Katt Girl & The Harley Kidd: Chapter 15: Ghost Of Christmas Past by Chad Sheefel 11/20/19

The clock struck Midnight over Gotham City. Bruce was still unconscious due to his battle against the League of Assassins. He began to have nightmares of the fateful night that his parents were murdered in the alleyway next to the Monarch Theatre. Bruce and his parents were enjoying a play that featured Zorro. Bruce had been begging his parents to go see the play with him because he loved the mystery of Zorro. Plus, lately they hadn't spent much time together as a family. Three quarters of the play had almost been completed. Suddenly, an announcement was made that the theatre was having some technical difficulty, and that they would need to take a 20 minute intermission. Bruce didn't have much patience when it came to sitting in one spot for a long time without having something to capture his imagination. His mother and father could see that Bruce needed to get up and walk around. Alfred wasn't going to be back with the limousine for another hour, so they decided to leave the theatre for a quick stroll until it was time to sit back down and enjoy the play. As they were walking past the alleyway next to the theatre, Bruce noticed a man sleeping on the cold ground. He felt bad for the man because Bruce had never had to worry about sleeping outdoors.

"Can we help out that man in the alley way?" Bruce pleaded to his mother and father.

"Son, we help out many people in Gotham City. We also provide many shelters for the homeless. If that man doesn't wish to seek help, there is very little we can do for him." His father said.

"Maybe he doesn't know how to help himself. Maybe we could be the first hand that actually guided him toward a better life." Bruce said, insisting on trying to help.

His mother and father smiled at each other. They were happy to see that their son had so much empathy and compassion for others. "Sure son, lets go make a difference in someone's life."

They made their way about half way down through the alley. The poor man laying on the ground noticed them coming and stood up ready to receive a donation. Suddenly, he began walking away from Bruce only to look back a couple times with fright in his eyes. Bruce was puzzled as to why he wouldn't want their help.

"See son. Some people just don't want our help." Bruce's dad said.

"He seemed so scared." Bruce responded.

"Some people stay far away from the door, if there's a chance of it opening up." His mother said in poetic fashion.

They began to turn around, when suddenly they are startled by two men standing in their way. One of the men had a cold blank stare, almost like the stare that Selina had as she stood next to Ra's al Ghul. The other one had fear in his eyes as if he just wanted to hurry up and get away. The dead eyed man pulled a gun out of his coat. The other man tried to grab at the pearl necklace that Bruce's mom was wearing. Bruce's father lunged at the crook with determination to stop him.

Bang! A shot rang out. Bruce's face went cold as he saw his father fall to the ground. Then the man pointed the gun at Bruce. His mother realized that her son could be shot so she clawed the man across the face to try to keep him from pointing it at Bruce.

Bang! Another shot rang out. Bruce's mother fell to the ground next to his father. Bruce started to cry as he realized that he would be next. The man with the dead stare pointed the gun in Bruce's direction. He was about to pull the trigger, when suddenly sirens approached.

"Come on Joe! Let's get out of here! The other man urgently yelled.

A police car pulled into the alley way. He got out of the police car and ran toward Bruce and the two bodies lying on the ground. He quickly checked their pulses. Bruce just stood there in silence. He was in total shock. The officer realized the two people were dead.

What's your name son? The officer asked Bruce.

"Bruce Wayne." He replied.

"My name is Jim Gordon. We are going to find the men that done this to your parents."

Bruce was suddenly woken from his nightmare. He began trying to look around to focus in on his surroundings. The prison cell resembled a dungeon. It was damp and dark. There was a small window that had bars in it to keep a prisoner from getting out. He could only see the snow falling down when he looked out of it.

"Merry Christmas Bruce Wayne." a man's voice came from the corner of the prison cell.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Bruce replied will trying to get a glance at the man.

"My name is Jonathon Crane, Dr. Crane to be more precise. I am here because I am being held against my will." Crane replied.

Bruce instantly saw a flashback. He remembered seeing Dr. Crane's name tag during the cross country excursion that he had with his dad.

"I remember you. You worked for my father about 16 years ago. You flew down in a helicopter on Christmas Eve to give my father some information. It had some sort of formula written out on the form. Does that have anything to do with why you are here." Bruce insisted on finding out.

"Yes Bruce. It very much has something to do with why I'm here." Crane answered.

