batman: tribulation and revelation

[Catwoman]

chapter 6

bruce spent nearly all of the next day sitting in a large chair in his study, pondering the night before.

"she's back," he finally said outloud. he repeated this line. a whirlwind of mixed emotions filled him as he sat. he could barely believe that after all this time, after eight years, selina kyle was back in gotham city.

after years of trying, bruce had given her up, not for dead, but for long lost. he had finally moved on. and now she had returned. who knew how long she had actually been there? for all he knew she could have been lurking in that alley for weeks, months even.

he couldn't help but let his mind drift to the days gone by, that all too brief time when she first entered, and left, his life. almost like a typical male, he forgot about her hostility and violence towards him the previous night and allowed himself a hopeful moment of belief that perhaps this time they could be together, once and for all.

"like a fairy tale..." he said, his voice trailing off.

quicky, reality set back in. bruce didn't even know where selina really was, only that she had been in that alley last night, and even if he found her, it was obvious that her feelings towards him were unpleasant.

meahwhile, in her apartment, selina was in the midst of her intense excercise and practice. her costume lay thrown over a chair. she instead was wearing a sports bra and shorts that wrapped snuggly around her 42-year-old frame.

she kicked and thrashed at a training bag. her shouts and grunts were loud enough that anyone in the apartment building could have heard her, but most of them were older people who knew her only as a quiet, cool hearted, steely-eyed athletic beauty who wanted nothing to do with any of them. in truth selina was fond of her fellow occupants, but her focus always was on much more important things than making small talk.

she delivered one last kick into the bag, then backflipped across the room and, without stopping, landed both of her feet into head of the male manequin she kept in her house. the head launched across the room as she flipped over the decapitated manequin, turned, and kicked it in the small of its back. the manequin broke in half and fell to the floor.

pausing only for a few moments to catch her breath, selina walked over to where the head had landed. she picked it up and studied it for a moment. then she looked before her into a mirror. her steely gaze could have cut right through a man, but she had no intentions of only using her eyes in her next showdown with the batman.

she tossed the head of the manequin behind her, picked up a towel lying on her sofa, and wiped away at her sweat-drenched hair and skin. then she sat down onto the sofa and picked up that morning's newspaper. bruce wayne's image was front and center.

selina sneered and ripped the page in half.

as bruce and selina's thoughts were on one another, though on totally different emotional planes, alex knox and vicki vale sat in her apartment, looking over the notes they had gathered about chip shreck and his election.

"you know, its kind of funny that a guy like shreck picks up so many endorsements and votes from the italians," vicki said, reading over the list of donors to shreck's campaign. "i mean this is almost like they're standing up and saying that he used mob money to get into office."

"let me see," knox said. he studied the same document for a moment, then threw his hands up.

"THIS IS IT!" he shouted. "what is?" vicki asked, confused. "look here," knox said, pointing to a name near the bottom of the list.

"eduardo valenzuela? who is that?" she asked him as she read the name aloud.

"eduardo valenzuela is a rarely-used alias of chico moran. he's just about to go down on a drug rap that could put him away for life. we tie shreck to him...wow!"

vicki giggled excitedly. "weeee've got him!" she said. "yeah, we do!" knox replied. they looked at each other, excitedly. knox, trying to seize the moment, moved towards her, trying to score a kiss. "no!" vicki shouted, ducking and throwing up her hand. knox pulled back.

"damn," he muttered moments later as he left.

[Catwoman]

bleh.

[johnnygobbs]

Good work Catwoman.  Not my favourite chapter, and I would like to see some more references to other characters but nice story development.

[Catwoman]

would you quit focusing on the other characters and stuff that you want me to put into it and just focus on what i'm putting out now? that pisses me off that i thought this was maybe my best one yet and you're judging it because i didn't put the damn ice princess in it or something.

[johnnygobbs]

Hey, I praised the chapter didn't I?  It was as well-written as any of your other recent chapters, if not more so, even if there was probably a little less action in it.

I thought you wanted my comments anyway, but as soon as I write something you bite my head of figuratively speaking...  

[Catwoman]

ok. whatever. thanks.

[gordonblu]

I am anxiously awaiting the conclusion now! Great Job!

[Catwoman]

chapter 7

ronald pierce couldn't believe the scene playing out in his office.

on one side of his desk, pistol drawn, stood boss alberto martini, one of the most ruthless crime bosses ever to live in gotham. on the other, pistol also drawn, stood mayor elect charles shreck.

"gentlemen, please, i'm sure there is another way we can resolve this," pierce said. "hell no!" martini bellowed in a thick italian accent. "this son of a bitch just insulted my family. i will make him bleed!"

"f*** you and your family," shreck arrogantly replied. "you'll get your payment when i want you to get it, and not a day sooner."

the italian's eyes blazed. he cocked his pistol, ready to shoot the new mayor down. pierce grabbed the gun and pointed it down at his desk. "no!" he cried. "no bloodshed! we're on the cusp of owning this town, you two can't blow it to hell now!"

martini looked at pierce, then at shreck, then back at pierce. he holstered his gun. "watch your back, you pig," he spat. he turned to leave.

"yeah beat it you dago bastard," shreck replied. martini turned back to him. "you will bleed from that big mouth of yours, and i will enjoy every minute of it." then he opened the door and walked out, slamming it behind him.

"CHIP! what the f*** do you think you're doing?!" pierce cried out once martini was gone.

"there ain't no one gonna push me around," shreck said, putting his own pistol away and sitting down.

"man there's a difference between being pushed around and self preservation! when you deal with a man like martini, its all about self preservation. if i hadn't stepped in, he'da -"

"he'da bled all over your carpet. thats what he would have done." shreck kicked his feet up onto the desk. "now what is this you were going to tell me about gordon? you know someone who can do the job?"

"keep your voice down!" pierce whispered, shushing him and sitting down. he leaned close to shreck. "and yeah. i have a couple cops who could pull it off. nice and quick, no witnesses. just another senseless act of violence on the streets of gotham."

shreck smirked. "and once he's out of the way, we put my boy bulloch in the comissioner's chair and bring down batman. piece of cake."

"and once he's out of the way..." pierce said. his eyes brightened as his voice trailed off.

the two men looked at each other and laughed.

[gordonblu]

Sweet!

[johnnygobbs]

Excellent chapter Catowman.  One of my favourites yet.  I always suspected that Chip Shreck was a racist jerk.