Cat's Play - Chapter 26
The song ended and the couples went back to their original partners. Bruce walked Selena towards the bar, under the hawk-like gaze of Lois Lane. Soon, Selena excused herself presumably to head for the ladies room, and Lois was tempted to follow her, but she hadn't the time to begin another investigation. "If Wayne thinks he could handle Miss Kyle, good riddance, not my problem." Lois said to Clark.
"Something tells me that we haven't seen the last of Bruce Wayne or Selena Kyle." Clark commented as he offered to get another drink for Lois. "Just a tall, cool, soda for me, hon." Lois replied. "Tomorrow morning we have to clean out our in boxes at work before the wedding practice."
Selena had thrown the rest of any evidence on her person away, keeping only the cash in her slim-line black purse. She guessed that she'd secured an invitation back to Wayne's hotel room, and on to plan B. The master thief strolled out of the bathroom smiling and confident, not a care in the world. Bruce waved her over towards the bar, and she walked elegantly past Clark and Lois without acknowledging them.
"Wayne said that if his schedule allows, he'll grant the Daily Planet an interview next week after our big announcement." Lois mentioned casually. "Great job, Lois! Perry will be happy to hear that." Clark praised. "The condition is that Wayne will only interview with the both of us." Lois added. Clark flashed her a questioning glance. "I wonder what that's about." He commented.
Lois shrugged. "Who knows? He's still likely an eccentric billionaire." Clark and Lois finished the drinks, and prepared to leave. They caught a cab back to the Daily Planet parking lot. Meanwhile, Bruce and Selena had ordered another round of drinks, and the Catwoman was in rare form, practically sitting in Bruce's lap. The two were enemies and friends at the same time, but certainly Bruce wouldn't trust her.
Thus began their complicated relationship. Batman would always err on the side of good, Catwoman would waver between being good and evil depending on which served her purposes best. Selena's take for the night was about fourteen hundred dollars all told, so she didn't specifically rob Bruce this time. In her vengeful mind, these rich people could afford to lose some money, it wouldn't really hurt them.
Selena opted to scam Bruce for money in other ways over the next month, playing at being his girlfriend. Bruce would play along, but would always keep her at arm's length. He got to know her intimately, which offered some insight into the female criminal's mind. The two of them were split right down the middle, Selena's dark side mirroring Bruce's light side. Batman headed back to Gotham the next day.
Meanwhile, Selena's business in Metropolis wasn't quite through. The very next night, Catwoman and her pet accomplice, Isis, were climbing atop the museum's roof. Selena had her eye on the nearly priceless statues of the Egyptian goddesses, Bastet and Hathor. She positioned herself near the glass skylight which happened to be directly above the Egyptian gods' statue cases.
"You've gotta love these green energy initiatives, Isis." Catwoman addressed her pet cat, who meowed appreciatively. The Metropolis Museum of Antiquities had gotten a grant from the administration to install a number of energy saving initiatives, including, to Selena's amusement, four well placed skylights to allow sunlight to be shone on the exquisite exhibit pieces. "Brilliant!" She commented cynically.
Catwoman used her titanium claws to cut a circular piece in the skylight glass. It was just large enough to lower Isis down through, her collar attached to one of Selena's custom grappling hooks. The pet accomplice carried a miniature camera on her jeweled collar. Selena monitored her pet's progress, as the black cat's paws padded lightly across the pressure sensitive plates beneath the carpeting.
If a human stepped on the plates when activated, a silent alarm would sound. The superiorly trained cat had done this trick a hundred times before. Isis would locate the alarm sensor and direct Catwoman to it. In moments, the felonious feline had stopped before the sensor array, sitting down daintily.
Selena monitored the cat's progress on an I Pad she'd attached to the belt that hung on her slim hips. "Good job, honey." Catwoman praised her pet. The sensor was along the back wall just behind the main Egyptian gods' showcases. Selena quickly relocated towards another skylight. This one was nearer to the sensor control array. She cut a much larger hole in the glass, grasping the circular pane so it wouldn't fall onto the floor and activate the pressure plates. Selena climbed through it upside down.
