Batman Beyond 12
D-DAY
Erika massaged the muscle ointment into her body. She was covered in scars and bruises...if she didn't care about Terry so much she'd never have gone to that dinner last night. But the Sky-Rise was one of the most expensive places in Gotham. He'd brought her out as Phase 1 of his birthday surprise. She looked at her clock. It was after midday. "Hmm...late for work" she sighed. She then looked at her arm. "Good thing I heal fast."
==================
Terry stayed under the covers letting the waves of muscle pain disappear. "Thank God for painkillers" he breathed. "I'd be screwed without them...body armour only protects from so much police fire."
The phone rang...his hand ventured out and pulled the phone under. "Hello?"
"Hey Terry!" Max said. "Thanks for the invites to the big party!"
"Who else is coming?"
"Nelson and Blade and me and...Mel-so what was the date like"
"Mel?"
"She was at your place for Christmas Dinner"
"That's because she hadn't anywhere else to spend Christmas...we're still on thin ice even if we have some sort of friendship growing! She might think this as some sort of sign of forgiveness"
"You forgave Mel long ago Terry" Max snorted. "Because you knew it wasn't totally her fault she turned out to be a criminal...you blame her family."
"I guess, ..." muttered Terry. "And the date went fine...I was exhausted and drained but it went fine...she seemed a little off"
"And what about Phase 2?"
"I have it for tonight at the dance. She's supposed to be there. You'll never guess my costume."
"Well of course she would be and I probably wouldn't" Max said. "I'll let you get back to hibernation".
"Nfff" Terry said. "Bah".
"I'll take that as a goodbye" sighed Max and hung up so Terry could blank out again.
====================
Erika passed under the giant cathead, it had a tent over it and people were leaping about in HAZMAT suits. With a sigh she marched into the elevator and went up.
Erika sat in at her desk and set immediately into work. "You're late!" Roma said. Erika smirked seeing a black bruise on the model's face, surprised the woman wasn't in jail but still happy that even MaxFactor couldn't blot the mark of the Cat away.
"Yeah but I'm still on minimum wage" muttered Erika. "And paid by the hour. So go get a collagen job...or re-dye your roots" she looked at the shocked woman. "What were you expecting? A "How can you be so mean to someone so meaningless as me" dialogue? Think again Roma, I'm not to be messed with."
Roma's mouth opened and shut like a goldfishes. She grated her teeth and stalked off. Erika reached under her desk and pulled a computer CD out. "One way or another Delphi Cartland...your new years resolution is to get taken apart..." she purred in her Catwoman voice.
===================
Sketch sat on the bed playing with his medallion...it had been Tim Drake's room once, now it was his...but then again, Terry sometimes slept in Dick Grayson's old room. They were all in the same wing; the others far over were furthest from the Batcave and less handy. Selina was sleeping in the room across from Bruce's. She didn't spend any time in her old penthouse. Apparently she had a nice Japanese woman called Ms Kazuna to look after her plants and Cats and who now rented it out on a surprisingly low price.
Someone knocked on his door. An empathic scan revealed his grand---Mr Wayne was outside. "Come in Mr Wayne" he called. Bruce opened the door and entered. "Yes?"
"You're coming to the Masquerade I presume" Bruce said. He held out the box. "Selina...made me realize I have been trying to keep you in the cave..."
Sketch accepted the box. "Thanks" he said.
Bruce looked at the boy. "Your able to see in colour" he said.
Sketch bit his lip. "The wire thing gave it away," sighed Sketch. "It's why I haven't put my goggles back on...I can see colours...you know...faintly...everything's kind of ---grey and then there's the tints of colours. It started a while after I stopped wearing my goggles...then I started to read paint colour wheels"
Bruce nodded. "The goggles reacted with your empathic mutations. The brain injury passed on by the acid burns is what gives you both the colour blindness' cause and the reason for your powers. The Goggles let you see in green, but disrupted the sensory flow...it made you weaker to the feelings of others in sharp bursts...I checked the goggles out. You'll not have full colour reception I don't think...not alone. But you will be able to control the empathy."
"You figured that out on your own?"
Bruce smirked. "Medical exam when Terry brought you here on the first place. I don't know why he didn't worry about you seeing us...he trusted you."
"A first for anyone" muttered Sketch as he flicked the coin medallion up. Bruce caught it and examined it. "This is Harvey's," he said. "But...where did this come from?" He pointed at the small hole in the dead centre of the coin.
"Wish I knew," sighed Sketch. Bruce handed the coin back.
"And by the way" Bruce said as he left. "I found your name...its Christopher Vincent"
Christopher-Vincent Kyle-Wayne-Dent-Whatever smiled for the first time that he could remember. He opened the costume box and smirked.
=================
Terry entered the elevator and rose towards the penthouse of the Waters- Daniels Building. The white doors opened and revealed the party. He spotted his friends (Nelson had been categorized as that since he'd broken his arm and Terry had helped him get back on his athletic prowess-feet) in their own colourful costumes.
Max was wearing a silver bodice and dress with black tights and a top covered in green binary and a green visor mask. Nelson was dressed in old American Football gear helmet and ball under the arm. Blade was dressed as a Christmas tree in a short green one-piece dress with tinsel and bobbles hung on. Her earrings were two small angels and her mask was made out of tinsel. Mel stood on their edge, dressed in a deck of cards. The irony was not lost on him.
"Hi Terry" smiled Max. Terry had his hair slicked back and was wearing a tuxedo. "What are you here as?"
"Myself with my hair slicked back" Terry shrugged. "Anyone seen Erika?"
A smile came on Mel's lips. "Your costume isn't so original Terry".
Erika came down the steps towards the party. She wore a black gown with two slits up to her hips. The back of her dress was open but criss-crossed by loose silver strands. She had a high neck on the dress and a shawl across her arms and along her back. Her hair was tied up elaborately with a small string of diamonds and emeralds along her forehead and round to the back. She advanced slowly, the corset on her dress was lined with silver and she wore a choker of emeralds and diamonds. Her dress had long loose black sleeves that were barely opaque.
"What did you come as?" smiled Terry. The people in masks looked offended at the pair. Terry led her out onto the dance floor.
"Myself...because it'll be a hot time in this old town tonight...and I want to be me for it all."
"Yeah this town takes a whole lot out of you" he chuckled.
"I'm tired of wearing masks," she whispered. "Everyone says that if you behave you succeed. But the truth is that you only succeed if you don't behave but make it seem like you are. I used to complain about my problems...whine about what was wrong and hope a knight in shining armour would save me...but he never came so tonight I'm doing what I have to."
"You're lost" Terry whispered as they danced under the huge model of mistletoe. "Let me help you find yourself. Don't disappear from me, I think...I've only known you a short while but...you make me happy, alive, like you understand all the sides of me. I want to be unmasked for one night...with you"
Erika leaned her head into him. "It's my fault my parents died...if I had followed my instincts...if I had told them I could feel something bad, that I knew Alice was planning something...they wouldn't have gone driving. And they'd not have crashed and died."
"If I'd stayed behind, not argued with my Dad he might still be alive," whispered Terry. "But I'm making it up to him now..."
=================
The elevator doors opened and Selina, Bruce and Sketch/Chris stepped out. The reporters swarmed. "Mr Wayne! Hearsay Hilda, Good Morning Gotham!" the woman in the blonde beehive and horn-rimmed glasses was dressed as a bee in a black and gold striped suit and skirt. "Who is this on your arm?"
"Selina Kyle" Bruce said.
"And the young man? A new employee perhaps?" Hilda exclaimed.
"Actually" Bruce said. "This is my Grandson Christopher Vincent"
That dropped the jaw of everyone around as Bruce put his hand on the boys shoulder. "Excuse us" Selina said as she pushed through the reporters and led the two men towards the place Delphi stood. "Hail fraulein evil" she muttered.
"Grandson? Bruce you old dog" smirked Paxton who was dressed as Santa clause but in a red and white-lined business suit. "Never knew!"
"Darling!" Delphi cooed as she sashayed over in her skimpy, short, red and fur-lined dress with a Santa hat on her head. "We have to go over the--- Bruce! And---people---we were just discussing the analysts reports."
"The analyst reports?" sniffed Selina. "Why bother at a party?"
Delphi gave a musical laugh. "Analysts are talking about growth at 1% per annum. That's not growth...that's a mild swelling". She opened her furry white purse and searched through it. "Paxton darling, I've forgotten my figures remind me to take it out on...what's her name." She pointed at Erika. "I'm afraid I haven't housebroken----Ms Arkham," she sighed. "Yes that's her name... but she makes nice coffee."
"Ms Cartland" Sketch said. "If you don't knock the patronizing talk off I'll have to let it slip to Hearsay Hilda that you've-had-major-surgery," he pointed to his nose, cheeks, lips and chest as he mentioned the surgery. "You Frankenstein."
"Do you think you could handle me?" sneered Delphi. "And I feel that is a bum-rap, calling me Frankenstein. I'm a business woman, shrewd, yes, powerful, definitely, beautiful, no question...but it doesn't make me a monster."
"I'm sorry I still don't see how you made it to the conclusion you're not a monster" muttered Sketch/Chris. "I need to get something from the car" he departed stormily and vanished into the crowd, casting a wave to Terry on the dance floor.
