蝙蝠侠不会在走廊里呆太久.他知道,如果他被这里的当地人发现,会引起太多的注意,由于建筑结构复杂恐怖,他可能无法逃脱.
于是,按照他的猜测,他找到了另一扇小门,进入了那个类似肠子的通道.上了两层楼后,他从另一扇门出来,发现他的猜测是正确的.这是另一个屋顶.在屋顶的一侧,还有另一扇小门,通向另一栋建筑.整个人间地狱,通过这样的建筑结构,一层一层地蔓延开来,覆盖了整个区域.这里的人们甚至可以在不离开建筑物的情况下到达每个角落,就像一个巨大的蜂巢一样.
这让蝙蝠侠感到惊讶.
他学过建筑工程和建筑学,但这种奇异而诡异的建筑形式超出了他的认知范围.在他以往的理解中,任何一座建筑都必须经过设计,才能体现出功能与美学的结合,这是建筑的精髓.
但哥谭市的人间地狱似乎将人类的建筑知识踩在脚下.这是一个建筑奇迹,由一群对建筑一无所知的平民自发建造.它充满了许多未经授权的建筑,原始的建筑结构几乎被摧毁.各种类似肠子的通道杂乱无章地纵横交错地穿过每栋建筑,供水和供电系统杂乱无章,几乎没有任何污染控制.
然而,它真正实现了建筑功能性和美学的结合.是的,蝙蝠侠相信这里有一种美.
在他能够更深入地了解地狱中的地狱之前,他听到一栋建筑传来微弱的声音.这就像金属刮擦石板的声音.
抬头一看,蝙蝠侠看到一个身影站在相邻建筑物的屋顶上,该建筑物也属于人间地狱结构,但略高一些.蝙蝠侠站在下面,隐藏在墙底部的阴影中.屋顶上的人似乎没有注意到他.
他又向前走了两步,以便更清楚地看到那栋楼上发生的事情.看来两个人正在对峙.
从他们的衣服来看,这两个人都不是活地狱的本地人,这激起了蝙蝠侠的好奇心.还有谁会像他一样在午夜来到黑暗的贫民窟?
于是,他找到一个角度,用力从他手中扔出一些东西.它是一种配备有听力设备的蝙蝠飞镖.蝙蝠飞镖"嗖嗖"地飞落在建筑物的一堵墙上,完美地楔入屋顶附近的缝隙中.蝙蝠侠戴上听筒,可以清楚地听到另一边的声音.
然而,两人似乎对说话不感兴趣.靠近屋顶边缘的高个子前臂上挂着一把锋利的臂刃,向另一个人冲去.刹那间,另一个人消失了,又重新出现在他身后.
蝙蝠侠眨了眨眼.他确认这不是他的想象.那个人确实凭空消失了又重新出现.
然后,他从听筒中听到一个非常熟悉的声音,说:"我就知道你迟早会出现.
这是他的心理学教授席勒教授的声音.
The voice of the other person seems to be distorted by a voice changer, sounding sharp and thin. He sneers, "Since you offended us, you should have known this day would come. You can start thinking about your last words."
Batman's footsteps tremble. He confirms it is undoubtedly his professor, Professor Schiller. His initial reaction is to step forward and help. However, Schiller's words make him pause, because it seems that there is an even bigger secret between them. He hears Schiller reply, "There's no need to pretend. I know you're not my enemy from Metropolis."
The other person doesn't respond and continues rushing towards Schiller. In Batman's unwavering gaze, his so-called ordinary university professor truly disappears in an instant, then reappears again.
In that brief pause from the assassin, Schiller says, "Perhaps I should call you... Talon?"
The person across stops moving. He gently clenches his fingers and rotates the blade on his arm before saying, "How do you know?"
Then he continues, "Regardless of how you know, there can only be one King of the Gotham night, and that is the Court."
"You don't have to repeat your ideology to me. I just want to tell you, you have got the wrong person." Schiller answers.
The Talon seem to receive some command. He suddenly increases his speed and his arm starts to shimmer. Then Batman sees Schiller's figure suddenly disappear, replaced by a gray mist at the same spot. Immediately, the gray mist mixed with some black particles begins to spread over the entire rooftop.
Batman suddenly feels difficulty in breathing. An extreme excitement spreads from within him. He feels himself losing control completely. Batman half kneels down, clutching his throat with both hands, veins bulging.
"Who are you? Who are you!!!"
"Who am I?"
"Who am I?"
"What am I..."
"I am Batman!"
"I am Batman..."
The voice in the illusion becomes clearer, and gradually occupies Batman's mind. He is almost shouting at full force. He feels a consciousness beyond his control taking over his body.
As the mist grows thicker, Batman suddenly falls backwards. Black mud appear, engulfing his entire body. Then, a massive black creature jumps onto the rooftop.
It is an unexpected surprise for both of them. Schiller quickly steps back and focuses on the black monster. He says in a low voice, "Venom? Why you here?"
But the monster seems to have lost its sanity and charges towards Schiller in a frenzy.
Schiller doesn't have much time to react, transforming into a gray mist and swiftly retreating. As the monster reaches Schiller, it seems to regain some consciousness, or rather, Venom's consciousness gains the upper hand.
"I will eat your brain!" Venom roars.
Schiller opens his mouth and suddenly notices something off about Venom's form. Why there are two sharp ears on top of his head?
Could it be...
