Cat's Paw - Chapter 21

Time had run out for Bruce Wayne and Lois, as a series of squealing car tires echoed through the parking garage near the Daily Planet. Two black SUV's approached them from opposing ends of the underground parking lot. This effectively cut off his escape routes. "Terrific!" Batman mumbled as Lois began to stir. "Alfred! We've got problems!" He growled into the Batmobile's communications console.

"Shall I send the Batplane in on remote, Master Bruce?" The loyal British Manservant responded. "Not just yet, Alfred." Batman replied. "It would attract too much attention. Especially from one or two local superheroes. We'll try and tough it out. Keep the Batjet on standby mode just in case." The sound of the squealing tires grew ever closer.

"Very good, Master Bruce." Alfred said, the resignation obvious in his voice. Batman had placed the sleek Batmobile into stealth mode, but he knew that it wouldn't be enough. Even with silent running, the car's unusual design would be visually stunning and unique.

"There!" Bruce exclaimed. A slight gap in between two larger vehicles appeared within his field of vision. "It would be close!" Batman slammed the Batmobile into reverse, spinning it around one hundred eighty degrees. He jumped on the accelerator, and the sporty black car's tires squealed loudly. Immediately, the two pursuing SUVs stopped and altered their angles.

Batman raced through the narrow gap between the darkly colored vans, the Batmobile's left side sparked, as it sideswiped the lefthand side van. "I hope they had insurance!" Bruce said cynically as he slapped the Batmobile into a ninety degree sharp turn, tearing ass down the rows of parked cars. The nearest exit was just ahead, its blinding light visible within the dimly lit garage.

Bruce hauled up the ramp, as the two SUVs corrected their pursuit clumsily, doing minor damage to some cars at the end of the row. The Batmobile vaulted off the ramp, going briefly airborne, before landing with a squealing thud on the garage's blacktopped entryway. Two very surprised pedestrians shrieked as the black car darted in front of them across the sidewalk.

A taxi cab driver, a delivery truck driver, and two startled local drivers slammed on their brakes as the agile Batmobile wove between them. The SUVs, unable to handle the panther-like moves of the Batman, decided to try another tactic: catch him with their other partners in crime. Immediately, the lead SUV driver barked into his cell phone, giving orders to his minions. They would attempt a dragnet.

Bruce slowed to just above the speed limit, but was at a loss as to what to do with Lois. He could simply stop and set her down on the sidewalk, or in a public park. Lois was groggy, but beginning to come out of it. He couldn't, in good conscience, just leave her in the middle of the unfriendly city, especially with nighttime approaching. Perhaps he could meet Alfred halfway, he considered.

Suddenly, the Batman was out of options. Three black SUVs and two highly souped up sports cars sped towards them. Whoever was pursuing them was good, very good, he mused. They had every street covered, almost like it had been a planned trap specifically sprung for the Batmobile. Maybe even like a coordinated government effort. It was something to think about, if he had the time.

There were too many other vehicles, to say nothing of sidewalk passers-by, to pull anything dramatic, Bruce thought. There was one option left. He'd have to outmaneuver them. Batman cracked a U-Turn, and sped down an alley. Unfortunately, this one didn't go very far.

He could see the wall of a building that blocked his path. There was a ninety degree turn just before the wall. He'd have to try that. Batman zipped towards the red brick wall. "What the hell?" Lois had become fully awakened. He hadn't the time to zap her with another dose of bat sleep spray.

"Oh crap!" Lois screamed and covered her eyes. Batman locked in the automatic turning mechanism at just the right time. The Batmobile's wheels flipped sideways, enabling him to cut the sharp turn. As it was, the car blasted two garbage cans off each fender, spewing muck all over the windows.

Bruce pressed the window cleaning button, and the muck and slime slid off onto the pavement. Meanwhile, he'd managed to double back behind the pursuers' vehicles. "Are you crazy?" Lois yelped as she finally turned towards the Batman, though the G Forces of his turn kept her solidly in place.

"Some people think so." Bruce joked in his low, menacing, synthesized voice. "Stop! Let me out right now!" Lois yelled above the sound of the skidding tires as they righted themselves. "I can't do that, Miss Lane!" Batman growled. Just then, two black SUVs crossed their path, approaching from opposing directions. "See those two SUVs? They want to kill you." Bruce said in a calm, menacing tone.

"Me? What the hell did I do?" Lois protested as they whipped down a one way street. "What makes you think that they're not after you?" Batman had already considered all of the other possibilities, like the experienced, well-trained detective that he was. "The Dock Fire story that you'd been pursuing." Bruce spoke in quick, clipped sentences. "You've shown a light on the local gangsta cockroaches." He added.

"I do that all of the time." Lois defended. "I'm a journalist, that's what I do." Bruce wasn't in the mood to argue with the stubborn Daily Planet reporter. "Maybe you should try another line of work." He said sourly. "Do you know who I am?" Lois hissed. "I'm the daughter of General Sam Lane, and the girlfriend turned fiancee...of Clark Kent." She caught herself before she'd said 'the main squeeze of the Blur'.

