A/N

Here we go again! I've been enjoying writing these so much I've been pumping them out quite quick and I hope you are enjoying these as much as I do making them.

Episode XIII: This War Of Ours, Part II

Fighting way above his weight may be Robin's main forte in the superhero business, but there's a reason most people avoid doing it. Bane is swinging his fists around with enough power to instantly destroy Robin's body if they connect and if Batman takes Bane as an incredibly serious opponent, Robin is currently out of his depth. Thankfully, he has the power of a Kryptonian to rely on if needed.

Most of the team is currently engaged with Bane's bodyguards, Artemis' arrows proving to be ineffective against the goons at the moment. Bane appears to have improved his formula quite a lot from the last time they met, more than likely another gift from Lex Luthor.

Conner is fighting some of Bane's thugs at the moment, but the clone is constantly checking around to see if Robin is still okay. The clone might pretend to be indifferent towards the other team members, but he probably cares more than anyone else - a gene he thankfully inherited from Superman instead of Lex Luthor.

"You are faster than normal little bird... scared?" Bane taunts the Boy Wonder as he almost catches Robin mid-flight. "You will provide an excellent example to the Batman when you are broken in half," he adds on, his muscles continuing to bulge way past humanely possible as the villain stretches to grab the Boy Wonder.

Having trouble to find the target, Bane slows down, which does not go unnoticed by the Boy Wonder. Unlike others on venom, Bane retains a lot of his mental faculties which generally means he uses tactics when fighting. Also unlike others who abuse venom, Bane can be classed as extremely intelligent and cunning, so underestimating his mental capacity is dangerous.

Unsure of how long this particular strain of venom lasts before wearing off, Robin tries to target the injection equipment on Bane's back but the villain manages to protect the equipment incredibly well, keeping the Boy Wonder away through sheer power.

Fighting against Batman and the Boy Wonder time after time has undoubtedly made Bane aware of the massive weakness he has currently pumping the venom into his system. Removing the tubes is a difficult task in it's own right, but with Bane being aware of the threat it poses it has become nigh-impossible without luck and planning.

Batman has resorted to taking Bane on directly and he's proven his superiority in hand-to-hand combat quite a few times now. The Boy Wonder has no such advantage against Bane, barely being able to take on most of Batman's villains let alone one of the most powerful.

Being a kid sucks.

Robin just has to make sure Bane's withdrawal symptoms make him empathise with the Boy Wonder.

"You good Bane? Slowing down a bit there," Robin goes back and forth with the villain, throwing one of his shurikens which grazes across the man's leg. Causing some pain, Bane grimaces slightly but it does nothing more than causing the supervillain discomfort.

"He's slowing down guys. You remember the plan?"

Planning to wear down Bane through his usual acrobatics before sending in the other team members to incapacitate him, Robin picks up the pace slightly, taking more risks and coming dangerously close to taking a hit from the villain. Striking at anything he can, Robin tries to attack Bane's legs as much as possible although it's akin to hitting a tree with the sheer density of Bane's leg muscles.

"It must be a chore to stretch for you Bane - those muscles are really tight," Robin continues to probe Bane for a reaction although the villain doesn't betray any intentions and simply smiles menacingly in return. "You workout?"

"From time to time," the villain jokes back, grunting as a bead of sweat drips down his forehead.

"On my mark guys," Robin states, preparing the team for their entrance. "Answer me one thing Bane: why the Light? You could have done anything else - team up with the Penguin, Riddler - but you decided to group up with them? Seems a little too large for you."

"I see the bigger picture," Bane answers, cracking his neck a few times and wiping the sweat from his brow. "The Light are but a means to an end."

"You're right about that. I just don't think you understand you are the means to their end. You're being used Bane, and it's not going to end well for you," Robin counters, throwing a shock device onto the villains leg. The electricity ripples through his body for a short time before he rips it off his body and crushes it with one hand. "That was expensive."

"The world today - giving expensive toys to irresponsible children," Bane comments, tutting, "you need to be taught how to play better with others."

"Guessing you didn't get anything for Christmas as a kid?"

Rummaging around in his toolbelt, he forces himself to remain composed as he soon realises he has run out of things to throw. Bane notices his shock, beginning to press forwards against the Boy Wonder.

"What did I just say about being irresponsible?" the villain shakes his head mockingly. "Your lesson is coming now."

"Sign me up."

Turning around to face the sudden arrival of Conner, Bane is smacked directly on the chin with a powerful uppercut, knocking Bane a fair distance away with the blow. Looking to Robin, the Boy Wonder can only nod his thanks in return as Bane quickly gets back to his feet and charges the two, clearly on the other end of fresh.

