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Paone's Western Village. 30 miles North of Los Angeles. "Gotta give Dylan credit. This sure is an interesting training location." Kate thinks to herself as she is looking around the 'old western town'. Kate continues thinking that being in the town almost makes her feel like Calamity Jane. As Kate reminisces about old western TV shows, she is suddenly attacked by Cheetah. "Way to stay focused, Kate I friggin' hate getting knocked off roofs." Kate thinks as she grabs the corner of the roof and pulls herself up. Kate begins to take a swing at Cheetah with her staff, as she thinks that the Cheetah was a she. "Hard to keep up with all the gender switching in the villain community, no matter..." Kate then swings and knocks the Cheetah's robotic head off, then jumps off the building's roof wondering who was next. After she lands, she is grabbed by Grundy with him saying, "Grundy-- hate-- Red lady! Red lady-- hurt-- Cat boy!" Kate jams her head back into Grundy's face which makes him let go of her. "You-- hurt-- Grundy!" he says right before Kate shoves her staff into his mouth and blows away his robotic head.

"I think you have something of mine-- my name. And I want it back." Says a previous incarnation of Manhunter, before tossing an exploding boomerang at Kate. "You're a disgrace to the Manhunter Legacy!" he says as he grabs Kate by the throat and brings her down to the ground. "And you're a castrato, pal." Kate tells Manhunter with a smirk. Looking down he sees that Kate has her staff aimed at his crouch, Kate then hits him in the face knocking the mask off. "Cute costume, Dylan." Said Kate in which Dylan replies, "Thanks, it was hard to choose just one. Didja know there have been, like, a million Manhunters?" "Seems like my alterations to the suit work pretty well" Dylan tells Kate as he helps her up. Kate tells him that she will believe it when she is facing some real opponents. Kate and Dylan exchange some banter with each other until Dylan asks "why are you so mad, anyway? Daddy not take you to the circus?" With that Kate stops and glares at Dylan. She tells Dylan with a very stern look on her face, "My personal life is not a topic of discussion. Ever. Got it? Now tell me what you did to my suit."

Dylan tells her that the suit just needed to get tuned to body's bio-electric field and that the suit links directly into the wearer's nervous system. "Creates heightened reflexes, amps up strength, even some rudimentary Psi-shielding." "I can feel a difference, it's like a second skin. Nice." Kate tells Dylan. Dylan goes on saying that if he adjusts it a bit more Kate could feel like she is "in a state of perpetual org--" "Too much information, Dylan", says Kate. Kate asks what else he did, Dylan tells her that the suit had traces of the shadow-goop from her last fight with Shadow Thief and that he made a special pair of gauntlets. Kate asks why her star was glowing, "It's a tracking device set on Shadow Thief, and it's responding to the goo I recovered." Dylan tells her, going on that when she is within 2 miles of him, the star will light up and get brighter the closer she is. "And the gauntlets?" Kate asks. Dylan shows her a button on the right gauntlet and tells Kate, "When you get your hands on the Shadow Thief, literally, just press 'em and you'll light up his life. For real." Dylan states. Dylan then asks Kate if she wants him to set up for another "go-round" seeing how Shadow Thief almost killed her last time and that he had just killed Firestorm. Kate tells him that she will call him if she needs him.

Carl Sands is somewhere dark... 'He's dead! And I did it! They'll all want me now! What should I do?" He says to no one, looking around. "Say something! I did this all for you! Don't just stare at me!! No, I don't think anyone else will help me, that's why I'm here. You, you're my only friend." Carl says appearing to talk to someone directly. He then hugs himself says that it's safe here, safe and quiet... and dark. "I don't know what I'm going to do..."

Kate is walking through the hospital with three balloons, wondering if Ramsey is awake, and what he remembers. Kate also hopes that she can look at him in the eyes without crying. She notices Peter walking out of the room and thinks 'wonderful, looks who's here'. "You're too late, visiting hours are over and Ramsey's sleeping." Peter tells Kate. Kate says, "Well, I'll just put these in his room..." "No, you won't. I got a temporary court order keeping you away from him, Kate. I'm suing for full custody." Peter tells Kate with an angry face. Kate throws the balloons and packs of cards that she brought at Peter. "You slimy son of a... You're enjoying this, aren't you? If you think I'm going to roll over and let you--" Kate says as she grabs Peter and pushes him up against the wall. Peter tells Kate, "That's the most passion I've seen from you in years. If you'd always been like this, maybe our marriage wouldn't have died screaming." Peter then tells Kate that it wasn't about Ramsey, it was about Kate's fear of defeat, that Kate needed to put Ramsey first. "I--I--dammit! Just tell him... tell him that his mommy loves him..." as Kate turns and walks away, "... and she's sorry." Kate thinks to herself that Peter is right... and wonders what do I do? ...burying myself in work sounds like a plan.

The Los Angeles Federal Building. 7:45 a.m. "So, if you'll just, um, follow me this way... She's usually in by 8, so, I'll take you to her office where you can wait and..." Damon says to the people that he is escorting. Damon opens Kate's door and sees that Kate is already in, and tells the guests, "May I present to you the best Federal Prosecutor in America , Ms. Spencer. Kate, this is the..." Kate turns around and says in a surprised voice... "Justice League?" and knocks over her cup of coffee. A green energy bubble goes around the falling cup, "Don't worry, Ms. Spencer, I've got it. I know how expensive those lattes can be." John Stewart tells Kate. Damon asks Hawkman in a hushed voice, "So, how long are you in town? I know a great sushi place in Weho and..." "Ms. Spencer, we are here to discuss recent events concerning Firestorm." J'onn J'onzz says interrupting Damon. Kate tells Damon that she can handle things from there and helps him to the door. Kate apologizes to the JLA saying that Damon was a bit starstruck and that they don't get many superheroes around there.

