The villain in the lab coat stands out under the lights, not just because the lab coat reflects the light, but also because the opponent's head is shining.
This guy with a somewhat transformed skull has a head like an egg, smooth and elongated oval-shaped, with a pale face sporting two quite seductive little mustaches, the kind that curl up at both ends in an old-fashioned style.
At this moment, he is wearing his monocle, laughing maniacally while performing incomprehensible operations on a console filled with second-hand sci-fi style.
Besides him and the equipment, there is also a giant egg on the rooftop of this building. Yes, over four meters high, requiring several people to hug it, with a rainbow painted on its shell.
And after the bizarre scientist operated it for a while, the nearby machine emitted an electric arc that struck the egg shell, making this egg light up like a bulb, turning Gotham City into a new lighthouse.
If it were a cartoon, Batman believes several black lines would have already dropped from his forehead; this villain is vividly remembered.
Edgar Heed, code-named 'Dr. Eggman', is a somewhat mentally unstable biologist, physicist, and a regular at Arkham.
How to put it.... Eggman's past actions, even if you let Batman evaluate them, it's hard to find suitable words. The only one matching may be.... 'remarkable'.
Eggman is the kind of unlucky guy whose plans never succeed; he always has high hopes for his inventions, anticipating they'll defeat Batman, so he can rule the world.
However, every time he almost succeeds, Batman finds facing him and his inventions exceptionally arduous, much more so than facing the Joker.
Batman has to marshal all his willpower and endurance to forcibly prevent himself from laughing.
It's really too funny; Batman finds Dr. Eggman's deadpan humor quite irresistible. Clearly serious situations often get turned into jokes by Eggman.
Upon recognizing Dr. Eggman, Batman immediately understands that this glowing giant egg is the 'gag' this time, and he mustn't let Dr. Eggman deliver his punchline.
"That's enough, Edgar."
Batman flips over up from the edge of the rooftop, pulling his cape to cover his face, posing in the classic Batman stance.
Under the overwhelming storm clouds, this dark atmosphere can exert more mental pressure on villains, and Dr. Eggman is in such a situation.
With a face full of panic, he nervously operates his own control console, causing the giant egg to rotate seven colors like a barbershop pole, with energetic music coming from those strange devices.
"Batman! Impossible! How did you know I was here?!"
"...."
Batman turned his head to look at the pitch-black city, then at the rooftop resembling a party scene, trying hard to pull down both corners of his mouth.
Amazing, starting with classic foolishness, a truly not-to-be-underestimated opponent....
Eggman, seeing Batman not responding, is not surprised at all; not many know him, but everyone in the city knows Batman.
This silent black shadow always suddenly appears, defeats enemies without a sound, and then vanishes suddenly.
Batman's silence doesn't matter; Eggman can find a topic himself: "You're too late! Batman! My invention is ready; witness Gotham's doom!"
"....." No, Batman knows he can't respond. The machine has already started; even defeating Eggman, powerless as he is, cannot reverse this process. But if he does respond, it becomes a comic duo.
"Bwahahaha!!! Cough, uh, cough cough...." Dr. Eggman laughs hauntingly, sticking out his entire tongue, but this crazy manner is intentionally imitated from the Joker, and he's uncomfortable, so he chokes on his saliva.
Before Batman acts, he's almost coughing himself to death, completely losing his fighting strength.
Batman closes his eyes briefly, he knew this would happen, so he simply ignores Eggman who fell to his knees nearby, walks toward the control console, attempting to see if he can stop this machine.
However, this damn thing seems like an arcade control panel modification, except for a joystick, there are only four large red buttons, with no switch.
And now the giant egg is wrapped in very strong electric currents, making it impossible to approach, so Batman's gaze falls on the generator nearby.
The Bat Darts leave his hand, directly cutting the cable, causing the surrounding lights and this bizarre machinery to stop, seemingly solving the problem.
The next step is to knock Eggman unconscious and let Ah Fu throw him into Arkham.
Normally, Eggman's level of destruction certainly doesn't meet Arkham's standards, as since he debuted, besides damaging the environment and buildings, he's never harmed a single person.
He's simply a breath of fresh air among Gotham's villains, even comparable to those guys from Midtown.
But he must be sent to Arkham nonetheless; he keeps talking about destroying the world and ruling Earth – this is indeed a sickness that needs curing.
The cloaked black figure walks toward Eggman, but the doctor, while coughing, raises a finger, indicating Batman to wait.
Struggling, he opens a small cabinet under the control console, takes out a can of beverage, opens it, drinks a few sips, finally ceasing to cough.
