It's a good thing I was on top of that rooftop defending Ivy's plant against militia forces when Scarecrow detonated the Cloudburst device, dispersing his fear toxin throughout every corner of Gotham City. Police officers, militia soldiers, super-villain henchmen, random thugs: none were spared from the grip of abject terror that did in fact make last night's demonstration at the diner look like child's play. Another reason why it was lucky that I wasn't on the streets during the blast was because the toxin cloud short-circuited the Batmobile, and it would not have been fun to be stuck inside a non-operational car while surrounded by people bent on tearing each other apart.
Finding a way to fix my ride was top priority, because I was sure to need the Batmobile's firepower to destroy the Cloudburst, wherever it was, since while that thing was operational, the gas cloud was too strong for Ivy's plants to disperse. However it became even more urgent since I received word that the Arkham Knight was sending a squadron of drones to take out Ivy's plant, which wouldn't be able to withstand concentrated heavy artillery fire for long. But the fact that the tanks could operate inside the gas cloud meant that the same could be true for the Batmobile. And I figured that my best chance of finding out how to make that happen was from the inventor of the Cloudburst, Simon Stagg.
Stagg was still on board his airship, but he had apparently regained consciousness, freed himself from his quarantine cell, and hidden somewhere out of reach of the armed militia soldiers who were searching for him. It was a simple matter of clearing the room and using his fingerprint reconstruction that I had on file to track Stagg to a Han Solo-esque compartment in the floor. He informed me that the Arkham Knight's tanks were using something called "Nimbus Cells" to operate within the Cloudburst's radius, and he was kind enough to gift me one from his personal supply. The only problem was that I had to physically insert the cell into the Batmobile, which would mean exposing myself to more of Scarecrow's toxin.
Normally I wouldn't be troubled by this proposition: back at the Asylum, I took three doses of Scarecrow's gas, plus two direct injections, all in a single night. But this time I was contaminated with Joker's blood, which meant his twisted persona was just waiting for a chance to take control of my entire psyche. It was slow and careful going to get the Batmobile in working condition again while also fending off crazed Scarecrow thugs, but the satisfying roar of the engine once I completed the task was more than enough of a reward for my steady hand. Now it was time to head back to Divinity Churchyard where the Arkham Knight was mounting his drone attack.
The group of at least 40 drones I encountered was easily the largest and most varied group I had seen so far. Of course you had mostly "Rattlers," the standard tank with a single cannon, but these were now supplemented by "Twin Rattlers," which had a second cannon pointing in the same direction. I also saw plenty of heavily-armored "Diamondbacks," which not only required two shots from my 60mm cannon destroy, but they also had the ability to fire three cannon blasts at once, spread out in a 45-degree angle. But the most dangerous type of tank was referred to as the "Mama" (departing from the snake theme), which boasted a mounted homing missile launcher. There were also flying mortar-launching "Dragons," and at one point they airlifted in a long range missile launcher, which could launch homing missiles and ground cannons simultaneously. Needless to say, I had my work cut out for me.
The only advantage I had over the drone army (aside from my dashing good looks) was that the advanced computer systems on the Batmobile allowed me to move and fire at the same time, whereas the Arkham Knight's drone forces were limited to doing one or the other at any given point. Also, my heads-up display was able to show me the trajectory of incoming cannon blasts, which showed up red if I was in the line of fire or blue if I was in the clear. I still have nightmares about those intersecting red and blue lines endlessly flitting across my field of vision. It also helped to have Poison Ivy on my side, who would periodically cause savage vines to burst through the ground to destroy a tank or three. Without her help, I don't think even the Batmobile would have stood a chance against such odds.
But believe it or not, even after such an epic battle, I wasn't in the clear yet. Upon receiving news of my victory, the Arkham Knight dispatched a group of his newest, biggest "Cobra" tanks to patrol the area and eradicate me once and for all. These things were so well-armored that the only strategy I could employ was to follow them around like a facebook stalker long enough for my targeting computer to acquire a lock onto the main exhaust port in the back, after which one well-placed shot would destroy them. And to make matters worse, the Arkham Knight himself decided to join the fray in his very large, very fast very NON-drone tank. While its unique 360-degree constantly-spinning sensor tower made it a bitch to avoid, its presence on the battlefield was actually a blessing in disguise, because attached to the front of the tank was the Cloudburst!
It took me a while to eliminate all the patrolling Cobras, and even longer to scan the Arkham Knight's tank to identify a weakness without being detected, and even knowing the vehicle's schematics, it was still a harrowing ordeal. The main gun was fed by four distinct power supplies, all of which I had to disable before I could start taking shots at the Cloudburst. But even after completing stage 1 of my plan, the tank had enough secondary firepower that the only way to stay alive was to take a shot in tank mode, quickly transform into car mode, and then run like hell to escape the surprisingly fast pursuit. But after a seemingly endless battle, I finally disabled both the tank and the cloudburst, then heroically rescued the Arkham Knight before the resulting explosion. I can't tell you how much I was relishing some alone time with my newest enemy...
Part 9: A Spoiled Knight Unmasked
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