batman: tribulation and revelation

[The Joker]

A short, but sweet Batman/Gordon chapter.

Kinda liked that Batman, despite the years, still maintains that distance he puts between himself and others. I could see that with Keaton's Batman.

[johnnygobbs]

Great chapter Catwoman.  I especially liked the quote about Chip.

"times may change but some dumb jock kid who's iq was lower than his birth weight leaving the country after his father got killed, then coming back and not only running for mayor of gotham city but fooling around and actually getting ELECTED? that just doesn't happen...without something underhanded happening along with it. take my advice, ron. you don't wanna go down with him."

  Is that in pounds or kilograms?

[Catwoman]

metric tons.

[Catwoman]

chapter 4

the crowd cheered as mayor chip shreck stepped from a limo that had brought him to the big fundraiser ball. the event's purpose, to raise money to renovate historical sections of gotham that had been neglected and fallen into sorry shape, was all but forgotten as gotham's newest superstar arrived.

"thank you, thank you!" chip said, raising his arms in the air as he walked down the red carpet. reporters huddled around him, looking for a soundbyte. a familiar voice drowned them all out.

"mr. mayor! mr. mayor!" knox called out to the collective groan of all onlookers. "do you have any response to the allegations that your election was a fraud and a sham?"

shreck looked at him for a moment. he reached into his pocket and pulled out a $100 bill and stuffed it into knox's hand. "buy yourself a round of drinks on me, knox," he said with a smile, patting him on the shoulder. the rest of the media pushed past knox, some roughly, as they followed chip into the building.

knox grumbled, stuffing the bill into his pocket. he turned to see bruce wayne on his way up the carpet, his way cleared by the reporters' hounding of shreck. "wayne! bruce wayne!" knox shouted. "how you doin, ol' buddy?"

"buddy?" bruce asked, looking at knox for a moment. he brushed past him towards the door. knox grabbed him by the arm.

"come on, wayne, that was years ago, and besides, i thought you forgave me for it!" bruce didn't reply. "well alright then," knox added. "i know you make more money when you take a breath than i'll make in my entire life, but i need to hand down a little guidline. vicki vale's in there and-"

"vicki vale?" bruce said, interrupting him.

"yes, vicki vale, and she's here on official business so she hasn't got time to be schmoozing around with you, so keep your distance and let her work, okay?"

"you got it, knox," bruce said, turning and heading inside.

knox followed moments later. sure enough, bruce and vicki stood together, laughing at some remark one of them had made moments before knox's entrance. he gritted his teeth and seethed.

after the gala had ended, knox found vicki as fast as possible. she was still in bruce's company. "well, vicki, how'd you enjoy it?" he asked, trying in vain to get her attention.

"oh it was great," she replied softly, barely noticing him at all. annoyed, and somewhat hurt, knox turned assertive.

"well, its late, i guess i better take you home, vick," he said, taking her by the arm.

"oh thats okay," she again replied in that same soft, distant tone. "i'm riding home with bruce. you head on home and i'll talk to you tomorrow."

knox looked at her, then at bruce, then back and her, and stormed off. "the son of a bitch, he did it to me again," he grumbled under his breath.

moments later, smiling and laughing, bruce and vicki also exited the gala. a driver was waiting for bruce in the car out front. he got out and opened the door, allowing vicki and bruce to slide into the back seat, then got in and drove them off.

unbeknownst to bruce and vicki, they were being watched by another of the guests at the fundraiser, across the street in the shadows. once they were gone, selina kyle got into her own car and headed for her apartment.

meanwhile, as the gala was going on and now ending, one of gotham's power players was noticably absent. ronald pierce sat in his office, looking over papers and talking on the phone.

"look, we said you would have your payment and you will," he said. he listened for a moment. "i'm sure that won't be necessary....i understand...yes...the mayor will take care of that. I will see to it. yes sir. goodnight."

he hung up the reciever right as the door open and chip shreck slipped in.

"talk to me baby, whats the story?" chip said, slightly inebrated.

"not good," pierce replied. "boss martini wants his money, and he wants it now or else."

"he'll get it when he gets it," chip said arrogantly, sitting down and putting his feet up on pierce's desk.

"you don't understand who you're dealing with," pierce said. "this man runs the most active crime organization in the united states. he doesn't give a sh*t who you are, he will have you sleeping at the bottom of the river. and he will make sure that before that you wish you had never been born. you'll find out what pain and suffering is all about."

shreck snickered. "don't worry, ron. i've got this all taken care of. just trust me."

[johnnygobbs]

Great stuff Catwoman.  Really pacy and well-written.  Hopefully, you're going to let us know why Bruce has got it in for Know in a later chapter, or have I missed something?

[Catwoman]

i'm sure i'll touch on it briefly. just trying to think of something funny enough for it.

