Katt Girl & The Harley Kidd: Chapter 16: The Northern Lights Of Gotham by Chad Sheefel

It was 3am. Alfred told the girls about a significant moment in Gotham City, which was one of the most beautiful miracles he had ever seen. He called it, "The Northern Lights of Gotham."

One night, almost nine years ago, the Gotham night sky was filled with some amazing colors. It was a spectacular collage that would have made for a brilliant painting. The smokey red, pink, white, blue, purple, yellow, and orange colors stretched as far as the eyes could see. The stars twinkled brighter than they ever had before. Heat lightning managed to add an extra element to the April sky. It had lasted for nearly four hours before the colors began to fade away. All of Gotham couldn't stop watching until the last color was gone. They had always hoped that it would happen again but that was the only one time it ever occurred.

Alfred told them about how Bruce thought it was an important day in Gotham City. Bruce had always felt like there was an absolute reason for why it happened. He just couldn't put his finger on what. It happened on the anniversary of his parent's death April 7th. Bruce thought, in some way, it was his parents trying to communicate with him and show him what heaven was like. Bruce would even write fan fiction stories about why the lights had occurred. He had just turned fifteen a few weeks before. He had never seen Gotham City so united. It gave the citizens new hope in a lost world. That was the moment that Bruce decided that he wanted to make a difference in Gotham City.

A thought suddenly crossed Gabby's mind. "Did you say "Almost nine years ago." Wasn't that about the same time that mine and Lola's mom said that we were sent back from the future?"

"Actually, that seems chronologically accurate. So, I guess Bruce was right. There was a reason for why it happened. And based on your story, future Bruce is the one that made it happen. My mind is completely blown." Alfred replied in a stunned voice.

That was the first moment that Gabby and Lola had fully realized the true importance of their existence. Then Gabby began telling Alfred and Lola about her dreams that she had over the years. In one of her dreams she saw a man with a brightly colored green ring flying through the air. He could make the ring change into any form he wanted. Also, there was a half-human, half-fish guy. He could talk to sea creatures and swim just as fast as them. They would all join forces to fight against the demons that were trying to destroy the world. She had recently discovered that these dreams were actual events that she watched unfold before her very eyes, but she was too young to remember them. As she told the stories, more images "flashed" across her mind. She recalled the time that Bruce was working with a man called the Time Keeper. They were looking for solutions that could end the war against the demons and a giant named Darkside. Gabby looked over toward the corner of the room. She gazed at the golden clock that the assassins tried to steal during the Wayne fundraiser.

"That golden clock was also in my dreams." Gabby said.

"Hmm … Bruce insisted that I win that clock at an auction … About nine years ago." Alfred remembered.

Gabby remembered a group of younger superheroes known as the Teen Titans. One of the teenagers was wearing a red outfit, at first, with a yellow cape that had the symbol "R" on his suit. But then, he transitioned into a dark blue outfit with a light blue stripe shaped like a "V" on his chest. He was very acrobatic. She remembered him doing several flips and somersaults as he took out the bad guys. "I think his name was Dick."

"I can't believe I am suddenly remembering all of this." Gabby said.

Lola had already fallen asleep on the couch. (much like the audience reading this chapter..lol) She wanted to hear all the stories, but she wasn't able to keep her eyes open. Alfred was also starting to yawn. Gabby decided that it would be best for her to fall asleep as well.

As Gabby laid down, she started thinking about her mom and praying she was okay. "Love you mom. Goodnight and Merry Christmas." Shortly after, she managed to fall asleep.

Morning came around. It was 8am. Stage producers and crews were working tirelessly to get the floats and helium balloons ready for the annual Gotham Christmas parade. The snow had stopped falling and many of the main roads had been plowed. Mayor Cobblepot was in his office discussing plans with other City Councilmen.

Suddenly, Falcone busted through the doors of the Mayor's Office. "Everyone out of the room now! Oswald and I need to have a chat!." Falcone said. The City Councilmen scurried from his office. "We have a problem, Penguin."

"Raakk! All you ever have are problems." Oswald replied. "What is it this time?" He asked.

"It's a guy by the name of Chad Grayson. We killed his parents last night and burned down his house. We thought he was dead after a harsh beating my nephew gave him, but he somehow managed to get away. My nephew never seems to get the job done. We found one of the police officers floating in the Gotham Harbor like a popsicle. The other officer's melon was leaking all over the street." Falcone replied.

"Raakk! What do you want me to do about it? Oswald squawked.

"We also have his little brother tied up and blindfolded. He could come back looking for some revenge." Falcone said.

"Draakk! That sounds like that is your problem, not mine!" Oswald exclaimed.

"He may know a few secrets about your past. He might also be able to cause you problems. And seeing that I actually run this town, your problems are my problems." Falcone replied.

"Don't forget what I know about you Falcone. I know all about the money you stole from Gotham and all the lives you destroyed with your miracle drug company. You're lucky I don't turn you into a pigman with your faulty formulas!" Oswald said. "Raakk! We will just have to keep an eye out for this Chad Grayson fella. Keep his brother close. We might have to use him as a hostage if this thing goes bad for us." Oswald insisted.

