The Star City duo really couldn't get used to the kind of explosive behavior that could bring down aircraft at the slightest sign of conflict. People here definitely seemed more intense than back home. Thea had patrolled her city for three nights straight and had never seen a weapon as devastating as a rocket launcher.
She quickly told Catwoman to gain altitude and turned to Felicity:"Find a place to land — Gotham police station, government building... or some rich person's mansion with a helipad."
Felicity was already focused on the first step of Gotham's digital infiltration as the rotors whirred above them.
"Oh... looks like we can't land at the government building. Look what I found!" She turned the tablet toward Thea. On the screen appeared a towering, bald man nearly seven feet tall, wearing a metal breathing mask. His bare torso was all muscle, and one of his arms looked twice the size of Thea's waist.
Thea shook her head."There's no way this guy's working for law and order. If any government hired people like him, it wouldn't last a week. That has to be Bane."
She compared his build and presence with the files on other villains. Maybe he was the "final boss" of this crisis... or maybe not.
Why the hesitation? Because Thea had pieced together intel from various sources — including hints from Catwoman — and what emerged was a scenario far more chaotic than even Gotham's usual brand of madness.
It felt like the plot had completely lost control. At first, it was playing out like that classic film where Bane takes down Batman — but then the story swerved into pure absurdity.
Take this: Bane had stormed a TV station with his crew, set up a fake nuclear reactor for a live broadcast, and tried to trigger citywide panic. But after two days, he realized something was off. The city was... fine. People were eating, drinking, even dancing in public squares. Not a single sign of mass hysteria.
Confused, Bane asked an elderly man on the street if the broadcast had aired. The man, calm as ever, replied:
"Son, you seem like a pretty upfront kind of guy. Let me give you some perspective — being decent in Gotham isn't easy. I'm 76, been a model citizen for over six decades. But you know what? I've got a dirty bomb in the basement, two canisters of sarin gas in the fridge, and I picked up some radioactive material this morning. You need it? I'll give you a deal."
Completely thrown off, Bane tried digging deeper — only to find even more citizens unfazed by his threats. The horrors he used to terrorize other cities? Here, they barely registered.
"Do you think I was scared?" — a line that might be defiance elsewhere — was just a casual remark in Gotham. The people here had been through so much that fear had become irrelevant. If this were a game, choosing Gotham as your origin would give you a passive +50% resistance to dark magic.
Running out of options, Bane turned to his ally, Talia al Ghul — a sharp tactician in her own right — who proposed a classic strategy: "Use the chaos of Gotham against itself."
Following her advice, Bane unlocked the gates of Blackgate Prison, hoping to unleash mayhem. What he got was worse: the freed inmates turned on each other almost immediately. Gotham's streets became battlegrounds for rival factions.
Eventually, Bane dismantled the fake reactor himself. It had been sitting there for days, completely ignored. Now, he was less worried about his plans failing and more afraid some lunatic might try to "borrow a spark."
With nothing left to do, Bane ended up sitting alone in front of City Hall, tossing rocks — aimless and forgotten.
"Let's leave that one alone for now," Thea said, watching Felicity's live feed with a raised brow.
They moved on, exploring further. Things were bad all over: the police station, the hospital, the central square. Bullet holes riddled the buildings. Bodies lay scattered — criminals and officers alike. The destruction was far worse than expected.
Feeling overwhelmed, Thea turned to Catwoman:"Did you and Robin have a backup meeting point?"
"…We did. But when we passed by a few minutes ago… it was already on fire. I can't reach him."
Thea bit back a comment. The lack of planning was glaring. If it weren't for Batman's strategic mind, they'd all be buried by now.
Left with few options, she turned to her team:"Let's use the facial recognition satellite to track down Commissioner Gordon. He's the most recognizable person in Gotham — thirty years on the force, posters everywhere. Compared to masked vigilantes, he'll be the easiest to locate."
Felicity nodded, already typing:"Their satellite encryption is tougher than I expected… I'm gonna need a little time."