Arkham Chapter 3

[b]Thank you. This next one focuses on the feline duo, and gets Jessica some pretty good bonuses.

[center]Chapter 3: Cat Power[/center][/b]

Black gloved hands reached up to the top of the roof, pounced up on to the roof. As per usual, the hips were swaying... until she stopped.

On a roof across from the Confiscated Goods vault, Catwoman crouched on a corner, fingertips touching the edge. The path from the courthouse to here had been relatively safe, with nobody in their way. Or at least nobody directly in their way with guns that they would shoot at them. The woman was looking down at the thick door of the vault, the lighted door... and spoke aloud.

"Looks like the detective will be busy with the Joker for a while," she told her partner. She looked over her own left hand, the claws. "Gives us kittens some time to play." She looked back. "You up for some fun?"

Jessica Mireu had trailed behind Selina Kyle, her movements not so cat-like in spite of her cat side. She just climbed up onto the roof normally; she would have changed into her cat form for that, but she decided against it. Even if she didn't use it all that much, it was better not to waste it out. As she walked up from behind, she too looked down towards the vault, almost rolling her eyes at the way Catwoman addressed her. She wasn't too big on this "partnership" of theirs, but she really had nothing better to do. Besides, in spite of the woman's antics, she could probably learn a thing or two from her.

"If your definition of 'fun' is really more stealing..." The cat-girl shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, why not?"

Catwoman just had to smirk at the response. This girl had attitude, but she liked that about her. It was always good to have a counterpoint, after all. "Gotham is in shambles, and everything's up for grabs. What else [i]would[/i] I be doing?" She looked back down to the vault. "Besides, it was either help tall, brooding, and handsome, or help myself to all the loot Professor Strange has locked up in that vault of his." Her smirk turned playful. "I know, difficult choice, right?"

Maybe not for her, Jess had to say to herself. She kept from saying out loud, instead going on to address the one issue. "How are you even going to break into that? It looks pretty secure from what I can see from here."

"I was getting right to that, Catgirl." Ignoring the insistence once more on the girl's name, the thief pulled out the PDA and seemed to mumble to herself, "Hmmm, what will it be? Find Croc and have him rip a hole into the vault? Ask Penguin for some explosives? Not my style." Her gaze then went to what looked to be a floral house just about down to their right, with a gold imprinted sign that read 'Baudelaire' hanging above the entrance. "I always prefer a woman's touch in these situations..."

She placed the PDA away, now that she had enough of the right idea. "Stay where you are, Ivy. I'm coming to get you."

Jess held back the urge to roll her eyes once more. Did she [i]really[/i] have to put it that way? She didn't ask who this "Ivy" was, figuring that she would find out soon enough. "And just how are you going to get her to help us break in?"

Catwoman responded with another smirk. "I have my ways." That said, she began trailing her way across the railing of the edge of the roof. "First thing's first, I'm heading to my apartment to grab my kit. No [i]way[/i] I can face Ivy without my things. I'd be [i]naked[/i] without them..." She looked back at the neko with a smirk once more. "I might also have some extras to give you, if you'd like."

She then stretched her arms to her sides, the whip in one hand. Her eyes closed momentarily, and she allowed herself to slip forward, off of the roof... she cracked her whip as he reyes opened, aiming towards the edge of the wall of the next building, and slammed into it in a swing, gripping with metallic claws she had used previously. That done, she pouncing up the wall to the roof with ease in a few somewhat large bounds. Jessica just had to frown in response. While she had gotten herself a weapon now...it would be useful to have more stuff on her. Well, just as long as it wasn't anything...akin to the woman's personality, from what she's seen from her so far.

With that, the neko conjured up Ribbon once more, following the thief's example by snapping the fire-whip to the protruding edge and pulling herself up. However, unlike her temporary ally, after gripping to the edge, she snapped the whip again to the edge of the roof, giving herself another lift to join the woman once more.

"Not bad," the thief said, grinning back at her. "Just follow me." She flipped her orange goggles down briefly, the thermal vision on them detecting nothing. "Okay, nobody here. Might as well get over there quicker." She then pulled them back up, sprinting this time to the next roof. It wasn't long at all before they arrived at a large, caged in area that she had decided upon, a section of the city that was harder to get into without her select set of skills.

She frowned as she saw four of Two-Face's thugs in the area, though they were not at her window just yet. She could hear them, however, and motioned for Jessica to follow quietly as she lunged, landing on the top of the cage, still unnoticed before she started crawling along it toward one of four corner-based revolving hatches of some sort that she could use.

"But how're we supposed to find out where she lives, anyway?" one asked.

"Two-Face said she lives somewhere near here," a second one replied.

"So what?" a third asked. "How does he know?"

"How am I supposed to know?" the second asked, then realized something, stammering a bit. "I-I don't question the boss. You shouldn't either."

"I know. How come he's so pissed all of a sudden anyway?" the fourth asked.

Catwoman was no longer listening, however. She motioned to one of the hatches, crawling on top of one, and made a pushing motion while holding on with one clawed hand tightly. The notion she tried to give, apparently, was that they had to swing under and still hold on to the gate so as to stay above and unnoticed.

Jessica nodded as she got the notion, crouching before the open hatch and summoning Ribbon once more. She waited for the right moment as Catwoman crawled across the ceiling of the gate. It didn't take that long before the woman snapped her whip against the ceiling; the neko repeated the action, snapping her fire-whip against one of the holds. With that, the two swung down right in the open, Catwoman catching one of the men by the head in between her legs and throwing him down with a flip, and Jessica tackling the next down and firing a Bolt at point blank.

"Catwoman's here!" one of the two remaining thugs shouted, readying a gun. "Along with some other frea--"

He was interrupted as Jess summoned Ribbon once more and whipped it straight for the gun, pulling it right out of his hands and singing him in the process. Before he would make another move, the neko whipped out her rapier and, after leaping closer, sent a quick horizontal slash that knocked him down, not enough to kill, but enough to take him right out, leaving the last thug to Catwoman.

And take out the last thug Catwoman did indeed, cracking her whip in his face. As he staggered back, stunned, she unloaded with punch after punch into his chest, again and again, but stopped, stepping back. She turned, leaning in as if to kiss him... then turned, slamming him down in a judo throw before kicking him in the side of the head.

With that, she slunk over to the wall of the building, jumping up, up, opening one of the windows and sliding in. "Mmm... it's good to be home."

She called out to Jessica however. "So, what's it gonna be? Bolas?" A hand was out of the window, showing black ropes with a ball on either end as a weight. "Caltrops?" She held out a black ball flicking it to show spiked tacks within before closing it again. "Thief Vision goggles?" she held out another copy of her orange goggles. The last was a teasing tone. "Maybe an outfit like mine? Would look good on you."