Katt Girl & The Harley Kidd: Chapter 3: Enter The Shadow Stranger by Chad Sheefel 11/10/19
Bruce must make his way back to The League of Assassins. But, he knew that he had to keep acting like he was in a trance. He wasn't quite sure how to get back there, so he arranged for other members to help him transport the slain assassin, back to their training camp. Once they all made the long journey back to the training camp, they took the slain assassin into the main building, and laid him on the floor. Then, the Doctor walked into the room. He picked up the slain assassin, then carried him off to an area that most of the other assassins were not allowed to enter. They all seemed to be under his hypnosis, and would obey every word he said. Bruce slyly slipped away as the other assassins were training. He wanted to find this hidden room. He searched around, for what seemed to be hours, when he suddenly discovered a hidden passageway. As he made his way through the hidden passage, he began to hear chanting toward the end of the tunnel. When he got to the end, he looked around the corner, barely peeking in. The doctor had the slain assassin in his arms. He seemed to be standing in a pit of liquid. A few of the elder members were chanting, and gathered around the outside of the pit. Then the Doctor submerged the slain assassin into the liquid. Bruce's memory started returning even more. He remembered being in this room before. The doctor walked slowly out of the pit of liquid, but left the slain assassin submerged.
The doctor began to talk. "This slain assassin has proven to be an honorable League member. He will be of good use to us, as we further our plan of attack on Gotham."
Then the doctor gathered the other assassins and walked out of the room. Bruce hid behind a column as they all exit. As they get further out of sight, Bruce entered the room with the pit. Every step closer to the pit made his memory come back even stronger. He made it to the edge of the pit, when all of a sudden, the slain assassin emerged partially from the pit and grabbed onto Bruce's leg.
"Bruce Wayne!" the reanimated corpse yelled.
Bruce was in shock because a dead man just came to life. Then, the assassin released his leg and sank back down into the liquid. Bruce heard a noise outside of the room. It sounded like the Doctor. He quickly jumped behind another wall as the Doctor entered. The Doctor looked around as if something wasn't quite right, but he doesn't allow that to stop him from what he does next. "RISE!" The doctor yelled.
"Rise from the Pit of Lazarus. Join us once again!" He demanded.
The assassins body started to emerge from the pit, but... for some reason, it stopped about half way. The Doctor realized that the slain assassin must have came into contact with someone else before he reentered the room.
"That is okay. If your body doesn't wish to rejoin us, perhaps your soul will."
Suddenly, the slain assassins body began to tremble. The doctor was doing a séance, and it seemed to be ripping a shadowy soul out of the slain assassins remains. Once the séance was complete, the shadowy soul hovered over the pit, as it awaited for the Doctor's command. The doctor told the shadow spirit to go find what ever it was that kept him from his own body. At that point, the Shadow spirit drifted off and exited the room. The Doctor realized that Bruce had been watching. He yelled out to Bruce, then told him to leave and to never to come back. Bruce knew he had been discovered and realized that he might be up against a power that he couldn't possibly beat...yet! So, he made his way out of the tunnels and got away from the League of Assassins. At that point, Bruce knew he was better off getting back to Gotham, so that he could prepare for the war that the League of Assassins were about to bring on his city. With all work, and no play, Bruce decided that he may need to take a break from his crazy lifestyle, so he went to visit an old friend in Gotham. He had a lot to think about, and seeing a familiar face, could be helpful.
Meanwhile, A week later in Gotham, after all the crazy events unfolded at the Wayne fundraiser, Gabby, Lola, and their mom began moving things into a larger apartment.
"We have a huge kitchen, two bathrooms, and our own rooms!" exclaimed Lola.
"Privacy, finally!" Gabby responded with relief in her voice.
They both looked out their windows to see which one of them had the best access to the fire escape. It looked like Lola was the closest. That actually made Gabby happy because she cared a lot about Lola's exit strategy. But she was also happy because she could try out some of her new gadgets, which had been secretly sent to them through the mail. Especially, the new whip. It appeared to have extra grappling abilities and a louder snap. That will surely scare some bad guys. Lola had a new baseball bat. It was very light weight, yet packed a massive blow. Plus, they were both in delight of their new necklaces, which also allowed them the capability of communicating with each other. Their new outfits still had somewhat of the same look, but they seemed to be made out of some kind of body armor.
