Selina stuffed the handcuffs into Will’s hands.
“If you’ve got an idea, then do it.”
“I’m entrusting my life to you.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll buy you time.”
Determination flashed across Catwoman’s eyes.
She handed Gordon his revolver back before drawing the whip from her belt.
“Commissioner Gordon, I need your help.”
Gordon looked puzzled.
He was only a detective.
Why did everyone keep calling him Commissioner?
Still…
He had to admit the title sounded awfully nice.
If he ever really became Commissioner, the first thing he’d do would be to purge every corrupt cop from the GCPD.
Then he’d declare war on Gotham’s criminal underworld and throw every last one of those bastards behind bars.
Before any of that, though…
He would make sure Barbara left Gotham first.
“Don’t worry.”
“I’ll be your strongest support.”
Gordon nodded solemnly.
That deep, gravelly voice of his always carried an inexplicable sense of reassurance.
Catwoman charged.
Her barbed whip tore through the air with a shrill sonic crack before lashing viciously across a biological monster’s face.
Crack!
The whip struck its shoulder.
Its gray-green skin split open instantly.
Blood and flesh exploded outward like fireworks, exposing gleaming white bone beneath the wound.
Such an injury would have completely incapacitated an ordinary person.
For the thick-skinned biological monster, however, it was little more than a scratch.
That was fine.
Selina’s goal had never been to kill them.
She simply wanted to distract them and buy Will time.
The biological monsters immediately shifted their attention toward her.
They charged at her with thunderous strides, intending to crush the little cat beneath their massive bodies.
Compared with powerhouses like Batman, Bane, or Deathstroke, Catwoman’s individual combat ability wasn’t particularly impressive.
But when it came to agility…
Few people in Gotham could rival her.
Jumping.
Flipping.
Dodging.
She danced effortlessly through the monsters’ intersecting attacks.
The thunderous crashes of muscle colliding echoed endlessly throughout the shaft.
She snapped her whip around one monster’s neck.
Using the momentum, she launched herself high into the air and landed atop its shoulder.
The second biological monster heard the movement and immediately swung a massive backhand toward her.
Using the first monster’s shoulder as a springboard, Selina leaped again.
She narrowly avoided the attack.
Unfortunately, avoiding the strike only doomed the other monster.
Before it even realized something had landed on its shoulder, its companion’s slap smashed directly into its face. Get faster updates on g.com.
The hurricane-force shockwave swept through the shaft.
The unlucky biological monster was swatted dozens of meters away before crashing headfirst into the wall, blasting a massive crater into the concrete.
The deafening impact made everyone’s ears ring.
Watching from the side, Will’s heart nearly leaped into his throat.
He knew Selina hadn’t taken any super-serum.
She’d undergone no genetic enhancements.
During such intense movement, lactic acid would quickly accumulate in her muscles.
She couldn’t keep this up for long.
Reality proved even worse than he’d imagined.
Midair, Selina suddenly felt a stabbing cramp shoot through her calf.
She lost her balance and crashed to the ground.
Her leg had cramped.
Even worse, the landing seemed to have twisted her ankle.
Clutching it, she struggled to get back on her feet.
The biological monsters, of course, had no intention of showing mercy.
Raising both arms high overhead, they clasped their hands together like a giant hammer and brought them crashing down, intending to smash Catwoman into pulp.
At the critical moment, Gordon moved.
He wasn’t as good a marksman as Bullock.
The only thing he could do was close the distance as much as possible.
He ripped off his suit jacket and charged forward.
Sliding across the ground to steady his aim, he fired three shots in rapid succession.
Bang!
The first bullet punched through the monster’s right eye.
But Selina had already proven that destroying its eyes couldn’t stop a berserk biological monster.
Bang!
Still sliding forward, Gordon fired again.
The muzzle belched flame.
The red-hot bullet spun through the smoke before plunging into the wound opened by the first shot.
At last, the bullet reached the monster’s brain.
Even so, it still wasn’t enough to stop it.
Blood gushed from its mouth and nostrils.
Its massive fists remained raised overhead.
Bang!
A third gunshot rang out.
The skin on Gordon’s legs had been scraped raw by the metal grate during his slide.
Dark stains spread across his trousers.
But every sacrifice had its reward.
With the path opened by the first two shots, the third bullet penetrated the monster’s skull without resistance, churning its brain into mush.
Boom!
A mountain collapsed.
Still kneeling where he had stopped sliding, Gordon kept his revolver raised.
Cold sweat had ruined his neatly combed hair.
His soaked shirt clung tightly to his neck.
His legs trembled violently.
He couldn’t stand.
Only then did the fear begin creeping up his spine.
There had only been three bullets left in the revolver.
He had willingly thrown himself into the monster’s reach.
If he hadn’t managed to kill it…
He didn’t even want to imagine what would have happened.
I almost never would’ve seen Barbara again…
Limping heavily, Selina extended a hand toward him.
Gordon smiled tiredly as Catwoman helped him to his feet.
“No…
I should be thanking you.”
“You look only a few years older than my daughter.”
“And yet you’ve had to face monsters like these.”
“Your daughter will be proud of you.”
As she spoke, something shimmered faintly in Selina’s eyes.
This gentle, courageous father reminded her of Carmine Falcone—the man who had abandoned both her and her mother.
How could two fathers be so utterly different?
Selina hated to admit it…
But she found herself envying Barbara, even though the two had never met.
The real danger, however, had yet to pass.
The biological monster embedded in the wall slowly climbed back to its feet, clutching its head.
Even worse, there was nothing left capable of threatening it.
“You go.”
“This time, it’s my turn.”
Gordon stepped in front of Catwoman.
No matter how reluctant he was to leave this battered world behind, now was the moment for him to fulfill his duty as a police officer.
“Stop trying to play the hero!”
“Get over here—I figured something out!”
Will shouted from behind them.
Turning around, Gordon saw him crouching beside the corpse of the dead biological monster, fastening the handcuffs to the filter grate.
“Selina!
Your whip!”
Understanding immediately, Catwoman threw it over.
At the same time, the surviving biological monster climbed to its feet, pounding its chest as it prepared to launch another assault.
“Run this way!
Hurry!”
Will rushed forward to retrieve the whip.
His original plan had been to thread the whip through the handcuffs, tie it around the corpse of the biological monster, then lure the living monster into attacking its dead companion so the force would tear open the grate.
But plans rarely survived contact with reality.
The moment he looked up, he realized the biological monster was already within arm’s reach of Gordon and Selina.
One swing would reduce both of them to paste.
There was no time to think.
Will did something utterly insane.
He jumped up and down, clapping his hands while letting out a series of incomprehensible shouts.
“Hey—!
Over here—!”
To the biological monster, it was nothing less than a blatant challenge thrown directly in its face.
Its hatred shifted instantly.
Abandoning Gordon and Catwoman, it charged straight toward Will.
Its twisted face.
The saliva flying from its mouth.
The horrifying muscles rippling beneath its skin with every stride.
For a split second, Will hallucinated.
The creature charging toward him no longer looked like a biological monster.
It looked like an enraged Kodiak bear barreling straight at him.