Every Penguin Has His Day [Catwoman]

[Batman]

Players: Batman, Catwoman
Location(s): Iceberg Lounge
Plot Summary: Penguin is kidnapped and held hostage in the Iceberg Lounge after he threatens to snitch on Black Mask's criminal empire.

So they were holding Penguin captive in his own business? That was a first. Now that Dick thought about it Iceberg Lounge really would be a great place to keep the man. It could turn from a lounge for the rich and famous to a prison very quickly. The idea of just leaving Penguin to his fate with Black Masks’s men was too tempting a fate right now. This wasn’t Roman Sionis either. Jeremiah Arkham was the latest Black Mask and the man simply lacked the stones for cold blooded murder. Sure, he was crazed and ruthless but if he killed someone he needed a good reason. After Catwoman had murdered the original Black Mask the latest edition had been very careful with how far he was willing to push with the violence. This was probably why Penguin was being held in his own home. Jeremiah Arkham was probably hesitant about what else to do.

This was surprising enough since Penguin had agreed to snitch on Black Mask’s operations in order to avoid a prison deal. Fortunately for Jeremiah Arkham the information Penguin was giving would only lock away a select few of Black Mask’s chief lieutenants. Jeremiah Arkham himself was exempt from Penguin’s information even if the man was technically still wanted in Arkham. Yet the lieutenants of Roman Sionis worked for Jeremiah Arkham now and the man was obligated to protect them. So apparently he was holding Penguin in his home until he figured out what to do. Dick was glad that he was less ballsy than Roman. It saved him trouble. Yet the Iceberg Lounge was currently filled to the brim with thugs and that didn’t make their job easier.

Dick understood the man’s desperation. He was currently the leader of one of the remaining mafia families in Gotham City. The Bat-Family had driven the rest out. The fact that Jeremiah Arkham wasn’t even built for mafia work made it worse. Something told him that the Sionis mafia family would break apart in less than a year. Yet he needed to make them dissolve a lot sooner. Every day the mafia was alive more lives were lost on the streets and Dick couldn’t stand for that. This was why they needed to save Penguin and drag him back to the GCPD. Gordon had simply been unable to release any officers towards saving Penguin. It was a hostage situation and his hands were tied. So he had turned to Batman. Batman had then turned to Catwoman and Robin for help.

Who could help break up a hostage situation better than a kid assassin and a thief?

They stood on top of Iceberg Lounge overlooking the massive skylight where the majority of the thugs were relaxing. Unfortunately the private entrances and exits to the Iceberg Lounge had all be blocked. Apparently Black Mask had seen a possible rescue attempt by Batman or the police. He was forcing them to go through the skylight or through the front door. Their chances of getting gunned down were significantly higher if they took these obvious entrances. Yet when it came down to it you had to do what was necessary. Besides, Dick had stopped fearing bullets a long time ago. “Try not to hit Black Mask too hard.” He told Catwoman as he tossed a charge on the skylight. “He’s still sore from his beating at the hands of Batgirl.”

There was something telling him that bringing along women who had serious problems with the previous Black Mask on missions like this was a foolish idea. Yet it wasn’t exactly like he had many options. Gotham City was a big place with few protectors. “You too.” Dick said to Damian right before the charge went off. The glass exploded inwards and Dick jumped through the now open skylight; trusting his companions to follow him.

[Catwoman]

Selina's past few months had been chaotic, even by her standards. With the disbandment of the Gotham City Sirens, she hadn't been certain what to do next with her life - in both walks. Catwoman had always been the feline to walk by herself and yet she had banded together with Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy for a longer period than she had intended. Selina had told herself that the alliance had to be made out of necessity. With Bruce's death, she had been shaken to the core, and in the aftermath had begun to question everything about Gotham that she thought she knew.

Because Bruce was everything Catwoman believed the city to be. With him gone? She had been scared.

The trio couldn't last forever, of course. Selina knew that it was doomed to failure the moment she suggested uniting. She might have grown to understand Harleen and Pamela more intimately over the short time that they'd lived beneath the same roof, but in a way that only reassured the feline felon that she was not in the same category as the two villainesses. Finally the foundation of the Sirens' already unstable relationship was shaken by a few key elements, and Selina had found herself fighting both of her former teammates.

Catwoman wouldn't admit it, but maybe she now had a slight soft spot for Miss Green Genes and the Cupid of Crime. Why else had she given them the chance to escape, and went toe-to-toe with Batman to cover them? I wonder if Dick's forgiven me yet, she smirked, slinking across rooftops in the direction of the Iceberg Lounge. Selina had moved into an old penthouse apartment of hers. Standing in front of a hastily kindled fire, the princess of plunder held her neatly folded catsuit, intending on casting it into the flames.

Then? Bruce.

