Chapter 68 Seeking one's own death is a very coincidental event.
The Court of Owls' surveillance methods in Gotham were indeed quite effective; the Night Owl quickly located the Scarecrow.
Indeed, it was absolutely the right thing to take back what was rightfully yours and clean it up as soon as possible, ever since the high-ranking members of the Court of Owls were almost completely dealt with by the Owls and their own infighting, leaving only claws and technical tools.
It's easy to use; it's extremely easy to use from any perspective.
Thomas didn't even need to show up himself. He planned to have the modified Claws, completely immune to the fear gas, grab the Scarecrow and kill it. He could comfortably stay at Wayne Manor, watching the surveillance, and simply give orders to the Claws...
Then he saw Batman.
?
Thomas sat bolt upright in bed.
What are you doing here? Is the investigation going so fast? Did those people at the Owl Court not do their job properly for me?
Batman has clearly clashed with Claw and seems to want to take Scarecrow away.
He wisely avoided much direct confrontation with Claws, seemingly only aiming to take the Scarecrow away.
This is a bit tricky. Claws, which have no independent will, can easily kill, and Thomas doesn't have any plans to get rid of Bruce right now (even if he did, it should be Thomas himself who does it, how could it be anyone else's turn).
Thomas had no choice but to have Claws terminate the mission. Speechless, he called in the plane and decided to kill the Scarecrow himself.
-
Strangely, the claws that had been relentlessly pursuing Batman and Scarecrow suddenly stopped moving.
They seemed to have received an order, stopping abruptly in place before quickly leaving.
...Night owl.
Batman became alert. Night Owl was no pacifist; based on Batman's analysis of Night Owl's behavior, he was arrogant, self-centered, and impatient. After stealing the Scarecrow, Night Owl was unlikely to let the matter rest.
So he should speed things up, find the antidote before the owls find them, and then send the scarecrow into the GCPD.
"Where is the antidote?" Before Night Owl arrived, Batman picked up Scarecrow and interrogated him.
"Ha, cough..." The scarecrow was lifted up by the collar, its voice somewhat distorted, "In my laboratory."
"Where's the lab? Tell me!"
"I'll give you directions."
Batman threw the Scarecrow to the ground, tied him up tightly, stuffed him into the passenger seat, removed all the random reagents from his body, and carefully put on his own gas mask.
He dared to say that the Scarecrow would definitely dig a pit and set a trap for him, but time was of the essence. The fastest way was to get the antidote from the Scarecrow, analyze its components, and then mass-produce it. The longer it dragged on, the greater the probability that the victim would suffer permanent brain damage.
The scarecrow's laboratory was fairly well hidden, filled with various experimental instruments and chemical reagents.
Batman, carrying the Scarecrow, secretly noted down these details, planning to have the GCPD and Wayne Enterprises strictly control these reagents to prevent them from flooding Gotham.
“Batman,” Scarecrow suddenly spoke up, “the real cure isn’t here.”
...
Batman threw the scarecrow to the ground and stepped on its chest.
The air in the lungs was squeezed out little by little, but the scarecrow did not beg for mercy; instead, it laughed.
"Do you think I'm an idiot, Batman? As long as I don't reveal where the antidote is, as long as one of those test subjects is still alive, cough... cough cough, you'll have to protect me from Night Owl."
“Give me the antidote,” Batman said, stomping his foot. “Otherwise, I’ll throw you to Owl right now, or let you inhale some of your own poison gas until you tell me where the real antidote is.”
“Night Owl…do you think you’ll get away with this by interrupting Night Owl’s plans? He’s a madman…a terrorist,” Scarecrow gasped as he tried to remove Batman’s boots from his body. “He’ll kill you too…you only have one choice: come with me to take him down.”
...
Seriously? With a burden like you, how can you fight against Night Owls who have a dozen minions immune to your poison gas effects?
“Night Owl is just a mortal hiding behind science and his horde of undead,” Scarecrow continued. “Get rid of him, it’ll be better for everyone.”
Scarecrow tries to get Batman to help him fight Night Owl, but Batman doesn't want to confront Night Owl directly, as the hospital and the victims are waiting for the antidote.
The massive poisoning incident has overwhelmed Gotham's hospitals, even affecting the treatment of other injured patients... This matter can no longer be delayed.
Batman moved his foot away.
"It seems you've finally figured it out..."
Then he kicked the scarecrow hard.
“Speak, or I’ll break every single one of your bones. You won’t even last until Night Owl…”
Are you calling me?
Night Owl opened the door and came in, then politely closed it behind him.
...
It's too late.
“I’m here to have a proper talk with you,” Night Owl said, pulling up a chair in Scarecrow’s messy lab and sitting down, blocking Batman and Scarecrow’s way through the doors and windows. “Obviously, if we have a conflict, it won’t be good for either of us. Neither of us are idle people.”
Batman tried to plan an escape route with Scarecrow, but it was too difficult. Jumping over the experimental table would be too big a move and would make him easy to be intercepted by Night Owl, while going around the experimental table would be too slow and Night Owl would block the window.
This is the price of not tidying up your room. If it weren't for that lab table full of unknown chemical reagents, Batman might have been able to run out the window with the Scarecrow.
