Post by cross on Jul 11, 2016 10:23:42 GMT -5
Ultimate Catman #13
Back to Business Part 3
"What in the hell were you two thinking?" Thomas stood over Kitrina and Thea in their high end apartment. "He could have killed you! Thea, I understand that you have training and have done this before but taking an untrained teenager out on patrol like that could have gotten both of you killed! Kitrina, You're smarter than that. You know what we face when we go out there."
Roy stepped up next to Thomas. "No, you aren't getting off that easily young lady. You know our rules and how we handle these situations. You deliberately pissed away all of your training tonight and jumped in head first like a spoiled brat! That's how people die. Believe me when I say, This is some serious shit."
"How are impressionable young adults supposed to act when their mentors throw caution to the wind and defend their cities? What did we really expect these girls to do when the call for heroes came to them? Yes, training is needed but to be lectured by a reformed criminal is hypocritical. The Ashram, Where you were trained-" Onyx shot a glance of judgment towards Thomas. "Takes in children as young as fifteen years of age to fill its ranks." Her calm voice made her words seem all the more impactful.
Thomas had heard enough. "I'm not mad that you both went out and tried to stop this Eraser guy. I'm mad that you didn't bring us with you. Our jobs are to protect you and we cant do that if you don't let us."
"YOU'RE NOT MY FATHER! I DON'T HAVE TO TELL YOU A DAMN THING, THOMAS! WHY DONT YOU WORRY ABOUT YOUR OWN LIFE AND YOUR OWN KID AND I'LL WORRY ABOUT MY LIFE!" Kitrina stomped her way to the door leading to the dojo and slammed it behind her.
Thea turned after her friend and grabbed her bow and quiver along with Catgirls cowl off of the dinning room table. "I'll keep an eye on her. Just let her cool off."
Before she could get out of the high tension apartment, Roy tossed an ear piece radio to her. She caught it and nodded to her guardian and followed after Kitrina. "Kit! Wait up!"
The door shut leaving only the tension and silence behind. "Now that we got to see that unfold, let me direct your attention to what Irwin and I just found."
Irwin typed on the laptop and uploaded pictures off of Kitrina's phone. William nodded as the picture scrolled into focus. "Kitrina took this picture while they were confronting our pencil themed threat. He was stealing chemicals but we aren't sure why."
The picture showed the label on the drum that Eraser had loaded into his van. "If we zoom in we can read the title 'PETN'. We looked it up and it's a highly explosive chemical called Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate."
Thomas took a deep breath and assessed the situation that they had stumbled upon. "We have a prison bus break out, and a pencil themed, attention loving psychopath trying to blow something up. Oh, and good news! The police force still hasn't gotten it's numbers back up since Icicle murdered half of them!"
Roy patted Thomas on the back to calm him down. "If the Batman can handle this kind of shit on a daily basis in Gotham, I think our team can handle these idiots."
Irwin spun around in his seat and stared at Roy. "Is he actually real or is that all just a myth?" Roy looked back confused by the question. "The Batman. Is he real or fake?"
"You're asking me if a guy who dresses up as a bat and fights crime is real when Hub City has a super police man, a cat, and a grasshopper protecting it?" Roy wore a look of disbelief.
"I mean Superman is one thing but 'The Batman'? C'mon." Irwin wasn't convinced.
***
Kitrina yanked the Catgirl cowl away from Thea's grasp and put in on. "Seriously, Who does he think he is. He doesn't even see Tommy unless Jade forces him to. It's a crock that he's lecturing me on anything."
Thea put her domino mask on, concealing her identity.
"You're missing the point, Kit. They care for you and we legitimately got pretty close to dying earlier. It sucks getting yelled at but look at it from where they're standing."
Kitrina shook her head in frustration. "How about we go bust a robbery or some thugs or something? That always clears my head when Oliver is lecturing me. Ted says that punching people in the face is the best stress reliever."
"Who's Ted?" Kitrina was interested in the person.
"He's my kitty." Thea smiled thinking of how annoyed Ted would be if he had heard that. "I'm not walking again. Lets take Roy's car and patrol the comfortable way."
Kitrina liked the idea and walked over to the passengers side of the vehicle. "I need to come out to Star City sometime."
***
Thea slowed the car down to a crawl and shut the headlights off. "Is this an okay spot to park?"
"Yeah. We have about a mile to walk before we are in the slums of Hell's Corner. The car should be fine here." Kitrina got out of the car and stretched her limbs to get warmed up.
"Here." Thea tossed a pair of steel punching knuckles. "We had a few of these bad boys made up for the members of Team Arrow that are more hand to hand combat based. I always keep a pair for myself if I'm not feeling like an archer."