"He's got quite a tongue...what's his costume?" sneered Delphi. "Let me guess... trust fund goodie-goodie?"
Selina laughed. "Try again Delphine".
Delphi's nostrils flared and she stalked away. "Mr Wayne, please remember, I am the light of this city...and it's mean twisted soul...I have a speech to make."
=================
"I have to finish this tonight Terry," whispered Erika. "For all the downtrodden people living in this society, and I do it as Erika Arkham. And I'm doing it with the help of my boss."
"Are you and Delphine working to---"
"Working together? For the good of the city" Erika burst out into mad laughter. "No Terry" she reached into a sleeve pulled a small pistol from a band on her forearm. "This and Delphine will be fore the good of the city".
Terry stared and shoved the pistol down. "What the---"
"Now, don't give me a Killing-Delphine-Won't-Solve-Anything-Speech because it will...and ix-nay on the You're-Crazy speech because I know...aren't you tired of the sanctimonious Robber baron making like a bandit from all the work of the average working schmoe? Not that there's much average about me...But that baron gets away up high when he should be six feet under on the pushing end of a daisy!!"
=====================
Mel looked at Max. "They go well together."
"Yeah she's so sweet" Max said. "They fit together."
"Definitely. I think it's because they're honest with each other, Terry and me? Not so much, it was a mutual attraction but probably best to build a friendship on."
"It's like a romantic movie," sighed Blade. "They're such a down to earth couple!"
"Yeah, and Erika's hot"
Blade and Max slapped the football-clothed man between them at the same time.
=========================
"I'm taking her down," whispered Terry. "She's guilty of so much..."
"I sent a disk of her dealings in crime to the police--"
"Leave it at that" pleaded Terry. "If you go to jail---I'll lose you!"
"I'll get to be on my property at least, Arkham Asylum for me I think," she giggled. "The tape will justify my actions..."
"You can't kill her! Who do you think you are! ?" Gasped Terry.
Tears trickled down Erika's cheeks. "I don't know...I really don't know anymore."
She pressed into his chest and looked up. "A kiss under the mistletoe" she laughed.
"Cliché" he whispered.
"You know...mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it" she whispered.
"A kiss can be just as deadly if you---mean it," breathed Terry. They stared at each other, dazed and confused. "No..." he whispered. "You can't..." He slid his hand along her arm, finding the chemical burn on her arm while she pulled his shirt out of his trousers and traced the deep scratches on his back.
They shoved apart. Erika gave a sardonic laugh. "Help with a GAS leak...chemical? I'm sure!"
"Sorry Miss: Beat Out a few things of Delphi's!" he spat.
"This from Mister-This-Town-Takes-A-Whole-Lot-Out-Of-You"
"Tired of wearing masks? As if! Trust me to pick the psycho-sexual self- destructive vinyl-clad metal-clawed homicidal whacko!"
"Like I'm happy to be around...the epitome of upstanding citizen and the ultimate in two-faced boyfriends? You're just some pathetic man, I was wrong, I thought you were different. Let's do this, finish it so I can finish Delphi"
"With pleasure."
Erika spun and slashed Terry across the face with her claws. All eyes snapped to them as she swung a backfist at him. He caught it and pulled her arm behind her neck. She flipped him over and spun kicking Max across the face as she rushed in. She judo flipped Nelson as he tried to tackle her. Her chop met with Mel's arm. Mel forced her hand down.
"Mel, of course"
"Erika...Terry sure can pick them"
"Thanks" She spun and hacked Mel down. The police came through the doors before anything else could happen. Flooding from the elevators and fire exits, from the balconies as they leapt from choppers.
"Delphine Cartland! You are under arrest for terrorism and aiding known criminals in a plot for mass murder!" Commissioner Gordon exclaimed.
Delphi raised her hands, the white pompoms flourished with glitter. "Of course officer..." she pressed down on her ruby broach on the fur line around her cleavage. "But not yet!"
The dance floor exploded upwards, Terry had risen and moved at Erika. They were flung apart, he saw her buried under the leaves of the giant Mistletoe. The Sleigh appeared. Roma rushed to it dressed in a scandalously short brown dress with antlers and holding a set of reigns. She leapt in followed by Delphi.
"Santa Claus? I don't think so!" she declared. "I'm just some schmoe who made it look me...so sue me...IF I KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THIS CITY AND WHERE TO SHOVE IT!"
The sleigh took off. Paxton glanced up at Delphi who nodded to him. Then jetted around the room, firing little snowballs before zooming back into the hole it came from. Terry looked at the others. Max glanced around as the walls cracked.
"Everyone out!" Bruce shouted. A Mad dash for the balconies and stairways began. "LOOK OUT!" Bruce roared as a young woman in a skimpy Channel dress with cat ears, tail and mask with gloves staggered near the end of the sleigh's abyss.
Terry spotted the girl and knew at once it was Dana! Craig had made a run for the lifts without noticing that she was trapped, her ankle tangled in the debris of the floor and her body close to falling free...straight into the hole. Suddenly a cord snapped through the air as she fell back and lifted her away.
Terry whirled as he heard something groan behind him. A huge column crashed down...someone swept through the air and pulled him away. "A tip Terry, less pie eating" his saviour grimaced.
He landed on his feet with the hero of the moment.
The boy had black hair with a white triangle that expanded into squiggles of white at the front and a mask that exposed his mouth and hair but covered his throat and the back of his head and neck. His costume was a shade of blue so dark it was virtually indistinguishable from black. He had a thin redwing bird (Like the one in Batman & Robin) across his chest and a set of red gauntlets with black gloves. His knee high boots were laced up with kneepads and he had a bat belt around his waist.
"Your welcome" grinned Sketch.
"Robin?" murmured Terry.
"Got it in one" Sketch said as he clicked his tongue and trigger-fingered at Terry. "Gotta run, I'm not one for public adoration...its only a few days before I'm some pop stars new beau".
He leapt into a flip and landed in a crouch launching from that out the window and disappearing. Terry pulled the giant mistletoe leaves aside, Erika was gone, her pistol left behind.
The silent thought passed through the minds of Bruce, Terry and Selina: Cave
==============
"She's at the sewer works," insisted Terry as he pulled on his belt.
"Hello everybody!" Sketch called as he descended into the cave.
Bruce turned on the boy. "How did you make the costume?" he snapped.
"I made it with the factory program" Selina said. "He designed the gadgets," she added. "Now are we going to business or what?"
"You've put the boy in danger!" Bruce exclaimed.
"I'd have done it without the cool body armour sooner or later" sighed Sketch. "I need to do this Mr---Grandfather. I need to do my penance. Even if it is for a corrupt society"
"We have to get into the sewer works," Terry said to Sketch. "Any thoughts?"
"Underground" Sketch said. "They'd not be expecting us to know about their schematics, they have a way in underground through the sewers. But the Batmobile is too wide for the tunnels"
"I can solve that," Bruce said. He hit a switch. "I'm surprised you're accepting this new Robin," he added to Terry. "I didn't peg you as a team player."
"You can't have Batman without Robin" Terry grinned. "It's like...a sundae without hot fudge and sprinkles."
"Food analogies?" muttered Bruce, raising an eyebrow.
"Leave the boy Bruce, they have a psychopathic mogul to dethrone" Selina grimaced.
"Go for it" Bruce said. Terry looked at Selina.
"You Knew" Terry said quietly. "That I was dating her...your apprentice?"
Selina nodded. "She mentioned someone like you, then I saw you together dancing... and all the proof I need was before me...actually the entire kit-and- caboodle was in front of me...oi...I need to stop sounding so old."
Terry smiled and nodded.
"Be careful...she's not who I trained, her sanity has slipped away...you might be able to bring her back."
Terry nodded and walked to the platform as a light clunked on and revealed a thin and sleek boat with a Bat wing at the back and ski's on the underside. A fan was set on the back and there was a glass covering. "The Bat Waterjet" Bruce said. "Great for sewer work..."
The Destined Duo leapt into the Waterjet and shot off into the water below as the launching platform lowered. The engines whirred and they were aimed at what looked like an open sewer great
"Yeeeeeeeee-haaaaaaaa" Sketch exclaimed as they rocketed through the waterways and off a small ledge into the sewer system. "I LOVE THIS JOB!"
====================
Paxton and Delphi stood in the control room. "The turbines are at full power Ms Cartland" Stefan reported. "Karl is ready to pull the switch."
"A nice black out to get the juices flowing" smirked Delphi. "And then on to the master plan...in the sewer works we'll be safe as houses while the rest of the city collapses."
"Yes, indeed" chuckled Paxton. "Gotham will be flattened!"
"Karl! Pull the switch! We'll be there in 20 minutes," Delphi snapped into her broach
At the master control room Karl pulled the lever. "Done!" he exclaimed. "Lights out for Gotham! I'm going to secure the area!" A clawed hand slammed into his head and bashed his face off the wall knocking him out. He was tossed into the brackish water by the same hands.
At the control room on the surface Delphi and Paxton headed for the door with the others. Roxanne suddenly shouted. "Something's approaching through the sewers! Fast! It'll reach the main command centre below the water in 4 minutes!"
"Mobilize the soldiers" Paxton snapped. "Set an ambush!"
"Yes sir" Roxanne said as she began giving commands through her com-link.
