"Ramona" Bruce said, reaching up to remove her vice-like grip with both arms around her neck, "I'm sorry but I have to go now."
"Aaah" Ramona said with a slight teasing smile, "so soon?"
Bruce pulled back from her grasp with visible effort, yanking away from her and bumping into the wall behind him. She either didn't notice or didn't care.
"I promise I'll be back" he assured her, rushing for the door to leave. "I just have some things I need to take care of."
"You do that" she said as he left, "We'll talk later." Now that she was gone, she realized just how alone she was in this place. Nobody was around anymore to care for her and she could walk but her bones ached too much for her to get very far. She hated how frail her body was. If only there was an Alpha Vector, she couldn't help but think. She quickly pushed these thoughts aside. How could she rely on something that could cause so much destruction? "But you had to have known it could potentially happen" was what Bruce had said to her. She had hated him for a second when he said that. Yet, she was attracted to him. He was just a lot more than she thought he would be and she wanted to find out how much more. Yet, to question whether she knew whether it could potentially happen? Of course, she knew. The benefits of the project far outweighed the costs. Even now. Gotham was a city. She had the potential to save millions, possibly billions of lives. Gotham could always be rebuilt and not that many people had died anyway. With this justification in mind, she found false peace and slept for a while.
"How did it go" asked Alfred, when Bruce got back in his limo.
"Don't even ask, Alfred" Bruce assured, "I need to go to Ballard Hall now. Its where Christine Victoria was to hold her Eve's Desire show. I know her type, or at least thought I did. She's very vain. She's going to be there, I'm sure of it. And if she is, I need to talk to her, as Bruce Wayne, not Batman."
"Why do you do that, sir" Alfred asked.
"Do what?"
"Talk like Bruce Wayne and Batman are two different people" Alfred explained, "you're starting to sound like an Arkham Asylum patient."
"Alfred" Bruce said with a sigh, "if I'm an Arkham Asylum patient, then you are Jeremiah Arkham."
Alfred started the car, smiling to himself and said, "Thank you, sir."
"Not a compliment" Bruce replied.
"Christine" Selina said, standing above Christine Victoria, who she had knocked to the ground, "take a deep breath and calm down."
Christine attempted to get up but was too excited to make a coherent action.
"There's no saving me" Christine yelled at her, "I made myself easy to find because they would just find me later. I can't hide from them! You have to get out of here! Martial arts won't protect you from them!"
"Hey" Flanagan called to Selina from below. Selina looked over the balcony. "Is she in league with IVY" he asked. Selina looked to Christine, intending to ask the question. There was no need, as Christine simply nodded.
"She says yes" Selina yelled down to Flanagan.
He cackles wildly. "Flanagan" Montoya said, "get a hold of yourself."
"This just keeps getting better and better" Flanagan yells and walks over to Montoya. "Don't you see how messed up this whole situation is?!"
"Exactly" she said, "so we need to resolve it quickly before it gets even more messed up. Now, all we need now is Batman and the police."
"Police" Flanagan asked, "what police?! The force is nothing now! Nonexistent! A minor nuisance at best!"
As long as James Gordon was police commissioner, it would be a safe bet to assume that the police force is anything but nothing, nonexistent and a minor nuisance. True, his forces and resources were largely depleted but they were very much alive.
"This is Unit Forty-Two to HQ" said Officer Crispus Allen called in over the police radio, "I hear gunshots on Thirty-Fourth and Bullock. Permission to investigate." He was patrolling with partner Hugh Foley.
"Negative, Unit Forty-Two" the radio communicator said, "Stand by for back-up."
"Dammit" said Officer Foley, in frustration. He needn't worry, however as they heard police sirens just down the street. It sounded like more than one squad car.
"If only we had response time like this before IVY" said Allen.
Alfred and Bruce Wayne parked along the curb in front of Ballard Hall.
"Are you sure you want to do this, sir" Alfred said, putting the car into park and looking back at Bruce in the backseat.
"I'll be fine, Alfred" Bruce assured him and looked at Ballard. It looked so empty and gloomy. It looked like the perfect scene for a massacre. I'll be fine, he thought, but would Alfred?
"Alfred" Bruce said, "when I get out of this car. I want you to pull off and go back to the condo."
"But, sir…" Alfred began.