"I'm aware of who you are, Miss Lane." Bruce grumbled as he tore around another corner. "You're also an ally of the Metropolis Blur. That makes you a famous target." Lois fumed. "Why are you stating the obvious? The Blur, Clark, and I have worked that all out." She countered as Batman zipped the wrong way down a different one way street. Fortunately, there was no oncoming traffic at the moment.

"The real question is why are you here, Batman?" Lois was in full reporter mode again. She'd literally been thrown into the lap of a front page story. "I'm tracking an old flame." Bruce quipped. "Do you mean stalking?" Lois taunted as the Batmobile sped across another intersection. "No. I mean tracking."

"You have your ex-girlfriend Lojacked?" Lois said scornfully. "It's complicated." Bruce evaded. "Why does everyone always say that?" Lois complained. "Well, how do you reconcile your relationship with both Clark Kent, and the Blur?" Batman, a master of psychology, inquired. Lois couldn't believe that she was discussing relationship issues with the mysterious Gotham City Batman, amid a crazed car chase.

"How do you reconcile the duality?" Bruce continued to verbally best Lois. "Duality?" She parroted. "Sure." Bruce clarified. "The duality that you know the Blur's secret, and you have to keep that information from Clark Kent." Lois shrugged. "Who says that I know the Blur's secrets?"

"You must have some power over him." Bruce pushed the conversation. "I don't have any power over him." Lois countered. "He just happens to like confiding in me." Batman was growing more mystified. "And Clark Kent is okay with that?" He goaded her. "Yes. Clark is okay with it. He understands that the Blur stands for more than just being some vigilante that keeps interfering in people's business." Lois hadn't intended for it to come out that harshly. Her words could come as a slap in the face to Batman.

"So I'm just some crazed vigilante, is that it?" Bruce snapped. "I don't know you!" Lois snarled. "I'm not even sure what side you're on! I do know that the Blur gives people hope. The hope that someone out there cares about Metropolis and the rest of the world." Batman silently considered Lois's words.

"The Blur moniker is kind of lame, isn't it?" Bruce pushed her buttons. Lois snickered. "Said the infamous Batman." She said cynically. "Actually, we've been considering changing that. Stay tuned." Lois added playfully. Bruce didn't quite know what to make of the opinionated Daily Planet reporter. For some reason, he decided that he liked her.

Bruce's thoughts were interrupted by the two souped up pursuit cars that had now begun to block their path. "Hold on!" Batman barked. He pressed a red button on the sleek, well lighted, dashboard. Immediately, a small canon appeared on either side of the Batmobile's fenders. "Whoa! You're not going to kill them, are you?" Lois whined, and toyed with the idea of slapping the Batman's gauntlet laden hand away from the upraised button. "Not necessarily." he quipped, and pressed the button again.

Two red missiles fired forth from the canons. Each missile impacted the cars' front tires and fenders. The automobiles were knocked sideways, allowing just enough room for Bruce to slip the nuclear powered Batmobile through the attempted blockade. The drivers weren't injured, just completely surprised. The enemies' tires caught on fire, and soon were reduced to stinking, smoldering, melted rubber.

"That was a rubber eliminating compound." Batman informed Lois proudly. "They have plenty of time to get out of the cars before any flames might reach the gas tanks." Lois chuckled. "I take it those aren't standard equipment?" She joked. "Special order, special creation." Bruce smirked, though Lois couldn't have seen it. "So, any idea who was chasing us, specifically?" She prodded.

"Someone named DaSaad" Batman surprised her by being so forthcoming. He pressed what appeared to be a CD player's eject button, and a silver DVD popped out. "I know of him!" Lois scowled. "I figured that you might." Batman added. "This DVD contains all of the info that I have on DaSaad and his cronies. I can't elaborate on how I came across this information. Suffice it to say that DaSaad has been under investigation for awhile." Lois noted that the CD / DVD player had a large "W" logo on it.

"That looks like the WorthingtonCo emblem." Lois pointed to the disc player. Bruce hadn't an exact idea what she was referring to, but he knew of the young multi-billionaire named Marcus Worthington. He decided to let her believe that the "W" stood for Worthington and not Wayne Industries. It would give her a nice false trail to follow. He slowed the Batmobile to a speed around the local limit.

By now, several Metropolis Police Department cars were en route, sirens blaring. It was time that he and Lois Lane parted company. Bruce casually grabbed the DVD disc and attempted to put it down the front of Lois's blouse. "Hey now!" Lois readied a vicious elbow intended for Batman's jaw. Hero or not, Lois was about to knock him silly. She never got the chance.

In the blink of an eye, Batman had slapped the Batmobile into autopilot, and sprayed a healthy dose of bat sleep spray under her nostrils. Lois's head sank, as he placed the DVD beneath her black lace bra. He righted himself and put the car back under his control. One thing that he hadn't thought of was how the Blur or Clark Kent would react to the whole fiasco. There would be time for that later.