{Toxic}
Elseworld Catwoman #2:How she disappeared-Part 2
Part 2
1.
“I’m flattered that you decided to debut this outfit at my place rather than on a front page of the news”, said Anna and put out a half smoked cigarette on the ashtray.
“I’m glad you like it, your apartment is the first place I’ve worn it.”- I told her as I looked down at my new uniform.
“May I ask how you found my address?” – She asked me when I came inside.
“I always keep tabs on my old friends, and I think you do too.” – I said.
“If what we have is a friendship…”-She raised her eyebrows and threw her head back.
“It’s a rocky relationship, I know. I just want to talk it all through. Anna, we have years behind us, we can’t just part ways and stay bitter. I haven’t been sleeping lately, I’ve been staying up and thinking a lot about everything that’s happened between us.”
“Wait, you’re kissing up to someone so that you don’t feel guilty about being a bitch to them? You’ve, like, never done that before.”- She rolled her eyes at me.
“I know how bad this looks for me, but I swear I have good intentions. I want to tell you why I did what I did and make peace with you. You are obviously still mad that I left you, I mean, you worked for Red Claw just so you could get back at me. This whole feud we have going on is so old and I want to give it a rest, that’s all.”
“Oh, my God, you’re so self-absorbed. I knew you’d think it was all about you. It’s so typical of you. What happened between us was years ago and I don’t care anymore. I only accepted the job because I needed the money.”
“So, you violently attacked me in my apartment, took pictures of me laying helplessly on the floor in my own blood just because you needed money?”- I raised my eyebrow.
“When you have to kill someone you used to care about you can only go about it two ways: you can get emotional and back out of the job, or you can channel the anger you used to feel because of them and just get it done. It’s less painful that way and I needed the money, Kate.”- Anna said.
“So it’s all good now? You know, besides the murder attempts and shit like that?”
“Honestly, I could’ve done just as well without you taking all the money that we stole, but, each to its own.”
I stared at her, somewhat confused, somewhat touched. I felt strangely nostalgic. She smiled, “It’s all good. I’m sorry for stabbing you in your bathroom.”
“I’m sorry that you made me hurt your wrist.” I took her left hand and lightly caressed the bandage over her wrist. “Man, was it seriously as simple as a need for money?”
“How the hell did you think I paid for this place? It has two bedrooms and a view to die for.”
“Was that an invite?”
“Not in the slightest.”
We exchanged smiles. Her eyes sparkled like diamonds when she smiled.
“Your old outfit was better.”
“Then I’m keeping this one.”
“So, what’s the next step?” – She asked.
“The next step?”
“You know, with the crime-fighting stuff.”
“I don’t know, I’m just going to try and find some homicidal douche to punch in the throat. Why are you asking?”
“Well, I think I know where you can start.”
“I’m all ears.”
“Okay, so, for the past month or so someone has been killing people all over the city. The victims’ bodies have been found in terrible condition, almost dismembered. People think the killer could be a runaway from Arkham.”
“You think a serial killer is murdering these people?”
“That’s the only possibility I can think of.”
“Do you have any information about the victims?”
She scratched her head and looked at me numbly.
“Shouldn’t you be doing your detective part of the job right now instead of interrogating me?”- She tilted her head while keeping eye contact.
“Well I’ve got to start somewhere.” – I shrugged.
“Google it, it’s not hard to find. Besides, the internet is a much more reliable source than I am.”
“I think I’ll ask my friend who works in the police. He should know something about the case.”
“You think he will tell you? I mean, isn’t that, like, confidential information?”
“Oh, yeah, I mean, if we are talking about legal possibilities, he should not only not tell me anything about the case, but also arrest me because God knows that what I do isn’t legal. He should know better than that, though.”
“Yeah, well, good luck on your investigation.” – She said.
“Thanks, I’ll need it”, I said and jumped off her balcony before I started swinging among the buildings of Gotham with my grappling hook gun.
2.
Talking things out with Anna brought me a feeling of relief and motivation to move on. It felt so good, that it almost made up for the years of guilt and having my life endangered. Not only that, but it was also a great start to my ‘new life’. An even greater start, though, would be to gain some information about the murders.
I lied about having a friend in the police because, quite frankly, saying that Moreland is a private investigator would’ve been embarrassing, so I guess that plan is out of the question. There is, however, a different way to solve the murder with the help of the police.
3.
The GCPD building was big and completely useless. Whenever I felt like giving up, I thought about how Gotham’s police station still exists. I’m kidding. Well, partially, at least.
