catwoman returns - redeux

[Catwoman]

ty batnar and the oker.








chapter 7

"yes commisioner?" batman asked after he had swooped onto the rooftop of the gotham city police department.

"word on the street is one of your old friends is planning on causing us all a lot of trouble," said commissioner james gordon as he deactivated the bat-signal. the bright patch of light with the bat emblem above gotham's skies faded into darkness. "and soon."

"who?" "thats the thing," gordon replied. "we're not sure who." batman stood silent for a moment. "no reports of any escapes from arkham?" he asked in a half-interrogative, half-matter-of-fact tone. "that's right, that place has been stone quiet," gordon confirmed. "perhaps a little too quiet," said the dark knight. "could it be someone plotting something from the inside? nygma maybe?" "unlikely," batman brushed off gordon's theory. "after his fall last year, nygma's brain is permanently scrambled. its impossible for him to pick through the millions of thoughts rushing through his brain to fabricate a sentence, much less a criminal plot of any level."

gordon pondered some more. "as many people as you've put away, how the hell are we supposed to guess which one its going to be?" he finally said, exasperated. "leave that to me," batman replied, turning to leave. "leave it to you. that's what you always-" commissioner gordon turned around. batman was nowhere in sight.

"say."

upon his return to the batcave, batman immediately made his way to a large computer. here he had access to the confidential information about each inmate within arkham asylum and many other individuals "in the system." he hoped something within the files might shed some light on which member of gotham's underworld was planning to wreak havoc.

he first studied the files of the only three "supervillains" from whom he had saved gotham city who were still living. edward nygma's showed up first. the once brilliant but mad scientist, who had worked for wayne enterprises before becoming the riddler, had still been somewhat functional after being defeated by batman in november of 1995, though certified insane. however, a major injury to his head from a fall down a short flight of stairs just before christmas the last year had left him permanently incapacitated. his eyes would madly dart back and forth and his body would twitch, sometimes in violent jerks, as he tried to comprehend the countless pieces of information flooding his damaged brain.

the next name to show up on the list was that of pamela isely, formerly known as poison ivy. the first months of her incarceration in arkham, as promised to her by her cell mate, dr. victor fries, were a living hell. he never physically tortured her but the verbal and mental abuse inflicted upon her, especially when he would cruely destroy one of her beloved flowers she had been permitted to plant (under supervision, given her plant-controlling abilities) nearly drove her to her mental breaking point. soon, though, the numerous toxins and poisons within her bloodstream had taken a much stronger physical toll. she was moved to a physical care facility within arkham reserved for elderly patients and had not left her bed since. once beautiful but potent and deadly, she was skeletal, with her vibrant red hair turning stone grey, and she lacked the strength to lift a finger.

if the stories of nygma and isely had taken a tragic turn and were assured of a sad ending, then the story of victor fries was the total opposite. in spite of his permanent physical condition, his broken mind had rehabilitated as he continued his scientific work, seeking a cure for his wife's illness. though facing a long incarceration, he had begun thinking about life after arkham. bruce had kept tabs on him and convinced of fries' rehabilitation, he was open to offering him some sort of job, although fries would likely be in the later stages of life once released.

with none of the likely suspects presenting a threat, batman scanned the files of "small and medium timers" like mobsters, street gangers, swindlers, bank robbers, and rapists. a few were within a couple months of their release date, but none of them seemed to pose the kind of danger that would have led gordon to warn him.

"i'll just have to be on the lookout," he told himself, removing his cowl.

bruce became troubled as he sat before the computer. he cleared the information he had been viewing and began looking through the directory. news clippings and police reports, along with his own thoughts, on nearly every crime and criminal since batman first came to be. at the very bottom of the list, which were otherwise arranged by date, was a folder that had been untouched since bruce had inputted it into the computer.

it was titled "selina kyle/catwoman."

bruce opened it and began reading the information he had gathered in the winter of 1992.

[johnnygobbs]

Excellent stuff Catwoman.  This is one of those chapters that kept me wanting to read more.  I hope we'll get to read about the contents of the 'Catwoman file'...

