Catwoman Returns

[Catwoman]

Some of you may remember that when I first joined here I tried (and failed miserably) to write a fanfic about a Burtonverse reunion between Selina and Bruce, called "Catwoman Returns." Over the next few years I kept trying, and kept failing. Some of the ideas went from being Selina-centric to trying to tie up the whole franchise (I am NOT cut out for that). My last one was going to involve a presumed dead Dick Grayson (killed in a fight with Ra's Al Ghul that also resulted in Babs' paralyzing) as the Red Hood. It would have ended with Dick unmasking Bruce in front of Gordon and Harvey Bullock and revealing Selina as the former Catwoman, before Gordon would have shot him dead to stop him from executing them. Gordon would have retired but Bullock would have like had this new respect for Batman, Bruce and Selina would have married or something, and it would have all been happily ever after. Except the fact that Dick would be dead.

Yay.

Well I've been thinking. Scary I know. But with this being the 25 anniversary of Batman Returns and the fact that the story will in large part be a BR sequel more than a B&R sequel, I've been thinking about trying to do the story again and I have come up with a good idea. I'm going back to my original plot. The return of Selina Kyle, eventually in costume, to Gotham City (and to Bruce Wayne's life). My main villain will be the Scarecrow. I'm not going to elaborate because it would be very spoilerish but lets just say the rumored story of Batman Triumphant did influence my plot for Selina greatly. If those scenes comes out as epic as I'm imagining it in my head, I may write the greatest Burton Batman fanfic ever.

[The Laughing Fish]

I have one question: would you consider using Alexander Knox, sorta reporting on the mystery surrounding Catwoman, as he did when investigating Batman? Or would you prefer to kill him off, like Daniel Waters really wanted to when he was rewriting the BR script? 

[Catwoman]

I can't kill off Knox! I did that in another failed attempt, felt soooo wrong. Never again. I'd rather not use him at all than do that.

I hadn't decided on him yet for this one but in the last one I tried Selina read a story by him in the opening. Called him "Nosy Knox" aloud. She's not a fan. lol

[The Dark Knight]

You're going to write the story again? I say go for it. I assure you I'd read it and give feedback.

[Catwoman]

Catwoman Returns
By Maria P.

Chapter 1

"Help me!" she cried. "Somebody, please, help me!"

"Selina..."

The familiar whisper seemed to echo though the timberland around her.

"No!" she screamed. "Get away from me!"

"Selina..."

"NO!"

She turned and raced deeper into the dark forest. Low hanging limbs seemed to reach out and grab at her, tearing her sleeves as she raced past them.

Up ahead, in the distance, a dim light shone. Salvation, perhaps, if she could only reach it. Yet, the further she ran, the farther the light seemed to drift away.

"No!" she cried. "Please! Come back!"

Above the sound of her pounding heart beat, her panting breaths, and the twigs snapping beneath her bare feet, she heard it once more.

"Selina..."

Before she could respond to it, she tripped over a tree root and fell. A bottomless pit opened in the ground before her, swallowing her whole. She wailed with terror as she tumbled in the endless darkness for what seemed like ages. The sound of her petrified screaming wrapped her body like a mummy, pounding through her skull.

Just as she thought she might fall forever, her plummet stopped suddenly as she smashed into a concrete sidewalk. Amazingly unhurt, she rose to her knees. An old woman stood before her, trembling in fear.

"Oh my God," the old woman cried. "It's you! Don't hurt me!"

She turned to see a little girl grabbing at her mother. "Mommy, don't let her get me!" the girl screamed.

"No, I'm not going to hurt you," she cried. "I'm not going to hurt any of you. I need your help."

"It's the Catwoman," a man's voice shouted fearfully from behind. She spun to see a crowd gathered behind them, all wearing the same terrified expression. As she started towards them, they all backed away in fear.

"No, wait!" she cried, raising her hand. Then she looked at it. It was clad in black vinyl. Her other hand was likewise covered, as was the entirety of her body.

"Look, I don't do this anymore," she said. "See I'll show you."

She tugged at the glove on her left hand, but it refused to budge. She pulled harder and harder, to no avail. Extending her claws on her right hand, she began tearing at the glove, trying to rip it loose. Instead, deep, bloody claw wounds opened all over it like sheared flesh. Frantically she cut at the wrist of the other glove and gave it a fierce tug, pulling it off. All that was left in its place was a bloody skeletal hand.

She screamed in horror and fell to her knees.

"This can't be happening," she cried. "This can't...this can't...."

"Selina...."

"Get away!"

"Selina..."

She covered her ears, trying to drown out the whisper, but it did no good. It continued, growing louder and louder. As it did, it slowly transformed from a haunting male whisper to the frantic cries of a girl.

"Selina! Wake up! You're having the nightmare again!"

Finally, Selina Kyle sprang upright in her bed, ripped all at once from her torturous dream. She panted breathlessly, her skin sheathed in a cold sweat. It was the middle of the afternoon, and an overcast sun lit the room dimly.

"Selina, are you okay?" Tracy Carver, her roomate asked. Selina couldn't even begin to answer. "No, you're not," Tracy  sighed. "That's it. I'm calling the doctor."

"You're not calling anyone," Selina croaked in protest. "I'm fine. It's just a dream."

"JUST a dream?" Tracy demanded. She pointed at the floor. Selina peered over the edge of her bed, down upon the remains of a shattered vase, laying among mangled flowers in a puddle on the carpet. When she had laid down for a nap earlier that afternoon, it had been intact, resting peacefully on the table at her bedside.

"Oh Tracy," Selina cried, putting her head in her hands. "What am I going to do?"

"Let me call the doctor. They can run a few tests, maybe give you some medicine-"

"Tracy. This is not something a doctor can fix with a few test or some pills."

"You never know until you try, Selina," Tracy pleaded. "Please, let me make the appointment. I saw an ad in the paper for a guy who specializes in this kind of thing."

Selina, head still in her hands, sat silently, trying to think of another way. It was futile.

"Make the call," she conceded softly.

Without another word, Tracy picked up the phone off the floor, having apparently also been swiped aside during Selina's nightmare, and pressed the zero button.

"Hello, operator? Get me Dr. Jonathan Crane's office, please."

[Edd Grayson]

This story is going to be interesting. The nightmare sequence was great.

[The Laughing Fish]

Promising start. Please continue whenever you get the chance.

[The Dark Knight]

I'm interested enough to keep reading, so good job so far. Let's see if this standard continues with subsequent issues.   

[Catwoman]

Thanks yall. I actually managed to freak myself out as I was writing her nightmare lol.

[GBglide]

I liked it. You're good with prose, something I could never achieve.