It was broken into by all sorts of clowns and court jesters, yet it still remained the same place it was when it was built.
I got on the roof with my grappling gun and looked into the window bellow. One policeman was sitting at a desk, trying his best not to fall asleep.
I climbed down and checked every window to find my potential entry. First I checked the ground floor. There were no available entries.
Then I climbed on and checked all windows above the ground floor. Fortunately, there was a small window I managed to kick in and go through. When I kicked the window, I grabbed it before it could make a sound.
The room I broke into was an office. It was mostly empty, with only a desk and a chair inside. Other than the door, there were no exists at my disposal.
I couldn`t go through the ventilation system like they do in the movies, because not only because it would make an inconvenient amount of noise, but I also wasn`t sure if I could fit and/or breathe in there.
I tried my best not to make any noise while opening the door and since the policeman downstairs didn`t seem to notice me, I thought I succeeded.
After a couple of minutes of crawling around the police department, I found the storage room. It was placed at the end of a light grey corridor. Bingo.
The files were organized neatly on the shelves. They were sorted in envelopes by year. I pulled out an envelope with 2018 on the spine. The envelope was surprisingly thick (although I wasn`t really surprised considering that these were all the crimes that took place in Gotham), so it took me a minute to find the right file.
When I did find the file, I took it, closed the envelope and put it back.
Caught up in the moment, I marched out of the storage room without considering the noise I was making by doing so.
“Hello?” – The policeman`s raspy voice caught me off guard. Crawling by the stairway I got a quick glance at the policeman.
He was looking around, probably looking for the intruder. He started walking towards the stairway.
The sound of footsteps on the stairs got louder as the policeman climbed higher and then went almost silent as I opened the office door.
“Hey!” – He charged at me and grabbed the door before I could shut it.
I kicked him in the ankle, knocking him off his feet and slamming the door at him. He muttered something at me and ran towards me, but by the time he started talking I was already cruising through the wintery night.
Honestly, I could’ve done without fighting a cop, especially on my first day back. If I’m lucky, and I’m obviously not, the police won’t pay too much attention to me. If not, I’ll have to watch this bloke grumble on about me on the news.
I flinched to look back at the police department, but the grappling gun dragged me forward.
Elseworld Catwoman #2:How she disappeared-Part 2
Part 2
1.
“I’m flattered that you decided to debut this outfit at my place rather than on a front page of the news”, said Anna and put out a half smoked cigarette on the ashtray.
“I’m glad you like it, your apartment is the first place I’ve worn it.”- I told her as I looked down at my new uniform.
“May I ask how you found my address?” – She asked me when I came inside.
“I always keep tabs on my old friends, and I think you do too.” – I said.
“If what we have is a friendship…”-She raised her eyebrows and threw her head back.
“It’s a rocky relationship, I know. I just want to talk it all through. Anna, we have years behind us, we can’t just part ways and stay bitter. I haven’t been sleeping lately, I’ve been staying up and thinking a lot about everything that’s happened between us.”
“Wait, you’re kissing up to someone so that you don’t feel guilty about being a bitch to them? You’ve, like, never done that before.”- She rolled her eyes at me.
“I know how bad this looks for me, but I swear I have good intentions. I want to tell you why I did what I did and make peace with you. You are obviously still mad that I left you, I mean, you worked for Red Claw just so you could get back at me. This whole feud we have going on is so old and I want to give it a rest, that’s all.”
“Oh, my God, you’re so self-absorbed. I knew you’d think it was all about you. It’s so typical of you. What happened between us was years ago and I don’t care anymore. I only accepted the job because I needed the money.”
“So, you violently attacked me in my apartment, took pictures of me laying helplessly on the floor in my own blood just because you needed money?”- I raised my eyebrow.
“When you have to kill someone you used to care about you can only go about it two ways: you can get emotional and back out of the job, or you can channel the anger you used to feel because of them and just get it done. It’s less painful that way and I needed the money, Kate.”- Anna said.
“So it’s all good now? You know, besides the murder attempts and shit like that?”
“Honestly, I could’ve done just as well without you taking all the money that we stole, but, each to its own.”
I stared at her, somewhat confused, somewhat touched. I felt strangely nostalgic. She smiled, “It’s all good. I’m sorry for stabbing you in your bathroom.”
“I’m sorry that you made me hurt your wrist.” I took her left hand and lightly caressed the bandage over her wrist. “Man, was it seriously as simple as a need for money?”
