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XXIV - The Game Begins - Part II
Gotham Stadium, Scituate District, Gotham City
The football spiraled through the air and the crowd was going wild as a receiver caught the ball and started to run towards the touchdown.
Suddenly, the Mayor looked on confused. As the receiver was sprinting for the end zone, the field behind him dropped away in smoking ruins, swallowing all the players behind him.
Now, the crowd was not cheering but screaming in panic. The Mayor's box exploded, causing more commotion from more than sixty thousand spectators, many of whom were already stampeding for the exits.
The receiver, nearing the touchdown, glanced back and saw the Armageddon. The entire field was now a smoking mass of rubble, but for one strip of turf. The terrified player stumbled past the end zone, abandoning all thought of scoring.
Mercenaries poured out of the tunnel, creating a gauntlet.
Through Gotham City Streets
The street erupted all around Allen's cruiser, throwing chunks of asphalt into the air. Thick black smoke billowed up from below. Manhole covers shot upward. Water gushed from broken fire hydrants. Street lamps toppled over, crashing onto streets and sidewalks.
Snapped electrical wires sparked and hissed. Pedestrians ran in terror. Horns honked frantically, adding to the tumult. Brakes squealed. Sirens blared. Vehicles collided.
Struggling to keep control of his car, Allen swerved wildly to avoid the bright orange flames shooting up from an open manhole. His notes and maps went flying around the cabin. An empty coffee cup toppled over.
Allen swore out loud, gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles.
All bridges, except the Gotham Bridge, suffered what appeared to be controlled demolitions, severing the east side of midtown from the mainland. The massive towers, deck, and cables crashed into the river. Dozens of cars, trucks, and taxis plunged down into the icy water.
Bane is cutting Gotham off from the world, he realized. But why?
Another eruption went off directly beneath the cruiser, tossing the car over and onto its roof. It skidded across the exploding asphalt. Sparks and the screeching of metal against asphalt created yet more chaos. Allen's seatbelt and shoulder strap dug into him, holding him to his seat.
The windshield shattered. Metal crumpled around him. Geysers of smoke and flame spewed around the careening vehicle.
His world turned upside-down.
Gotham Stadium, Scituate District, Gotham City
The once-green football field was now a smoking wasteland except for one narrow strip of turf that had survived the disaster. Rubble and dead bodies littered what was left. The pigskin itself had vanished into the chasm.
No one noticed.
Bane stepped into the smoking stadium like a gladiator walking into the arena. TV cameras swung onto him. Passing a dead umpire, he took the men's headset and surveyed the screaming crowd, then lifted an arm for silence and raised the mike to his mask.
"Gotham!" he exhorted. "Take control of your city..."
Through Gotham City Streets
Allen squeezed out of his overturned car and spit a mouthful of blood onto the charred pavement. His teeth stayed where they were, thank God.
He reached in for the radio and as he did so, a burst of static hurt his ears.
"Foley?" he asked anxiously.
"Jesus, Allen!" Foley answered, sounding hoarse and understandably distraught. "Every cop in the city's down in those tunnels."
"Not every cop," Allen declared.
Gotham General Hospital, Gotham City
Gordon's heart-rate monitor started beeping rapidly. He awoke with a start, jolted from sleep by some sort of commotion outside his room. He had been having a nightmare about Bane and that shoot-out in the sewers.
Groggy and confused, it took him a moment to realize that something very bad was happening – for real. Screams, shouts, and the occasional burst of gunfire came from downstairs, as if the hospital lobby was under attack by persons unknown.
Patients and doctors were indeed crowding the hospital entrance as mercenaries with automatic weapons were forcing their way in to hit the stairwell.
Footsteps pounded up the stairs. He heard the invaders moving from room to room. Terrified patients screamed and shouted for help. Nurses and orderlies ran and hid. Occasionally there was the sound of a gunshot. Gordon realized that it was only a matter of moments before they found him.
Clenching his teeth, he painfully pulled himself out of his bed, wheeling his IV tree across the floor.
Through Gotham City Streets
"Not every cop."
Allen's assertion made Foley realize that Commissioner Gordon – stuck in a hospital bed as he was – was an easy target.
Racing against time, he headed towards a cruiser, got in it and drove to Gotham General. Dazed and terrified people were swerving around the streets. Flames and smoke were billowing from the sewers.
I can't worry about that now, Foley thought. He knew who Bane's next target would be. If I'm not already too late.
Gotham General Hospital, Gotham City
The cruiser squealed to a halt in front of the hospital. Foley bolted from the vehicle, got his shotgun from inside the cruiser and raced up the steps into the lobby, which was worryingly deserted. Bullet holes perforated the walls and ceiling. Broken glass was strewn over the floor. The gift shop and reception desk had been shot up.
He heard gunshots upstairs.
Crap, he thought. They've found Gordon.
Sprinting through the stairs, he dashed up to the commissioner's floor. He burst into the corridor, gun high, only to freeze as he felt a warm steel gun muzzle at the base of his skull. The heat of the metal told him that the gun had been recently fired.
He swallowed hard. For a second, he thought it was all over for him.
"Clear the corners, pal," Gordon scolded him.
Foley turned to see Gordon, wearing a rumpled hospital gown, lower his trusty Smith & Wesson. Four dead mercs lay in the hallway. Fearful patients peeked around the doors that led to their rooms.
"Get my coat, man," Gordon said.