Bat ears or no, he had sneaked up on Selina, and their reunion? Was fun, Catwoman decided, mid-flip in the present. Beyond Bruce's return from the dead, and every other scrap of unexpected news that had been hitting her almost daily, it was Mr Wayne's request that floored Selina the most. Supposedly he was traipsing around the globe, setting up the foundation for what he called 'Batman International'. Not quite in control of her own mouth, she had offered on the spot to drop her masked career and stand alongside Bruce as Selina Kyle.

Bruce's intentions were otherwise. She had left Gotham with him initially, but returned soon after at the billionaire's behest. Theoretically, Bruce wanted Selina to act as Catwoman in Gotham and keep an eye on his vigilante protege. She understood why, she supposed. Theoretically, with Catwoman's contacts from her nefarious past, and her knack for knowing all of Gotham's dirty secrets, she could offer a different... perspective on the city's crime. Selina still wasn't sure how Richard felt about the paradigm.

Daddy's girlfriend keeping an eye on him? A girlfriend who just recently happened to scratch open his face to help two female criminals flee from capture? Hopefully the bird was full-grown enough to let bygones be bygones. I guess we'll see.

There was a lot about the situation that Selina wasn't feeling too hot about. Beyond the fact that this would be her debut as a 'hero', working alongside Batman, Catwoman would have to deal with Bruce's child - by blood, this time - with Talia al Ghul. And, the icing on the cake? They were going against Black Mask. The new one, true, but still. Part of Selina wondered if this was some kind of test designed by Dick. Maybe even Bruce. On the average day, Catwoman would have been a bit miffed at the scenario.

Having recently been in an all girl's crime club, she knew that earning her way back into some people's trusts would be necessary. "Where's the fun in that?" Selina questioned once she rendezvoused with the new Batman and Robin. Catwoman looked over at the latest addition to Team Scowl, and gave him a smirk. Robin just glared at her murderously, and pushed ahead to jump into the Iceberg in near unison with Dick. "Oh, I see the resemblance," Selina grumbled with a roll of her eyes.

Batman and Robin would definitely be attracting the most attention, barging in after a charge. Catwoman was fine working the stealth/overview angle, picking off the tricky targets while the boys did their 'out-in-the-open' shtick. So, Selina tucked into a tight forward flip, and vanished into a patch of shadow almost immediately.

[Batman]

The idea of working with Catwoman was still new to Dick. Initially he had been the one to suggest that Batman open up and trust her. At the time he had felt that Bruce had again been skirting the lines of true darkness in his work and needed someone to open up to. Dick definitely wasn’t that person. He had been trained and raised by Bruce and as a result the man telling him his secrets was more than a little odd. The man had needed a woman who understood Gotham City but wasn’t someone he had known for years. Catwoman had been that person. Yet when it came down to it Dick simply didn’t trust her. They were two different people with two different objectives in life. She definitely had potential but Dick would never see her as a potential partner whether it was romantic or on the battlefield. Yet Bruce had told him to trust her, allow her in the bat-cave and let her run missions with them. Dick had respected the man’s request so here she was.

Dick knew Bruce well enough to know that the man just needed someone who would give him progress reports on Dick’s performance. It was something that Dick would expect from Bruce so he wasn’t too insulted. He just wished that the man’s efforts hadn’t been so transparent. His predictability with his treatment of Dick had been matched with his current ludicrous global adventures so Dick supposed everything had to balance out. He wasn’t even sure if Bruce cared if Dick knew that his mentor was trying to spy on him or not. That being said Dick was fighting crime with a young assassin so he could understand why Bruce would have some concern. Speaking of young assassins… “Try not to draw any blood, Robin!” Dick snapped as he saw Robin viciously slash at one of his victims with his promethium blade. “This despicable blade you gave me couldn’t draw blood if I shoved it up his rectum!”

Damian drove the thug backwards before bashing him over the head with the handle of his weapon. Dick could practically sense the anger rolling off of his young protégé. Yet he still felt pride. He had managed to dull Damian’s temperament somewhat. The boy had been showing self control and restraint. Those were two things he hadn’t shown a year ago. Dick punched one man in the throat before he slammed his head into the ground. As he continued to duck and dodge the blows of seemingly dozens of bad guys he slowly made his way towards the door that led to the back rooms. He’d be the one to nab Penguin while Robin and Catwoman made short work of the thugs in the massive ballroom. It was a simple plan. They had no intention of sticking around to knock everyone out. It was an ambitious plan but one that was unnecessary.

[Catwoman]

Catwoman wasn't one to step on people's toes. Not unless she did so intentionally, in which case it wasn't so much a 'step' as a 'stomp'. Dick didn't trust her, she could see that plainly despite his indifferent, or even charismatic attitude. How strange was it to see anything but a scowl coming from beneath the pointed ears of the Batman cowl? Honestly, though, if Dick felt any other way about her, Selina would have considered him a fool. So, when the little hit on Black Mask's crew came up, Catwoman came to assist, just like she promised Bruce she would.

