” Felicia and Holly are my best thieves,” The Cat said. “I’m sure they won’t disappoint.”

Carmine smiled at Felicia. “They better not. I don’t want a repeat of that clean up incident earlier this week.”

Felicia perked up a little. What did he mean by clean up incident?

“I’ll see you later, Mr. Cat,” Carmine said, leaving the office. “You better not disappoint.”

Carmine left the room. Felicia didn’t realise she was all tensed up until Carmine’s footsteps receded and she felt like she could finally breath again.

It seemed The Cat could finally breath too.

“Can I get you anything?” he asked.

“That was…” Holly said, Felicia noticed she looked a little pale.

“Yes, Carmine Falcone,” The Cat said.

“I thought the Falconies were…” Felicia said.

“Please let’s not speak about him for any longer than we have to,” The Cat interrupted. “There’s a mission I have for the both of you and I expect you to complete it.”

“What’s the mission?” Felicia asked.

“Glad you asked,” The Cat said. “Do you know the ship, the Dolphin?”

Both Holly and Felicia shook their heads.

“Well, it’s a ship,” the Cat said. “Makes its rounds once every few years.” The Cat pulled out a large roll of paper from his shelf and spread it across the table. Felicia and Holly leaned over it.

“They hold an auction selling stolen black-market goods,” The Cat said. “The rich and powerful of Gotham, crime bosses included all attend.”

“And you want us to steal something when we’re surrounded by a bunch of criminals?” Felicia asked.

“Like I said,” the Cat said. “You too are my best thieves.”

The Cat pulled out another image and placed it on the table. It was a beautiful green necklace that felt like it was gleaming under the light even if it was a flat image. “What Carmine Falcone wants is this. An emerald necklace worth 1 million dollars.”

Felicia wanted to scoff. What would Falcone even need with this money? Didn’t he make enough selling drugs to kids and distributing weapons?

“So what?” Felicia said. “You want us to walk into a place that’s going to be heavily guarded and steal something? We might be really good thieves but that’s suicide.”

“No good thief carries out a mission without a plan,” The Cat said with a grin. “I’ll let you in on the brief this Friday. The ship lands on port this Sunday. You both better be prepared.”

The Cat rolled up the blueprints and placed the image in his pocket. “My ass is at stake here too,” he muttered underneath his breath.

…

As they left the office, Felicia noticed Holly hadn’t said anything.

“You look pale,” Felicia said. “What’s up?”

Holly quickly smiled to cover up her scared expression. “We should be talking about you instead. What was that falling out you mentioned?” She failed.

Felicia placed a reassuring hand on Holly’s shoulder. “Holly, you can talk to me. I’m your friend.”

“It’s just…” Holly said. “I joined this to make a quick buck and now we’re doing a mission for Carmine Falcone. Don’t you think that’s odd and a little too…”

“Suspicious?” Felicia said. “I think so too.”

“I was about to say quick,” Holly said. “But yeah. Also, I don’t like the guy. My dad used to work as muscle under one of Falcone’s guys. Let’s just say my dad wasn’t so nice.”

“There’s also something I caught,” Felicia said. “Something about a clean up operation. It got me thinking…”

Both Felicia and Holly stopped in their tracks. “What happened to those other kids who were stealing with us?”

…

Catwoman had been on a rampage.

Many of Falcone’s officers had been sent to the hospital with scratches across their faces. Deep scratches. Not to mention the signs of battle Batman found in some of the warehouses him and Gordon had raided. Her actions were not as deliberate and precise as before. Many men were in the hospital near death. Something had happened to her that caused her actions to become so rash.

It seemed, no matter how close they got to Falcone, he was always one step ahead and Catwoman was making it worse. Her rash actions made it so that Falcone started playing his games more carefully. It seemed Falcone was always one step ahead of them at all times.

The man who had lost his family during The Long Halloween had drastically changed, He was starting to work with the freaks, the people he looked down upon years ago.

No, it wasn’t that Falcone was changing. Organised crime in Gotham was and Batman didn’t like it.

