[b]You thought that everything was done inside of Arkham City, huh?  Not quite.  The Joker may have been stopped, Hugo Strange may be dead, The League of Assassins may be fleeing Gotham, but there's still a few players left on the field...

CHAPTER 14:  ON THE PROWL[/b]

"I don't believe it."  Catwoman continues to kneel on top of the neon sign promoting the Monarch Theater.  Minutes ago, she saw Batman walk out of the theater carrying Joker in his arms.  She'd heard the stories that the green-haired kook was in bad shape after the incident at the Asylum, but seeing that...  They undersold it.  She shakes her head at the sight, all of Joker's goons stunned into silence, and Harley weeping loudly, loud enough to be heard from quite a distance.  She waits for them to dissipate, return back to mourn, lick their wounds.

She stands back up.  "Time to get my things and quit this damn town for good."  Looking towards the Courthouse in the north, Catwoman runs over the rooftops, climbing up to a gargoyle near the top of the Hotel Valentine.  Whipping over to another gargoyle, she pauses to gaze at the ruins of the courthouse entrance.  She allows herself to smirk.  "Better luck next time, Harv."  Leaping towards the rooftop, she is able to get her whip wrapped around the extended flagpole.  Pulling herself up, she runs across the rooftop towards the Arkham City wall, before turning right and leaping up onto another rooftop.  Noticing the enclosed area where her apartment is, she leaps over to it and drops through the grate on the top, keeping her grip on the mesh ceiling.  Moving towards her apartment window, she drops to the windowsil underneath.  "Home sweet home."  Opening the window, she grips the edges, and is immediately bombarded with shrapnel and heat, her apartment exploding, sending her sprawled onto the walkway.

-----

The doorway into the enclosed area opens up, and a small group of four Two-Face thugs enter.  "Damn, Paulie B, you know your stuff."  One of them shoves another in the shoulder.  The one shoved merely nods.  "Yeah.  What Two-Face wants, Two-Face gets.  And since the job's done, how's about we skin outselves a kitty cat?"  Hearing a few meows and seeing a few cats, Paulie B kicks at them.  "I always hated cats."

"Is she dead, though?"  The thrid thug nudges Catwoman with his baseball bat.

Seeing a few minute movements, the fourth speaks up.  "Hang on!  I think she's waking up!"

"Damn it, what're we gonna do?"

Paulie glares at them.  "Kill her again!"

Selina shakes her head and nips back to her feet, her suit's claws extended and a ready hand on her whip.  The first schmuck throws a punch at her, which she deflects to the side before turning and applying a minor mule kick to his jaw.  The second charges at her, which she flips over and kicks him in the ass for embarassment.  Flipping a little bit, she hops and levels a kick to the third goon's head.  Ducking underneath the fourth's bat swing, she grabs his arm and flips him over herself in a well-timed Judo toss.  The first and second goons attempt to strike, only for her to sway back, thrusting out her palms to their faces, stunning them before she jumps at them, pushing off them as a springboard, sending them into the bars of the walkway.  Lashing out with her whip, she snags the thrid by the legs, tripping him.  Snapping her whip at the fourth, she spins towards him, leveling strike after strike at his face before finishing him off with a knee to the chest, knocking him out.

The first is barely able to get to his feet before he sees Catwoman flip towards him, getting hit by a roundhouse kick, knocking him out.  The fourth runs at her, but begins to hop up and down as he steps on a pile of small spiked balls, falling to the ground, before being knocked out by a double palm to the face.

The last one, Paulie B, glares at Catwoman before picking up the bat that his cohort dropped.  He rears back, ready to strike and take her damn head off... only to find that any attempt to do so is stopped.  Looking at the bat, he sees a dark line of goo.  Trying to pull the bat free from the goo line, he gets knocked in the face by one of Catwoman's bolas, stunning him and sending him onto the floor.

Catwoman presses her boot against Paulie's face, holding him there.  "Where are my things?"

"Like I'd tell you, you stupid bitch."  He yelps as Catwoman's whip strikes against this thigh.

"You don't tell me, I'll begin slicing you apart, piece by piece."

"Okay, okay!  Two-Face has got 'em.  He's at the Museum, alright!?"

"Thanks."  With that, Selina slams her knee into Paulie B's temple, knocking him out.  "So, you've decided to come crawling back then, Harv."  Standing back up, she shakes her head.  "Pity.  Oh well.  Time for this kitten to teach you some manners once and for all."  She prepares to leap up onto the mesh ceiling, but pauses to look at the bat Paulie B tried to use on her.  She notices the black goo on it.  "Let me guess... The new guy, right?"

