“They’re going to be railings in the auction room, your job Felicia will be to get up to those railings. Holly will be headed to the generator room. Both of you will be stationed there until the emerald necklace is put up for auction. The moment it’s put on display, Felicia will give Holly a call and you’ll turn of the power. That’s your signal to go in, grab the necklace and return. Backup power will return in 10 minutes, when those 10 minutes are up we’ll already be at the drop off point with the necklace in hand,” The Cat said. “Do we understand?”

Felicia and Holly nodded.

“Good, now let’s get to work.”

…

The Dolphin lit up the inky dark seas of Gotham like a beacon. The large yacht ship had sailed far out in the middle of Gotham waters. A small motorboat parked at the side of the ship. In that boat, Felicia and Holly stood up. They tossed an anchor overboard in case escape plan A failed. Felicia and Holly got ready, putting on their masks and gloves that allowed them to latch onto metallic surfaces like the side of the boat.

“Gotham looks so pretty from here,” Holly said, staring at the little pinpricks of lights that made up the city from afar.

“It always looks pretty from far away,” Felicia said. “But if you look a little deeper…”

Felicia pointed at the city now reflected in the dark sea, the lights and buildings looking more and more like a distorted painting than the beautiful pinpricks of light they saw in the distance.

Felicia leapt out of the boat. She felt the magnetic pull of the gloves as she attached herself to the side of the Dolphin and started to climb. Holly stayed on the boat.

“Come on, Holly,” Felicia said. “We don’t have all day.”

Holly sighed. “I… I don’t know Felicia. I have a bad feeling about this.”

Felicia climbed down and turned. “What’s wrong?”

“First Falcone and now this ship full of criminals,” Holly said. “It just… it’s scary. I just wanted to make a quick buck. I didn’t want to be involved with all of these dangerous people.”

“We’ll be okay,” Felicia said. “If there’s anything we taught ourselves living in Gotham it’s how to fight for ourselves. And after this you won’t have to work for them anymore, you can just run away. I’ll help you.”

Holly crossed her arms. “God I hope so.” Holly put on her magnetic gloves.

“You ready?” Felicia asked.

Holly gave her a weak smile. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

…

It was like déjà vu. The smell of rich cologne, the expensive clothes, the fake laughter and the wine. It was just like her mission on the Red Rose, when she was still looking for him, Carmine Falcone.

And he was here, he was so close. This corrupt masquerade party with a guest list filled to the brim with Gotham’s most prominent figures: her senators, her mayors and her most popular socialites. It’s been said the Waynes used to get invited to this ball.

And who wouldn’t be tempted to attend? For if you were considered a VIP you would get access to the auction where rare, exotic objects from artefacts to paintings and sometimes even foreign weapons were put up for sale. Most of them stolen. And in order to attend that auction you needed a VIP pass, something that Selina didn’t have.

But she would soon enough.

She’d snuck a glance at the VIP guest list and taking a look at them now, pegged Denny Travers as her target.

There, in the centre of the room in a black butterfly mask and green suit, him and his Aunt were surrounded by men and women. His Aunt’s laughter could be heard from here, her lavish green dress, loud voice and studded mask demanding the attention of everybody around her. Meanwhile, poor Denny seemed to shrink underneath her shadow, meekly answering whatever question was thrown at him but before he could even speak his Aunt’s booming voice overtook him, leaving him to shrink even more. It was no surprise Denny was Martha Travers favourite nephew.

This was what made him an easy target.

When Marten Travers left his Aunt’s circle of yes-men to grab a drink, Selina followed him to the bar. Marten leaned over the counter.

“Um, one martini please,” Marten said.

Selina took the seat next to him.

“Are you Martin Travers?” Selina asked, turning her full body to face him. “Shareholder of Travers Chemical Inc.”

Marten turned and almost staggered, surprised such a pretty girl was talking to him. “Um… who’s asking?”

“Isn’t the whole point of wearing a mask to keep our identities secret?” Selina said and then smiled.

“I… that’s true,” Marten said. “But then how do you know who I am?”

“Anybody would realise that old hag with or without her mask,” Selina said, turning her head to Marten’s Aunt.

Marten chuckled. “Tell me about. Only reason I put up with her is to keep my position.”

Selina placed a hand on his shoulder and winked at him. “Maybe I can show you some more positions if you know what I mean.”

The man chuckled nervously. “Oh.”

Selina placed a hand on this thigh.

