At that moment, Barbara believed herself to be caught, but then the guard went right back to talking to the other one as if nothing ever happened, leaving her bewildered.
However, she must press on and get to the bottom of the Penguin mystery.
The air vent she was in went on for quite a while, and maybe if she went in deeper she'll find what she is looking for, but something deep inside of her told her to go back.
"I've done what you asked! Now, what else do you want from me!" A man shouted.
Barbara quickly found where the voice was coming from and peered from the closest vent to see that she was now above an office room. A fairly large and round man wearing a suit was on his knees begging another man wearing a crimson red suit with a strange white mask on his face.
The man on his knees would be recognized by Ethan as he was the same man that tried to take Alisa away. He survived through all the mess only to be entangled with one of the dangerous groups of people in the world.
"Now, why are you so eager to get rid of us. We aren't that scary are we George...no I should call you Penguin shouldn't I?" The man had a mask on, but anyone could tell that he was smiling underneath it.
"N-no...Of course not! Why would I do that?... You're the ones that made all of this possible." George said as sweat dripped from his brow.
"And we can take it all away... Do you want me to do that?" The man asked as he leaned in close.
Fearing for his life, George immediately closed his eyes, "P-please no."
"Hahaha. I like you, you're fun to mess with." The man laughed while gently smacking George's cheek.
"Your uncle was doing something for us, but unfortunately he died before he could complete his task. And we would really like it to be finished if you don't mind."
"Yes! Yes! I'll do it!" George quickly answered.
>>>>1 minute earlier<<<<
Cassandra didn't know what she was living for, and simply lived out her day to day half-heartedly with no goal in sight. She knew following the caped woman into the air vents was stupid, but she did it anyway as something told her that she'd regret it for the rest of her life.
She moved through the vents as quiet as a mouse to make sure the caped woman didn't spot her.
Unfortunately, Cassandra underestimated the caped woman's skills as she was immediately noticed when she got close.
>>>>Present<<<<<
As Barbara listened in the conversation, she activated the Detective Vision to observe the surroundings, and just seconds after activating it, she was alerted by movement.
'Behind me...?!' She suddenly moved, startling whoever was following her, causing them to make a lot of noise.
"...It seems like we have a rat..a big one." The man in the crimson suit said.
"Shit." Barbara cursed underneath her breath and looked at the culprit who made the noise. It was fairly dark in the vents, but her cowl came with night vision and her eyes were greeted to an Asian girl who looked around her age.
Barbara could tell straight away by their clothes that they were homeless and not recent. However, even after she made all that noise she didn't move nor did she scream.
"Hey-"
*Schlik!!* A blade of an unknown assailant shot through the vent, barely missing Barbara's face
"Move!" Barbara shouted to the unknown girl just as several other blades found their way into the vent.
Cassandra didn't quite understand but seeing the urgency told her all she needed to know and she started to backtrack back towards the roof.
Soon after the attack, Barbara started to see a pair of ominous glowing eyes that moved closer towards their location by the second. Her night vision was still on so she could see that the eyes belonged to someone in a black owl-like mask.
"Faster!" Barbara said, grabbing a few smoke bombs from her utility belt.
Whoever was coming was definitely not friendly and with that thought, she threw the bombs.
*Boom!* They were loud, immediately startling the restaurant's customers that were in the building as it filled the vents with smoke.
>>>><<<<
Sandra had just finished her talk with David and she didn't like what she heard. Her daughter could practically be anywhere after being away for so many years. The assassin wanted to kill David, but then she found out that the man actually cared about Cassandra despite what he put her through.
Sandra could have still killed him, but her subconscious was telling her not to do it and so she left him alive. David had thought the woman had feelings for him, but she quickly cleared that up by telling him that a different man has her heart.
He wasn't upset, but one doesn't feel particularly happy that another man was nailing their baby mother.
Sandra simply laughed at the man's facial expressions and left to go search for her daughter.
'It looks like it will be a bit longer until I return to your side.' Sandra thought as she leaped across Gotham City's rooftops. In the past, she could do this with a lot more effort, however, now it was as easy as breathing.
She was nowhere near as fast and strong as Ethan, but still, her current self could defeat her past self with minimal effort.
As she moved, she started to hear sounds of fighting coming from below. It normally wouldn't have bothered her, but a woman in ragged clothing instantly caught her eye.
'That fighting style...wait are those Talons?!' Sandra saw the people they were fighting against and they were dressed in completely black with strange masks covering their faces.
Sandra then noticed a certain caped hero fighting alongside her daughter and immediately she frowned.