[Catwoman]

 

[Batnar]

Very cool chapter. After the emotional ride in the previous chapters, it was good timing to deliver the detective side of this world.

Good job, everything followed through nicely.

[Catwoman]

yay. i thought it would be out of place.

[Catwoman]

chapter 8

the morning after was saturday, and selina was up and about as bruce and dick dozed. she had told the maids to return to bed, which required more than a bit of persuasion, and was going to prepare breakfast herself as a surprise for bruce.

selina's mood had improved lately. it was not by coincidence that it had coccured at the same time wayne enterprises' freefall had stopped and a climb back towards the top was already well in progress. it wasn't that shreck's was doing any worse. it had simply leveled off, opening the door for a competitor to pull itself towards them. with wayne enterprises being the strongest and most healthy of all companies remaining in gotham that shrecks had not already forced out of business, it by default took on that role. though not neck-and-neck with shreck's just yet, it was clear that reports of wayne enterprises' demise had been exaggerated and premature.

bruce, of course, for his part was almost obvlivious to his namesake's turnaround because he was too busy as batman, trying to thwart an as of yet unknown threat, but selina had noticed. she was equally proud and relieved to see that no longer was his company on the verge of collapse but instead building its way back towards the top, towards schreck's, and this little breakfast was as much a celebration as it was her relieving bruce's of the maids' cooking, which was perfectly suited for night time but not at all suited for the early morning.

once selina had finished preparing the morning meal, she cleared her throat, giggled, and bellowed "COME AND GET IT!" she giggled again and waited....and waited....and waited.

"damn they're heavy sleepers!" she grumbled as she walked up the stairs to the hall where all the bedrooms were located. she reached dick's first and knocked on the door. no answer. she knocked again. again, no answer. she grunted and turned to go wake bruce. instead she walked right into him. startled, she jumpd back with a cry. "oh! you're awake!" she said, regaining her composure. bruce nodded, saying nothing, looking at her. she looked back at him for a moment, unsure what was on his mind. finally she broke the silence. "welp, come get your breakfast!"

she gleefully led him down to the dining area. once they arrived, selina was surprised and more than a little annoyed to see that dick and two scantilly clad roomates of his had already raided the breakfast table, somehow managing to sneak into the room unnoticed as she was preparing the food. "this is good stuff!" dick exclaimed, his mouth half full of a sausage biscuit. the two girls nodded but their mouths were so full they didn't attempt to speak.

selina rolled her eyes and gestured to bruce. "better go get it while its there."

a short while later, after finishing off their breakfast, bruce and selina sat together on a couch, although on seperate ends. bruce was staring off into space. selina could tell he was in a contemplative mood as he hadn't said more than two words all morning, but she didn't want to press him. she stretched her legs and arms out and yawned. "ahhh," she sighed. "i think i'm going to go take a nap."

"wait," bruce finally spoke up. "we...we need to talk." "about what?" "about...everything."

after retreating to the privacy of bruce's bedroom,  they sat together on his bed. at first, being in bruce's bedroom charged selina's sex drive so strongly she had to labor not to try to make a move at him. soon though, those feelings were long gone.

"selina," bruce began. "you know my job is to stop criminals and bring them to justice." she nodded. "well, i feel like i'm betraying myself, not to mention the trust gotham city has in me, when it comes to you." selina opened her mouth to protest, but he stifled her with a raised hand and continued. "you killed a man. you blew up a department store. you're an accessory to another murder. and i covered all that up. as far as the gotham legal system is concerned, catwoman never even existed, much less comitted a single crime."

he looked at her for a moment. "thats....thats just wrong."

selina stared into bruce's eyes. she could see in them the pain it took for him to say what he was saying, but that it hurt him didn't make it hurt her any less. she lowered her head for a moment, tears welling in her eyes. then she looked at him, a fiery, angry, betrayed expression on her face. "hypocrite, much?" she asked hatefully. "now wait a minute, seli-" she cut him off just as he had her.