Kitrina placed the weapons on her hands and felt their weight. "Thanks."
Thea made sure that Kitrina wasn't paying attention and called over the radio. "We are about to enter Hell's Corner. Just a heads up." She shut the radio back off and placed it in one of the holsters on her utility belt. She sprinted to catch up to Kitrina who had started walking towards the slums.
After a mile of walking the duo had discussed topics ranging from hot superheroes, Star City's local cuisine, and teen superheroes and their mentors. "So it's you, the Wilson girl, and Mia?"
"For the most part yeah. It's fun when you have friends to do this with. It can get pretty scary being out there all on your own." Thea stopped and peered down a dark alley.
"I swear I just saw somebody scurrying down that way." She pointed into the darkness.
Catgirl readied herself and made her way into the alley. "Let's go then!"
The two walked down the alley as quietly as they could. Both of them looked around a corner and froze. In front of them were four people. Two had on flat billed hats that mostly shaded their faces, and the other two kept their coat collars up high trying to conceal their faces. "The price is firm. You both want Vertigo? You gotta pay."
Thea recognized the scene immediately. "It's a drug deal." She whispered in Catgirl's ear. "Vertigo is a drug originating from Star City."
"Man, I can head up to Star City and get this shit for half the price as you all." The dealer placed one hand on his hip showing that he held the power in the disagreement.
"It's called a finders fee, homie. You don't like the price then you can spend da rest of yo night driving yo happy ass up to Star City." The buyers shook their head in defeat.
"Man, fuck you and yo finders fee! Just gimmie the damn shit." He slapped the money into the chest of the dealer and grabbed the bag of Vertigo.
"Tell yo friends to come see me once they get a taste ya feel me?" The dealer had a slick grin on his face from his money he had just obtained.
"Lets get these guys!" Catgirl whispered a little louder than Speedy was comfortable with.
With her bow readied, Speedy stepped out with Catgirl by her side ready to bust the drug deal. "NOBODY MOVE!"
The four guys stopped and then started laughing at the pair of teenagers in front of them. "Who da fuck is you bitches supposed to be?"
SLUGG!
The loud mouthed thug dropped to the damp cement right were he stood. Catgirl reared back and swung again this time missing the dealers partner by mere inches. "Shit! You bitches is crazy!"
THWAPP!
THWAPP!
Speedy fired two arrows pinning the dual buyers to the brick walls of the tight alley. Catgirl swung again missing the dealer by another mere inches. "Get the fuck outta here, bitch!"
The dealer booted as hard as he could straight into the stomach of Kitrina. She dropped to the cement on her hands and knees as she gasped for air. "Get him Speedy!"
Speedy turned her attention and with uncanny accuracy and speed, she knocked and fired a blunt arrow right into the forehead of the still standing dealer.
"UHGUNF!" The dealer let out a hearty cry as he was knocked off of his feet straight onto his back.
Speedy checked on the dealer to confirm that he was out cold. She helped Catgirl up to her feet and the duo turned their attention to the still pinned buyers. Speedy knocked another arrow and put the head of it right to the face of the closest buyer. "Who is bringing this crap down to Hub City?"
"Ask and you shall receive." A booming voice erupted from behind the girls. Both turned around instantly. In front of them stood and average sized person with a full black skin suit on. The black suit was lined with golden spirals on its torso and the face portion of the mask.
"Down the Drain Man!" Catgirl turned to Speedy with a grin on her face. "I called it! That's our new villains name now!"
"Wrong, child." Suddenly the mystery man's hand raised and emitted a flash of light that illuminated the entire alley and most of the city's street.
"Holy cow that was blindingly bright!" Catgirl squinted as she tried to see what was going on.
"KEEP YOUR GUARD UP!" Speedy screamed the command sending a grand amount of fear into Catgirl. "THIS IS SPEEDY! WE ARE IN THE SLUMS OF HELL'S CORNER! NEED ASSISTENCE NOW!"
Catgirl was confused by the situation and who Speedy was yelling at. She felt a presence in front of her that made her uneasy.
SLICK!
A needle plunged into the neck of both teens. "Spellbinder is the name. Have fun." Spellbinder backed away into the shadows of the alley and disappeared.
"What the hell was that shit?" Catgirl began to drop to her knees as the drug took hold of her system.
"It's Vertigo. I need you to focus on my voice okay? I've been through this before I just need you to bite down and grit through it okay?" Speedy dropped to one knee finally as the drug took effect on her mind and body. Catgirl didn't respond.
"Everything you are seeing isn't real. The pain you feel is just an effect of the drug." Speedy was trying to keep calm as her vision began to warp and twist. She hunched over and vomited all over the ground from the effects. She raised the radio up again and turned it on.
