Cat, The #2

Issue Details

Synopsis

"The Owl and the Pussycat " On the rooftop of a Chicago hospital, the Cat wondered why she felt Dr. Tumolo had drawn her there?  She was interrupted by three costumed men swooping down through the fog.  They attempt to force her to leave, but their gunfire drew the attention of a security guard.  The Cat defeated the three men, but a gunman in a helicopter that had just become visible in the dawn light shot the three before they could be arrested.  Three policemen reached the roof in time to witness the shootings, but when the helicopter departed they demanded an explanation from the Cat -- an explanation she did not have.  She dove off the roof to escape, also disappearing into the fog.  Under its cover, she used her claws to catch hold of the wall and stop her fall three stories below.  Pulling off the cat-eared mask, she wondered if the experiment was safe -- maybe she was hallucinating?  However, through the window she heard a doctor and nurse explaining to Mr. Tumolo that his aunt would have to remain in intensive care.  After they left, Greer Nelson crept in through the window and knelt at her mentor's bedside.  She felt Dr. Tumolo's thoughts, worried about the man (who was NOT her nephew) and if he came from Donalbain?  Greer reassured her that Donalbain was no more, and told her to rest. Greer climbed and swung across the buildings of Chicago to return to her apartment.  After a hot bath, she collapsed on her bed.  Her mind replayed the events that had changed her life:  marriage to policeman Bill Nelson, Bill's death in a shooting, searching for a job, working for Dr. Tumolo, the experiment that Malcolm Donalbain financed, the confrontation when Donalbain forced Shirlee Bryant on them as the test subject, and Greer secretly receiving the treatments as well.  When Dr. Tumolo had gone to Donalbain to put an end to his involvement, she found Donalbain's misuse of Shirlee's uneven training had transformed her dream, that the potential of all womankind be fulfilled, into a nightmare.  Dressed in a strange uniform, Shirlee was to be the prototype for an army of women who would work for Donalbain.  The doctor watched as he talked her into wearing a special collar -- the will nullifier -- that reduced her to his mindless minion.  Without regard for her own safety, Shirlee died in a fall while testing her newly developed strength and agility.  Dr. Tumolo fled.  Accidentally stumbling upon a closetful of Cat outfits, she took one as evidence.  She returned to her lab and related the grisly events to her assistant.  Greer left her only for a few minutes, but it was long enough for Donalbain's henchmen to explode the lab and (or so Greer thought) kill Dr. Tumolo.  Possessed by a cold rage, Greer donned the costume that Dr. Tumolo had appropriated and set out to avenge Shirlee and the doctor.  Greer finally went to sleep. The next day, she drove to the hospital where she met Dr. Tumolo's attorney, Ben Richards, and Arthur Tumolo.  Tumolo excused himself immedately, while Greer and Ben took seats in a waiting room.  The attorney revealed that the doctor's will named Greer as her sole beneficiary, while Arthur wasn't even mentioned.  Greer interrupted him as she again felt Dr. Tumolo's thoughts.  She followed them to witness an ambulance speed away with her friend inside.  Greer used her convertible to follow them to a warehouse.  Two gunmen forced her to follow them inside.  There she met the mastermind behind the events of the night before and the day, the Owl.  He showed her a cabinet full of tapes, which he said contained the knowledge of renowned businessmen, artists, and scientists -- like Dr. Tumolo.  Greer began making plans to stop them, but one of the gunmen clubbed her and left her unconscious in a closet.  When she awoke, she changed into the Cat uniform and used her enhanced senses to pick the lock.  She found Dr. Tumolo, but no longer sensed her thoughts.  Greer took her back to the ambulance, intending to take her back to the hospital.  Meanwhile the Owl learned that the cat creature who had cost him three men the night before had been seen with Dr. Tumolo.  His henchmen managed to shoot out the ambulance's tires.  Before he could subdue the Cat, the police arrived and the Owl fled back into his warehouse.  The police recognized the Cat from the night before and attempted to interrogate her, but she used her claws to climb up the outside of the warehouse after the Owl.  The villain was going to gather his mind-tapes and escape, but found the supposed "Arthur Tumolo" in the process of downloading the contents into his own brain.  Broussard's mind shut down from too much knowledge, gained too fast.  The Owl climbed to his helipad on the roof.  When the Cat fought him, he fell over the side.  Rather than crash to the ground as she expected, he flew away.  The Cat was left alone on the roof, with the building surrounded by the Chicago police.