Before she could finish speaking, the glass at the main entrance was smashed open, and countless burning bottles wrapped in cloth were thrown inside.
The flames instantly roared up. This abandoned hideout was filled with an abundance of combustible materials like fabric sofas, curtains, and others.
In no time, the fire became fierce. Bruce was holding the unconscious Christine, and they just reached the back door to find it had been blocked from the outside with heavy objects.
Clearly, this was a premeditated trap.
While Batman's suit was fire-resistant, the intense heat could still harm Christine and Catwoman. Furthermore, being fire-resistant did not mean he was immune to smoke inhalation. As the fire grew, the thick black smoke made it near impossible to see anything clearly - all of them were coughing nonstop.
Suddenly, a crisp "clang" sound came from the right, as if something had fallen. Catwoman reacted swiftly, whipping over, only to drag back a fire extinguisher!
Regardless of how the fire extinguisher had appeared, Catwoman shook it forcefully. Batman said, "We have to go through where they threw the Molotov cocktails. There should be a vacuum zone there!"
Batman led the way with the fire extinguisher, while Catwoman helped Christine from behind.
As expected, the individual who had thrown the cocktail had used a lot of force, causing the bottles to land in the middle of the room, not near the door. There were no flammable materials near the door except for a small carpet. Batman used the fire extinguisher to put out the incoming flames while they charged forward.
Upon reaching the door, Batman blew off the doorlock with a gun, and then began to slam into the metal door with all his strength.
The person who had thrown the cocktail had left in haste, so the front door wasn't as heavily blocked as the back one. After a few attempts, Batman managed to make a small gap.
However, this also meant that air started to circulate, causing the fire to intensify. Catwoman was almost fainting from the smoke, and Batman could notably feel her hand on his shoulder starting to slip. If she lost consciousness, both she and Christine would certainly die.
Batman exerted all his strength, and with a final heavy push, the door swung open with a loud "bang." The trio managed to escape. Catwoman gasped for air, both she and Batman were visibly soot-covered and singed.
After getting Christine back to safety, Batman, while driving, asked Catwoman who was sitting in the passenger seat, "Why did you rush in to save Christine? It was dangerous, wasn't it?"
Still excited, Catwoman took in the luxurious interior of the car. It was clear she had never travelled in such an expensive vehicle before.
Clearing her throat to compose her excitement, she took a moment before answering. "Actually, I came up with lots of reasons for you to praise me, like I'm planning to learn to be a good person from you, or maybe deep down I'm a righteous heroine, or that I can't stand kidnappers hurting the innocent...
Then Catwoman looked at him. Captured by her brown eyes, Batman once again felt his heart racing.
"You don't want me to do bad things, but I really love those gemstones, so can I do a bad thing once, and then a good thing, that's okay, right?"
"...Alright, actually I just want to make you happy," Catwoman shrugged and said.
"I know, I can't be some great hero, I just love stealing things, it's a habit I developed from a young age. I'm not the type to preach big philosophies. Perhaps the girl who always waits for you on the street is much better than me. After all, she's had a higher education, she's beautiful and charming, innocent and naive, and has never done anything wrong."
"But this is me, I don't think about those things, I just do what I want. Whether you see me as a criminal, or think I'm a hopelessly bad person, I'm me, I'm just a cat."
Batman's grip on the steering wheel loosened slightly. He wasn't sure if this was the answer he wanted.
But he knew, the romance, liveliness, and sincerity in Catwoman, aren't solely the reasons why he fell in love with her.
A bat falling in love with a cat, he was just envious of her freedom - a freedom he, as the Dark Knight, could never attain.
He had made up his mind to keep fighting this hopeless city till the end.
Watching the luxury car slowly stop at the junction, Shiller on the rooftop mentally told the Symbiont, "…No, we can't go down. What's going to happen next is not for the eyes of a child."
The Symbiont grumbled discontentedly.
"Yes, I know you did a great job just now, grabbing a fire extinguisher from the coffee shop across the corner and throwing it into the room. Your aim was impeccable!"
"But what happens inside the car is just a meaningless part of human reproduction, and you Symbionts do not need this process, you just need to shed."
The Symbiont fell silent, and Shiller wasn't sure if it had understood.
Shiller shifted his gaze from the car to observe Gotham's dimly lit night.
Perhaps this was a hopeless city, and perhaps Batman was also a common man who would feel despair and confusion, he thought.
But Batman was never alone, and he never will be.