The few cats led by Batman, followed the Crocodile Cat deeper into the sewer. Before long, the music and screaming sounds could be heard from the end of the sewer.
The anticipated gloomy atmosphere of the rebel army didn't appear. Instead, a madmen's party was underway in a large hollow designed for storing rainwater in the sewer.
At one glance, Batman locked onto the green cat standing at the highest point on the stage and the red and blue striped cat next to him.
It was hard to imagine that in this instantaneous moment, these cats, originally humans, could discern male from female based on their feline forms. But there was no doubt, the green cat was a tom and the red and blue striped cat was a she-cat.
"Oh, look who's here? Bat Cat! Have you deigned to attend my party? Giving up your silly plan to rule Gotham and decided to play with your best friend?"
The green cat had a more pointed face than the others, and his full set of fangs on display while smiling were both odd and frightening.
"He's not Bat Cat." Crocodile Cat was about to explain when the green cat suddenly jumped down from the stage. Brushing past Crocodile Cat, he walked to Batman, his purple eyes staring at him: "Interesting … interesting … your smell is different …"
"That fake Bat Cat living high in the skyscraper reeked of disgusting bird droppings, but you …" The green cat circled around Batman a few times, sniffing him. After making a few circles, he came face-to-face with him and asked: "Another Bat Cat? Are you his clone? No, you're a bit different …"
"Regardless, let's welcome our new party guest, a forever rival and friend of the Joker Cat's gang, an unprecedented — another Bat Cat!!!"
In an instant, the cats in their colourful rock-and-roll clothes standing on the makeshift stage made by iron drums started to play, startling some of them. The green cat began to laugh merrily, saying, "I'm sorry, I forgot, cats are sensitive to sound. Is this your weakness??"
"Joker…" Batman moved his paw, facing the green cat. Joker Cat leaned his head in and even rubbed his chin, saying, "That's right, you're much more sensible than that Bat Cat. I am a member of your despised freak cats, the Joker Cat!"
"Hey, darling, what are you talking to him about? I don't want you to get that bird poo smell on you!"
"You! The lunatic dressed as a bat! Stay away from my darling!" The red and blue she-cat sauntered over.
Suddenly, she lunged forward with claws bared, swiping at Batman's ears. Batman deftly dodged with a roll. The red and blue she-cat licked her claws while gazing coldly at Batman, stating, "Scram, you stinking bat, don't ruin my party!"
"Why did you bring him here?" Joker Cat turned to face Crocodile Cat. Crocodile Cat explained, "You said we were short on hands. These outsiders might have a lot in common with you …"
"You're saying them?" Joker Cat huffed, "This Bat Cat's clone … This brat from the Big Apple City, and this ... Did you just come from the Red Light District? You stink, and you, blue? I hate blue!"
"What can they do? Beat Bat Cat? Bring peace to this city? Or stop spreading the smell from the Batcave when he gives his next speech? ... Don't joke! Even the lousiest comics don't draw storylines like that anymore!"
"You were connected to the murder case outside the bank, weren't you?" Batman suddenly turned to the Joker Cat and asked.
"You care about this? How boring! Let's party on! And watch this city ultimately destroyed by Bat Cat's imposed order ... Before that, I want to drink and laugh off the nightmare …"
The red and blue she-cat arose, rubbed Joker Cat, and crooned, "Yes, sweetheart, sleep in my arms. It will all be less bothersome when you wake up …"
With that, the two cats hopped back onto the stage. Crocodile Cat flicked his tail and came over, saying, "Sorry, I have no idea what's gotten into him. We were just making plans yesterday on how to deal with Bat Cat, but now he's like this. But, then again, Joker Cat is the craziest amongst us. Who knows what he's thinking ..."
"Who else is there but him?" Batman asked.
"There's me, and other freak cats like me ... Forget it. I get that you're not interested in us. Perhaps you'll get on better with our tech cat. Come on, I'll take you to the lab."
