When 9 Lives Aren't Enough (DanceWithDemise x Rand)

[DanceWithDemise]

To anyone looking up from down below, Selina's crouched form would surely pass as one of the many gargoyles lining the top of some of Gotham's older buildings. Most of them either had parts missing or had their features erased and eroded by time to the point where it was impossible to even tell what mythical creature or monster they were meant to represent. Still, they'd been her silent companions for years, always devotedly at their post every night to keep Selina company and to make camouflaging herself that much easier.

Sadly, those anonymous statues were just about all she had left ever since the city had gone to hell...or even further to hell than usual. Blackgate prison, Arkham asylum and every other prison or mental institution in Gotham had somehow burst open all at once, allowing the criminals and psychos to pour out through the floodgates Technically, Catwoman was a criminal too, but she preferred to see herself as a 'redistributor of wealth'.

In any case, she wasn't some sort of lunatic who got her rocks off by murdering innocent people or a ruthless thug out for pillage and slaughter, so she wasn't particularly chummy with any of the escaped convicts.

Thankfully, the bad guys were also very keen on double-crossing and killing each other in addition to whatever else that they may be into, and that was pretty much the only thing keeping Gotham from falling completely. The police had declared marshal law almost immediately, and for the moment they were still holding out in small pockets of resistance around the city, but even that was a losing battle.

Times like these weren't particularly good for Selina, since money and valuables lost most of their worth when all that mattered was power. There were gangs and warlords and crime syndicates all running rampant on the city and against each other, all vying for dominance, and she was just a solitary thief. Just one girl.

However, if she wanted things to go back to normal so that she could continue to thrive without having to ally herself with any of the new powers in town, each of which was more vile and despicable than the last, Selina had to take some initiative. She hadn't seen or heard from Batman ever since shit had hit the fan, but she had to imagine that he had his hands full just like the cops, and there were still plenty of scumbags to go around.

As nimbly and gracefully as a world class gymnast - which she easily could have been had she not chosen a far more lucrative and exciting career path - Selina climbed down from the rooftop, clinging to a large pipe, though she only went as far as the first row of windows, which was the thirty-second and topmost story. Apparently some nasty character was using this hotel as his hideout and base of operations, although she didn't actually know who it was.

If he was as predictable as most crime bosses, though, Selina figured that he'd be staying somewhere near the top of the hotel with all of his guards focused on barring the way for anyone coming up - not someone coming down, so her idea was to start at the top and work her way down.

 

[Rand]

The city was indeed thrust into chaos, with the exact cause behind the simultaneous breakouts not being entirely known. There were theories, of course. A mass organized plot by a crime syndicate which remained on the loose. Possibly an inside job orchestrated by the criminals and criminally insane which were previously held securely within those now pregnable walls. Some would even chalk it up as simply being a natural result of the years of festering crime which had infected the city of Gotham for so long as anyone could remember. An act of God, if one were the biblical type. Or perhaps some other less praiseworthy deity.

Regardless of the reasoning behind it, the city was suffering the resulting wrath, with certain individuals reaping the rewards. Amongst them, centered within the particular hotel which Selina Kyle had been scaling downward upon, was a certain Clown Prince of Crime, whom was currently seated within the top floor room. His 'throne' was a now bullet ridden armchair, with traces of bullet holes and the faint markings of blood on the walls giving an idea of the type of activity which took place to 'clear out' the previous riff raff.

Nearby were a few piles of money, largely kept around for satisfying his goons who cared about such silly things, along with a number of pieces of jewelry. The latter of which were mostly there to keep the other person currently in the room happy. "Oh, puddin'! Isn't life just grand?!" Shouted the bubbly voice of the female jester known as Harley Quinn, whom had moved to wrap herself somewhat around one side of the chair while holding one hand out with a few dangly, sparkly trinkets decorated her gloved hand, "We never get to do any shopping like this while cooped up in Arkham. And even a non-material girl like myself does like to accessorize from time to time."

For his part, the Joker was satisfied with simply humoring his Harley's own interests, while patiently awaiting for the arrival of his own little obsession. Namely the Bat. There was reason, after all, for the demented criminal mastermind to have placed himself in such an obvious positioning while his goons remained in waiting. "Anything for you, pookie. You know there's nobody else more important in the world." The eternally grinning clown remarked - lying through his teeth while reaching a gloved hand upward to gently run a few fingers along her make up plastered face.

