Arkham Batman stands in the dimly lit underground parking lot. The scanner on his mask highlights three nearby cameras in red. The cameras seem unremarkable and somewhat outdated, but he feels as though he can see the eyes opening upon them.
"I'm going to interrupt communications for a while." He presses the earpiece on his mask and says to Barbara.
"No, Batman." Barbara's voice is full of worry, "That guy is very skilled, the most skilled agent I've ever seen. Without technical means, you might suffer losses."
"There's no point, Barbara." Arkham Batman chooses not to call out Barbara's codename, and says, "No one can rival him on the network. He can tamper with any information. It's impossible for us to find Shiller using modern technology."
"What? You're saying that electronic life form is in league with Shiller?!"
"Maybe not before, but ever since I started pursuing Shiller, yes." After saying this, Arkham Batman hangs up the call. Just as he is about to head towards the underground parking lot's only exit, the violent sound of an explosion and firelight simultaneously emerge behind him from a vehicle.
The new Ford Shiller switched to is much better than the previously old black Chevrolet, equipped with an advanced intelligent control system. Shiller drives it to Old Town, finds a place to park but doesn't rush to get out. Instead, he tidies up the equipment in his box while muttering to himself, "You've led Batman over there? If I guess correctly, you'll guide him to a nearby parking lot. You wouldn't be trying to kill him with a vehicle explosion, would you? That would be underestimating Batman."
After speaking, without waiting for a response, Shiller grabs the box and gets out of the car. He looks around, takes steps in a certain direction.
There aren't many high buildings in Old Town, so the view is excellent. Shiller arrives on the rooftop of the tallest building nearby, assembles the sniper rifle from the box, and after ten minutes of calibration and test firing, aims the gun at the street corner where the car is parked.
The familiar roar draws closer. The Batmobile appears in the crosshairs of the scope in an instant—Bang!
A large-caliber sniper bullet blows out the Batmobile's tire. The car skids uncontrollably to one side. Inside the car, Arkham Batman chooses the most dangerous maneuver to prevent the Batmobile from crashing directly into a populated shop, which is to turn the steering wheel to the opposite direction.
This method clearly can't control the Batmobile but instead lets the car spin and fly out. Just as expected, in the moment the car goes out of control, magic glow rises, and the Batmobile flies up from the spot.
But in those few seconds of losing control, and the moment needed to activate the Magic Core, the Batmobile flies to the rooftop of the building where there's already no sign of anyone.
Arkham Batman stands on the empty rooftop, picks up his phone, and dials a number.
In the car, Shiller puts the phone to his ear.
"Do you still remember who you work for, Detective Rodriguez?"
"Of course, Mr. President. The salary you paid me turned into the bullet I shot at your beloved foster child. Don't you think I'm more efficient than the Joker?"
"Stay put, wait for my men to get you. If you don't want to end up like the criminals before, crushed under the Batmobile to break your leg bones."
"I believe you won't get that chance. But you can try to prove it to me. I'm waiting."
Shiller hangs up the phone, throws the mobile onto the passenger seat, and drives towards Gotham Bridge.
Standing on the rooftop, Arkham Batman seems to suddenly think of something. He dials a number with his phone and says, "Director Gordon, drop everything you're doing, bring your men to block Gotham Bridge."
Almost simultaneously, the Ford's intelligent navigation system changes its original route. The blue arrow shifts from left to right, while the direction of Gotham Bridge is marked in red indicating congestion.
Shiller doesn't alter the route, still turning left at the next intersection, heading towards Gotham Bridge. Before he gets to the bridge, the navigation route changes multiple times, constantly guiding him to bypass the bridge.
Just when Shiller is less than 200 meters away from the bridge, even able to see the police badges on the officers stationed at the bridgehead, the navigation system emits a "beep beep" alarm, with the distance getting closer, the alarm becomes louder and more urgent... suddenly, Shiller feels the steering wheel in his hand loosen.
As the police officers draw their guns, the car executes a 180-degree sharp turn in front of them, charging directly onto the opposite lane, heading back in the direction it came from.
Guarding at the bridgehead, Gordon curses and with the police officers under his command, gets into their cars, chasing after the white Ford. The white Ford speeds ahead, followed by a dozen police cars, with helicopters overhead.
"Don't worry, he won't get far." The policeman driving says, "The city is heavily congested now, and he'll be surrounded after only a few blocks. The current direction doesn't lead to the interstate highway either. We'll be off duty soon."
But Gordon feels it's not that simple. He tries to communicate via radio but for some reason can't connect to the police frequency at all. Other frequencies are filled with electronic noise. Frustrated, he slaps the steering wheel, forced to continue accelerating, chasing the white Ford into the city.
But this Ford seems to predict the future, not only bypassing all congested areas but also circled most of the city, seemingly about to hit the interstate highway.
At this moment, the Batmobile again drives in from the opposite lane, rushing directly towards Shiller's car. Shiller doesn't brake or turn the steering wheel, neither dodges nor avoids, intending to charge straight into the Batmobile.
The Ford car swiftly twists, narrowly avoiding the Batmobile but due to limited space for evasion, it flips out of the road. The car rolls down the hillside, as Shiller opens the door and crawls out, blood flowing down his forehead.
