How a Cat came of age (A Catwoman origin story) Chapter 20 : The hunt is on!

Source : A screenshot shot from Arkham gameplay

"And that would be eighty-two thousand dollars for our Platinum package, to cater to a hundred guests, Miss Barr", the wedding planner told Elva Barr after showing her the most exquisite and expensive wedding reception services they had to offer. It included the venue for the reception, which would be a luxurious banquet hall, food prepared by high end chefs, beverages which would include wines, champagne and cocktails, music played by a talented band and photography by some of the best wedding photographers in Gotham.

Elva Barr, or rather Selina Kyle wanted her sister's wedding day to be something very special. A memory she and her husband would look back on and smile. So she got in touch with the best wedding planners in Gotham and had them plan Maggie and Simon's wedding reception. She knew that the ceremony itself would be held in a Catholic church. Maggie wouldn't have it any other way.

The next step was to get her sister to accept this reception, without her finding out that it was from her estranged sister.

"There's just one more thing I need, Mrs Graham. " Elva said to the petite, middle aged woman.

"Of course. Do you wish to make any changes?"

"No. This is fine.... I just want the bride and groom to think that they're getting this package free of cost. Just make them think they won it in a lucky draw or something."

"I understand Miss. You don't want them to know it's a gift."

"Exactly. Will that cost something extra?" Elva asked with a smirk.

"Oh no!", replied Mrs Graham with a laugh, "we'd be glad to do it. We'll just tell them their names were in our lucky draw and they had won. I'm sure they've been to several vendors. They likely won't even remember whether they put their names down or not."

"Spleneid. Thank you! You do accept cash, don't you?"

Selina had made this exchange about a month before Maggie's wedding. Though she didn't get to see the look on her sister's face at such a wonderful surprise, she did manage to sneak into the church and watch her get married.

Maggie walked down the aisle in their maternal grandmother's wedding gown. It was simple, almost plain. A skirt with some beautiful embroidery at the hem and at the waist, a modest bodice with sparsely embroidered sleeves and a long and delicate veil. But the gown held immense significance. Their grandmother wore it as she married their grandfather, just days after she had survived an attempted assault.

Both of the sisters had seen those few black and white pictures of their grandparents' wedding. Even as children, they had been struck by the quiet strength in their grandmother's eyes. And how joyful she looked even after having survived such an ordeal. She was from a poor family in Cuba, at a time when the country was about to enter the Second World War. Life could not have been easy. But nothing would stop Rosalita Alonso from rejoicing her union with the man she loved.

As Selina saw her sister in that same dress, she thought of how they were both from a line of women who had faught adversity. Her resolve to never let her little sister go through any form of hardships and to ensure her happiness, was now stronger than ever.

It took her a while to realise that her cheeks were wet with her tears. This moment overwhelmed her more than she had ever thought it would.

Her little Maggie was getting married.

Her sweet, innocent, beautiful sister. The one who had always wanted love, family and children. She was now going to have all of it.

Simon, in his rental tux, looked at Maggie as if she was the only woman on the planet. While Maggie positively beamed with elation and contentment.

They loved each other.

Selina snuck out before the ceremony was complete. After dropping in at the reception venue just to make sure everything was in order, she went back to her hotel suite. Her flight later that night would take her to New York.

The Garcia family was good at appearing wholesome and upstanding members of society. But look just under the surface and you could see the rot. It took Selina only a few hours of work to figure out that they had something to do with the Falcone mob family. Nothing can could hold up as concrete evidence. But she saw certain interactions, noticed certain looks that told her Arthur's family was closer to the Falcones than most people seemed to think.

All the more reason for her to keep an eye on Holly and Arthur and be ready to rescue her sister, if need be.

"Forgive me Madam, but I trust you've heard of Raina Creel's first public appearance since her accident.", Wilder said to Selina as he drove her from the airport to the villa she had bought just three weeks earlier.

He was referring to Morella, of course. While being chased by LOA assassins, she had met with a car accident and was rushed to the hospital. Maven has let out a bitter laugh when she heard. She was sure that Raina had intentionally veered her car off the street. That woman would do anything to preserve her own life, freedom and status.

"Yes Wilder, I've heard." Selina said, "I'm surprised she's still alive. I'd expected them to get to her by now."

"Well Ms Kyle, her husband will soon run for California's gubernatorial elections. It's possible that Ras Al Ghul doesn't want to to murder the wife of a prominent political figure. Perhaps, Raina staying alive will benefit him in some manner."

"You think she may have struck a deal with Ra's?" Selina asked, considering what it could mean for the world, if this was indeed the case.

"It would not surprise me, Madam.", Wilder replied before asking, "would you like something to eat before your training session, Miss?"

"No, thanks. I'm not hungry. I would like to shower and change out of these clothes though. Before Richard arrives."

Richard Dragon was Selina's new mentor. He was training her in advanced Kung-fu and several other unnamed combat techniques.

If she thought her tutelage under her former mentors was difficult, Dragon shattered that delusion pretty quickly.

In that underground tunnel in Sicily, he had given her a coin. And told her he would train her if she could use it to find him.

Selina, even after hours of research, had been unable to understand what the dragon motif meant.

It was Maven, with her rather impressive knowledge of numismatics, who was able to figure out that the symbol was related to a tribe of dragon worshippers in ancient Japan. This culture was all but lost. However there were some of it's practitioners in Shirakawa-go.