"Could be."  There is a sound on the mesh overhead, as a grate is opened up and a figure pokes his head into the enclosed walkway.  "Fancy meeting you here."

"You gonna jaw-jack all day, or are you going to move?"  Seeing the figure move, Catwoman leaps up and on top of the mesh.  Dusting off her shoulder, she finally, really gets a good look at this figure, and specifically, his symbol.  "Let me guess...  Tarantula?  Black Widower?"

"Nope.  Just your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man...  with a hyphen."

"Spider-Man."  Selina puts her hands to her hips, just looking at him.  "What, were all the good names taken?  And for the record, you'd be hard-pressed to find a 'friendly neighborhood' anywhere in Gotham."

"No need to be hostile.  I just figured you could use some help."

Selina shakes her head.  [i]How many times have I either heard or said that just tonight?[/i]"I'm fine, thank you."

"Fine?  You call being bombed fine?"  Spider-Man whistles at this.  "Either Gotham's crazier than I thought, or you're in some weird-ass denial I hadn't even heard of."

"Can you get to the point?"

"Okay.  Just relax, take some deep breaths."  Spider-Man rubs the back of his neck.  "I was just wondering how the other one was doing.  You know, the catgirl?"

Selina bites her lip.  "She'll be fine."  To be honest, she was still puzzling over this.  After Wonder Tower exploded, she headed back to check on Jessica, only to find that she was already gone.  Considering that her patchwork skills were not the best, she wondered how the hell her teenage cohort was back up after being shot by TYGER guards.

Spider-Man notices Catwoman bite her lip, but dismisses it.  "That's a bit of relief."  There is a slight pause before he continues.  "So, what's this about your stuff at the Museum?"

"Oh, it's just a nut that's a bit obsessed over me.  Kinda has two trains of thoughts regarding that.  One side mad, the other side a bit murderous."

"Ah, those kinds of people."  Spider-Man raises his hands.  "So, uh..  need any help with it?  If it's a pride thing, I understand, but..."

"Acutally, maybe I could use another pair of eyes in there."  Selina scratches her chin a little bit.  "That is, if you're not too busy..."

Spider-Man mimes looking at a wristwatch.  "Well, I have a mani-pedi scheduled at Never o' clock, but I think I can spare some time."  He notices her just staring at him.  "What?"

All Selina can do is scoff.  "Never mind."  With that, she begins the trek over to the Museum, the Webhead following close behind.

Eventually arriving at the Bowery, the pair look down at the entrance to the Museum from atop the monorail line.  "How many do you think?"  Spider-Man rubs the back of his head.  It wasn't that his Spider-Sense was going off, it was that he was beginning to heavily sweat from his head, even in this weather, and wearing a full head mask didn't exactly make one feel comfortable when so sweaty.

Lowering her goggles, Catwoman looks down.  "Two at the entrance itself, and two patrolling on either side of it.  The one closer to the Wall's got something in his hands, but I can't tell what..."

"So, four total, three if we ignore the mook near 'the Wall'."  Spider-Man itches his chin.

---
In the Trophy Room, a few guards are throughly enjoying themselves, a six-pack of beer set near a broken trophy case.

"Good to see the boss back, right?"

"Yeah.  Did you see all the gear he had with him?  Must have been from the Cat."

"I heard he sent Paulie B over to blow that bitch's 'Secret Hideout' sky high.  I bet it's raining bits of kitty cat all over Arkham City now."

"That'll teach her to screw with Two-Face."

"Hear, hear!"  One of them opens up a bottle of beer and takes a deep sip.  "Damn, that's good."  This mook gestures towards another trophy case.  "Thanks for the brews, Cobblepot!  It's been too damn long."

"Oi!"  Oswald Cobblepot begins to pound on the glass.

The drinking goon tips his bottle towards Cobblepot.  "What's the matter?  Not enjoying your coop?"  The mooks laugh at this, not noticing the fact that the six-pack is being pulled up towards the ceiling.

One of them gestures towards the drinker.  "Hey, man, pass me one.  I've been dying for a cold one since I got locked up."

"Sure thing."  The mook with the bottle reaches down to grab one, but finds nothing.  "The hell?"  He looks, and sure enough the case is gone.  "Where the hell'd they go?"

"Yoo hoo!  Up here!"  The mooks look up, barely noticing Spider-Man.  He pauses to pull out a bottle of beer and open it and begins to move it towards his face.  "You know, I can understand that you want to drink.  It's prison, it's stressful, you need something to take the edge off, but..."  He sticks his arm out, quickly turns the bottle upside-down, the contents pouring all over the floor.  "I think you should go to ways that don't kill brain cells."