=======================
"Well this is fun," Sketch said as the soldiers appeared from narrow grates with rifles blazing. "What weapons do we have?"
"Something in shields would be nice" Terry said.
Sketch hit a switch, the glass darkened on the outside and the Waterjet dowered down off its skis. "Well...that was handy..." Sketch muttered. Two blasters snapped from the sides of the Water Jet. "Sarcasm retracted" he said and grabbed the control sticks at his side. "Say hello to my little friend!"
The laser pulses hit the guards knocking them down and away as they sped down the water channel. "Rocket Launcher!" Sketch exclaimed as the cameras locked onto the men holding the long explosives launcher. Terry twisted the controls; the Waterjet swept up swirling on the tunnels walls and onto the roof as the rocket passed under them. A laser blast dispatched the group before they could reload.
The Water jet burst through the planked up tunnel and revealed the massive control room with turbines and all. Terry spun the Waterjet 360 as Sketch fired; the guard's numbers were whittled to a small amount. "This is my stop!" Robin said.
Batman nodded as Robin ejected through the roof and spread his arms, two scythe like wings snapped from his gauntlets and he glided into a landing on a guard. Delphi and Paxton retreated to the elevator as Terry sped into the fray, hurling his batarangs and swinging his fists.
Paxton and Delphi sprinted across the walkway. "Roma! Get down here!" shrieked Delphi into her microphone broach. Her fur-lined cloak fluttering the mogul rushed past the huge access pipes to the gas. "We need to begin now!"
Someone swung out of the shadows and snapped their legs out. Delphi crashed hover the side and plunged off the catwalk into the water below. Paxton was knocked into the gas analysis booth, a large booth with a valve handle on the door. The door slammed.
=====================
"Batman! Trouble!" Robin shouted. "Paxton's trapped in a gas booth...scratch that it's nothing bad!"
"Go get Paxton!" Terry shouted.
Robin pulled a face; flip kicked a guard and jetted upwards. He reached the booth and struggled with the valve handle. "No luck" he groaned.
"Work on it" Bruce said. "Just because Paxton's an evil brat we can't leave him to die"
"We can't?" Selina and Robin said together.
Robin touched the panelling on the outsides of his legs, the scarlet strips parted to reveal a set of batons. He slammed them into the airtight glass. "A Robin's work is never done!"
He hacked away at it.
=====================
Roxanne spun, the fist cracked into her jaw as Terry knocked her away from the controls near the water. She swore in German. "Sorry, I took French" terry said. He tossed her over the control box and kicked a chair at Stefan. "Lights out" he tossed a bat bomb...it burst open and floored him.
Roma dropped from the walkway above his head and kicked him off the steps to the control nest. "Sorry Batman, but this is a private party!"
=================
Robin pulled Paxton through the shattered panel and dragged him to his feet. "Robin! Boy Wonder, you saved me I...you are Robin...right?"
"Yeah"
"You saved me and so saved a force of..." Robin shoved him over the walkway into the water. He rose spluttering in the brackish water. "Hey! Save me! Come back!"
"I will! Later---" he shouted. "Much" he added and looked around. The control nest near the water on a stone podium was the site of Roma and Batman taking anger out on each other. With a groan Robin leapt down and flying-tackled Roma.
"NO!" Roma screamed. She swung an electrified baton into his hip and slammed her hand down on a large red button. "Mission accomplished!"
"Hey!" Roma turned and received a jump kick to the face from Robin; she flipped over the control panel and went off the podium, hitting the electrical wires below. Her body gyrated as if it were dancing in the sparks. Then the current shut off.
"She just flooded the old sewer works with the explosive gas they stole" Terry reported reading the screen
"One small spark and everything goes to hell," Robin groaned. "Unless...if I reroute the gas into somewhere else...the turbine room! We can detonate it there with no damage!"
"How?"
"Old ventilation system" Robin said. "Give me a few minutes"
"Where's Delphi?" Terry murmured.
====================
Delphi swam frantically down the waterworks into the turbine room. She scrabbled for the ladder out. A whip coiled around her ankle and dragged her backwards into the water. She surfaced and someone grabbed her by the collar of her cloak, lifting her to eye level. "Hey Delphi! We need to take a meeting".
=====================
Terry jetted through the air and landed in the old pipe. He walked through, the sound of splashing and voices from beyond it drawing him forward.
"Whatever it is you want," Delphi said. "I can get it for you with minimum fuss... clothes? Jewels? A large ball of yarn...saucer of milk?"
"Blood Delph, I want your blood"
"I gave at the office..."
"Not what I had in mind"
"Pints?"
"Gallons Delph, Gallons"
Terry jetted from the shadows. "No!" he landed. Erika was barely wearing a costume; the stitches were bursting and torn. Her black and purple hair was sticking out from various patches. "You can't do this"
"Batman here to save the day!" she giggled. "And yes I can"
"Batman! You're saving not just a person but the soul---"
"Shut up" snapped Terry. "You might not be killed but you are going to jail!"
"I am the soul of Gotham!" she gasped.
"The city's getting a transplant," sneered Terry.
"DON'T BE SO NAIVE" hissed Erika. "The laws don't apply to her. When she says jump we ask "out the window" or "off the bridge" and it will happen again!"
Face To Face My lovely foe Mouth to mouth Raining heaven's blows
Erika slashed him across the face. He ducked her kick and slammed a hand into her back. She pulled a taser from the back of her belt and zapped Delphi before shoving her towards a large fuse box with wires attached to it.
"Please Terry, I can't go on like this! You'd never have seen me if I hadn't become Catwoman, but that is no way to feel anything, based on what they hate."
"I liked you when you were picking those papers up in the snow... when you were scared of Dana...you can't change that much. I still see her in you, that peaceful girl that is just a part of who you are now!"
Hand on heart Tic tac toe Under the stars Naked as we flow
She spun at him; he caught her leg and shoved her back. She flipped into a cartwheel and snapped her whip around his neck dragging him down.
Cheek to cheek The bitter sweet Commit your crime in your deadly time
He grabbed her ankle and pulled her to the ground. "Stop this, walk away from the killing and mayhem!" she slammed a palm into his face and rolled aside
Commit your crime in your deadly time It's too divine I want to bend I want this bliss but something says I must resist
He blocked her left hook and her right as she brought her knee into his groin, his guard protected him but he was off balance enough for her to shove him against the railings near the water.
Another life Another time We're Siamese twins writhing intertwined Face to face No telling lies The masks they slide to reveal a new disguise
Terry grabbed her as she leapt at him and rolled them along the barrier to pin her over it. "Please...Erika...don't" she leaned in for a kiss...and head butted him spinning him against the railings as he twisted her own taser against her.
You never can win It's the state I'm in This danger thrills and my conflict kills They say follow your heart Follow it through But how can you When you're split in two?
"You can't bring me back I'm too far-gone!" she whimpered as she swiped the taser at him and he shoved it off course into her other arm. "We end this now! Mano a bato a womano a cato!"
And you'll never know You'll never know
One more kiss Before we die Face to face And dream of flying
Erika kicked him in the ribs and he chopped into her neck. She shrieked and hit him with her taser. Behind them Delphi pulled a pistol from her garter, and old revolver with a pearl handle. Six shots from a small but powerful pistol and only two targets.
Who are you? Who am I? Wind in wings Two angels falling To die like this With a last kiss
Erika slashed across Batman's chest, the sparking cyber skin of her costume visible under the destroyed vinyl. "I'm sorry," she whispered. She cracked her whip across his chest.
It's falsehood's flame It's a crying shame Face to face The passions breathe I hate to stay but then I hate to leave
Terry grabbed her and pulled her close. "STOP"
And you'll never know You'll never know...
She shoved away from his body, her whip ready to lash, one hand before her, clutching the taser, targeting him. "I can't! I CAN'T"
"Don't make me fight you, ..." he pleaded.
"I don't want to" she whimpered.
Erika stabbed him in the chest with her claws, he shouted in pain and swatted her aside. She lashed her whip, he grabbed it as it snared him around the neck and dragged her into his fist.
"I LOVE YOU," they roared.
They parted angrily. "You were surrounded by monsters...and you became one" he whispered. "That was a really, really bad move."
"Oh" laughed Erika. "Now you tell me..."
She swiped at him as Delphi checked her bullets. "I've seen the real you, when you let the guard down" terry breathed. "Beautiful and modest, smart and funny and wonderfully rude. I saw it when I kissed you on the cheek, the real Erika, the one that was subdued by her job and boss...you're a force of nature...I love you"
Erika didn't move as he approached. "I love you too," she whispered. "But I can't know peace until she's dead!"
Terry pulled at his mask, removing it. "Let's take her to the police together and then go home...together...just you and me."
Erika pulled on her cowl revealing her hair, inflated into a bizarre perm by the cowl and sweat mixed with hairspray from her previous hairdo. "I can't do it Terry". S he slashed her whip at him. "Please, turn around and fly away...you can't control me! And I can't control myself..." She pulled in close and kissed him as he spoke next.
"You only think that..." he kissed her back passionately, the unmasked pair balanced between their dual sides for a second. Erika pulled back.
