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♢♦♢ THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME ♢♦♢
Bonus Chapter
DECEMBER 25, 2002 Two Years Ago
⚘
GOTHAM CITY, NY
A man's wild laughter rang loudly inside of an occupied alleyway. "We're filthy rich," he hollered, speaking to his criminal friends who accompanied him behind a closed delicatessen. "Filthy rich, I tell ya!"
"Tell me about it. This is enough bread ta head down ta the strip club and bring me a gal or two back home," another man said, laughing with him.
A woman's figure stood behind the group of men, lurking in the shadows of a pile of garbage bags. The figure poked it's head out from the trash and saw three men standing nearby, hiding away from the sounding police cars that passed by the alley's entrance. They were all dressed in the same, exact manner, all wearing red and white Santa Claus costumes and black ski masks.
All morning I'd hear reports of people being attacked by a gang of knife-wielding Santas.
"The Lady will be so proud when she sees her man comin' in with all this money," another man said. He laughed as he reached inside of a black duffle bag and pulled out a stack of money.
At first I thought the news reports had confused Christmas with April Fool's Day.
The shadow moved behind them, silently approaching the men. Completely oblivious, they continued to laugh and conversate with one another, hiding in the shadows as they wait for the police to leave the area.
Then I encountered these psychos terrorizing customers at an ATM. If you haven't guessed it, that's me. Followed them into the back of an alley where they hide like a pile of roaches.
"Argh," a man closest to the pile of garbage gurgled as a leather whip suddenly wrapped around his throat, blocking his airway. He held onto the whip's tail, trying to detach it from his neck, but failed as the attacker continued to violently choke him with it. He then fell to the ground and got shoved aside.
Heels clicked against the pavement as the attacker continued through the dark alleyway. This caught another man's attention. He looked up from the stack of money sitting in his hands and found Catwoman walking toward him in her usual black head mask and leather outfit. Her deadly whip dragged behind her as she continued towards him and his friends. He opened his mouth to warn his friends, but didn't have the chance to do so as her whip unexpectedly made it's way to his neck. Catwoman pulled it towards her, gagging him to unconsciousness as the others see this. They immediately scrambled, grabbing the stolen money.