Kate asks if she needs to get extra chairs brought in and J'onn tells her that they won't be long. J"onn continues saying, "We are here about the murder of Firestorm and his killer..." "...Shadow Thief" Kate says interrupting. "Yes, we are following any and all leads on his location. And we know he's been seen in the L.A. area... with this new Manhunter." J'onn finished. Kate asks what it had to do with her, while thinking to herself to shut up. J'onn said they were there as a professional courtesy. They were notifying all the appropriate law enforcement of their presence. Kate tells them that she appreciates it and that if they do find Shadow Thief in L.A. that he was to remain there, as she wants to "prosecute Mr. Carl Sands to the full extent of the law." And gives them her card. Hawkman states that if he finds Sands first, he couldn't guarantee that there would be anything left to prosecute. J'onn apologized for Hawkman's comment saying "Firestorm's murder has left us all a little raw and angry." Kate told them that she understood and they said goodbye, after which Kate thought she was having an aneurysm.

Later that night, Kate begins looking for Shadow Thief in the Hollywood Hills. Standing by the H, Kate is looking through some binoculars thinking to herself that she new why there wasn't many Metahumans in L.A. Everything was so spread out, and then the tracking device starts to bing. Kate takes off her mask and puts on a trench coat, then gets into her car to follow where Shadow Thief went. While she is driving she thinks that she needs a jetpack or something because driving around in her car was pathetic. Kate pulls into an alley then puts the mask back on and begins to walk the street, as she gets closer to Shadow Thief. Kate walks past a homeless person and he says that he like the suit, Kate responds with thanks. Kate walks up to Hollywood Forever Cemetery where the signal was the strongest, while thinking that "at least I won't have to go far to bury him..." as she jumps up over the fence.

As she walks the cemetery following the signal, Kate walks up to a headstone, thinking that the tracking device wasn't working. With a THOOM Copperhead bursts out of the ground throwing Kate back into another headstone. "You again?!? Why can't they leave us alone?! Copperhead--She's all yours!" says Shadow Thief as some shadow tendrils from his suit wrap around parts of Copperhead. Kate thinks, "No, it isn't possible. I blew a hole-- --in his head!" as Copperhead grabs her by the throat. Looking through the hole in Copperhead's head Shadow Thief says, "I want to help kill her, too! Can I? Please?! Really? Oh, you are too kind indeed!" Then a tendril of the shadow goes through Copperhead's mouth and into Kate's. Kate pulls out a glowing knife cutting the tendril then falls back as another tendril grabs the knife and breaks it. Kate grabs a rock and says, "would you please.. ..stay dead?!?" as she hits Copperhead in the face. Kate then begins to think that she takes back any doubts she had about Dylan's skills. Then she goes toward Shadow Thief says as for you and thrusts her hands into his chest and activates the button that Dylan showed her earlier. The "light bomb" injures Shadow Thief, then he yells "What--did--you--do--to--me!!?!?!?!" then begins to fall over asking for help. Kate picks up her staff and says that she will help him all right, just then a tendril hits Kate sending her into a door of a vault.

Elsewhere in L.A. the JLA searching for Shadow Thief also. J'onn J'onzz asks John Stewart if his ring is picking up any trace, which John replies not a blip. "This is a waste of time. Someone down there knows where Sands is. It's simply a matter of beating it out of the right one." Hawkman tells J'onn. "Carter, this isn't about revenge. This is about justice for our friend." J'onn replies, then Vixen says that it is easy for J'onn to say, he didn't see Firestorm impaled and explode in front of him. "It wouldn't break my heart if Shadow Thief didn't surv--- Whoa! Some notice next time, please?" Vixen states. John says that he is sorry, but he is picking up something from Hollywood.

As Kate recovers from her toss, she sees Shadow Thief get enveloped in a green bubble as she thinks couldn't they have waited ten more seconds. "Hello Carl. It's been a while, hasn't it?" as Hawkman lands in front of Shadow Thief. Shadow Thief mumbles 'help me' over and over, Hawkman says, 'You want help? How does this do?!" as he hits Carl across the face with his mace. Vixen runs over and scratches Carl saying, 'You stabbed him, you remorseless, tiny little man!" as Shadow Thief says, "please...stop..." J'onn pulls Vixen back saying that is enough, he is of no harm to us now. Kate sneaks away thinking to herself "stealth", very "stealth".

She gets back into her car and starts to drive away, telling herself to think happy thoughts and that she hopes that psychic shields Dylan told her about really work. As J'onn is talking to the police, he turns his head and thinks "That thought...It's familiar..." Kate thinks that if she can't kill Sands tonight, that she will have to do it the old-fashioned way.





A Trial.




A verdict of death.

Characters:

Kate Spencer / Manhunter
Dylan Battles (dressed as the Mark Shaw Manhunter)
Peter Robinson
Ramsey Robinson
Damon Matthews

JLA members:

John Stewart (Green Lantern)
J'onn J'onzz (Martian Manhunter)
Hawkman
Vixen

Cheetah - robot
Grundy - robot
Copperhead - dead body
Carl Sands / Shadow Thief

Issue summary written by: glguardian (Tad Dupre)