"You son of a bitch!"  Two goons pick up knives, while the drinker breaks his bottle on one of the cabinets.  "Come on down, coward!  We're gonna gut ya!"

"Yea... No.  I prefer my guts on the inside, thankyouverymuch,"  Spider-Man itches his chin.  "Besides, you already have other problems."

"What the f..."  The drinking goon is immediatly pounced on by Catwoman, sending him sprawling into the beer puddle.

"It's the freakin' Cat!"  The goons immediatly surround her, only for the group of four to be swept off their feet by Catwoman's whip trip skill.  Catwoman immediately leaps up and onto one of the knife-wielders, driving both of her hands into the goon's temples, knocking him out.  One is able to get to his feet, only to have his arms ensnared by her whip, and grabbing hold of the ensnared arms, throws him into the cabinet holding the deceased Two-Face goon, cracking the glass, before delivering a kick to his knee, breaking the kneecap.

The other two get up and reach for the knives that were close by.  Grabbing them, they begin to rush, only to stumble into a floor covered with caltrop spikes.  Both hop around, before one gets knocked in the face with a Bola, stunning him and sending him sprawled onto the floor once again.  The one still standing begins to swipe at Catwoman, who dodges each of the swipes, before grabbing his arm, twisting it, making him release the knife, before delivering a two-hit axe kick to the goon's head, knocking him out cold  The other gets to his feet, only to to be grabbed at the head by Catwoman's legs, who flips and throws the goon to the floor, receiving a kick to the face to knock him out.

Finally, the drinking goon gets to his feet.  "Gonna skin you, Catwoman!"  However, before he can follow up on his threat, Spider-Man drops down on top of him, knocking him out instantly.

"And that's five."  Spider-Man wipes his hand.  "Nicely done."  However, his comment is readily ignored, as Catwoman focuses on a figure in a nearby trophy case: Oswald Cobblepot.

"What the hell are you supposed to be?"

Sititng there, nurisng his broken hand, Cobblepot glares at her with such untempered animosity.  "Piss off, Kitty!"

"Really?  Okay, if you insist."  She turns around and walks a few steps, before pausing.  "Oh, I forgot to say."  She turns around once again and stands in front of the case and begins to tap at the glass, before using her claws to etch into it.  "Speak to me like that again, Penguin, and I'll show you just what it feels like for a poor little bird to get torn apart by a cat."  The sound of her claws against the glass reverbate in the room.

Panic crossed against Cobblepot's face.  He's heard the stories of how vindictive Catwoman can get when she feels crossed.  "Please, don't 'urt me!  I didn't mean it!"

Selina stops etching the to the cabinet's glass, having already made a sizable circle."That's much nicer.  See, you can be nice, Oswald."  She taps on the etched portion as it falls inside the cabinet.  "See you around."  She turns away and saunters past Spider-Man, down towards the next door, the Web-Head following close behind.

Cobblepot hears the door open, takes a few breaths and looks at the opening.  "Tawdry little bitch.  You'll pay for that."

Inside the corridor, Spider-Man continues to walk behind Catwoman, his attention focused on his companion.  "And who was that you were talking to, exactly?"

"The Penguin.  He's the black market guy in Gotham, greedy little asshat if I've ever seen one."

"Uh-huh..."  [i]A giggling ghoul in green and purple, a lizard guy in the sewers, Kletus' bald cousin, and now a man named after a bird?[/i]  " 'sweird."

"What is?"

"Nothing important."  Spider-Man feels that tingling sensation in the back of his head.  "I think we've got company up ahead."

Catwoman pauses and looks back at him.  "What makes you say that?"

"Call it 'intuition'."

She pauses and begins to slowly move towards the corner ahead.  Just before she reaches it, she hears a number of goons mumbling, and two in particular.

"He looked pretty pleased with himself, didn't he?"

"Yeah.  Don't think I've ever seen the boss so happy."

"Maybe it's true.  Maybe he really did kill Catwoman."

"Bitch deserves it.  You saw what she did to him in the court.  It was only a matter of time before he got a little payback."

"And all her money."

"Yeah, that too."

Catowman nods towards Spider-Man, who kneels beside her.  "What do you think?"

"2 against... what, 25, 30 max?  Feeling a little anxious?"

"No.  I just hope you can keep up."  Smirking at him, Catwoman runs aheade towards the slightly raised gate, and slides underneath.  "Hi, boys.  Hope I'm not too late."

"What's she doing here?"

"Kill her!"  The goons begin to group en masse around her, many holding a variety of weapons, including bats, sledgehammers, knives, and a few with riot shields.