"what about all the things you've destroyed, all the places you've blown up, all the innocent people who's blood is on YOUR hands? you're not some great grand hero. you're a vigilante, just like i was. it's just like you said. we're the same, right down the middle." bruce tried to reply but again she cut him off.

"you call me a killer. take a look in the mirror, bruce. you killed jack napier. you killed the penguin. harvey dent. hell i watched you blow up one of the circus gang clowns with my own eyes. what makes you justified? huh? tell me that. sure they were bad people, but max shreck was worse than any of them and you know it. and yet it makes you a hero to have killed those people while i'm simply a killer? how does that work? is it because you're a man and i'm a woman? is it because they were freak shows and max was 'normal?' or have you just convinced yourself that you can do whatever you want because your mommy and daddy got shot?"

bruce glared. he lunged at her, arms stretched out, shoving selina off the bed. grabbing her by her gown, he pulled her up and slammed her against the wall and pinned her wrists. selina was stunned, horrified as she looked into his wild eyes. he growled like an animal, baring his teeth. then, all at once, his grip on her wrists loosened. the growling stopped. the look in his eyes and on his face softened into one of remorse.

finally, bruce let go of her and hastily exited the bedroom door. behind him, selina slumped down the wall and placed her head in her hands, weeping.

[Catwoman]

chapter 9

bruce and selina had spoken very little since that encounter in his bedroom. there was no antimosity between them. they simply felt it was best to leave one another with their own thoughts for a little while.

in fact, very little had been said in wayne manor at all. dick had left to spend halloween in a "haunted mansion" with some friends of his. the maids did converse some but it was always in hushed voices, as well as in italian, a language which bruce spoke very little of and selina none at all. a place that large had the ability to appear depressing after a while, but when it was stone quiet, it truly was depressing.

selina took advantage of a rare dry day in gotham, though the skies were still dark and overcast, to sit outside on a balcony while reading that morning's gotham times. after seeing the usual headlines regarding bruce and chip shreck, she skimmed the individual sections of the paper for anything of interest. though not an avid sports fan, selina enjoyed car racing. the announcement of a charity race the coming spring through the streets of gotham caught her eye. she figured bruce's driving talents and the opprotunity to race so much cash for charity would lure him. she hoped so. despite her quiet midwest small-town girl roots, she loved fast cars.

the car race and everything else lost all importance to selina a moment later, as she skimmed the lifestyle section. there was an article on maggie burton, who despite her pregnancy was out of town on a book tour with a childhood friend. selina couldn't have cared less about the book. it was the part about maggie being out of town. selina had wanted to confront chip in person ever since their meeting at the ball. she pondered this for a moment. then she threw the paper down and hurried inside.

that afternoon, in his lavish penthouse apartment that also served as home base of operations for shreck's, chip was alone, quietly reading over some documents unrelated to his business. a large painting of his father, commisioned just weeks before max's death, hung above a fireplace where a small fire gently cackled. art, some of it dating back as far as the 1600s, lined the wall, surrounded by photographs, plaques, and newspaper clippings. chip was lost in his reading, save for a few brief moments when he would stoke the fire.

suddenly, the doorbell rang. startled, chip looked for a place to hide the papers he was reading. the doorbell rang again. finally, he tossed them into the fireplace. "damnit," he said, watching them burn. the doorbell rang a third time. "alright, alright, i'm coming!" he called, pulling on a robe over his previously nude body and walking to the door. he opened it.

"hello, charles," selina said in a sultry tone.

chip was taken aback. "uh, um, hi, selina," he said nervously. "may i come in?" she asked. "well, i'm not sure that you-" "GOOD!" she cut him off with a smile, pushing him back and entering. chip watched, bewildered, as she walked past him into his apartment. her choice of attire - a leather jacket and tight black jeans along with black boots - stunned him. this wasn't the selina kyle he recalled.

