Arkham Chapter 8

[center][b]Chapter 8: Kitten With A Whip[/center][/b]

[i]South Part of Park Row, Northeast End of Arkham City[/i]


It was getting easier.  Little by little, Jess was getting used to the way that this world worked.  Goons come in, beat on them until incapacitated, move on, rinse and repeat.  And on rare occasions, such as this, she was able to sneak up on a solitary goon and take care of them with little to no fuss.  In this instance, she was able to wrap her Ribbon around the mook's head, slowly smothering him.  5, 6 seconds of struggle, and he was out.  The Ribbon dissipates, and she itches behind one of her ears.  Now, the big question is, why was this goon here in particular?

Looking though a nearby fence, she notices a man, shirtless and shoeless, lying flat on his back, unmoving.  Was this one of the goon's victims?  Climbing over the fence, she drops down and lands of her feet.  Walking over to the man, she begins to whisper.  "What in the..."

Looking at the man's head, she finds that the entirety of it has been encased in bandages.  Past experiences from her travels had usually suggested that those who had their faces covered or hidden had done so for a reason.  For some, a some stupid sense of vanity.  For others, an aura of mystery.  What was this one's reason?  Kneeling down by the man's head, she begins to unwrap the bandages.  Pulling away at the strands, her face goes from curious to concerned to horrified.  This man had no hair, no skin, no face!  All that was left was clearly visible muscle, and cold, lifeless eyes.

She stumbles back a few steps, her back touching the fence that she climbed over to get in.

"Well, lookie here."  She turns around to find another goond standing there, this one wearing make-up so as to make half his face seem scarred.  "Looks like we got ourselves another freak in Arkham."  Two other goons arrive and climb over the fence, staring at they supposed prey.

"Think she's a Catwoman fan?"  One of the goons pulls out a baseball bat.

"Don't matter to me.  A freak's a freak, and I'm gonna make this b*tch meow."  The second one pulls out a knife.  Behind them, the third drops down.

"Alright boys!  It's a freakshow tonight!"  Goon #1 runs towards Jess, but the catgirl responds by ducking underneath his punch, thrusting her palm into the goon's chin, making him stumble back.  She follows up with a swipe to the man's face and a kick to his gut, knocking him to the ground.  Goon #2 takes this time to swing at her with his bat.  She ducks underneath, sweeping the goon off his feet, stunning him and making him lose his grip on his weapon.  Goon #3 tries to swipe at her with his knife, but she is able to slide backwards, avoiding his trinity of slashes.  Bringing out the Ribbon, she whips it into his eyes, blinding him momentarily, allowing her to kick the knife away, following up with a kick to the head, another to the chest, before flipping behind him and striking the small of his back with her elbow.

At this point, Goon #1 gets to his feet, and looks over to a nearby open area.  "We got a Catgirl here!"  At this point, another three goons arrive, one with a lead pipe, and another with a riot shield.

"Here, kitty, kitty..."  Shield Thug gestures towards Jess, taunting her to come his way.

"Let's hear ya scream."  LP Thug taps the tip of his weapon against his open palm a few times.

Weaponless Thug #2 doesn't say much, only replying with, "You're gonna die tonight, freak."  By this time, the other two

AS SHE STARTS TO FEEL OVERWHELMED AND NOT SURE ABOUT IF SHE SHOULD KILL, CATWOMAN COMES IN AND HELPS.

COMMENT FROM CATWOMAN ABOUT HOW SHE COULD USE HER HELP. THEN GOOD TEAMWORK, POSSIBLY INCLUDING A LIMIT POSSIBLY AND TEAM ATTACKS. A WAY TO SHOW NOT SO DIFFERENT *AND* FOIL PERSPECTIVES.

Selina looks down at the last of the mooks, before grabbing her right arm and stretching it behind her head.  "Sorry I'm late.  I got a little tied up with a old colleague."

Jess takes a few whiffs while she stretches out her calves.  "And that's why you smell like sweat, rose petals and tree sap?"

"That?  That was just Pam's way of embarking on another spree of entitlement and shattered hearts."

Jess cocks her head to the side, a look of disinterest on her face, with just a slight twinge of disgust.  "I'm not sure that I wanna know what that means."  She nods over to the body.  "Do you know anything about this?"

