Commissioner Gordon arrived, and naturally, the spar between women couldn't continue, allowing Barbara to declare, with relative dignity, that she hadn't lost. Although anyone with eyes could see the truth, at least her pride was intact.
She didn't have the energy to chat with her father. She plopped down on the ground, exhausted. Another minute of fighting and she would be done for. Though her family wasn't particularly religious, at that moment, all she could think of was "God help me." She felt as though some higher power was watching over her, allowing her to endure this embarrassing trial. It was as if there was a divine mission awaiting her in the unknown.
Thea, on the other hand, didn't feel any sense of divine mission. After every fight with Lady Shiva, despite being covered in bruises, they would still politely acknowledge each other. She just thought it was all an act and was about to shake hands with Barbara when she noticed Barbara's ladylike sitting posture had transformed into a sprawled-out, spread-eagle position, her vibrant red hair clinging to her body as if drenched in water. Seeing this, Thea decided to forego what would seem like a condescending gesture.
"Hey, are you guys listening?" Felicity's voice came through the earpiece, uncertain due to the silence on their end. The drone that had been hovering above during the fight with Killer Croc had already flown back, so she was unaware of the harmonious and enthusiastic friendly match that had taken place.
"Yeah, we're here," Robin replied. Typically, this would be a task for Barbara, but she was too exhausted to speak, resembling a dead dog. Neither Selina nor Thea seemed inclined to speak first, leaving the honest Robin to respond.
Felicity uttered an "Oh" without understanding the context, "Shall we begin then?"
And so, the Gotham version of a six-party talk officially commenced. The main agenda was certainly not grandiose topics like world peace; they mainly discussed the containment of Killer Croc.
As the leader, Thea didn't want to speak first, so she hinted at her number one henchman. Felicity immediately said, "If you don't want him, we can take him straight to Starling City. Our Queen Group has an applied science lab with all sorts of saws and drills, which I'm sure the Killer Croc would love."
"In addition, we have 1500 workers at home who are eager to work. Just give us the nod, and we can haul this guy away without modern machinery; we can use traditional methods like shoulder carrying and rolling logs. It's not a big deal at all! Gotham people can rest assured."
Barbara finally caught her breath and firmly opposed this rude request. "This guy has lived off Gotham, and if he dies, he'll die in our backyard. If you have an urgent need, considering our camaraderie from fighting side by side, we might share a bowl of soup with you afterwards. But taking it away directly is out of the question."
Facing this response, Thea didn't have much choice. Since they were so resolute in their opposition, she could only relent. After all, she didn't have high hopes for this big guy anyway. As for using his blood as enhancement serum or anything of the sort, regardless of whether it could work, just by looking at his appearance, the potential side effects would be immense.
Barbara was quite satisfied with Thea and her partner's retreat. Honestly, when she refused, she felt a bit shaky inside. After all, throughout the entire incident, she and her team hadn't been much help. The verbal altercation had been initiated by Felicity, and their role was merely to echo her words. It was a job that any two people could do, maybe even two people with louder voices.
The decisive blow had nothing to do with them either. They were in a sorry state but hadn't really contributed much.
Now, hearing that they had tacitly agreed to Gotham's jurisdiction over Killer Croc, she felt as though she had won a major battle, and her goodwill towards the two of them increased slightly.
"Dad, do you have any ideas?" Barbara didn't want to deal with the big ice block anymore. As long as it stayed in Gotham, she didn't care where they threw it. She just wanted to go back, take a good shower, and get some rest.
Commissioner Gordon initially really had no idea. He was a cop, and had been one for a lifetime. He hadn't even paid much attention when his wife left, let alone other miscellaneous matters. Obviously, this kind of handling work was better suited for construction workers.
However, the mention of 1500 people by Felicity gave him a simple idea. "We have plenty of people in Gotham, no doubt about it. Let's use manpower to pull him away! Anyway, there were so many idle people in the school building. Just call a few hundred people and they could move him."
Having a plan was better than having none at all. Commissioner Gordon gathered over a hundred people, while Thea controlled her Glider in the sky, and the rest of the people busied themselves with the round logs and ropes. Finally, they managed to pull the ice block, weighing over a ton, from the lakeside to the main road. It took quite an effort to load it onto a vehicle, but an hour later, they safely returned to the university.
The arrival of the large ice block inside the school caused quite a stir. Many children from the city hadn't seen something so peculiar before and ran around, continuously asking their families. The adults, in turn, came up with various explanations, ranging from large-scale weapons to the mayor treating everyone to shaved ice. In any case, nobody suspected that there was a single crocodile hidden inside.
With the task completed, the group disbanded. Thea and Barbara were heading back to sleep, separately of course, while Robin rushed into the bathroom to take a shower.
Selina pulled Felicity aside into a corner and whispered, "Do you have any devices for authenticating art pieces?"
"What do you need it for?" Felicity asked, looking puzzled but not entirely clueless.
Selina chuckled, "I'm planning to borrow a few pieces of artwork. The jewelry industry in Gotham has hit a cold spell recently; no one dares to wear jewelry outside anymore. The hottest market now is the art market!"
Selina was quite envious of Thea's Glider, but although she had some money, she often helped the poor, which depleted her resources. Bruce, despite being wealthy, had no connection to her. After all, she was currently embroiled in a battle with Talia over the Wayne surname. Seeing Talia, brimming with momentum, storming into Gotham with her child, she felt that the surname was getting further and further away from her.
Since it would take some time to change her name from Selina Kyle to Selina Wayne, she decided to rely on herself for now. With money, everything was easier to negotiate. Whether to buy directly from Thea or ask Bruce for help in making them, she had yet to decide.
It just so happened that the city was in a state of panic, with the wealthy in the upper districts hiding at home, afraid to step outside, causing the market demand to plummet suddenly. Her usual business of jewelry and gemstones inevitably suffered a significant blow.
This forced her to target the art market, which she was not proficient in before.