"so, um, what brings you here?" he asked, still nervous. "oh, i was in the neighborhood and thought i dropped in," she replied, her back turned to him. chip could tell she was being fecicious. "look, selina, if wayne sent you here to -" "nobody sent me here to do a damn thing," she said, turning to face him. she unzipped her jacket, revealing only a black bra, and stepped towards him. "i came here..." she leaned near his face. "...on my own."

their lips met.

after a moment, selina pulled back, smiled, and turned away once again. chip looked at her. "selina...what exactly is it that you want from me?" she said nothing. her eyes had met those of max shreck, in the painting above the fireplace. she looked away, only to find another photo of him starring towards her. she looked in the other direction. once again, the man who's memory tormented her to this day gazed upon her. max's face, his eyes, those evil eyes, were all around her.

her horror turned to anger. she slowly spun around to face chip. he was taken aback by her expression of hatred. she stared at him for a moment. "chip," she asked, "would you like to know how your father died?"

"what are you talking about? i know how he died. the pen-" "the penguin wasn't anywhere around. batman had already taken care of him." she walked towards chip, who nervously backed away. "you mean batman did it?" he asked. he tripped on the edge of the couch, falling backwards onto it. "no," selina said, climbing atop him.

"i did it."

chip's eyes widened. "you...you killed my father?" "he killed me first," selina replied. "five times in fact." "five ti...what the hell are you talking about? are you insane?" selina grabbed his head and pulled it towards her bare stomach. "see those two marks around my belly button?" she asked. "yes," chip replied, trying to pull back. up close, they appeared rather unsightly. "thats where max put two bullets in me. see this one?" she pointed to another wound on the right side of her ribcage. "that's another one. and this one up here..." she pulled her left bra strap off her shoulder, revealing a wound just below her collarbone.

chip looked at the wounds. then he looked up at her. the look in his eyes told her he had no idea what to say. she allowed herself a chuckle at his weak-spined appearance. she climbed off of him, undoing the top part of his robe and lining his chest in circles with her fingernail. then she leaned in close to his face, licking his lips, before pulling back. "dear old daddy pushing me out of that window knocked one life off. then batman and the penguin took one each from me. three down, six to go." chip studied her in complete horror as she spoke so nonchalantly.

"i told your dad to try to finish me off. alas, he ran out of bullets before i ran out of lives." she situated herself atop him once again. "so with two left, i decided to take care of business." she thrust her right hand down into her jeans and removed a small plastic bag. she opened it and pulled out the same stun-gun she had used on max. her blood was still spattered on it from the gunshot wounds and it still smelled of max's charred flesh, even after seven years. chip was sickened by the aroma. she placed the stungun to his mouth, positioning it upright before placing her mouth to the other side. "and then i gave him a nice, long-"

just as before, the doorbell rang, startling both of them. selina looked at the door, then back at chip. she then scampered off of him and ran towards the back room. chip, tying his robe back into place, collected himself as best as he could and answered the door. it was merely a mail delivery. after signing for it and sending the deliveryboy off with a $20 tip, he cautiously walked back to the bedroom, picking up the fire poke as he did.

to his relief, selina was gone.

[johnnygobbs]

Great stuff Catwoman, although Chip Shreck appears smarter than he did in Returns where he always came across as a bit dim.
Also, I don't buy Selina's excuse about Batman's 'murders' being worse than her own.  Was Max Shreck really worse than the Joker or Penguin?  The Joker wanted to gas the entire city whilst the latter was effectively going to blow everyone to kingdom come until Batman intervened.  It's also debateable whether Batman actually killed Two-Face or any of the Red Triangle Circus Gang.  Plus, how does Selina square her part as an accessory in the Ice Princess' death.  Batman has never been involved in the murder of innocents.

[Catwoman]

selina saying max was worse was her own feelings talking.

i'm shocked you didn't say anything about selina making out with chip lol.

[johnnygobbs]

selina saying max was worse was her own feelings talking.

i'm shocked you didn't say anything about selina making out with chip lol.

I was worried that they were going to go further for moment.  Can I assume that Selina was back to her formerly svelte shape in these scenes?