Bdubs got home, heart still full from the night's dance. But... still, he wanted something more exciting. He knew Doc, he was sweet but... his style didn't exactly scream the kind of thrilling experience he wanted at the moment. He could save the calm moments for Doc though.
He glanced at his TV, remembering what he'd seen earlier... maybe the Bat would be willing to come out and play tonight. That could certainly be a thrill, if even a smidge of the rumors about him were true...
Doc came home to the Batcomputer alerting him of a silent alarm. "Really?"
Zloy chuckled, "Perhaps I should put a five minute buffer on the alarm?"
"No... give me a moment-" Doc rushed to change into his suit. "Just- one minute-"
He switched out into the Batman suit as fast as he could, then ran to his car to get details on the issue. A few silent alarms from one of the richer areas of town...
Theories ran through his head as he drove to the location. Was it a normal burglary? It didn't seem like an accident with how many there were. He checked the police radio and there wasn't anything on it yet. Maybe the residents were all still asleep, or not home... could be something planned.
He parked in an alleyway, grappled up to the nearby building's roof, and took out his binoculars. He looked around the building, trying to spot any thieves or otherwise unusual activity in the apartment... nothing. No forced entry. Nobody sneaking around. Absolutely nothing inside the buildings.
"Hey handsome." A voice teased from above, and Batman immediately looked up as his hand jolted to his utility belt. "Ooh... those pictures really don't do you justice. You're much better in person."
A smaller, slimmer man stood next to a billboard, whip in hand. He wore something similar to Batman, just with more of a cat theme. And more fit for thievery rather than detective work.
"Excuse me?" The hero tried to not seem as flustered and confused as he was.
"Oh come on now, who do you think tripped the alarm?" The thief chuckled. That much was obvious.
"But why-?"
"To get your attention of course." Cat chuckled, messing with his whip. "Catch me if you can!"
And then he ran off. Batman stared after him for a moment before chasing. Was this guy really just looking for his attention?? Or was this a ruse to cover up what he'd stolen?? He leapt between the gaps of buildings, struggling to catch up for a minute and having to weave between scaffolding.
Black Cat glanced back, smiling as he saw the Bat chasing after him. Someone could keep up with him after all. He leapt off the roof, unaware of the near heart attack he gave the vigilante.
'WHAT IS HE- Oh god-' Batman watched the thief swing to another, lower rooftop with his whip, sighing and going to glide after him. 'Time to really put this gliding mechanic to the test-'
His cape stiffened to act more like a hang-glider as he leapt off the building to be able to catch up with Cat. He wasn't sure if he could grapple fast enough just yet- not without nearly getting himself killed. Gliding seemed least likely at the moment to end with him faceplanting.
Fortunately he managed to get ahead of the thief, stepping in his way while Cat checked behind him for any sign of the Bat.
"That's enough."
Black Cat jumped a bit. "Whoa- Hehe, you are sneaky, aren't you?"
"Enough of the games. Why did you actually set off the alarm?"
"Pfft- you really don't believe I did it to get your attention?" Cat walked up to him, resting a hand on his chest. Batman tried to not flinch or seem flustered, not moving from where he was to stare down Cat.
"No, I don't."
Well, he didn't before. He was starting to now.
"Awww..." The thief pouted, before smiling and pushing Batman off the roof. Shit.
Batman swore loudly as he fell onto a fire escape, somehow not breaking anything and just being in pain and dazed. That sneaky little-
"Hehe- guess bats don't handle heights as well as I thought. May as well take something to remember you by..." Cat mused, Batman barely being able to process what was said or done as the thief leaned down.
By the time Batman could get himself up, the thief had run off... he went to grab his grappling hook but- he'd run off with his utility belt. Shit.
"Oh god... Zloy and Pix are gonna kill me for this." Batman grumbled under his breath, struggling to get to his feet.
"I'm sorry, you loST IT-" Pix was visibly trying to not just yell.
"Not lost- someone stole it-" Doc sighed.
"That's- That isn't possible, I put the lock on it for a reason- Only you should be able to take it off!" Pix groaned a bit. "Unless- how high did you fall?"
"A few stories." Doc recalled, his body aching again just thinking about it.