She'd hooked the secondary grappler to an air conditioning unit not far from the skylight. Catwoman slid down the grappling wire and stopped about six feet above the display cases. Still upside-down, she grabbed a can of spray and misted the area. The mist illuminated the red laser-like trip alarms that crisscrossed the room. Most of the beams were at one foot, two foot, and three foot heights from the floor.
This left the area immediately above the display cases vulnerable. Two automatic cameras were moving in her direction, and she immediately pulled a dart gun from her belt. With pinpoint accuracy, Selena fired a dart at the first camera lens, hitting it squarely, releasing a black tarlike fluid that covered the entire lens, repeating the same procedure for the second security camera.
Now, Catwoman only had seconds to act before security would intervene. Selena dangled above the display case that held the cat headed goddess statues. She lowered herself within an arm's length of the first case, and without putting any pressure on the display, still hanging upside down, she sliced another circle just above the first golden idol with her titanium claws, easily lifting the statue off its base.
Catwoman swung over the secondary case, and repeated the procedure. She produced and unfolded a black leather carrying bag, placing both idols within it, and strapped it across her slim back leaving her hands free for climbing and or fighting. Isis sprung up from the carpeted floor, landing deftly atop the opened case, within an arm's reach of her master.
Selena hauled the cat up and Isis climbed upon the carrying bag, as the master thief pressed the reverse button on her grappling line. The grappler device quickly zipped them back up to the roof, as the loud alarm sirens began to scream. In seconds, Catwoman, Isis, and her ill-gotten booty were running across the rooftops away from the Museum of Antiquities.
Two muscle-headed guards arrived at the display room, and spied the cases that had been pilfered. They searched the area to no avail, finally noting the broken skylights. There was nothing left to do but report the theft to their bosses. The police were already arriving, but by now, Selena was blocks away.
Catwoman finally ran out of energy about a mile away. She sat on the eaves of a tall building to inspect her merchandise. "Isis, aren't they beautiful?" She addressed the cat. "It would be a shame to melt them down and sell them piecemeal, maybe we should take them back to Gotham and keep them."
The cat meowed and suddenly hissed, arching her back. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." A male voice said from behind her. Selena bagged the idols, and whipped around to face her bold opponent. "Well, hello there." Catwoman flirted as she struck a preliminary martial arts fighting stance.
Isis growled and spat as she hid behind Selena's outstretched foot. "Put them back." Clark Kent menaced. He wore a black shirt with the family shield on his chest, dark blue jeans, and black gym shoes. "Why would I want to do that?" Selena taunted as she circled in towards Clark, who stood there confidently with arms crossed. "Because you stole them." He stated emphatically.
Clark x-rayed the Catwoman and established her identity. "I don't know where you're from Miss Kitty, but those idols belong to the museum and the exhibit owners, and they're meant to be enjoyed by everyone." Clark lectured. "Yawn." Selena said defiantly. "Maybe you should take them from me, and put them back yourself." She challenged.
"Why do they always want to do things the hard way?" Clark asked rhetorically. Selena lunged at Clark, kicking him squarely in the stomach. "Meeeouch!"She screeched, and bounced off, tumbling head over heels onto the rooftop. The bag with the idols slipped from her grip and rolled towards the edge of the roof. Clark zipped over and grabbed them, slinging them carefully over his shoulder.
"Wow! Can you move fast?" Catwoman praised as her eyes widened. "You're so strong, too." She again flirted, righting her stance and edging towards him. "I don't suppose I can talk you into sharing the cat idols' value on the open market?" She said as she closed in near the bag.