Selina could tell that Dick was disconcerted at the prospect of fighting alongside her. She and Bruce had been comrades as much as they had been enemies over the course of their moonlighting careers. Nightwing and the current Red Robin, on the other hand, rarely if ever were in similar situations with the feline fatale. It shows, Catwoman thought irritably while she whipped a gun training on Robin out of a thug's hand from the balcony. Selina fancied that she could have slipped in and extracted Cobblepot without Black Mask being the wiser.

After that, Batman and Robin could do their dynamic duo, beat-up-the-bad-guys routine. Selina wasn't positive why that plan hadn't been voiced in any capacity. There was the possibility that Dick didn't even trust her enough to get so near Black Mask without... "improvising" from the plan. Catwoman wasn't naive enough to think that the strategy hadn't crossed the dark knight's mind. The thief tried to press such thoughts out of her mind and focus on the present.

Dick and his little trainee had crashed into the heart of the Lounge's primary space, and were now fighting in front of the massive glacial structure from which the establishment derived it's name. Catwoman was making the greatest use of their distraction, tackling the array of platforms and tiered balconies that ringed the main room. Selina ensured no brute in her vicinity had the chance to aim properly on Batman or Robin, and moved with the balletic maneuverability for which she was so renown.

Scarcely could a thug look up to see one of their fellows fall from an unknown assailant, then a flurry of blows could come from behind to incapacitate them, as well. Catwoman smirked, backing a trio of men into a corner with the crack of her whip, when Robin gave his curt reply to Batman's warning. Selina glanced over her shoulder at the miniature ninja, whose eyes locked with her own in instantaneous defiance. "Never know until you try, right?" Catwoman tripped a thug trying to tackled her, and kicked his falling body over the rail fluidly.

Between Selina's attacks, she watched Batman move like a wraith towards the VIP sections of the Lounge. Right on schedule, she thought to herself. Catwoman almost sighed when she pounced from the rail of a balcony and pinned a man reloading his gun on the ground floor. Now she got to babysit while Dick had all the fun. If this is how working as a 'team' usually wen, no wonder the Bats were always in such sour moods.

[Batman]

Dick didn’t trust Damian to extract Penguin on his own. He was almost certain that if Damian got a moment alone with the mobster he’d probably drag the man to the police with a missing nose. Damian wasn’t sadistic. He was just someone who felt that violence was the only way to accomplish an end. He didn’t trust Catwoman either. He was still convinced that the woman still had one hand in the criminal element. While Bruce often saw Catwoman’s illegal activities as another eye to the criminal element in Gotham Dick didn’t feel the same way. He felt that he could have the same access to the information that Catwoman did without half the drama. Yet again Bruce had always needed a woman in his life and for some reason Catwoman fit the bill. There was also the fact that he didn’t trust her alone with Black Mask either and there was no telling whether the man was near Penguin right now. Dick was willing to bet that he was.

So Dick was going to go after Penguin and Damian was going to keep an eye on Catwoman. He was fairly certain that Selina would assume that it was the other way around. In reality he wanted Damian to make sure Catwoman didn’t have any ulterior motives for taking this mission. One would think that Catwoman reporting to Bruce would be the ulterior motive but that had been such a predictable move that he was fairly certain that Bruce knew he wasn’t fooling anyone. Catwoman was an independent woman and while that was respectable that also meant she wouldn’t be acting on Bruce’s orders alone. She had to have her own objectives and Dick wanted Damian to figure out what they were. If he was wrong that wouldn’t guarantee that he’d trust her. It’d just mean he wouldn’t have to worry about being one step ahead his mentor and the woman he had chosen to love.

Dick stepped towards the door where Penguins private office was located and swiftly kicked the door down. The moment he did a man stepped in front of the door, a shotgun in his hands. “Down, boy.” Dick pushed the shotgun towards the ground and the man let out a squeal as he shot himself in the foot. Dick grabbed him by the shoulders and bodily threw him out of the office. Another man raised his weapon but Dick simply threw a bat-a-rang at the weapon. It was knocked out of his hands and the man rushed Dick only to get slammed to the ground. Dick watched passively as Black Mask scrambled to his feet and rushed towards Penguin. The short man was bound to his chair and it looked as if his nose was broken. Before Black Mask could initiate a hostage situation Dick had already jumped across the desk and slammed Black Mask against a book shelf. “I knew Roman Sionis….and you’re nothing like him.”

