Chapter 23: A not-so-pleasant meeting and urgent matters
Everyone parked the helicopter in the open space of the campus, and the police officer who acted as temporary pilot reluctantly touched the control lever. Seeing his expression, he wished he could stay in the helicopter to perform strategic maneuvers at any moment. But he had to obey Director Gordon's order. He could keep pace with the large army returning three times in a single step.
Thea also jumped off the skateboard quickly with Felicity, just when she wanted to ask Catwoman where the other two teammates were.
"Dad, you're finally back. Are you okay?" A young redhead in a fashionable dress hugged Director Gordon's neck and refused to let go. Behind her was a slim young man with black hair.
"I'm fine, Barbara." The former director wasn't used to public displays of affection, so they hugged each other reluctantly and let go.
It seems like the girl is Batgirl and the guy is the future Nightwing, for now he's Robin. Thea didn't step forward to say hello. First of all, there was nothing wrong with that. Secondly, she was just reinforcement and couldn't dominate the scene. The main force was still them.
Everyone couldn't crowd at the door to talk, so Director Gordon asked everyone to come in. Everyone stayed quiet on the way, only Barbara could be heard asking questions, like if Batman had been found and if the state government had sent troops.
Director Gordon interrupted her halfway to introduce Thea and the two, but she just nodded slightly and kept talking to her father.
Sure enough, people in this city are a bit off. Why are you so arrogant? Thea observed all the way and found that this woman really has no modesty. She only talks to her father and Robin beside her… Several policemen didn't even ask. I don't know what this person's IQ is, but her emotional intelligence obviously isn't high.
No wonder she was seriously injured and paralyzed by a clown in the future. She spent three years in a wheelchair before regretting it.
In the story, she was taught by Richard Dragon long after she got hurt. She learned to fight again even when debilitated in the wheelchair, which is the best in the world sitting down. I imagined that scene and felt a chill in my heart... I should come and experience that when the time comes. I am a noble person and definitely not here to be ridiculed. I should have an attitude of learning from each other, well, that's it.
As she walked, I suddenly realized that the number of people on the team seemed off, right? Where's Catwoman? Thea looked around and found Catwoman silently walking at the back of the group. There was something inexplicable in her expression. What did that mean? Are these two women at odds?
Actually, she guessed right. Barbara usually doesn't like Selina very much. She always looked down on the sly Catwoman, thinking it was a blasphemy against the so-called righteous cause. Plus, Robin was completely obedient to her, so Catwoman went to seek reinforcements and stayed out of sight and mind.
If she hadn't run away with her old personality to rescue Batman, it wouldn't be any of my concern whether Gotham died or not.
"Hey, do you have a place where I can change clothes?" Thea stood there for a while, waiting for Catwoman to reach her side, and asked softly. This outfit isn't easy to put on and requires a lot of effort to take off. At that moment, she was particularly envious of Flash's speed in changing clothes.
"Come with me." The two greeted the large army, and Catwoman led Thea aside.
"Come to the conference room later, and let's have a meeting…" Director Gordon quickly said, and Catwoman waved from a distance to express her understanding.
...
After changing into better clothes, Thea resumed her identity as a harmless little white flower and followed Catwoman to the door of a conference room.
Along the way, I found that there were many citizens scattered throughout the school building, some in suits and leather shoes, others in T-shirts and shorts, but one characteristic of these people was their lack of energy. Almost all of them had bloodstains on their bodies.
Entering the conference room, everyone made a formal presentation. This work can only be done by Catwoman, who knows both sides.
"This is Thea Queen, codenamed Red Arrow, and this is Felicity Smoak, a computer expert."
"These two here are my teammates Batgirl Barbara Gordon and Robin Dick Gryson."
Now that the formal introduction had been made, Barbara Gordon could no longer ignore Thea as she did a moment ago. She just chattered some nonsense, about long-standing admiration, how's my father, how's my mother, etc. My father was buried at sea, and you still ask if he's okay? This simply happens because you don't take yourself seriously or don't know who you are and just treat it casually.
After a few polite words, the small conference room fell into a strange silence.
Except for the rest of the Star City duo who were exchanging glances, no one seemed to want to speak. Even Barbara, who was previously suspected of talking nonsense, kept her mouth shut.
