The world held its breath as it watched Gotham City. When the city became engulfed in the toxin, the world lost hope. It could see nothing but the despair and defeat that the fear gas caused. But hidden within the walls of the city of fear, unseen by the rest of the globe, was resistance. A second tree was freed from the ground. It weakened the concentration of gas, but only by a small degree.

That was all Batman needed. The Batmobile sped through the dead streets, cutting through the smog. If he wanted to free the city, he'd have to cut the toxin off at its source. The Cloudburst was on Bleake Island, and so was the Arkham Knight.

This time, Batman had every intention of ending it. He had Alfred raise the bridges so that the Arkham Knight would have nowhere to run. The Knight and the Cloudburst were hiding behind a swarm of Cobra tanks.

But the tanks proved to be quite trying this time. The Batmobile had already taken a hit, and he wasn't sure how much more the vehicle could take.

Time was not on his side either. The more he hesitated, the worse the situation became. The Arkham Knight became aware of his hit-and-run strategy and had ordered the tank operators to destroy all cover in the area. The Cobra tanks plowed through walls and toppled buildings. Batman found himself running out of places to hide. And to make matters worse, whenever he took down a tank, the others would come swarming in as though they had caught the scent of blood.

After meticulous work, another tank lay in a smoldering heap. Batman raced away from a Cobra tank that was hot on his trail. The Batmobile bounced heavily as it climbed over the crumbled ruins of a building. Then, in front of him, a large silhouette appeared. Batman turned hard on the steering wheel veered off to the side as the Arkham Knight's tank fired and hit the ground where the Batmobile was just seconds ago.

He swerved again. This time, a missile passed by him, inches from his window. Batman struggled with the wheel as he fought to keep the Batmobile moving forward after that sharp turn. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a tank flanking him from the right. Another one appeared on his left. Then, there was yet another one in front of him. Batman gritted his teeth as he watched the Cobra tank in front of him turn its turret towards him. He switched the Batmobile into reverse, but he wasn't sure if he could escape all the tanks in time. His thumb hovered over the eject button as he watched three red projection lines train on him.

Suddenly, there was an explosion next to him. The Cobra tank that had been on his right was nothing but burning wreckage. Less than a second later, Batman caught sight of something whizzing by above the Batmobile. The tank to his left was quickly no more. Batman slammed down on the accelerator and shot backwards right as a different Cobra tank rammed into the one that had been in front of him. The first tank flipped onto its side and smashed its turret into the ground. Then, the second tank backed up a few feet and fired at the downed drone. The explosion shook the air.

"What the hell is going on?" Batman heard the Arkham Knight demand hotly over the channel. "I've got a rogue Cobra over here. It just took out three of my drones!"

"Sir I… We lost control of the drone. Some outside interference overrode my signal!"

"Who? No one could hack into a Cobra tank!"

There was a familiar laugh. It was coming from an open broadcast. "If machines can be reincarnated," Verlix said gleefully, "then please make me one of these things!"

The Arkham Knight let out a frustrated shout. "You've gotten into my way long enough!"

"On the contrary, we're just getting started. Come on, then. It takes two to tango." Verlix's tank whirled around and wheeled into the smog. Then, on a different channel, Verlix said, "Batman, I'll hold his attention. You do what you do best." From the fog there was the bright flash and loud boom as the Cobra tank fired. Then came a brighter, reciprocating fire from the Arkham Knight.

It was then Batman received an incoming call from Alfred. "Sir, it appears the Cloudburst has been attached directly onto the Arkham Knight's personal tank," he said as the Batwing's scanned schematics of the Cloudburst were transferred onto Batman's monitor. It didn't look too good. The Cloudburst-tank combination proved to be powerful. He needed to find a weakness, or the city would never be purged.

"How is it operating?" Batman asked. As strong as it was, the Cloudburst couldn't be invincible.

And he was right. Alfred revealed a coolant system attached to the Cloudburst that was exposed. He didn't need a straight shot at the device's power source. He just needed to go for the coolant system; without it, the Cloudburst would overheat and destroy itself.

"Verlix," he said. "I've found a weakness with the Cloudburst. I'm going to target its coolant system. Keep his back turned to me."

"I'll see what I can do," Verlix replied.

Batman cautiously approached the two battling tanks. A missile flew from the Arkham Knight and slammed into the Cobra tank, causing pieces of steel to fly in all directions. Thankfully, the Cobra tank had been built to take a good amount of abuse. Verlix fired back, but only managed to create a harmless explosion on the surface of the Arkham Knight's armor.

However, to Batman's surprise, the turret of the Arkham Knight's tank quickly turned towards him. "There you are," the Knight snarled. "Don't think I'm not aware of your little game. I knew you'd try to sneak up on me sooner or later." The Arkham Knight's tracking laser focused on him. The laser turned red as the tank prepared to fire.

There was a shuddering boom. The tracking laser veered away as the turret was jerked to the side from the Cobra tank's shot.

"I'm sick of your interference!" the Arkham Knight snapped. "You're nothing but outdated software, and you were never in control." Over the militia's broadcast, they heard him say, "Sergeant, disable the drone."

"I can't, sir! The Cobra's central command's been overridden."

"Then shut down firing capabilities."