“Oh.”

Soon Marten was knocked out in the janitor’s closet with his half-unbuttoned pants. Selina slipped her VIP pass in her pocket and headed back to the ball, waiting for the special auction to start.

Amidst the crowd of thousands, she saw a flash of white hair headed up to the Auction Room.

“Felicia?” Selina said, she followed that streak of white hair, shoving through the crowds. She desperately wanted to apologise, desperately wanted to make things right. She pushed into a woman causing their wine to stain her dress. The person complained but Selina ignored. The girl with white hair merged into a crowd, Selina pushed through it but the girl had already disappeared.

Selina cursed, clenching her fists. At that moment, when she turned around she saw none other than Carmine Falcone head into the auction room. There he was, climbing up the stairs in his white suit, a warm smile on his face. His hair was starting to grey and he had his signature rose in his coat pocket. Even with the Falcon mask over his face, there was no mistaking that rose.

Finally, the answers she was looking for were right in front of her. Selina put on the best smile she could muster and followed him into the auction room.

…

If there was one thing that was constant in Peter Parker’s life, it was that, no matter what he did whether it was as simple as task as working as a waiter or having a simple work life balance, he would always find a way to suck at it.

“Palmer, where’s your head at?” shouted the supervisor. “Get those drinks over at table 52 right now!”

Peter scrambled to pick up all the glasses on the plate before scattering out of the kitchen and into the ballroom with a metal platter stacked with wine glasses.

Peter walked into the ballroom. Making his way to table 52 with all these masked guests standing in his way and glasses on the platter was like trying to navigate a minefield with his legs tied together. He may have had super strength but with the way the glasses wobbled and the ship shook ever so slightly, no amount of super strength would help with his anxiety.

He weaved through the guests, checking the table numbers from the corner of his eyes. He avoided large groups of people, a stray elbow or two and the occasional guest who suddenly broke away from his group. He finally made it to table 52, breathing a huge sigh of relief.

But that was when his Parker luck decided to strike.

A person shifted his chair back, Peter avoided it but then he bumped into someone.

And the glasses cascaded onto the floor like a hailstorm, expensive wine spilled onto the floor, piling up into a pond of an opaque white liquid.

And to make matters worse, some of that liquid had spilled onto a woman wearing a shiny silver dress that looked very expensive. The woman stared at Peter with fire in her eyes.

Peter let out a heavy sigh.

…

Below basked in an icy glow, men and women in masks stood in front of a stage with blue curtains. Amidst the crowds with a rose in his lapel was Carmine Falcone wearing a (ha ha) falcon mask and surrounded by bodyguards. From up here, Felicia could pinpoint each of their positions, stout men in bear masks intermingled within the crowds, two of them at Falcone’s side. The Cat was dressed in his usual white suit and top hat with a Cat mask on.

“I’m in position,” Felicia said into her headset.

“I’m almost there,” Holly said.

Felicia watched the crowd mingling with each other. Their laughter could even be heard from up above the railings.

Someone stepped onto the stage onto the podium.

“Excuse me, ladies and gentleman,” the man said. He wore a bright yellow mask that covered the top half of his face. “May I please have your attention. The auction is about to begin. Please take your seats so that we may start the proceedings.”

…

It was easy to keep track of Falcone. What wasn’t easy was pinpointing the location of his guards. Scattered around the room in strategic positions to prevent an assassination, they blended in well with the room so as to not attract any attention to themselves. The masks made it even harder to find them. Flanking Falcone’s side were two big burly men with bear masks wearing comms in their ears. Selina scanned the room, looking for men with comms but they were so many. Lawyers, businessmen and CEOs all wearing some device or another in their ears. It would be difficult to find them amidst the sea of people.

Seeing those headsets, Selina had an idea.

When the lights dimmed and the auction started, one of the Bear Butlers separated himself from Falcone’s side and stood still at the side. Selina distracted him with a coin. He followed the sound into the shadows. The bodyguard’s muffled grunts were silenced by the loud noises. Selina removed the earpiece and attached it to her ear, walking into the crowd. She started breathing into the mouthpiece.

“The Dragon Vase,” said the auctioneer. “Final bid, 19 million dollars.”

Selina looked around, still breathing. Bear Butler at Falcone’s side got out of his seat.

She saw someone amidst the crowd, sitting a few seats behind Falcone place a finger to his earpiece.

” Going once.”

Two people standing by the drink’s aisle placed started looking confused.