Dick dropped Black Mask on the ground and the man scrambled from the room. Dick touched his ear to the comm. unit to get in contact with Damian. “Take him down don’t hurt him.” Dick then turned to Penguin and cut the man’s bonds before grabbing him by the scruff of his neck. “What were you going to tell the police.” Penguin squealed and said nothing. Dick slammed him against the desk and held him there. The man grunted in pain but Dick ignored it. “There are plenty of men out there that my people haven’t gotten to yet. I throw you out there and they’ll sooner turn their weapons on you. Even if they don’t you’ll have me to contend with.” Penguin scoffed. “You think…they scare me? It’s gone…all of it…gone…they’re here…the owls are here.” Dick’s eyes narrowed as he attempted to make work of the man’s riddle. “Explain.”

[Catwoman]

Bruce's kid reminded Selina of that cartoon character. The one that turns into a whirlwind of destruction from what back when. What was the name? Oh, right. The Tasmanian Devil, just with less fur, and even more lethal. The new Robin was little more than a hyped up blur of green, red and yellow, interspersed with the flash of his makeshift sword as he - Oop. Yup. He was trying to shove it up someone's rectum. Color me impressed, Catwoman thought mildly to herself. At least from what she could catch out of the corner of her goggles between hits.

Dick was off to do his thing, and Selina was left to whale on the second-rate goons and keep up the chaos. Catwoman had fought with and against every Robin of the batch - except the blonde chick that had the role for a New York minute; Spoiler. As far as fighting style, Selina thought that this Robin's was the most entertaining. Dick looked like he was rehearsing for the ballet, in a pirouette-to-the-face kind of way. Tim approached a brawl as if it were surgery. Then there was Jason, who really had fought pretty much like Damian, just with less reservation.

While thinking over Bruce's extensive brood, the Cat was nothing but an agile shadow. Moving fluidly from one opponent to another, the sound of her blows broken only by the sharp crack of her whip, or the glint of her claws. At one point, Selina and Damian tag-teamed a certain cluster of henchmen. Even though Robin definitely didn't like Catwoman - none of the little birds ever did, at first - they worked together seamlessly, which irritated Selina more than it amused her.

There was a moment once the turmoil had dwindled when Damian's shoulders went rigid, and one hand pressed against his ear. Catwoman was fighting near the entrance to the VIP section at the time, and as she downed one opponent, ending in a crouch, everything else went quiet, and all she heard was the sound of battered dress shoes hitting the ground. Looking up, Selina saw a man screech to a halt out of a full-out sprint right in front of her. Catwoman slowly stood, and cunning green pupils met the sockets of a black skull mask.

The glacial second ended with Robin flipping overhead, extending a hand to karate chop the new Black Mask's neck. He promptly crumpled to the floor. Catwoman traded a loaded look with the Tasmanian Devil. Quick as lightning, Selina extended her whip and lashed a pistol out of a man's grip who was struggling to his feet. Damian moved a step behind Catwoman, and loosed his Robin-styled Batarang, that collided with the man's temple, and sent him to the ground. "Good job, squirt," Selina ruffled Damian's hair with a hand.

Robin's eyes nearly spit fire, but the Cat was already strutting toward the VIP entrance before he could come up with a threat.

[Batman]

OOC: In my post during the fight between Batman and Talon I don’t think Catwoman/Damian will get involved because Dick and Talon are literally moving so fast that everything’s a blur and it would be hard to get involved. They can attack him after the initial fight, though. They’ll thoroughly get their asses kicked though.

It was all a tall tale. Dick refused to believe that there was yet another illuminati group in Gotham City that was responsible for controlling it from the inside. He had run into too many secret organizations in his day to lend that theory any validity. Even if such an organization did exist their control had to be severely limited. There were too many factions in the city constantly in alliance and at war with each other for some single unifying force to control them all. Dick had spent quite some time studying the League of Assassins and how the organization worked. Even the League couldn’t completely manipulate the warring factions in Gotham City. Much less a city wide group. There were simply too many wild cards. “You must be really desperate for asylum.”

Dick grabbed Penguin by the ear and forcibly dragged him out the room. “You are by farther the biggest pain in my ass.” Dick wasn’t even going to try and act professional. Bruce was the one who acted like nothing bothered him. Dick wore his heart on his sleeve and his hear told him that Penguin was nothing more than an annoyance. He didn’t even have the chops to be a real villain anymore. All he did was launder money and turn into a snitch when the wrong people came knocking at his door. This really was a waste of time. Dick had been looking for an actual tip this time around. “We’re going and we’re taking him to Arkham.” That wasn’t the type of Asylum that Penguin wanted but it would do. The man squealed in protest but he ignored him.

Damian grinned as he cuffed Black Mask and pulled the groaning man to his feet. “That’s what I like to hear.” Dick nodded at Catwoman in silent thanks and started to push a button on his belt to hail one of the trusted police officers. He didn’t get the chance too when green gas suddenly flooded the Iceberg Lounge. Dick wasn’t sure where it came from but what he immediately did was pull on his rebreather. He didn’t have one for Penguin and hurriedly decided that he needed to get the man to the nearest exit. If he was an innocent civilian than Dick would have given the criminal his rebeather. Yet Penguin wasn’t and Dick wasn’t about to risk his life for him. Yet it soon became clear that he wouldn’t need the rebreather. Penguin squealed. “The owls are here!” Dick tightened his grip on the man’s ear. “Shut up.”

