Thea didn't find it strange that she had caught the attention of A.R.G.U.S. It was only a matter of time. She knew she had value to them, and they could also assist her. Whether it was her mother's campaign or her own technological weapons, both required vast networks of resources.
In a more pragmatic sense, playing the hero while her mother ran for office was akin to offering a hostage in the past. As long as her mother held a government position, Thea could not engage in any anti-social activities. Simultaneously, her various heroic deeds would reflect positively on her mother, at least in the eyes of the nation's upper echelons.
Upon careful consideration, she realized she hadn't said anything wrong or omitted any details. Feeling reassured, she decided to chat casually with Felicity.
(Scene Break)
"Hey, Felicity, have you seen Selina these past few days?" It had been three days since Lyla had taken Killer Croc away. During that time, Thea had participated in one of Barbara's monster-hunting activities. It was a rather uneventful process; she used her entangling arrows to capture fifteen lunatics who had escaped from the asylum. In fact, these lunatics were quite amusing, each fearlessly charging into the web, practically delivering themselves.
After the mission, Thea felt restless again. It felt awkward to go out alone, so she wanted some company. Felicity was physically weak and vulnerable in the city, so Thea thought of Selina. But after searching around, she couldn't find Selina anywhere. No one had seen her recently, which led to her question.
"Ah, haha, Selina? I have no idea where she is," Felicity replied vaguely, shaking her head and emphasizing the authenticity of her words.
Hmm? Something's not right. Thea remained silent, just staring into Felicity's eyes. Felicity, feeling uncomfortable under her gaze, darted her eyes around and muttered something under her breath, but she refused to disclose Catwoman's whereabouts.
Well, she's quite loyal. Thea couldn't be bothered to press further. Besides, these two wouldn't secretly defect to Bane, would they? The world might be changing rapidly, but it wasn't that chaotic.
"Let's go, let's have some drinks at your place!"
Seeing that Thea didn't pursue the matter further, Felicity breathed a sigh of relief. Drinks? Bring it on!
Carrying a few bottles of Gotham beer, the two went to Felicity's place. Thea only found out after arriving in Gotham that Felicity had installed numerous games on her laptop. Judging by the installation dates, they were all installed in the short hour while they were preparing their equipment to come to Gotham. This kid wasn't afraid at all. Did she think they were just here for a vacation?
In fact, the two of them were just tourists. The ones fighting to the death at the forefront weren't them. Commissioner Gordon was so busy his feet barely touched the ground, and he had already gradually reclaimed a third of the city. With more police officers and civilians getting involved, the city's recovery was progressing like a rolling snowball. The situation would likely be resolved completely within a month.
With nothing else to do, Thea had thought about practicing her combat skills, but when she tried to find someone to spar with, she realized she was unbeatable in this little corner of Gotham.
Barbara would walk the other way upon seeing her, Selina's whereabouts were unknown, and Dick adhered to the rule of not fighting women. This left Thea with nothing to do but play games and drink. In truth, she was quite bitter about it, perhaps more than she cared to admit.
The two played games and drank until late into the night, unknowingly falling asleep in a drunken stupor.
"Kill them, kill them all."
"Does it hurt, are you afraid?"
"Dear, save me."
Who was talking? What was she doing? Thea felt as though there were figures constantly passing by in front of her. Some she recognized, some she didn't. Some seemed to be friends from her past life. As she struggled to remember, two figures covered in blood walked past her. Her mother and Malcolm? How could they be here?
Something was terribly wrong. What was happening to her? She shook her head vigorously. The images of her mother and Malcolm transformed into Robert and Oliver, both covered in blood. Their bodies appeared swollen, as if they had been submerged in water for a long time.
How could Oliver be here? It's impossible. Thea hadn't even gone to look for him, and yet he appeared on his own? Ridiculous!
Thea finally realized that something was wrong with herself. She tried to calm her mind and adjust her thoughts using the breathing techniques taught by Shiva, but with little success.
This left her even more confused. Was it not her own problem? Even with her eyes closed, she could still feel something passing by her.
Was she haunted? Where was she anyway? She remembered that she was in Gotham! What was she doing in Gotham? Trying hard to remember, as her memories slowly returned, her body gradually regained some mobility.
Thea clumsily stood up, looked around at the surroundings and at the woman on the ground. Her focus was a bit scattered, and after a while, she realized the woman was Felicity. Did something happen to her too?
Thea could smell a pungent odor, a mixture of musk and certain chemical agents, but she had no time to care about it now. As the noxious gas entered her system, she began experiencing intense hallucinations.
Now it felt like there were tiny people fighting in her mind, leaving her feeling disoriented. However, her subconscious knew she couldn't linger in this state for long, as the more of the gas she inhaled, the more intense the hallucinations became.
She opened her backpack, not bothering to change clothes, and she strapped all her equipment onto herself and secured Felicity to one side of the Glider. Slowly, she climbed onto the other side.
Securing their bodies, she silently commanded the Glider to fly upwards. Like a dart, the Glider shot out of the door and silently hovered in the air 300 meters above the ground.
It seemed like the mysterious gas was concentrated on the ground. As the cool breeze from high altitude blew, Thea gradually regained some consciousness. She realized it was pitch black all around, with no moon in sight, only thick clouds looming over the land. Was it already nighttime?
Taking advantage of the fact that nobody noticed her, Thea quickly flew away from the area on her Glider. Only when she no longer smelled the gas did she lower her altitude and find a residential house. Without knocking, she barged in.
After surveying the house for a while, she found it empty. She washed her face with some cold water and breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't know if others were also affected, but she was just glad to have narrowly escaped.
Turning her attention to Felicity, she found the girl lying on the Glider, drenched in sweat, as if having a nightmare. She murmured phrases like "don't leave" from time to time. Thea dampened a towel with cold water and wiped her face, but after two minutes of wiping, she felt like she was going to break the girl's skin.
Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Thea realized that this poison gas was quite sophisticated. The traditional method of splashing cold water wasn't effective. Did she have to find a specific antidote?
After moving around a bit and regaining about seventy to eighty percent of her strength, Thea knew she had to go back. Whether it was to find an antidote or to rescue her companions. She had to make this trip.
This time, she had more time to prepare. She changed into clean clothes, put on a hood and glasses, and strapped on her bow and arrows. To protect herself from the damned gas, she also wore three layers of thick masks. Whether they would be effective or not, whether skin contact would matter, she didn't know. But she made sure to cover up tightly, opened the door, and leaped onto the Glider.