On the ground, both groups of people were puzzled by Thea's bold actions, wondering what she was up to. Everyone's attention was drawn to the arrow stuck in the road, and regardless of which side they were on, they couldn't help but wonder, 'Is your archery really that bad?'
Ignoring the stares from below, Thea thought to herself, 'I have got my goggles on, my face is covered, and no one knows who I am anyway.' With that, she pressed a switch on her bow.
A low buzzing sound echoed that even Thea in the sky found it a bit grating. The others below were even more affected, with some clutching their heads, some shaking vigorously, and one who had been bleeding earlier was already showing signs of dizziness.
the guns in the hands of both police and villains were magnetically attracted to the arrow
"Swoosh, swoosh"—several crisp sounds followed as the firearms in the hands of both the police and the thugs were being magnetically attracted to the arrowheads drawn in by the immense magnetic force. Some slow-reacting individuals were still pondering over what happened to their guns when Commissioner Gordon, though older, reacted quickly, immediately looking up at the mysterious figure in the sky. Unsure of her intentions, he initially thought she might be an ally, but her indiscriminate action raised doubts.
Thea had no time to ponder the thoughts of those below. With their weapons gone, they couldn't touch her even if they jumped up, so she wasn't concerned. The priority was to handle the situation at hand.
"Felicity, it seems like our magnetic arrow seems a bit too powerful," Thea said.
"We may need to review the magnetization process or the geometry of the magnet. The unexpected fifty-meter radius suggests that the magnetic domains might be more uniformly aligned or the shape of the magnet is amplifying the field. We should investigate the manufacturing parameters to identify the cause of this increased magnetic field strength."
"I noticed that too. They've exceeded the designed radius of twenty meters and are now effective up to fifty meters. We may need to review the magnetization process or the geometry of the neodymium magnet. It's probably due to the magnetic domains being more uniformly aligned or the shape of the magnet amplifying the field. We should look at the manufacturing parameters to identify the cause of this increased magnetic field strength. To optimize the performance and control the range more precisely, we might consider adjusting the quantity of neodymium magnets, perhaps reducing it by 25% in the next iteration" Felicity replied.
"We should reduce it even further. The magnetic waves are too strong; we designed it to attract specific metals in gun barrels, but now it's like a sonic weapon," Thea suggested.
"Alright, let's halve it next time and see how it goes," Felicity agreed.
Just as Thea was about to continue, she noticed Commissioner Gordon gesturing to her from below, beckoning her over. Hastily, she interrupted her discussion with Felicity about the weapons.
"What's the matter?" she asked innocently, staring down at Commissioner Gordon, whose serious expression could crush flies between his eyebrows.
"What's the matter?!" Gordon retorted, pointing to the thugs on the other side. Two thugs were desperately trying to pry their guns off the arrow, but to no avail. 'The magnetic field is still active. Do you think your puny arms and legs can compete with that? If they were that strong, they'd be the bosses by now.' Thea thought to herself.
The individuals, unable to retrieve their weapons for the time being, were perplexed by the situation and couldn't figure out what this was all about. Being less educated, they still had the sense to prioritize dealing with the immediate threat before addressing anything else, so they rolled up their sleeves and prepared for hand-to-hand combat.
Commissioner Gordon was facing this situation now. He was almost retiring, and there was another wounded officer beside him, who could be considered disabled. On his side, there were only two fully capable officers left against seven opponents, all experienced street thugs. The leader, a hefty man weighing three hundred pounds, seemed foolish, but he certainly had a lot of strength.
Previously, they could barely hold on with their firearms, but now, it was really impossible to win. Gordon signaled desperately to Thea, wanting to know whether she was there to help or if she was leading their group to strategically retreat.
Thea scratched the back of her head a little embarrassedly. Yes, she had disrupted their previous battle with her flashy entrance and unleashed a powerful move regardless of friend or foe, making the situation even more unfavorable under her assistance.
She had genuinely intended to help, but her impulsive decision to test her weapon had cost tens of thousands of dollars. Seeing Commissioner Gordon's distressed expression, she knew he probably wouldn't reimburse her.
She could only help them deal with these few thugs. As for retreating, she couldn't afford to lose face, and there was no space for additional people on her Glider. Moreover, she didn't want random people using her equipment.
At this moment, she had the mentality of 'since you sincerely asked for my help, I'll generously help you deal with the enemies.' Taking them out one by one with her arrows would be satisfying, but in front of these police officers, especially Commissioner Gordon, going on a killing spree was out of the question. First impressions were important, and the Green Arrow's initial impression on law enforcement was not good.
He had taken on the roles of police, judge, and jury all at once. Those with poor morals feared losing their jobs, while those with good morals felt it was a desecration of the sacredness of the law.
Although he tried to make amends later on, he couldn't shake off that bad impression. He was often chased by the police, with villains running ahead, heroes following, and police chasing the heroes. If only he had known the consequences from the start.
Superman doesn't have this problem. His initial impression was positive, he does everything openly and honestly. Perhaps his immense power played a role too. Despite high-ranking officials being wary of him, there were no reports of the Metropolis Police Department issuing a warrant for his arrest.
So, in order to maintain this good first impression, Thea abandoned the idea of putting on a live human barbecue show for Commissioner Gordon.
Finding a good angle, she drew an arrow and notched her bow, aiming at the three-hundred-pound man leading the group. She murmured, "What should I call this arrow? Let's call it the entangling arrow. Felicity, record the data."
With a "whoosh," the arrow hit the ground right at the leader's feet. In his bewildered gaze, the collision between the arrow and the ground triggered the arrow's mechanism, releasing a large mass of milky-white gelatinous substance that flew out and rapidly formed a large net, two meters high and five meters wide, upon contact with the air.
The hefty man, too close to realize what was happening, found himself directly stuck to the net, while the others charging behind him were caught off guard, crashing into it one after another.
Thea's Entangling Arrow was designed based on Spider-Man's webbing. She didn't know what material Spider-Man's webs were made of, but she used a composite carbon acetylene molecule product developed by Queen Consolidated.
Dr. Hoffman, the original inventor, had good intentions. He designed it to deal with those jumping off buildings. A small cluster deployed would turn into a large net, extremely resilient, capable of catching even an elephant falling from a building.
This invention had been shelved for a long time, but Thea stumbled upon it and found it valuable. She secretly took it out and, with Felicity's help, made some modifications to it, turning it into what it was now.
In the end, it was named "Spider Silk" for convenience. As for whether spiders would strongly protest against something that had no proteins and organic compounds being called "Spider Silk," Thea didn't care.
The thugs naturally didn't want to be stuck on the net for display. They struggled desperately, especially the huge guy in the front, who struggled the most fiercely.
Thea had made a small modification; she increased the carbon content of the molecular material, reducing some of its hardness while increasing its toughness. This made the current spider silk net wobbly, as if it could be broken free from at any moment.
Actually, this design was a bit unscrupulous, an elephant would struggle to break free when caught, let alone humans.
With a shrug to Commissioner Gordon, she indicated that she had solved the problem, and the rest was up to him.