"Whew... almost died..." He patted his chest, laughed while gasping for breath, then suddenly remembered what he was doing, quickly got up with a serious face, and jumped back, creating some distance: "Batman! You cannot defeat me! Mwahahaha!!! "
Batman: "...."
Pain, the place where Bane had hit earlier, the pain was becoming hard to suppress because of the stifled laughter....
And just as Batman raised his fist to end it all, the door to the rooftop suddenly opened, and another person walked in.
The person wore a brownish-yellow trench coat, unlike Constantine's flamboyance, this person not only buttoned up every button, but also tightened the belt on the trench coat.
He was wearing striped trousers, old-fashioned lace-up leather shoes, and a soft felt hat favored by mobsters.
Batman knew him, this newcomer was a five-line hero from Gotham, codenamed 'Windbreaker Warrior', a mysterious person whose gender and exact age were unknown.
Yes, even with Batman's and the Justice League's intelligence network, the identity of the individual couldn't be confirmed, which was really mysterious.
But there had been such mysterious people before, like the famous 'Inquirer', who dressed exactly like the Windbreaker Warrior, and in a case Batman was secretly investigating, there was a hero named 'Rorschach' who dressed the same way.
If Su Ming were here, he would point out some easily identified differences to Batman.
For example, Rorschach's mask bore the famous 'Rorschach Test' pattern, black and white, continuously changing. The Inquirer, on the other hand, simply had no face, the whole person seemed like an unpainted mannequin.
While the Cloaked Man had a mask painted with fluorescent blue paint on black gauze, which was very noticeable at night, looking like an '@▁@' expression.
The Cloaked Man entered with a kick to the door. Perhaps because Batman's figure was hard to discern in the darkness, he immediately began his introductory speech.
Whether it was a youthful habit or the current trend in the superhero world, Batman wasn't sure. He wasn't much of a hero and wouldn't loudly declare his entrance in front of a villain.
But whether he liked it or not, the Cloaked Man did it anyway, his voice modulated through a voice changer, proclaiming like an aria:
"When darkness engulfs Gotham, when evil reappears, when people call for me, I appear like the light of dawn! I am the Windbreaker Warrior, and I represent justice to arrest you!"
After saying that, the Windbreaker Warrior pointed suavely at Dr. Eggman like a detective identifying a suspect.
To be honest, the lines were a bit awkward, but since the person mentioned Batman's favorite 'justice', he let it slide.
However, the criminal couldn't be handed over to him; it was Batman who caught him and must be taken to Arkham by someone Batman trusted.
Because Batman often sent people directly to Arkham without a trial, the Gotham Police Station even set up an office in Arkham to handle temporary detention procedures, basically serving only Batman.
"Sorry, youngster, he's mine."
Batman saw Eggman staring at the Windbreaker Warrior, caught in a mutual gaze where it seemed like both of them only had eyes for each other, leaving him ignored, and couldn't help but remind them.
"Batman?? Why are you here?" The Windbreaker Warrior tilted his head, and despite the voice changer, there was an unmistakable tone of confusion in his voice.
Batman understood his confusion, because generally, dealing with a villain like Eggman, leagues like the Justice League wouldn't compete with five-line superheroes and youngsters for him.
It's akin to using a cannon to kill a mosquito, even Superman wouldn't go out of his way to catch a petty thief in London.
But Gotham is different from other cities; all the villains here belong to Batman.
And Dr. Eggman, reminded by the Windbreaker Warrior, also tilted his head, as if only just noticing Batman, asking in surprise, "Why are you still here?"
Batman: "...."
And in those few seconds, the downside of chatting on a high rooftop under a cloudy night finally manifested.
Originally, rooftops have lightning rods, but after Dr. Eggman's operations here, he had clearly incorporated the lightning rod into his instruments and equipment.
A huge strike from the heavens instantly hit the lightning rod, and then arcs of bright electricity climbed up to a nearby gigantic multicolored egg via metal and wires.
Even Batman, fast as lightning, was merely a metaphor.
Under the powerful electric stimulation, the enormous egg began to shake, drum-like sounds began to resonate around it, and the multicolored eggshell emitted a strong light.
Dr. Eggman was immediately thrilled, for even God seemed to be on his side, using lightning to finish his last task.
He raised his fists triumphantly, shouting loudly:
"You two! Witness my greatest creation! An invincible weapon crafted from my genius genes mixed with Earth's most terrifying creatures! The Ultimate Supreme Destruction King of Super Invincible Darkness Lightning! You've lost for sure, mwahahahaha!!!"