“Going twice.”

And one more, standing upstairs, looking down at the auction below.

“Sold to the highest bidder.”

…

His manager wouldn’t let him hear the end of it. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Jason snicker.

“You’re fired!” shouted his manager. “Once we’re docked I don’t want to see your ugly mug, Palmer.”

Peter left the kitchen, all the while Jason stared at him with a smug grin on his face. He wondered what he was going to tell Bruce, wincing at the thought of what he’d say.

“You were supposed to be subtle!” Bruce would yell at him. “Spilling glasses at customers is not subtle!”

Peter sighed, looking over the edge of the ship. Gotham city was a beautiful blur of lights in the distance. The bright silver glow of the moon lit up the dark depths of the murky sea below.

It was quiet here, very nice. Peter let out a yawn and stretched, enjoying the view until he heard the sound of a feint rumble. Stretching over the railings he saw a motorboat park itself right next to the side of the ship. Peter followed its trail, hiding behind a wall as he saw a girl with familiar ashen hair and another dark-skinned girl he didn’t know climb abroad.

They both had masks covering their face but there was no mistaking who was behind the masks. They were making a plan, saying something about generators and turning off the power.

“Felicity,” he whispered to himself.

They both separated, Felicity walking right underneath him as Peter clung closely to the rooftop.

He stalked after her, sending a message to Jason.

I have something for you. Go to the generator room. NOW!

Peter stalked after Felicity, his spider suit starting to itch underneath his tuxedo.

...

In the distance Holly heard the rumbling of the generator. As soon as she got there she heard her headset crackle to life and Felicia’s voice on the other end of them.

“I’m in position.”

“I’m almost there,” Holly replied.

She swerved through similar looking hallways, avoiding guards until she made it to the circuit breaker, the rumbling of the generator louder in her ears this time around.

“I’m in position,” Holly said.

“Okay, on my signal you shut down the power,” Felicia said.

…

“The Greed Island painting,” said the auctioneer. “50 million dollars, going once, going twice. Sold to the highest bidder!”

There was a round of light applause. Valets lined up and put the painting in storage to wrap it up for the next prospective buyer, a few minutes later the item Felicia had been waiting for was put up in a glass case ready to be auctioned off.

“The emerald necklace, an heirloom passed down from generation to generation in one of Gotham’s most prominent families,” said the auctioneer. “Before being stolen and lost for many more generations. Until today. Starting at 7 million this precious heirloom can be yours ladies and gentleman. The bid starts…”

…

“Now,” Felicia shouted. Holly grabbed the switch but before she could pull it down a sharp pain shot through her hand. She saw a boomerang stuck in her palm that looked surprisingly like the ones she saw stuck on random buildings in Gotham. The type of boomerang the Batman used. She turned to see not the Batman but…

“Long time no see,” said Robin. He was wearing a tuxedo instead of his body armour but the mask and grin were unmistakeable.

“Holly what’s going on,” Felicia said.

“Robin is here, I repeat Robin is…”

Holly felt the world around her turn as Robin drop kicked her in the stomach.

…

“9 million,” said the auctioneer.

“10.”

“10.5 million,” said the auctioneer. “10.5 million going once…”

” Holly…” Felicia said through grit teeth, her body tense. “What the hell is going on?”

“Going twice.”

Someone raised their plank. Felicia looked and she saw it was Carmine Falcone. The falcon mask made it pretty obvious.”

“11 million dollars,” the auctioneer said. “Do I have any more bids?”

…

Falcone felt the cold muzzle of a gun poke his back. He reached for the earpiece on his side but heard a sharp hiss.

“Move and I’ll shoot.”

It was a woman’s voice. He risked a look from the corner of his eyes. He saw a lady with a purple dress and a cat mask, sitting up straight and feigning paying attention to the auction in front of her.

Her timing couldn’t have been any worse. Falcone was toe to toe with some Arabian aristocrat for the Emerald Necklace when him and his men should have been sailing away right about now. He’d have a word with The Cat after this.

“11.5 million,” said the auctioneer.

Carmine raised his plaque.

“I said don’t move,” the woman said.

“Honey you need something from me,” Carmine said. “If you didn’t I’d be long dead by now. So, what is it?”

“Maria Kyle,” the woman said. “What do you know about Maria Kyle?”

The Arabian raised his plaque. “12 million dollars. Do I see any competition?”

Jesus, just how much money did that bastard have?