The smoke cleared and a man in leather armor stood there. He wore yellow goggles that eerily reminded Dick of the eyes of owls. He held two daggers in his hand and a sword was strapped to his back. Dick sighed. “Penguin. The Court of Owls have sentenced you to die.” Then he attacked. He hurled one dagger at Catwoman’s chest, another at Damian and then he was right on top of Dick. Batman found himself barely deflecting blows aimed at his neck, chest and face. The assassin’s arms were literally a blur and every other strike hit him. In a matter of seconds Dick was fairly certain that three of his ribs were bruised. He had already taken half-a-dozen blows to his gut and was almost certain that three or four of them had been a direct strike to his liver. He was barely holding onto his consciousness as it was. Then the assassin struck Dick’s oxygen mask with a direct open palm strike and immediately smashed it.

Dick blinked as he stepped backwards, stunned. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Black Mask fleeing and noted that Penguin was gone as well. Yet his attention was brought right back to the assassin as he barely managed to block a blow to his temple. The vigilante scowled. It was time to fight dirty.

[Catwoman]

Catwoman hardly made it to the threshold of the VIP section when out came Dick, with a pudgy, annoying package that he had by the ear. Selina stepped aside and crossed her arms, pressing one finger against the side of her cheek in an amused critique. "Fancy seeing you here, Ozzie." Despite Catwoman's obvious satisfaction at seeing the bloated bird in such a position, she couldn't help but think. Penguin was spineless, everyone knew that. If someone bigger and badder than his money or hired hands could grapple with came above the old perv, he was putty in their hands.

Regardless, Selina had seen Oswald in all manners of defeat. Outright, through wordplay, or otherwise. The Penguin might have had a yellow belly, but he was never like this. Outright terrified. Ozzie might appear uncomfortable, or look like he was in desperate need of a bathroom break, but other than that he generally kept composed... Or was cursing up a storm. None of the above described how the Penguin was as Batman hauled his fat ass across the Iceberg Lounge, though. What could be so ugly to make the bird crap himself?

At least Dick's one-liner put the rascal in a more pleasant mood. His scowl not only lessened, but turned into an outright smirk. Smug, and annoying as hell, but still. Oh, he's definitely Bruce's boy, Selina thought tersely. That was about when all of the noxious green gas exploded into the room. "Damn." Catwoman didn't have one of the fancy inhalers that she watched Batman and Robin immediately press into the creases of their individual scowls. Selina didn't have a fifty-pound utility belt.

She had claws, leather, and a whip. Not exactly a full arsenal, but she made it work. Being inducted into the flock - Was it a flock? Maybe a herd? ... Whatever - of bats, and then later the Birds of Prey, Catwoman had been offered a wide spread of upgrades available to her. And she'd accepted. However, most of Selina's perks now included tech-y improvements to the radio in the ears of her cowl, and the capability of the lenses of her goggles. Not a fancy inhaler. If this gas was lethal... I'm screwed.

Until that was proven true or false? Catwoman held her breath.

Thankfully or not, the veil of emerald vapor came and went with relative speed. A distraction, Selina understood belatedly. Like the fancy smoke pellets that Bruce always used to get the drop on others, or conceal his escape. All you had to do was misdirect someone's attention, and you could get away with a lot. Catwoman knew. She was a master at the art. Sure enough, even before the gas was completely gone, an imposing shape solidified before Batman.

Selina registered Penguin's squeal, but she filed his hysterics away for later observation. Right now, there were more pressing matters at hand. Namely a wiry-framed guy with a mask that looked like another bird. Catwoman's grip tightened on the handle of her whip, that trailed down like a finger of shadow on the floor. The Court of Owls... Selina had heard whispers of their existence through Gotham's underworld, and from her network of snitches and fences, but they were so vague and mystical - a secret society, perhaps - that Catwoman didn't think it worth mentioning.

That computer girl who ran the Birds must have knew about it, right?

A court they appeared to be, because the creep standing opposite Dick was sentencing Ozzie to death. There was a moment where Selina wondered how he was intending on carrying out his sentence. The dagger that came flying toward her heart was answer enough. Oh, so we're just going to get right into it, then? Catwoman lashed her whip on instinct, and the weapon was deflected, and impaled in a pillar ten feet to her left. Damian barely even blinked, using the blade of his own sword to do something similar. Talia's boy, Selina thought peskily, right.