"Yoo-hoo!"  The goons turn around as Spider-Man slides under the barricade, nipping back up to his feet.  "You know, this don't look quite right."  A large number split off and begin to encircle Spidey.  "Oh no, this is much better!"

Catwoman ignores the jester antics of her erstwhile ally and instead focuses on her own group of enemies.  A bat-wielder swings at her, which she ducks underneath, before grabbing a hold of the bat, tripping the goon's legs, and connecting with a string overhead swing to the guy's abdomen, the mook passing out from the pain.  She tosses the bat towards a shield holder, who trips on it, falling face first into the back of the shield, stunning him.  Flipping backwards from a swinging sledgehammer, she leaps over a knife-wielding goon, grabbing his arm and wrenching it out of its socket.  The shield holder gets back up, shaking his head and is able to block Catwoman's whip, but is unable to react to to her leaping onto his shoulders, then off them and onto him back, knocking him out.  Turning toward the sledgehammer goon, she runs and slides into his legs, knocking him flat on his face.  Turning, she gets on top of his back, grabs his head and slams it into the floor, knocking out the last of the weapon holders that were focused on her, leaving only three unarmed goons.  One dashes for the fallen baseball bat, only to get clonked on the head by one of her bolas, knocking him into the electrified fencing.  Another doesn't even bother to go towards the weaponry, instead focusing solely on attacking her.  He's able to get one punch on her, but only one as she flows over him, grabbing his arm, forcing him down onto the floor and dislocating his shoulder.  The last of the goons is able to reach the riot shield, only to be snagged by her whip, pulling him off his feet.  He is able to push himself back to his feet, only to be nailed with a roundhouse kick from a running Catwoman, sending him sprawling.

"There's those.  Now..."  Catwoman looks over at Spider-Man, and her eyes widen at the sight before her.  A nomber of goons were on the ground, many of them clutching at their ribs, arms or legs in pain.  A few are beating on her erstwhile partner with baseball bats, only to get flung into a wall.

Spider-Man is finally visible to her, but his visage is no longer as streamlined as it once was, much bulkier in form, and has taken more to being on all four limbs, like an animal.  Where there were smooth fingertips, small barbs spike out, the spider emblem subtly shifting, taking on a more ominous tone, almost akin to a skull... and that his face now had a jaw... a sharp-toothed jaw, purple-tinted ooze dripping from it.

One of the goons gets to his feet and grabs a riot shield, running towards the now-monstrous hero.  However, he expects that the hero would retaliate with standard attacks, punches and kicks.  Instead, he finds a stream of goo latch onto his legs, with another one punching through the glass, grabbing his face.  Both tendrils pull, taking the goon off his feet, landing upon the shield.  Spider-Man moves up to the goon, pushes him off with a hand, grabs the shield, and slams it down on the goon.  Turning around, another group of goons get to their feet.  He tosses the shield (front-first) into one of the goons, sending him back into the wall.  One with a baseball bat is able to get a swing at him, only for a tendril to harden and cut through the bat.  The tendril softens, and thrusts out, striking the goon in the face.  Another runs to him, knife stretched out, only for the blade to be snapped and discarded, and the goon to get chopped in the forehead by the edge of his hand.
The last one stands back, a crate in his hands.  "Try this!"  He throws the crate, only for it to be batted away by a tendril.  "Crap."  He turns to run, only to have his back ensnared by another line.

The line retracts with the goon attached, before pulling away at such an angle to make the foe turn to face Spider-Man.  A fist lowered, he strikes underneath the jaw with a closed fist, sending the goon into the air.  However, he wasn't done quite yet.  Another piece of the suit fires out, grabbing the goon by the chest, and quickly jerks back, pulling the enemy quickly down to the ground, finishing this fight.  The line releases from the unconscious thug and quickly retracts back to its source.  He pauses... and hears a small amount of clapping.  Turning around, he sees Catwoman standing there, providing the source of mild audible impression.

"Not bad.  Figured you for a lightfoot when we first met."  She stops clapping.  "Nice to see you're not all goody-good, after all."  Her tone takes on a slightly flirtatious inflection.  "I kinda like that, but I'm not fond of the beastly look."

Spider-Man takes a few moments to look at her, and considering her not a threat, moves towards her.  However, he pauses, holding his head.  Slowly his features begin to shift back to the way that they were, the mouth of fangs disappearing, the barbed fingertips retracting the skull-shaped spider returning to it's original form, and his bulk slimming down as he finally returns to a standing position.  "Eee-Yaah!"  Panting, he stops holding his head and presses his palms against his legs, bending over, regaining his breath.  "Gah."

"Am I missing something?"