Then Schiller says to Venom, "I think, before considering eating, you may have a bigger problem to deal with..."
"What?" Venom pauses for a moment.
Then Venom feels a burst of intense darkness erupting from within his host. The terrifying tide of darkness makes Venom lose control over his body almost instantly.
In this brief existence of symbiote, he has never experienced such terrifying and intense darkness. Originally, as emotional parasites, they could devour any emotion as their food. They should not fear their food.
But now, Venom seems to instantly be swallowed by a terrible flood. He can't even make a sound as he loses control over the host and all the cells.
Soon, Schiller watches as Venom's form transforms. Originally, Venom's form resembles the liquid armor he has on Stark.
Now, parts of the armored form remain on Venom's body. He lets out a somewhat painful roar. The black monster struggles and half kneels down, and the liquid on its body begins to reassemble.
Sharp ears, fangs, and wings. The symbol of a bat gradually emerges from his chest, with a pair of enormous bat wings unfolding from his back. Venom-Batman instantly takes off into the air, diving swiftly towards Schiller.
The good news is that Schiller turns into a gray mist and evades this attack. But the bad news is that this Venom-Batman seems to be out of control.
Even guess, Schiller can infer some clues. Although he doesn't know how Venom ends up on Batman, who is Batman? He is the epitome of darkness in the entire DC universe. A symbiote can't possibly control someone like him, but it is highly likely that it triggers the darkness hidden within Batman's heart.
The consciousness of the symbiote is likely trapped. Now, controlling this body is the out-of-control Dark Bat.
It is a big trouble. Originally, Batman is just a mortal relying more on his intellect. But the symbiote itself is an entity in the Marvel that doesn't follow any reasonable rules. The stronger the host, the stronger the symbiote, and the stronger the symbiote, the stronger the host.
The Venom-Batman in mid-air is still undergoing astonishing changes. His body starts to grow larger. The black liquid keeps expanding endlessly, and countless tentacles made of black mud, like cocoons, envelop this monster.
Spikes start to appear on his body. Under the moonlight, a giant creature standing over ten meters tall with massive spiked wings appears in the sky above the living hell.
It is an extremely terrifying black bat, its entire body pitch-black with only a silver bat symbol on its chest. Its eyes, like its creator Knull, emit flaming light, appearing ferocious and horrifying.
Schiller looks up at the enormous monster and asks Mist in his mind, "You sure you can fight?"
"I just don't like it, but doesn't mean I can't do it! I want to beat him!!!" Mist replies.
As soon as Mist finishes speaking, his mist form begins to change.
The gray mist starts to thicken, transitioning from its initial thin state. Amidst the swirling mist, a circular sun forms by countless eerie mist patterns slowly rising from within.
Countless gray mists, resembling scattered sun particles, radiate from the densest center, forming shadowy figures and indescribable tentacles.
The strange sun composed of gray mist gradually deepens in color. The mist becomes denser, and its color grows darker. Under the moonlight, another immense and terrifying monster is born.
This parasitic race born in chaos, raised in chaos, and destined to return to chaos is always filled with a peculiar and horrifying beauty. When these two massive monsters appear in the sky above the living hell, the moonlight grows brighter.
Soon, they start to entangle with each other, swiftly maneuvering in this eerie city that seems alive.
The bright moonlight, the twisted layers of the massive city, and countless entangled electric wires combine to create a backdrop as eerie, menacing, and grand as the battle itself.
A huge round moon rises. The mist and the slime fly past, turning the buildings against the moonlight into dark silhouettes. In the layers of electric wires and tall trash bags, among countless broken bricks and tiles, the cool moonlight guides the black and gray as they swiftly move through the city.
The floating plastic bags freeze in mid-air, resembling luminescent jellyfish. Countless aluminum cans that reach the air freeze and turn into shimmering fish in the frozen tidal waves. In an instant, a tremendous surge sweeps through, an unsound storm tearing everything apart. Wooden boards fall, metallic sparks rise.
The scene rapidly retreats, passing through the intertwined support structures of the layered buildings, climbing along the electric wires to the top. Looking down at the massive city from above, it resembles the gaping maw of an abyss.
Then, the freefall speed causes ripples to appear on the edge of the field of vision. The spiraling mist and slime fly faster and faster, while the moonlight grows brighter.
In an instant, time freezes, the moonlight stops, and the wind becomes still, as all the points of light are suspended in mid-air. Revolving around countless rays of light, as they get closer to the center, they finally become clear. Two forces collide soundlessly, giving rise to an enormous mushroom cloud made of millions of particles.
In this silent explosion, there is no light or sound, only weird silence remains. Afterwards, brain waves surge, and countless sharp screeches erupt on the mental level.
In almost an instant, a battle at the microscopic level, imperceptible to humans, has already entered its millions of rounds.
In a blink of an eye, the first clash ends. The battle, only witnessed by the moonlight, starts again. The moonlight causes the city to project countless dark shadows, like a curtain in an opera, separating gray from black.
Tonight, in Gotham, silence and sound waves play together, stillness and conflict dance in unison. Living hell surges with darkness, and the city let out screams.
Under the moonlight, at the top of the silhouetted black buildings, a figure that seems insignificant compared to the monsters finally falls amidst extreme fear and chaos. With his last bit of consciousness, he screams through his earpiece, "Can't return... Can't return now..."
"...The Court of Owls mustn't return now!!!"