"Yes sir."

"Huh," Verlix mused. "It seems I've been declawed. But that doesn't make you any less safe." Almost immediately, Batman fired. The small device located on the side of the Cloudburst, the coolant system, lit up in flames as it took its first hit. Immediately, the Arkham Knight searched vehemently for the Batmobile. It had already disappeared into the fog.

"Knight, what do you think you're doing?" Scarecrow hissed through the line. "Stop this nonsense. You are putting the Cloudburst in jeopardy! It is NOT bait!"

"I know what I'm doing," the Arkham Knight argued back. "Batman's mine."

"You will get your chance to destroy him."

"I'm done waiting."

The Knight was a fast learner. Batman managed to fire another shot at the coolant system before being vigorously chased down by the Arkham Knight's tank. But after that, he never gave Batman another chance to hit him. Whenever Verlix tried to interfere by ramming into the Cloudburst, the Knight would hit him with a shot. It wasn't long before Verlix's tank retreated into the smog in critical condition.

This was bad. The coolant system was damaged, but it wouldn't fall apart without a few more hits from Batman's cannon. However, the Arkham Knight was making it impossible for him to get near enough to line up a shot.

"I'm not looking too good," Verlix noted. "Another hit and I'm toast."

"Just stay away from the Knight," Batman said. "I'll find a way to take him out."

"No, all this damage is a good thing," Verlix clarified. "Given our current situation, I couldn't have asked for a more perfect solution."

"What solution?"

"They disabled my turret, but I've still got a huge missile payload stored in the belly of this tank," Verlix explained. "That payload gets exposed and especially deadly when I open the ammunition bay. I may no longer be a tank, but I'm a rolling bomb. But even with that, I can't hurt the Cloudburst. The Arkham Knight will shoot and destroy me before I can get close enough to cause any damage. And you've got the same exact problem."

Verlix's plan was becoming clear to Batman. "But if we both come at him at the same time, he can only fire at one of us."

"Exactly. And from that little conversation with Crane, I have a feeling I know which one of us he'll choose. But here's the thing: I can't detonate without a little firepower."

"I've got you covered."

"Best of luck."

Batman pushed downed on the accelerator and shot out of the tunnel that he had taken refuge in. His radar showed the Cloudburst. Another figure—Verlix's tank—was moving towards the Cloudburst. It was now or never. Batman turned sharply on the wheel and made a beeline towards the Arkham Knight.

He saw the scanner of the Knight's tank focus on him and turn red. The Arkham Knight oriented his tank so that the coolant system pointed directly away from the Batmobile. "There you are," the Arkham Knight snarled. Batman knew that he had only seconds before the tank's targeting system would get a lock and fire.

Then, emerging from behind the Cloudburst, came the battered Cobra tank. Batman's hand left the steering wheel and hit a switch just as a burst of fire emerged from the Arkham Knight's turret. The Batmobile's wheels turned 90 degrees, and the vehicle dodged swiftly to the side as the missile flew past him. Without a moment to spare, Batman slammed his fist into the button. A single shot hurtled from his cannon, past the Cloudburst, and into the exposed Cobra tank.

A flash of brilliant light lighted up the Batmobile's windshield. Batman heard the deafening boom and felt his body lurch forward as the Batmobile was pushed backwards by the force of the explosion.

But there was no time to collect his senses and evaluate what had just happened. Now that the coolant system had been destroyed, the Cloudburst would overheat in seconds. The Arkham Knight was in that tank.

"Did it work?" Verlix asked as Batman leaped out of the Batmobile. "I don't exactly have eyes up there anymore."

"It's about to blow. He's still in there!" Batman said. He saw the Arkham Knight climb out from the driver's hatch. Weak from the explosion, the Knight slumped over the top of the tank before he could escape. Batman climbed over the tank and grabbed the Arkham Knight by his shoulder guard. With the grapple gun, he pulled the both of them up and away just as he heard the explosion behind them.

"Of course he would save his life," Verlix mumbled to himself. "He's a better man than me… If I were a man. Though I suppose I would make an exception this time. The fool still owes us some answers, doesn't he?" He turned his camera to Jocelyn. She stared at the ground. "You did good," she mumbled.

"Is that it?"

"What is there to say?" she asked quietly. "I'm just confused."

"Tell me what you're feeling."

"Conflicted," Jocelyn admitted. "That man out there is a monster. If anyone from Axiom were still here, they'd kill him without a second thought. Part of me hopes that it really isn't him." Her shoulders dropped. "But after I woke up and heard that he was… My first thought was that I should have just died from that injury. That you shouldn't have saved me. I had wished so badly that he was still here. So part of me hopes that he's alive."

"I understand," Verlix assured. "Now that the Cloudburst has been destroyed, it won't be long before the toxin clears. We'll find out soon enough."

Addendum: Michael Bay would approve of this chapter.

I know that the actual Cloudburst-tank boss fight in Arkham Knight was a lot simpler than this, but I feel like the enemy was dumbed down for the sake of the player. Realistically (or as realistic as this wacky-ass situation can get), I'm pretty sure the Arkham Knight would've been able to fend off the Batmobile pretty well.

Also, final exams are upon us! Aaaah! Save yourselves!