"It took over... again.  Twice in one night."  Spider-Man's voice notes his distaste of the situation as he proceeds to stand back up, instead rubbing his temple, wincing slightly.  "Should have dodged that swing."

"Considering the results you got, why should you complain?"  Catwoman pauses, the comment that 'It' took over not registering at the moment.  "You took out 24 goons in the time it took for me to get rid of six."

He responds with a bit more force than he intended.  "It wasn't me."  Taking a few breaths, his voice lowers, almost ashamed to say it.  "It was the suit."

"What are you talking about?"  Catwoman walks over to him, poking at his chest.  "Your suit isn't..."  She pauses as she notices that her fingertip is beginning to get covered in black and red tones, the same tones from his suit.  "The hell?"  She pulls her finger back, and the red and black tones return to the suit, the point of return rippling like disturbed water.

"It's a living thing, a symbiote."  Spider-Man turns away from her, gazing at the barbed wire covering the ledge overhead.  "It's supposed to bond with a person, but doing so means I won't be me any longer.  I'd be a 'We', instead."  Firing two lines, he yanks down the barbed wire.  "Seeing that I don't want that, I won't allow it to bond to me.  It's agreed so far, but with it taking control when I'm conked out, it's got me a bit on edge."

"Let me guess...  Happened before?"

"Yeah."  Spider-Man leaps up onto the balcony.  "I didn't even know what it was when it first happened, so I learned pretty quick."

Catwoman clambers up the wall, grabbing the ledge and pulling herself up.  "So, does this thing have a name?"

Spider-Man is about to respond, but a sizable part of the symbiote forms a bubble on his left shoulder, slowly taking on the relative shape of a human head.  The lower portion of the shape begins to separate, turning into a makeshift mouth.  [i]"I'm Goo."[/i]

"...Rrrrrright."  Catwoman gazes at Goo's formation, before it retreats back into its main body.  "So, it does all the special tricks?"

"More or less."  Spider-Man sighs.  "Look, could we just get back to getting your things?  All this talk about Goo is making me feel uncomfortable."

She grins while she shakes her head.  "Sure, but be ready to answer a few more questions if and when I get bored."  She saunters past, and opens the door ahead.

"Oh, joy of joys."  Sighing, Spider-Man follows, his eyes focused on his partner, and more specifically, one part of her.  Realizing this, he shakes his head and stops.

Entering into the Torture Chamber, they look down into the rapidly thawing pool of water.  Catwman crouches down, and sticks her head over the edge of the platform they are on.  "Bingo."

"Let me guess:  Something you can grip with your claws?"  Seeing her drop down, but hearing no splash, Spider-Man follows suit, gripped to the underside of the walkway.  Seeing her crawl along the ceiling, he closes his eyes and shakes his head, trying not to focus on her... 'assets'.  Eventually, he opens a grate and enters an enclused space, with another bit of grating overhead.  Leaping onto it, he continues to follow, however, he cannot avoide gazing at her.

They both finally drop down, and pause as they hear a few more goons ahead.

The first to speak has a somewhat unintelligent voice, perhaps one more akin to living on the streets.  "How deep do you think it is?"

One responds, his accent a thick Northern inflection.  "Deep enough to hold one big-ass shark."

A third chimes in, this one a bit young.  "Still can't believe that Penguin's got a shark in here."

The first one responds to that.  "That's nothing.  He also had some kind of monster under the Iceberg Lounge."

The third's voice has a hint of surprise.  "Monster?"

"Yeah.  Some giant dead-lookin' thing."

The second one quickly replies to that.  "That is bull."

The first one just as swiftly gives his rebuttle.  "It's all true.  Jimmy saw it."

The second one scoffs.  "Now I know you're making this crap up.  Jimmy's a liar."

"Well, I believe him.  He used to roll with Cobblepot before switching sides and joining up with Two-Face.  He said he saw it."

"And where's Jimmy now?"  The tone of the second goon's voice is biting.

The third one merely shrugs.  "The shark ate 'im."

The second's voice retains its biting tone, but is also mixed with a fair bit of annoyance.  "How convient.  Next time you feel like wasting my time, telling me about some fantasy crap, make sure the only guy who can back you isn't dead, OK?"

"Sure, sure."  The third one begins to whistle a bit, before speaking again.  "Didja hear?"

The first one responds.  "'Bout what?"

"That's there supposedly a few new masks in Gotham."

"What?  Nightwing came back?"  Genuine surprise is quite obvious in the first goon's voice.

"I said new, jackass, as in never seen before."  They'd heard of Nightwing.  Hell, he started in Gotham before shuttling over to Bludhaven.  He was doing a good job over there, but he was no Bat.

