Look, buddy-- I just broke my hand, and I've been stabbed in the shoulder. So this may take two, maybe three hits. My apologies in advance. 
- — Starling
Birds of Prey (Volume 3) #4 is an issue of the series Birds of Prey (Volume 3) with a cover date of February, 2012. It was published on December 21, 2011.
Synopsis for "Absolutely Mental"
On a train speeding through Gotham City, Black Canary struggles to think of a way to prevent the voice in her head from activating the device that has made her into a veritable human bomb. Her team has been otherwise subdued, and with the voice continuing its trigger - a nursery rhyme whose completion will set off the bomb - she decides to throw herself from the train in order to save everyone else's lives. Before she can make the leap, Starling pulls her back, and claiming that there's another way to stop the explosion, knocks Dinah out cold.
Dinah wakes in the office of Dr. Trevor Cahill, who demands to know why she thought it would be a good idea to take the very experimental stroke drug that is obviously being used as the catalyst for these human bombs. Dinah realizes that Trevor has managed to disable the drug, which means that the team can actually stop their unseen enemies from doing this to any more people. As they prepare to leave, Ev advises Dinah to thank Trevor (who obviously has a crush on her). Trevor suggests that he will not call the AMA about Dinah's apparent recreational use of an experimental drug if she agrees to go on a date with him. Ev drags Dinah away, taking a particular box with her.
As they leave, Ev explains what happened after she knocked Dinah out. The force of the punch broke her hand, but it did the job, and she dragged her friend into a bathroom while she radioed to Poison Ivy to stop the train as soon as possible, with two potential human bombs still active.
Unfortunately, Ivy was pinned by the invisible attackers, and requested some backup. In answer, Katana appeared with her Soultaker Sword and lured Ivy's attackers up onto the top of the train where she slaughtered them soundly.
Ev raced off to help Ivy, but was surprised to find her unharmed and alone. However, it was a trap, and one of the invisible attackers had assumed Ivy's appearance in order to get close enough to stab Starling in the arm. Fortunately, the distraction provided by both Katana and Starling allowed Ivy to get to the front of the train, but with no obvious way to stop it, she was forced to use her abilities to stop the train using vines which rooted themselves into the tracks.
Afterwards, Ivy interrogated one of the attackers while Katana and Starling knocked the two potential bombs unconscious. Unfortunately, the information that Ivy gained proved that the men were never bombs. These invisible soldiers they had been fighting are known as the Cleaners, and they work in service of a person named Choke. Choke is obsessed with mind control, and had been using the two men on the train as living microphones, broadcasting everything they saw and heard back.
After reassembling the team with the addition of Batgirl, Starling explains that Choke's gang have been hiding out in the spaces between floors in prominent Gotham buildings, using halls and rooms hidden there by the designers. The Cleaners live in these buildings completely unknown to the owners and tenants.
The girls split up, but they all end up in the same room; a vast empty hall. Apparently, Ivy's information was wrong. Starling reveals, though, that their enemies are invisible, and that Dr. Cahill has determined that their suits bend light in order to produce the effect. Using a special device, she un-bends the light to reveal that the room is full of Cleaners.
The team prepares to take all of the soldiers on, but then the voice of Choke rings in their minds, promising that they won't remember any of this. They wake on the street with no recollection of what had happened.
Appearing in "Absolutely Mental"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Judge Michael Rawson
- Keith MacLean
Locations:
- Gotham City
- The Cage
Items:
Vehicles: