City in Pieces II

Chapter Thirty-Six: War on Gotham

Dawn rose on Gotham City. A heavy snow was beginning to fall from the sky as an army of cops, over a thousand strong, marched on City Hall, ready to take back their city or die trying. They stomped through the snow, past abandoned store windows and newsstands. SWAT teams in black helmets and combat armor marched shoulder to shoulder with beat cops and detectives, a united nation. They were no longer hiding, nor wanted to remain trapped any longer. Batman's sign had given them hope. They wanted Bane to know that they were coming.

But Bane had his own army. Bane gazed over the city limits to see the approaching army of Gotham. By his side stood Chance, pregnant and her hands ablaze with ready fire. In her belt were pistols; along her ankles were strap-on knives, sheathed in holsters. Her hair, now completely red from her argument with Ace, was pulled up in a long ponytail. An angry look was in her eyes. Beside Chance stood her protector, Ace, holding long knives in her gloved hands, watching the oncoming adversary with that smile on her face. Her desire for carnage would be quenched. As an added bonus, Ace had recruited the Arkham's finest.

Joker, Ivy, Harley, Penguin, and Crane flanked the City Hall steps, standing beside Ace like a second battalion. Chance and Ace exchanged glances before turning their eyes back to the battlefield.

Hundreds of armed mercenaries poured out of City Hall and the surrounding buildings, forming the opposing line. They brandished their weapons and taunted the approaching cops. The clamor and echoes of thousands of angry shouts drowned out the howling wind. Shots were fired into the air. Bane had claimed City Hall as headquarters, and his army certainly was going to surrender it without a fight.

The armies faced off on Grand Street. Their numbers appeared evenly matched—that was until three tumblers pulled onto the Grand in front of the cops. They turned their gun turrets toward the advancing blue army. A loudspeaker blared at the police,

"DISPERSED OR BE FIRED UPON."

The cops regarded the tumblers apprehensively. Faces that hadn't seen the daylight paled. But they continued to march. Ace leaned in to Chance.

"How many tumblers does it take to eliminate a whole army of cops?" she asked.

"Is this one of your stupid jokes that you got from Joker?"

Joker glanced at Chance with a smirk.

Ace said nothing in return, merely smiling pleasantly.

Bane watched the police approach from the atop the building's wide stone steps. He breathed deeply, inhaling the gas that kept his endless pain at bay. His brow furrowed. It seemed that the city's defenders were not going to let Gotham perish without one last, futile attempt at resistance. He gave the order.

"Open fire."

His order was communicated to the tumblers, which unleashed their cannons on the blue army. Unlucky officers were blasted into the air. Ace whistled, impressed, as the bodies were thrashed. Screaming officers crashed onto the street, turning fresh snow red. Maimed bodies writhed upon the ground. The line began to fall apart. The survivors started to rethink their foolishness.

Bane expected them to break the line; however, from the sky, the Bat came swooping over the street. Its own cannons took out the tumblers, blasting them into metal pieces. Ace and Chance ducked immediately as the pieces flew through the air at them. The armored vehicles flipped over onto their sides, smashing down on the sidewalks. Smoke and flames rose from the mangled metal. Their wheels spun uselessly in the air. Bane frowned behind his mask, glaring up at the sky as the Bat rose over the army of cops, providing air support and encouragement.

Cheering, the police rallied and charged. Gunfire erupted as the armies opened fire on each other, while opposing lines rushed toward their inevitable collisions.

Chance and Ace jumped into the war, just like old times. Ace's reputation once more proved to be accurate; her swords were slick with blood in only a few seconds, slicing and dicing her opponents across the chests, stomachs, and legs. Many officers targeted her with anger and sustenance. Her death would avenge about the entire city's morality rates. Ace was glowing the entire time. She disarmed Officer Ross, who headed straight for her heart. Ace's own knife splintered through his nightstick and sunk deep into chest cavity. He gasped, staring in her eyes. Aces grabbed his head, bent his neck back, and tucked her second sword into his throat. The pointed end slipped out on the other side briefly; blood splattered her face. That smile glimmered on her mouth with satisfaction. Officer Murphy and Officer Stevens approached her from behind. They caught her by her knees, tripping her to the floor.

They took out pocket blades from their jeans. Murphy took a knife to Ace's shoulder. Ace grunted at the useless pain. She slapped his hand away. Stevens held her down. Then as Murphy was about to end the murderer's reign of blood, a bang flag slipped through Murphy's officer uniform. He gasped and fell down. Joker kicked away his dead body. He punched the second officer in the face and helped Ace. A crowd of SWAT members charged at Joker and Ace. A trickled light flashed and suddenly, six of the members were lit on fire, rolling on the snow, burning alive. Chance approached them. She took out a knife, and then slit their throats for equal measure.

Bodies hit the snow. Gunfire gave way to hand-to-hand combat as thousands of cops and criminals mixed and fought in close quarters. A multitude of shouts and grunts and curses added to the fiasco, a deafening tumult. Knives flashed, drawing blood. Fists bludgeoned unexpected faces—a mash pit for the well-endowed.

Grand Street turned into a wide, snowy melee as the battle for Gotham spilled over onto the steps and sidewalks.

Harley and Ivy tossed several officers into an abandoned shop and beat them until they were finished. Penguin battled alongside several of Bane's mercenaries. Ace and Chance threw themselves into the tumult. Chance's fires died out: her anger was no longer her wish to fight. Now it was just too fun. Ace and Chance, back to back, made their way through the crowd, using their skills to the best affect. Ace maneuvered a hand stand and performed a merry-go-round kick off, slapping assaulting policemen in their jaws, knocking out teeth and shattering mandibles. Chance broke fingers and wrists and jabbed several throats, sending men to their knees, gasping for air. An officer grabbed Ace from behind. Ace retrieved a knife hidden in her bosom, flicked out the blade, and shoved the knife between his legs. A scream deafened Ace's ears and he collapsed to the snowy ground in agony. Blood ran through his hands.

Female officers shrieked, writhing a few feet from Crane, though they showed no apparent harm. Ace cackled, knowing very well that Crane might have induced their minds with his fear toxin. Friends of the females on the floor assaulted Crane and started beating on him with night sticks. Ace and Chance plowed them away from Crane in a duo clothesline, removing Crane's tormentors in one blow. Chance helped him to his feet. Blood was seeping from his mask.

"I knew you cared," he stated humorously.

Chance shoved the handle of a spare knife into his hand.

"Shut up and fight." Chance said with a grin.

Chance searched the crowd for Bane. Where was he?

From afar, the Bat fell back and descended to the street behind ranks of the cops. Bane glimpsed a caped figure emerging from the cockpit. Bane disrobed the coat from his figure to head straight toward the black armored disguise of Batman.

Bane waded through the battle, knocking away those who didn't matter. Thousands of men and women grappled around him, fighting for the control of a city that would soon be nothing but a radioactive crater. Random bodies got in his way, and he brutally knocked them aside. A uniformed officer exchanging blows with Ivy had the misfortune of being in Bane's path. He snapped the officer's neck in a single blow, and then he tossed him aside. Ivy joined the fight with Harley. Bane trampled over fallen bodies, either alive or otherwise.

Ace peeled away a man's face with a swipe of her long knife and shoved the officer from her. She spotted Batman in the frenzy. Ace exposed brilliantly white teeth with decadent excitement as she somersaulted over a fighting pair of criminal man versus female cop; the girl was winning. Ace dodged one of Batman's flinging blows and smacked him clear across the side of his exposed cheek. The blow shocked him for a second before realizing that he was up against one of Gotham's reasons for being known as the most unsafe city in the limits. Ace pocketed her knives.

"Hey, big guy," she cooed, "I was wondering when you were going to come back for me."

Batman dodged one of her punches and caught her balled fist in his hand. He pulled her close to meet her eyes.

"Whenever are you going to learn that this life isn't meant for a woman of your talents?"

Ace smirked and punched him in the gut.

"I'm sorry, Bats, but your style is too fixed."

He grunted. Batman smacked her across the face. She laughed slightly, winded.

"Is that more your style?" he retorted.

"You made a funny," chuckled Ace, wiping blood from her lips. "Let's see how many more jokes are in that you skull of yours."

She jumped high and wrapped her legs around his neck; Ace sent him to the ground, head first into a pile of snow. Ace rose to her feet. Batman grabbed her leg and pulled. She fell back to the snow.

"You can always try rehab." Batman told her.

"Why? That takes the fun out of everything." Ace replied. She looked over his shoulder to see a large figure approaching. "Ooh, and speaking of fun, you might want to turn around."

Batman turned to see Bane approaching him. Ace peeled off, searching for Chance.

"You came back," said Bane, "to die with your city."

"No," Batman said. "I came back to stop you."

Seeing no point in further banter, Bane lunged, throwing powerful blows to the Dark Knight's cowl. He had smashed that head gear once. He could do it again. This time, he wouldn't stop until Bruce Wayne's body was a mangled corpse in the blood-stained snow.

Batman seemed to have learned a lesson, ducking and weaving Bane's worst blows. Batman started throwing surgical jabs at Bane's side. A rabbit punch to his solar plexus; an elbow to the ribs. Bane absorbed the blows stoically. Bane related Batman's fighting to Chance's assault on him the first time. He was no stranger to pain.

Chance's pregnancy was at risk as she was encircled by five SWAT team members, armed with loaded machine guns. Ace came running into the circle and stabbed an unsuspecting agent in his mouth, pinning the poor man into the ground. A fellow friend of the finished agent shot off a bullet into Ace's stabbing arm. Ace shrieked in pain. Chance's fear of death vanished into anger as Ace's blood tainted the white snow beside her. The four live SWAT members were blown away by strong, painful blasts of red and yellow. An oncoming citizen of Gotham held a shard of glass to harm Chance; Ace grabbed the citizen's hand, broke his wrist, and slammed that piece of glass into his neck. The citizen gurgled blood and fell to the ground with the dead SWAT member.

Chance hurried to Ace's arm—but Ace pulled it away.

"Never mind it. I've been shot before. It's the shock that hurts. Bane's fight Batman."

"He'll want him to himself," Chance said.

"No, I'm not interested in helping," Ace admitted. Chance watched her rip off some of her shirt to wrap the bullet wound aggressively. Ace glared at Chance. "I want to find that traitor."

"Stryver's dead," Chance said swiftly.

"No," Ace corrected, "that bitch who dresses up like a cat."

Chance smirked.

Catwoman, somewhere, would have joined the fray by now.

"Come on, we'll find her." Chance said swiftly, taking Ace's arm.