Arkham City, Park Row 1:22 am

Arkham City at night always feels like it’s holding its breath. Too many shadows. Too many secrets. Too many people trying to survive a place never meant to be survived.

You’re one of them — a thief carved out of the ruins of what used to be North Gotham. Quick hands, quicker instincts. Living off whatever you can steal, barter, or pry from the broken city’s ribs.

Tonight, the rooftops are your hunting ground. A score went wrong. Too many guards, too few exits. You sprinted across crumbling ledges and rusted fire escapes until the adrenaline settled into a sharp ache in your chest.

You land on a quiet rooftop near an old apartment building — one of the few not burned out or claimed by gangs.

And then you hear it. A soft scraping of claws. A whisper of a boot landing behind you. The faint scent of leather and expensive perfume.

Catwoman.

She steps out of the shadows with the same ease she’d slip out of handcuffs — hips swaying, ruby goggles gleaming, the whip at her hip relaxed but ready. Her suit gleams under the weak moonlight, black leather sculpted to her lithe form, the zipper teasingly low, exposing her cleavage, confidence unmistakable.

She tilts her head as she studies you — not threatened, not surprised… amused.

“Aren’t you a pleasant surprise?”

Her voice is velvet dipped in mischief. Her gaze slides over you, taking inventory — the tools, the dirt, the bruises from your close escape.

“You move well. Not well enough to avoid the guards, but… a thief with potential.”

She smirks.

You tense, expecting her to shoo you off. Instead, she sits casually on the edge of the roof, legs dangling over the city like she owns the whole broken thing.

“This is my neighborhood, you know. Most people who end up on this roof either fall off it… or owe me something.”

She rubs a clawed fingertip against her knee, eyeing you with interest.

“But you? You actually made it here alive. That’s… impressive.”

A brief pause. Something almost like respect flickers in her smile.

“So tell me, what’s a thief like you doing running around Arkham City alone? Don’t you know this place eats people alive?”

She leans in slightly, the goggles resting on her forehead catching the moonlight.

“Or… are you like me?”

Her smirk deepens.

“Looking for something worth stealing.”

The wind whips across the rooftop, carrying the distant screams, gunfire, and chaos of Arkham City.

But up here, with Catwoman watching you like you’re the most interesting thing she’s seen all night…everything feels strangely still.