Pamela hesitated a bit, from the bottom of her heart, she didn't want to confront Batman. Especially not this classic version of Batman. If they ever included her in some plan, she'd never have peace.
Moreover, there was a group of Batmans standing behind this Batman. They were already very strict in guarding against superpower users, if she entered their defensive range, she'd have to tread carefully in whatever she did in the future. Of course, she thought she had no intention of doing anything, but the positioning of this cosmos within the Multiverse was just not very positive, who knew what would happen later.
"No way," Pamela refused, "Monsters all have lock-on options, the vines I create don't look like that at all. And if he retaliates, I can't really attack him, can I?"
"What are you afraid of," Tim continued to coax, "This is about protecting our cosmos's property. If you don't repel him, what are we going to say when Bruce asks us about it?"
Pamela suddenly had a revelation. This classic version of Batman was indeed hard to deal with, but compared to Bruce, she'd rather face this whole group of Batmans.
Even though this water purifier was not very useful, it was one of Bruce's few remaining Batman legacies. If other Batmans used it, or got intelligence about it, Bruce would definitely seek revenge from dusk till dawn. After all, his forgiveness was inherited from Shiller.
Pamela sighed, raised her hand, and the green vines climbed along the sewer walls with a rustle, reaching above Batman, then suddenly plunged down—
"Hiss…" Batman gasped, rolled to dodge, and immediately threw three Batman darts, breaking the vines with a snap.
"It's over," Pamela began to back down again, "This Batman is quite skillful, seems hard to deal with."
But now it was too late to stop. Pamela gritted her teeth and stomped her foot, several robust vines broke through the ground, scattering tile fragments. Batman swung his cape, blocking all dust, then turned and executed a spinning kick, first kicking away the vine closest to him, then using two more Batman darts to cut the farthest ones. The remaining vine was neither close nor far, Batman rolled closer, grabbed the vine directly, and suddenly pulled upwards.
Pamela clenched her fists slightly, the vine spun around, suddenly extended, wrapped around Batman's waist, attempting to slam him to the ground. But in mid-air, Batman twisted his body, planted a foot on the sewer wall, and barely broke free.
While Batman wasn't yet stable, Pamela summoned more vines to chase and attack him. Realizing things were not going well, Batman ran deeper into the sewer. Pamela breathed a sigh of relief, driving him out of that section of the sewer with vines all the way.
While attacking, Pamela cursed. This Batman was too difficult to deal with, slippery like a yellow eel, even in such narrow spaces, he maneuvered skillfully. Despite using all her strength, she couldn't catch him. Truly, none of the classic Batman types were easy to contend with.
What he didn't know was, Bruce's inner voice cursing was no quieter than Pamela's. When the first two vines appeared, Bruce thought they were monsters, but the tactile feedback from the subsequent ones wasn't quite right, realizing they were summoned by Pamela?
Bruce truly didn't understand why Pamela would cross him. Although the cosmos often went against Batman, the game itself discouraged player conflict, attacking Batman had no benefits. Moreover, Pamela wasn't the aggressive type, why would she actively seek trouble with Batman?
However, Bruce quickly realized. He remembered there was a large water purifier underground in the East District. He realized late because he wasn't initially heading for the purifier; he was completing an East District task when it guided him to the sewer, where he encountered Pamela's wild attacks, disrupting the task.
Actually, Bruce understood Pamela's attack style well; even using Batman methods, he might not lose. However, it was universally known Batman struggled with surprise encounters. If he didn't act incompetent, it'd be too easy to be uncovered.
He knew precisely the nature of people in his cosmos. Except for a handful who kept secrets, once something he was involved in was known, it'd soon spread throughout the entire Multiverse. Especially young Pamela and her group, who were so talkative, Batman wouldn't even need to investigate; gossip would reach his ears regardless.
To properly portray Batman, Bruce helplessly played down his abilities, making a hasty retreat.
Seeing Batman run off, Pamela breathed a sigh of relief. Indeed, Batman was weaker in surprise encounters, reacting quickly but not understanding attack patterns.
In most universes, Poison Ivy primarily used toxins, plant toxins being their kill move. Only Pamela was different; with the budget from All Things Green being plentiful, she usually used brute force to defeat finesse, being particularly skilled in physical anesthesia. Batman likely hadn't seen these maneuvers, causing his temporary defeat.
"Quick, quick, quick," Pamela urged, "Let's go find the water purifier; if he returns later, I won't be able to fight him…"
Tim also understood the gravity of the situation. Without much delay, the two headed toward the central water purifier area.
Meanwhile, on the ground in the East District, Bishop and Constantine had also arrived at the site. After all, they were the team from the East District, and they didn't participate in the previous raid on the leader of the North District. After some development, the main task had already reached the stage close to the final boss.