[The Joker]

Very nice chapter.

The stuff between Knox and Bruce kinda reminds me of when Vicki revealed in Batman 1989 that she had a date with Bruce Wayne. His jealousy is still very much there.

Poor guy. 

[Catwoman]

BLEH! i had to edit out a part near the end of the last chapter i posted. i put alfred in it! LOL!!!

[Catwoman]

chapter 5

"so how long have you been back in gotham?" bruce asked as he passed vicki a glass of champagne. "oh not long," she replied, taking a sip.

they made small talk, talking about vicki's assignments since her departure and the popularity boom of wayne enterprises in the mid to late 1990s, how they had brought in the new century nearly 12 months earlier, and their love interests since their mutual agreement that their relationship wouldn't, or couldn't, work.

"there was a girl named selina," bruce said with a half smile. "she was...yeah." he sighed and poured himself another glass of bubbly, then turned to vicki.

"i think you've, once again, picked the wrong time to come to gotham," he said in a low, dark tone, just shy of his batman voice. vicki shrugged. "i go where i'm sent. don't worry, i can take care of myself."

"thats the thing," bruce replied. "shreck doesn't know anything about ethics. he won't consider the consequences of doing something to a reporter, or anyone. his ignorance makes him as dangerous as anyone you've ever covered. you and knox need to back off this thing. now."

vicki looked at him for a moment. "how did you know thats what we're doing?" that little half smile again crossed bruce's face. "i'm a bat. i hear things." vicki smiled uneasily.

later that night, after vicki had gone home, bruce donned the batsuit once again and sat off on batman's night patrol of the streets of gotham in the batmobile.

he drove into the slums, where he often got a little bit of a workout, pummeling no-timer thugs, thieves, and would be rapists. as he climbed out of the batmobile and activated the car's bulletproof shields, batman scanned his surroundings. the chilly air was joined by a faint snowfall. nearly 50 decembers in gotham city had allowed bruce to acclimate himself to the conditions, but on this night, the cold oddly nipped hard at his exposed chin and lips.

brushing off the discomfort, batman walked into an alley. almost out of instinct he rubbed his hand across one of the bricks in the building lining the alley. a bullet fired by harvey dent just before his initial capture that barely missed batman's head was lodged in it. there had been other near misses in this one alley alone, but all through gotham, he had been in enough death-defying situations to know that more than just dumb luck had kept him breathing.

quietly turning a corner, batman spied two men in the midst of a drug deal. one was gesturing wildly while the other one was trying to quiet him, lest anyone be listening. staying in the shadows next to the wall, batman lurked closer, so that he could hear the two men as they argued back and forth.

"you told me you had the goods!" the first man shouted. "quieten down!" the second one pleaded. "the cops might hear us." "no cop has been in this alley in three years and you know it, eddie. now where's the goods?" "i...i...i don't have it." "well its a bad day for you, then," the first man said. he reached into his pocket and drew out a pistol and aimed it at the second man.

just as he was about to fire, a batarang emerged from the darkness, seemingly at warp speed, knocking the gun away. it went off, firing harmlessly into the wall. the would be killer turned just in time to meet batman's gloved fist. out cold from that one blow, he slumped to the ground. batman looked up at the bum who's life he'd just saved. he recognized him as one of those no-timers, a thug named eddie. they'd met many times before, the first time when batman kicked him through a wooden door on a rooftop not long before the rise of the joker.

"beat it," he growled. eddie turn and scampered into the darkness. batman waited until he'd disappeared, then looked down at the unconcious thug. just as he was reaching down to pick him up, he heard a woman snicker. he stood upright and spun around, scanning the dakrness.

"this is my territory," the woman called out. batman looked silently in the direction of the voice, squinting hard, hoping to find something distinguishable in the darkness.

suddenly a bullwhip slashed across his chin. stunned, he stepped backwards, tripping over the thug and nearly falling down. as he regained his balance, he heard the hateful laughter once again.

"like I told you all those years ago. maybe its time for you to retire."

batman's eyes widened. "selina?" he gasped. "selina where are y-"

the whip wrapped around his throat, tugging him into the shadows. the heel of a boot hit him square in his already injured chin. he staggered backwards, finally falling to the ground. by the time he regained his bearings, she was long gone, or so he thought. still dazed, he limped back to the batmobile, retracting its shields, and drove away.

just as with vicki vale two nights earlier, catwoman watched from the rooftop as he departed.

[The Joker]

Enjoyed the build up towards the meeting of Batman and Catwoman, and the nice little nod to Batman 1989 where Johnny Gobbs' one-time acquaintance Eddie makes an appearance.   

The uneasy exchange between Bruce and Vicki was good as well. Nice job on this chapter.