Seto Kaiba, The Dark Knight

Summary: Batman, Lt. Mutou, and DA Marik Ishtar form an alliance in an effort to rid Domino of crime. The trio's progress, however, is strained by the arrival of a new criminal who calls himself the Joker. A canonized sequel of Batman Begins: Enter Seto Kaiba.

Chapter 25: The Showdown Part 1

"Don't move," advised the dark knight to the (still) subdued Gerard Engel, as he took off to save the 'thugs' from being harmed/killed in a misunderstanding by SWAT units.

Atop the multi-level garage across the Pruitt Building, the SWAT Team captain radioed to his subordinates, "Red team go! Blue team go!" The designated SWAT Teams make their descent into the unfinished skyscraper, either by rappelling from the roof or through the stairwells. The blue team, having already breached by the stairwells, detonate a mini plastic explosive that was attached to a wall nearby hostages and Joker thugs alike.

A police sniper was told by his superior (the captain, not the commissioner), "Take the shot." His target? Three clown thugs standing at a one story-sized window frame. However, he noticed that a split second before his rifle discharged its round, the three clowns somehow were "felled." In reality, the masked vigilante had used the lining of his grapple gun, which tripped the three individuals, saving their lives.

The armored figure, rushing to another part of the incomplete architecture, is informed by Roland:

"More SWAT's are coming on up."

At the other end of the same floor, multiple SWAT units aimed their rifles upon two 'thugs'. "Clowns, put down your weapons! Drop your weapons on the ground now!" Like the other hostages Batman had initially encountered, these clowns also mumbled in fear. Nearby the clowns appear to be a pair of medical employees, namely doctors; these doctors are actually the Joker's men in disguise who load their hidden assault rifles. "Doctors, get down! Clear the line of fire! Drop your weapons, clowns!" ordered one SWAT officer to both parties, unaware of the mix up.

Suddenly, the same officer's smoke grenade (which was attached to his person's uniform) was ruptured due to a grapple line that cut through. Startled by this, the police gunman looked to see what caused the fissure. Kaiba (in "sonar-vision") took advantage of this brief distraction and charged towards the real hostages, leaping off the interior railing (where the hostages stood anteriorly) with the two (who both cried in terror along the way). With the grapple line still attached to his person, the officer was promptly sent flying across towards the railing, tripping the fake doctors in the process.

When the three descended below, the caped figure released his 'captives', tumbling a small group of other hostages and goons. Once the real hoodlums regained their footing, Kaiba made quick work of them with a couple of fierce hooks and elbow strikes. Having still equipped his sonar lenses, the caped crusader perceived the Joker and three Rottweilers multiple floors above. Meanwhile, three more SWAT units breached the building, following the sound of fired bullets and shattered glass.

The trio demanded "Freeze!" to a couple 'hoodlums' a few feet away. "Stand down or you will get-!" The officer's orders were put to an abrupt halt as his own rifle was shoved against his face by an agile armored figure who unexpectedly appeared before his person. The officer's associate attempted to stop the seemingly rogue hero, only to be on the receiving end of two elbow strikes to the solar plexus and the face, respectively. Once he dispatched his second opponent, the vigilante threw a left jab and proceeded to propel the trounced officer to the third law enforcer.

"Look up," advised Roland, "See those disguised thugs on the floor above? They're waiting to ambush the SWAT Team coming up the elevator there."

Kaiba, turning his head upwards, immediately observed a dozen thugs with hidden firearms huddled together on the upper floor. Realizing that he may not reach the officers in time, Kaiba took out his launching gun (which debuted during his mission in Hong Kong) and dispersed multiple semtex onto thin support poles, each set to detonate in 60 seconds (the approximate time the SWAT Team will leave the elevator). Shortly after, two of the three officers recover from their assault and retaliate against the dark knight, only to have their revenge fail—given that their fighting prowess is incomparable to that of the Batman.