The Cat didn't have much more time to think on it. Batman and the Court of Owls guy had started fighting, and she was locked on the exchange of blows. Dick was barely holding up. The guy attacking him was fast. Selina's attention wavered when she saw Robin draw back his blade with the intention of intervening. "I don't think so, squirt!" Catwoman grabbed his cape as he started to run, and stopped him. Damian whirled around. "Let me go, cat wench!"

Selina bristled at the insult, but forced it aside. Batman was in actual danger, that much Catwoman knew plainly. Damian must have too, that's why he was trying to help. "Look at how fast they're moving," she instructed harshly. "It's too high-risk to try to stop. You might hit Batman." Robin looked like he had a choice phrase he might like to deliver back, but Catwoman interrupted him. "You need to get Penguin out of here. That's who he's after. I'll cover you."

Damian might have been many things, but he had been trained to accept the logic in Selina's words. Even if the tart expression he gave almost scalded her. Robin probably wanted to change roles with Catwoman, but time was pressing. He could either accept the suggestion, or improvise. "Why do I get stuck with the squawking blimp?" Robin was off, and had collected Ozzie - who was in a fetal position nearby - and moving toward the nearest exit with him even while he finished his complaint. "Don't worry..." Selina whispered, "I'll cover you."

Catwoman was brutally aware of her limitations. That was what made her so good. She was viciously honest with herself, and the only chances that she took in themselves were well-calculated. During the beginning of her career with the whiskers, she'd told Bruce that she made her own luck, and to an extent that had been true. It was because of this that Selina knew there was a very slim chance she would come out on top if she came against the man fighting Dick. Catwoman was fast, but so was the acrobat, and Batman barely blocked half of the assault.

Selina had to wait for the right timing. That was the key. The only solace that she governed from the scenario was that there were strength in numbers. Catwoman wasn't used to working with others, and the few times she fought alongside another vigilante it had been with Bruce, not Dick. She and Damian had worked in tandem well enough, but the new Bat and the Cat would have to work in flawless synchronized harmony if they really wanted to have an edge. There was a stalemate between Batman and his opponent where Dick's eyes flared in grim, furious recognition.

Now! "I vote for a stay of execution!" Selina came in like a pouncing cobra, both hands extended for an X-shaped upward double strike. For the average combatant, Catwoman would have carved into them deep. For the average combatant, they wouldn't have stood a chance. For the average combatant, they would have been so locked in their struggle with Batman they wouldn't have had the chance to block. This bastard was not your average combatant. He easily split his might, using one hand to hold of Dick, while with the other he grasped both of her wrists, and kicked her center.

Selina's eyes widened behind her goggles at the force of the blow. Her outfit barely blunted its punch. Then the guy just held her, like her hands were connected to limp noodles. Catwoman's shock broke after a moment, and then a fire kindled in her emerald irises. At least now, the enemy had both hands full... And Selina knew that he didn't anticipate how flexible she was. The Cat sprung, and wrapped both legs in a vice around the one arm that still held her. With a flexing of her powerful thighs, and a twist, the grip holding her wrists loosened, and Selina was free.

All of that effort, just to not let her enemy break her wrists. Catwoman didn't even think that she had caused him any pain - at least none that surfaced in his posture or mannerisms. Selina pushed backwards to gain some space from the Owl. She looked towards Dick, hoping that he had some kind of plan.

[Batman]

Dick grabbed his escrima stick from within his cape and swung up hard at the owl’s head. Yet Catwoman’s untimely intervention turned what could have potentially been a successful offensive move into an opportunity for the assassin. Yet as the man grasped Dick’s hand and gripped it so hard he felt the bane underneath quiver he idly reflected that it might not have been. As Dick found himself dangling in the air and struggling to move his hand loose he watched as Catwoman managed to wrench herself free. Her dexterity and lack of exhaustion rewarded her greatly and Dick was again alone in this fight. Yet that was how it was meant to be. He could take this man. He just needed a little space and time. Dick turned his head to the side and spat out a piece of plastic from his oxygen mask along with a globule of blood. Time to fight dirty.

Dick reached inside his utility belt and pulled out three razor sharp bat-a-rangs. This man couldn’t be human. He was moving too quickly. Dick didn’t have time to rationalize morals or anything of the sort. In a few moments he’d be dead. He could already feel his wrist bone starting to crack. He probably had multiple fractures in his arm as it was. He swung up his hand and jammed the weapons through the soft flesh of the man’s armpit. He jerked and let go of Dick. As the vigilante backed away he managed to tug the bat-a-rangs out. As he predicted there was no blood. Nothing pointing to an injured man. Dick backed away for a moment. The assassin glanced down at his armpit and then at Dick.

