How had it happened, how had he allowed himself to be so careless? How could he let her get in the way? The questions continued to race through his mind as he charged down the dark corridors composed of storage crates and materials in the warehouse. His lungs were burning, joints ached, leg muscles trembled with the over-extended effort, and still he knew he had to move faster, much faster, he didn't have time for his fatigue to slow him down. He pressed himself harder, ignoring the way the dried sweat on his body was rubbed into his flesh by his armor and the way the suit slid against the salt-soaked skin, grating and rubbing raw in uncomfortably regions he' surely feel come morning—if he was still here in the morning. He ignored the agony too, the throbbing pulse of his head injury and the aching pain of his abused joints and muscles. The beast was smart, too smart; people always underestimated just how cunning that monster was.
His mind continued to bring thoughts of her to the surface. He had brought this upon them. He had allowed her into his life and now...? What if that beast had—NO! He refused to accept that. He had welcomed her into his life, how could he be so careless? The question kept coming back, it and a dozen others, but now he forced them to the back of his mind; he could see her, lying on the floor, a single warehouse light illuminating the ground where she lay. He saw blood dripping down her soft cheek from a split in her mask where a blow had struck her head just as it had his. She didn't wear a reinforced armored helmet under her mask the way he did. She was only unconscious, a concussion at the worst; he refused to accept any other explanation. She was only unconscious.
It was easy to tell she'd put up quite a fight, she was bruised and battered; the dark purple spandex was torn in places and he could see swollen spots where bruised muscles were beneath her costume.
"At last!" A voice rumbled from the darkness, like a tiger in shadows of the warehouse jungle. "I knew you would not disappoint me Batman!" The booming voice announced as the vigilante moved into the light thrown by the fixture on the ceiling. The shadowy figure whirled, his scalloped cape billowing around him like the wings of a Bull Dragon as he glared up at the muscle bound mercenary standing on a stack of crates above him.
His adversary flashed him a wide toothy grin beneath his leather mask, flexing his monstrous muscles as he crouched down, a predator ready to pounce.
"Your precious cat is broken… And now Batman; you too shall break, for the last time!"
With a roar he leaped from his perch, falling like a drop weight, almost 400 pounds of pure muscle, six feet 8 inches tall, ambidextrous, and no longer reliant on his venom for power; Bane was an even greater threat now then he was the first time they had a "final" show down.
The bat darted out of the way and the monstrous humanoid landed in crouch on the floor. Though he knew it was impossible Batman almost thought he could feel the ground shake from the impact as Bane touched down. He was ready when the South American mastermind bore down on him. Right leg bent, left extended, a quick push from the ball of his right foot launched him skyward up over his opponent. He whipped his body around in mid-jump and snapped his left foot down, bringing the reinforced heel of his boot into the back of Bane's skull. It might have killed a lesser man, but Bane was an exception to almost every rule; the behemoth stumbled forward but didn't even hit the floor. After the impact he spun around to face his foe and gave the Batman another toothy grin.
"This is what I have thirsted for, what I have longed for! For too long, Batman, for too long have we played this game of cat and mouse! I have longed to see what a battle between us would be when you are truly pushed to your limits, and I finally figured out just how to do it. You made it so easy, Mr. Wayne... Cat and mouse; or... should I say, Cat and Bat?" He asked with a chuckle and nasty smile, looking over Batman's shoulder at the battered and shattered woman on the ground behind them. "She's quite the feisty one you know, almost as formidable as I expected you to be tonight!"
He grinned, noticing the slight twitch of the hero's eye, he was pressing at the right spot. "Nimble too, such a beautiful woman; good at dodging, quick reflexes, she put up an impressive fight for one so small... Until I caught off her escape route." Bane chuckled softly, blocking a high kick from the hero that he easily predicted. Anger would make the Batman sloppy, and when he was sloppy he would break all the easier.
The crusader's eyes narrowed as he stared at the leviathan warrior before him. Bane was taunting him, manipulating him into revealing his moves, weakening him with words… Selina. He had to block it out, he had to stop thinking about her, if only for a moment; if he didn't end this soon, if he didn't get her to a hospital…
"NO!" He roared, lashing out suddenly. It wasn't a single hard blow, or a flurry of small nimble attacks. His assault would have been the perfect finishing scene to a brutal showdown between Bruce Lee and the final spectacular foe in a film; a flurry of kicks and punches delivered with such speed and force that each and every strike pushed Bane backwards.
The great beast stumbled, wide eyed behind his mask, he was put off guard, he hadn't seen it coming, and he was impressed. This was what he had wanted, a true battle to the finish, the final showdown between two of the greatest combatants the world had ever known. Rubbing his jaw from a particularly vicious punch and wiping blood from his lips Bane gave a heart chuckle.
"Most impressive!" he said as he straightened up, revealing the animal grin again. " You have perfected your right hook since last we met… She had a mean right hook as well, not quite as strong a finish, but formidable. I made her pay for that though.. Her screams are most satisfactory!"
Bane gave a deep rumbling laugh, deflecting another kick and blocking a swift series of punches before catching his foes unguarded midsection in a powerful under hand jab that lifted the vigilante of his feet and sent him tumbling across the cement floor.
