Catwoman #44

Issue Details

Synopsis

THE ONE YOU LOVE PART 1 Catwoman flies over the East End, musing at how strange the world is, as she clings to the armored back of Smart Bomb. He demands that she get off because she's screwing up his plan. Catwoman doesn't. She deduces that he didn't build his suit and that he's a thief, like her, but he's nowhere near as good as she is. She begins taking apart his armor as he flies, deactivating his jetpack. Smart Bomb crashes to the street while Catwoman makes a more elegant landing.  Smart Bomb complains about his injuries, but Catwoman doubts he could be as injured as he claims, considering his armor. She orders him to stay out of the East End. Her threats go nowhere after they are surrounded by police cars. She takes down the cops, walking away in a fog of tear gas.   Hush watches from a nearby rooftop and admires Catwoman's work.   Selina returns home in time to receive a phone call from Holly, who tells her she has to get down to the deli at once. Ventriloquist and Scarface are holding the customers hostage. Scarface shoots at Holly just as Catwoman jumps down from the ceiling, tackling Holly to the ground.   Catwoman and Holly hide behind the counter where Catwoman finds an aerosol bottle of disinfectant. She uses that to make a flamethrower and then sets Scarface on fire. Catwoman leaves when the police arrive, arresting the distraught Ventriloquist. Holly and Karon tell the police they didn't see anything.   Selina is concerned. Ventriloquist works for Black Mask now. If he was in the East End, he was probably there with Black Mask's blessing. But if he wasn't there with Black Mask's blessing, then he and Smart Bomb were both there randomly, which might be worse.   Hush sneaks up on her while she's thinking and marvels at how much she loves the East End, noting that people always hurt the ones they love. Selina is shocked and angry to see him. Hush tells her he can put a stop to the crime wave happening in the East End if she gets something from the Gotham branch of S.T.A.R. Labs for him.   Catwoman breaks into S.T.A.R. Labs, easily bypassing their security measures until she meets a guard wearing high-tech armor. He knocks her to the ground with a shock blast and orders her to stay there. She leaps around him, causing him to release his shock blasts wildly and overloading the door system. She climbs through into Biolab Seven.   Hush listens into the S.T.A.R. Labs guards' conversation and decides he isn't going to get his delivery after all. He leaves, regretting that he chose someone without the necessary firepower.   Inside S.T.A.R. Labs, the guards blast down the door, sending Catwoman flying and knocking open the canister she was sent to steal from Biolab Seven. The guards panic, and Catwoman wonders whether she's accidentally released a super-virus or something worse right on the border of the East End.