"Don't argue, Alfred" Bruce said, "I'm Batman, remember? I can handle myself. Let me save you, okay?"
Alfred nodded as Bruce got out of the limo. He rolled down the passenger door window and leaned over.
"Sir, you'll remember to call me if you are in trouble" he said, worrying, "won't you?"
"Trust me" Bruce said, "I won't. Phones don't work, remember?" With that, Bruce turned and walked towards the Ballard Hall entrance.
Dr. Heather Allister and Dr. Victor Naughton watched as the limo pulled off from Ballard Hall. Bruce Wayne, she thought, here? This made everything so much better for IVY. It meant they could take out all four of their threats in one day. Then, they could find out if a paradise could ever exist on earth, without incident. She, Naughton and seven of IVY's best hired assassins were in an ominous van parked a block down the street from where Bruce Wayne's limo had just been. Now that Bruce went inside Ballard Hall, Naughton crept the van closer.
"Christine Victoria" Bruce called out loud enough to be heard as he walked into Ballard Hall's lobby. He continued calling out her name until he got to the theatre floor. "Christine Victoria" he called again, "it's Bruce Wayne! I just want to talk!" Bruce heard a shuffling noise and sensed hastened movement quickly approaching him from the right, somebody attempting to flank and attack him from behind. Flanagan attempted to hit him in the back of the head with the butt of his gun. Bruce ducked the shot and drove his elbow into Flanagan's guts. Flanagan coughed and doubled over. Bruce flung him to the ground, simultaneously sliding his gun from his hand. He left a coughing Flanagan just sitting there.
"Drop it" Montoya said, approaching him, training her own gun on him.
"You mean this" asked Bruce. He held it up, pushing the clip release and discharging the bullet in the chamber before holding it out to her.
"I said drop the damn firearm" she shouted now. She did inch closer to him, just in range. He threw the pistol parts at Montoya's face, accurately hitting her in the forehead. Staggering backwards and knocking her off track, she let out a 'hmpf' sound before accidentally discharging two bullets into the theatre seats. He lunged forward, placing his right leg behind both of hers and driving his shoulders into her chest taking hers, taking her down effectively. He rolled her under him, causing her to drop her gun. He held her in place with the weight of his body and held her upper body down with his powerful arms. She struggled against him angrily but he was very strong due to all of his grueling training. She wasn't going anywhere.
"What the hell" she shouted up at him.
"Who are you" he asked her, "and where is Christine Victoria?"
"Ha" she said, "like I'm going to tell you, playboy!"
"Get off of her" he heard a familiar feminine voice from above him. He looked up and saw a slender but athletic woman in a doorway at the side of the theatre which led to a spiraling staircase that led to the balcony seats. It was Selina Kyle, in a black T-shirt, blue jeans, loafers and a Christine's sub-machine gun in her left hand, trained on Bruce. She saw the diagonal scar on the right side of his face. He noticed the deep, alluring green tint in her eyes and cruel, mocking and seductive smile on her lips. She was like a cat. Recognition dawned on both of their faces. They had gotten to know each other better than each of them had previously thought over the past week. They didn't even need masks to recognize each other.
Joseph Davidson led IVY's assassins into Ballard Hall. He was Dr. Naughton and Allister's most trusted lieutenant and one they could trust. They all filed into the lobby.
"I want two with me" he told two of the biggest, "the rest fan out and search the halls. I want Victoria slaughtered before we leave here. I don't care how its done but get it done."
Bruce gets up and steps over Agent Montoya with his hands up. Montoya quickly rolls over, grabbing her gun. She smacks him in the head with the butt of it. Bruce stumbles forward from the hard smack but doesn't fall. He isn't easily knocked down, let alone knocked out. Too much endurance and durability training. Bruce just stood straight back up. He didn't retaliate in any way, just holding up his hands and faced Selina as Montoya put her gun to the back of his head.
"Bang" Montoya teased, though Bruce paid no attention.
"Amazing" Selina commented, shaking her head in disbelief, "of all the people in Gotham…" she laughed.
"What" asked Montoya.
"He's Batman" yelled Selina.
"What" asked Montoya, "how do you know?!"
"Yes, I'm Batman" Bruce found himself admitting, "and you're Catwoman. You can tell from the scar you gave me, right? Well, I can see it in your eyes. They're very unique. I've never seen eyes like yours."