"What are you going to say?" Batman asked warily, picking up his batarang.
“I can help you find out where the antidote is,” Night Owl said. “Just don’t stop me from killing him.”
When you're filming someone, ask them a couple of questions. If they don't answer, keep filming them. If they do answer, test the antidote on a scarecrow first. If you're sure it's okay, then give them a quick death.
What an efficient approach! This is the optimal solution derived entirely from rational thinking.
“Did you hear that, Scarecrow?” Batman got into position, ready to deal with Night Owl’s attack at any moment. “If you don’t tell me where the antidote is right now, I’ll have no choice but to cooperate with Night Owl for the time being.”
Of course, he only wanted to fool the scarecrow, but the scarecrow actually believed him.
Scarecrow was surprised that Night Owl was so friendly to Batman. He cursed the two despicable nocturnal creatures in his heart, and then immediately said, "The antidote is in the drawer on your right."
Batman immediately bent down to search and found several vials of something that looked different.
“I think you could try it on this guy,” Night Owl said, seemingly in a very honorable manner, sitting calmly in his chair without attempting to ambush Batman, “just in case he tries to trick you with something like concentrated poison.”
“Okay!” the scarecrow said immediately. “I agree, as long as you promise me you won’t hand me over to the night owl.”
"good."
Batman extracted another vial of Fear Gas from the Scarecrow, used Detective Mode to determine its composition, and then placed the vial below the Scarecrow's nose.
The scarecrow immediately began to scream; he seemed to have seen something terrifying.
Batman immediately gave him some antidote, and Scarecrow gradually returned to normal.
It seems this is indeed the correct antidote. Batman scans its ingredients in Detective Mode, attempting to transmit the molecular formula to Lucius.
“Fine, so you’re planning to stop me from killing him?” Night Owl stood up and asked, quite displeased.
Batman didn't respond; he was racing against time to scan the data.
The two maintained a strange tacit understanding: Batman did not try to take the initiative to attack Night Owl, and Night Owl did not interfere with Batman's scanning for the antidote. They simply stood peacefully at opposite ends of the room, both displaying considerable gentlemanly manners.
But clearly, there is another person in this room who lacks noble character and gentlemanly manners.
Scarecrow believed that Night Owl would definitely kill him (which was absolutely correct), and that Batman might not protect him (which was absolutely wrong). Even if he did protect him, he might not be able to defeat Night Owl. So he struggled desperately, even though he was tied up, he kicked the experimental table and overturned a sealed glass container containing a high concentration of a new type of fear gas.
This was his backup plan. After injecting the neutralizing agent, he would be temporarily immune to the fear gas, giving him time to inject himself with another antidote hidden in a syringe in his hand. In a confined space, this new type of fear gas was strong enough to penetrate fabric and skin…
As the toxic gas spread, Batman immediately stopped the scan and warned Lucius that the scan results had been contaminated.
Batman then tried to pick up the annoying Scarecrow and leave so he could personally deliver the antidote to Wayne Enterprises, only to find a corpse lying where the Scarecrow had been.
...a familiar corpse.
No, that's impossible.
Batman tries to fight the illusion with his willpower.
The hallucinations briefly disappeared, only to return.
Sure enough, the scarecrow was still there.
But I've already been infected, so it's impossible for me to get the antidote to Lucius.
Batman, pulling the Scarecrow along, struggled to the window.
Night Owl didn't stop him, not knowing if he was also poisoned, but he still blocked the door firmly.
Batman doesn't have time to think about these things right now; he's trying to find his way through the darkness and bloodshed.
He reached the window, but touched a wall instead.
Where am I? No... I'm in the Scarecrow's laboratory, and this is the exit.
This is a bad sign; the fear toxin has affected his sense of touch.
He can stay conscious for shorter and shorter periods of time.
Batman smashed the window with his fist and tried to climb out, but he saw a familiar, bright yellow figure.
Without hesitation, he threw the container containing the remaining antidote away: "Robin, take this to Wayne Enterprises!"
Taking advantage of the opportunity, the scarecrow secretly picked up some shards of glass and cut the rope binding it.
He planned to take this opportunity to eliminate Batman and Night Owl...
"well."
Just as the scarecrow was about to make his move, a sigh came from behind him.
"So you really don't take me seriously at all?" Night Owl appeared behind him without him noticing. His voice was slightly distorted due to the automatic mask. "I've brought out the very best I can to deal with you."
-----------------------
Author's Note: Scarecrow is courting death here. Whether it's because he didn't want to attract Batman's attention by creating the Quantum Bomb or because he wanted to gain emotional value from Bruce, it's impossible for Night Owl to kill Scarecrow in front of Batman. Instead, he chose to be cynical and betray Batman, who was his best protector.
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òvó: If you're in a bad mood, you can have your zombie subordinates play with the scarecrow.
òvó: He can do whatever he wants, but what can he possibly do? Release useless poison gas while screaming during the filming?
(The version of this meme I saw was super cheesy... so I censored it. The meme seems to have originated from Lobotomy Corporation? Well, at least the version I saw was fan art featuring several characters from Lobotomy Corporation.)
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