Katt Girl & The Harley Kidd: Chapter 12: Eve Of Destruction by Chad Sheefel 11/17/19

It's Christmas Eve. Bruce sat only 4 miles from the training grounds for The League of Assassins. He knew that Ra's al Ghul kept assassins hiding out in the shadows 3 miles from the camp. They had the high ground. They had the weapons. They probably knew he was coming. And they definitely had the numbers. If he alerted any of them too soon, they would all be looking for him. That would be suicide. He needed to wait until nightfall. The darkness may be his only advantage. Suddenly, it started to snow. The flakes were falling slowly right now, but from the look of the clouds, it was going to get worse. As he waited, he started remembering the last time he spent Christmas Eve with his parents. His father Thomas worked a lot. One Christmas Eve, his father came home early and surprised Bruce. It had been snowing for two days. Thomas took Bruce out to the limo, opened the trunk, and showed Bruce a brand new set of skis.

"Are you ready to trek across the fields and hills of outer Gotham, son? Thomas said.

Bruce's face lit up. He was so thrilled to know that he would be spending the rest of the day hanging out with his father. Bruce couldn't even remember the last time they spent a good day together. He had been begging his father to take him cross country skiing since last Christmas. They started out slow, but Bruce quickly got the hang of it. They made it about 4 miles when his father suddenly stopped. There was a helicopter flying over the area. It was a helicopter from Wayne Enterprise. Thomas waved them down. Two guys wearing suits stepped out of the helicopter. Thomas told Bruce to wait while he went to talk to the men.

"This should only take a moment Son." Thomas said.

They were showing him paperwork, when suddenly the wind picked up strong. One of the papers flew out of his father's hand. The paper almost blew passed Bruce, but Bruce was able to snatch it straight out of the air. He started to look to see what was so important, that caused his father and him to have their time together interrupted. Bruce noticed a few scientific formulas was written down. Before he could read anything about what explained the formulas, one of the men from the helicopter snatched it out of Bruce's hand. A name tag on his chest was labeled "Dr. Crane." Then the men got back in the helicopter and flew off before the winds could get worse. Bruce and Thomas began skiing again. His father didn't seem like he was in the same high spirited mood after that. His face looked like it was "back to business" as usual. They doubled back home. As soon as they got back, and removed their skis, Thomas sent Bruce inside to his mother, and then his father got into the limo. Before Bruce could make it to the door and look back to wave bye to his father, The limo was already driving off. His mother asked Bruce how the cross country skiing went. Bruce didn't really feel like talking about it.

"It's okay son. Your father will be back home soon. You know your dad. He always has something going on at work. I am sure we will have a lovely Christmas together. I promise I will tell him to start finding more time to spend with us both."

Little did Bruce know that the very next time he would beg his parents to do something with him, it would lead to Thomas and Martha's death.

Meanwhile, back in Gotham City, Chad and his family were sitting down for dinner. Richard begged Chad to go outside to play in the new fallen snow with him after they were done eating.

"Sure bro. Maybe, when we are out there, you can show me some of those cool acrobatic moves that you have learned how to do." Chad said.

"I'm surprised you didn't ask that pretty girlfriend of yours to come have dinner with us, Chad." Chad's mother said.

"I am sure she is trying to spend time with her, her, … nieces … yeah, nieces. Maybe, after I've spent some time with Richard, I will give her a call." Chad replied.

"She seemed really sweet. Perhaps you will make me a Grandma yet." His mother laughed.

"Okay Richard. When mother starts talking about babies, I'd say this is a perfect time to go outside." Chad said.

Chad and Richard went out and started making tracks in the snow. Richard picked up some snow and realized its packable. He created a snowball and hit Chad directly in the chest with it. Chad grabbed some snow himself and threw a snowball at Richard. Richard dodges it as if the snowball was going in slow motion. Chad starts making more, then throwing them, as Richard continued dodging them all. His agility was uncanny for an eight year old.

Then Richard climbed into a tree. "Watch what I can do Chad!" Richard yelled.

He walked out to the edge of the limb and jumped off. He did a triple somersault and perfectly landed two feet in the snow.

"You cease to amaze me bro!" How would you like to go visit Selina with me? Her niece Lola is the same age as you. Plus, she is also very acrobatic. I'm sure you two would get along great! Just don't get her upset."

"I don't play with girls! They have cooties!" Richard replied.

"And saying something like that to her, would probably get you beat up." Chad said in a half joking way.

Chad and Richard went back inside to let their mother and father know that they were going out for a little while. Chad promised them that he wouldn't keep Richard out too long. Their mother and Father gave them a hug as they left.

"Tomorrow, I'm sure we will have a lovely Christmas together." His father said.

Chad knew that Wayne Manor was only about 3 miles away. So, he decided to walk with Richard to catch up on some missed time together. About a mile in, Chad got a weird sense that someone was following them. He looked around but didn't see anyone.

"Who are you looking for Chad? Is it the guy with the green hair? Richard said.

"What? … Green hair? Chad replied.

Suddenly Chad was tackled to the ground. They slid 10 feet across the snow. Before Chad could see who it was, he received several punches to the face. All he could see were the pale hands coming at him. Richard jumped on the pale madman's back. The madman was able to quickly throw Richard off of him. Richard slid head first into a tree and became unconscious.