"Why thank you, Batman" Selina said, "and as much as I'd like to settle this little dispute between us, we just don't have the time for this."
Flanagan had recovered a little by then and stumbled his way over to them. Just in time, as it turned out. Joseph Davidson, a larger black man and leather-clad man with a assault rifle, entered the theatre.
"IVY has come to take you to Eden" Davidson said to them, "if you want to make it there, you want to give us Christine Victoria."
Alfred left Ballard Hall with a bad taste in his mouth. Bruce Wayne had always been like a son to him and knew he could handle himself. However, he also knew Bruce was missing a vital fact. He agreed in thinking that IVY shouldn't be allowed to murder their apparent funders. However, he realized that if Lucius Fox and his team finished the Omega Vector before schedule, that Bruce Wayne wouldn't know. Alfred decided quickly to take it upon himself to be the one to watch over Lucius Fox and relay back to Bruce the second the Omega Vector was complete. Before then, Alfred had taken a stance against helping Bruce Wayne's Batman directly other than with advice and medical attention. This, however, was a situation that called for his help. He pulled over in front of Wayne Enterprises.
"Now" Alfred said to himself, "how am I going to handle this?"
"Well" Joseph Davidson asked, holding up an assault rifle of his own, cocking it and switching the safety level from safe to auto, "where is she?"
Selina responded by firing eight sub-machine gun rounds into Davidson's chest. Greg Haller, the assassin with an assault rifle fired back at them. Both Montoya and Flanagan ducked behind the front row of seats, while Bruce tackled Selina to the ground. The rounds tore the top of seats sending cotton cushioning and leather fabric into the air.
Bruce laid on top of Selina, protecting her body with his own. They glance into each other's eyes, seeing the reflection of a fighter in each other.
"I could have shot you just now" Selina told Bruce, even over the gunfire.
"I know" Bruce said, "You shouldn't have shot that man, but I couldn't let you die."
"I could still shoot you" she said. He felt the barrel of her sub-machine gun against his belly.
"You really don't like me, do you" he asked her.
"I despise you with everything I am" she told him.
"Great" he said, simply. After that, the gunfire ceased.
"Psst" Flanagan hissed, "Kyle, the guy just ran out of ammo! Give Montoya the gun so she can go grab Victoria. You and I can take these guys out." Selina rolled out from under Bruce and slid the sub-machine gun to Montoya, who hastily grabbed it and ran upstairs.
"Don't just stand there, idiot" Malcolm, the large black man told his partner, "Grab her!"
The assassin unsheathed a dagger ran for the stairs after her. Selina Kyle scrambled to her feet and ran for the door with great speed. She's fast, Bruce observed. Possibly as fast as me. She made it to the door before he did. At running speed, she lunged in the air towards him and drove her right leg into his chest. She rolled over him as he fell flat on his back. Malcolm slapped her in the face as she attempted to get up and she kicked him in the back of his knee. He didn't budge and he tried to stomp on her. She rolled out of the way. Flanagan jumped over the front row. Without a weapon, he ran and tried to tackle Malcolm. Malcolm simply stepped to the left while throwing Flanagan into the wall. He fell, stunned as he smashed his own head with his momentum.
Attracted by the gunfire, IVY's other five men entered the theatre. "Davidson's dead" Malcolm told them, taking the dead lieutenant's place. "I want three of you to search upstairs for Victoria. There's a woman upstairs with a machine gun so be careful."
A man armed with a machete headed towards the stairs. Bruce Wayne stood up and cut him off with a side kick to his ribs. He stumbled to his knees. Another man attempted to punch Bruce in the face. Bruce caught his hand and pulled him towards him for a punch to the gut. When the man fell over, Bruce drove his knee under his chin, knocking him out, and threw him to the side.
Selina, still on the ground, kicked a man in the front of the knee. He fell over in pain, while she stood up. He groaned in pain.
"Shut up" She said, kicking him in the face. A man tried to grab her by the neck. She dropped her body, slipping through his arms and slid around him. She grabbed his arm and twisted him around, dragging him to the ground. She had leverage on him as he lay face first. She pulled him arm upwards in the air and snapped his arm at the elbow. His scream pierced the air and she rolled out of the way as another machete-wielding man swiped at her head.
