Volume 1: Welcoming Gotham Chapter 26 Cat Hunting or Big Sister's Little Game
"Your behavior reminds me of someone..."
It is a very exciting thing to sit in the Batmobile, which is cool and heavy like a tank but also flexible like a ghost at night, and parade through Gotham at night.
But a chatterbox sitting next to you is enough to turn this wonderful thing into a boring night patrol.
Mason sat in the passenger seat, looking at the night scene passing by outside through the transparent glass of the cabin. Beside him, Dick Grayson, wearing a Batman suit, was holding the handle that was covered with buttons like a racing car, and whispered:
"No wonder Batman is paying so much attention to you."
"You mean Jason Todd?"
Mason said expressionlessly:
"It seems like everyone has been saying this since I met Batman, and maybe you guys think it's a compliment, but I want to be clear, it's not.
Mr. Robin, not every young person who comes into contact with Batman is as eager to become the 'Son of the Bat' as you and Jason are."
"Sorry, I just felt that way."
The young master stopped talking.
He skillfully drove the Batmobile through the deserted alleys of Gotham at night, and rushed out of the alley a few seconds later, knocking down a group of robbers who rushed out of a robbed store.
Nightwing controlled several rope darts to be shot out from the Batmobile's weapon system, entangled the unfortunate guys whose bones were broken on the telephone poles on the roadside.
Finally, he thoughtfully called the police and reported his location in the identity of Batman.
The whole process went smoothly, and the speed of the Batmobile didn't even drop much. It was obvious at first glance that the Batmobile was a veteran in night patrol.
"Aren't you going to look for Catwoman? Why are you just wandering around blindly?"
Mason said:
"With all due respect, no cat will wait for you to catch her unless she wants to play games with you. But you are not Batman."
"Batman may be a loner, but the Robins are different. I've asked for help, and Catwoman's location has been basically confirmed."
The young master activated an electronic map in the Batmobile, and soon a red dot marked the target. He took a look at the map and drove the Batmobile into a dim alley.
Mason also stared at the map, and after a few seconds he said:
"We're going to Crime Alley?"
"Um."
Grayson nodded and explained:
"There is a clinic there that specializes in treating some of Gotham's street heroes, and people like Catwoman who are both good and evil occasionally go there for treatment.
It is also the only place in the dozen or so blocks nearby that will treat the poor and homeless for free.
The doctor had a very high reputation in the neighborhood, and the poor people in the neighborhood would take the initiative to protect her. In addition, the doctor treated her patients equally and would also treat seriously injured gang members, so the gang members also respected her very much.
They even designated her clinic as a 'truce zone'.
When I was Robin, I was sent there by Batman a few times when I was in trouble. Catwoman's injuries were not fully healed yet, and she needed a place to finish healing.
There’s a good chance she’ll go there.”
Mason's expression became more and more strange as he listened. He said tentatively:
"You mean Dr. Leslie Tompkins?"
"Hmm? You know that place too?"
The young master asked in surprise.
"I was sent in by Batman and was just released from the hospital at noon today."
Mason held his gun "Old K" and whispered:
"I didn't expect that after saying goodbye at noon, I would have to visit this doctor again in the evening. Sure enough, my hunch was correct. The doctor who can open a clinic in Crime Alley is not an ordinary person.
Who is she?"
"Dr. Leslie was once Commissioner Gordon's fiancée..."
Grayson started to speak, but was interrupted by Mason waving his hand:
"I know this, tell me something I don't know."
"Well, she was a doctor at Wayne Hospital, an assistant to Sir Thomas Wayne. She left the hospital after the tragedy that year, and then something happened that caused her to leave Gotham. After returning to the city, she opened a clinic in Crime Alley."
The young man may have regarded Mason as someone he could trust, so when he approached the clinic, he told the young man some things about Dr. Leslie's past, and Mason nodded repeatedly.
Although he has read some comics, he is an ordinary fan and does not know every character well.
