catwoman returns

[Catwoman]

catwoman returns

written by: (catwoman)

story by:  (poison ivy),  (tony stewart), and (Catwoman).



setting: gotham city, fall/winter 1999

rated: r
violence
language
sex
drugs




chapter 1

"rise and shine, gotham city."

the dreary dawn of the coming morning light was still tucked away in the darkness as fuzzy freeman, gotham's most famous talk radio host, opened his show. already, though, much of the city was awake, up and about, going about their pre-dawn routine as a light drizzle gently brushed across the city.

"its a beautiful day," the equally loved and loathed freeman said in his trademark sarcasm. "the rain is coming down, down, down. ironically thats the same direction wayne enterprises stock is heading this morning. in other news, chip "the second coming" schreck is taking the day off after spending last night saving a baby, pulling a cat from a sewer, turning the gotham river into champagne in preperation for saturday night's masquerade ball, and generally sweeping the streets with bruce "that apple is STILL falling" wayne. i tell you, wayne isn't the only one dealing with ol' chip. if he keeps this up, batman might be the next gotham icon put out of business by maxie junior."

and so it was.

two years had passed since batman had saved gotham city from mr. freeze and poison ivy, and the scope of the city had changed. no longer was bruce wayne the city's favorite playboy. the hearts of gotham had been swayed by the resurgence of schreck's, the company founded by chip's grandfather, nostrodamus schreck iv, and brought into prominence by his father, maximillian charles "max" schreck, sr. after max's death, which to gotham's citizens the full story was still and perhaps forever unknown, the company had plunged into oblivion. then, like the phoenix rising from the ashes, schreck's had miraculously reappeared during the summer of 1998 with maximillion charles schreck, jr., known as chip, at the helm. now, a little over a year later, it topped all gotham city corporations in stock and earnings and seemed certain to drive many, wayne enterprises included, out of business entirely.

the shift in loyalty was one of the largest recurring headlines in the city. bruce wayne, for his part, publicly lamented that the good his company had done for the less fortunate and gotham as a whole had been completely forgotten. the media and many citizens brushed it off as jealousy. wayne enterprises still had its supporters, however. several who had been beneficiaries of bruce's generosity and gotham's purists, many of whom had supported thomas wayne 35 years earlier, right up to his murder in 1964, still showed their support.

chip's supporters, however, had the loudest voices, fuzzy freeman included. he ripped into bruce constantly in a daily diatribe entitled "chip and the chump." newspaper editors, cartoonists, politicians, and some of gotham's elite also vocally threw their support behind chip. at 29 years of age, he seemed to give gotham a breath of fresh air, while also making bruce, at 43, an old man and old news.

the divide seemed clear: the upstanding, progressive class of gotham were ferverent backers of chip, while the quieter, simple people stood behind bruce. and on this dark and damp morning, in a small little cottage house right on the outskirts of the town, one of his strongest supporters was just awaking.

it took selina kyle a little bit of effort to get out of bed these days. seven years had healed some of the physical and mental injuries she incurred during her time as catwoman but not all, and age hadn't helped matters any. her back seemed to give her the most trouble, hurting so badly some days that she had to literally crawl on the floor to a chair across the room from her bed and painfully straighten up. once vertical, she would do a number of stretches and exercises in order to get herself going. generally, these allowed her mostly pain-free days, though not always. the human body was not built to absorb four searing pieces of lead.

"ugh!" selina moaned as she stood upright. she gingerly twisted to one side, then to the other. she repeated this process until finally her back muscles were relaxed. feeling fairly well on this morning, selina gently limped into the bathroom and started her shower. as the water heated up, she allowed her nightgown to slip to the floor. then she turned and faced the mirror.

though still quite attractive, even at age 41, she had changed since the winter of 1992. perhaps most notable was her hair. her once vibrant blonde curls were now a longer, straighter light brown. selina had also gained weight. though not fat by any means, her skinny figure was nothing but a memory. one thing that had not changed was her skin. fair, almost snow-white, but blemished along her stomach by three dark discolorations and another one up at her left collarbone. she studied them for a moment and then clenched her eyes and her teeth in a moment of recollection. once freed of it, she turned and climbed into the shower.

once her shower was over, selina stepped out, wrapped herself in a towel, and walked into her living room. she opened her front door and reached down to grab the morning edition of the gotham times. the rain had soaked her small front lawn, but the paper was kept nice and dry by a plastic wrapper. she pulled it open and withdrew the times, hoping to see good news. she did not.

"shreck's dominance continues, wayne's downfall imminent?"

"damnit," selina said as she read the headline. during her time as max schreck's secretary, she had spent much time near chip, who was 12 years younger than her. the age difference had not deterred him, as he had often hit on her, trying to score a date. selina, wary of the schreck family and dating the boss's son in general, always declined. eventually chip turned against her. on more than one occasion she had seen the seemingly sweet and innocent young man's dark side, and at times it seemed almost as dark and deadly as his father's. his constant ridicule and scorn of her had led her to resent him, though not nearly on the level she had resented max. she hoped like hell for the company for which she once served as top secretary to fail, only to daily be disappointed by more news of the shrecks' increasing power. still, she continued to pray for a turnaround by wayne enterprises, forcing the schreck family out of business all together. she knew all about bruce. she knew his heart well. she had seen the good he had done in gotham city. she had experienced it first hand. in her heart, she knew that the city's longterm wellbeing was best served if bruce wayne was at the top of the heap.

and on top of all that, she was still in love with him.

[Catwoman]

by the way, characters is characters you guys don't know. i wish i could take credit for selina but i dont need to get sued. lol

[Catwoman]

all that work for nothing? grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

[johnnygobbs]

all that work for nothing? grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I like it but what's wrong with your PC's caps function?   

I'll give a proper appraisal soon.

[Catwoman]

iT wOrKs JuSt FiNe ThAnK yOu VeRy MuCh!

[Paul (ral)]

Good stuff catwoman - it has set up the scene well.

[johnnygobbs]

I enjoy reading your work catwoman.  I like the set-up of the characters (I also see you have used the approximate ages of the actors in 1999).  Really intriguing stuff and well-written.  Keep it up.

Although Nostrodamus Shreck?!?   

[Catwoman]

HEY! that was one of mine! bite me.

and actually i made bruce like 5 years younger lol. michelle was right though. and i have no idea on chip.

[johnnygobbs]

HEY! that was one of mine! bite me.

and actually i made bruce like 5 years younger lol. michelle was right though. and i have no idea on chip.

Bruce has been played by various actors of different ages so I suppose '43' would have been plausible in 1999.  Also, you were only about one year off for Andrew Bryniarski who played Chip.

...but seriously who calls their kid Nostrodamus Shreck?   

[Catwoman]

it says he's nostrodamus IV. so there were three before him and so i acted like they came to america from another country so it sounds like it could work to me so shut up. lol.