He then went on to say, "Maxwell Shrek and I were working on formulas that could help cure certain diseases that plagued Gotham City. We came across this mountain, which holds us captive as we speak. It had the ability to grow flowers that were like no other flowers that man had ever seen before. The flowers had agents in them, that when mixed with certain DNA, could do amazing things. We tested our theories on lab animals but then began doing testing on humans. We had extracted certain DNA from some of the test animals. Many of the tests seemed, at first, to be successful. But we soon found out that there was terrible side effects occurring. One test had turned a small child into a pig like human. Another seemed to turn a child into a scaly crocodile type of human. Then another one that resembled a penguin. We quickly flew out to Thomas that day on Christmas Eve to show him what had discovered. He was not happy to say the least. He ordered us to scrap the entire program. This meant that funding was going to be taken away. Maxwell Shrek did not like that idea. He decided to exterminate all of the test subjects, hoping that any lack of proof would sway Thomas from permanently scrapping the project and continue giving Shrek more funding. We were getting so close to a cure at that time and Shrek didn't want to give up. Thomas told him, no. We were fortunate enough to find another sponsor. His name was Ra's al Ghul. His only demand, in exchange for the money, was that we eliminate anybody that knew about our failed experiments. Unfortunately, that meant disposing of your father. We used the flowers to put Joe Chill into a trance. Joe's partner had no idea what was going on. Shortly after your parents were shot, Ra's had Joe and his partner in crime eliminated. He only had faith in Shrek and I, as we were so determined to create miracle cures. I'm sorry Bruce. There was very little I could do about it at the time. It was either going to be your father or me."

Bruce couldn't believe his ears. After all this time, not understanding why his parents were killed, and now many pieces had come together. He began walking toward Dr. Crane with vengeance in his eyes, when suddenly he realized that he had a shackle around his ankle, keeping him from moving any closer.

"You murdered people!" Bruce yelled out. "YOU MURDERED MY FAMILY! Bruce yelled out so loud that it echoed throughout the mountain side.

"How could you call yourself a doctor? You were nothing but a scarecrow to Ra's in order to lead the police down a different path of investigations." Bruce continued to proclaim.

Dr. Crane put his arms out and said, "Bruce, I'm so sorry. But there is a much bigger problem to worry about now. You can deal with me later. I will tell the authorities everything if we can get out of here. Or you can exact your revenge and kill me if that is what you choose to do."

"What is so important that you think it would matter to me at this point." Bruce asked.

"Ra's has been dabbling in the ancient rituals of bringing people back from the dead. He is now hellbent on releasing a demon that could destroy Gotham City once and for all." Crane replied.

Bruce had already seen these miracles with his own eyes. He knew that the doctor was telling the truth.

"Tell me what I have to do to stop him!" Bruce insisted.

"He will be holding a sacrificial ceremony a little before midnight tonight. Then, as the clock strikes midnight, he will try to open a gateway from Hell that will allow this demon of destruction to be released. The only way to stop Ra's al Ghul is to kill him with his sacrificial dagger before the gates of Hell open up." Dr. Crane explained.

Bruce remembered the images that he saw in his mind that showed him glimpses about the end of the world. He then began to look for ways to get free. He would first have to figure out how to get out of his shackles. This could take some time. Time was not on his side.

In midtown Gotham City, younger Selina has woken up. She is lying in a closed dumpster in a back alleyway. 30 cats were surrounding her as if they wanted to keep her sheltered from the snow and cold. She gently brushed them away but then noticed her cat lying dead near the top. She instantly took the cat in her arms and sobbed uncontrollably.

"You saved me again. You have given your life in exchange for mine." Selina cried.

She tried to open the lid to the dumpster but it felt very heavy. She finally forced it open only to be surprised by the vastly falling snow. She leaped out, then looked down at the spot that she had been shot. She realized that she should have been dead at this point. The bullet was lodged in her heart. She could feel it as she breathed in and out.

"First I should have starved to death when I was tied up at that abandoned warehouse. Now I seem to have survived a critical wound to the chest." Her face grinned with exploration in her eyes. "That means I still have 7 lives left." She smiled as she started to walk toward her old apartment.

Then she remembered the outfit that her future self had been wearing when she was kidnapped. It was such a cute kitty outfit. She thought to herself. "Purrrhaps I will have to steal that outfit for myself.

… Meanwhile, back at Wayne Manor. Alfred was still awake. He continued looking out the window in the direction of the snowy mountain tops far away in the distance. He knew that Bruce was somewhere up there but he didn't know anything other than that. Lola also couldn't sleep. She came down the stairs to speak with Alfred.

"Do you think Bruce was able to make it to mine and Gabby's mom?" She asked.

"I am sure he is giving it everything he's got. If there is one thing I know about Bruce is that he cares deeply for people and always wants to help." Alfred replied.

Gabby soon came down the stairs also. She joined her sister and Alfred as they stared out the window, admiring the snow.

"I wonder if Chad ever found out anything about Selina. He never came back." Gabby wondered.

"He seems very resilient to me. I think he will make great strides to find out. I am almost certain that we will be hearing from him soon." Alfred replied.

"Merry Christmas you guys." Gabby said.

"Merry Christmas." replied Alfred and Lola at the same time, as they stood holding each other while watching the snow fall.

Chapter Recap: (Bruce had a flashback about when his parents were killed. He also meets Dr. Crane. Crane told him that Ra's al Ghul was trying to destroy Gotham by summoning a demon from another dimension. Bruce must kill Ra's before the Hellmouth opens. Younger Selina becomes Catwoman.)