The second one nods.  "Yeah, yeah, that's right.  Something about some whackjob called Wraith.  Sorta ninja-like, kinda ghostly.  Screwed with Cobblepot and Joker."

The first one scoffs at this.  "Sounds like that idiot's got a death wish, pissing off both of 'em."

"Well, Joker's dead, and the runt's in a box, so he probably got off lucky.  'Sides, who says he ain't dead already?  Freeze and Zsasz are still out there, and if that Wraith came across 'em, he'd definitely be smoked."

"He wasn't the only new one, though."  The third one lowers his gun into a piece of scenery.  "Just before I got here, I had a chance to get one of those little bitches to get me some smokes."  Pulling out a pack from his uniform, he taps it a few times before pulling one out with his teeth.  "Apparently, there was this other guy, swinging from rooftops with these lines, in red and black, sorta skittering around like some bug."  Striking a match, he lights the cigarette.

The second one shakes his head.  "Can't be a bug, then."

"Huh?"

"Think about it.  Jus' how many bugs do you know that swing on lines?"  The second one's voice is smug.  "Sounds more like a spider to me."

"Spiderman?"  The third one exhales.  "Doesn't sound creepy.  Just sounds lame."

Catwoman is barely able to stop herself from laughing at this.  Spider-Man, however, is fighting the urge to humiliate them.

"Aren't spiders bugs, anyway?"  The first one asks honestly.

[i]Screw it.  They deserve it.[/i]  Quietly, Spider-Man moves towards the hallway, before stepping out.

"The hell?"  The third one reaches for his gun, only to get webbed to the wall behind him.

"You know, I have a bit of a beef with you guys."  Pointing at the one he weebed up, he continues.  "I take a lot of flak, and usually, I'm fine with it."  The second and first goons aim at him, only for their weapons to be yanked away by the suit and webbed onto the ceiling.  "But, I haven't had a decent night's sleep, so I'm a bit cranky."  He punches the webbed up goon, knocking him out, the smoke dropping to the ground.  The second goon runs towards him, only to get hit with a clothesline.  "You, I don't have a problem with.  You're the sensible one.  However, since you're a bad guy, I have to knock you out on principle."  Kicking the second goon in the face and knocking him out, Spidey's attention turns towards the first goon.  "You...  You pushed my button."

"Whaddaya talkin' about?"  The first goon looks at the last gun remaining on the ground, before getting hit with a tendril, sending him back into the shutters nearby.  "Gah.  This about the spider stuff?  I thought they was insects."

Picking up the first goon, Spider-Man proceeds to slam his head into the shutters.  "They.  Are.  Not.  Insects!"  Dropping the last goon, he snorts.  "They're arachnids.  Read a book, sometime.  It'll do you wonders."

"Wow."  Catwoman steps into the hallway, having heard all that.  "Guess you do have a berserk button."

"More than one, but whose keeping count?"  Spider-Man stretches a little.  "I just want them to get their facts straight.  No harm in that, is there?"

She looks as the fallen goons.  "Maybe a little."

"Anyway, after you."  Spidey moves to the side, gesturing to her to move ahead.  She does so, and he follows, his attention solely focused on her posterior.  At this point, he can't shake it off any longer.  "Quick question:  Do you have any... super-powers, known or unknown?"

"Any reason you're asking this?"

"No reason."  He pauses when he notices her stop.

"I know you're staring."  She nods towards the taks against the wall, their reflection shining off them.

Underneath the suit and the mask, he begins to blush in embarassment.  "Sorry."

"Boys will be boys."  Shaking her head, Catwoman opens the door into the Armory.

On the bridge ahead, Two-Face looks around.  His more even side, the voice of Harvey Dent, speaks up.  "She won't dare come back here."  Almost immediately, his other side, his scarred side, responds.  "Oh, she'll dare."  Looking over at the other thugs, he continues.  "She'll come straight back for her pretty little things, and when she does, I want you guys to blow that bitch apart!"

The only other goon on the bridge nods his head at Two-Face's order.  "I'm looking forward to it, sir."  He pops in a new magazine for his assault rifle and chambers the first round.

"Good!"  Two-Face hefts up his own weapon onto his shoulder, a massive 40mm grenade launcher taken from one of the cabinets in this room.  "This is our chance for glory!  Word is Joker's dead and we all saw what happened to the runt that used to run this place!"  His laughter fills the room, just as the other goons begin to snicker about Cobblepot's little predicament.  "We are the future of Arkham!  We are the future of Gotham!"  He pauses to wipe the spittle from his lips with his right arm.  "No one will dare stand up to us.  Because if they do, we'll cut them in two!"  Turning towards the entryway, the grenade launcher on his shoulder is lowered back into both hands.  "She'll be here.  I know she will."