"Tell me, Batman, have you made her scream?" He asked, smirking once more. "Not the way I did I wager, if I were a betting man I'd say Miss Kyle has a fetish for abuse!"
Never in his pursuit of justice had Bruce ever felt such a sudden and abrupt shift within his own mind. It was like taking the plunge off the high-dive, an instantaneous and irrevokable decision. His eyes narrowed, his nostrils flared, and his fists tightened till he heard his own knuckles crackle beneath the gloves.
It was the fastest he had ever moved; Lady Shiva would have been proud of she could have witnessed it. He dodged a second punch from the violent giant then leapt over a sweeping kick and countered it with a leg blow of his own. A snap kick rattled Bane's skull and threw him off balance, as he staggered to the right the massive man felt an agonizing sting in his side as he was struck with a jab that shattered two rib bones in a single blow. As he turned to try and counter the next strike he was met with a palm thrust to the chest that knocked him off balance a second time and sent him sprawling backwards.
With a bellow of rage Bane regained his composure and balance, but by now the Bat was airborne, and Bane's brutal roar was cut off by a sickening crack accompanied by a grisly splattering sound and a gush of blood as Batman's right knee collided with his face and shattered his nose. The crack that he heard was extremely satisfying to Bruce's ears, enough to make him smile faintly.
Bane stumbled back, wiping his hand over his now bloody face and snarling. "Very good, Batman... Very good... But you will not draw blood again this night!"
Bellowing his fury Bane lunged forward, it seemed impossible for someone so heavy to move so fast, before the Bat could react to it Bane was on him, sweeping him up into his massive hands with a crushing grip, and then hurling him violently into a stack of old crates that shattered upon impact. Splinters of wood, half broken boards, screws and nails erupted explosively and then came raining down on him as Batman hit the ground. Struggling under the debris he fought to free himself as Bane approached, his low, triumphant laugher coming in deep rhythmic tones like the beating of a war drum.
"How does it feel Batman? How does it feel to know you have failed! You have lost everything! Your city will fall, slowly seeping into the darkness of a criminal empire which I shall rule, your old friends no longer heed your call for assistance, and your woman... Well, you might have some comfort there, she's such an attractive creature I might spare her if she agrees to remain by my side..." The leather garbed villain declared with a smug smile. "But first Batman… I will end you, once, and for ALL!"
With a groan of effort Bane seized a modern shipping crate, one built of welded iron, and hoisted it high over his head and then, with a roar like a victorious lion he threw the heavy crate at his foe. As the metalwork crashed down on top of his opponent Bane felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment, his smile was so wide it made his cheeks ache, his laughter so loud he didn't hear the scream of rage behind him; the howling shrieking fury of a tigress defending her mate.
Bane was a genius of the highest caliber, the equal to Ra's Al Ghul and the great Batman himself, but like all truly brilliant men, he could not help but have an ego. His confidence of controlling the situation left him open to a foolish mistake... He left the Catwoman's wicked bullwhip coiled upon the seat of a forklift near her battered form.
In battle, there are many sounds that strike fear into an enemy, the click of a land mine being triggered, the click of a grenade bouncing across the floor, the cocking of a shotgun... Few modern warriors know how terrifying the sound of a bull whip breaking the sound barrier truly is, Bane learned it in that moment, just before it coiled around his throat as tight as a python's body. In the blink of an eye his veins were pulsing, eyes bulging and flesh burning as the corded leather pulled so tight that he gagged reflexively while the leather ripped the flesh of his neck and choked off his howl with pain and rage into an unsatisfying wheeze.
When Catwoman yanked back on the whip it was with such force that it pulled him off his feet like a falling redwood, he hit the ground hard, coughing and sputtering as air was forced violently from his lungs but then he came back up fiery as a rising demon, glaring murderously at the kitten who dared to oppose him.
"You dare interrupt my moment of triumph woman! You will die this night, you and your lover!" He roared, charging forward in a shoulder ram, his fury blinding him to the illogical choice of attack.
Attempting to close the distance for melee combat with a master of a long-range weapon was a very, very bad idea, and Catwoman was not one of heroic nobility. She did not bear the Batman's oath, code, or creed; lover's oath, his code, his creed. Even if she didn't feel it necessary in order to save herself she knew she would have done it anyway. She had been pushed too far, watching helplessly, dazed and barely conscious, as Bane took from her the one thing she had ever truly loved.
Her speed was unbelievable, her reflexes above human capability, she dodged him nimbly as a toreador, leaving the bullish brute to barrel past her as she dropped into a crouch and then swung out with a reinforced boot, delivering a whip-kick to the back of his left knee. She had never understood Bruce's satisfaction with inflicting pain on the scum of society, now she did; feeling Bane's tendons ripping under the doubled impact of her kick and his own pounding charge was the most wonderful sensation she'd felt in years.
"Get up," she snarled, lashing her whip as Bane tumbled to his knees seething with pain. "We've not even started yet!"