Carmine chuckled. “Who the hell are you to this Kyle lady?”

Carmine raised his plaque.

“12.5 MILLION DOLLARS.”

Carmine turned and saw the Arabian man stir.

“I said I’m the one asking questions,” the woman said. “Now pay attention.”

The Arabian man raised his plaque.

“13 MILLION DOLLARS. It seems this item is in really high demand ladies and gentleman, our clients can’t seem to get enough of it!”

Carmine raised his plaque.

“13.5 Million!”

“Do you know her or not?” the woman asked through grit teeth.

“14 Million.”

“Jesus H Christ!” Carmine cursed.

“ANSWER ME!” the woman yelled.

“I do,” Carmine said, grinning. “I fucking do. She was just some whore I had a few fun times with here and there. Things got complicated when she claimed she had a child, couldn’t have that kinda scandal on me especially with my dad breathing down my neck wanting me to be the heir to the family so I got rid of her, plain and simple. Now tell me, what the hell are you to her anyway?”

Selina was pale. How could he…? How? The way her mother talked about him? The way she left her and Maggy alone with that… that bastard? How could Carmine say that about her…?

Her grip loosened. The gun clattered on the floor.

What was it all for? What did she push Felicia and Maggy away for? Why did she do all of this?

Someone raised their plaque up and there was a 15-million-dollar bid.

“Now tell me lady,” Carmine Falcone said to her. “Who the hell are you to that whore anyway?”

It was then that the power shut off.

…

“9 million,” said the auctioneer.

“10.”

“10.5 million,” said the auctioneer. “10.5 million going once…”

” Holly…” Felicia said through grit teeth, her body tense. “What the hell is going on?”

“Going twice.”

Someone raised their plank. Felicia looked and she saw it was Carmine Falcone. The falcon mask made it pretty obvious.”

“11 million dollars,” the auctioneer said. “Do I have any more bids?”

…

11.5

It was like trying to hit a fly. With the pain coursing through her arm and her slowly getting lightheaded with all the blood loss.

12

Meanwhile, Robin was quicker, getting in kicks and punches. She lunged for Robin but he dodged and punched her in the stomach. She barely avoided his next kick to her face.

13

The switch. All she had to do was turn off the power.

13.5

She lunged for it but Robin was faster. Holly barely avoided the boomerang.

14

But it was so close. So, so close.

15

Robin closed in for the attack, she ducked, rolled out of the way and dashed towards the switch.

15 Million, going once…

Robin through his boomerangs, some of them struck her body but she fought through the pain and ran and ran.

Going twice.

Robin lunged at her just as she grabbed the switch. He pulled back but she grabbed hold and

SOLD

All around the ship, power went off.

…

Above the din of uneasy murmuring, Felicia put on her goggles.

“Please calm down,” said the auctioneer. “Backup power will be on in a few minutes and then we will resume the auction.”

“It’s go time,” Felicia muttered to herself. She attached a rope to the railing and descended, inching closer and closer to the emerald necklace when she felt something attach to her back and yank her up. She swerved around and kicked at the air but felt a strong arm grab her leg.

“Oh no you don’t,” said Spider-Man, his lenses contracting.

…

The lights came back to life and instead of an emerald necklace on stage, what was their instead was Spider-Man and a girl Selina recognised fighting over the emerald necklace.

Naturally, there was panic. People started to leap out of their seats. They were criminals, they didn’t expect the people that put people like them in prison to suddenly show up.

While Selina was distracted with Felicia, Carmine elbowed her in the face and took her gun.

Carmine grinned, gun pointed at her. “Got you now.”

Selina rolled her eyes. Selina kicked the gun out of Carmine’s hand and punched him in the face.

“Get out of my way.”

Selina dashed towards the stage. Felicia and Spider-Man were engaged in a fight of long sweeps and kicks. Felicia dodged Spider-Man’s attacks and Spider-Man dodged hers, neither of them left an opening for each other to exploit.

“Felicia!” Selina yelled. Selina leapt and tried kicking Spider-Man across the face but before Selina could even land the kick, Spider-Man dodged as if he could see it coming.

“Selina?” Felicia said, dumfounded. “What the hell are you even doing here?”

“Look… Felicia,” Selina said.

“Get the hell out of the way!”

Felicia pushed Selina aside as Spider-Man launched an impact web. The poor auctioneer who was standing in the middle of the chaos was struck by it and got stuck in a cocoon of webs.

