“Commissioner Gordon!
And, uh…
shit, who else?” Vincent stared at the two newcomers as he tried to recall the name of Gordon’s sidekick.
The man looked exactly as he did in the old case files: he had a messy beard, a dirty fedora, and a short, bloated body squeezed into a wrinkled ochre trench coat that looked like crumpled newspaper.
The collar was stained with coffee.
From what Vincent remembered, the guy was one of Gotham’s few decent cops.
He just never got enough spotlight.
“Are you kidding me?
Why does James get to be the Commissioner, and I’m just ‘who else’!” Bullock snapped, thoroughly insulted.
He reached into his coat for a smoke, only to find his cigars completely soaked.
“You!” Gordon recognized Vincent.
Gotham had plenty of lunatics, but true deviants were rare enough to remember.
Then, Gordon’s gaze shifted to the young woman standing beside Vincent, a young woman in leather, wearing a cat-eared hood!She matched the suspect sketches from the recent high-profile burglaries perfectly.
“Hands on your head!” He drew his gun in less than a second.
Seeing that Catwoman did not immediately resist, he pulled out his handcuffs and crouched low, advancing cautiously while reciting the Miranda rights.
“You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…” *What the hell is going on here?* Vincent thought, completely blindsided by the sudden escalation.
Selina, however, had no intention of waiting around for silver bracelets.
As Gordon keeps getting close, her wrist twisted.
She caught his shoulder, her boot hooking his ankle in a fluid, vicious sweep.
In the blink of an eye, the Commissioner was eating concrete.
By the time a panicked Bullock reached for his revolver, Selina had already looped her whip tightly around Gordon’s neck.
“Gentlemen, you’re far more dedicated than i tought.” Selina purred with mockery.
“Ignoring the monster roaming the sewers just to catch a thief?” “A thief?
Don’t flatter yourself, sweetheart.
You just added assaulting an officer to your tab.
Blackgate is waiting for you!” Bullock barked, trying to line up a shot through his shaking hands.
“Oh?
And what about The Romans?
They beat up cops every day, yet I don’t see any of them rotting in a cell,” Selina shot back, her grip tightening on the whip.
“Are you picking on me because I’m an easy target, or is Falcone’s crew too tough to handle?
You worthless rats?” The situation was escalating fast.
Vincent stepped between the two sides spreading his arms.
“Everyone, listen to me.
We are all down here for the same reason.
Let’s cut the shit, cooperate, and deal with the threat first.” “I don’t give a damn, but you better ask your thief friend,” Bullock grumbled, lowering his gun and spitting into the murky water.
“If the rat doesn’t mind, why should I?” Selina smiled, sweety yet sarcastic.
With Bullock’s gun down, Selina shoved her hostage back toward his partner.
But she wasn’t careless.
Before letting go, she smoothly lifted Gordon’s gun and handcuffs.
“I’ll keep these safe for you.
Consider it insurance until we get out.
Assuming we ever do.” “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Bullock glared at her, his chest heaving.
Getting called a rat twice in thirty seconds stung.
It was a humiliating nickname that Gothamites used behind the backs of corrupt cops, and it infuriated him that he and Gordon were being dragged into the same mud.
Selina eyed Bullock from head to toe, her contempt entirely undisguised.
“You two dropped down from the upper level, didn’t you?
The enemy in the dark is intentionally making noise to lead us downward.
I guarantee there is a trap waiting for us down there.” “I don’t give a damn about traps!
I’ve had enough of this goddamn place,” Bullock growled, turning away.” Partner, let’s check the map and find a way out of here.” Gordon did not answer.
“Jim?” Bullock turned around.
Gordon was aggressively tapping the dead screen of his phone.
“Water damage,” Gordon said.
“Is yours working?” Bullock patted his pockets, finding nothing.
His pre-existing hostility toward Catwoman immediately flared back up.
“Hey, thief!
Did you take my phone?” “Hilarious.
A rat living off mob payoffs and stolen tax dollars is accusing me of theft?” “What did you say?
Say that again, you damn bitch!” Vincent felt a headache coming.
If they kept acting like this, none of them would make it out alive.
“Shut the fuck up!” Vincent yelled.
The three of them stopped instantly, turning to stare at him.
“Let’s establish the facts,” Vincent said, taking a breath.
“Do any of you have a map?” The three shook their heads.
“Does anyone know the way?” They shook their heads again.
“Then we have one option.
We head for the main sewer outlet and pray the current flushes us out into the ocean.” Gordon’s eyes lit up at the suggestion, but he quickly frowned, rubbing his beard.
Technically, the plan was possible.
To prevent blockages, Gotham’s main sewer’s filters have been removed in the previous century, which was the only reason they had survived the fall to this lower tier.
Following the current would likely lead to the sea, but the drop-offs in these tunnels were massive.
There was no guarantee they wouldn’t break their necks on the way down.
Even if they made it into the ocean, a second challenge was waiting for them.
The main drainage pipeline emptied out near the Coventry district, right beneath the cliffs of Arkham Asylum.
The drop was nearly forty feet, and the waters below were a graveyard of jagged, hidden reefs.
Could they survive the fall?
And if they did, how would they swim back to land?
Yet, staying here to wait for backup was a death sentence.
No one knew the Gotham Police Department better than Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock.
The two most competent cops in the city were currently stuck in this hole.
If they relied on the incompetent fools back at the police station for a rescue, they would either die of methane poisoning or starve to death.
In Gotham, calling a cop ‘incompetent’ was practically a compliment.
Weighing the brutal odds, Gordon nodded.
“I’m in.” Bullock hesitated for a moment, but seeing his partner agree, he raised his hand too.
He knew Gordon inside and out.
Gordon loved his daughter, Barbara, more than life itself.
If there was any other choice, he wouldn’t risk taking a dive into the sea.
Vincent turned his gaze to Selina.
She was the only one left.
“Me?
…*Sigh*.” Catwoman puffed her cheeks and let out a long breath.
“Honestly, i am starting to regret tonight.
This whole thing is a disaster.
No money, lost in a sewer, and now you want me to jump into the ocean…” Her instincts told her that the drainage route was a death trap.
She was stepping off the ride.
Still, she offered the three men a small, genuine parting wish.
“I’ll stay behind and try my luck finding another exit.
I hope we all make it back to the surface alive.” Vincent didn’t try to convince her.
Without Catwoman, his plan to steal the money would likely fail, but he couldn’t bring himself to force her into a deadly gamble.
“Fair enough.
Stay safe out there,” Vincent said.
He handed his flashlight to Selina, offered a brief nod, and turned toward the rushing water.