The most terrifying thing is when the air suddenly turns quiet!
This misunderstanding was a huge one!
For a moment, the Lance sisters behind Atreus were ready to show off their "professionalism"—no matter what happened, they wouldn't laugh.
But, you see, the critical difference between failing to act cool and actually being cool is whether or not you can salvage the situation.
In the darkness, Kratos' hulking figure suddenly stepped forward, and a terrifying aura, almost tangible in its intensity, filled the entire underground tunnel.
His ferocious eyes locked onto Catwoman, and his scruffy goatee and the cruel scar over his right eye twitched simultaneously, like an ancient beast gnawing at its prey's flesh.
"Selina Kyle! How you interpret my words is one thing. What you do about them is another."
It's a simple truth!
If Catwoman had truly been drawn to the light and fully committed to helping Batman, she would have come clean about her situation and sought protection from Gotham's protector.
But unfortunately, Catwoman had made her choice before she even encountered Batman. So, no matter if Kratos' words caused a misunderstanding or led to pushing her in a certain direction, the responsibility ultimately lay with her.
Catwoman trembled all over.
She knew very well that the terrifying man in front of her, radiating such a primal energy, was the recently infamous Kratos.
She wouldn't forget how Kratos brutally killed the Lizard, Electro, and beat the second-generation Green Goblin, Harry Osborn, in front of everyone. It was rumored he also took down Norman Osborn.
The uninformed might just see the spectacle, but insiders could see the real deal.
Even from the blurry TV footage, Catwoman knew she was no match for Kratos.
Batman, known for not killing, would never punish betrayal too severely. His moral code was his strength and his shackle. At least betraying Batman wouldn't get her killed.
But Kratos? No such mercy.
He may be on the side of justice, but he was a cold-blooded killer.
Seeing Kratos now, with his "I've cleaned out my ears to hear your excuses" expression, Catwoman knew she couldn't rely on any mercy or compassion from him.
Abandoning her seductive stance, Catwoman moved quicker than anyone could expect.
A flashbang smashed to the ground, and the tunnel lit up as bright as day.
Without looking back, she bolted towards Bane's secret hideout.
Even though Bane didn't like her, he definitely liked Kratos even less.
You had to admit, Catwoman's natural instinct for danger made her a master of judgment.
Sadly, she was right about her escape route but wrong about its difficulty.
Catwoman unleashed all her senses, trying to detect any traps in the darkness, but it was all in vain.
"Ah!" Catwoman yelped as she stumbled and fell to the ground.
With her agility, this should've been impossible.
But her movements were oddly comical.
After flailing around, her body was stuck at an awkward 45-degree angle to the floor.
The more she struggled, the slower she moved.
After a few seconds, she gave up, finally noticing the cause of her predicament.
"Spider silk!?" Her voice trembled in despair, "Spider-Man works for you?"
"No, it's *Ghost-Spider*!" A proud female voice came from above her. Catwoman strained her neck to look up, and there, hanging upside down from the ceiling, was a strange, graceful figure.
At that moment, Catwoman's heart sank to the very depths of despair.
After deciding to betray Batman, she'd always carried a sense of guilt. Trying to clean up her criminal record was her way of striving for the light.
Real powerhouses wouldn't care about how they looked on a wanted poster; they only cared about the number of zeros on the bounty.
The higher the bounty, the greater the symbol of worth!
Commit as many crimes as you want—as long as the cops can't catch you, the bounty means nothing.
She cared, which was why she could still be saved.
Unfortunately, desiring the light didn't conflict with succumbing to darkness. Her weakness, shared by so many girls from the slums, had betrayed her.
That's why Catwoman often walked the line between good and evil.
At this moment, Catwoman knew she was finished.
She couldn't even handle Kratos, and now a high-speed hero with control abilities like Spider-Man was her worst nightmare!
Footsteps approached from behind. She could tell that Kratos wasn't alone. There were other female footsteps with him.
Somewhere out of her sight, Atreus snapped his fingers.
"You two, take shifts watching Batman. Don't help him unless he's in mortal danger. Since he's lost, let him reflect for a while. In the meantime, let him serve as bait."
"Yes!" *Katana* and *Huntress* nodded in unison.
When Atreus gathered them here, they'd imagined many possibilities, but witnessing Batman being captured by Bane was not one of them.
What an enormous humiliation!
On one hand, they marveled at Batman's defeat.
On the other hand, it seemed like their boss was showing off, saying: *Look! The idol you picked!*
After all, before pledging themselves to Atreus, they'd both wanted to team up with Batman.
Now, those hopes were dashed.
Once they were gone, Atreus continued, "Miss *Ghost-Spider*, when Bane's away, I need you to search Bane's hideout thoroughly. I sense something strange."
Gwen's eyes flashed coldly as she realized: "Understood."
Once Gwen left, Catwoman knew it was finally her turn.
What she didn't expect was that Kratos also had the ability to manipulate webs.
Well, maybe not as smoothly as Spider-Woman, but he definitely had experience dealing with webs.
First, two thick chains tightly bound her body, then a cloth soaked with a sedative was pressed over her mouth and nose.
After a while, two bombshell women, looking almost robotic, came up behind him with mini flamethrowers, torching away the webs in the tunnel.
Who knows how much time passed, but when Catwoman came to, she found herself in a basement.
And it was also covered in spider webs.
She jolted awake, her skin crawling with fear.
Wait a minute!
Could Spider-Man's true form be an actual giant spider?
Are they planning to drag me back to their lair to be eaten?
Will they inject venom into my body and liquefy all my internal organs, then suck me dry?
You couldn't blame Catwoman for imagining the worst.
After all, in this bizarre world, anything was possible.
Kratos' voice rang out again: "Awake?"
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end