"Oh... It might have been damaged in the fall..." Pix thought aloud, then groaned again. "Don't you have a grappling hook so you don't fall several stories??"
"Just shut up-" The vigilante grumbled. "I'm gonna hear enough from Zloy later-"
"Yeah, and from me!" The other man scolded. "Just- Just tell me you're sure the tracking on it is working..."
Bdubs was poking at random shit on the belt. He'd found smoke bombs, lockpicks, bat-shaped boomerangs (batarangs were a fun name for it), and... ooh.
"This one looks different..." Cat held up a batarang, one that looked like it had little fans attached to it and more mechanics. He then glanced at the little control pad he'd pried out of the belt... maybe that's what it did.
Zloy was having a calm night. He really was.
THUD.
The man sighed a bit, and went to check if that was Doc coming back from a rough night. It, in fact, was not.
"... oh dear."
The experimental mech suit Doc had been working on after being shot at one too many times was now moving on its own accord, seemingly. Joy.
Zloy just called Doc for help, watching the suit aimlessly stumble around and smash into walls. After a minute, Batman drove in, panicked and making sure Zloy was okay before dealing with the rampaging tech.
"C'mon... work-" Bdubs huffed, needing a few tries before getting the batarang to work. "Finally!"
The little device whizzed around the room, Black Cat needing a few times to get used to the controls. He quickly learned it was designed to be able to pick things up and carry them over, especially with how compact it was... it was purr-fect for his target. This time he'd win.
"You don't think he could retrace the signal to here, do you..?" Zloy asked, watching Doc trace the signal to Cat's current location.
"I hope not... otherwise..."
"We'd have to rename the place the Cat Cave?"
"Very funny." Doc snorted, getting a ping. Cat was on the move... and heading in the direction of their last target. He was after the Jade Tiger again. "Hideo Katsu..."
Maybe he could multitask here. Take down the head of the Yakuza crime family and get this tech back... Hopefully Pix could fix the lock on the belt once he got it back. And hopefully the Black Cat hadn't figured out too much about his tech...
Cat watched as the security guards passed by his route in and out of the place. It was much more guarded than the last time... more searchlights, more people on the clock. Damn.
Well... that didn't matter. He had new toys on his side.
He took a second to choose between a smoke bomb and a decoy, and went with the decoy. He set it to the sound he'd added and threw it into the bushes nearby.
"Meorw?"
The guard jumped a bit at hearing the rustle followed by the human-like meow, and went to check what that was. He didn't notice Cat swing behind him and onto the searchlight. The thief watched the guards inside move about before making another move to leap into the building.
He slunk inside, pulling out the remote control batarang. Cat smiled and sent the little thing off. Through the lasers, without a hitch. Grabbed the statue, without a problem. Got the statue out, no issue. Finally.
Cat scooped both up into his bag and ran for the exit... only for it to be blocked. Shit.
Katsu stood between the thief and his way out, along with two guards. "I'm afraid I can't let you leave with that, little Cat."
Black Cat narrowed his eyes with a fake smile. "Sorry guys, I have plans! Can't stay too long."
"Please. I insist." The man chuckled darkly, prompting the guards to pull out their weapons.
"Then I insist you eat steel!" Cat threw the batarang at him, only for a throwing star to come out of nowhere to intercept it. 'Shit.'
He watched as his "borrowed" weapon embedded itself into the floor, sparking from the other chunk of metal stuck in it.
Cat glanced up to see about a dozen ninjas above him. Uh oh.
"Just as a cat has many lives, a dragon has many fangs." Katsu chuckled.
This was a bit much for just a statue. "Hehe... you know what, keep it."
The man didn't take him seriously and scowled. "Destroy him nine times over!"
Shit. Black Cat tried making his way up, to a window he'd mentally marked as an emergency exit. He tried swinging up, only for a dagger to skim his hand and make him flinch enough to let go of his whip and fall back down. He scrambled to his feet and backed away from the group of ninja assassins.
Okay, okay. Think.
Cat felt his back bump against the wall. Oh great.
The thief was sure he was dead... until he saw a familiar bat-like silhouette loom over them all.
Katsu looked alarmed for a moment, watching Batman glide down between Black Cat and the ninjas.
"Do you too have business with the Cat?"