Selina had set off to find this elusive Dragon. And had ultimately found him in a small village.

He seemed pleased to see her. As if she had lived up to his expectations.

He told her his name was Richard Dragon. He was an "outside consultant" for the League of Assassins.

After negotiating his fee for some time, they came to an agreement that Dragon would move to Milan with Selina, and would train her for exactly two years. How much she could learn from him in that time was entirely up to her. In return, Selina would pay him a million USD a month.

After coming back to Italy, the lessons began right away.

Selina learned that a long time ago, Richard Dragon was also a thief. She never asked, but she wondered if it had played a role in him agreeing to train her.

Her new crew was working quite well.

Wilder took care of her home. Maven was a very efficient personal assistant. And though Leo was getting ready to go to college, he loved lending his insight on breaching firewalls.

Just one thing was missing.....

Breaking into the Louvre had been a breeze. She stole the Blue Moon, a priceless blue diamond necklace. Wiped the floors with the guards who tried to stop her and successfully brought her lootbsck to her temporary lair.

"You did it, Selina!" Exclaimed Maven who had accompanied her friend/boss to Paris. But then she noticed that Selina wasn't nearly as thrilled as she was.

"How would they know it was me?" Selina asked, staring at the Blue Moon with a look of mild annoyance. As if the gem was losing it's lustre right before her eyes.

"How would who know?", asked a bewildered Maven.

"The world. The media, law enforcement, wealthy collectors, governments.... how would they know it was me? They wouldn't. All they'd know is that a masked thief stole the Blue Moon. But...."

"Selina isn't that a good thing? For you to stay completely anonymous?"

After staying silent for several seconds, Selina said, "I'm taking it back".

Then she set off with the necklace.

Maven's "but Selina...." fell on deaf ears.

Selina went back to the Louvre and this time had to evade cops, along with museum security. She had to break through several layers of security before she got to where the gem was stored. Only this time she wasn't stealing anything. Rather, she was returning what she had stolen.

"Ms Kyle, I understand your need to be.... known.", said wise old Wilder, "But surely you cannot reveal your own name! You say you want to start your own jewellery and accessories brand here in Milan. That wouldn't be possible if...."

"Not my name, Wilder. I need a symbol."

Selina had spent weeks looking for this symbol, trying to figure out exactly how she wanted to leave her mark. But to no avail.

She had used this time to work on her jewellery line and start her company, SK Jewellery. But she wasn't having fun. The fact that there was no way for the world to know that she was the greatest thief who ever lived, without actually knowing it was her, bothered her a great deal.

Then one morning, she finally saw Him.

Selina, Maven, Wilder and Leo were having breakfast together. Selina turned on the TV and to watch the news, as Leo discussed college applications with Maven.

CNN was reporting on a drug trafficking ring being busted by a vigilante who had appeared just a few weeks ago.

"What is that?", Selina asked, getting up from her chair. Utterly fascinated by the dark caped figure with pointed ears, who threw those criminals around as if they were trash. The figure was huge, but moved like lightening. Even in that five second clip that the news network played, you could see the display of terrifying speed and strength that the caped figure possessed.

"They call it.... well him, the Bat-Man. Isn't it crazy? He just showed one night in Gotham and began beating up criminals.

"That's.... beautiful" Selina muttered, still staring at the screen.

A Bat. The vigilante's symbol was a bat. This way, the world could know him and fear him, without actually knowing him.

Selina was ecstatic and couldn't help but laugh at herself. The answer was right in front of her and she didn't see it until Gotham's Bat made her see it.

A Cat. The animal with whom she had always felt such a strong connection. That would be her symbol. Her identity, through which the world would know her.

Selina rejected several of the mask designs presented to her by her crew. For a second she considered the realistic cat mask with faux fur, but then decided against it. It looked scary and dramatic, but that thing would get hot and uncomfortable real quick.

Finally, she decided on a mask attached to an aviator helmet. She filed it's contours to sharp edges so that it would look like cat ears and give her a cat-like silhouette. The helmet also had goggles with built in cameras, and night vision mode. Green, to look like a cat's eyes.

As for the suit, she went with black kavlar that clung snugly to her body, but at the same time did not impair her mobility in any way. It was fitted with all the equipment she would need, along with a hidden sheath for her urumi. Her whip she would wrap around her waist. Leo suggested she add a cape because "capes are cool!". Selina agreed that they are indeed cool, but she felt it might get in the way. Plus, a cape wouldn't fit the whole Cat theme.

Selina had always found a cat's claws to be a very impressive weapon. They appeared when needed, otherwise remained hidden.

She equipped her gloves with retractable claws. She had considered steel, but then went with titanium. She set diamonds into the tips of her claws, to help her cut glass.

Her gloves also had high powered tazers, lazer metal cutters and a grapple gun.

As prowled the tips of Milan's sky scrapers, ready to take prized treasures, she felt at home in a way she never had before. The suit, the mask.... it all felt like her second skin. This is who she was meant to be. A creature of the night. A ghost with nine lives.

And the clock struck midnight and streets went quiet, Selina Kyle set her sight on the Palazzo Reale Meuseum just a short distance away and jumped off from the rooftop. Swinging from her grapple, she landed soundless and unseen on the museum's roof.

The Cat was on the hunt.