The atmosphere among them is quite strange. Why aren't they talking? Do these people have the ability to communicate with each other similar to Professor X? But that's obviously impossible. If they had that ability, they could defeat Bane in seconds, and wouldn't have so many problems.
She looked at Felicity calmly, shook her head, and gestured for us to observe first.
Barbara didn't know what she was thinking, but suddenly she gathered courage and said passionately, "I saw you have a helicopter."
She was a little hesitant at first, but she got happier and happier as she spoke, as if Bane was a fallen watermelon waiting for her to pick it up.
Thea didn't quite understand what was going on in her mind and couldn't bear to mention the fact that the helicopter was hers and held her chin with her right hand to see if she could continue to express her opinions.
"What do you mean?" Seeing that no one responded after she finished speaking, Barbara became a little restless.
"Okay, good idea." Robin and she were in love, and he would unconditionally support whatever his girlfriend said.
Catwoman neither agreed nor opposed, and Commissioner Gordon seemed helpless. Normally, Batman, the wise man, would think about this kind of thing, leaving some people to execute it, but now that wise man had been pushed to some unknown place, and the rest of the upcoming people didn't even have a clue.
He really wanted to give orders, but some people didn't listen to him. Even his own daughter was as stubborn as a cow, and he never had a strong word in the team.
When he was about to agree, Thea finally realized the problem with these people, which was that their subjective initiative was very poor. To be frank, they didn't use their brains. They usually felt powerful just by holding onto Batman's thigh and defeating some small bosses. It doesn't work anymore.
There's no one in this room who's an ordinary person, not even a booster or a superpower. Is this kind of team ready to sharpen their swords to fight Bane? Do you know his strength? As soon as his eyes darkened, he was about to attack the monster. I really didn't know how to write the word "death".
I have to take some initiative, otherwise, these guys might lead the team into the ditch. As long as Bane can't fly, she can escape at full speed. Felicity can't run away. She can't even do some things and isn't as physically fit as an ordinary person. If I knew, I wouldn't have brought her here.
"Papa," Thea clapped to attract some people's thoughts.
"What a great idea!" He said and gave a thumbs-up to Barbara.
"You had this idea when you were sitting with the gorilla eating cookies, right?" Thea looked at her seriously.
"Pfft." Felicity couldn't help herself. She drank so much water that it almost sprayed out of her nose. She quickly lowered her head to show she was feeling a bit embarrassed.
From that aspect, we can see Catwoman's quick nervous reaction. She even chuckled, but, thinking that she and Barbara were in the same boat, we couldn't crack jokes, so she let out a half-laugh and then used her powerful facial nerves to shut her mouth. The muscles are contracted, and from a distance, she looks like Mona Lisa's sister.
Robin wanted to talk to his girlfriend when he arrived, but Thea had already changed back into her usual dress when she entered the room. He knew she was a woman and a beauty. Robin kept in mind Batman's instructions and would never provoke women, especially the pretty ones. So he also automatically switched to spectator mode.
"You wretch, how dare you say that to me." Barbara didn't expect Thea to praise her first and then kick her to the curb. She only had one thought in mind, this woman's words were too damaging.
Thea wasn't angry. She looked closely at the furious Barbara. This woman was proud and arrogant. She thought the whole world revolved around her and never cared about other people's opinions. How different was this woman from her original historical trajectory?
If she hadn't been lucky, she'd probably be like that now. Looking at her hysterical gaze, Thea's eyes showed not dissatisfaction, just a little sadness and regret.
"What's with that look? Please explain clearly to me. Do you have a better way?" Even though Barbara's anger meter is almost full, she still maintains a certain level of reason, which must be the same as Batman's. Commissioner Gordon and others are inseparable from daily teaching.
Thea is quite pleased with her performance. If she slams the table and gives a nasty look, Thea turns around and leaves, it's none of my business if Gotham gets thrown into a deep hole.
"First of all, can we beat Bane? I heard Catwoman say he defeated Batman with his own hands. Can we be better than Batman?"
Barbara said somewhat disdainfully, "What's the problem? You can use a gun. Why fight hand to hand with him?"
"Have you studied the area? Bane is still in the city hall building. The area there is very spacious. It might be difficult to find the shooting angle for long-range shooters. Using a pistol may not be effective."