But Dick wasn’t standing still anymore. He was rushing at the owl man with three bat-a-rangs tucked away in his gloves. He struck him once in the chest, then the throat and then under the jaw. Each time he went in for the kill. Each blow was precisely aimed at a dangerous part of the body. His barrage ended with a receiving blow to the throat that sent him skidding across the floor. Dick bounced up to his feet and received a blow to the face. He reciprocated the attack by slamming his fist against the assassin’s face and activated a taser that sent out an electrical charge strong enough to knock out an elephant. Dick felt his wrist bend under the weight of the punch and crack. He grunted in pain but his attack was successful. The assassin’s body was lifted off the ground by the force of Dick’s punch and hit the ground hard. He lay there unmoving.

He turned to Catwoman, barely managing to keep a grimace off of his face. “Let’s go.”

[Catwoman]

Selina could have care less if she stepped on Dick's toes with her intervention. What was it with men, when they put on a pointed cowl and a cape, that they thought they had to epitomize masculinity? Catwoman respected the whole solitary angle - that was who she was - but not in this situation, per se. The freak that Batman was facing off against had the potential to kill the new dark knight. Selina wasn't going to keep out of it to help Dick maintain his pride when death could be the alternative. It wasn't like he had been doing too hot before she jumped in.

Once Catwoman got out of the Owl's hold, and skittered backwards to gain some distance, she knew enough to keep out of it. Dick had that crease in his face - she though it was called a mouth, but Selina couldn't be sure - that meant business. The feline felon was done helping, especially if Batman just got more grumpy when she tried to be a good kitty. Catwoman paused for a moment and surveyed the exchange with eyes nearly squinted shut in critical surveillance of the two combatants. Selina finally eased out of her fighting stance, and nonchalantly perched on the nearest table.

While Catwoman watched Batman start fighting dirty - which did, in fact, bring the glimmer of a smirk onto her lips - she leisurely began winding the length of her whip. Selina wasn't so at ease as to wrap the weapon around her waist for safe-keeping. Rather, once the braided leather was in a neat coil, the Cat slung it on her shoulder in easy reach. The thief was just finishing when Dick delivered the final blow, which also happened to be the one that completely snapped his wrist. Selina's nose wrinkled at the sharp pop.

Dick did a splendid job of mimicking the blunt air that Bruce had had when he used the cowl. The way he looked at the unconscious body, and then told - ordered - Catwoman to flee the scene alongside him. Selina waited a long moment, still perched on the table. During that time she slowly looked down to the body of the Court of Owl, then back to Batman. The question was obvious: Wasn't he going to drop into 'detective' mode, and investigate the creep? The inhuman speed, dexterity, strength, and lack of blood was enough to pique curiosity in the Cat, wouldn't a Bat be even more intrigued?

Oh well. Let Dicky-bird worry about it, she mused with near-indifference. "Whatever you say." Catwoman's gaze flicked toward the broken wrist that Dick was now sporting. Technically he only needed one working hand to employ his grapple gun, but that was a severe handicap for rooftop gallivanting - even for a quick getaway. Selina pushed the spike of concern aside. Since when was she one to worry about someone else? Dick could handle a fracture like that. Catwoman could have bet that as a kid, he'd been trained by Bruce extensively in how to conduct himself just in case of a wound like that in the field.

The princess of plunder sprang with phenomenal agility towards the nearest balcony. Using her claws and acrobatic prowess, Catwoman made it to the nearest skylight almost in the same moment that Batman reached it. She'd play the house cat a little longer. Meet up with the new boy wonder and the dark knight enough to settle things, then, when Selina was sure the two would hop on their respective million-dollar rides, she would scamper off back to the East End.

[Batman]

"We would have had time to take the body." Damian was leaning against the bat-computer a scowl on his face. Dick was coming to realize that if he had met Bruce as a child he most definitely would not have liked him. Damian's argument was smart enough. If they had taken the whole body of the fallen assassin than they could have made a more concrete analysis. One simple blood sample wasn't going to answer all your questions. It wasn't uncommon to analyze bodies in the bat-cave either. Yet Dick simply couldn't compromise the location of the Bat-Family's most important head quarters.

"Alfred would kill me if I took an assassin zombie back to the cave. You know that. I could list a dozen other reasons why that'd be a bad idea too." Damian's eyes narroed underneath his hood. "Name them." Dick sighed. His attention was turned from Damian back to Selina as she manhandled his wrist as if it hadn't been broken in two places. "Ouch." He said pointedly. "Speaking of murder where is Alfred. I miss his gentle touch." This was an obvious jab at Selina and the moment she finished setting the wound he jerked his hand away. [Which only resulted in more pain but Dick ignored it]

"The butler can do what he wants. Besides he had to go the airport to confirm the arrival of some of our technology. Apparently you couldn't do it because you were too busy kissing Penguin's ass." Dick slipped off the table he had been sitting on and limped towards the computer.
"I'm gonna start muzzling you one of these days. What'd you pull from the blood sample?" He wasn't sure if Catwoman was interested in the technobabble of the duo but he motioned her over anyways. He was supposed to make her feel welcome even if he didn't want to. Maybe if she got a glimpse at the detective side of things she'd grow bored enough to leave.