"Guy likes to talk, doesn't he?"  Spider-Man crouches out of sight behind a pillar, with Catwoman close by, his voice in hushed tones.

"And this is coming from you?"

"I do it to annoy."  Spider-Man pauses to get a layout of the room.  "Any ideas?"

"Just one."  Her claws pop out.  "The runts will flee if Harv's taken down."

"So you're dead-set on taking care of him."  Pausing, he looks at the other goons, each holding shotguns or assault rifles.  "Okay, I'll take care of the riff-raff, you take care of the big guy, but whose to say there won't be back-up?"

She pauses.  He did have a good point.  However... "We didn't see any others when we got in here.  Aside from those already taken care of, that is."

"Doesn't mean that there aren't any still waiting in the wings."  He thinks.  "Only way in or out is through the door behind us."  Part of the suit drops off and heads over to the door, sealing it off for the moment.  "Now I think we're ready."

Catwoman nods, and begins to clamber up the nearby wall, to a gargoyle overhead.  Looking down, she sees her partner begin his own descent, his appearance shimmering into nothingness.  [i]Camoflage.  You really are full of surprises.[/i]  Watching Harvey move from side to side on the bridge, she sees that the goon on the bridge is staying put.  She waits, until the sound of breaking glass echoes through the room.

"What was that?"

"I'll check it out, sir."  The goon from the bridge heads towards the open walkway, and descends a flight of stairs, heading into an area underneath the entrance.  Arriving at a cabinet, he notices something amiss.  "Broken.  How'd the hell?"  He receives his answer with a upside-down underarm choke hold, curtosey of Spider-Man.

She waits for Harvey to turn away from her to attack.  Leaping, she pounces onto him.  However, she over-estimates how much power she put into the pounce, sending both of them onto the floor below the bridge.  Shaking her head, she sees a few of Harv's guards move towards her.  Reacting quickly, she proceeds to clamber up to another gargoyle overhead, bullet fire ringing out and impacts against the wall uncomfortably close to her.  Reaching the top of the gargoyle, she uses her whip to grapple towards another gargoyle, then another, and for safety's sake, one more.

"Lost her!"  The two goons who came to Two-Face's defense gaze up at the ceiling.  "Where'd she go?"

Shaking his head, Two-Face pushes himself back to his feet, grabbing a hold of the launcher that lay a few feet away from him.  "Find the bitch and cut her in half!"  He climbs up the steps, one of the goons following him, the other patrolling the floor.

[i]One strike, who knows how many more to go...[/i]  Catwoman looks over near the wall she climbed up and sees a shimmering shape on it.  He must have gotten there after the shots were fired.

Spider-Man drops down to the patrolling goon and drops him to the floor, a forearm over the throat and a mouth over the face, until he goes unconscious.  Leaping up, he attaches to the underside of the bridge, the suit returning to a visible form.  Noticing a small trap with a question mark-shaped trophy inside, he raises an eyebrow.  [i]What kind of a nut does this?[/i]  Looking down, he sees another goon walk just underneath him.  Sliding down a suit-line, he grabs the goon by the neck and holds him, knocking him unconscious.  [i]That's half of the goons...[/i]

Catwoman pauses as Two-Face yells at the remaining goons, before reaching into his coat and removing a small walkie-talkie.

"Where the hell are the rest of you!?  Get to the goddamn Armory, now!"

[i]"On our way, boss!"[/i]

Taking the opportunity to strike, Catwoman leaps down, landing directly on top of Two-Face.  The grenade launcher drops onto a nearby generator, which begins to rev up, causing the gun to heat up, and in turn, causes the grenade rounds to explode inside the chambers, destroying the weapon, and the generator along with it.

"No, no, no, no, NO!"  Two-Face pulls out his pair of .45's and takes aim at the fleeing Catwoman, firing off each gun as rapidly as he could.  "You'll pay for that, bitch!"  Getting back to his feet, he reloads his pistols.

Leaping back up to the gargoyles overhead, she catches her breath, but has to quickly begin swinging from gargoyle to gargoyle to avoid Dent's constant shots.  Finally, they taper off.  He'd apparently lost track of her.  Peering down, Catwoman sees that he's begun to move at a brisk pace, a .45 automatic in each hand.  However, her attention is snapped by the sould of pounding against a door.  [i]Guess they're here.[/i]

[i]"Boss, the damn door won't open!  Some kind of black crap's keeping it sealed shut!"[/i]

"Break it down!  I don't care, just get in here!"  Two-Face yells into his walkie-talkie before tossing it into a wall, shattering it.