"I wish I could believe in the good in the world...other then you Terry. I wish we could live together in the happily ever after, where the evil queen is destroyed and the woodland creatures sing a chorus for me as we dance through a field of flowers. I wish I could live in that world with you Terry...I want to" she slashed him across the cheek. "I JUST COULDN'T LIVE WITH MYSELF"
She swung her taser. He shoved it back at her again, for the third time and she twitched completely. She pressed him against the barrier. "Six lives left...how about a kiss Santee Claus?"
Erika leaned in for a kiss...and stabbed her taser into his body before head butting him backwards.
"Erika Arkham! My lowly secretary!" exclaimed Delphi. "You're Catwoman! You're fired! And... Bruce Wayne's gofer? --- Why the hell are you dressed up as Batman?"
"Because he is Batman you moron!" snarled Catwoman.
"What do I care?" cackled Delphi. "I'm going to kill you both!" She raised the pistol as she spoke, her hand making small circles as if unsure or deciding on where to fire.
"Don't flatter yourself you're not very good at it" Erika said with a dry laugh. Delphi fired at Batman's body, hitting him in the armour-plated throat. He dropped into a pained crouch, gasping for breath. She turned on Erika.
"You killed me. Batman killed me. Roma killed me. Three lives down six left. YOU GOT ENOUGH IN THERE TO FINISH ME OFF! ?"
"Erika" sneered Delphi. "Erika, Erika, Erika"
"That's my name Cartland, don't wear it out or I'll make you buy me a new one" murmured Erika in a daze with a small dark laugh.
She cracked her whip and rushed forwards to perform a jump kick. Two shots rang out and Erika collapsed mid charge clutching her arm. "Four, Five...STILL ALIVE" she snarled as she rose and cracked her whip, and then dropped it, blood streaming down her arm. She gripped a sharp metal bar from the ground.
Two more shots. "Six seven...all good girls go to heaven" she sang. The gun clicked. "Oh...missing a bullet? Well...2-4-6-8 who do we assassinate? Two lives left, I think I'll save one for next Christmas"
She shoved Delphi backwards and stabbed a claw into the fuse box as she plunged the bar through Delphi's stomach. The sparks ignited the gas. Terry dived into the water as the electricity roared, the flames blazed over his head...he surfaced, the debris was all around. He swam to the concrete slab again and climbed out. He rushed to the blazing mound of Debris. A skeletal, blackened hand jutted from the rubble in a tattered red glove with a pistol clutched in the hands...the fingers dropped off.
"Terry! Get out of there!" Selina shouted, tears in her voice.
"She might..." Terry cried as he picked up the stun gun and whip.
"TERRY! NOW" Bruce shouted. With a cry of anguish Terry sped away as more explosions began. He found Robin beating the crap through Stefan and Paxton hung by his Santa coat on a crane hook and chain.
"Let's go!" said Batman as Robin slammed Stefan's face off the control panel and flung him aside. "The police will be here soon"
"Okay" Robin said slowly. He tossed his Redwing projectile (A/N: like a batarang but with a beak and a little more delicate) at Paxton. The small explosive charge shattered the chain and he plunged into the water with a shriek. "I'm done."
===========================================
Terry sat in the café; Christina was playing her farewell performance...the last song Erika had given her. She was leaving for LA. Doing what Erika had said she should do...reach for her dreams. He listened. Chris and Selina sat across from him. Selina had tears in her eyes as she stroked the stray cat.
"She should be here," he said.
"She is, in the song," Selina said.
Let The Rain
The rattle on my window The shining waters flow I toss and turn The nightmares burn I rise from my bed Have to clear my head I run outside into the night And the rain by moonlight
And let the Rain Wash away my Pain It's not an easy thing to bear But I don't stop to care
I'm behind my desk at noon Wishing I'd be under the moon The ice freezes me here I wish it would disappear So I rise and run from this workspace Looking for a painless place I just let the pain go And let the drops glow
And let the Rain Wash away my Pain It's not an easy thing to bear But I don't stop to care
Let it rain---Let it rain Take all my pain—all my pain I need to be ---I need to be Another type--type of me
Its late evening and I'm in a crew I smile and laugh but it's so untrue I want to run from the neon lights The chattering gossip's shark bites I need to find a way To wash it all away Because when morning comes I must be gone Because I just can't keep carrying on
So let the rain Wash away my pain It's not an easy thing to bear But I don't stop to care
So---let the down on me Because I know how soothing it can be Find a place I've never been before And Stand outside for the downpour
Terry looked at Selina...she was crying, Christina was trying to hide her tears as she took a small bow and Chris was wiping his eyes, his empathy sensing the pain. Terry closed his eyes. "Let's go," he whispered.
==============================
Terry laid the flowers on the empty grave of Erika Felicity Arkham. "I forgot to wish you happy Birthday," he said. "Sorry..." he opened the small present in his hands and removed the jewellers box. "For you"
He took the small sliver chain with the tiny diamond pendant out. "Happy Birthday Erika Arkham... wherever you are..." he pressed it deep into the soil around the tombstone that had been freshly turned to dig the stone in. Then he put the rock over the place and kissed the name.
Chris stood behind him with his grandparents. Selina was shattered she'd lost another daughter, Bruce looked at Terry with understanding and Max...she hugged him, Blade and Nelson and even Mel were there for him...the media knew nothing of Erika's identity, she'd been a "Casualty" of an attack on Gotham. Paxton had weaselled his way out of trouble. Saying he'd been kidnapped...and Batman was the publics darling of the dark again. If you could call him that.
"It's not right" Selina whispered.
Chris/Sketch looked at his ring as it began to flicker. "Quick to the batpoles" he whispered hoarsely. "There's some emergency".
"If you don't feel up to it---" Selina began.
"I'm able" Terry said.
================
"The old Batman wouldn't meet in daylight" smirked Barbara. Batman and Robin looked downcast. "I understand...what happened and her secret is safe with me... but I thought you should see this..."
She walked over to the bat signal and pointed. Tied up under the signal was Karl Krauss in his underwear. "He evaded capture," she explained. "And then he turned up here, scratched and his clothes whipped off..."
Terry's eyes widened. "So, the new Robin" mused Barbara.
"I have to go" Terry whispered as he took off. Robin smiled at the Commissioner and jetted away. They sped through the air. "She can't be alive all her lives were gone!"
"Ehhhh"
Batman glanced at Robin and landed on a roof. "What?"
Robin sighed and sat down on the ledge. "I replayed your camera info from that night. The bullets hit her in no lethal places and one missed...she had five left."
Terry gasped. "I have to find her!"
"Don't" Chris put his hand on Terry's shoulder. "I doubt anyone could survive that... she's gone and you loved her and it's not right but you have to face it, if she wanted to find you she could...and probably would, but she hasn't, she can't. She's gone."
Terry stiffened, clenching his fists...then relaxed and sobbed. "She shouldn't be dead"
"She was your love" nodded Chris. "Your time together was short and unfairly so, you were hit by love like a lightening bolt...I wish I could be that lucky, tis better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all."
"He's right" Selina said. "Erika did love you, she said it and I know she meant it"
"You have to face loss," Bruce added. "And you'll always have your time together."
Terry turned to Chris and nodded. Chris smiled then frowned over Terry's shoulder. "Stray Cat" he said. Terry looked at the black cat as it brushed off his legs. He picked it up and held it close. "How did it get up this high?"
"Who knows Chris" Terry mumbled. "But it's here..."
======================
"Gotham train station! All aboard to Oasisburg!" the voice reported over the speakers. The young woman in the wide hat and long trench coat stood by her large case. The muscular man sidled up to her as she adjusted her sunglasses.
"Want a hand?" he asked.
"No thank you" she said.
"Sure you do" he struggled to lift the case. She gripped the case with both hands and easily lifted it from his hands.
"Thanks but no thanks" she strolled towards the train and climbed on.
"Are you okay?" the old woman across from her asked as she looked longingly out the window. She had nut-brown skin and silvery hair pulled back, she knitted.
"Yes" she said.
"Visiting family?" the woman with the purring voice asked.
"In a way...yes" she said. "There was a death in the family."
"I'll bet you'll be happy to see family"
"I don't have any, I'm alone" the girl said.
"Not even a boyfriend?"
The young woman looked up at the bat mobile as it passed overhead. "It fell apart, but I left him with a parting gift..." she sobbed. The woman handed her a handkerchief and returned to knitting.
"It's never that bad" the woman said. "Where are you staying?"
"I don't know"
The woman smiled. "You can stay with me dear, everyone needs someone."
"Thank you...I'm Erika...Erika Arkham".
The woman smiled. "You may call me Kitka. Everyone does...are you all right?"
"I will be" smiled Erika sadly as the train pulled out of the station and left the city behind once and for all.
========================
THE END:
And so it ends (shoots the leader of the conga line). If I moved anyone to tears please tell me (though I'm not a good writer, so I doubt I would.) The song for the fight was by "Siouxsie and The Banshees" and called "Face To Face"; it's the theme song (a catatonic mix of it) they released way back when. You can hear it at the ball scene in batman Returns and at the end of the credits. Let the Rain is something I put together.
Hope you enjoyed, Face-Off is next with another of my favourite villains: Two-Face but in the guise of a psychotic mutant ex-actor called Masque. Yes I am strange. His partner in that tale will be Iola the Incredible a magician based on Zelda the Magnificent from the old live action series (check out for proof).
TTFN everyone. For now. Imaginary cookies to anyone who can guess who the old woman on the train is based on.