Barbara thought for a moment. "Then there's no problem using missiles. The Wayne family also has several hidden launchers."
"Please, do you have the word 'detection' in your dictionary?" Thea was a bit broken. She even thought that Batman bringing these guys every day would lower her IQ.
She instructed Felicity to transmit the data to the room monitor, opened a photo, and said to several people, "This is what we observed from the city hall building's camera. But let me compare, is that bald guy your mayor, huh? Is that black woman a prosecutor or a judge?"
"Are you going to kill all these people with a missile?" Thea glanced at her with a somewhat playful expression.
Before Barbara could respond, Director Gordon, who pretended to be invisible, hastily interjected, "No, you can't do that. You must first rescue the hostages."
If all the important government officials were killed by a missile fired by a superhero, it would definitely make headlines tomorrow. Batman wouldn't have to come back. These guys are his younger brothers. As a boss, it's better for him to flee.
Barbara was also a bit frustrated, but she still said stubbornly, "So what do you think we should do?"
"What should we do? Are you listening to me now?" Thea looked at some people with a smile.
Several people in the group of family and friends glanced at each other without saying a word. Catwoman broke the silence, relying on past friendship. "Tell us your method first. We'll definitely listen if it makes sense."
There was no sincerity in what she said. Thea had no intention of taking the lead with these people. Anyway, Batman would be back in a few days, and they were just passersby to her.
"I don't know your personal skills. I'm just giving my personal opinion. My opinion is that this guy is not harmful at the moment and can be dealt with later."
Thea pointed to the monitor showing Bane stunned and addressed everyone. Yes, Bane is not harmful at the moment. He wanted to go out to kill people and set fires, but he was afraid some hostages would escape. If he didn't go out, he would have nothing to do, so he just tied ropes to some hostages, and everyone is playing their cards right to survive.
Seeing that several people, especially Barbara, were still a bit hesitant, Thea could only add more anger.
"What is the main priority now? I don't think you've figured it out. Is Bane on the screen? I know you're not afraid of sacrifice, but does it make sense to use your precious lives to save these officials? Even if you kill him, can the city's problems be solved by rescuing a few high-ranking government officials?" After Thea finished speaking, she looked at Director Gordon.
"These guys are definitely not good..." Gordon knew them all too well. In front of an outsider like Thea, he couldn't directly say they were generally corrupt and had no real skills. They already have a clear conscience when they are bombed with missiles and wouldn't agree to let his precious daughter risk rescuing those old corrupt directors and beat them to death.
Seeing the former director's clear statement, Thea knew she finally had something to say: "Anyway, their lives are not in danger. Instead of spending precious time saving these guys, it's better to organize everyone to save the civilians in the city."
"My partner has made a plan for everyone's reference." Thea finished speaking and signaled for Felicity to continue.
If she could become the CEO of Palmer Group in the future, Felicity wouldn't be caught off guard and could safely obtain a map of Gotham.
"This is Gotham University where we are right now. My plan is to establish an isolation zone between Harris Square and Adams Street, use this area as our actual control area, ask citizens to come to us, and continue to call in scattered people. Police members, if possible, expand the control area until the crisis across the city is resolved... Ready." Felicity started speaking passionately, but in the end, she found no response, and her voice grew quieter.
Both Barbara and Robin were a bit slow. Catwoman seemed to have figured something out. She said nervously, "Are you starting a war? Creating fortifications and isolation zones. God, am I back to war?"
"Selina, I don't know what to say, but I hope you recognize reality. Isn't it a war now? At least 1,500 criminals have escaped from Blackgate Prison, plus hundreds of others from the lunatic asylum. Now the city is full of thugs, do we have to catch them one by one? How many citizens will die in the meantime?
Catwoman's thinking represents the thinking of many superheroes, namely, no matter what happens, I will take the blame. In a good way, it means she has the courage to take responsibility. But, on the other hand, she is very self-centered, and everyone feels like the earth has abandoned them and won't change.
Thea could guess that if she wasn't involved in this incident, they would have killed Bane quickly and then searched for the fugitives all over the city. Those criminals and lunatics from the past were captured in ten years, but this time they all escaped. It should be easier to have criminal records, but it's estimated to take five years to catch them.
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