"No." Clark stated coldly as he put the bag with the idols out of Selena's reach. "I take it you're new around here, so I'll cut you some slack." He added solemnly. "If you put the idols back, I'll speak to the police about reducing the charges to attempted robbery." Catwoman hissed angrily.
"That's not my thing." Selena growled, pulled some sharp cat shaped throwing stars out of her belt, and whipped them at the base of the carrying bag, shredding the bottom. She'd noticed that Clark was dangling the bag over the rooftop's edge. The idols slipped out, and Clark had to use his super speed to grab them before they fell. This distracted him long enough for Selena to grab Isis and jump off the roof.
Clark could have caught up to Selena eventually, but he wasn't in the mood to explain everything to the police department. He and Lois had to work early, and then face their wedding practice. If Wayne couldn't control his girlfriend, that wasn't his problem. Clark mused. Besides, how would he explain his presence atop the roof with Selena? Add to that, she'd gotten a fairly good look at him.
Clark grumbled and sped the idols back to the museum. Moving faster than the eye could see, he replaced the idols in their cases, shocking the investigating police. By now, the museum curator had been called to authenticate the returned pieces. At least he'd remembered to wipe his fingerprints off the statues. Unfortunately, any traces of Selena's DNA would be lost as well.
Clark had to decide on how best to deliver any criminals that he'd caught in the future. Until now, he'd simply used whatever was around, lead pipes, rain gutters, netting, basically anything he found to restrain his captives long enough for the Metropolis Police Department to arrive and take custody. He looked forward to the day when as Superman, Lois's name for him, he could simply walk the perps into jail.
An angry and disappointed Catwoman played on the hotel floor with her pet, aimlessly tossing a rubber bat toy to the precocious feline, who cheerfully swatted it back to her. "Isis, we were so close!" She complained to the excited black cat. "That overgrown goody two shoes ruined our plan and after all the work we put into it!" She maligned Clark. "He was magnificent though, wasn't he?"
Isis meowed appreciatively as Selena patted her head. "If only he could be turned to help us." She dreamed out loud. "In any event, we'll have to make a play for the goddess idols in a different town, and this time, one without some kind of a superhero to thwart our efforts."
Clark was bothered that Selena Kyle got away with the attempted theft, and silently wished that he'd simply hauled her over to the Metropolis Police Department for booking. Consider this a onetime break, Catwoman, he promised his conscience. Clark peered over the edge of the museum roof, and vaulted atop the antique outside of its cathedral ceiling. Might just as well practice, he mused.
Clark concentrated on a distant moth flapping its wings as Kara had taught him, bent his knees, and leapt off of the museum's grayish gothic turret. He soared towards the moth, which was many blocks away, and sailed through the air, with his arms extended before him. This time, Clark held his concentration, and dipped low above the rooftops briefly, before mentally visualizing his preliminary flight course.
He pictured his flight moving higher into the sky, and his body followed. Clark flew! He held his attention long enough to pass the moth and refocus on another distant point, the Daily Planet's slowly spinning golden globe. Clark continued his flight, never wavering from his path toward the planet. He now had to concentrate even harder to land atop the news building where he and Lois frequently met.
Clark, feeling daring, practiced a slow arcing curve around the Daily Planet globe promising himself an elegant landing near the rooftop doorway. Below, on the street, a few passersby gasped and pointed. "Holy crap!" A taxi driver yelled as he hit the brakes hard. "Would you look at that?" He pointed out the shadowy form that flew near the globe to his next fare. The lady squealed. "Is that a bird?"
"No, is that a plane?" A terrified delivery boy asked as he dropped his box of pizzas. "Too small." The cabbie remarked. "That had to be the Blur!" The lady passenger hollered. Clark heard the comments from below, and lost his concentration briefly enough to cause him to fall against the air conditioning unit, bending its pipes and bulkhead. The Daily Planet building shook and Clark quickly repaired the damage.
"That could've gone better." He grumbled as he brushed off his clothes.
Next: Superman!