Nightwing has gone missing too.
Arkham Knight clenched his fist, taking a deep breath in place before hitting the desk hard with his palm.
The feelings surrounding him were no longer of anger, but a profound sense of powerlessness — what on earth was Batman doing? How could he tolerate such betrayal?!
Sorrow for his misfortune and anger for not putting up a fight, Arkham Knight stood still, trying to sort through his chaotic memory for clues. But his extremely unstable mental state did not allow him to think rationally.
Without a hint or a clue, he didn't know how all this happened, or how it would end.
The past and the present began to overlap, but the future remained blurred.
Eventually, the feeling of helplessness and bewilderment broke him. After the fiery passion cooled down, the root of his anger finally revealed its true nature — fear.
Arkham Knight's body was trembling. He had to support himself with one hand on the table, struggling to control his breathing and heartbeat, but the panic swallowed him nonetheless.
He began to fall apart, to crumble, and then he toppled everything on the table and slid down to the floor weakly.
"Batman... Batman... Where are you?... Batman..."
The largely irrational Arkham Knight didn't notice that a small red tendril of sticky fluid had hit the communication device button on his arm, even kindly adjusting the channel.
"Batman... Where are you..."
When Jason's voice came through the communicator, Batman thought he was hallucinating again.
No, it's not a hallucination!
Batman was brought to his senses. He stared in shock at his communicator, even playing the recording in vain - it's not a hallucination!
"Jason... Jason... Jason Todd!!!"
Batman started bellowing, the phantom of the Joker appeared again, but in a moment, Jason's voice from the communicator interrupted all the illusions.
"I'm here... Batman..."
Arkham Knight, lying on the ground, had a pair of red orbs for eyes, the sticky fluid churning, and the parasite that could see all of his memories conveyed his real thoughts with his voice.
"It hurts, I'm frightened, I'm not special to you, so you won't come to save me..."
"No... No, Jason, Jason, I'm looking for you, I've always been looking for you, tell me where you are now!!"
"No matter how much I once believed in you, and how much you have disappointed me, I will trust you again and think of you first when I am most in danger, Batman..."
Arkham Knight's eyes slowly closed, and his consciousness sank once again into darkness, but this time, it turned out to be a rare good dream for him. There was no pain, only tranquility.
When he woke up again, he saw the familiar bars of a jail cell in the Batcave, while the noise around him filled his ears.
"I never thought you'd be a coward, Crane, ha, now we're all caught by Batman! You happy now?"
"Oswald, you idiot, I couldn't fathom how your small brain made such a terrible choice! You've got us all stuck now!"
"I'll have you know, it was you who..."
"Shut up!" Arkham Knight covered his head and shouted, "Shut up, you two idiots!"
As his vision finally cleared, he glanced to his sides; to his left was Scarecrow, and to his right was Penguin Man.
Accompanied by the hiss of the exhaust, the gates opened, and a looming silhouette walked in. At that moment, the cell became so quiet it might as well be in a vacuum.
"Don't you think something's off?" Scarecrow lowered his voice, "Black Mask wasn't killed by my people. I was too busy planting the fear gas at the time, anyone with a brain would see that the timeline doesn't add up."
"I didn't call for a military strike on Gotham, you think I'm an idiot? This is my home, my base. If I blow it up, how am I suppose to do business and make money?"
Scarecrow and Penguin Man looked at each other, both sensing something was wrong. Why did they start fighting?
Indeed they each have their own agenda, but their cooperation had been going smoothly, there's absolutely no need to betray each other. Despite what came between them, there was never any crisis that necessitated betrayal.
"Jason." Batman stood outside Arkham Knight's cell, looking at him. "Take off your mask."
The Arkham Knight sat on the ground, staring at him coldly without any intention of moving.
"Let me see your face, Jason."
A long silence ensued.
Then, as if giving up all hope, the Arkham Knight violently tore off his helmet, revealing his face.
There was a conspicuous 'J' scar on his face.
Batman's lips tightened instantly, he knew that all he had seen in the illusion was real.
Jason averted his gaze, already anticipating Batman's words - he should not have just left, should not have evaporated from the world without his gear and communicator, not ventured into dangerous areas, should have obeyed the arrangement, stayed safe in the Batcave.
"...I couldn't find you."
Jason looked up in shock, gazing unbelievingly at Batman's expression. He never imagined that he could see such a complex mix of emotions on this man's face.
"I searched every city block, every street, every room, every place you could possibly be, as well as Metropolis, Brude Haven...you were nowhere."
Jason clenched his fists tightly, his body rigid as if straining every muscle in his face to stop them from collapsing.
"He hid me away, he never would've let you find me."
"I'm sorry."
Jason looked up again, stunned. He noticed that Batman was also barely holding up his facial muscles with all his strength. They both looked as if they were stiff, like stone statues.
Jason had never felt himself so similar to Batman.
"No...wait!!!!!"
Scarecrow screamed, gripping the bars of his prison cell.
"He's your Robin?!?!" The Scarecrow shouted at Batman incredulously: "Was this all your plot?!!"
"Hold on." The Penguin caught on, "So Peter Parker is...oh God!! He shot a hole in my chest, forced me to admit... Batman!!!"
Just as Scarecrow and Penguin started screaming, a figure landed behind Batman.
Peter Parker, dressed in his Spider Suit, waved to Batman, "I'm sorry, but I need your help again, Batman."
Jason was taken aback as well.
Why would this traitor, Peter Parker, come back to Batman?! Is he planning to deceive Batman right in front of him?!
Wait, has he already deceived Batman?
At this moment, a chilling thought crossed Jason's mind - had they been colluding all along?!
After a moment's pause, Jason looked to the Scarecrow on his left, the Penguin on his right, and then at himself in the middle.
Aren't all the prime culprits behind the fear gas disaster here?
He knew it! Batman would not be so easily fooled!
Jason roared inwardly. Then, all three of them simultaneously howled in anger.
"Batman! You lowly scoundrel!!!"
At this moment, Greed's anxious voice echoed in Peter's ear, "Shift the blame! Shift the blame now, Peter!"
With less than half a second's hesitation, Peter swished behind Batman and pointed at him.
"That's right, Batman made me do it, all this is his ingenious trickery!"
In that moment, Peter fully recalled the bullshit artistry techniques Dr. Schiller had taught him.
Before Batman could react, Peter stepped forward and began to vividly narrate an exaggerated, mix-up version of Batman's nefarious plans.