Catwoman #68

Issue Details

Synopsis

CATWOMAN DIES CONCLUSION Hammer crashes through the front door of Irena Dubrovna's apartment, terrifying Karon who runs for Helena as the phone rings. Irena's answering machine picks up the call as Hammer grabs Karon and throws her, and Selina urgently warns Karon of the dangers as Hammer walks towards Helena's playpen. He stares down at Helena, who stares up at him, as Selina assures them that everything is going to be okay.  In a stolen car, Selina tries to convince herself that Karon didn't pick up because she took Helena out for a little while... in the middle of a thunderstorm... in the middle of the night...   Selina remembers how Sickle knocked her out after Catwoman asked where her brother had gone and Sickle replied, "I think you know." She was only out for a few seconds, but Sickle was gone when she woke up. Selina did what any single mother would do in that situation: She knocked out a police officer and stole his car.   She is rushing down her street when she sees something in the headlights--Helena, with her teddy bear. Selina screams. She is going a hundred miles an hour, and her only option is to veer violently to the left and crash the police car. Hammer takes the crashed car and throws it so that it goes rolling over Helena's head and explodes. Sickle tells Hammer to grab the child because there must be something they can do with it, but only the teddy bear is there. Helena is gone.   Selina runs down the street with Helena in her arms.   Sickle knows that Catwoman survived the crash, and she orders Hammer to find them--but to not kill them. Not yet.   Selina breaks into a clothing boutique to hide. Helena sobs for her teddy bear as Selina decides she's out of options. She calls Wayne Manor where Alfred picks up. He tells her that Bruce is out of the country on business, which she assumes means he's on a Justice League mission. She tells Alfred she'll talk to Bruce later and hangs up.   The window of the boutique is engulfed in flames, which Selina narrowly dodges. Hammer punches her across the face and snatches Helena, screaming, from her arms. He stomps down on her face, knocking her unconscious.   Selina wakes up, unmasked, to the sound of Helena calling for "Mama." She is on the floor of her own apartment, and Hammer and Sickle are there with Helena squirming in Hammer's arms and Karon lying unconscious mere feet away from Selina. Sickle says that Selina had a nice life here, but now it ends. Both Selina and Helena will die tonight, but Helena will die first.   Selina leaps for her daughter, but Sickle kicks her away and calls her "pathetic" in Russian. Selina lands across the room underneath her dining table. This turns out to be her plan. She keeps her spare Catwoman tools taped to the bottom of the table, and she pulls her whip and taser free.   Sickle is unafraid. It's fine if Selina wants to fight to the death, she won't beat them this time. Hammer and Sickle have been improved by Russian science, and they're stronger, smarter, and faster than they were before.   Selina isn't afraid either. Sickle might be fast, but so is a whip--it moves at the speed of sound. Selina whips Sickle in the eye as she uses the taser on Hammer, who falls out the window but keeps his hold on Helena. Selina leaps over a recovering Sickle out the window after them, using her whip as a grapnel. She pulls Helena out of Hammer's grip and holds firm onto her whip, keeping her and Helena dangling in the air as Hammer falls to the ground.   Selina scales the side of her building, but Sickle is waiting in the window for them. Sickle prepares to push Selina and Helena to the ground when someone behind her shouts "Hey!" and shoots her, sending her falling to Earth instead. Holly pulls Selina and Helena inside.   Holly tells Selina she has to go, now. She called an ambulance for Karon, and they're going to bring cops--lots of them. They'll have heard about the Russians hitting the ground or, if not, the boom from a few seconds ago. And when the cops get there, they're going to notice that they're missing one of their toys--the super-powered gun Holly used to shoot Sickle.   Selina is going to have to leave everything behind, for which Holly apologizes. Selina says the only thing that matters is that Holly saved them. They hug, and Selina tells Holly to take her own advice. She'll stay to make sure the ambulance comes for Karon, and she'll make sure that Karon knows why Holly had to leave. Holly thanks Selina for "everything" before climbing out the window.   Selina shushes Helena and promises her that everything's going to be alright, but a tear hits Catwoman's broken goggles.