On the ground, both sides stared at the arrow now lodged in the street.
Nobody moved.
Nobody understood what this showy entrance was supposed to mean.
Even the thugs and cops shared the same thought — Did this woman just completely miss her shot?
Thea ignored their looks. Her goggles hid her face, and she doubted anyone could tell who she was anyway.
She pressed a small switch on the bow.
A sharp "WMMMM—" rang through the air.
Even Thea, floating high above, winced at the vibration.
Down below, the effect was worse — men clutched their heads, staggered, or dropped their weapons. One thug who'd already lost a lot of blood nearly fainted.
Then came a series of metallic snaps — "clack, clack, clack!"
In an instant, every gun — police and criminal alike — was yanked from its owner's hands and clung magnetically to the arrow buried in the pavement.
The slower ones just stood there, dumbfounded, staring at their now-empty hands.
Commissioner Gordon blinked up at the mysterious figure above.
He'd thought she might be an ally, but after seeing her neutralize both sides with a single shot, he wasn't so sure anymore.
Thea didn't care what they thought.
You're all unarmed, and none of you can jump high enough to reach me. Why would I be afraid?
"Uh, Felicity," she said over comms, "I think our magnet arrow might've been… a bit too strong."
"I see that," Felicity replied, half amused, half panicked. "The range was supposed to be twenty meters, but I'm reading a fifty-meter field. Probably too much neodymium again — the collision must've accelerated the particle spin. Maybe cut the density by 25% next time?"
"Let's make it 50%. It's basically a sonic weapon now."
"Noted. I'll add a limiter next time…"
They might've kept talking shop forever, but a faint yell from below interrupted them.
Thea peered down to see Commissioner Gordon cupping his hands around his mouth, shouting something at her.
"What?" she called back innocently, blinking like a kid caught misbehaving.
Gordon's face was a thundercloud of wrinkles and frustration. He pointed at the thugs, two of whom were still struggling to pry their weapons off the arrow.
You've got to be kidding me, Thea thought, watching them tug hopelessly. The magnet's still active, geniuses. If you had that much strength, you wouldn't be working for street gangs.
Realizing they weren't getting their guns back, the criminals decided to charge.
Gordon groaned. His side was down to four men — one wounded, one exhausted, and two still standing — against seven experienced brawlers.
When guns were in play, at least they'd had a fighting chance.
Now, this was a straight-up fistfight — and Gordon was well past the age for that kind of thing.
He waved frantically at Thea, gesturing between himself and the gang — clearly asking, Are you helping or just here to make things worse?
Thea scratched her head awkwardly. Fair point.
She'd meant to help… but her "help" had kind of ruined the balance.
Well, can't back out now.
Extraction wasn't an option — her hoverboard wasn't big enough to carry five people anyway, and she wasn't about to let random strangers step on her gear.
No, this would have to be a cleanup job.
Still, she couldn't just slaughter them in front of Gotham's police, especially not Gordon.
First impressions mattered.
Green Arrow had gotten that part wrong — his early reputation as a vigilante judge, jury, and executioner made him a legal nightmare for years.
Even when he reformed, the cops never really forgave him.
Superman, by contrast, had it easy — big smile, bright colors, open skies, and the power to level continents. Nobody dared issue a warrant for that guy.
So, Thea decided to play this smart. She'd take out the bad guys without the bloodshed.
She drew an arrow, took aim at the three-hundred-pound brute leading the charge, and whispered,
"Let's call this one… the Binding Arrow. Felicity, record the data."
Thwip.
The arrow struck the ground just in front of the charging thug.
For half a second, he just stared at it in confusion — right before the head of the arrow burst open.
A surge of milky-white gel erupted outward, spreading in midair into a massive web — two meters tall, five meters wide.
The big man didn't even have time to scream before the net wrapped him up like a fly in glue.
The others, charging close behind, slammed right into him and got tangled as well.
Thea smirked.
Her Binding Arrow was inspired by Spider-Man's webs — though she had no idea what that was really made of.
This version used a composite carbene polymer developed by Queen Industries, originally designed by Dr. Hoffman to catch suicide jumpers.
One capsule could expand into a full rescue net strong enough to catch an elephant falling from ten stories up.
Thea had "borrowed" the design, made a few tweaks with Felicity, and repurposed it for hero work.
They even nicknamed it "Spider Web" — though, chemically speaking, it had zero in common with spider silk.
Now, the trapped thugs writhed and cursed, struggling violently.
Especially the fat one — he thrashed so hard the whole web quivered, as if it might snap any moment.
Of course, that was an illusion. Thea had deliberately adjusted the carbon balance to look flexible but be unbreakable.
She folded her arms, looked down at Gordon, and gestured grandly —
There. You're welcome. They're all yours.