Selina crouches down and peers at the man's lack of a face and the bloody bandages beside his head, wincing.  "Poor bastard."  She stands back up.  "About a month ago, people began showing up, killed and pieces of their faces missing.  The press decided to give this freak the title of 'Identity Thief.'  There were three victims, and I heard that there were another two bodies found like this inside Arkham City."  She absently grips her left shoulder with her right hand.  "Their faces were taken while they were still alive, and their throats were paralyzed in a way so as to make sure they don't scream."  Her voice slightly quavers, but she takes a deep breath.  "That's no way for anyone to die."

Pressing the tip of her right thumb into her forehead, Jess sighs.  "Look.  I don't know if you're up to it, but I wanna know what kind of sick freak would do this, and maybe when I find whoever did this, I might wanna break something."

"Well, I do have a little bit of an opening in my schedule."

Jess kneels down, and pauses.  A powerful odor wafts into her nostrils.  This wasn't a pleasant smell, or a pungent one associated with the garbage on the street.  It was...  "Bleach?"  Checking by the man's feet, she sniffs a few times.  "Definitely bleach.  Someone cleaned up."  A few more sniffs.  "And it's strong.  This was done recently."

"Think you can track it?"

"Yeah, I think so."  She moves on all fours, following the trail.

Catwoman pauses. "It's just a thought, but wouldn't it be a bit easier if we weren't seen doing this?"  As if to emphasize her point, she begins to clamber up a nearby wall.  "Do you think you will be able to smell it from the rooftops?"

"Only one way to find out."  Jess soon follows suit, climbing up the walls, reaching the rooftop.  She sniffs.  "It's faint, but I can still smell it."

"Lead the way, then."  Watching Jess sniff and move, Selina follows behind, letting the younger of the two act as tracker.  For a moment, there is a slight twinge of envy on Selina's behalf.  Here was this young girl with all these gifts, and she's using them to track a killer?  If she had what Jess had, her thievery would be so much easier.  Oh, yes, she'd be thrilled... well, aside from the fact that she'd actually sprout a tail, ears and whiskers.  She liked to dress up as a cat, not actually be one.  That would be a bit too awkward.  And considering she lived in Gotham, where there are killer clowns and a man that dresses like a bat, that's quite the statement.

Seeing Jess stop, Catwoman looks down into the street.  "You lose it?"

"No...  I hear something."  Jess points down into an alleyway.  "There's a guy down there.  Sounds really nervous, and I heard something from him about dumping a body."  She sniffs.  "And there's a strong bleach smell in that alley, too."

The slight bit of envy rears it's head.  "Well, then.  Why don't we drop in and say hello?"

The two girls leap down, Jessica landing onto his back, stunning him.  Flipping the mook over, Jessica uses her Ribbon to ensnare the man's throat, tight enough to make it hard to breath, but not enough to make him pass out.  "You killed that man.  Dumped his body back there.  But why did you take his face?"

The goon chokes a bit, trying to catch his breath.  "It *gak* wasn't me!  I just dumped the body. *Hrk*  He told me to use bleach to clean it up."

Catwoman kneels down.  "Is that so?  Who, then?  Tell me who told you, and I might ask my friend to ease up."

"It was *gak*!  It was Wayne!  The rich guy!"

Catwoman shakes her head.  "I don't think so.  Maybe your tongue hasn't been loosened up enough."  She nods towards Jess.

She notices this, and releases the Ribbon from the man's throat, only to press her knee against it instead.  Holding onto the Ribbon, a bit of magic flows through it, before lashing it against the man's chest a few times.  "You might wanna tell the truth, or I'll crank up the juice."

The man tries to get his hands underneath, to try and push up the leg.  However, he finds his hands are currently being held down by Catwoman.  Gasping for breath, tries to reply.  "I'm not lying!  There's an alleyway by the courtroom.  That's where he is.  He's crazy, I tell ya, you don't wanna go in there."

Catwoman pauses, before letting go of the man's hands.  "Let's go."  Seeing Jess get up, she finally ends this interrogation, by cracking her whip against the man's head, knocking him out.

Seeing Catwoman finish the goon off, Jess has to ask the question.  "Do you believe him?"

In response to that, Selina holds up her left hand, making a smapp space between her thumb and index finger.  "In part.  There's no way that Bruce Wayne's been killing people."

"And you know this because?"

She crosses her arms.  "Just how many billionaire playboy philanthropists do you know that kill people?"

"..."  Jess pauses.  "Good point."

CATWOMAN LEADS JESS TO THE SIDE DOOR TO THE SOLOMON WAYNE COURTHOUSE, IN THROUGH THE DOOR.