There was a pattern to Catwoman’s attacks on Falcone’s money laundering warehouses. Mainly that they were run by some of Falcone’s most trusted officers. She was trying to get their attention and Batman knew her next target.

The Amusement Mile warehouse had been untouched for quite a while. Not many people visited Amusement Mile after the Joker incident, the giant clown plastered in the centre of a giant rusted rollercoaster was anything if not an unneeded reminder of the events of last year. Not to mention that the streets were old and weary, the city barely paying a dime for the old amusement park. The city being even less inclined to do so after the Joker.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

The abandoned nature of Amusement Mile and its cheap warehouses made it a perfect spot for Falcone and any other criminal to smuggle the most dangerous goods in their possession. Namely cocaine and meth. It would also be a giant hit to Falcone’s profits if Catwoman attacked it.

However, if she attacked it now, it would lead to complications as it would prevent Batman and the GCPD from tracking down the supply routes. If Catwoman’s actions caused Falcone to pull out his operation from Amusement Mile, they wouldn’t be able to get any leads and Falcone and whoever was financing him would still remain elusive.

That’s why Batman had to act and subdue Catwoman if he had to.

…

The rusted walkway creaked as she jumped down from the window. A large, cat like shadow was cast against the wall. Catwoman leaned on the edge of the railing, tracking the ‘security guards’ doing their rounds around the building, flashlights darting across the weathered cargo boxes in the factory.

Once she burned this factory down, she’d attract the attention of Vito one of Falcone’s right-hand men and be one step closer to finding out the answers she had sacrificed so much to gain. As she stepped on the walkways she felt the wind ruffle around.

The world suddenly snapped around her, she darted out of the window with the force of a slingshot, dangling above the warehouse like a pendulum. She was wrapped in a tight fibre that she struggled to get out off. She heard his heavy footsteps and almost rolled her eyes.

“If I didn’t know you any better I’d say you like seeing me tied up,” Catwoman said.

“What do you know about the Cat?” Batman asked.

“You’re telling me you tracked me down all the way here to ask me that?” Catwoman asked. “You’re really persistent.”

“I tracked you down here because your actions have been reckless,” Batman said. “If you keep on doing this you’ll scare away Falcone’s men and the GCPD…”

Catwoman feigned a yawn. “Yeah, yeah. Tell me something more interesting.”

“Fine,” Batman said. “I know where Falcone’s going to be.”

Now that was interesting.

“And how do you know that?” Catwoman asked. “Why should I trust you?”

“Let’s just say Falcone’s officer Vito will be making the news tomorrow.”

“And why would I care where Falcone is?”

“You’ve been attacking warehouses,” Batman said. “Locations linked to his most profitable ventures and his top officers. It seems you care where Falcone is.”

Catwoman was silent.

“Your behaviour,” Batman said. “Are you a business partner of his, perhaps? A lover? His daug…”

“What the hell do you want?” Catwoman shouted. “The Cat! I’ll tell you everything I know about him, just tell me where the hell…”

“Tell me what you know about the Cat,” Batman said.

“He’s a thief,” Catwoman said. “You pay him a certain amount and he steals for you. Doesn’t matter who pays him or what you want stolen, he’ll do it for you. Now tell me what you know about…”

“There’s more,” Batman said. “More you’re not telling me.”

“Are you always this impossible?” Catwoman grumbled. “Fine. The thing is he doesn’t do the stealing himself. He finds a bunch of talented kids, kids nobody will miss, kids that are… disposable.” Catwoman said that word with distaste in her mouth. “He gives them homes, food, whatever it is they want in return for their services but once he’s done with them, if they’re not able to perform as well or if they slow down his business he… he gets rid of them.”

Slowly the pieces started to come together. Batman realised what Falcone’s next move was going to be.

“Friday night, the Dolphin yacht,” Batman said. “That’s where Falcone is going to be alongside other black-market bidders.”

The wires loosened around Catwoman, falling to the floor. “Why thank you.”

Batman tried running after her but she was already on another rooftop before he could move.

That was fine. He’d deal with her once and for all when they had their run in on the Dolphin.