D-DAY
Erika massaged the muscle ointment into her body. She was covered in scars and bruises...if she didn't care about Terry so much she'd never have gone to that dinner last night. But the Sky-Rise was one of the most expensive places in Gotham. He'd brought her out as Phase 1 of his birthday surprise. She looked at her clock. It was after midday. "Hmm...late for work" she sighed. She then looked at her arm. "Good thing I heal fast."
==================
Terry stayed under the covers letting the waves of muscle pain disappear. "Thank God for painkillers" he breathed. "I'd be screwed without them...body armour only protects from so much police fire."
The phone rang...his hand ventured out and pulled the phone under. "Hello?"
"Hey Terry!" Max said. "Thanks for the invites to the big party!"
"Who else is coming?"
"Nelson and Blade and me and...Mel-so what was the date like"
"Mel?"
"She was at your place for Christmas Dinner"
"That's because she hadn't anywhere else to spend Christmas...we're still on thin ice even if we have some sort of friendship growing! She might think this as some sort of sign of forgiveness"
"You forgave Mel long ago Terry" Max snorted. "Because you knew it wasn't totally her fault she turned out to be a criminal...you blame her family."
"I guess, ..." muttered Terry. "And the date went fine...I was exhausted and drained but it went fine...she seemed a little off"
"And what about Phase 2?"
"I have it for tonight at the dance. She's supposed to be there. You'll never guess my costume."
"Well of course she would be and I probably wouldn't" Max said. "I'll let you get back to hibernation".
"Nfff" Terry said. "Bah".
"I'll take that as a goodbye" sighed Max and hung up so Terry could blank out again.
====================
Erika passed under the giant cathead, it had a tent over it and people were leaping about in HAZMAT suits. With a sigh she marched into the elevator and went up.
Erika sat in at her desk and set immediately into work. "You're late!" Roma said. Erika smirked seeing a black bruise on the model's face, surprised the woman wasn't in jail but still happy that even MaxFactor couldn't blot the mark of the Cat away.
"Yeah but I'm still on minimum wage" muttered Erika. "And paid by the hour. So go get a collagen job...or re-dye your roots" she looked at the shocked woman. "What were you expecting? A "How can you be so mean to someone so meaningless as me" dialogue? Think again Roma, I'm not to be messed with."
Roma's mouth opened and shut like a goldfishes. She grated her teeth and stalked off. Erika reached under her desk and pulled a computer CD out. "One way or another Delphi Cartland...your new years resolution is to get taken apart..." she purred in her Catwoman voice.
===================
Sketch sat on the bed playing with his medallion...it had been Tim Drake's room once, now it was his...but then again, Terry sometimes slept in Dick Grayson's old room. They were all in the same wing; the others far over were furthest from the Batcave and less handy. Selina was sleeping in the room across from Bruce's. She didn't spend any time in her old penthouse. Apparently she had a nice Japanese woman called Ms Kazuna to look after her plants and Cats and who now rented it out on a surprisingly low price.
Someone knocked on his door. An empathic scan revealed his grand---Mr Wayne was outside. "Come in Mr Wayne" he called. Bruce opened the door and entered. "Yes?"
"You're coming to the Masquerade I presume" Bruce said. He held out the box. "Selina...made me realize I have been trying to keep you in the cave..."
Sketch accepted the box. "Thanks" he said.
Bruce looked at the boy. "Your able to see in colour" he said.
Sketch bit his lip. "The wire thing gave it away," sighed Sketch. "It's why I haven't put my goggles back on...I can see colours...you know...faintly...everything's kind of ---grey and then there's the tints of colours. It started a while after I stopped wearing my goggles...then I started to read paint colour wheels"
Bruce nodded. "The goggles reacted with your empathic mutations. The brain injury passed on by the acid burns is what gives you both the colour blindness' cause and the reason for your powers. The Goggles let you see in green, but disrupted the sensory flow...it made you weaker to the feelings of others in sharp bursts...I checked the goggles out. You'll not have full colour reception I don't think...not alone. But you will be able to control the empathy."
"You figured that out on your own?"
Bruce smirked. "Medical exam when Terry brought you here on the first place. I don't know why he didn't worry about you seeing us...he trusted you."
"A first for anyone" muttered Sketch as he flicked the coin medallion up. Bruce caught it and examined it. "This is Harvey's," he said. "But...where did this come from?" He pointed at the small hole in the dead centre of the coin.
"Wish I knew," sighed Sketch. Bruce handed the coin back.
"And by the way" Bruce said as he left. "I found your name...its Christopher Vincent"
Christopher-Vincent Kyle-Wayne-Dent-Whatever smiled for the first time that he could remember. He opened the costume box and smirked.
=================
Terry entered the elevator and rose towards the penthouse of the Waters- Daniels Building. The white doors opened and revealed the party. He spotted his friends (Nelson had been categorized as that since he'd broken his arm and Terry had helped him get back on his athletic prowess-feet) in their own colourful costumes.
Max was wearing a silver bodice and dress with black tights and a top covered in green binary and a green visor mask. Nelson was dressed in old American Football gear helmet and ball under the arm. Blade was dressed as a Christmas tree in a short green one-piece dress with tinsel and bobbles hung on. Her earrings were two small angels and her mask was made out of tinsel. Mel stood on their edge, dressed in a deck of cards. The irony was not lost on him.
"Hi Terry" smiled Max. Terry had his hair slicked back and was wearing a tuxedo. "What are you here as?"
"Myself with my hair slicked back" Terry shrugged. "Anyone seen Erika?"
A smile came on Mel's lips. "Your costume isn't so original Terry".
Erika came down the steps towards the party. She wore a black gown with two slits up to her hips. The back of her dress was open but criss-crossed by loose silver strands. She had a high neck on the dress and a shawl across her arms and along her back. Her hair was tied up elaborately with a small string of diamonds and emeralds along her forehead and round to the back. She advanced slowly, the corset on her dress was lined with silver and she wore a choker of emeralds and diamonds. Her dress had long loose black sleeves that were barely opaque.
"What did you come as?" smiled Terry. The people in masks looked offended at the pair. Terry led her out onto the dance floor.
"Myself...because it'll be a hot time in this old town tonight...and I want to be me for it all."
"Yeah this town takes a whole lot out of you" he chuckled.
"I'm tired of wearing masks," she whispered. "Everyone says that if you behave you succeed. But the truth is that you only succeed if you don't behave but make it seem like you are. I used to complain about my problems...whine about what was wrong and hope a knight in shining armour would save me...but he never came so tonight I'm doing what I have to."
"You're lost" Terry whispered as they danced under the huge model of mistletoe. "Let me help you find yourself. Don't disappear from me, I think...I've only known you a short while but...you make me happy, alive, like you understand all the sides of me. I want to be unmasked for one night...with you"
Erika leaned her head into him. "It's my fault my parents died...if I had followed my instincts...if I had told them I could feel something bad, that I knew Alice was planning something...they wouldn't have gone driving. And they'd not have crashed and died."
"If I'd stayed behind, not argued with my Dad he might still be alive," whispered Terry. "But I'm making it up to him now..."
=================
The elevator doors opened and Selina, Bruce and Sketch/Chris stepped out. The reporters swarmed. "Mr Wayne! Hearsay Hilda, Good Morning Gotham!" the woman in the blonde beehive and horn-rimmed glasses was dressed as a bee in a black and gold striped suit and skirt. "Who is this on your arm?"
"Selina Kyle" Bruce said.
"And the young man? A new employee perhaps?" Hilda exclaimed.
"Actually" Bruce said. "This is my Grandson Christopher Vincent"
That dropped the jaw of everyone around as Bruce put his hand on the boys shoulder. "Excuse us" Selina said as she pushed through the reporters and led the two men towards the place Delphi stood. "Hail fraulein evil" she muttered.
"Grandson? Bruce you old dog" smirked Paxton who was dressed as Santa clause but in a red and white-lined business suit. "Never knew!"
"Darling!" Delphi cooed as she sashayed over in her skimpy, short, red and fur-lined dress with a Santa hat on her head. "We have to go over the--- Bruce! And---people---we were just discussing the analysts reports."
"The analyst reports?" sniffed Selina. "Why bother at a party?"
Delphi gave a musical laugh. "Analysts are talking about growth at 1% per annum. That's not growth...that's a mild swelling". She opened her furry white purse and searched through it. "Paxton darling, I've forgotten my figures remind me to take it out on...what's her name." She pointed at Erika. "I'm afraid I haven't housebroken----Ms Arkham," she sighed. "Yes that's her name... but she makes nice coffee."
"Ms Cartland" Sketch said. "If you don't knock the patronizing talk off I'll have to let it slip to Hearsay Hilda that you've-had-major-surgery," he pointed to his nose, cheeks, lips and chest as he mentioned the surgery. "You Frankenstein."
"Do you think you could handle me?" sneered Delphi. "And I feel that is a bum-rap, calling me Frankenstein. I'm a business woman, shrewd, yes, powerful, definitely, beautiful, no question...but it doesn't make me a monster."
"I'm sorry I still don't see how you made it to the conclusion you're not a monster" muttered Sketch/Chris. "I need to get something from the car" he departed stormily and vanished into the crowd, casting a wave to Terry on the dance floor.