Later that night, as they were sleeping, Gabby suddenly awoke. She sensed something strange was outside the window. It appeared shadowy to her. She moved closer to the window, but... suddenly the shadow was gone. She looked over to see if Lola was sleeping, but remembers that they had their own rooms now. She tiptoed out of her room and made her way to Lola's room. Lola was not in her bed.
"Oh no! Did she decide to leave without me?" Gabby wondered.
Out of nowhere, Lola jumped on Gabby's back.
"Scared you didn't I?" Lola teased.
"I guess you wasn't ready for all that privacy after all. Or maybe you missed me already." Lola said.
"Actually I saw something strange outside my window. It was a shadow, but it was also shaped like a person." Gabby told her.
"EWWW! Maybe it was a shadow stranger!" Lola continued to tease.
"Sure, sure!" Gabby replied.
"I guess I will go back to bed and try to get a good night's sleep for once."
They both laid back down and went to sleep.
The next morning as they were getting ready for school, they heard an announcer on the radio talking about a shadowy presence that stopped a couple gang members from robbing a local gun store. But, the shadowy presence didn't leave them in very good shape. In fact, one of them was dead with a gunshot wound to the head. The other gang member was hit by a car but still managed to barely escaped before the police got there. The radio said the incident happened at midnight.
"Wasn't that about the same time you said you saw a shadowy figure outside your window?" Lola asked.
"Pretty close to that time." Gabby replied.
"I think we will be investigating this for ourselves tonight."
Later that night, a little before midnight, Gabby and Lola made their way toward the gun store. As they approached the store, they noticed that someone else was already there to investigate it. Apparently, his name was Chad Grayson. An aspiring investigative reporter. Suddenly, the girls saw the shadowy figure appear. It demanded that Chad leave before he got hurt.
"Who are you?" Chad asked.
"I am The Shadow Stranger!"
Bang! a gunshot went off in the distance.
Chad had been shot in the back, and then fell into the arms of the Shadow Stranger. The girls wanted to help, but they didn't quite understand what was happening. They heard sirens in the background.
"Someone must have called the police when they heard the shots." Gabby said.
The Shadow Stranger disappeared from the scene just as the cops were arriving. The police tended to Chad until the ambulance got there. Then, once the ambulance and police left, Gabby and Lola made their way closer to the crime scene. They found gun shell casings on the ground.
"These seem to be from the same gun that murdered the gang member last night." Lola said.
But now they knew it wasn't the Shadow Stranger that did it.
"Perhaps it was the other gang member that got away last night" Gabby replied.
"We will certainly keep our eyes open." Lola said.
They took out the advanced magnifying glass that they found near the hospital.
"Hmm.. That's weird. I see foot tracks, many, many foot tracks. Yet, not one of them belongs to the Shadow Stranger." Gabby said.
"That IS weird." Lola replied.
They headed back home in hopes of putting some pieces together.
The next morning came around. Gabby and Lola's mom entered into their rooms with joy and excitement in her voice.
"I just received a bonus check from Wayne Enterprises. Plus, they are giving me a few days off. We are finally going on vacation!" she said.
Despite this new investigation, concerning the Shadow Stranger, and the gang member that got away, Gabby and Lola knew there was very little they could say about it. They knew that their mom desperately needed some time away from Gotham.
"Where are we going?" Gabby asked.
"Hawaii!" their mom replied.
"Yay!" both girls celebrated as they grabbed their suitcases and started packing.
At the same time Lola and Gabby are packing for Hawaii, Bruce found out that his friend Chad was shot in the back while investigating the failed gun store robbery. Chad Grayson had been paralyzed from the waist down. Bruce knew that Chad's family was traveling with the three ring circus, performing in a flying trapeze act called, The Flying Graysons. Bruce decided to stay a few days to help Chad recover. Over that time, Bruce told Chad that he hadn't gone home to Wayne Manor for several years and that he missed Alfred. He also asked Chad to not tell anyone that he was visiting. He didn't tell him the truth about what he had been up to over the years. In their conversations, Chad finally told Bruce that the Shadow Stranger was at the gun store when he got shot. Bruce became concerned because the Shadow Stranger didn't seem to care about true justice. He then decided to go investigate for himself. As he made his way closer to the crime scene, Bruce was approached by a strange looking thug with a baseball bat. He demanded that Bruce give him his wallet. Bruce pretended to comply. Bruce reached for his wallet.
"Here you go, take it." Bruce said.
