Post by cross on May 4, 2016 16:41:09 GMT -5
Ultimate Catman #12
Back to Business Part 2
On top of an apartment building sat Kitrina Falcone and Thea Queen. The two girls stared out at the city skyline admiring the beautiful mix of decay and progress.
"Hub City really is a healthy looking town. It's a comfy place." Thea pulled a napkin from the fast food bag next to her and wiped her mouth, cleaning off the residual ketchup from the bacon burger she had just eaten.
Kitrina slurped down the remainder of her drink through the straw and tilted her head to look at Thea. "You're kidding right? I've been to Keystone City and its still not as bad as this place. Hub City takes the word 'Dumpster' to a whole new level."
"I was trying to give a compliment!" Thea shifted uncomfortably as she tried to change the comment into her liking.
"It's okay. The city looks like Gotham's butthole but at the same time smells like fresh apple pie. It has character. It's home." Kitrina smiled and took in a deep breath. She looked over the different districts of The Hub, from the Rail district, to the East Haven residential area, to the slums of Hell's Corner, all the way to the skyscrapers of the inner Business district.
Thea stretched her arms towards the sky. "Okay, get your suit on and lets go on patrol."
After five minutes of waiting, Thea turned around impatiently. "You are going to have to get faster at changing on the fly-" Thea stopped and looked at the person in front of her impressed.
"Looking good!" Kitrina stepped out into the moonlight holding the Catman cowl in her hands. She wore black leggings with a small pink zig-zag stripe by her ankles. Her pink, mid-shin high boots were laced tight. Above her metal studded leather belt was a sleeveless underarmor top with a similar pink zig-zag design on both sides of her ribcage. She set the Catman cowl down and proceeded to adjust her black, full finger gloves and the pink metal studded bracelets.
"Do we really have to paint his mask?" Kitrina tied her hair into a ponytail.
"You can't have a pink and black color scheme and then wear a brown cowl. Thomas will be fine." Thea reassured the teen.
Kitrina sighed and pulled from a plastic bag a can of black spray paint and another can of pink spray paint.
***
Firefly entered the room after he disassembled his armor and left it on his bed in one of the empty rooms of the rundown apartment. "Get your feet off of the table, jackass!"
Angrily he swatted Black Spiders feet off. "Hey!" Black Spider jumped to his feet to confront Firefly.
Both men stared into each others eye looking to prove themselves. "Knock it off, both of you."
Bug-Eyed Bandit carried a stack of papers as he made his way into the tense room. "Everyone calm down. What we are doing here today is going to change all of our lives and we need each other in this endeavor."
Bug-Eyed Bandit turned and used his arms to show off his suit. "My name is Bertram Larven but you can call me the Bug-Eyed Bandit. This is my Bandit suit that I created." Bertram smiled as he gazed at his red and grey colored Bandit suit.
"While we are introducing ourselves, I will decree that we do not explain our specialties or our powers due to the very possible predicament of one of us being caught by The Hubs finest and being questioned. No offence gentlemen, I don't want you giving anyone my secrets." Bertram took his seat in a shredded looking recliner as Firefly stood up.
"My name is Ted Carson. I'm sure you all have heard of me and my-" Ted stopped and thought of the proper wording. "Exploits against the Great Machine in Metropolis. I go by the codename 'Firefly'." Carson nodded towards the room he had laid his armor down in signifying his suits whereabouts.
"I'm Drury Walker. I go by Killer Moth." Walker got to his feet. His attempt to stand up straight failed miserably and resulted in him hunching over slightly. "I've been told that I'm pretty much a living joke but I'm going to show every single person who ever doubted me who the joke really is." Walker gripped his hand into a tight fist and clenched his teeth. As he sat back down he pushed his horn-rimmed glasses back up the bridge of his nose.
Larven pointed to Black Spider. "And our newest recruit to the Colony!"
Black Spider nodded and rose to his feet just like the previous three had done. "Uh- My name is Eric Needham. I go by Black Spider. If you watch Hub City news you probably saw me getting arrested about three months ago. I joined the cities V.A.T.F. program and got FUCKED by it."
"Eric, its okay. I recruited you to this family for one sole reason. You have a special experience that none of us have yet. You have taken on Catman and his group of heroes. You have very valuable knowledge that we are going to use when our time comes to become VERY wealthy people." Larven laid his papers out on the table in front of the three men and then dropped a blueprint of a building down on top of the cluster of papers.
"The Colony is going to rob the Utopia Casino."
***
"How is school going?" Thea swung her legs over the ledge and let them dangle.
"Pretty good actually. Everyone is really nice. I was worried about how far behind I was going to be due to my 'Situation' but with Irwin tutoring me, I should be able to graduate on time." Kitrina thought of finally being a normal teenager and thinking about graduating from school. Her heart beat increased with the exciting thought.
Thea thought about what her new found friend had just said for a brief moment. "You thought about college yet?"
Kitrina looked out onto The Hub. "Not really. At this point I'm happy to be alive and kicking. Hell, graduating was by the grace of God."
Thea smiled and began putting the pieces together in her head. "I'll send you a link on the college I'm going to next year. Also, before you even think about denying me based on money know that the Queens give out multiple full ride scholarships every year to students like you."