"He's got quite a tongue...what's his costume?" sneered Delphi. "Let me guess... trust fund goodie-goodie?"
Selina laughed. "Try again Delphine".
Delphi's nostrils flared and she stalked away. "Mr Wayne, please remember, I am the light of this city...and it's mean twisted soul...I have a speech to make."
=================
"I have to finish this tonight Terry," whispered Erika. "For all the downtrodden people living in this society, and I do it as Erika Arkham. And I'm doing it with the help of my boss."
"Are you and Delphine working to---"
"Working together? For the good of the city" Erika burst out into mad laughter. "No Terry" she reached into a sleeve pulled a small pistol from a band on her forearm. "This and Delphine will be fore the good of the city".
Terry stared and shoved the pistol down. "What the---"
"Now, don't give me a Killing-Delphine-Won't-Solve-Anything-Speech because it will...and ix-nay on the You're-Crazy speech because I know...aren't you tired of the sanctimonious Robber baron making like a bandit from all the work of the average working schmoe? Not that there's much average about me...But that baron gets away up high when he should be six feet under on the pushing end of a daisy!!"
=====================
Mel looked at Max. "They go well together."
"Yeah she's so sweet" Max said. "They fit together."
"Definitely. I think it's because they're honest with each other, Terry and me? Not so much, it was a mutual attraction but probably best to build a friendship on."
"It's like a romantic movie," sighed Blade. "They're such a down to earth couple!"
"Yeah, and Erika's hot"
Blade and Max slapped the football-clothed man between them at the same time.
=========================
"I'm taking her down," whispered Terry. "She's guilty of so much..."
"I sent a disk of her dealings in crime to the police--"
"Leave it at that" pleaded Terry. "If you go to jail---I'll lose you!"
"I'll get to be on my property at least, Arkham Asylum for me I think," she giggled. "The tape will justify my actions..."
"You can't kill her! Who do you think you are! ?" Gasped Terry.
Tears trickled down Erika's cheeks. "I don't know...I really don't know anymore."
She pressed into his chest and looked up. "A kiss under the mistletoe" she laughed.
"Cliché" he whispered.
"You know...mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it" she whispered.
"A kiss can be just as deadly if you---mean it," breathed Terry. They stared at each other, dazed and confused. "No..." he whispered. "You can't..." He slid his hand along her arm, finding the chemical burn on her arm while she pulled his shirt out of his trousers and traced the deep scratches on his back.
They shoved apart. Erika gave a sardonic laugh. "Help with a GAS leak...chemical? I'm sure!"
"Sorry Miss: Beat Out a few things of Delphi's!" he spat.
"This from Mister-This-Town-Takes-A-Whole-Lot-Out-Of-You"
"Tired of wearing masks? As if! Trust me to pick the psycho-sexual self- destructive vinyl-clad metal-clawed homicidal whacko!"
"Like I'm happy to be around...the epitome of upstanding citizen and the ultimate in two-faced boyfriends? You're just some pathetic man, I was wrong, I thought you were different. Let's do this, finish it so I can finish Delphi"
"With pleasure."
Erika spun and slashed Terry across the face with her claws. All eyes snapped to them as she swung a backfist at him. He caught it and pulled her arm behind her neck. She flipped him over and spun kicking Max across the face as she rushed in. She judo flipped Nelson as he tried to tackle her. Her chop met with Mel's arm. Mel forced her hand down.
"Mel, of course"
"Erika...Terry sure can pick them"
"Thanks" She spun and hacked Mel down. The police came through the doors before anything else could happen. Flooding from the elevators and fire exits, from the balconies as they leapt from choppers.
"Delphine Cartland! You are under arrest for terrorism and aiding known criminals in a plot for mass murder!" Commissioner Gordon exclaimed.
Delphi raised her hands, the white pompoms flourished with glitter. "Of course officer..." she pressed down on her ruby broach on the fur line around her cleavage. "But not yet!"
The dance floor exploded upwards, Terry had risen and moved at Erika. They were flung apart, he saw her buried under the leaves of the giant Mistletoe. The Sleigh appeared. Roma rushed to it dressed in a scandalously short brown dress with antlers and holding a set of reigns. She leapt in followed by Delphi.
"Santa Claus? I don't think so!" she declared. "I'm just some schmoe who made it look me...so sue me...IF I KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THIS CITY AND WHERE TO SHOVE IT!"
The sleigh took off. Paxton glanced up at Delphi who nodded to him. Then jetted around the room, firing little snowballs before zooming back into the hole it came from. Terry looked at the others. Max glanced around as the walls cracked.
"Everyone out!" Bruce shouted. A Mad dash for the balconies and stairways began. "LOOK OUT!" Bruce roared as a young woman in a skimpy Channel dress with cat ears, tail and mask with gloves staggered near the end of the sleigh's abyss.
Terry spotted the girl and knew at once it was Dana! Craig had made a run for the lifts without noticing that she was trapped, her ankle tangled in the debris of the floor and her body close to falling free...straight into the hole. Suddenly a cord snapped through the air as she fell back and lifted her away.
Terry whirled as he heard something groan behind him. A huge column crashed down...someone swept through the air and pulled him away. "A tip Terry, less pie eating" his saviour grimaced.
He landed on his feet with the hero of the moment.
The boy had black hair with a white triangle that expanded into squiggles of white at the front and a mask that exposed his mouth and hair but covered his throat and the back of his head and neck. His costume was a shade of blue so dark it was virtually indistinguishable from black. He had a thin redwing bird (Like the one in Batman & Robin) across his chest and a set of red gauntlets with black gloves. His knee high boots were laced up with kneepads and he had a bat belt around his waist.
"Your welcome" grinned Sketch.
"Robin?" murmured Terry.
"Got it in one" Sketch said as he clicked his tongue and trigger-fingered at Terry. "Gotta run, I'm not one for public adoration...its only a few days before I'm some pop stars new beau".
He leapt into a flip and landed in a crouch launching from that out the window and disappearing. Terry pulled the giant mistletoe leaves aside, Erika was gone, her pistol left behind.
The silent thought passed through the minds of Bruce, Terry and Selina: Cave
==============
"She's at the sewer works," insisted Terry as he pulled on his belt.
"Hello everybody!" Sketch called as he descended into the cave.
Bruce turned on the boy. "How did you make the costume?" he snapped.
"I made it with the factory program" Selina said. "He designed the gadgets," she added. "Now are we going to business or what?"
"You've put the boy in danger!" Bruce exclaimed.
"I'd have done it without the cool body armour sooner or later" sighed Sketch. "I need to do this Mr---Grandfather. I need to do my penance. Even if it is for a corrupt society"
"We have to get into the sewer works," Terry said to Sketch. "Any thoughts?"
"Underground" Sketch said. "They'd not be expecting us to know about their schematics, they have a way in underground through the sewers. But the Batmobile is too wide for the tunnels"
"I can solve that," Bruce said. He hit a switch. "I'm surprised you're accepting this new Robin," he added to Terry. "I didn't peg you as a team player."
"You can't have Batman without Robin" Terry grinned. "It's like...a sundae without hot fudge and sprinkles."
"Food analogies?" muttered Bruce, raising an eyebrow.
"Leave the boy Bruce, they have a psychopathic mogul to dethrone" Selina grimaced.
"Go for it" Bruce said. Terry looked at Selina.
"You Knew" Terry said quietly. "That I was dating her...your apprentice?"
Selina nodded. "She mentioned someone like you, then I saw you together dancing... and all the proof I need was before me...actually the entire kit-and- caboodle was in front of me...oi...I need to stop sounding so old."
Terry smiled and nodded.
"Be careful...she's not who I trained, her sanity has slipped away...you might be able to bring her back."
Terry nodded and walked to the platform as a light clunked on and revealed a thin and sleek boat with a Bat wing at the back and ski's on the underside. A fan was set on the back and there was a glass covering. "The Bat Waterjet" Bruce said. "Great for sewer work..."
The Destined Duo leapt into the Waterjet and shot off into the water below as the launching platform lowered. The engines whirred and they were aimed at what looked like an open sewer great
"Yeeeeeeeee-haaaaaaaa" Sketch exclaimed as they rocketed through the waterways and off a small ledge into the sewer system. "I LOVE THIS JOB!"
====================
Paxton and Delphi stood in the control room. "The turbines are at full power Ms Cartland" Stefan reported. "Karl is ready to pull the switch."
"A nice black out to get the juices flowing" smirked Delphi. "And then on to the master plan...in the sewer works we'll be safe as houses while the rest of the city collapses."
"Yes, indeed" chuckled Paxton. "Gotham will be flattened!"
"Karl! Pull the switch! We'll be there in 20 minutes," Delphi snapped into her broach
At the master control room Karl pulled the lever. "Done!" he exclaimed. "Lights out for Gotham! I'm going to secure the area!" A clawed hand slammed into his head and bashed his face off the wall knocking him out. He was tossed into the brackish water by the same hands.
At the control room on the surface Delphi and Paxton headed for the door with the others. Roxanne suddenly shouted. "Something's approaching through the sewers! Fast! It'll reach the main command centre below the water in 4 minutes!"
"Mobilize the soldiers" Paxton snapped. "Set an ambush!"
"Yes sir" Roxanne said as she began giving commands through her com-link.
