"What? You said there's a bunch of what running around Green Street? Cows??? Which nearby ranch... Okay, I'm on my way." Gordon put down the phone, scratched his head in confusion but still told his subordinates, "Someone called in a report, said there's a herd of cows stampeding on Green Street, and there aren't any animal farms nearby; let's go check it out."
The sirens blared again shortly after, and Gordon got out of the car, staring dumbfounded at the cows that were blocked in the middle of the road by police cars.
"Shit, where the hell did all these cows come from?!" Gordon, in shock, quickly directed his men to corral the herd.
Back in the East District, the Guardians of the Galaxy hadn't even had a chance to rest when they heard screaming from next door. They knew that their neighbor was a kind old lady over 60 who lived alone and was not easily alarmed.
Her being 'kind' meant that she used to dispose of bodies for the mob when she was younger, and 'not easily alarmed' meant there really wasn't much that could surprise her.
But when they walked in, they saw the old lady nearly climbing up onto the roof beams, and a huge python on the floor, as thick as an adult's lower leg.
The creature was indeed a bit scarier than a person; Gamora quickly grabbed a mop from the side and used it to pin down the snake's head, while the others clumsily captured the python.
The Guardians of the Galaxy, being outsiders, could only judge by stereotypes and thought Gotham's natural system was not robust enough. Considering the python's size, it should be a protected animal, so they didn't dare harm it. Instead, they went to a courier station to find a large box and secured the python inside.
Just after they had dealt with the python, another scream came from the back street. The group hurried out, only to find a huge Bald Eagle clutching a little girl by the shoulders.
This time, Star Lord didn't hold back. He shot at it, hitting the Bald Eagle's wing. Fortunately, the bird wasn't flying high, and the girl was caught by her mother as she fell.
But just as Star Lord was about to take another shot, the little girl and her mother suddenly rushed up saying, "Don't shoot! It's my husband! The eagle is my husband; he doesn't know why he was transformed into this!"
All the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy who were about to shoot froze, and the loading icon above Star Lord's head started spinning. Then, turning their heads, they saw another huge shadow in the sky—a giant seagull, apparently targeting the huge Bald Eagle.
The Guardians of the Galaxy actually knew this seagull because it passed over the East District about 2.3 times a day. It was a very famous supernatural beast in Gotham and a popular attraction for bird watchers— the King of Seagulls.
Just as the giant claws of the seagull were about to reach the mother and daughter, Rocket Raccoon fired, and the explosion of the shell lit up in the sky, causing the mother and daughter to defensively cover themselves.
Thankfully, it was a concussion cannon. Although it knocked the relatively slight mother and daughter over, it also threw off the balance of the King of Seagulls, causing it to plummet, unable to pierce the Bald Eagle's eyes with its sharp beak.
However, the group didn't dare do anything to the seagull, as it was one of the hallmarks of Gotham's tourism, perfect for beginner birdwatchers to take photos of because of its size, larger than any other bird and hence easier to photograph.
Unable to do anything else, the group had Groot carry the two injured birds back to the courier station's courtyard, where they bandaged them and then took them to a vet.
They hadn't yet figured out what to do about these two large birds when Rocket Raccoon, still standing outside the door, looked up to see a giant chimpanzee jump onto the tallest building in the East District, beating its chest and howling.
Turning his head again, Rocket saw a huge spider on the wall next door, its presence scaring the playful kids into shrieking chaos. Then, directly in front of them came a rabbit as tall as a building, into which a few kids ran headfirst into its belly, nearly getting lost in its fluff.
Rocket Raccoon hurriedly ran over to rescue the children, feeling somewhat uneasy himself at the sight of the giant spider. Insect biology isn't meant to support such a size, making it appear particularly eerie and terrifying.
Meanwhile, the New Warriors Team, having just moved to their new residence, also noticed the city's transformation—gigantic animals running rampant and people chased everywhere by these creatures.
Typically, Gothamites wouldn't be this helpless against animals, but after some inquiries, the team found out these animals were transformed humans; their relatives were following them, yelling for people not to shoot.
Most people, unsure of what was going on, dared not shoot randomly and opted to run away.
Handling chaos and calming the public was routine for the New Warriors Team. They first herded all the animals into one place, used objects to enclose them, and isolated the people. Then they led family members to identify each creature one by one, separating the more furious monsters and confining them alone.
This tactic proved very effective. Since the people transformed into animals still retained human reasoning, even if they were in different positions on the food chain, they did not attack each other and were quite peaceful together.