While the Pruitt Building has a hostage situation of its own, the predicament found in the two ferries has still not been resolved. In the civilian-loaded-passenger, the SDF commander revealed the results of the voting process, "The tally is one-hundred and forty who are not for the detonator's activation against three thousand, nine-hundred and sixty-four who want to press the trigger." Upon this revelation, most, if not all, of the citizens sigh in relief.

In the other ferry, muscle-bound Rafael looks on at the rioting inmates, with feelings of slight disgust made visible on his visage.

Back at ferry two (the one containing civilians), one city-dweller, a middle-aged woman, a bit annoyed at the commander's hesitance, besought, "So go ahead—blow up the other boat!" Among the individual agreeing murmurs, the military head replied, "We're still here... which means that they haven't killed us yet either. And it is about four minutes until midnight..."

Almost a minute had passed. By this time, the SWAT Team in the elevator has arrived at their destination earlier than Roland expected. The batch of officers begin to gradually make their way to the large group, composed of a dozen or so thugs and hostages.

"Oh no... trouble on the floor above," the CEO informed to his superior, who was in the midst of combating against a couple of SWAT officers (while surreptitiously wrapping their own rappel lines around some part of their beaten bodies).

The hostages (who were forced to wear clown masks and to wield blanks), now at gunpoint from the special police forces, helplessly flail their arms. Unbeknownst to the SWAT officers, the disguised thugs slowly but surely head towards their way, with the intent of an unexpected ambush. Much to everyone's surprise on the upper level, however, the floor suddenly collapsed in response to the semtex detonation below. All parties inevitably were rendered (almost) to unconsciousness, save for some SWAT units who, unlike their peers, weren't as affected by the fall as much.

Around this time, the 'rogue' vigilante endlessly thrashed a lone SWAT officer with a savage combination of elbow strikes, hooks, and jabs. Having witnessed the Batman seemingly go on the deep end, several SWAT officers, aiming their rifles at the black-clad figure, emitted, "FREEZE! OR WE WILL SHOOT! WE WILL SHOOT YOU DOWN! DROP THE OFFICER! RELEASE THE OFFICER RIGHT THERE! ON YOUR KNEES!"

Finding himself now at gunpoint by multiple SWAT units, Kaiba let go of the officer, and slowly raised his arms into the air and faced the squad, as if he's giving the white flag to them. A police helicopter, hovering several yards away, illuminated its floodlight towards the skyscraper.

"We got him. He's out of the game," remarked the copter pilot to Commissioner Mutou.

"Keep your hands in the air!" demanded one SWAT officer. Another had ordered, "Step away from the edge!"

Upon this last command, Batman, without warning, back-kicked the officer behind, which promptly knocked the man right off the edge of the building... falling a couple stories before dangling into the air by his rappel line, which was attached to...

...another officer, who quickly followed his dangling peer. And so this pattern repeated, one officer after another. The last one, who desperately hung onto a support pole, cried, "Holy sh-!" before he met the same fate at his fellow peers. In mere moments, the six found themselves hanging perilously several stories above the ground.

The police units back atop the multi-level garage stood there bewildered at the vigilante's miraculous "escape" from the jaws, or rather firearms, of defeat. After finally contacting Mutou to inform him about the hostage mix up, Kaiba left for the center of the unfinished architecture and launched his grapple gun; he momentarily scaled several stories, eventually reaching the top floor, where his nemesis is probably either waiting for him or the two ferries to explode.

Another team was soon deployed in the Pruitt Building to correct their predecessors' mixed up objective. "Be advised: clowns are hostages, doctors are the real targets," announced Mutou, as his men began rounding up the actual thugs and liberating bound hostages.

Upon the abrupt barking of his newly acquired pets, the madman turned around to see a familiar dark figure a few yards away who was slowly appearing out of the shadows. The Joker gleefully told his adversary, "Ah, you finally made it! I'm so thrilled to see you!"

"Where's the detonator, Joker?" interrogated the dark knight.

Snipping the dogs' restraints, the terrorist ordered to his canines, "Go get him!" Now free from their bonds, the Joker's trio of vicious Rottweilers immediately charged towards the dark knight...

TO BE CONTINUED...

Next chapter – Chapter 26: The Showdown Part 2

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