Harper and Bill made their way down the hatch. It was at minimum, a five-storey drop into the ground down a solid tunnel, a ladder secured to the side. There were LED lights attached to the sides, but without knowing where the controls were hidden, they could only depend on torches to light the way down.
At the base of the descent, there lay a horizontally sealed solid-steel submarine door with a steel jamb. "Hold onto this," said Bill, handing Harper his torch. She took it from him, and he began putting his weight into the jamb. It budged like three-inches before hitting an obstruction in the mechanics. With a large heave, he attempted to turn it again, but it wouldn't budge beyond those three-inches. "Someone's down there, I'm certain of it," he said. "They've locked it from the inside. Unfortunately we'll need a blow torch and a few hours to get them out."
"Damn it..." said Harper, reaching for her phone to report on the situation.
"Wait. Don't call home yet. There's something that we haven't tried." Bill began climbing back out the hole.
Curious, she followed after him. He left the building, and began circling it, all the way to the back. There, they found the vent that had coincidentally been left open. Bill burst out into laughter at the sight for he knew exactly how he'd get those individuals out. "Dial someone from SWAT, Harper. Get them to bring us a smoke bomb."
Harper raised a brow at the idea, but she did what he requested anyway.
About an hour later, Harper's contact arrived on the scene. He had on him a suitcase with several forms of non-lethal explosives, among them, the smoke bomb that Bill had requested for. The cop picked it up, scaled up the wall, and dropped it into the vent.
Then the three of them returned to the open hatch and waited patiently with weapons un-holstered.
After sometime, the steel jamb began to crank open all on its own. It wound all the way around and swung open, releasing a puff of smoke that wafted through the tunnel. Breaking through the smoke - a steel cage of sorts, moving rapidly from the base of the tunnel to where they were standing. Harper reasoned that it was some kind of an elevator, operated from basement. In the cage stood Gilbert Sionis, his wife Melody, and two other men in fairly expensive looking suits. They gasped at the three officers, staring them down with pistols.
"Get out of there," Bill demanded firmly. "Put your hands up."
They complied readily, exiting the steel cage before raising up their hands.
"Who else is down there?" Harper inquired.
"About three more," replied Gilbert Sionis. "We came up because it was hard to breathe through the smoke."
Harper chortled. "That's the whole point. Is Harvey Bullock down there?"
All four individuals shook their heads.
"It'll be happening soon," said Gilbert nervously, looking at the door.
"What will?" asked Bill.
The four members of high society exchanged glances. "Look, let's air out the place a little bit, and then you can come down with us. There's room enough for three more."
Harper asked a little more intensely, "What will happen soon? Why were you battened up down there?'
"A quake..." replied Melody. "Come down with us, quickly, we'll explain more there." She took a step back into the cage.
"Don't you dare take another step!" threatened Harper. It froze Melody on the spot.
That was when they heard the first rumble...
Johnathan Crane walked into the hangar with the box of cannisters in his hands and gazed up at the unmanned blimp. He hadn't ridden one before, but he was fairly confident he'd get the hang of it in just a matter of time. Stepping into the rider's seat, he found a list of instructions for getting the blimp into the air - which made it all the easier.
Placing the box on the floor inside the gondola, he proceeded to warm up the engine. But the door to the hangar swung open, and one of those pesky policemen entered, pointing a gun at him. "Stop it right there Johnathan Crane! You'll come out with your hands up."
Johnathan turned towards the cop through the windows of the gondola, then all at once he flopped down onto the floor, obscured by the chassis.
"Get up, Johnathan Crane!" instructed the cop. But Scarecrow would not respond. The cop took one step forward, then a second step. "I'm warning you!"
The cop walked up to the door, reaching for the knob when the door swung open hard enough to knock the cop off his feet. Crane burst out, a metal cannister in his hands, and he slammed it into the man's face. The cop tried to kick him off, but Crane slammed that cannister again. There was the risk of the cannister bursting, but there was nothing greater than Crane wanted in that moment but to see the man's face crushed to a pulp. He raised his arms to slam the man a third time...
But a dark shadow came over him, falling directly on his person. The dark shadow pummeled what looked like fists into his temples, causing the world to spin. Crane didn't know what he'd been hit with, but there was always the chance that even shadows have fears. Hitting the trigger under his sleeve, a cloud of gas burst out at whatever it was, pinning him down.
The pumelling stopped, and the weight holding Crane down lifted. He sat up, trying to slow the spinning in his head. As it did, the shadowy figure before him took more of the resemblance of a mere man in a dark suit and a ski mask. The gas was already working its magic - the man in the ski mask was groaning, holding his hands over his face. Crane got up, gave the man a firm kick in the middle. He buckled.
The cop, just a foot away, was bleeding down the temples but already coming to, staring at him angrily. Crane knew if he wanted to leave, he should do it soon. So he quickly loosened the cables, bounded back into the gondola and locked the door. Following the instructions at the driver's seat, he started up the engine.
The cop was at the door, slamming on it, yelling threats that he could not hear.
The blimp began to rise into the air, the skylight open wide, welcoming him into the skies. The cop began shooting at the gondola, and Crane rolled away from the driver's seat. A bullet shattered one of the side windows, and three more pierced holes into the chassis, but none of them did anything to prevent Crane's escape.
A cold gust of wind met him as the blimp rose high above the hangar.
In the distance, Crane heard a low rumble.
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