Gotham City Square - Midnight
Bane stood on the steps of City Hall. He was the King.
For two weeks, he had ruled. The police were terrified. The gangs paid him tribute. The Bat was broken.
"This city is mine!" Bane roared to the crowd of gathered thugs and terrified citizens below. "I have broken the Bat! I have broken the law! I am the only law!"
The rain poured down, slicking his massive muscles. The Venom tubes glowed like radioactive veins.
SCREEEEEE.
A sound cut through the rain. It wasn't a Batmobile engine. It was the sound of a jet turbine mixed with a chainsaw.
A figure landed on the top of the statue of Justice in the center of the square.
It was the Batman. But it was wrong. It was armored in shimmering blue and gold metal. The cape was gone, replaced by razor-sharp glider wings. The chest emblem was a blinding searchlight.
"You!" Bane pointed a massive finger. "You are an impostor! A pretender!"
Jean-Paul Valley stood on the statue. His helmet's audio-sensors amplified his voice into a terrifying, metallic boom.
"I am the cure," Jean-Paul announced.
He jumped.
The Fight
Bane expected a grapple. He expected martial arts. He braced himself for a kick.
Jean-Paul didn't kick.
While still in mid-air, Jean-Paul extended his gauntlets.
THWIP. THWIP. THWIP.
Fifty razor-sharp, bat-shaped shurikens launched from his wrist launchers. They weren't aimed at Bane's face. They were aimed at his arms and legs.
Bane roared as the metal stars bit into his flesh.
"Coward!" Bane shouted, ripping a shuriken from his shoulder. "Fight me!"
Jean-Paul landed. He didn't take a stance. He walked forward, his metal boots cracking the pavement.
"Bruce Wayne fought you," Jean-Paul's voice synthesized. "Bruce Wayne had honor."
Jean-Paul activated the flamethrower mounted on his left wrist.
FWOOSH.
A jet of napalm engulfed Bane.
Bane screamed, stumbling back, flailing at the flames.
"I have no honor," Jean-Paul hissed. "I have only the Mission."
Bane, enraged and burning, charged. He slammed a fist into Jean-Paul's chest.
Usually, this punch would shatter ribs. But Jean-Paul was wearing magnesium-alloy plating over a hydraulic exoskeleton.
CLANG.
Jean-Paul didn't budge. He absorbed the blow.
He grabbed Bane's wrist with his clawed gauntlet. The servos whirred. Jean-Paul squeezed.
CRACK.
Bane's wrist bone snapped.
"You rely on the juice," Jean-Paul said, looking at the glowing green tubes pumping Venom into Bane's skull. "Let's see who you are without it."
Jean-Paul extended his finger-blades.
SLASH.
He severed the tubes.
Neon green fluid sprayed everywhere, mixing with the rain.
"NO!" Bane screamed, clutching the severed lines. "My strength! My blood!"
Without the constant flow of Venom, the withdrawal hit instantly. Bane's muscles began to spasm. He fell to his knees, shrinking, shaking, vomiting.
He looked up at the armored nightmare standing over him.
"What... what are you?" Bane gasped.
Jean-Paul grabbed Bane by the back of his neck. He dragged him up the steps of City Hall, slamming his face into the concrete with every step.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
He reached the top. He lifted the broken, weeping Bane into the air for all of Gotham to see.
"I am the Batman!" Jean-Paul screamed.
He threw Bane down the stairs. The once-great conqueror tumbled like a ragdoll, landing in a heap of mud and blood at the bottom.
The Crowd
Silence.
Commissioner Gordon stood by his police car. He looked at the brutalized body of Bane. He looked at the armored figure on the steps.
"That's not him," Gordon whispered to Bullock. "That's not our guy."
But then... a sound started.
One citizen clapped. Then another. Then a cheer.
"YEAH!" someone shouted. "KILL HIM!"
"HE SAVED US!"
The crowd erupted. They didn't care about the brutality. They didn't care about the honor. They saw a monster get beaten by a bigger monster, and they loved it.
Jean-Paul looked at the cheering crowd. The System in his brain flooded him with dopamine.
VALIDATION. ACCEPTANCE. POWER.
He raised his armored fist in victory.
"Gotham is safe!" Jean-Paul bellowed. "And criminals... be warned. The rules have changed!"
The Batcave
I watched the live feed on the main computer.
The cave was empty. No Robin. No Superboy. No Bruce.
Just me.
I looked at Jean-Paul on the screen, basking in the adoration of the mob.
"The King is dead," I whispered, turning off the monitor. "Long live the Tyrant."
I picked up the silver tray. I had a job to do.
I walked to the medical bay.
Bruce was still in a coma. The machines beeped steadily.
I leaned over him.
"Wake up, Sir," I hissed into his ear, my eyes glowing red in the darkness. "Please. Before he burns your city to ash."
Bruce didn't move.
But on the monitor, his heart rate spiked. Just for a second.
A flicker of resistance in the deep dark.
End of Arc: Knightfall
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