The Gotham City citizens began filling into the streets of the downtown area. Shortly after, large balloons and floats started coming down Main Street. Snoopy and Bugs Bunny balloons had many of the children excited as they would watch them travel past them. The floats were neatly crafted with dancers and other entertainers traveling along the side. Oswald had designed his very own float. It was covered in what looked to be snow from the recent downfall, and there was a huge penguin balloon attached to it. He pretended to look happy and waved with his flipper hands toward the crowd. Richard Grayson was actually traveling below the deck of the float. Oswald wasn't going to take any chances of letting the boy out of his sight. As the floats traveled past, soon came the military tanks. Oswald seemed perturbed when he saw the tanks. "I don't remember talking about having tanks during the parade." He thought to himself.

The parade had made it about half way down Main Street, when suddenly, Explosions started going off. Oswald ducked down and tried to see what was going on. The crowd began to panic and tried to scatter in all directions. Machine gun fire was in the air as many gang members were keeping a large part of the crowd from leaving. Anyone that tried to flee would get shot down. A man emerged from the crowd. It was Bane. He had already gotten bigger and stronger than the day before. He walked up to Oswald's float and jumped up on it. He grabbed a microphone and introduced himself to the crowd.

"I am Bane! I am taking over your failed and useless City!"

He held up a detonator and pushed the button on it. Suddenly more explosions happened.

"All of the bridges that lead into Gotham City no longer exist! You are now my hostages!" He declared as the crowd watched in horror.

The military tanks began rolling down Main Street destroying most of the floats and causing all the balloons to float away. The only float that was left in tact was the one that Bane and Oswald were standing on.

Bane turned and looked toward Oswald and said. "You are fired as Mayor!" And then he cut the penguin balloon away from the float and watched it drift off.

"But.. We had a deal! We would take over Gotham City together!" Oswald declared.

Gotham citizens were shocked when they heard Oswald say that while the microphone was still on.

Bane looked down at Oswald and laughed. "Aww … the poor penguin boy wants to play politics." Then Bane kicked Oswald off of the float as Bane's henchmen continued rounding up the citizens of Gotham City.

When Oswald was kicked by Bane, his monocle flew off of his face and rolled down into the lower area of the float. Richard was still down below the float's deck. He managed to get the blindfold off of his eyes. There was a couple small holes in the float that allowed him to see what was going on outside. Then he saw the monocle near him and realized that he might be able to use it to free himself before Bane decided to destroy the float. He rolled over to the monocle and managed to break the glass. He began trying to cut through the rope. Suddenly, he heard Bane jump off of the float and order one of the tanks to destroy it. The tank began rolling over the top of it. Just before the tank destroyed the float, Richard managed to get himself free and jump off of the float at the last second. Richard began to run off into the crowd and managed to sneak past one of Bane's henchmen. He started making his way down a back alley way. Falcone was watching from a taller building as the events were unfolding. He saw Richard escape from the float and paid attention to where he was going. Then Falcone decided to try to cut Richard off at the pass. Richard wasn't sure which direction to run. He only knew that he wanted to get far away from the gunshots. He made it to a dead end, but managed to scale over a fence. Once he landed on the other side, he was suddenly encountered by Falcone and a couple of his goons.

"I liked your dramatic escape from the parade float. That was pretty impressive." Falcone said.

"If you liked that, wait until you see my next move." Richard replied as he jumped onto a dumpster, scaled the side of the brick wall and made his way to the roof of a department store.

Falcone was shocked to see the agility of the young boy. "Don't just stand there you idiots! Whoop it stooge!"

One of the goons gave chase in the same direction that Richard went, barely able to make his way up the wall. The other goon ran around to the other side of the department store. Richard had already managed to make it to the next rooftop before any of the goons could catch up to him. He made his way down a slippery fire escape. He lost his grip and started to fall. Luckily, he landed in a pile of garbage that was still covered with snow. Just as he was crawling off of the garbage and brushing off the snow, Falcone grabbed him by the arm and put a gun to his head.

"You are becoming a nuisance. I'm just going to have to kill you now." Falcone stated.

Richard struggled to break free of Falcone's grip. Then he bit Falcone as hard as he could. Falcone clutched his arm, then backhanded Richard to the ground, and pointed the gun in Richard's direction. Suddenly, the sound of a whip snapped, as Falcone's gun was removed from his hand. He turned to see who it was, but nobody was there. Out of nowhere, a woman in a cat outfit dropped down on Falcone and he fell to the ground. The cat woman made claws come out of her fingertips and stuck the claws into the side of Falcone's stomach. Then she tied her whip around his neck, flung the whip over a bar connected to the fire escape, and began pulling Falcone up until he was off of his feet. Falcone struggled to get his breath. Finally, the fire escape gave way, and Falcone fell to the ground. He looked around but the cat woman and Richard was nowhere to be found. His goons finally came running around the corner.

"What happened boss?" One of the goons asked.

"Give me a gun!" Falcone demanded.

The goon obeyed him and gave him his gun. Falcone pointed it at the goon and shot him in the head. Then he pointed the gun at the other goon. "You are going to be next if you ever disappoint me again." Falcone said.

Suddenly shots were ringing out. Bane's henchmen found them in the alley way and thought they were trying to escape. Falcone and the other goon started shooting back as they tried to get away. The goon got shot in the back but Falcone managed to duck into a back door and snuck out around the other side. He thought he managed to get away when suddenly he heard a man's voice say, "Going somewhere?"

Chapter Recap: (Alfred told the girls about the story of The Northern Lights of Gotham. They realized that the lights were caused from when they came back from the future. Bane takes over Gotham and holds the citizens hostage. Richard escaped from Falcone. Falcone fought Catwoman.)