DESCRIBE THE INSIDE OF THE HIDEOUT (ASK DOC FOR A GOOD DESCRIPTION SINCE HE HAS THE GAME AND CAN CHECK), AND REACTIONS FROM AT LEAST JESS (CATWOMAN SEEMS ON EDGE, WHICH JESS MIGHT NOTICE AS UNCHARACTERISTIC SO FAR)

"Play it," said Catwoman.

Nodding, Jess presses Play on the tape player, as the two step inside to take a closer look.

[i]"This is the journal of Doctor Thomas Elliot.  My work is complete.  The pain, though still present, has been worth it.  He will suffer for what he did to me.  He will suffer the way I have suffered.  As I look in the mirror, I understand how Leonardo felt when he finished the Mona Lisa, how Michelangelo felt when David was complete.  My work has taken too long, but now it's time for my masterpiece to be unveiled.  My new face is ready."[/i]

Behind the two, a shutter drops, a deep throaty chuckle signaling the appearance of another.  The two feminine felines turn to meet the originator of that chuckle, the one who took residence in this den.

"I couldn't have put it better myself."  The man's voice is rough, ragged, as if unused to speaking in this tone.  His face covered with bandages, a gloved hand reaches up and grabs a single strand.  "I take it you two are here to stop me?"

Selina sneers at this man, in his oh-so-common brown trench coat, the uncommon black suit underneath.  "What do you think?"

"My dear, I think you and your young friend are too late."  Slowly, bit by bit, strands of the bandages are pulled away from the man's head, now beginning to reveal deep, dark hair.

Jess is next to speak up.  "That's funny.  The way I see it, you've screwed up big time, leaving that tape... Dr. Thomas Elliot, was it?"

"Is that so?"  The final strands of bandages fall to the floor.

The face has a small sense of familiarity for Jess, but for Catwoman, her response is more apparent.  "No.  It can't be...  You... You look just like..."

Dr. Elliot stretches his neck.  "Bruce Wayne?"  His left hand reaches for his chin, as if he were looking into a mirror.  Indeed, his face did resemble that of the billionaire playboy, save that it was marred with numerous stitches and points of incision.  "It took time of course.  To find the perfect donors.  To graft on the flesh and, finally, to lose myself in order to create this."  He gestures to his body, as if to display it's grandeur.

Selina's sneer turns into an outright scowl.  "You killed six people.  You didn't just kill them, you took their faces.  You killed them over [i]things[/i]! [i]Meaningless. Stupid. [b]Things![/b][/i]"  Enraged, she is able to reach out her right arm through the barricade, trying to ruin Elliot's new coutenance with her claws.

Instead, Thomas grips her wrist with his right hand, her own merely inches from his face.  "Now, now...  I can't afford to have my masterpiece ruined, now can I?"  Reaching into his trenchcoat, he extracts a single .45.  He lets go of Selina's hand and steps back a few steps.  "Yes, I did kill them.  Their deaths were unfortunate, but necessary to complete my plan."  He pauses to press the top edge of his hand parallel to his collar bones, as if to massage something.

"Hold on."  Jess shakes her head, trying to figure this out.  "Just...  Just what kind of twisted plan had the need for you to become... Bruce Wayne?"

"Ah.  The question."  Thomas re-holsters his pistol.  "Would you believe good, old-fashioned revenge?  To be honest, I don't care if you do.  Wayne will suffer and neither of you will stop me."  Once again, he presses at the base of his neck, at the point of his vocal chords.

"Don't count on it."  Selina unfurls her whip.  "I personally don't care what kind of beef you have with Wayne, but going after innocent people is going to make your face my new scratching post."

"Now, now.  There's no need for that."  Thomas gasps a little before pressing against his vocal chords again.  "It seems obvious that you two have your hands full with all that is transpiring, but I think it's time for me to leave."

"Oh, yeah?"  Selina cracks her whip, the tip of it sliding through.  However, instead of striking the doctor, she instead grips the reel of tape and pulls it through the bars.  "Just how far will your plans go once your dirty little secret gets out?  I'm sure more than a few people will be interested, and not just the G.C.P.D."

Gone is any sense of kindness or patience from Thomas' blue eyes.  Instead, they are replaced with a piercing coldness.  "That is enough."  He once again pulls out his .45 and fires once, grazing Selina's left shoulder.  Before she can retaliate, he aims again, this time at Jessica's head.  "Uh-uh-uh.  Let's not be too hasty.  Give me the tape, and I won't give your young friend a rather gruesome new hole in her head."

Jess hisses.  "Okay, you're pushing it."  However, before she can react to being threatened, Selina raises her open hand.