Selina, taking advantage of the opportunity dashed towards Spider-Man and started swiping at him with her claws.

“Who the hell are you, lady?”

Selina just swiped as Spider-Man dodged.

“Look, I don’t have time for this,” Spider-Man said. “I’m here to catch the Cat. Do you know the Cat? You’re dressed like a Cat so I’m assuming you do.”

Felicia grabbed the Emerald Necklace and made a run for it. Deciding that was the perfect opportunity Selina retracted her claws.

“Finally!” Spider-Man got into a battle position. “I don’t how I feel about hitting a girl but well you’re the one that started it.”

Spider-Man threw a punch, Selina tried to stop it but it was lie trying to stop a car. She let go and backflipped out of the way.

“Oh wow, ma’am,” Spider-Man said. “You’re really stupid, all I have to do now is…”

Spider-Man tried to launch a web but nothing popped out.

“Huh?”

Selina gave Spider-Man her best smile. She waved at him revealing the web-shooter attached to her wrist.

“Ma’am, whatever you do, please don’t…”

Selina flicked her wrist once and fired an impact web that knocked Spider-Man back. She knew he wouldn’t be down for long so she ran towards where Felicia was.

A gunshot missed her by inches. She turned and saw Carmine, glaring at her with fire in his eyes.

“Hell no!” Carmine growled. “You’re not going to take the necklace from me!”

Selina turned and saw Felicia give the Emerald Necklace to a man she knew very well.

“Walter!” Selina yelled.

“Don’t ignore me you…”

Before Carmine could fire she launched an impact web at him that knocked him back.

The Cat turned to face her with a grin on her face.

“Let’s get out of here,” Felicia said.

The Cat’s eyes hardened. “Wait. I have unfinished business to attend to.” He had his familiar easy-going grin on his face but there was an edge to his voice like a dagger.

“Don’t you dare do anything to my sister!” Selina growled.

“Your sister,” The Cat laughed. “Your sister!”

The Cat removed his gun and fired wildly. Selina dodged each of the bullets, launching a web that stuck his hand and the gun together.

At that moment Spider-Man ripped out of his web prison. “That was a neat trick! It won’t work on me…”

Selina launched an electric web. Spider-Man’s body jiggled and he collapsed on the floor.

“You took her away from me and you have the audacity to call her your sister!”

Took her away, Felicia thought. Didn’t Selina say…

The Cat ripped the webs out of his hand.

“It was because you were dangerous,” Selina said, hiding behind cover. “You never told me why my friends went missing but now I know. You… you were the one who killed them!”

The Cat chuckled. “They were useless. All of them were useless. They were too imperfect.” The Cat fired a bullet. “Unlike you Selina, you were the best of them. You… you were perfect. I would have given you the world but you threw it in my face. You took my daughter away from me!” The Cat fired again and again. “You took my own child away from me!”

The Cat started to sob.

“You were too dangerous Walter,” Selina said. “If I left her here with you there was no telling what you would have done?”

“SHE WAS MY DAUGHTER!” Walter yelled. “Mine! You didn’t have the right to take her away from me.”

Daughter? Selina taking her away from her father. Did that mean?

“Dad,” Felicia said out loud.

The Cat turned. His face soaked with tears. “Oh, my baby girl. I didn’t… I didn’t want you to find out like this.”

The Cat took a step towards her, Felicia took a step back.

She didn’t have time to process that information. Suddenly Holly burst into the auction room, out of breath. Her sleeves stained with blood and bruises lining her face.

“They’re coming,” she said out of breath. “I don’t know how… we have to get out of here… they’re…”

Holly collapsed on the floor. Felicia rushed to her.

“Who’s coming?” Felicia said, slapping her face. “Stay with me Holly. Stay with me!”

Just then Spider-Man got up. Selina tried launching a web.

“Aha!” Spider-Man laughed. “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me thrice… well you know how it goes.”

And then they heard it. Heavy footsteps like a thunderclap, slowly descending down on them.

Spider-Man chuckled. “Oh, you’re in trouble now.”

Slowly, the footsteps descended. Slowly, methodically, each footstep feeling like a cold hand running down Felicia’s spine.

Then the lights went off.

The footsteps stopped. All Felicia could hear was their heavy breaths. Heavy breaths of anticipation. Heavy breaths of fear.

And when the lights went on, like a flash of lightning Felicia saw the symbol. The symbol of a Bat.

To be continued…