Judging from Grayson's description, the cold-faced doctor with an extremely strange past should be one of the few people who know Batman's true identity.
The fact that her clinic can be opened in Crime Alley without any trouble is probably due to the financial support of her master.
"Enter ghost mode, bio-radar scan ahead!"
As they approached the clinic next to Crime Alley, Nightwing's fingers quickly clicked several times on the button-filled control panel of the Batmobile.
The low noise made by the Batmobile moving at high speed immediately faded away, like the faint sound of an electric car running.
The biological radar was activated to scan the four-story clinic in front from top to bottom, and the three-dimensional structure and the living organisms moving within it were reflected on the electronic screen.
Mason and Nightwing grasped their weapons at the same time.
On the screen in front of them, the four floors of the clinic were unusually "lively", especially the third floor, where many red dots representing life forms were moving rapidly.
It looked like a melee.
"Catwoman is here indeed, and she has brought her troubles to Dr. Leslie's clinic."
Nightwing stopped the Batmobile on the side of the road. The moment the cabin opened, he took out the grappling gun and fired it high up. He also threw a few smoke bombs at Mason who jumped out of the car with a gun in hand, and said:
"I'll go get Catwoman, you go save Dr. Leslie and those patients... Cover your face if you can. First lesson of 'Rookie Robin Tutorial', this is not only to protect your identity, but also to prevent trouble from spreading to those around you."
"Just do your own thing."
Mason rushed towards the clinic in front of him with a gun in hand without looking back, which made Grayson shake his head.
Like Batman, he soared into the sky with the grappling hook gun stretched out, then spread his bat cloak in the air and glided to the roof of the clinic. The moment he landed lightly, Bat Master took out a remote control and pressed it.
Two launch tubes popped out from the back of the Batmobile parked on the side of the road in a cool way. With two bangs, two black "missiles" shot towards and exploded in the air.
No casualties were caused.
But at the moment the missile exploded, the street lights and all lighting facilities on the entire street lost power instantly, and the lights on the fourth-floor clinic also dimmed instantly.
This is the Bat Family's fighting style.
The night is their best friend, and stealth operations in the dark are always their first choice.
If the initiative on the battlefield is not in your hands, then use various means, including money, to make the battle terrain more favorable to you.
At the same time as the eldest son broke in from the rooftop, Mason also rushed into the clinic from the bottom floor.
Of course, the invisibility cloak must be put on in advance. When not in combat, this thing is simply a stealth tool.
Thanks to having spent a day and a half in the clinic, Mason was quite familiar with the place. He ignored the men in black patrolling on the first floor, walked around them, went up to the second floor and went straight to Dr. Leslie's office.
These black-clad men from the Assassin's League were obviously well prepared, and there were almost no signs of fighting on the road.
The patients in the ward were not harmed either, they were locked in the ward, just as Dr. Leslie was tied to his chair with ropes by two men in black.
Several nurses on night shift were knocked unconscious and lay sprawled on the floor.
Oh, what a waste.
Most of the combatants were playing "hide and seek" with Catwoman on the third floor. There were not many men in black on the second floor, but they were fully armed to the teeth. Not only did they carry assault rifles, but some of them also carried samurai swords.
Mason did not shoot rashly after confirming the situation.
He put his pistol on his back, drew out Su Jie's Eagle, and slipped to the end of the corridor wearing an invisibility cloak, attempting to start his first "stealth operation".
With the cooperation of the extremely sharp Sujie Eagle and the invisibility cloak, the process of killing the first few people with a knife was very smooth. Each of them provided a "silent assassination" bonus to the proficiency of fighting skills.
But Mason had never practiced fighting and infiltration systematically, and he made a mistake when killing the fifth man in black.
The sound of the gun in the guy's hand hitting the ground immediately attracted the other accomplices.
Seeing that the situation was not right, Mason decisively threw the sword in his hand into his bag and drew out the double-barreled explosive hand cannon from his waist. While the invisibility cloak was still ineffective, he raised the gun and quickly fired at several approaching killers.