"You have a lab?" Victor quick-stepped to Crocodile Cat's side. Crocodile Cat nodded, "Of course, where do you suppose all the equipment and instruments came from? We developed them ourselves."
With that, they continued deeper into the sewers, through a long ramp-like passage and arrived at a vast underground space. It was a typical laboratory with the floor mended by metal, reinforced ceiling and walls, and all sorts of experiment benches placed at the centre.
As they bypassed the first lab bench, Victor, walking side by side with Crocodile Cat, abruptly came to a halt, having spotted what appeared to be a pet crate serving as an experiment chamber. Frozen inside was a cat.
Suddenly, footsteps echoed from the side of the lab bench. A grayish-blue cat, fully equipped and helmeted, approached them. Startled by the arrival of these strangers, it took a cautionary step back. Crocodile Cat stepped forward, reassuring, "Don't worry, Freeze Cat. They're here to join us. I brought them in for a lab tour."
Immediately, all the cats from the Batman Team in shock, turned their heads towards Victor. Opening his mouth to speak, Victor was suddenly transfixed by the mini cryo-chamber, his gaze shifting. Observing this, the fully-armed grayish-blue cat dashed to stand before Victor, staring him down.
Barely stepping back, Victor stuttered, "I apologize."
"Don't worry, Freeze Cat, um...You guys probably don't get it. The cat in the cryo-chamber is his wife. He's a bit neurotic, you see his weapon on his back? He developed that freeze gun himself. Pretty impressive, right?"
Frozen in place, Victor's gaze was locked on the cryo-chamber. In a low voice, he asked, "...why is she in this condition? Her breathing is very faint, there's barely a response from her eyes, she..."
Then he turned his attention back on Freeze Cat. He noted that Freeze Cat was not in a normal state. His helmet was full of ice crystals and his body, limbs, and even his tail were all encapsulated within mechanical armor. Cold air seeped from the gaps in the armor.
The sight reminded Victor of Thomas, who had been submerged in a dense ice raw material liquid. Victor, an expert in this field, hypothesised something.
Victor gave a nod to Batman, who turned around, his ears erect, and listened carefully to the loud music coming from the previous space.
This was a surreal yet strange world. Every Gothamite seemed to be able to find their counterpart here. The only difference was their counterparts were all cats, which only made the entire situation more bizarre.
"Can you find us a place to rest?" Constantine addressed Crocodile Cat. He spoke, "We have been chased by those machines for a long time and are quite exhausted."
"Maybe tomorrow we can join your plan, but first, we need to rest well."
Crocodile Cat nodded, stepped forward and said, "Let's go. I'll take you to the dormitory. There are extra beds you can use."
After entering the dormitory area, the Batman Team discovered that the conditions were decent. Single rooms with doors that resembled pet hospital cat cages. They each picked a room and found the sleeping quarters surprisingly comfortable. They each laid down and began to rest.
After the departure of Crocodile Cat, the entire sewer fell into darkness. Suddenly, several pairs of eyes shone in the dark. The "clink" sound of a latch echoed through the space. Seconds later, several cats gathered. Victor broke the silence, "How is that Freeze Cat like me..."
"The Joker Cat must be real." Batman murmured, "Could Jack have infiltrated this dream too? No, the Joker Cat is different from Jack. Joker Jack doesn't talk or sound like that..."
Constantine sat down, his tail swaying slightly. He said, "Anything is possible in a dream. I suggest you don't view the dream as a mere dream. Just like consciousness space and dreams are inseparable, this could be a place existing in the collective consciousness of cats, a reality for another group of cats…"
"But how can they correspond to us one by one?" This was what Victor found most puzzling. He remarked, "It can't be that a cat once broke into my lab and then dreamt about my wife and me, right?"
Constantine sighed, "Regarding this, I am also clueless. However, I think that we can explore a little."
"Are you referring to the environment here?" Batman asked.
"No, I'm referring to the root of this dream. I want to see how deep this dream really goes."
"What do you plan to do?" They all turned to Constantine.
"I plan... to summon a demon."