"Take a break Robin... he's mine," Superboy brushes aside the Boy Wonder and readies himself to receive the charge.

The two collide with as much ferocity as they could muster, a small shockwaves causing Robin's already messy hair to be ruffled further. Taking the chance to catch his breath, the Boy Wonder double checks through his pockets to try and find something he can use. Unfortunately, he appears to have completely exhausted the already dwindling supply of gadgets he had.

Relying on his own skills would be better with something to back him up, but he has no such choice now. The only place he could refill his stocks would be the Batcave and it's currently off-limits.

The battle between Conner and Bane rages in as Robin attempts to come up with something else he can do to aid him in the coming weeks. Maybe he could scrap something together to make some makeshift weapons, but they'd be nothing close to the mechanical perfection Lucius Fox has crafted his current equipment to.

"Not going to help him?" Artemis asks the Boy Wonder, whizzing past on a zipline towards the Superboy.

"I was going to," Robin pleads his case, following the archer into the action.

Seeing the odds beginning to stack further against him, Bane does recoil slightly at the appearance of two new combatents, already at the end of his limit by keeping Superboy at bay. Several small bruises and cuts are starting to show on his body from where Conner had managed to land a blow, Bane's durable muscles no match for Kryptonian strength.

Thoroughly exhausted, the end is drawing closer for Bane as his supply of venom dwindles with each movement. His muscles are already reducing their size slightly, now only incredibly large instead of inhumanely.

Joining Artemis and Superboy - quickly accompanied further by the rest of the team - Bane is fully outnumbered and outgunned, struggling to keep what's left of his strength for one final stand. Everything seemed to be going relatively according to plan and Zatanna had brought out the collar they once used on Kaldur in preparation for Bane's downfall but Robin saw something incredibly surprising in the eyes of the criminal.

Desperation.

Bane is not a cowardly man, and he does not shy away from victory or defeat, but there's something within his eyes which betray a sense of desperation and panic. Since this is extremely uncommon for the likes of Bane, Robin doesn't actually know how to react to the situation.

Deciding the best course is to keep Superboy focused on wearing down Bane and dealing damage, Robin moves closer to the action, sneaking in quick hits to the joint areas when Bane is fully occupied doing something else.

Seizing a chance given to him, Superboy latches onto one of Bane's arms, moving behind the criminal in one motion and restraining the arm. Grunting, the clone also grabs ahold of the other arm and pins it behind his back again.

Quickly being brought to his knees through the combined efforts of Martian telekinesis and the fists of a speedster, the once sound-ridden battlefield turns quiet.

"Oh man, we just brought Bane down! Cool!" Wally celebrates, to which Superboy even smiles as he keeps Bane locked in place. "Suck it Batman."

"Take as much drugs as you want sted-head, you can't beat Kryptonian muscle," Artemis chimes in, tapping Bane on the nose mockingly.

"I would not be so sure children," was the villain's blunt response.

Still on his knees, the team's attention turns to Bane as he stares back at them. Robin notices the desperation in his eyes has turned into a cold, collected determination. Not good, by all standards of the word.

Grinding his jaws together, a crunch can be heard as the villain smiles, a small green pill on the tip of his tongue. Before Wally can remove whatever was inside his mouth, the criminal swallows it down in one, beginning to make some weird gurgling noises.

Now tense with agony, Bane's eyes turn an ugly green and his veins protrude weirdly from his skin. Clamping down further, Superboy grunts as the criminals struggles against his grip.

"Guys," Conner mutters under his breath, eyes looking to the team as the Kryptonian's grip is slowly broken in front of their eyes. Unconsciously taking a small backstep, the team ducks as Conner is sent flying across the room in an instant, smashing through the wall and into the next hallway.

Stood there, Bane grimaces as his already ridiculous size doubles once more, clearly on some extreme form of venom. Whatever Lex Luthor had given Bane, it clearly was attached with the message 'use in case of emergency' and Robin is only concerned they don't have such a warning.

M'gann is swatted out of the air before she can react and Wally is sent soaring as he's tripped up by Bane when he comes to intervene, leaving Zatanna, Artemis and Robin frozen in place whilst they come up with some way to counter the transformative effects of the drug.

"You got a spell for this?" Robin manages to ask before Bane charges headfirst towards them.

"You kidding me?" Robin can hear Zatanna answer before they split up and head in opposite directions, avoiding the oncoming locomotive. Bane's charge doesn't stop even with them out of the way and he crashes into Superboy who had just re-entered the lounge through the hole in the hallway his body made.