There was a deep and powerful explosion like the ringing of a bell. The moment the hot buckshot bullet burst out, the smoke bomb given by Nightwing was also thrown to the ground.
Thick smoke billowed out of the corridor on the second floor, followed by rhythmic gunshots that echoed in the dark floors, and one man in black after another was knocked to the ground.
This time the invisibility cloak is really powerful.
After Mason blew the head of the last killer guarding the hostage, this thing still worked. It seems it was in a good mood today.
The young man put away his invisibility cloak and rushed into the doctor's office, carrying the knocked-out Dr. Leslie out on his back. He then opened all the locked wards along the way and allowed the patients to evacuate with him.
Several patrolmen on the first floor probably received a request for support and rushed into the stairs with guns in hand, only to run into Mason who was coming down from above.
Both men drew their guns almost at the same time, but Mason was obviously faster.
On the narrow staircase, two large buckshot bullets fired from the double-barreled hand cannon, totaling 16 steel balls, successfully turned the four people in front of him into bloody sieves.
A few seconds later, Mason led them out of the clinic amid the patients' screams.
He placed the unconscious Dr. Leslie on a chair on the side of the road and was about to wake her up when he suddenly heard an explosion above his head. Looking up, he saw a wall on the third floor shattered by flames.
The burning bodies of several black-clad killers also fell to the ground from the explosion, and in the sky reflected by the fire, a slender figure grabbed the shot rope and was sliding quickly towards the roof of the opposite building.
"Catwoman?"
Mason decisively knelt down, raised his explosive shotgun, aimed at Catwoman and slightly tilted the muzzle.
With a bang, the bullet was fired and accurately broke the rope Catwoman used to escape in mid-air, turning the smooth escape of the female thief into a dancing fall in the second half.
But after all, she is a veteran street hero, and that big sister has a lot of life-saving gadgets in her hands.
As she fell in mid-air, she shot out a grappling gun that was almost the same as Batman's, allowing herself to draw a trajectory in the air like Tarzan, and then did seven and a half twists and turns like a gymnast, finally landing steadily in the shameful posture of a superhero falling.
It landed right at the entrance to Crime Alley.
Catwoman stood up and looked back in Mason's direction, made a vicious and unladylike gesture, and then ran into the dark Crime Alley without looking back.
Mason took out Dr. Leslie's phone, unlocked it with the doctor's finger, and dialed a number. He chased in the direction of Catwoman's escape while saying to the other end of the phone:
"Doctor Leslie is injured, Gordon, come quickly!"
"What?"
The director on the other end of the phone exclaimed.
Then there was the harsh sound of the car's tires rubbing against the ground as it turned at high speed. Mason grinned, it seemed that the "old lover" relationship was indeed reliable.
It seems there is no need to worry about the doctor.
At the same time as Mason rushed into Crime Alley, a black figure jumped out from the explosion hole on the third floor of the clinic. Nightwing, who had dealt with the black-clad killers, spread his black cloak and glided towards the other end of Crime Alley.
This famous alley in Gotham City is not long, and the tops of the buildings on both sides are very flat, leaving almost no place to hide.
While Nightwing was gliding in the sky, Catwoman did not choose to expose herself, but hid next to a trash can in a dark alley, preparing to launch a sneak attack on her pursuers.
She had no idea that it was Mason who stopped her escape, and thought that it was the rest of the Bat-Family who was assisting Nightwing.
Mason rushed into Crime Alley with a gun in hand. In the darkness without street lights, he took out the explosive shotgun for close combat and turned on the tactical flashlight pendant hanging from the muzzle. He shouted as he walked forward:
"Ms. Selina, come out! I have no ill intentions, I just want to ask you something. You should not have forgotten me, right? I am Mason, and I saved you once."
He looked around vigilantly as he walked forward, but was suddenly attacked from the side by an agile black shadow.