"We have been hit with the Vertigo drug. Need pick up, Roy. Please." Speedy's voice trailed off as she couldn't hold the radio any longer. She could hear Catgirl crying in pain and screaming the name "Mario" repeatedly.
After what seemed like an eternity, a pair of headlights came into view. The roaring engine shut off which killed the blinding lights. She could hear familiar voices calling out to her. "SPEEDY!"
***
Eric Needham and Ted Carson sat in a worn down car parked in the middle of a full parking lot for the Utopia Casino. Both men sat low in their seats to try and not attract attention to themselves. "Their shift ended twenty minutes ago dammit!"
Eric nodded towards the front of the parking lot. "Here they come."
Drury Walker and Bertram Larven made their way to the vehicle and got into the back seats. "You both look cute in your security outfits."
Walker ignored the comment made by Carson. "Just get us out of here. Anyone see's you two and we did this for nothing."
"Drury has a point. Lets get home. We have a lot to discuss." Bertram began removing his security cap and pulled a tiny robotic bug from his visor. "We have everything I did recorded from today."
***
Kitrina awoke to find that she was resting in her own bed. The flood of memories from the Vertigo attack rushed her mind sending her eyes closed with pain. "How- What happened?"
She didn't expect an answer from the empty room. "You were injected with Vertigo. We got to you in time and brought you and Theia home. You both are going to be fine."
Kitrina opened her eyes despite the pain to see Thomas sitting on the edge of the foot of her bed. "Hey there."
He wore a look of a worried parent. One she had seen him with very few times before. "We need to talk."
Kitrina sat up and tilted her head back on the top of her pillow to try and ease some of the grogginess from the after effects of the drug. "Lets talk then."
"I know I'm not your father but I want you to know that I still care for you a great deal. I don't ever want to see you hurt. I was angry earlier because I care about you." Thomas patted her knee gently.
Kitrina shook her head in agreement. "I know. I know you care and that you are just trying to protect me. You have started training me, which is more than I thought I would get in the first place. I made the mistake tonight, twice."
Thomas stood up from the edge of the bed and smiled. "Get some rest. We are done with all of this inter-family drama, okay? We are getting plans put together for how to take on The Eraser and Spellbinder. When you feel up to it, We will be in the living room."
Thomas exited the room leaving Kitrina to fall back to sleep.
***
The Colony sat in their makeshift home/base. All four men sat comfortably around the blueprints and written plans for the Utopia Casino robbery. "Okay. We are clear then?"
Firefly, Killer Moth, and Black Spider nodded their heads. "Good. Get some sleep then and we will prep everything tomorrow morning."
Bug-Eyed Bandit stood up from his recliner and walked into his room to prepare his bandit suit for use. Drury Walker walked into the room behind him. "Do you need something, Moth?"
"What's the plan after this? Once we have our money, then what?" The criminal hunched in his posture giving him a pathetic look for a soon to be very rich man.
Bertram stood up and patted Drury on his shoulder. "Once we finish this job my plan is to leave here and never come back to this shit heap of a town. Drury, I hate it here. I want this place to burn and never rebuild. It's a wonder how anyone lives here as a permanent resident but by God they do. I'm not going to give this place a second thought after we get the money. Nor will I give this group a second thought after we get the money. Once we rob the Casino, I don't ever want to see any of your faces again."
Bertram gave Walker a slight push sending him out of his room. He slammed the door shut and went back to prepping his suit. Drury hunched a little more in his posture and walked away from the closed door. "Okay, boss."
***
"'They'll find you', they said. 'Catman will stop you', they said. 'You're too stupid to pull this off', they said!" The Eraser danced around in the dim lit room in front of a laptop sitting on a wooden desk recording his rant. He twirled his pencil shaped cane in his hands above his head and slammed it down in front of him with authority. "Yet, here I stand before you all as the sole owner of the first ever Eraser Bomb!"
The Eraser slid to the side revealing a steel drum of PETN with a digital timer and wires attached to the top of it's lid. "TAH DAH! It is truly a modern work of art when something so complex can originate from something as simple as a teasing remark. You all made fun of me. You all called me an idiot. WHO'S THE IDIOT NOW?! YOU WILL ALL SIT THERE AND WATCH ME THROUGH YOUR SCREENS AS KEYBOARD WARRIORS BUT NONE OF YOU CAN STOP ME! None of you will stop me. I get the last laugh and it's going to be one hell of a laugh, that I can assure you of."
The Eraser clicked on his keyboard submitting his newly created video to the Watchtower Network. He removed his Eraser helmet and set it down on the table next to the laptop. He let out a deep sigh of accomplishment as he slumped into his chair. "None of the peasants matter as of tomorrow. They will be erased."
To be continued...