"Look what you done to me, YOU BASTARD! I'm going to rip your heart out! The madman yelled as he continued landing punches on Chad's face.

Finally, Chad got a look at him.

"Oh my God! Jimmy Snipes? Chad yelled.

Jimmy was barely recognizable. His skin had turned pale white. His hair and eyebrows was as green as the toxic waste he fell into. His lips had turned ruby red. Normally, a beating like Chad had taken, most people would be out cold. But Chad's strength and his threshold for pain had been greatly enhanced lately. Chad managed to knock Jimmy off of him. They both got up off the ground. Jimmy stood there slumped over like a werewolf. His face looked like it was as hungry as a wild hyena. His teeth were sharp like an alligator. He attacked Chad again but Chad was able to dodge most of the punches. Then Chad grabbed him around the neck. He began strangling Jimmy. Jimmy was relentless and did not give up. He sank his sharp teeth into Chad's arm. Chad's pain threshold was not as strong as he thought, as he had to let Jimmy go. When he looked down at his arm, there was green toxic saliva oozing out of the wound. He quickly put his arm down in the snow to take the burning away. Suddenly, Jimmy looked over at Richard and started heading his way. Chad knew he had to make it to Richard before Jimmy did. Chad grabbed a tree branch and snapped it off the tree. Then he threw it toward Jimmy. It hits Jimmy directly in the back of the head. Jimmy fell to the ground and got stunned for a second, but then he regained his balance. Just enough time for Chad to run up and punch Jimmy ten feet through the air. Two of Jimmy's sharp teeth flew out of his mouth as he hit the ground. Chad bent down to see if Richard was okay and tried to wake him up. Jimmy got back up, but he was still dazed from the punch, then he decided to run off. Chad lightly smacked Richard on the cheeks. Richard finally came too.

"Are you okay Richard? Tell me you are okay bro? Chad pleaded.

"I think I will be okay. Did we win? Richard asked.

Chad helped Richard up off the ground and brushed the snow off of Richard's coat. Richard noticed Chad's arm was bleeding.

"Maybe I should be asking you, whether or not, you are okay." Richard said.

"I'll be fine. Let's just try to get to Selina. Alfred will probably have a first aid kit." Chad replied.

Back at Chad's house, his mother and father are doing dishes and trying to cleanup after supper. Chad's mom looked around the house and decided to try to make the place look a little more Christmasy. Her husband continued drying the dishes off, watching her try to deck the halls with boughs of holly. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"That must be Chad and Richard. I didn't think they would be back so soon. He must have forgotten his keys." The mom said.

She opened the door and screamed. There was a gun pointed in her face. The man pushed his way inside and slammed the door shut. It wass Falcone. He had a couple goons with him.

"Do the old man a favor, don't scream again!" Falcone said.

"I'm looking for a guy by the name of Chad Grayson. Have you seen him." He didn't ask politely.

"He's not here. But when he gets back, he will probably mop the floor with you guys." The mom insisted.

One of Falcone's goons slapped her to the ground. Her mouth started to bleed.

"He will be mopping up your blood if you say another word." Falcone said.

Her husband took one of the plates that he was holding in his hand and threw it at the goon. It smashed across the goon's head. It shattered into pieces causing shrapnel to fly into Falcone's eyes. He quickly tried to get to his wife, when suddenly, .. BANG! A gun blast sounded. One of the goons managed to get a shot off. His wife screamed as she looked over in horror to see her husband lying on the floor bleeding. Falcone wiped the shattered glass out of his eyes. Then he points the gun and says,

"I asked you not to scream again!"

BANG! …

Chad and Richard made it to Wayne Manor. The driveway gates were opened up. The limousine was gone. They knocked on the door. Nobody seemed to be home. Richard looked through some of the windows. Nothing seemed to be stirring, not even a mouse.

"They must have went out to get a few things." Chad said.

"We can just wait for them if you'd like." Richard said.

"No. I told Mom and Dad that I wouldn't keep you out for too long. I'm sure they are already worried to death about you being gone this long." Chad replied.

"When we get home, I'm going to tell Mom and Dad about the crazy guy with the green hair." Richard said.

"You don't want to give our poor mom a heart attack do you? Maybe we should just keep this between you and I." Chad insisted as they started walking home.

Meanwhile, at Gotham hospital, police officers had been called. It appeared that Jack Napier had escaped and had left a trail of dead doctors, nurses, and security guards in his path. Officer Gordon was the first one on the scene. He kept his gun ready, just in case there was danger still lurking about. He walked passed 10 bodies, checking each of their pulses, before he finally made it to Jack Napier's room. There was bleach bottles, cleaning supplies, and scalpels laying throughout the room. Gordon wasn't quite sure what to make of it all. He opened the door that leads into the bathroom of the hospital room. A nurse fell in front of Gordon's feet. Her face had been cut up really good. A smile had been carved into her lips, from cheekbone to cheekbone. Her skin had turned pale white.

Gordon got on his walkie talkie and said, "You guys better bring a few body bags. It's pretty ugly down here."

Chapter Recap: (Bruce had a flashback about a time him and his dad spent the day together. Chad fought Jimmy Snipes. Falcone killed the parents of Chad and Richard. Jack Napier escaped from the hospital leaving many people dead.)