The lethal weapon lashed through the air, slicing easily through his shirt and tearing into the rippling muscles of his back, splitting through flesh and filleting the raw, bleeding muscle beneath.
"You like to call yourself a bull, Bane? Well I'll be your butcher!" she declared, darting away to avoid a wide swing from his fist as he forced himself to his feet. "Of all the people to underestimate me, you were the last I'd expect, and now you'll pay the penalty…"
As he lumbered forward she leapt into the air, somersaulting over him and striking out in mid-flip with her claw-gloved hands extended. An inch and a half of razor's edge metal slid through his mask and into his cheek, lacerating his face with the sort of bloody wound that would make Sweeny Todd's razors envious.
She landed in a crouch behind him, smirking delightedly as she lifted her fingers to show off the chunk of leather she'd ripped off his mask as she withdrew from the attack. Her claws dripping with his blood as she threw the lather aside and her bright green eyes flashed like a feral cat's.
"Speaking of butchering," she said, cart wheeling out of the way of a vicious round house, a phenomenal feet of agility from such a muscular human. "Is that any master of a whip can flay a man's skin off in less than ten strokes!"
"ONE!" she screeched as the whip lashed out, tearing into his chest with searing pain, ripping open his left pectoral and cutting into his abdominal muscles to leave a gaping wound as she snatched the whip back out of his reach.
"Two!"
The whip out snaked out again, it curled around his calf before she yanked it back leaving a crescent moon laceration over his leg that cut deep into the muscle.
"Thr-EEK!" She yelped as he caught the whip even as it made for his throat, a quick yank sent her flying towards the air towards him.
"NOW I WILL BREAK YOU!" he said as he caught her and pulled her in against his chest.
She cried out in pain as his arms closed around her in a tremendous bear hug maneuver, she didn't know how many ribs had just shattered, but it was enough to ensure she wouldn't be doing much physical exertion for the next month or more, if she even survived the night.
"And now Catwoman, it is time for you to join your precious winged rodent!" He growled, squeezing harder.
Tears sprang to her eyes as her body began to go numb, she was blacking out, it was too painful, she couldn't fight the darkness encroaching upon her… Suddenly, he dropped her, she cried out in agony as she tumbled to the ground, her bruised muscles and broken bones sending needles of pain through every inch of her body.
She looked up through the encroaching darkness and tear filled eyes, feeling confused by the sight she saw, Bane, flailing wildly, a huge black object apparently having swallowed his head. Finally he got hold of the monster in his massive hands and hurled it away, it tumbled through the air and landed crouched on the ground then sprang forward hitting him low with a well aimed hit to the pelvis. The villainous fighter howled in pain as the dark creature slithered between his legs, whirled around and struck again with its huge black wings outstretched and it's white eyes narrowed to mere slits as Bane staggered back around to face it. She had a good look at Bane's back now, at the shining black Batarang embedded between his shoulder blades like a hunting knife, sending chronic spasms of pain through his spine, slowing his movement and impeding his reactions.
Bane gave a low, rather feeble growl. He was swaying like a drunkard but he refused to give up, another beastial roar announced his attack as he brought a meaty fist down upon the bat like a mace; the Batman leaped over bane's swing, landing directly on his massive fist and using it like a spring board to land on Bane's shoulders with heavy heels, pushing for all he was worth and using Bane's strength against him to send him crashing to the concrete floor, once again the warehouse itself seemed to shake from the weight of the beast as he fell.
He quickly flipped off the monster's back landing in crouch once more, turned and watching, ready to strike when Bane rose. Tense seconds passed, he waited, his body aching, his chest heaving as he panted for breath, one of the ears on his cowl had snapped off, his costume was torn in multiple places exposing the Kevlar mesh beneath it, his mask itself had torn slightly and the left side of his upper lip was swelled slightly and bleeding.
Bane never rose. He would never rise again. This had been the final showdown. An autopsy would reveal it in fact was neither bat nor cat that had killed him but an overload of adrenaline coursing through his veins, his heart working over time, and causing cardiac arrest.
The Bat rose, quickly moving to the Cat's side and pulling her up gently into his arms. She clung to him, tears still streaking down her cheeks, joy, pain, exhaustion, heart ache, all of it welling up as she clutched to him for dear life. The police arrived, late as usual, the paramedics were too late to save the villain. The vigilante and his companion were rushed to the emergency room with a police escort. The hulking goliath once known as Bane was driven to the morgue.
The remains of Bane's mask was removed as he lay on a cold metal slab waiting for autopsy. The bat and the cat lay in hospital beds only a few hours, their masks never removed. Neither allowed themselves to remain at the hospital, their presence there was a beacon to villains wishing to strike at weakened vigilantes, and was a threat to other hospital residents. It would be several weeks in a Justice League medical bay, but the down time wouldn't be quite as tedious for the vigilante as it usually was. He would pay any price to see her safe, to see her beautiful green eyes looking at him, to feel her hand as she extended it from her own bed and wrapped it around his, squeezing tightly. He had been careless, he had let her into his life and allowed her to be part of his world, and despite it all they were both still here, and she was still holding onto him. The risks were great, but the rewards were even greater.