Caught up as they were by each others eccentricities, the Joker wasn't completely oblivious to a brief shadow which appeared near one of the windows. The Bat? No. Even a slip so minor as this wasn't his style. Turning his head toward his 'love', the Joker whispered, "Harley? Be a dear and check outside, will you? I do believe we have a cat prowling along our outdoor window sill."

Blinking a bit, Harley gave a knowing smile before responding with a "Sure thing, Mr. J." before seemingly nonchalantly skipping away out of the room. Exiting through the nearby door, the Joker was thus left sitting there on his own, a seemingly perfect target for taking down and removing an important chess piece from the chaotic chess board that was the city. On the outside, it may have appeared that the lone figure whom had begun to rest his cheek on a propped up hand, elbow placed to the arm of the chair, was simply making plans for the seemingly inevitable confrontation with the Batman. In reality, the pale face madman had far sinister ideas rattling about in that twisted brain of his, as he sat there and waited.

 

[DanceWithDemise]

Selina peered in through one of the dirty, clouded windows for perhaps a moment too long, at first shocked by who she thought she'd seen in side, and then because she was trying to make absolutely sure. A sharp gasp escaped her lips and she retreated back out of view as soon as she suspected that the person - whom Selina was now convinced was the infamous Joker - might be looking in her direction out of the corner of his creepy eyes that always seemed to be filled to the brim with insanity.

Her heart was already beating fast and she was breathing hard just from the thought of the danger that awaited her inside, but Selina knew better than most that great risks often entailed great rewards. The opportunity to take out both the Joker and his impish little accomplice who had just as many screws loose as her master was just too juicy to pass up, especially while they seemed to be alone and she had the element of surprise on her side.

A few seconds later, Catwoman risked another quick glance inside of the room and was delighted to see Harley Quinn stepping outside, thereby eliminating the problem of how she'd be able to take both of the lunatics on at the same time. Before that, she might have been tempted to seem out a way into the Hotel from a different angle where nobody would have noticed her coming in, but the opportunity was so ripe that Selina couldn't pass it up.

Holding on to the pipe, she pulled away from the window again before giving it a hard kick with the heel of her boot, shattering it in what might have been the least subtle breaking and entering maneuver that the master thief had ever pulled. It was intentional, of course, since she didn't know how long the Joker's little pet might be gone and so she couldn't afford to waste time going in quietly. Besides, the windows looked old and worn enough that they would have creaked and cracked no matter how gingerly Selina had tried to open them.

This way, her plan was that the Joker would jump out of his seat in reaction to the unmistakable sound of glass breaking, but by then she'd already have swung inside and uncoiled her whip. All that Selina needed to do was swing the whip in such a way that it coiled around the smiling clown's neck, which would be made easier by the fact that it would take him a second or two to realize what was happening, by which point it would be too late. After that it would just be a matter of closing the distance and plunging her dagger into his heart.

Selina definitely wasn't a killer, nor did she enjoy murder, but with the prisons made obsolete, the police barely hanging on by a thread and hundreds of criminals out on the loose, she didn't see any other options in this particular case. The Joker was too dangerous to be left alive.

 

[Rand]

The Joker showed a surprising display of patience by waiting for Ms. Kyle's next move. Or to see if she would even take the rather tempting bait in the first place. Whether by intention of taking down a dangerous foe to her dear Bat or even to try and swipe a few of his pinched goods out of his grasp. The criminal mastermind needed wait long, however, as the Catwoman quickly made her less than subtle entrance onto the scene. To her credit, this did take the Joker slightly by surprise due to how it clashed with the famed cat burglars usual way of handling matters.

The madman wasn't caught entirely unprepared, however, as he shot up to his feet - that permanent smile making the perfect 'poker face' for what was to come. The crack of the whip came fast enough for him to not be able to avoid it completely, but there was a brief enough window for him to put a hand up to keep it from completely coiling around and firmly strangling at his exposed neck. Standing there with hand fastened to one side of his neck, the Joker gave an amused little chuckle at the kittens presence. "Funny. And here I thought this building had a 'no pets' rule in place." The clown remarked with no limit of amusement to his voice - seemingly uncaring even when it became clear she had a rather 'permanent' solution for dealing with his menace.