Till then, preparations had to be made.

…

Felicia didn’t know why she went to school that morning. She chalked it up to the routine or just the quaintness of it all but she knew those were just excuses. What she was doing was stupid. If Selina wanted to track her down, she could but surprisingly she didn’t and Felicia would be lying to herself if she said she didn’t feel a tiny bit of sadness at that fact.

But today was a unique day of school. For one thing, resident loner Peter Parker was staring at her with what looked like concern in his eyes and later at lunch he struck up a conversation with her.

“Hey um…” Peter said. “God this is so stupid,” he muttered to himself.

“Are you asking me out?” Felicia asked.

“No, no,” Peter said, reddening. “It’s just… you know what never mind.”

And then he walked off. Weird. That afternoon, Felicia vowed she wouldn’t go back to school again. She was saying goodbye to Felicity Harmon and Gotham High.

But then the strangest thing happened in the afternoon.

For one thing Spider-Man swooped in and grabbed her. She had learned self-defence, she managed to elbow him in the face and land safely on the rooftop unharmed.

She started to make a run for it, wondering how the hell he knew when she felt a web stick to her wrist, pinning her against a generator.

“Look,” Spider-Man said. “I’m not here to take you in. If you did you’d probably be in more danger. Whoever you’re working with, he’s dangerous. He has shady connections and the more you get involved with him…”

“I know that,” Felicia said.

Spider-Man looked genuinely confused. “You did?”

“Yeah,” Felicia said with a smile. “What I didn’t know was that Spider-Man went to my school.”

“What?” Spider-Man said. “Where’d you get that idea?”

“Felicity isn’t my real name,” Felicia said. “It’s Felicia Hardy. I figure since you know I’m a thief, you should tell me who you are in return.”

“How do you know it’s not one of my super powers,” Spider-Man said. “Knowing people. X-Ray vision.”

Felicia leaned against the generator. “Like what you see Mr. X-Ray Vision. You’re a really bad liar you know that.”

Spider-Man was quiet for a while. “You know what? Bye. Make sure you’re in a dangerous situation, you hear me?”

“You’re not going to get me out of here,” Felicia said.

“You’re much safer there,” Spider-Man said. “It’s for your own good.”

Spider-Man swung away. Felicia grinned, maybe she would go back to school. After today, it sure as hell got a lot more interesting.

…

Bruce had called Peter and Jason to the Batcave for an important meeting. As he swung his way to Wayne Manor, Peter couldn’t help but think…

“Damn I’m an idiot, damn I’m an idiot.”

As he dashed towards the Batcave, he had to resist the urge to punch himself in the face. He knew it was Felicity… no Felicia the moment he saw the necklace he bought for Barbara around her neck but Peter had no idea how he was going to confront her about it. And then Jason and Peter found out about those kids that asshole killed and well he didn’t want her to die.

He just had to play it cool and hope to God she didn’t find out it was him.

And he made a promise to never tell Bruce about this. Never, ever tell Bruce about this.

“You’re late,” Bruce said.

“School,” Peter muttered. “What’s the mission? What are we doing?”

An image of a huge yacht ship popped into existence on the monitor of the Batcomputer.

“The Dolphin,” Bruce said. “This is a ship owned by the Maggia of New York City. It goes around the ports of the world, inviting the rich and powerful to take part in black-market bids for expensive, stolen goods.”

“What about this ship?” Jason asked. “What are we going to do?”

“Carmine Falcone is going to be on it,” Bruce said. “As we all know, Carmine Falcone has made something of a comeback lately, funding his operations with an unknown source of funding. I’ve recently been made aware of that source.”

A picture of a well-dressed old man in a white suit flashed on the screen. “The Cat. Real name, unknown. He runs a service whereby for a certain price you can hire him and his group of thieves will steal a valuable object for the contractor. We will find the Cat and Falcone and we will make them talk.”

“And how are we going to do that?” Jason asked.

” The party is a masquerade,” Bruce said. “You and Peter will infiltrate as bellboys. Alfred will be cleaning your suits.”

To be continued…