Chapter 90. Cats

It had only been a couple minutes since the alarm had been sounded, when the sounds of machine gun fire began to echo in the distance. I even began to worry a little, because even I can't easily dodge automatic weapons, but the shots were not only not going to stop, but also gradually shifted towards the ballroom. To help Bats's girlfriend a bit, I consistently activated several tear gas tabs as the armed guards ran past them, and Mousey tracked all of the enemies' movements, allowing me to take them out of action. After the diversion, the rate of fire slowed considerably, allowing the Cat to make quick work of the remnants of her pursuers, and soon, with a joyous cry of "Here I am!", she kicked down the doors leading to the central hall, successfully pistol-whipping the man sitting in ambush.

At the same time, Lady Minerva, accompanied by Black Mask, Tobias Whale, and several white-suited guards, flew in through the center doors on the second floor.

"What the hell is that!" the stern gaze of the beautiful green eyes stopped on the frozen Cat.

"What a cutie," Harley squeaked excitedly.

" couldn't agree more, but don't forget she's a criminal," I replied with a heavy sigh.

Even the Minerva's face, contorted in anger, was still incredibly beautiful. The tight corset, which emphasized the voluminous breasts of the fourth size, as well as slightly elongated fangs and pointed tips of ears, which became visible thanks to the disheveled hair. Given the strange aura, this was clearly not a costume, but something like Abby's combat uniform, only much less brutal. It's surprising that Interpol isn't aware of the non-human nature of their target. Although they could have withheld the information, and then the reason for turning to the supers becomes clear, because with some freaks and the special forces can not always coexist. 

Meanwhile, Selina deftly pushed off the balustrade of the second floor and, having performed a graceful pirouette in the air, landed right in the center of the hall, forcing the frightened guests to retreat.

"Cats always land on four legs," she sent an air kiss to the furious mistress of the mansion.

"Freeze! I'll give you five million for the head of that cheeky girl!"

And then, as if by magic, a variety of weapons appeared in the hands of most of the dressed-up people present. And if only they were ordinary guns, like the one Harley was holding, aiming at the thief's head, but no. There were sword canes, submachine guns, automatic rifles, a dozen folding halberds, an exotic whip with spikes, not to mention the usual swords and axes. One lady had a block crossbow, and a fat man in a wizard's costume had assembled a natural rocket launcher from his staff in a couple of moments. There were also those who came without weapons, but they quickly acquired them, stealthily knocking out their more prepared colleagues.

Okay. Whoa...

~Bang~

At the last moment I manage to pull the blond cutie's hand up, and the bullet goes higher, depriving our incomparable couple of the promised reward.

The sounded shot was the signal to attack. Numerous guests immediately rushed forward, trying to be the first to get to the desired prey, and some of them opened fire with all guns, creating a real chaos, because the Cat was surrounded, and eighty percent of the shots hit the hunters themselves, while the girl herself ducked sharply, erotically jutting her ass.

"You remember that we have to cover her, right?" I deftly put my cane under the bullets flying at us.

"Oh, right," the blonde tapped her knuckles on her head, making a cute face with her tongue hanging out. "I just heard about the reward and..." she waved her hands frustratedly, managing to maneuver between the criminals and knocking out some of the losers with pistol blows to the head.

"Ha-ha-ha, it happens. I might have been tempted myself, if the amount was ten times higher," I waved my hand at this statement.

The cat was demonstrating a great agility, not only dodging all the blows and shots, but also taking away various valuables, such as rings and necklaces.

A metal drink tray thrown by the thief in the manner of a Frisbee knocks the machine out of the hands of another guest.

"Did anyone order an omelet?" she asks, quickly closing the distance with another loser armed with a long halberd. A graceful kick with her foot, and the criminal slumps to the floor, eyes bulging and gulping for air, while the other men retreat in fear, rightly fearing for their dignity. The whip that followed knocked the rocket launcher out of the hands of the hesitant wizard, and a clear left hook knocked out the fat woman in Zatanna's costume waving her sword.

By the time Minerva and Black Mask's bodyguards reached the center of the hall, Catwoman was already standing at the exit, having managed to disarm more than half of the opponents and scaring off the rest with a quick slaughter. However, the guests had done a good job of shooting at a target that was too fast, being in the company of the same idiots, so most of the injuries were their own fault. I'm surprised there weren't any bodies. I took from "Joker" the well-deserved prize along with the revolver, and now I was quietly watching the development of events, standing next to one of the columns.