It doesn't faze Conner much as he takes the charge head-on and sent back through the wall, almost making Robin smile if the situation wasn't half as serious. Artemis and Robin exchanged worried glances as the team shakes off their wounds and runs to help Conner.

They don't make it to the hole as Bane is now sent through the wall and into the main lounge, followed closely by Conner who returns to the room without interruption this time.

"Any ideas?" Wally asks Robin as the speedster zooms past, almost tripping over the Boy Wonder's foot in the process.

"Don't think removing the tubes will do anything at this point," Robin responds, ducking as Wally is sent flying towards him, landing behind the Boy Wonder with a pained moan. "I'm guessing whatever he took only has a small amount of time before it wears off - even Bane cannot take something like that without having severe consequences."

Without even telling M'gann, the Martian appears to have read his mind as the girl throws him the tube of anti-venom she currently has. Grasping it in his hand, he shrugs his shoulders and guesses it would be a waste to not use it in some form.

"I'm going in guys. I'll use the anti-venom and hopefully it'll distract him long enough for Miss M to do her magic," Robin states to the team.

"Magic's my thing Robin, and I think I know something we can use," Zatanna responds to Robin, making her way towards Robin whilst the others distract Bane enough to keep him away from the two. Most of this consists of Superboy trading blows with Bane in the best slugging match boxing has seen in decades. "So... I was thinking," the magician begins, keeping an eye on Bane just in case they are about to be interrupted.

"Cute," Robin blurts out without realising, although the magician apparently doesn't notice as she continues.

"Bane comes from Pena Duro right? Why don't we just bring the prison to him," Zatanna speaks, although shakes his head in confusion. He really hasn't grasped the concept of magic yet, so the whole plan sounds a little confusing at the moment. "Enclose him in a prison of his own making just like Klarion did with us. When he runs out of steam, we can just get the Justice League to mop up after us," she clarifies as though reading Robin's confusion.

"And you know how to do that spell?" Robin counters.

"Yes and no - I studied the inscriptions on the floor when we captured Kaldur. If we can get M'gann to transfer it over to Wally, he can quickly scribble it down for us," Zatanna hurriedly continues, starting to make a lot more sense to Robin.

"Do it," Robin says, rushing off towards the action.

Clearly, Robin underestimated the speed of Wally West as before he could even reach the fighting, Wally had already drawn the writings on the floor and was waving for the others to drag Bane over to the ground.

"Just to clarify, we aren't going to get sucked into this?" Artemis asks, the fatigue in his body carrying over in the mental link, clearly on the brink of total collapse. There's only so much a human body can do, and Artemis appears to be learning someone can only leap around frantically for a certain amount of time.

"Coming right up," Conner says before Artemis could get a response. Quite literally dragging Bane towards the markings and gritting his teeth, the Superboy grunts as he struggles to get Bane over to where he is needed.

It takes a long while before Bane is moved inch by inch towards the inscriptions enough for the magic to actually work, but with a quick flash of light, the luchador is gone, replaced only by a small floating orb where the markings are.

"That it?" Conner asks, understandably annoyed all his hard work has culminated to such an anti-climatic ending. "I thought we wanted to question him?"

"We still can... just not as directly," Zatanna answers the clone, who decided to just ignore the magician before she could finish as he walks off. "Rude, but I'll let him off the hook - Bane is one tough man."

"You and Batman take on that dude a lot?!" Wally exclaims, chest rising with exhaustion. "I have earned soooooo much more respect for you man."

"You can thank Lex Luthor for this," Robin deflects, although smiling at the same time, "turns out whatever you and Conner did hurt his feelings... and his pockets."

"Another one bites the dust," Artemis comments, almost prodding the orb with her bow before deciding against provoking whatever god of luck is out there smiling down at them. "Who's next?"

"We can decide that with whatever we learn from Bane," Robin answers, nodding to Zatanna to give her the authorisation to do whatever she is planning on doing to extract information from Bane. "As for now, Wall-man, get in touch with the Flash and let him know where a present might be waiting for him."

"Anonymous?" Wally questions, to which the Boy Wonder nods. "I'll see what I can do about that, although just to warn you when this is over... Iris hates cold-callers."

"We did it," Artemis walks up to Robin and out of earshot of the other members of the team except for the obvious super hearing of Conner, "turns out, the Boy Wonder is a better leader than I first thought. Good job."

Almost blushing at the compliment, Robin waves it away. "The team did a good job. Feels good to have the sense of unity back."

"That's until Conner finds out Wally has been secretly wearing his underwear," Artemis smiles, cheekily obviously knowing the repercussion of her words.

"WALLY!"

A/N

Thank you for reading another episode guys, hope you are enjoying so far!