"Fine."  Catwoman hisses a bit as she touches the small gunshot wound.  It was only a graze, but the thing stung like hell.  She walks over to the bars and stick the reel of tape through.  "Here."  She feels him grip it, but she holds tight.  "The next time we meet, Tommy, I'm gonna keep my word.  And I will [i]enjoy[/i] it."

Dr. Elliot merely smirks.  "I can see you think more with your heart than your head."  Putting his face next to the bars, he whispers, "I'd like to see it first-hand, and you know that I am capable of doing so."  Pulling the tape away, he back up.  "Now, I shall take my leave.  And do pray that we do not meet again.  Next time... I will not be in such a generous mood."  He calmly walks away, leaving the two femme felines alone.

Seething, Jess looks around the room, finding a back door.  She grabs a hold of the door knob and turns it, to no avail.  She presses against it with her shoulder, but still no leeway.  Dr. Elliot must have locked it from the outside in case of a situation like this.  No visible lock...  They were trapped in here.  Hissing through her teeth, she leaps over and tries to yank on the security bars with no luck.

JESS SAYS SHE HAS THINGS UNDER CONTROL, BUT THEY ARE BOTH SHAKEN. JESS HAS SOMEWHAT MORE TRUST IN CATWOMAN, BUT TELLS HER SHE NEEDS TO TRAIN MORE ON HER STEALTH, SO SHE'LL SEE HER SOON IF SHE CAN MAKE IT OUT. SAYS THAT SHE HAS THINGS UNDER CONTROL.

Catwoman shakes her head.  "No, you don't.  For that matter, I don't, either."  She takes a little bit of time to lift up her goggles, putting them on her forehead instead of over her eyes.  "We are not in control. Every now and then life likes to reiterate that little point. Some people find such reminders disconcerting. They spend their lives in breathless pursuit of meaningless goals, hoping to forget everything they know about their own mortality. Some people anchor themselves to something larger. Religion, Art, Justice. Anything they deem significant in a life that's not."   She pauses to lean against the building.  "We are not in control. If we were, surely we'd know better than to care about anything."

Jess gives Catwoman a raised eyebrow.  "Is there any reason you're bringing up philosophy right now?"

Selina sighs.  "I'm just trying to clear things up."

"Well, it's not exactly working."

"Okay, then.  Let me put it to you like this."  Catowman points at Jess.  "You've got powers that a lot of people would dream of , and I've got nothing but a whip and some toys. You can handle yourself while I make good my getaway, Jess. You can-- right?"

Jess pauses, about ready to give her rebuttal, but the thoughts running through her head make her pause and reconsider.  Instead, all she does is sigh.  "Okay, okay.  Fine.  I'll play it your way."

"That's a good girl."  Catwoman nods.  "Now that's settled, I think we need to lie low for a while, split up to take off some heat.  Give it a while, then meet me by the courthouse.  We'll make our way to my apartment, get things situated."

"Whatever you say."  With that, Jess begins to clamber up the walls, reaching the rooftop swiftly, before bounding away.

Catwoman shakes her head.  "Kid, you still have a lot to learn."  She follows the path already tread, albeit swinging away in the opposite direction.

As the two girls take their leave, Dr. Elliot emerges from behind a dumpster.  "It certainly took them long enough."  In his hand is his audio journal: one of the last pieces of his former identity.  Walking towards a burning barrel, he discards it without any hesitation.  The faintest echoes of a smile crease his stitched-on lips.  He was free from the shackles of his past, now ready for his revenge against Wayne.  He walks towards a nearby fire escape and begins to climb it.  During his climb, he begins to sing an old meledy, one from his childhood, one that was appropriate, in his mind.

[i]"Hush, little baby, don't say a word..."[/i]

Reaching the rooftop, he stares ahead, the faint image of Catwoman growing more distant.  She was that close to ruining everything, much like Thomas Wayne did by saving his mother after orchestrating his parents' car to crash with a cut brake line.  He wouldn't be happy unless he got what he wanted.  And now, looking as her body disappears into the horizon, he knew what he wanted next.

[i]"Momma's gonna buy you... a mockingbird."[/i]

He chuckles darkly.  He wasn't done with her yet.  Not even close.  He said he wanted to see her heart.  He pulls out a scalpel.  Soon...

[u]Protocol 10 will commence in 3 hours.[/u]

[b]Hope you guys liked this one. Tried to make it creepy, but also to show some development between Kyle and Mireu.[/b]