"Damn it, do something!" Barbara was furious, seeing the utter failure of her subordinates.

"Ha-ha-ha, don't even try. You can't handle this cat," said Selina, leaving the last word to herself and ran out into the street, where a parked convertible was waiting for her.

As it later turned out, she hadn't come in Black Mask's company, but on her own. The supercriminal was simply a pass for her to the masquerade ball, as it was only possible to attend the event by special invitation. And I wonder how she would have fared if Sionis hadn't fallen for the woman's charms and let the thief enter with her. However, that's in the past, but now Harley and I and Mouse, who had joined us, had to work hard to keep up with the car chase. Fortunately, the narrow streets of the city didn't allow for much acceleration, so our trio could continue to follow the developments. And what can I say, Catwoman has not only feline agility and grace, but also a great reaction with excellent driving skills, because after about ten minutes of the five cars chasing the thief remained only one. But Selina's luck ran out. Another shot from the side door of the criminal (if not bulletproof windshield, it would be easier to aim) managed to penetrate the rear tire, after which the convertible was driven sideways, and he flew at full speed into the wall of the building. The belts and airbag kept the girl from serious injury, but she still took a good bump on the head and lost consciousness.

"There you are," said Whale, approaching the damaged car with a couple of his minions. A few jerks and the door, which had been damaged by the impact, gave way, but then the perpetrator suddenly hit another obstacle. As he tries to grab Catwoman, he immediately gets a few scratches on his arm from the real cat, who bravely rushes to defend her mistress.

"You're up," I slapped the young heroine lightly on the ass.

"Yes," the redhead, whose hair was specially dyed bright red, nodded confidently. A glyph flashes under her feet, shoving the young superheroine forward.

"Bitch!" Minerva's subordinate, who had reached the boiling point, grabbed his pistol and was about to shoot the poor animal, when suddenly a batarang flew in and knocked the weapon out of his hands.

"It's Batman!" the trio of criminals exclaimed in shock, recognizing the gadget in a flash. Then I could see them quickly jump into their car and take off, leaving Mouse to swallow dust and stare in amazement.

***Leviathan's mansion***

"So, I'm listening to you carefully," said the woman sitting at the large oak table in a soft voice. Even at first glance, this piece of furniture looked incredibly expensive, and every single thing in the ornate room, including the simple curtains that had clearly been designed by a talented designer, made it seem so.

Despite the friendly tone, Barbara's subordinates were in no hurry to relax, for the scrutiny of the green eyes did not bode well for them. Standing near the table, Whale, who had been hanging by a thread more than once during his career, felt like a butterfly caught in the clutches of a sadistic entomologist.

Realizing that silence was not an option, the albino mentally crossed himself and still spoke:

"Lady Minerva, it's all Batman," he said with a heavy sigh. With these words, the knee that had been hit by Gotham's nightmare last time started to ache unpleasantly, and the painful memories hidden in the back of his mind began to come back to life, instilling fear in his heart.

"Oh... I understand now," Barbara said meaningfully.

"Really?"

~Bang~

The mistress of the mansion slammed her palm on the table with force, causing the people present in the study to startle. Even the bodyguards standing at the entrance were startled, not expecting such a violent reaction from the usually calm boss. It's various petty scum can afford a vivid expression of emotion, but the big players prefer to act more calmly and even somewhat kindly, demonstrating to everyone and everyone that they are in complete control of the situation. After all, the order to roll another loser in concrete, given in a quiet calm voice, is much more frightening than when it is given by a hysterical woman. And it's easier to maintain a reputation.

"No! Why the hell did you run away from some guy in a latex bat suit?!" a heavy aura of anger descended on the room, causing the intelligent people present to freeze in fear. The master criminals now looked more like rabbits visited by a hungry anaconda.

Tobias was the first to deal with such an unusual attack. One demon in a cloak could bring even more terror, gradually turning into despair, so he was not used to it.