=======================
"Well this is fun," Sketch said as the soldiers appeared from narrow grates with rifles blazing. "What weapons do we have?"
"Something in shields would be nice" Terry said.
Sketch hit a switch, the glass darkened on the outside and the Waterjet dowered down off its skis. "Well...that was handy..." Sketch muttered. Two blasters snapped from the sides of the Water Jet. "Sarcasm retracted" he said and grabbed the control sticks at his side. "Say hello to my little friend!"
The laser pulses hit the guards knocking them down and away as they sped down the water channel. "Rocket Launcher!" Sketch exclaimed as the cameras locked onto the men holding the long explosives launcher. Terry twisted the controls; the Waterjet swept up swirling on the tunnels walls and onto the roof as the rocket passed under them. A laser blast dispatched the group before they could reload.
The Water jet burst through the planked up tunnel and revealed the massive control room with turbines and all. Terry spun the Waterjet 360 as Sketch fired; the guard's numbers were whittled to a small amount. "This is my stop!" Robin said.
Batman nodded as Robin ejected through the roof and spread his arms, two scythe like wings snapped from his gauntlets and he glided into a landing on a guard. Delphi and Paxton retreated to the elevator as Terry sped into the fray, hurling his batarangs and swinging his fists.
Paxton and Delphi sprinted across the walkway. "Roma! Get down here!" shrieked Delphi into her microphone broach. Her fur-lined cloak fluttering the mogul rushed past the huge access pipes to the gas. "We need to begin now!"
Someone swung out of the shadows and snapped their legs out. Delphi crashed hover the side and plunged off the catwalk into the water below. Paxton was knocked into the gas analysis booth, a large booth with a valve handle on the door. The door slammed.
=====================
"Batman! Trouble!" Robin shouted. "Paxton's trapped in a gas booth...scratch that it's nothing bad!"
"Go get Paxton!" Terry shouted.
Robin pulled a face; flip kicked a guard and jetted upwards. He reached the booth and struggled with the valve handle. "No luck" he groaned.
"Work on it" Bruce said. "Just because Paxton's an evil brat we can't leave him to die"
"We can't?" Selina and Robin said together.
Robin touched the panelling on the outsides of his legs, the scarlet strips parted to reveal a set of batons. He slammed them into the airtight glass. "A Robin's work is never done!"
He hacked away at it.
=====================
Roxanne spun, the fist cracked into her jaw as Terry knocked her away from the controls near the water. She swore in German. "Sorry, I took French" terry said. He tossed her over the control box and kicked a chair at Stefan. "Lights out" he tossed a bat bomb...it burst open and floored him.
Roma dropped from the walkway above his head and kicked him off the steps to the control nest. "Sorry Batman, but this is a private party!"
=================
Robin pulled Paxton through the shattered panel and dragged him to his feet. "Robin! Boy Wonder, you saved me I...you are Robin...right?"
"Yeah"
"You saved me and so saved a force of..." Robin shoved him over the walkway into the water. He rose spluttering in the brackish water. "Hey! Save me! Come back!"
"I will! Later---" he shouted. "Much" he added and looked around. The control nest near the water on a stone podium was the site of Roma and Batman taking anger out on each other. With a groan Robin leapt down and flying-tackled Roma.
"NO!" Roma screamed. She swung an electrified baton into his hip and slammed her hand down on a large red button. "Mission accomplished!"
"Hey!" Roma turned and received a jump kick to the face from Robin; she flipped over the control panel and went off the podium, hitting the electrical wires below. Her body gyrated as if it were dancing in the sparks. Then the current shut off.
"She just flooded the old sewer works with the explosive gas they stole" Terry reported reading the screen
"One small spark and everything goes to hell," Robin groaned. "Unless...if I reroute the gas into somewhere else...the turbine room! We can detonate it there with no damage!"
"How?"
"Old ventilation system" Robin said. "Give me a few minutes"
"Where's Delphi?" Terry murmured.
====================
Delphi swam frantically down the waterworks into the turbine room. She scrabbled for the ladder out. A whip coiled around her ankle and dragged her backwards into the water. She surfaced and someone grabbed her by the collar of her cloak, lifting her to eye level. "Hey Delphi! We need to take a meeting".
=====================
Terry jetted through the air and landed in the old pipe. He walked through, the sound of splashing and voices from beyond it drawing him forward.
"Whatever it is you want," Delphi said. "I can get it for you with minimum fuss... clothes? Jewels? A large ball of yarn...saucer of milk?"
"Blood Delph, I want your blood"
"I gave at the office..."
"Not what I had in mind"
"Pints?"
"Gallons Delph, Gallons"
Terry jetted from the shadows. "No!" he landed. Erika was barely wearing a costume; the stitches were bursting and torn. Her black and purple hair was sticking out from various patches. "You can't do this"
"Batman here to save the day!" she giggled. "And yes I can"
"Batman! You're saving not just a person but the soul---"
"Shut up" snapped Terry. "You might not be killed but you are going to jail!"
"I am the soul of Gotham!" she gasped.
"The city's getting a transplant," sneered Terry.
"DON'T BE SO NAIVE" hissed Erika. "The laws don't apply to her. When she says jump we ask "out the window" or "off the bridge" and it will happen again!"
Face To Face My lovely foe Mouth to mouth Raining heaven's blows
Erika slashed him across the face. He ducked her kick and slammed a hand into her back. She pulled a taser from the back of her belt and zapped Delphi before shoving her towards a large fuse box with wires attached to it.
"Please Terry, I can't go on like this! You'd never have seen me if I hadn't become Catwoman, but that is no way to feel anything, based on what they hate."
"I liked you when you were picking those papers up in the snow... when you were scared of Dana...you can't change that much. I still see her in you, that peaceful girl that is just a part of who you are now!"
Hand on heart Tic tac toe Under the stars Naked as we flow
She spun at him; he caught her leg and shoved her back. She flipped into a cartwheel and snapped her whip around his neck dragging him down.
Cheek to cheek The bitter sweet Commit your crime in your deadly time
He grabbed her ankle and pulled her to the ground. "Stop this, walk away from the killing and mayhem!" she slammed a palm into his face and rolled aside
Commit your crime in your deadly time It's too divine I want to bend I want this bliss but something says I must resist
He blocked her left hook and her right as she brought her knee into his groin, his guard protected him but he was off balance enough for her to shove him against the railings near the water.
Another life Another time We're Siamese twins writhing intertwined Face to face No telling lies The masks they slide to reveal a new disguise
Terry grabbed her as she leapt at him and rolled them along the barrier to pin her over it. "Please...Erika...don't" she leaned in for a kiss...and head butted him spinning him against the railings as he twisted her own taser against her.
You never can win It's the state I'm in This danger thrills and my conflict kills They say follow your heart Follow it through But how can you When you're split in two?
"You can't bring me back I'm too far-gone!" she whimpered as she swiped the taser at him and he shoved it off course into her other arm. "We end this now! Mano a bato a womano a cato!"
And you'll never know You'll never know
One more kiss Before we die Face to face And dream of flying
Erika kicked him in the ribs and he chopped into her neck. She shrieked and hit him with her taser. Behind them Delphi pulled a pistol from her garter, and old revolver with a pearl handle. Six shots from a small but powerful pistol and only two targets.
Who are you? Who am I? Wind in wings Two angels falling To die like this With a last kiss
Erika slashed across Batman's chest, the sparking cyber skin of her costume visible under the destroyed vinyl. "I'm sorry," she whispered. She cracked her whip across his chest.
It's falsehood's flame It's a crying shame Face to face The passions breathe I hate to stay but then I hate to leave
Terry grabbed her and pulled her close. "STOP"
And you'll never know You'll never know...
She shoved away from his body, her whip ready to lash, one hand before her, clutching the taser, targeting him. "I can't! I CAN'T"
"Don't make me fight you, ..." he pleaded.
"I don't want to" she whimpered.
Erika stabbed him in the chest with her claws, he shouted in pain and swatted her aside. She lashed her whip, he grabbed it as it snared him around the neck and dragged her into his fist.
"I LOVE YOU," they roared.
They parted angrily. "You were surrounded by monsters...and you became one" he whispered. "That was a really, really bad move."
"Oh" laughed Erika. "Now you tell me..."
She swiped at him as Delphi checked her bullets. "I've seen the real you, when you let the guard down" terry breathed. "Beautiful and modest, smart and funny and wonderfully rude. I saw it when I kissed you on the cheek, the real Erika, the one that was subdued by her job and boss...you're a force of nature...I love you"
Erika didn't move as he approached. "I love you too," she whispered. "But I can't know peace until she's dead!"
Terry pulled at his mask, removing it. "Let's take her to the police together and then go home...together...just you and me."
Erika pulled on her cowl revealing her hair, inflated into a bizarre perm by the cowl and sweat mixed with hairspray from her previous hairdo. "I can't do it Terry". S he slashed her whip at him. "Please, turn around and fly away...you can't control me! And I can't control myself..." She pulled in close and kissed him as he spoke next.
"You only think that..." he kissed her back passionately, the unmasked pair balanced between their dual sides for a second. Erika pulled back.