Catwoman rushed out without any enthusiasm for meeting an acquaintance. She swung her long legs that could charm men and kicked the spear out of Mason's hand. She then swung her hand and accurately cut Mason's wrist, knocking the double-barreled hand cannon he had pulled out with his quick gun to the ground.
Then he clamped Mason's neck with his legs and swung the young man in the air and smashed him to the ground in a series of dazzling judo moves.
"You heartless little bastard! I thought we were in cahoots!"
Catwoman, wearing a full bodysuit and red goggles, pressed on Mason's chest.
She looked at the young man who had saved her a week ago with displeasure, and waved the "cat claw" knife in her hand, saying in a vicious and threatening tone:
"Don't play with the bat cubs! They are not good friends. I'm leaving now, you'd better not stop me, otherwise I will scratch your pretty face."
"I have no intention of stopping you."
Mason, who was pinned to the ground by Catwoman in an indecent position, did not resist. He said directly:
"But the things you hid dragged me into the quagmire as well. The assassins from the Penguin Gang and the League of Assassins are looking for the information in that hard drive. You can't be so selfish, Ms. Selina."
"snort"
Catwoman hesitated, shook her head and said:
"I can't give it to you. You can't handle things of this level. I have to wait for Batman to come back. When it comes to the survival of Gotham City, I only trust him!"
"Why didn't you give it to him when Batman took you to therapy?"
Mason asked back, obviously doubting Catwoman's sincerity.
As a result, the latter rolled his eyes coquettishly and said unhappily:
"I was in a coma for a few days, you little genius. When I woke up, he was too busy with your affairs to spend time with me, and it took me time to decipher the information.
It was just an accident, but it was caused by you.
I've never seen that cold man care so much about anyone. Frankly speaking, I'm a little jealous. Anyway, let's wait for Batman to come back."
She released her grip on Mason and kicked the young man's two pistols further away. After seeing Nightwing land at the other end of the alley, Catwoman turned around and said:
"Don't chase me, little guy, or I'll be rude to you."
"I'm sorry, but I'm the one who has to be rude tonight."
The moment Mason was released from his suppression, he pulled out Sujie's Eagle from his bag. Of course, he did not stab with the sword, but just deflected the sword and swung it out when Catwoman's long leg that was kicking towards his head fell down.
Nightwing, who rushed over, had learned his lesson. He stopped suddenly, turned around and covered his eyes.
But Catwoman had obviously not learned any lesson from this sword. The light reflected by the sword hit her face directly. Even with the protection of goggles, she lost her vision in an instant. She staggered back and was grabbed by the shoulder by Mason who jumped up.
With a bang, he was pressed against the wall next to him in a reverse wall-dong motion.
"then!"
Nightwing threw a lock over, Mason took it and slapped the struggling Catwoman's hands. With a click, the black bat lock locked her hands behind her back.
At the same time, the drawings of this ingenious bat lock were also collected by Mason.
But the elder sister’s counterattack was so fierce.
The long leg bent and kicked towards Mason's crotch, but the young man reacted quickly and jumped back to avoid the vicious attack.
Nightwing rushed over like an evil accomplice of the perverted criminal who attacked and imprisoned Queen, waved his hand and inserted a bat tranquilizer into Catwoman's neck, finally calming the struggling wild cat.
“It’s a pleasure to work with you!”
The major general carried Catwoman on his shoulders and gave Mason a thumbs-up.
This is still a silly move that Batman would never do, and it looks very inconsistent with the bat suit he is wearing.
"Where to next? The Batcave?"
Mason picked up his gun, wiped the dirt off the gun and asked. Grayson shook his head and said:
"You are not allowed in the Batcave yet, so we go to a nearby safe house and immediately find out where Catwoman is hiding the information. I just found an elite shadow warrior from the League of Assassins in the clinic.
Things are deteriorating fast, Mason, and their patience is wearing thin, which, from my experience, is never a good thing."
