Titans

Chapter 3: Catch me if you can

A gala is being held in Gotham and attended by the city's richest and most powerful, everyone is dressed in their absolute formal best. The party attendees are mingling in a lavish hall completed with gaudy chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, heavy black curtains that line the windows, and on a stage at the very back was a band playing soft classical music; truly this was an atmosphere completely lost to the dangers outside that plagued the city streets.

Outside of the gala a black stretch limousine pulls up. Considering this guest was showing up fashionably late, the press that had crowded the entrance just a while before was all but gone making for a peaceful entrance. The driver exits the car and opens one of the back doors letting out none other then Bruce Wayne and two women that were wrapped around his arms escort style. The trio enter the party and almost immediately all eyes are on them, or rather Bruce Wayne. He was always so fashionably late to these events and no one was the wiser that it was due to his crime fighting double life.

Just as Bruce feared, a magnate he didn't much care for began to approach to strike up a droll conversation. "Ladies why don't you go mingle? I got some business to take care of", the women followed Bruce's request and get lost in the crowd. "Baby Wayne!" the man exclaimed at Bruce as he reaches for his hand, Bruce was slightly irked at the greeting but this was a place of tact and decorum.....artificial as it may have been, so he decided to bite his tongue. "Hello, Seymour...." Bruce took the man's hand hiding his contempt with a gentleman's smile and demeanor. "You never miss a fundraiser eh baby Wayne?" Seymour asked with a dry chuckle, "Well, it's for the kids" Bruce replied. For obvious reasons Bruce was never one to miss an opportunity to donate to the group homes of Gotham, plus it never hurt to add more art around the manor.

Wanting out of the conversation Bruce attempted an escape "Well if you excuse me Seymour I must attend to my company that I brought with me...." He turns to leave but.... "Oh, were you aware of the artifact they're showcasing tonight?" Seymour asked. Bruce stops in his tracks and grimaces, he couldn't let his reputation be tarnished by this man claiming Bruce Wayne was a rude blowhard.....he was sure enough people thought that already. He turned around with a friendly face and kindly replied "No I wasn't aware of such a thing. An artifact?" Bruce tried his hardest to sound interested. Seymour then begins to explain "Yes, supposedly an ancient artifact of the orient. A 'dragon ball' I believe it's called, coveted by all the world" Seymour said all of this very matter of factly as if he owned the thing. "Hmm very interesting, now Seymour I'm TERRIBLY sorry but I really must...." Bruce tries another escape that fortunately was successful, "Ah yes Wayne your Erm....'dates' heh heh. Enjoy yourself then". Bruce walks away saying nothing, his lewd joke annoyed him so he couldn't get away faster.

The night at large was rather uneventful, Bruce nabbed some beautiful paintings he would hang in a hall of the manor he felt was rather empty. "This has been a successful endeavor so far tonight but we're not quite done yet" the auctioneer at the podium on stage said, "in a moment we'll be presenting a strange artifact from the far east said to bestow magical powers" the party guests began to murmur amongst themselves excitedly. Surely the thing couldn't POSSIBLY have magical powers, but just owning such a thing would be fantastic; this was not going to come cheap. "Yes, yes it's all very exciting! Now if you'll give us a moment the bidding will start shortly" the auctioneer then went back stage. Moments later a tray with an object draped in a cloth is wheeled out on stage and the crowd becomes excited again, the object in question seemed spherical in nature. Despite the little interest Bruce had in buying this thing he was admittedly intrigued to see what it looked like.

At the entrance of the building enters a man dressed in a black trench coat sporting wild unkempt black hair, this man looked like he had seen better days. As he walks towards the gala entrance door he keeps his head low in his collar not at all helping his already suspicious appearance. A man at the door stops the suspicious looking stranger, "I'm sorry sir but there is a dress code for this evening...." the man is cut off as our trench coat clad stranger grabs him snapping his neck, "Didn't get the memo" he says.