Spider-Man looks over at the doorway.  [i]Nerts.  Taking way too long like this.[/i]  Seeing two of the other three goons walk down the two sets of stairs, and with the sounds of hits against the door upstairs, he realized that any choice was taken away from him.  [i]Time to forgo subtlety.[/i]  Firing two suit lines, they hit the goons in the torso.  Pulling, he forces the two to impact with one another.  Dropping down on top of the collapsed goons, he fires a line up to a gargoyle and lands on top of it.  Seeing the last guarding henchman at the door, trying to pull it open, he leaps at the goon from the full distance of the room, slamming into him feet first, pushing him into the door, and actually knocking it off its hinges, and into the crowd of armed thugs in the hallway.  Despite having a number of guns pointed at him, he smirks underneath his mask.  "Can anyone say 'Yee-haw'?"

"The hell was that?"  Two-Face heard the resounding crash of the doorway's collapse, and saw the figure that brought it forth.  There was no way that could have been the Bat.  Too slim, no cape, no pointy cowl, and a full face-mask.  Wasn't of the Bat-Brood, either, with that profile.  Moving to the doorway, he takes aim, firing a number of shots.  Somehow, [i]the freak dodged them.  ALL OF THEM.[/i]  "Dammit!"  Throwing away one of the guns, he takes aim once more, but has his arm ensnared by a familiar whip.

"Bad move, Harv."  Catwoman had leapt down onto the bridge and snapped her whip at his outstretched arm.  Snagging it, she yanks, pulling Two-Face over the ledge and onto the staircase just beneath.  Leaping onto the staircase, she grabs his hair.  "Now we need to talk."

"You need to die!"  Two-Face fires off one of the guns into her gut, knocking down the stairs and to the floor.  Pushing himself back to his feet, he straightens the tie.  "That's an act of contempt, kitty-cat."  Walking down the stairs, he aims at her head.  "Just remember, you brought this on [i]yourself[/i]."  He pulls the trigger.

KLIK!

He brings the gun up to his face.  "Empty..."  Reaching into his suit, he pulls out another clip.

Reacting to the movement by Two-Face, Catwoman pushes herself up, her leg stretched out to kick the gun out of his hand and hit him once in his unscarred face.  She lands, clutching her gut.  She knew enough to armor up her torso, but it still hurt like hell.  "I have nothing but contempt for you, [i]Harv[/i]."

"Gonna cut you in two for that..."  Stumbling back against the railing near the staircase, he proceeds to climb back up.  He had a tommy gun set up on the bridge.  All he needed was to reach it, and he'd tear the bitch apart, bullet by bullet.

Climbing up , he tries to fight off the ringing in his ears, finally seeing his tommy gun.  Running towards it, he stops.  She laid down those damned caltrops of hers.  He takes great care to step between them, only to recieve a bola to the back of his head, knocking him off his feet.  He's barely able to turn enough so that he lands on his back, instead of his face.  Looking over, he sees it, just out of reach.  If only he could...

A shadow looks down over him, before grabbing his collar.  "No!"

Catwoman holds tight onto him, crouched over his body.  "Sorry, Harv.  This really isn't your night, is it?"  Lifting his head up, the claws on the left hand pop out.  "Now, tell me where you've hidden the rest of my stuff or I'll even out the other side of your face!"

Despite his predicament, Two-Face begins to laugh.  "I only took half.  The rest I gave away.  [b]I win, bitch![/i]"

Annoyed beyond belief at this, Selina sighs.  "Enough with the twos already."  Her left hand clenches into a fist.  Harv gasps just before his lights are knocked out.  Letting go of his collar, he drops to the floor.  "It just keeps getting you intro trouble."  Standing up, she walks away from his body, wincing slightly.

"You alright?"  Spider-Man moves over to her, his suit a bit marked from the battle, with minor cuts across the arms.

"I've had worse."  Catwoman leans against one of the cabinets and digs in the bullet hole, pulling out the slug.  "At least it didn't go through."  She tosses it to the floor.  "Thanks for the help."

"Just doing my job.  Shame it doesn't pay, though."

A small smirk crosses her face.  "I wouldn't say that..."  Standing back up, she moves close to him.  A bit too close...

"What are you..."

"Shhh...."  She lifts up his mask partway, and gently kisses his lips.  "That's your payment."  With that, she lowers the mask back down over his face and saunters off.

Needless to say, Spider-Man is a bit stunned, to the point of silence.  However, Goo does has something to say.

[i]"She's nice."[/i]