Kitrina pulled her phone from her pocket with a surprised look on her face. "That was fast!"
Thea looked confused. "I haven't sent anything yet."
"Sorry. It's just an alert that somebody posted on Watchtower.com under the Hub City forum." Kitrina's eyes grew as she started looking through the pictures that had been posted.
Thea snorted a chuckle. "You go to that site too?"
Kitrina didn't respond as her mood shifted from surprise to horror. "What? What is it?"
"It's some guy who is going by the user name 'Eraser'. He killed some security guards at the Dupree Chemical plant on the other side of the city. He is posting updates to the site now." Kitrina showed the gruesome selfies to Thea ready to lose her dinner she had just eaten.
"That's rough. This is like something from Gotham." Thea froze for a bit stumbling to find her words again. "Wait, hold on. Is he dressed as a pencil?"
Kitrina whipped the phone back in front of her face and started dialing. "We're calling Thomas. This is above us."
Thea grabbed the phone right out of Kitrina's hands and slipped it into her pocket. "We can handle some guy dressed as a pencil."
Kitrina reached for her phone but Thea took a quick step back avoiding the grab. "Thea, this is a murderer we are looking at here! You may be used to this kind of shit, but I'm a newbie and I really don't want to start my first day of being a cape by fighting a guy who will stab me in my face!"
"He even looks at you and I'll fire an arrow right between his eyes. Don't worry about it. We will be fine. Part of being a superhero is trusting in yourself and your abilities." Thea nodded to Kitrina to encourage their vigilante antics.
"WHAT ABILITIES? I'M NOT SUPERMAN! I'M A TEENAGE GIRL DRESSED AS A CAT!" Kitrina was beginning to hyperventilate.
Thea put her hands up and pawed at Kitrina like a playful kitten. "Meow."
"Really? That's your argument?" Kitrina threw her hands up in the air in frustration and started the breathing exercises that Onyx had taught her.
Kitrina finally calmed herself down and looked at the anxious young Queen heir. "Lets go."
"YESSS!" Thea back rolled to her feet and dusted off her suit. She pulled her domino mask up to conceal her identity and looked over at the fully costumed Catgirl.
"Biggest thing to remember is to keep your guard up and only use codenames from here on out." Kitrina nodded at the rules.
"Okay, we are about three stories up from what I can tell. I am going to fire a zip line arrow down to that building and we will zip line down to the street." Kitrina looked over the edge and spotted the bulding two stories lower than their current location.
"I'm right behind you. Also, my cowl still smells like spray paint." Thea aimed her bow and fired the zip line arrow with Olympic level accuracy. She connected the anchor to the wall behind the them and handed Kitrina a trolley for her to slide down with.
ZZEEEEE!
Both girls took off down the line picking up speed as they went. Halfway down, Thea turned her attention to the city street as a city bus caught her eye. "Superhero lesson two! Always be alert and ready for an audible!"
Thea let go of her trolley and dropped onto the top of the city bus as it drove underneath them. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT AN AUDIBLE IS?!?!"
Kitrina let go of her trolley and dropped about two feet behind Thea. She landed stiff legged on the top of the vehicle causing her knees to buckle and collapse. Thea grabbed her by her hand and hoisted her up to her feet again. "You don't know what an audible is? It's a football thing."
Kitrina breathed heavily and starred at her friend with a mixed look of hatred and fear. "My adrenaline is off the charts right now so I'm really pumped up but I'm fairly sure I just shit the litter box."
"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Cat puns are the best!" Thea gave Kitrina a joyous thumbs up gesture and adjusted her stance on the moving bus.
***
The Eraser dragged a security guards body along the smooth cement floor of the chemical facility. He looked over the compound in search of something specific. "I am in search for the chemical compound known as pentaerythritol tetranitrate. I'm sorry. For an unintelligent employee such as yourself it would be labeled as 'PETN'."
The guard pointed to his left towards a closed drop down door on the wall. "Why thank you. Your help in this matter justifies my generosity of keeping you alive despite your coworkers fate."
CLANG!
A bullet ricocheted off of the metal containers next to the Erasers head. "STEP AWAY FROM THE GUARD AND DROP TO YOUR KNEES!"
A third security guard had appeared from hiding and held his pistol towards The Eraser. "NOW!"
The Eraser pulled his helpful security guard off of the floor and patted him on the back showing the gun toting guard his surrender on friendly terms.
SCHLOKK!
The Eraser stabbed a pencil into the spine of the now standing security guard and lifted him into a human shield like cover.
SCHLOKK!
He stabbed another pencil into the base of the guards neck killing him instantly but gaining support for the heavy man's body. He began to run towards the third guard who opened fire almost immediately.
BLAMM!
BLAMM!
BLAMM!
All three shots met the dead security guard's body offering The Eraser the cover he needed to close the gap. He dropped the human shield and stabbed wildly into the chest of the still standing guard. His fresh pencil snapped on the first stab.
"Kevlar, dumbass!" The guard raised his pistol to the pencil shaped eraser helmet.
SCHLOKK!