Bruce blocked one of them when he tried to kick him in the left side of the head by raised his left arm. He grabbed his leg and drove his knee into his abdomen. He drove his knee into the man's stomach four more times until he grew weak. He then lifted him into the air by his legs, flipped in the air and threw into the ground, making him bounce off of his head. The thug with a machete returned. Bruce tackled him into the wall, punching him in the arm until the man dropped it. He then pulled the man towards him and flipped him onto his side.
Selina spun on the ground, sweeping her own machete-wielding thug's legs out from under him. He fell flat on his back. She then proceeded to continuously kick him in the face. She kicked him in the face ten times, ruining it before he stopped moving. Bruce himself, whose blood was running hot from the fight, was continuously punching the man who had held a machete in the face. He's done, Bruce, a voice told him. He realized it was right as the man's face was bloody and he had broken his nose, among other things. This is something he had told himself he wouldn't do, but he was so angry. Frustrated by what happened to Gotham that he hadn't been able to stop. Yet, he knew bats didn't scare him anymore. Sometimes, his only fear was himself.
Malcolm began to clap his hands. He had been watching them the entire time, as they had been picking apart his associates.
"Its funny, really" he said, "that you think you accomplished anything! The bitch you're attempting to protect is probably already dead!"
"Hey, jackass" Selina called out, standing, "there's a top government agent up there so unless you have an assassin who actually knows what they're doing in a fight, then Victoria won't even be touched!"
"You might want to go check on her" Malcolm said, grinning.
"I got it" said Flanagan, who stumbled to his feet and crawled towards the stairs.
They all watched him leave.
"That's it" Selina asked, "you're just going to let him leave?"
"I'm not worried, "said Malcolm.
"Well, in that case" Selina walked towards the stairs. Malcolm stepped in front of her.
"Yeah" he said, "I'm not going to let that happen."
By the time Agent Flanagan made it upstairs, it was already over. Agent Montoya was on the ground, beaten and holding her face. She was shaking rapidly, which gave Flanagan the impression that she was sobbing. This was strange because for as long as Flanagan had known Montoya, she had never shown fear and she never even came close to crying. Also, Christine Victoria was in the corner of the room lying still. Flanagan ran to check on her. Her eyes were wide open and her face was frozen in peace. Her body glistened in sweat and her veins stood out prominently even though there was no longer blood running through them. He closed her eyes for her and noticed her mouth was partially open and that something was poking out of it. He opened her lower jaw, which parted easily enough. He had to look away. What he saw was the remains of a bulbous flower. Whoever had done this had force-fed Christine Victoria a poisonous plant.
Bruce punched Malcolm in the back. Malcolm didn't budge so Bruce did it two more times. Malcolm turned and threw a hook at Bruce, who ducked underneath it. Selina kicked Malcolm in the ribs and when he didn't respond, she tried a different approach. She leaned to the right and kicked him directly in the groin. Malcolm grunted and fell to his knees in pain. He howled shrilly and held himself, desperately as his temple and veins on his bald head became very prominent.
"A little much" asked Bruce. Selina shrugged at that. Malcolm fell over on his side.
"I don't think he'll be giving us any more problems" she said, turning away, "we should probably check on Christine Victoria."
"Yeah" he said, " and then you explain to me exactly what's up with you."
"All in good time, my dear bat" she said, happily. They walked away.
"No" they heard him shout, in another furious voice other than his own. It sounded demonic, in a way. "I am not finished with you two, yet!" They looked back at him. He pushed himself to his knees and ripped off his shirt. He was massive tattoos underneath with well-defined muscles. He must have been at least two hundred and forty pounds, almost entirely muscle. He stood at six feet and eight inches, probably stronger than both of them combined. They realized on the front of his body was a mountainous valley, surrounded by angels, underneath the clouds and the sun with a giant peak beautifully drawn in the background.
He lunged at the two of them. They both dodged him and swept his legs out from under him and caused him to land on his face. His back carried a tattoo of a dark castle, surrounded by hellfire and bodies impaled on spikes, with Satan's assumed face in the background. He pushed himself up and grabbed Selina by the arm. She yelled out, as he was very strong and she already felt uncomfortable strain on the bones in her arm. Bruce punched him repeatedly in his right bicep, the arm he was holding her with. Malcolm laughed at his foolish attempts to hurt him. He leaned closer to Bruce, menacingly and lifted the helpless Selina by that arm off of her feet.