"It's not latex, but a composite polymer reinforced with Kevlar plates..." the albino began to clarify and almost immediately fell silent. Over the years of work in the criminal environment, he was saved by his developed intuition, and now it insistently hinted that one more word off-topic, and his position would go to his deputy, and he himself would go to feed the fish, or some other exotic fauna, and the head of Leviathan never suffered from lack of imagination.

"Go on," she said. Her fangs lengthening slightly, her claws sharpening, and her pupil stretching out to resemble a cat's eye.

"I mean, I was going to say that Batman posed a serious threat. Two years ago, I tried to organize a small business in Gotham, and that big-eared beast managed to ruin all the big deals. At most I was able to sell small quantities of drugs that I would have been ashamed of even at the beginning of my career. Once he managed to break into the mayor's house during a dinner party, where I and a couple of interested parties were discussing ways to smuggle contraband into the city unnoticed!"

"After that, I had to flee the city and move to Metropolis," the man continued. "Many superheroes are like predators. They don't like other "defenders of humanity" operating in their territory. Honestly, I thought I'd be safe if I did the usual drugs and arms smuggling, since Superman is more focused on various terrorists and major disasters, but even there Batman managed to get me. Three months of work and a huge amount of money to bribe officials went down the drain."

"I guess I realized..."

"That's not all," Whale's voice became hysterical." After the Metropolis debacle, I went to Colombia for my health. Sun, sandy beaches, endless ocean, girls. The whole package."

"You mean to say that he got you even on vacation?" the woman was surprised. She did not even imagine what horrors had to go through her subordinate. But due to his punchy character and excellent organizational skills, he was able to enter the inner circle and take over security issues in less than six months. Eventually, thanks to Tobias' extensive acquaintances and reputation, Moxie Mannheim and his gang agreed to join Leviathan, allowing the organization to successfully compete with older criminal networks.

"Well... I was in Rodadero on drug cartel business, but that doesn't change the fact that Batman treacherously attacked us right after the deal. It was in that fight that I hurt my knee and decided to call it quits," he blew noisily into his handkerchief.

"Crime?" was surprised by the guard standing at the entrance.

"What?! Of course not! America. I moved to Europe, hoping that this demon would finally leave me alone, but it seems to be some kind of evil fate. I'm sorry, Lady Minerva, I've brought misfortune upon us all."

"Yeah..." the mistress of the mansion rubbed her temples vigorously. "Now it really makes sense to me."

"That Batman is evil in the flesh?"

"No. It's clear to me that I should hire an in-house psychologist, or I'll go crazy with you. Your Batman is just a regular guy with no superpowers, according to some rumors."

"Pardon me for interfering," said Roman Sionis, who was also participating in the discussion as an aggrieved party and as a future member of Leviathan. Although one of the samples had been stolen, there were still nine doses of the steroid left in the case, not to mention the recipe itself, so given Minerva's personal recommendation, Black Mask joining the cartel could be considered a done deal. "Batman really can be quite the pain in the ass. I've also tried to get a foothold in Gotham at one point, and I've seen him dodge machine gun fire and throw big men around like children."

"Hmm, so the countermeasure isn't big men with machine guns, it's someone else. I have just such people in mind," answered Barbara, taking out her smartphone and scrutinizing the list of contacts. "They'll take care of the cat problem later, too. This little kitty had gotten into the wrong big cat's den. You can't take that kind of humiliation," the claws on the dark-skinned beauty's hands lengthened again, lightly scratching the rugged, customized touch screen.

"I understand correctly that you're not going to give up the meeting?" Roman clarified, watching with interest as the mistress of the mansion did breathing exercises to bring her emotions under control and cancel the transformation that had begun. "No, it's in my best interest, of course, but in view of the new circumstances, maybe it should be postponed. Judging by the fact that Whale and the rest of the guards have successfully reached the mansion, Batman is not interested in our arrest yet and is hardly aware of your little interest group, so there's a chance to just sit tight."

"Or he's just going to cover everyone at once," said the woman with a grin. "No, in such matters you can't give slack, otherwise you can forget about the normal attitude of the big players. After all, your conflict with La Dama should be resolved as soon as possible, before it has not escalated into an acute phase. Besides, in Madrid we will be joined by other members of Leviathan, and if Batman really decides to attack us and by some miracle manages to cope with mercenaries and guards, we will personally show the superhero his place."