Damian turned towards the computer. "Oddly enough Grayson your summary of him being a zombie assassin is correct. Everything in this blood sample points to him being dead. If I got a look at his actual body than maybe there'd be some markings or symbols or something but other than that, nothing." Dick frowned. This wasn't unheard of. He had actually been expecting something like this. The big question was how someone who was supposed to be dead was actually alive and much more powerful than any normal human being. "Any idea on his true identity? Anything in the memory banks perhaps?" Damian swallowed. "No. Nothing at all. I-It's like he didn't even exist." He said in an entirely unconvincing voice.

[Catwoman]

So, the ride to the Batcave was like wake, but with more scowling and no opportunity to ditch. Selina had her fair share of bikes that she made use of when her destination was too far to comfortably travel via rooftop. Unfortunately, she hadn't implemented one to arrive at the Iceberg Lounge. Beings that time was somewhat of the essence, that meant that Catwoman spent a lovely fifteen minutes in the back seat of the Batmobile while Damian snickered unceasingly from his Robin-inspired motorcycle through the heavily tinted windshield cap.

Selina smirked as Robin pointed out the thought that had carried through her own mind concerning the body of the assassin. The kid had a point, even if he spoke with far too much anger and angst for his sparse number of years. He's gonna be delightful as a teenager, Catwoman thought idly. She was admittedly surprised when the job to set the bone in Richard's wrist fell to her. She understood that it was Alfred's absence that did it, but honestly it seemed like Dick would have done the deed himself before having her help.

Catwoman thought she understood why the new Batman was so reserved in trusting her. Beyond her track record, of course, because that surly didn't help matters. Even discarding the fact that she, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn had been running together some months previously - honestly, during that time all three women had acted better and more virtuous than they would have apart. Bruce trusted Selina. And that must have made Dick's blood boil. Catwoman got it. She understood. For someone who had done so much, and adhered to Bruce's moral code as if it were his own religion to earn the same trust from his mentor.

To know that a newly reformed thief had garnered it must have been a real sucker punch to the gonads. He needs to get over it, Selina thought, in the same instance that she set his fractured wrist. She couldn't help but grin slightly at the indignant air that Batman had through the process. "Don't be a baby," Catwoman murmured with a sigh while Dick moved on to address the lack of a certain Englishman. Selina quirked an interested brow behind her goggles when Damian referred to him apathetically as 'the butler'. Even she was fond of Alfred enough to be kinder.

Dick eased off of the operating table that he'd been perched upon, and began shuffling over to his adoptive brother. Selina knew that the two probably didn't want her there, but they'd just have to deal. Something this bizarre was bound to affect her - it already had, beings that she was present during the scuffle with the Court of Owls crony - and, therefor, the East End. Catwoman didn't have any of the high-tech gizmos or databases at her fingertips that could be found in the Batcave. Not to say she wasn't well-connected, or couldn't get her paws on them. This was just simpler.

The mention of muzzling the new Boy Wonder brought to Selina's mind the thought of how a shock collar on Damian might give amusing results. Catwoman kept her distance, allowing the dark knight and his sidekick - say what you will: Robin was still a sidekick - discussed matters. Her ears were primed, and she was focused on every detail said, but outwardly Selina maintained an air of near-indifference. She moved to a nearby console and leaned against it disinterestedly while she observed the nails at the fingertips of her gloves.

Eventually the conversation moved into realms that were so intriguing, Catwoman couldn't continue her facade of boredom. She moved silently, very much like her namesake as it cautiously approached something foreign, behind Dick and Damian. The information scrolling on various screens and projections reflected in the lenses of Selina's goggles while she blinked slowly behind them. Her glossy lips were set in a terse line. The princess of plunder had had her fair share of paranormal, supernatural and metahuman encounters. With all of that experience, though, this was still... bizarre.

"So then, I suppose we look into the subtler details," Selina said offhandedly. Pretty standard investigation methods, she thought, but she hadn't been trained by the master, so maybe not? Catwoman folded her arms over her chest. "He said that he worked for the Court of Owls, right?" After a moment where she wasn't challenged, the woman pressed on with her point. "What do your fancy computers know about them?" Selina had her bit to give to further the investigation - Catwoman was one of the most knowledgeable figures in Gotham, especially when it came to dirty little secrets.

The thief wasn't going to volunteer the sparse information and rumors she'd gathered on the subject until it was her turn, though. Selina wasn't that obedient. First she'd see what Dick and Damian knew, and then, if she still had valuable info, she'd give it to them. Maybe afterwards the pair wouldn't be so tart about her being at the Batcave. Heaven knew she didn't want to be there any more than they wanted her to.