He lets out a light sigh, turns around, bends down, and pulls out the suitcase from the car but throws the suitcase aside. From the pocket of his coat, he digs out a cigarette, lights it while lowering his head, and then looks up towards Arkham Batman who is walking down the slope.
Batman's tall figure and the cloak flapping in the night wind make him appear like a god of death. The strong aura of anger he carries resonates with the rumbling thunder on the horizon. The cigarette's glow in Shiller's hand flickers in the layers of rain.
"Why did you shoot Jason?" Arkham Batman asked.
"Do you really think you can hire a Shiller without side effects?" Shiller's slightly playful voice pierced through the rain, "I'm an agent. I'll do anything to complete a task. Violence is my forte, whether it's used on anyone."
"You shouldn't have touched Jason." Arkham Batman's voice grew deeper.
"There's no should or shouldn't, only can or can't. Clearly, while you're hiding in your safe little haven, you never thought about how dangerous it is to leave your ward alone outside."
"I really shouldn't have left you alone out there."
At the moment Arkham Batman's words fell, a fist landed on Shiller's cheekbone. Bang! Blood flowed down the corner of Shiller's mouth, his body tilted to the right, but taking advantage of Arkham Batman's momentary loss of stance, he raised his gun. Arkham Batman quickly grabbed his wrist. Bang!
The muzzle flash briefly illuminated the night sky. The direction of the shot skewed slightly, thus missing the target. As Arkham Batman tried to seize the gun, the headlights of the car behind Shiller suddenly lit up. The sudden light caused Arkham Batman's vision to temporarily lose a few seconds. He reached forward to grab Shiller's neck, but was skillfully avoided. He felt Shiller break free, and when his vision recovered, Shiller had already disappeared.
Gordon brought the police rushing down the hill. Arkham Batman stood in place, gazing at the Gotham River behind the vehicles. Rain droplets rose thick white mist on the river surface. The moonlight was thin, the shadows of the trees heavy, nothing was clear.
"Take the car back for inspection." After telling Gordon, Arkham Batman turned around and left.
Downstream of the Gotham River, about a mile from the incident, Shiller grabbed the reeds by the water's edge and climbed ashore, shaking the water off the briefcase, taking off his coat to wring it dry.
Suddenly, the light of a flashlight lit up. From behind the nearby trees and bushes, a dozen agents rushed out, each holding a gun. The tactical flashlight's light constantly lingered on Shiller's face, turning his gray eyes almost colorless, leaving only the darkest pupils in the center.
"Put down what you're holding!" Shiller heard a familiar voice. Shiller didn't move.
"Put down what you're holding! (Russian)" The red hair in the flashlight beam looked like flames burning through the night.
Shiller slowly bent down and put down the briefcase.
"Raise your hands, let me see your hands! (Russian)"
Shiller slowly raised his hands, seeing Natasha finally walked up to him with her gun raised.
"You actually came back," Shiller said.
"After finishing that call with you, I felt something was wrong. You indeed caused quite a commotion," Natasha said, squinting her eyes while holding the gun at Shiller, "Don't blame me for giving you no face. The President named you, you're destined to come back with us."
"And if I say no?"
"You can't run," Natasha said, "Or are you saying you have to fight me a bit before leaving?"
Before the words were finished, Shiller bent directly, picked up the briefcase to block Natasha's bullet. Bang.
Then he threw the briefcase over, hitting Natasha's right shoulder. Natasha's body tilted, Shiller took advantage to seize the gun and pulled the trigger. Bang!
Due to their struggle, he couldn't aim, and the gun barrel skewed again. Natasha directly broke free with one hand, aimed with the Widow's Sting on her wrist and fired. The tranquilizer dart hit Shiller's abdomen.
But Natasha knew Shiller had a special physique, immediately followed by continued firing, exhausting all the tranquilizer darts in the Widow's Sting, injecting almost an elephant-stunning amount, only then did Shiller collapse.
The agents rushed up. Natasha waved her hand, telling them to back off, then said, "Be careful, don't get too close. Later, the President will send someone to take him."
The room lights flickered, then the entire room lit up. When Shiller woke up, he tilted to the right, muttering softly: "That's quite a kick."
Arkham Batman was the first to walk in, arms crossed, looking at him. Natasha followed closely, her brows furrowed tightly.
"What the hell is going on?" Arkham Batman asked.
Shiller didn't answer, he glanced around the room, it didn't feel like an FBI base, more like the Justice League's new base in Gotham. So he smiled slightly and said, "Looks like you didn't let the old nightmares cloud your mind. Good, Batman. Very good..."
He then tilted again to one side, his head lowering as if it were about to roll. Arkham Batman stepped forward and lifted his eyelids, seeing the dilated pupils, he turned to look at Natasha.
Natasha hesitantly opened her mouth, paused for a moment, then said, "You know, he has a special physique. I don't know how much dosage is needed to knock him out, so I used the maximum dose."
"I suggest you just ask like this," Natasha said, "Although drug interrogation is unethical, if he wakes up, you probably won't get half a word."
Arkham Batman turned his head to the door and said, "Bring the antidote."