Batman crouched on the rough top of a house, overlooking the first of what rumors said would be many cars coming to this house. Before he interrupted that gathering, however, he wanted to do a little searching through the house. There might be some information he could put to good use.
He turned his attention from the cars and the guards meeting them to look for a way into the building. He guessed, rather correctly, that security around the house would be tight. It had been a bit of accomplishment even to get on the grounds and the roof unnoticed.
Which was why he was surprised to find a window wide open soon into his survey. He frowned a bit as he slipped in through the window, suspicious of a possible trap. But there was nothing within that room save darkness.
He passed through the darkness, something that was almost his natural element, and slipped silently into the next room. There was nothing there either, nor was it the room he wanted.
The sounds of the gathering below obscured some of the fainter noises, but it also drew attention away from where he was. He found no sign of anybody upstairs until he neared the office of the lord of this particular manor.
"Mmm, trust a crime lord to have a ready supply of cash," a distinctly female voice said.
He moved, silent as a shadow, into the room and noticed a woman in a dark, leathery costume apparently as inspired by a cat as his was by a bat. His presence did not seem to go entirely unnoticed, however. The woman had paused and was, by the sound of it, sniffing the air as if she'd found a scent, and those "fake" cat ears were twisting about as a real cat's would.
"That's against the law, you know," Batman said in a low, harsh voice.
The woman turned about and cracked a whip in preparation for a fight. Her stance, a familiar one, showed a high degree of accomplishment, but there was a hesitance that spoke of long disuse of the skills. She relaxed upon seeing who it was and smiled, leaning forward just a bit.
"Consider it back-pay," the woman said in a sultry manner, her tail, and the Batman saw that it truly was a tail, swayed behind her. "Or at least the first installment."
"I recognize you now," the Batman said. "Change of profession?"
"A return to one, actually," the Catwoman said. "Now don't go pretending that you're about to start a fight with me here."
"I'd win," the Batman said.
"I'm sure you would," the other responded ruefully. "But not quietly, and then you'd have to deal with gun-toting cocks down stairs."
"So would you," the vigilante offered.
"Oh, but I'd either have run or be unconscious," the thief said. "And I doubt you'd leave me behind in their hands, so, you're problem."
"You trust me with your life then?" the Batman asked.
"Oh, they way I was brought up would say my life is already yours," she said.
"Then I say don't do this," Batman said. The woman laughed tartly as she grabbed the sack of money.
"Hmmm, not quite," she said, circling around toward another exit. "I'm sure you'll find some of those papers a lovely diversion, I certainly did."
"I don't think so," Batman said flashing a hand out with an abrupt gesture.
The thief only just barely dodged the dark projectile and lashed out with her whip to catch the Batman's leg. The vigilante responded by pulling his leg backward before she could try to trip him, bringing her forward in an almost fall that she changed to into a swift roll.
As she came out of the roll, she snapped a fist upward that the Batman solidly blocked. She was too swift to be caught be the counter attack and cracked her whip twice in the close circles to drive him back.
"Where'd you learn to use a whip?" Batman asked as they circled each other again.
"Where else for a catwoman?" the thief responded. "But a cathouse."
She moved to make a run out of the room again and found she'd misjudged the speed of her opponent. It wasn't near her own, but it was very fast anyway and he had a shorter distance to cover.
She whipped out the heavy end of her whip only to have the strike blocked with a lock and then herself held immobile against the wall.
"Heh," she said with a smile. "You've got me now, lover, what are you going to do with me?"
The Batman considered it for a moment, but whatever his thoughts were, they weren't to be voiced.
"Hey! There's someone up here!" a voice shouted, calling Batman's attention that way.
"Well," Catwoman said. "That ends this little affair. Time for you to fight and me to run." She leaned forward and planted a kiss on the batman's lips, shocking him enough to let go of her.
And then their up until then unaware hosts burst through the door.
The Catwoman smirked and snatched up her sack and whip before tossing a chair through the window as Batman shook off his shock and turned to face the gun-toting thugs. Instantly a loud blaring alarm rang through the complex.
"Better luck next time, Justice!" the Catwoman called out as she leaped out of the window. "Have fun with the other boys!"
Batman cursed silently as the catwoman vanished, leaving him to deal with the guns.
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(Posted Fri, 15 Aug 2003 19:16)
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