"As a matter of fact, I do." Batman scowled a bit at the thief, who just smiled awkwardly. "But he's going into custody. All nine lives intact."
"I'm afraid not. Get out of the way."
The ninjas raised their weapons again. Batman glanced back at Cat again, then sighed as he grabbed a batarang from the belt around the thief's waist, throwing it at Katsu so the group would all lurch to protect him. He then grabbed Cat by the waist, getting his grappling hook and trying to get them up to the beams above.
"Nice job, handsome!" Cat grinned, then yelped as a sword was thrown and cut the rope. Batman held Cat to his chest, rolling to take the fall better before leaping up and letting go of the thief.
"Great..."
"You said it." Cat chuckled softly, offering his hand. "Wanna dance?"
He swore he saw a slight smile flicker across the vigilante's face as he took the hand and swung Cat towards the ninja. The thief kicked at them, aiming to disarm them first before trying to knock them out with kicks to the jaw on the next go.
"Nice moves." Batman then grabbed a fallen sword to deflect a blow aimed at Cat.
"You're not bad yourself." Cat decided to do the same, the two managing to fight their way up, lifting each other up each floor until they got to the beams. The ninja left conscious kept coming back, slowing down their escape more and more while Katsu just watched coldly. Pushing another ninja away with a kick, Cat quickly crouched down and offered Batman a boost up. Bats took the help, being boosted up with an "ally-oop!"
Cat had to fight off the ninjas that had shimmied their way up to the beam before noticing Batman trying to shoot his grapple up, being shoved and missing. The thief grabbed the grapple as it fell, yanking it to a secure spot to hook onto so Batman could climb up and join him.
"Thanks-" Batman grunted out once he met up with Cat. He then felt something tug him back, and he held back a startled cry as he was pulled back by the cape. He barely managed to catch the beam below him before seeing the last ninja standing above him, sword ready to slice down at his hands. He saw Cat hesitate, then stand up and grab the bag with the statue tightly.
He squeezed his eyes, bracing for impact, but-
"MEORW-"
The thief slammed the bag against the ninja as he leapt down, knocking the guy out cold and letting him fall. Cat rushed to help Batman up before he slipped and then checked on the statue.
"Shit- It's brok- ... what is..?"
He carefully pulled out a small disk hidden in the shattered pieces. Batman's eyes narrowed and darted down to Katsu as he realized he needed to run. "Something he wouldn't want getting out."
The two quickly tied the man up before he could flee, leaving the disk for the police. When they heard sirens, they both ran out.
"Well~ That was fun, handsome, and I appreciate the save, but I gotta-" Cat went to swing off, but Batman gently grabbed his shoulder. "Hm~?"
"My utility belt."
Cat pouted. "Aww, but I was just getting used to it..."
The vigilante just glared.
"Fine- clashed with my goggles anyway." He sighed, unclipping the belt and throwing it just a bit past the Bat, who turned to catch it.
When he looked back... the Black Cat was gone.
"When I said to make more friends in Gotham, this is not what I meant." Zloy teased, watching the news of "Black Cat and Batman: Partners in Crime?"
Doc just groaned. "It was a temporary thing. I let him off because he saved my ass and it only felt fair. Next time, I won't go easy on him, man."
"Whatever you say."
Bdubs chuckled softly, watching an interview with the police on last night's fiasco. "Good to know that asshole's getting arrested..."
He pet the nearest kitty with an amused hum.
"Maybe the Batman will be a good playmate for longer than I thought... we do work so purr-flectly together, you should've seen it." He then couldn't help but laugh at himself, before grabbing his phone and going to text Doc for a hangout to wind down from yesterday's thrill.
----
*sob* why did this take so fucking long we literally completed the next chapter with Kit so fucking fast what the FU-
*ahem* anyway! Hope you've enjoyed! We have some fun plans for this AU, and we hope you'll find them all entertaining :D
The art at the beginning has nothing to do with this chapter but it does include our own drawing of Two-Face!Pearl :3
Once again, special thanks to KitExists for helping us with the next chapter. I don't think this AU would exist (hehe) at all without her. <3
On that note, have an amazin' day, evening, and night! Good bye :D
- CaptainCinnabon (two sides, same coin.... *cackles*)