“How the hell did you think I paid for this place? It has two bedrooms and a view to die for.”
“Was that an invite?”
“Not in the slightest.”
We exchanged smiles. Her eyes sparkled like diamonds when she smiled.
“Your old outfit was better.”
“Then I’m keeping this one.”
“So, what’s the next step?” – She asked.
“The next step?”
“You know, with the crime-fighting stuff.”
“I don’t know, I’m just going to try and find some homicidal douche to punch in the throat. Why are you asking?”
“Well, I think I know where you can start.”
“I’m all ears.”
“Okay, so, for the past month or so someone has been killing people all over the city. The victims’ bodies have been found in terrible condition, almost dismembered. People think the killer could be a runaway from Arkham.”
“You think a serial killer is murdering these people?”
“That’s the only possibility I can think of.”
“Do you have any information about the victims?”
She scratched her head and looked at me numbly.
“Shouldn’t you be doing your detective part of the job right now instead of interrogating me?”- She tilted her head while keeping eye contact.
“Well I’ve got to start somewhere.” – I shrugged.
“Google it, it’s not hard to find. Besides, the internet is a much more reliable source than I am.”
“I think I’ll ask my friend who works in the police. He should know something about the case.”
“You think he will tell you? I mean, isn’t that, like, confidential information?”
“Oh, yeah, I mean, if we are talking about legal possibilities, he should not only not tell me anything about the case, but also arrest me because God knows that what I do isn’t legal. He should know better than that, though.”
“Yeah, well, good luck on your investigation.” – She said.
“Thanks, I’ll need it”, I said and jumped off her balcony before I started swinging among the buildings of Gotham with my grappling hook gun.
2.
Talking things out with Anna brought me a feeling of relief and motivation to move on. It felt so good, that it almost made up for the years of guilt and having my life endangered. Not only that, but it was also a great start to my ‘new life’. An even greater start, though, would be to gain some information about the murders.
I lied about having a friend in the police because, quite frankly, saying that Moreland is a private investigator would’ve been embarrassing, so I guess that plan is out of the question. There is, however, a different way to solve the murder with the help of the police.
3.
The GCPD building was big and completely useless. Whenever I felt like giving up, I thought about how Gotham’s police station still exists. I’m kidding. Well, partially, at least.
It was broken into by all sorts of clowns and court jesters, yet it still remained the same place it was when it was built.
I got on the roof with my grappling gun and looked into the window bellow. One policeman was sitting at a desk, trying his best not to fall asleep.
I climbed down and checked every window to find my potential entry. First I checked the ground floor. There were no available entries.
Then I climbed on and checked all windows above the ground floor. Fortunately, there was a small window I managed to kick in and go through. When I kicked the window, I grabbed it before it could make a sound.
The room I broke into was an office. It was mostly empty, with only a desk and a chair inside. Other than the door, there were no exists at my disposal.
I couldn`t go through the ventilation system like they do in the movies, because not only because it would make an inconvenient amount of noise, but I also wasn`t sure if I could fit and/or breathe in there.
I tried my best not to make any noise while opening the door and since the policeman downstairs didn`t seem to notice me, I thought I succeeded.
After a couple of minutes of crawling around the police department, I found the storage room. It was placed at the end of a light grey corridor. Bingo.
The files were organized neatly on the shelves. They were sorted in envelopes by year. I pulled out an envelope with 2018 on the spine. The envelope was surprisingly thick (although I wasn`t really surprised considering that these were all the crimes that took place in Gotham), so it took me a minute to find the right file.
When I did find the file, I took it, closed the envelope and put it back.
Caught up in the moment, I marched out of the storage room without considering the noise I was making by doing so.
“Hello?” – The policeman`s raspy voice caught me off guard. Crawling by the stairway I got a quick glance at the policeman.
He was looking around, probably looking for the intruder. He started walking towards the stairway.
The sound of footsteps on the stairs got louder as the policeman climbed higher and then went almost silent as I opened the office door.
“Hey!” – He charged at me and grabbed the door before I could shut it.
I kicked him in the ankle, knocking him off his feet and slamming the door at him. He muttered something at me and ran towards me, but by the time he started talking I was already cruising through the wintery night.
Honestly, I could’ve done without fighting a cop, especially on my first day back. If I’m lucky, and I’m obviously not, the police won’t pay too much attention to me. If not, I’ll have to watch this bloke grumble on about me on the news.
I flinched to look back at the police department, but the grappling gun dragged me forward.