The two of them were now following the mission, investigating near the dock. This area could be considered quite dangerous, almost like Insmouth. Besides the polluted small monsters, there was a large group of Gotham's original monsters, albeit a modified version.
However, the two were quite cautious, had fairly good luck, carefully avoiding those hard-to-fight monsters, and were constantly gathering clues to figure out what exactly was going on with the final boss in the East District.
On the other hand, the agents and Deathstroke, who also entered the East District for exploration, weren't so lucky. These two ran head-on into the King of Seagulls.
The seagull clans might have been entrenched in Gotham earlier than the human race. The ancient curses lingering in Gotham had a more profound impact on these sea birds. Hence, sailors migrating to the American Continent had suffered their attacks. Numerous shipwrecks in Gotham Bay tell this tale of natural selection.
The King of Seagulls had survived on this land for hundreds of years. In modern times, where human activity was increasingly frequent, it found that catching humans on land was better than fishing in the sea. Although the Gothamites weren't pushovers, the King of Seagulls could always catch a few stragglers. Even the strong mob members with guns rarely escaped once targeted by it.
In the game, the King of Seagulls was not weakened but rather became more aggressive. As the agent and Deathstroke approached the dock, they saw a shadow that blocked out the sky hovering above them. After a crisp call, its wings seemed to stir up a storm.
Deathstroke instinctively rolled with his head embraced to dodge those cruelly gleaming claws. The agent was also forced to lean back, staggering a few steps, and when he looked up at the sky, he met those blood-red eyes and gasped in shock.
Despite having been in Gotham for a while, it was his first time seeing this monster up close. The oppressive feeling was much stronger when seen up close. A large enough bird could easily remind one of those giant beasts that once ruled the Earth in ancient times. The body size of the King of Seagulls, perched atop the building, even far exceeded that of the Wind God Winged Dragon.
The agent immediately picked up a sniper rifle. But beasts always had a very keen intuition. As soon as he set up his gun, the King of Seagulls took off—its flying height far surpassed anyone's imagination, comparable to a spacecraft, and quickly vanished from their sight.
Thinking it had left, the two were just about to start exploring when the creature returned. It mainly focused on harassment tactics, precisely like the ploy to steal fries on a beach.
Realizing they couldn't explore without killing it, Deathstroke sighed and directly took out the rocket launcher he found at the Gotham Police Department. Unlike the agent, who emphasized precision and efficiency, he preferred direct fire coverage, shooting in a general direction. The King of Seagulls didn't have time to gain altitude and was hit on the wing by a shot.
It tilted and fell to one side. The agent immediately raised his gun to add another shot, but instead of aiming for the head, he went for the base of the injured wing, capitalizing on its vulnerability to finish it off.
The specialized sniper rifle in his hands was of a small caliber but with great penetrative power, and it came in handy here. The King of Seagulls, its wing aching, flew more erratically.
It seemed to realize that gaining altitude was no longer feasible, so it turned back and charged at them, folding its wings and diving at high speed in their direction. Just before hitting the ground, it spread its wings, and its sharp yellow beak lunged towards them.
The two dodged in opposite directions. Deathstroke turned around and fired a hook, binding one of the King of Seagulls' legs. As the seagull flapped its wings again, Deathstroke was lifted off the ground. Meanwhile, the agent took aim again; this time, his shot was precise, hitting the King of Seagulls in that same leg.
The King of Seagulls, in pain, retracted its foot. Utilizing the momentum, Deathstroke swung upward and landed on the back of the King of Seagulls, raising a great sword and thrusting fiercely into its back. The King of Seagulls let out a miserable cry, flapping its wings desperately and spinning in mid-air.
Deathstroke held onto the hilt of the sword embedded in it tightly. No matter how the seabird spun, he didn't fall off. To shake off the pain from its back, the King of Seagulls' flight became more unstable, wobbling toward the sea.
The agent chased to the dock, watching the silhouettes of the King of Seagulls and Deathstroke getting further away. He knew this couldn't continue. Not even considering that there might be a map boundary, this game included Cthulhu elements, and the sea was no good place—the deeper the sea, the more dangerous it was. He couldn't let Deathstroke, with all his equipment, go off serving himself as fish food for Mr. Ke.
He fired his gun, hitting the King of Seagulls in the abdomen. The descent speed increased, and Deathstroke also realized he couldn't let this seabird drag him into the sea, or else he would not return.
He swung his hook to strangle the King of Seagulls' neck. After a battle, he finally managed to adjust its flight path, crash-landed crookedly near the dock.
When it landed on the surface, the King of Seagulls was already more out than in, both Deathstroke's sword and the agent's bullet piercing its heart, and it could only flap weakly on the water.