"But I suppose there's always somebody wanting to take in strays. How is the old Bat doing these days, anyway?" The Joker added, playing his hand masterfully by seemingly keeping his entire focus on the invading cat burglar - even as another figure managed to slink back into the room through a secondary entrance into the room.

"Back off, kitty cat! Try gettin' your own man to put the squeeze on!" Shouted the bubbly voice of Harley Quinn, as she held up the 'gun' with a rather heavy looking boxing gun apparatus on the end of it. Selina may have had enough time to glance around and get an idea of her situation, but the female jester had already pulled by trigger partway through her sentence - sending the large boxing glove hurling forward with a spring attaching it to the gun barrel as the blunt object collided with her face.

For whatever effect the weapon may have had on the Catwoman, it would surely be enough to keep her from making a quick escape as Harley brought a hand up and whistled for reinforcements while the Joker watched on in mostly silent delight - save for the rather sickening chuckles that escaped his frozen smile covered lips. The following minutes would comprise of several large goons - each with their face painted white and with various clown markings and even a few fake noses decorating their grotesque features - charging into the room and dealing with the likely struggling Selina.

"Strap her to the bed, boys! It's time this kitty got housebroken." The Joker instructed, watching with glee as his main squeeze moved to his side - arm hooked around one of his own, as they watched the cat burglar being tied to the nearby bed. Selina's ankles and wrists would find themselves bound to the four posts of the bed, leaving her in a rather vulnerable position, as the rather brutish looking thugs hovered over her body - each of their eyes peeking down at her firm young body through the grotesque clown make up which covered their less than handsome features.

 

[DanceWithDemise]

So far so good, Selina thought to herself as she successfully coiled the whip around the Joker's neck. Since he'd managed to bring his arm up in time to prevent her from getting a proper choke, it was perhaps not as optimal as it could have been, but on the plus side the arch-villain would stuck defending himself with one hand. Selina knew perfectly well that he was still extremely dangerous despite the handicap, but she was also confident enough in her own abilities to believe that there wasn't a man on Earth who could take her on with her whip coiled around his neck and an arm.

"Don't worry, I won't be long," Catwoman retorted as she drew her knife, a relatively new addition to her arsenal which seemed necessary after the city had gone to hell.

She was just about to close the distance when Harley's unmistakable voice suddenly made her stop and pivot. Where the fuck did she come from!? Selina wondered, and what's tha - but before she could finish her thought the weighed glove had already crashed into her face and sent her reeling. Catwoman dropped the handle of her whip when she reactively brought her hand up to cover her face afterwards, tears welling up in her eyes only briefly before being batted away as she regained her resolve.

At least she still had the knife, and it seemed like she was going to need it since at least half a dozen goons with physiques that could only be the result of some heavy steroid abuse filed into the room moments later. With their face paint and accessories making them look like ghoulish clowns, the scene could easily have been pulled out of some child's nightmare, only it was finitely worse because Selina was very conscious that it was real. And with Harley standing right between her and the window, her only easy path of escape was effectively cut off.

"All this just for me? You shouldn't have..." Selina tried to mask her nerved behind a veil of cockiness right before the first of the thugs came at her. She managed to dodge the first attack while retaliating with a skillfully executed spinning heel kick of her own, and then she managed a shallow cut across another goon's chest before stabbing through something - she wasn't sure what anymore with so many bodies and limbs circling her like sharks - but it wasn't enough.

Not even close. It felt like the room was quickly closing in around her, making Selina feel claustrophobic even though she'd never had problems crawling through tight air vents or any other cramped spaces before. With so many attacks coming from every direction, she could only dodge and deflect so many before a fist brutally impacted her side, nailing her right in the kidney and nearly deactivating the thief-turned-would-be-vigilante instantly. Even if she might have recovered from that, an elbow to the back of Selina's head sealed her defeat, sending her stumbling to her hands and knees.

An arm wrapped tightly across her neck and lifted her back up promptly, chocking her in the process as one of the goons dragged her towards a bed and tossed her on it. She tried to roll away groggily but found herself being held in place by at least four pairs of large, thick fingered hands. By the time that Selina was fully aware of her surroundings again, she'd been tied spread-eagle on the bed, her restraints holding fast no matter how hard she struggled to free herself.

"W-Wait! What..." Selina swallowed hard, her gaze bouncing around frantically between the Joker, Harley and each of the monstrous thugs surrounding her, "What are you going to do to me...?" She asked the question even though she was pretty sure that she didn't want to hear the answer.