"Aaah" Selina groaned, "Dammit, Batman! Kick him in the balls or something!" Malcolm seemed to be taunting Bruce, so he made him pay for it. Bruce punched Malcolm directly in the eye socket, driving two of his knuckles into Malcolm's left eyeball. Malcolm dropped Selina and clutched his eyes with his hands, falling on his back. He grunted and screamed in pain and anger.
"I've had enough of this shit" she said, reaching into her jeans pocket and yanked out some electrified knuckles. She put them on her left hand and sat over Malcolm.
"You like to strong-arm women, huh" she yelled at him, "what happens when a woman strong-arms you!" She began began punching him repeatedly in the face and body with a form of brass knuckles that had the effects of a high-voltage taser device. She continuously hit him, electrocuting him and causing his body to convulse painfully and wildly. She was hitting him so much that Bruce wondered whether or not she had been fighting non-stop for the past five minutes, as she didn't seem exhausted in the least bit. If Bruce let her go on any longer, Selina would have beat him to death, if she hadn't already.
He pulled her by her right arm, which probably wasn't a good idea, considering what had just happened. She replied by throwing an electrified backhand at him. It was awkward though, and he dodged it easily.
"Victoria, remember" he reminded her. She stopped moving for a second, trying to catch her breath. She got off of Malcolm, who had stopped moving.
She nodded to show she understood. He knew she was too angry to speak right now. He just wished she'd take off the knuckles.
Flanagan knew there was no point in trying to pursue them. Victoria was already dead and that was a case blown. The damage had been done. That and they had hurt Renee Montoya. That made his resolve to take down IVY that much stronger. He knelt by Montoya and tried to touch her. She pushed him away. She was conscious, just hurt badly.
"Montoya" he said to her, "where does it hurt?" She rolled over away from him as a response. She didn't answer him. Selina and Bruce found the two of them like this, as well as Christine Victoria's dead body in the corner.
"What the hell happened" Selina asked.
"I…I was too late" Flanagan said, apologetic.
Selina turned on Bruce with fury. "This is all your fault" she accused. "If you hadn't come, we would have been ready for them." If Bruce had remembered correctly, he was a big reason why they were put down in the first place but he didn't pursue. It would only through wood on the fire that was burning in Selina's heart.
She swung at him with her electric knuckles. He barely dodged it. He was really surprised he did, as until then she had really been entirely too agile for him to avoid any of her attacks. He took advantage of it by getting behind her and putting her in a sleeping hold, holding his forearm against the vein in her neck. He was ready to press down and cut off her blood circulation if she asked for it.
"Will you calm down" Bruce asked, calmly.
"Will you two stop that" Flanagan asked, irritated.
Instead, Selina drove her elbow into Bruce's side and flung him over her. He fell flat on his back, vulnerable to her attempting to slam her electric knuckle into his skull. He rolled out of the way and tackled her to the ground. He pinned her arms to the ground. She attempted to knee him in the groin but he caught her leg with both of his. That was when the police sirens began to become audible from outside. This was of course bad news to all of them.
Victor Naughton and Heather Allister drove away from Ballard Hall with urgency.
"Well" Naughton said, "that didn't go as well as we thought it would, did it?"
"It doesn't matter" said Allister, "all that matters is that Christine Victoria is dead and I'm the one who killed her. That alone makes me happy."
"I'm glad you're happy" Naughton said, not taking his head off of the road, "because I'm pissed."
"Oh, baby" Allister said, stroking Naughton's face, "my Adam, I promise I'll make it up to you, later."
He shrugged her off of him and said, "The only thing that will make up for that disaster will be Bruce Wayne's death, along with that woman, and Carla Yang's death without an incident."
"Oh" Allister said, "You know that last one isn't going to happen. You know how difficult Yang will be the hardest to kill. Which is why we're getting her out of the way next. The last one will be extremely easy."
"That's what you said about Christine Victoria" pointed out Naughton.
"Well" she said, "that's only because of Bruce Wayne and that woman. Don't worry, Adam, everything will be easier in our perfect paradise."