Katt Girl, Robin, & The Harley-Kidd: Chapter 31: Bat vs Cats by Chad Sheefel 12/09/19
About three weeks had gone by since Batman took down the Scarecrow and Roman Sionis. Most of the criminals in Gotham were laying low. Many of them turned legit knowing someone was out there protecting their businesses. Bruce was able to reopen Wayne Enterprise. Despite Lucius and Alfred's pleading to allow Selina to come back to work at Wayne Enterprise, he still hadn't allowed her back yet. He had too much on his mind and didn't want to complicate things. Bruce decided to bail out Roman's company, Janice Cosmetics, but he bought nearly 70% of its stock. This left Bruce in complete control of all the manufacturing decisions. Roman didn't like knowing that Bruce was buying him out, but he didn't have much of a choice. Roman made terrible business decisions, and the only choice he had was to either let Bruce take over the company, or go bankrupt. Roman was able to bribe a judge in exchange for a lesser sentencing. It worked. He would only do a month in jail, then be on house arrest for two years. Not bad for robbing a bank. Roman used every minute while in jail to recruit new members of a new syndicate he would call the False Face Society. He was plotting an insidious plan while he was incarcerated. He was planning to murder as many people working for Wayne Enterprise as he possibly could. He wanted to get even with Bruce for showing him up that Bruce was a better businessman. Plus, if he could get Bruce out of the way, he could regain control of the company.
Chad Grayson had to give Bruce the Nightwing costume back. As much as he enjoyed having the outfit and crime fighting, he knew it wasn't his property. Lucius and Alfred showed their disapproval for that. They felt like Bruce would eventually need Chad and Dick's help once the city regained its criminal popularity. Bruce would have none of it. He knew that nobody, other than the criminals, would be as precise in their delivery as he was. Bruce couldn't allow an undisciplined crime fighter to lose their life on his watch. Dick Grayson had turned nine years old in March. He missed being able to perform in front of an audience. With Chad having his new agilities and strength, he decided it would be best to join Dick, and go back to the three ring circus, to continue their parent's work. The Flying Graysons were back!
Harvey Dent had finally came out of his coma. Half of his face and body had third degree burns. Most of them were starting to scar over. Bruce decided to cover all of Harvey's medical bills. After Harvey woke up, he told the police about the large crocodile man that attacked him and Jim Gordon. Jim had a ceremony for Harvey in honor of him leading the resistance against Bane and for also saving Jim's life. Despite how terrible Harvey looked, citizens of Gotham applauded his actions. Harvey decided he would run for the new district attorney's office. With Jim Gordon's approval, he would undoubtedly get the spot. Bruce Wayne also thought Harvey would make a great district attorney. In fact, he would fund Harvey's campaign.
Gabby and Lola went back to handling smaller crimes in their neighborhood. Bruce didn't mind them doing that. He would actually go out as Batman, then watch over the area to make sure they were okay. Plus, he still had cameras all over the city. Selina started working for the Monarch Theatre to make ends meet. Bruce would watch the monitors as she would walk past Crime Alley on her way to work. He knew she could take care of herself, but he still worried because they lived next to the alley where his parents were murdered in.
While Bruce was sitting in his study, Alfred came in to tell Bruce that he just received a letter from Selina. In the letter, she told him that her and the girls were moving into Metropolis. Selina wanted a fresh start. In a way, she didn't feel like she belonged there. She felt that Gotham was younger Selina's territory and there wasn't enough domain for the both of them. She had applied for a position at LexCorp and it looked as if she got the job. She knew a lot about the future, and she knew all about Lex Luthor, but she also knew it paid much better than the Monarch Theatre. This concerned Bruce because he had heard about a couple shady business deals that LexCorp was apart of. Bruce refused to do business with him.
Later that night, Bruce overheard a police report about a possible break-in at a downtown jewelry store. He suited up as Batman, then rolled out in the Batmobile. After he made it downtown, he managed to dodge most of the police cars, then parked the Batmobile in a dark alley. As Batman swung his way to the rooftop of the jewelry store, he noticed someone else leaping from rooftop to rooftop, trying to get away from the police. The jewel thief was very quick and nimble. There was only one person he knew with moves like that. The jewel thief managed to completely evade the police, but not Batman. The thief thought they were in the clear, until suddenly they were startled by Batman's voice.
"You don't have to steal Selina. You could have asked for a loan." Batman said.
Selina turned to look, then said, "Sure! I could have asked for a loan! Or, you could have hired me back at Wayne Enterprise! But nooooo, you needed space!" Selina stated.
"And what? You thought breaking the law was your best option? How is that a good example for your daughters?" Bruce asked.
"Breaking the law? What do you think you are doing? You are a fricken vigilante! You don't have a badge do you!? So, no matter what you say, you are breaking the law! And as far as setting a good example for my daughters, I don't know how I ever fell in love with you in the future to have children with you! You are a terrible father figure!" Selina declared.
"I might be breaking the law of the land, but I'm not a criminal. I help to put criminals away." Bruce stated. "Now, I'm going to need you to give back the jewelry you stole."
"First of all … Bruce! The day the cops stop telling you to put your hands up, or freeze, that will be the day I give you back this jewelry. It costs money to relocate, and I sure as hell don't want a loan from you!" Selina yelled.
"Don't make me take them from you! I will provide you the moving cost! NOW HAND OVER THE JEWELRY!" Batman demanded.
"Why don't you just buy the damn jewelry store!" Selina insisted. "Then you can cut your losses! Goodbye … Bruce!"