"I wish I could believe in the good in the world...other then you Terry. I wish we could live together in the happily ever after, where the evil queen is destroyed and the woodland creatures sing a chorus for me as we dance through a field of flowers. I wish I could live in that world with you Terry...I want to" she slashed him across the cheek. "I JUST COULDN'T LIVE WITH MYSELF"
She swung her taser. He shoved it back at her again, for the third time and she twitched completely. She pressed him against the barrier. "Six lives left...how about a kiss Santee Claus?"
Erika leaned in for a kiss...and stabbed her taser into his body before head butting him backwards.
"Erika Arkham! My lowly secretary!" exclaimed Delphi. "You're Catwoman! You're fired! And... Bruce Wayne's gofer? --- Why the hell are you dressed up as Batman?"
"Because he is Batman you moron!" snarled Catwoman.
"What do I care?" cackled Delphi. "I'm going to kill you both!" She raised the pistol as she spoke, her hand making small circles as if unsure or deciding on where to fire.
"Don't flatter yourself you're not very good at it" Erika said with a dry laugh. Delphi fired at Batman's body, hitting him in the armour-plated throat. He dropped into a pained crouch, gasping for breath. She turned on Erika.
"You killed me. Batman killed me. Roma killed me. Three lives down six left. YOU GOT ENOUGH IN THERE TO FINISH ME OFF! ?"
"Erika" sneered Delphi. "Erika, Erika, Erika"
"That's my name Cartland, don't wear it out or I'll make you buy me a new one" murmured Erika in a daze with a small dark laugh.
She cracked her whip and rushed forwards to perform a jump kick. Two shots rang out and Erika collapsed mid charge clutching her arm. "Four, Five...STILL ALIVE" she snarled as she rose and cracked her whip, and then dropped it, blood streaming down her arm. She gripped a sharp metal bar from the ground.
Two more shots. "Six seven...all good girls go to heaven" she sang. The gun clicked. "Oh...missing a bullet? Well...2-4-6-8 who do we assassinate? Two lives left, I think I'll save one for next Christmas"
She shoved Delphi backwards and stabbed a claw into the fuse box as she plunged the bar through Delphi's stomach. The sparks ignited the gas. Terry dived into the water as the electricity roared, the flames blazed over his head...he surfaced, the debris was all around. He swam to the concrete slab again and climbed out. He rushed to the blazing mound of Debris. A skeletal, blackened hand jutted from the rubble in a tattered red glove with a pistol clutched in the hands...the fingers dropped off.
"Terry! Get out of there!" Selina shouted, tears in her voice.
"She might..." Terry cried as he picked up the stun gun and whip.
"TERRY! NOW" Bruce shouted. With a cry of anguish Terry sped away as more explosions began. He found Robin beating the crap through Stefan and Paxton hung by his Santa coat on a crane hook and chain.
"Let's go!" said Batman as Robin slammed Stefan's face off the control panel and flung him aside. "The police will be here soon"
"Okay" Robin said slowly. He tossed his Redwing projectile (A/N: like a batarang but with a beak and a little more delicate) at Paxton. The small explosive charge shattered the chain and he plunged into the water with a shriek. "I'm done."
===========================================
Terry sat in the café; Christina was playing her farewell performance...the last song Erika had given her. She was leaving for LA. Doing what Erika had said she should do...reach for her dreams. He listened. Chris and Selina sat across from him. Selina had tears in her eyes as she stroked the stray cat.
"She should be here," he said.
"She is, in the song," Selina said.
Let The Rain
The rattle on my window The shining waters flow I toss and turn The nightmares burn I rise from my bed Have to clear my head I run outside into the night And the rain by moonlight
And let the Rain Wash away my Pain It's not an easy thing to bear But I don't stop to care
I'm behind my desk at noon Wishing I'd be under the moon The ice freezes me here I wish it would disappear So I rise and run from this workspace Looking for a painless place I just let the pain go And let the drops glow
And let the Rain Wash away my Pain It's not an easy thing to bear But I don't stop to care
Let it rain---Let it rain Take all my pain—all my pain I need to be ---I need to be Another type--type of me
Its late evening and I'm in a crew I smile and laugh but it's so untrue I want to run from the neon lights The chattering gossip's shark bites I need to find a way To wash it all away Because when morning comes I must be gone Because I just can't keep carrying on
So let the rain Wash away my pain It's not an easy thing to bear But I don't stop to care
So---let the down on me Because I know how soothing it can be Find a place I've never been before And Stand outside for the downpour
Terry looked at Selina...she was crying, Christina was trying to hide her tears as she took a small bow and Chris was wiping his eyes, his empathy sensing the pain. Terry closed his eyes. "Let's go," he whispered.
==============================
Terry laid the flowers on the empty grave of Erika Felicity Arkham. "I forgot to wish you happy Birthday," he said. "Sorry..." he opened the small present in his hands and removed the jewellers box. "For you"
He took the small sliver chain with the tiny diamond pendant out. "Happy Birthday Erika Arkham... wherever you are..." he pressed it deep into the soil around the tombstone that had been freshly turned to dig the stone in. Then he put the rock over the place and kissed the name.
Chris stood behind him with his grandparents. Selina was shattered she'd lost another daughter, Bruce looked at Terry with understanding and Max...she hugged him, Blade and Nelson and even Mel were there for him...the media knew nothing of Erika's identity, she'd been a "Casualty" of an attack on Gotham. Paxton had weaselled his way out of trouble. Saying he'd been kidnapped...and Batman was the publics darling of the dark again. If you could call him that.
"It's not right" Selina whispered.
Chris/Sketch looked at his ring as it began to flicker. "Quick to the batpoles" he whispered hoarsely. "There's some emergency".
"If you don't feel up to it---" Selina began.
"I'm able" Terry said.
================
"The old Batman wouldn't meet in daylight" smirked Barbara. Batman and Robin looked downcast. "I understand...what happened and her secret is safe with me... but I thought you should see this..."
She walked over to the bat signal and pointed. Tied up under the signal was Karl Krauss in his underwear. "He evaded capture," she explained. "And then he turned up here, scratched and his clothes whipped off..."
Terry's eyes widened. "So, the new Robin" mused Barbara.
"I have to go" Terry whispered as he took off. Robin smiled at the Commissioner and jetted away. They sped through the air. "She can't be alive all her lives were gone!"
"Ehhhh"
Batman glanced at Robin and landed on a roof. "What?"
Robin sighed and sat down on the ledge. "I replayed your camera info from that night. The bullets hit her in no lethal places and one missed...she had five left."
Terry gasped. "I have to find her!"
"Don't" Chris put his hand on Terry's shoulder. "I doubt anyone could survive that... she's gone and you loved her and it's not right but you have to face it, if she wanted to find you she could...and probably would, but she hasn't, she can't. She's gone."
Terry stiffened, clenching his fists...then relaxed and sobbed. "She shouldn't be dead"
"She was your love" nodded Chris. "Your time together was short and unfairly so, you were hit by love like a lightening bolt...I wish I could be that lucky, tis better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all."
"He's right" Selina said. "Erika did love you, she said it and I know she meant it"
"You have to face loss," Bruce added. "And you'll always have your time together."
Terry turned to Chris and nodded. Chris smiled then frowned over Terry's shoulder. "Stray Cat" he said. Terry looked at the black cat as it brushed off his legs. He picked it up and held it close. "How did it get up this high?"
"Who knows Chris" Terry mumbled. "But it's here..."
======================
"Gotham train station! All aboard to Oasisburg!" the voice reported over the speakers. The young woman in the wide hat and long trench coat stood by her large case. The muscular man sidled up to her as she adjusted her sunglasses.
"Want a hand?" he asked.
"No thank you" she said.
"Sure you do" he struggled to lift the case. She gripped the case with both hands and easily lifted it from his hands.
"Thanks but no thanks" she strolled towards the train and climbed on.
"Are you okay?" the old woman across from her asked as she looked longingly out the window. She had nut-brown skin and silvery hair pulled back, she knitted.
"Yes" she said.
"Visiting family?" the woman with the purring voice asked.
"In a way...yes" she said. "There was a death in the family."
"I'll bet you'll be happy to see family"
"I don't have any, I'm alone" the girl said.
"Not even a boyfriend?"
The young woman looked up at the bat mobile as it passed overhead. "It fell apart, but I left him with a parting gift..." she sobbed. The woman handed her a handkerchief and returned to knitting.
"It's never that bad" the woman said. "Where are you staying?"
"I don't know"
The woman smiled. "You can stay with me dear, everyone needs someone."
"Thank you...I'm Erika...Erika Arkham".
The woman smiled. "You may call me Kitka. Everyone does...are you all right?"
"I will be" smiled Erika sadly as the train pulled out of the station and left the city behind once and for all.
========================
THE END:
And so it ends (shoots the leader of the conga line). If I moved anyone to tears please tell me (though I'm not a good writer, so I doubt I would.) The song for the fight was by "Siouxsie and The Banshees" and called "Face To Face"; it's the theme song (a catatonic mix of it) they released way back when. You can hear it at the ball scene in batman Returns and at the end of the credits. Let the Rain is something I put together.
Hope you enjoyed, Face-Off is next with another of my favourite villains: Two-Face but in the guise of a psychotic mutant ex-actor called Masque. Yes I am strange. His partner in that tale will be Iola the Incredible a magician based on Zelda the Magnificent from the old live action series (check out for proof).
TTFN everyone. For now. Imaginary cookies to anyone who can guess who the old woman on the train is based on.