Some of the transformed humans were more restless, like the giant chimpanzee, who clung grimly to a lightning rod atop the building, roaring incessantly as if trying to say something, but unable to speak.
Finally, members of the New Warriors Team noticed the situation in the East District. They arrived as quickly as possible, and Squirrel Girl translated the chimpanzee's words.
"He said there's a person, a red-haired woman who seems to be a witch, turning men into animals. We need to hurry and find Chief Gordon," he mentioned.
As soon as she finished speaking, the sound of sirens in the distance grew louder. The police surrounded the area. Squirrel Girl urged the gorilla to hurry down, but the gorilla was already panicked. In the end, Squirrel Girl had no choice but to slap it down with her tail.
They did the same and gathered most of the animals in the East District, then followed the police back to the station. At this moment, Gordon was holding an urgent meeting with his subordinates to address this massive animal outbreak.
They also found that the animals appeared following a certain route, starting from the South District, then the East District, and eventually the North and West Districts. Some individual who could turn humans into animals had run a circuit around Gotham, leaving behind a large mess. For now, the person had not been captured.
When the New Warriors Team brought the news that the culprit was a red-haired woman, a witch, everyone looked towards Wanda. Wanda felt wronged. She said, "Please, I'm not the only redhead, and why would I turn people into animals?"
Everyone carefully considered and agreed that, with Wanda's abilities, there was really no need to turn people into animals. It was completely superfluous.
However, at this time, Tim brought good news; his surveillance cameras had captured the culprit turning people into animals. As the footage began to play on the wall, the face of Circe appeared on the screen.
Circe was also devastated.
The method they used to control the three Williams was to appear and solve some of their problems, then have Edgar erase their memories. However, they hadn't erased the memories thoroughly, and Shiller had restored them.
Under the threat of death, Williams and his people had unleashed an unexpected potential. They successfully deduced the witch's approximate operational area and sent subordinates to search there.
To prevent failure, they conducted an exhaustive search. They had money, and the Gothamites needed money. Heaps of cash were thrown around. Who knows how many Gothamites were sneaking around the Bolokin Community. Now, Circe was truly trapped in a people's war of vast proportions.
Initially, Circe thought escaping from these people was too easy since she was a witch adept in magic and simply turned them all into animals. However, as more and more pursued her, Circe was overwhelmed and had no choice but to have Edgar alter their consciousness so they would forget about chasing her.
But Williams and his partner were relentless. After all, if they lost their lives, no amount of money would matter. They spurred everyone they could find into action. The numbers didn't just hold; they grew exponentially.
Even with immense magic power, Circe couldn't afford to waste it. Yet she wouldn't use mass-destructive magic because Gotham housed someone she was seeking. If anything happened to this person, all her previous planning would be for naught.
In the end, when Circe was desparately cornered, she had Edgar do everything he could to secure a house where she used prophetic witchcraft and saw the real culprit chasing her in a mirror.
It's important to note here that if the memories in Williams's mind had been fabrications created by Shiller, then Shiller's face would definitely have appeared in the mirror. However, these memories were real and had originally existed in Williams's brain, only to be later deleted by someone else, with Shiller merely restoring them. Therefore, he couldn't be considered the mastermind behind it all.
The faces that appeared in the mirror were those of Williams and Bob.
Circe was utterly infuriated by the two of them, more so than she would have been with strangers. These were two individuals she had intended to discard as useless.
That they dared to cause her such trouble, and knowing Circe's temper, naturally, she wouldn't let them off.
After locating them, the witch stormed into their safe house in a rage. She should have killed them immediately, but she wanted to know who had restored the two men's memories. At the moment, Edgar had left and couldn't use his superpowers, so Circe turned them into animals as well.
This time the transformation wasn't random. Circe turned them into two pigs and, feeling that since the area outside was filled with people hunting them, leaving them in the safe house was safe enough, so she left the two there.
Circe herself needed to use witchcraft to manipulate others, to help extricate herself from the situation. She had planned significantly in Gotham and would not leave until she found the person she was searching for.
Knowing that the police had already started pursuing her, Circe simply went directly to the police station, believing that controlling the police chief would naturally resolve the warrant issued against her.
But as she used witchcraft to walk through the walls into the chief's office, she sensed a familiar force, the very curse that had troubled her for many days yet left her powerless to resolve it.
"Who are you?" Wanda asked, somewhat surprised at first, but quickly, she sensed the power of Scarlet's curse on the other, indicating that the person must be involved in a child abuse case.
In an instant, the entire world was enveloped in red.