Selina pulled out her whip, then ran and jumped off the roof. Batman quickly shot a grappling hook and caught Selina by the leg. She kicked off the side of the wall, while at the same time cutting through the cable line from the grappling hook. Batman gave chase, then he cut her off at the pass. He dropped down right in front of her. She instantly tried kicking him, and punching him. Batman blocked them all. Then, Selina remembered his ribs were injured from the van explosion at Roman's mansion. She made him think she was about to kick him in his face, but then quickly kicked him in the ribs. It jarred him a bit. He knew if he was going to take it easy on her, she would certainly get the best of him. He decided to get a little more rough. She went in for another kick to his ribs, but Batman caught her leg, then swept her feet out from under her. She tried to make her claws come out, but he put his knee into her stomach, then grabbed her arms.
"Stop Selina! You don't have to do this!" Batman declared as Selina struggled to get free.
Snap! Batman was caught by surprise. Katt Girl swung her whip around Batman's neck, then pulled him off of Selina. Selina instantly jumped up, then clawed Batman in his injured ribs. After that, Selina grabbed ahold of Katt Girl, then swung her way to another rooftop. Batman stood there gritting his teeth. He wanted to give chase, but he didn't want Gabby to get harmed. He decided to approach this in a different way. He realized he did force Selina's hand. If he would have let her work for Wayne Enterprise, she wouldn't have needed to steal the diamonds. The next morning, he bought the jewelry store.
As Selina, Gabby, and Lola packed for Metropolis, Bruce decided to have a meeting at LexCorp with Lex Luther. He told Lex that he would be willing to work a deal with him as long as Lex would offer Selina a well paid position. Lex knew that partnering up with Bruce would give him endless amounts of opportunity for weapon manufacturing. Bruce thought it was a win/win scenario because this would allow him to stay in the loop when it comes to Lex's business deals. He also made Lex buy into his new merger with Janis Cosmetics. Lex wasn't interested in cosmetics, but he was willing to do whatever it would take to get a piece of Wayne Enterprise's weapons manufacturers. While at the meeting, Bruce got an urgent call from Lucius Fox. Fox told Bruce that a maniac with a gun came into Wayne Enterprise, then started shooting up the place. The maniac killed three employees before the security guards managed to kill the shooter. Bruce excused himself from the meeting, then headed back to Gotham City.
Bruce arrived by helicopter. The helicopter landed on the rooftop of Wayne Enterprise. Bruce ran inside to get a look at the crime scene. Bodies were still covered. The police told Bruce that he wasn't allowed to be in the building. Gordon arrived on the scene and noticed Bruce being harassed by the police officers, so he quickly intervened. He told them to step aside.
As the police officers walked away, Gordon asked Bruce, "Do you have any clues as to why this maniac might have wanted to do something like this?"
"I'm not sure. What is the shooter's name?" Bruce asked.
"We haven't been able to identify him yet. They are checking the police database as we speak." Gordon replied.
"May I take a look at him?" Bruce asked.
"Sure, why not. It's against procedure, but if it will give us any clues, it might be worth it." Gordon replied.
Bruce looked the shooter over. He noticed that the shooter had a jailhouse tattoo that looked fairly new. It was a tattoo of a black skeleton face. It had initials underneath it, "FFS," He also noticed the type of boots the shooter was wearing. They were the same kind of boots that Roman Sionis had worn when he helped Scarecrow rob the bank. Bruce knew that Roman was still in jail and that Roman would be locked up for a few more days, which meant Roman had been talking to someone on the outside. He knew it wasn't Dr. Crane, because Crane was securely locked up at Arkham Asylum. Bruce also knew, if Roman was looking to get revenge because he had bought most of Roman's shares, he would soon be next on Roman's hit list. Bruce hired extra security guards. He made sure two security guards would stand guard at the front doors, plus he hired two guards for every floor. Bruce also made sure that Alfred was aware of the situation.
Later that night, Bruce made his way out as Batman. He hadn't had very much sleep because he had so much on his mind. He wanted to find out who Roman's contact was. He made his way to the morgue. He wanted to see if there were any other clues that he might have missed earlier when he examined the shooter's body. As he got closer, he noticed that the morgue was on fire. He rushed down to try to put out the blaze, but it was out of control. He put an oxygen mask on his face, then he rushed inside to make sure nobody was trapped inside. Nobody was in there, but he noticed a gurney that had a missing cadaver. He knew the dead shooter that once laid there was gone. Someone must have suspected he would go there to check out the body. They were going to great lengths to keep him from getting any clues. As he was heading back out of the building, a couple firefighters had already made it there. This seemed suspicious to Batman because he didn't think they could have made it there that fast.
"Look, it's the Bat! He burned down the morgue!" A firefighter yelled out.
As the other firefighter was starting to look, Batman shot out a grappling hook, then ascended into the air. As he swung off, he shot a tracer on the firefighter that was first on the scene. Batman waited in the shadows. Then his suspicions were proved to be correct. The firefighter that was first on the scene was also the first one to suddenly try to leave. As the firefighter walked off the site, Batman noticed he got into a van. After that, Batman quickly made it to his Batmobile, then continued tracking the signal. The van drove to the old Axis Chemical plant. It was now called Ace Chemical. Ace bought the property after Axis filed bankruptcy. Batman realized that the chemicals in that place were toxic. He wanted to get a good "knight's" rest before investigating any further.
Chapter Recap: (Chad and Dick rejoined the circus to continue their parents legacy as The Flying Graysons. Selina got a job offering at LexCorp, and was planning to move her and the girls into Metropolis. Selina didn't want to ask Bruce for money, so she decided to rob a jewelry store. Batman caught her, but Selina managed to get away with the help of Katt Girl. A madman with a gun broke into Wayne Enterprise, then killed three employees before getting killed himself. Batman tried getting clues from the morgue, but the morgue was set ablaze. After that, Batman followed a suspect to Ace Chemical.)