"Exposed neck region, Imbecile." The Eraser dropped security guard to the floor as he choked on his own blood spewing from the pencil embedded in his throat.
The Eraser casually made his way to the drop down door and opened it. He rubbed his hands together menacingly at the sight. "Before me lies the death of The Hub. Though consequentially, the birth of a new land. The birth of Hub City Number two."
The Eraser pulled his phone from his jacket pocket and spun around on his heels. "I almost forgot! I need to take a quick selfie."
***
Catgirl and Speedy crouched behind a few unopened crates on the outside of the Dupree Chemical property. "He's probably gone now. I didn't realize how long it would take us to get here on foot."
Kitrina peeked at her phone. "Doubtful. He posted another update about ten minutes ago."
"Get down!" Speedy tried to whisper her command as The Eraser wheeled a large steel drum out to his windowless gray colored van.
"He's stealing some chemical drums. I cant tell what they are though." Speedy squinted and slightly leaned forward to get a better look.
Suddenly a bright flash erupted from their hidden location.
KAPUSHH!
Speedy turned her head slowly and starred at Catgirl with her mouth slightly open in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? You took a picture with the flash ON!?!"
"If you could please reveal yourselves it would save me the waste of precious time trying to find and execute you." The Eraser backed away from his drum dolly and revealed two longer than average pencils.
Speedy shook her head in annoyance and stood up for the Eraser to spot her. Catgirl followed her lead and stood up as well. The Eraser tilted his head at the sight. "An Archer! I did not know your theme of hero were allowed out of Star City. This makes today especially eventful. Now your friend on the other hand is a-" He stopped and gave Kitrina a once over glance taking in her full sight. "Cat?"
Speedy nudged Catgirl and smiled. "Hub City has the best bad guys. We never get anyone THIS crazy out our way."
"My young lady, I assure you that I have perfect hearing inside of this helmet and what you just said was very disrespectful. Am I to presume that the Green Arrow and Catman are not on their way? Am I beneath the heroes of this world so much that I have been evaluated and ranked as a villain of child like proportions?" The Eraser wielded his larger than normal pencils in each hand as if her were dual wielding swords.
THWAPP!
An arrow embedded into the very top of the Eraser's helmet. "JESUS CHRIST! You shot him in the head!"
The Eraser ripped the arrow from his helmet and snapped it over his knee. "Millennials. So stupid are your kind that you would think my head were so large that it could fill this entire helmet."
Speedy exploded from her standing position and fired a volley of arrows at The Eraser. "He's monologue-ing us! Move in!"
Catgirl jumped and slid over the crates and came face to face with the enemy. He easily stood a foot taller than the teen and looked down at her.
THUDD!
He standing side kicked Catgirl square in the stomach sending her into a bent over position.
"BLARGH!" Catgirl threw up her fast food burger all over the leg of her opponent from his hard kick. He jumped backwards from the unusual site and tried to wipe the vomit from his pants.
"That's gross." Speedy tried not to laugh as she parried with the pencil shaped man and his dual sword like pencil weapons. Catgirl wiped her mouth and jumped right back into the fight. She stopped and waited for her moment. Speedy swung her bow but The Eraser ducked the shot and lost his footing completely dropping flat of his back. Behind his knees crouched Catgirl.
"Three stooges trip." Speedy knocked another arrow and fired it at their downed enemy.
In a display of sloppy break dancing, The Eraser swung his legs and dodged the arrow just in time. He got to his feet and threw his pencil weapon in the form of a spear. Speedy ducked the throw and turned to face her attacker.
THUNK!
The Eraser's second pencil made contact with the lower side of her neck dropping her to her knees instantly. He spun in place and elegantly raised his weapon over head to deliver a similar blow to Catgirl.
KLONK!
One of Catman's batons knocked his weapon out of his hands and sent it flying into the shadows. The Eraser turned and spotted a group consisting of Red Arrow, The Guardian, and a bandanna mask wearing Catman. "That is my cue to leave."
The Eraser hopped into the van and sped away. As he kicked dust all over the two young heroes, Catgirl fell over and checked on Speedy. "Smile for the fans!"
KAPUSHH!
Eraser laughed as he drove off into the night. Catgirl held Speedy in her arms carefully making sure her neck wasn't broken. She looked up as the dust cleared at an angry group of adults. Catman stepped forward and took Speedy into his arms. "We have a lot to discuss."
***
Eric Needham took a sip of his beer and looked over the Utopia Casino's blueprints once more. "So when does this plan start?"
Larven entered the empty living room holding a fresh beer. "Everything starts tomorrow. Drury and I will join the Casino's security force and begin recon."
"What about us?" Ted Carson spoke up with a slight bit of protest in his voice.
"Both of you are known and wanted. I'm not risking anything here. Drury and I are the unknown factors in this and have no records with any police force in the United States." Ted began to protest again but thought about it more.
"Okay, good point there. So what are the Firefly and Black Spider supposed to do then?" Bertram sat down in his rough looking recliner and crossed his legs.
"You two are going to get the attention of everyone and pull it as far away from the casino as possible." Bug-Eyed Bandit raised his bottle up and motioned for a cheer from the group.
CLANK!
To be continued...