
like it before. Reese tells Huntress he thinks he knows who it
is - a few weeks ago, Detective Morton (Joe
Flannigan)
told him about a vigilante that once prowled the streets of Gotham...he
dressed
completely in black and called himself The Batman! Reese thinks
that the Batman has returned and has gone rogue. Huntress discredits
the idea by reminding Reese that Morton was a psycho meta-human
killer (a meta-bigot). She also says that man dressing up like
a bat is a little far fetched.
Back at the Clock Tower, Helena talks with Barbara about Reese's
theory. Oracle says its ridiculous because even after The Joker
did what he did, Batman never crossed the line and would never
kill anyone. Especially not a small time punk thief. Barbara
seems a little distant, and says that sometimes in the pursuit
of justice things happen. She also says that who they are looking
for is a ghost. Barbara tells Helena about a thief who left throwing
stars as a signature but she died eight years ago.
The next
day at school, Dinah drools over a guy in her class and Gabby
(Callie
de Fabry) notices. She encourages Dinah
to ask him out
to the dance because she's got nothing to loose. She goes up
to him and introduces herself. She tries to flirt with him but
ends up talking about frogs. She gives him a scalpel and has
a meta-human flash of his favourite band. She starts humming
one of their songs and Matt immediately recognises it. He says "that’s
pretty cool Donna" much to Dinah's disappointment.
Back the Clock Tower, Alfred (Ian
Abercrombie)
talks with Barbara, and asks if she thinks Lady Shiva has
returned. She discovers that
Shiva's throwing stars have shown up in several high profile
assassinations over the last few years...but Shiva was a thief,
not a killer. And she's dead. Barbara begins to doubt that Shiva
died because the body found at the explosion was never identified
or claimed.
At the bar. Helena is working hard while Dinah talks with Sandy.
She gives Dinah whatever dirt she can about Helena...most embarrassing
moments, etc. Sandy leaves because she's got work to do...midnight
is her most creative time apparently.
Not long afterwards, another body is found with the shiva star,
this time with an odd Chinese symbol on it. Oracle is shocked
when she sees the symbol...so shocked she's speechless. Helena
goes to speak with Reese, who tells her the dead guy was a guard
for a bank that was robbed eight years ago and the only piece
of evidence was a red throwing star.
In the Clock Tower, Barbara goes into a room with her old Batgirl
outfit on display. She opens the cabinet and put on her mask.
Moments later, Alfred arrives behind her. He says that he remembers
when he first fitted her for that mask, and she used to run across
rooftops with Batman and Robin until dawn. Barbara says they
were Gotham's Knights...untouchable. And that was their mistake.
Alfred points out that they did what they thought was right,
and that the Batgirl suit no longer fits. Barbara agrees, and
says that the new symbol on the throwing star translates to alive...Shiva
is alive, and because of her own recklessness someone close to
Shiva died that night. And thats why she's back. She also says
she doesn't want Helena involved - it's her mistake and she'll
fix it.
Oracle spends all night tinkering with the interface pack attached
to her spine, hoping that she can find away to walk again so
she can fight Shiva. Helena arrives wanting to know what happened
last night and why she disappeared while on comms. Barbara is
evasive, and says she called in sick at work. Helena demands
to know what's wrong with her. After a small rant, she figures
out that the bat symbol had nothing to do with her father...it
was a message to Batgirl. Barbara says she'll deal with it, and
wont let Helena get involved.
Later that day, Dinah struts into school with
tickets to the Knights game and Matt asks her out to the dance.
Elsewhere, at
the bar, Helena talks with Sandy. She says there's something
wrong with her and she needs to know what’s wrong. Sandy
then asks if Helena ever wonders what her life would be like
if her mother was alive. Sandy goes on to say that loosing someone
makes everything different. When Helena asks if everything is
ok, she replies "it will be."
Meanwhile, in the Clock Tower, Oracle continues to work on walking
when Dinah arrives. Barbara spots she looks a little different
and asks if something happened at school. Dinah says she is a
danger to herself and others and explains that she read his mind
a few dozen times to get to know him and now it's gone too far.
Barbara says she can't help her and leaves.
On Adams Street, Batgirl arrives at the apartment block where
she fought with Shiva...and she's walking!! At first she's a
little shaky on her legs, but quickly finds her footing. Shiva
is there waiting for her, and explains that she's going to take
revenge for the death of her sister. Eight years ago, the one
who died was her younger sister...she was only fifteen years
old. Batgirl says she didn't come to fight, she came to apologise.
But instead of talking, Shiva says the debt can only be paid
in blood and the two fight. Shiva quickly overpowers Batgirl
and damages the interlink that allows her to walk. As she unmasks
Batgirl, Shiva spots Barbara's chair sitting in an alley. Barbara
says she's not Batgirl anymore. Huntress drops down from the
rooftops to fight Shiva, but instead she runs.
Back at the Clock Tower, Barbara argues with Huntress about
her involvement. But instead, Helena demands to know why she
used the device to walk when it hurts so bad it could make her
worse. She finally explains what happened with Shiva and Shiva's
sister.
Later that night at the bar, Sandy arrives and they talk about
the loss of Helena's mother. What would she do if she found her
killer and asks for forgiveness. Helena says she would probably
still beat the living crap out of him. Sandy thanks her for the
talk and leaves, saying she'll probably stay in town. Meanwhile
at the school dance, Dinah meets with Matt and she explains she
lied to him about everything...she pretended to like all that
stuff to get him to like her. She says she looked in his PDA
and he outraged. He rushes off and asks Gabby to dance.
In the Clock Tower, Oracle realises that Shiva
saw her face meaning if she figures out she's Barbara Gordon
the Dinah is
in danger. Dinah is getting ready to go home when Shiva shows
up claiming to be a friend of a friend. She grabs Dinah who gets
a flash of the battle with Batgirl. Luckily Dinah is able to
escape her grasp and ends up beating Shiva with a fire extinguisher.
It slows her down just long enough for Huntress to arrive and
take in Lady Shiva herself. When Huntress knocks her to the floor,
Shiva asks "What are your gonna do Helena?" and the
takes her mask off. Its Sandy!! Helena wants to know why, but
Sandy just reiterates their conversation from earlier. Helena
is reluctant to fight her, but Sandy says killing Dinah will
be easy. She knocks Huntress to the side, and as she goes to
throw a star at her, Oracle shows up in her wheelchair and manages
to knock her to the ground.
The next day, Gabby and Dinah talk about the mysterious fight
that happened. Dinah asks what happened between her and Matt,
but Gabby says nothing happened and shes not interested in him.
Dinah doesnt believe her, but Gabby reveals the reason she's
not interested is because she doesn't like guys. Dinah goes up
to Matt and apologises again, but he says he is kinda flattered
that she cared enough to look. He agrees to go out with her as
long as she promises not to say anything about the dream he had
about the cheerleaders. A little baffled, Dinah agrees.
On the balcony of the Clock Tower, Barbara says
she’s
sorry her mortal enemy turned out to be her best friend. Helena
says its ok, as she doesn't even know who Sandy is anymore. Helena
also asks if Barbara misses not being Batgirl. Surprisingly,
she says she doesn't, but the whole thing has shown that one
day she might be able to walk again. In the room with the Batgirl
outfit, Barbara talks with Alfred who it turns out sent Helena
after Barbara earlier. She offers Alfred a deal - if he starts
keeping secrets, she won't tell Helena that he also called the
cops. He agrees, and tells Barbara she is a much better hero
as Oracle than she ever was as Batgirl.
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