As the thug reached for the wallet, Bruce dropped it on the ground. The thug looked down at the wallet, started to pick it up, and Bruce punched the thug in the stomach. The thug recovered, then tried to swing the bat multiple times at Bruce. Bruce began dodging the bat. Bruce toyed with him by saying, "Strike one! Strike two! Strike three!"
Then, Bruce punched the thug and the thug fell to the ground. "You're OUT!"
A few seconds later, the thug started to regain consciousness. He looked up in fear as he saw a shadowy menace standing a few feet behind Bruce. The thug realized that he was out of his league and ran away.
Bruce turns around. "Shadow Stranger!"
He began to question the Shadow Stranger, by asking him why he didn't try to save Chad. Bruce urged the Shadow Stranger to use his powers in a better way, but the Shadow Stranger had his own brand of justice.
"The police don't even care about being heroes anymore, why should I?" The Shadow Stranger insisted.
"How can you say that? Heroes are the ones that care the most!" Bruce pleaded.
The Shadow Stranger is done listening. He threw a smoke bomb at the ground. "See you around, Bruce Wayne!"
Bruce knew that voice. It was the slain assassin that arose from the pit. Bruce began to cough from the smoke. As the smoke cleared, the Shadow Stranger was gone.
Bruce said to himself, "Where did he go? I need to get me some of those smoke bombs."
Bruce walked all night pondering what he should be trying to do to help Chad.
While Bruce walked around, Chad was visited by the Shadow Stranger. The Shadow Stranger gave Chad a potion that would help with his injuries. Chad was hesitant at first but realized, at this point, anything could help. He drank it, and soon passed out. When he woke up, he realized that he could move his legs. He then realized that he could stand up. The potion worked. He then started to discover that he was feeling stronger than ever. Just at that moment, Bruce walked in.
"Wha? Chad, You are standing? Bruce said in total shock.
Chad didn't tell Bruce about the potion or the Shadow Stranger. "I know. It's a miracle!" Chad replied.
"Yes, this certainly is one!" Bruce said.
Bruce had seen many miracles lately. With Chad being in good health, Bruce realized he should be on his way. But, he also realized that there was a lot of bad things still happening in Gotham, and chose to continue his training. He packed his bag and ventured back out.
"Remember, Don't tell anyone I'm back." Bruce said as he left Chad's place.
Later that night, Bruce sat reading the paper. The headline talked about a criminal called The Executioner. The Executioner only seemed to strike at midnight. The same time Chad was shot.
"Surely, they are connected." he said.
He was listening to a police radio, when all of a sudden, an officer came on.
"There is a fire at one of the local warehouses."
Bruce rushed out to head to the scene. As he got there, the building was burning but it didn't look like the police had found any clues. He decided to let the police handle their business, and went looking for clues elsewhere. About a half a mile away from the burning building an explosion occurs. Bruce made his way to the spot only to find torn shreds of the Shadow Stranger's outfit and an executioner's ax on the ground. He realized that a battle must have ensued between The Executioner and The Shadow Stranger. Bruce swore at that moment that he would never sink to The Shadow Stranger's level of vengeance.
A few days later, Gabby, Lola, and their mom returned from vacation. They read about all the crazy news stories that happened in Gotham while they were gone.
"Whew! Thank goodness we missed all that!" the mom said.
"Yeah, sure," the girls said with bleak happiness in their voice.
Their mom turned the page. "Wow!" the mom said.
"What?" the girls asked.
"Apparently, after almost 16 years, the Cobblepot's missing son was found alive. It's a miracle!"
Chapter Recap: (Bruce Wayne made his way back to The League of Assassins. He acted like he was still in a trance. He then found The Doctor doing a seance that could resurrect a slain assassin. The slain assassin's spirit would not return to his body because he touched Bruce Wayne before the seance was complete. *In later chapters, we actually find out why the slain assassin's spirit did not return to his body.* The Doctor allowed the spirit to leave. The spirit then possessed another body and became The Shadow Stranger. Bruce went to visit an old friend named Chad Grayson. Chad was paralyzed after being shot by a bad guy named The Executioner. The Shadow Stranger gave Chad a potion that would make Chad heal quickly. The Shadow Stranger and the Executioner fight to the death, both die at the end due to a suicidal bomb set off by The Executioner. *The Shadow Stranger's spirit takes over a new body in future chapters.)