Batman glided through the dark skies of Gotham, soaring above its busy streets as the standard early nightlife started. As he flew, he checked the time on his H.U.D noticing that someone was getting an early start to the crime life, 8:45 P.M. he also took notice of the approximate location of the reported gunman. Ottisburg is close to the East Side of the city, it was clever timing, and location as the Gotham Rogues game played tonight. Many civilians would be away from the old stadium and in the new stadium to attend the game, though the usual events of angry sports fan chaos would resume later tonight with the Steelers beating the Rogues. Batman glided to a rooftop and once he landed, sprinted towards its ledge. After a few more instances of jumping from building to building, he would be close to where the reported gunman was at. When Batman approached the last few ledges he pulled out his trusty grapple gun and shot towards the corner of another nearby rooftop. Its titanium hook clasped onto the ledge tightly and a motorized pulley system that was easily able to handle his weight soon activated after jumping off the building and using his momentum swung around its corner propelling himself forward. Once the grapple was released it was brought back to the gun and Batman landed on a small apartment complex rooftop.
As he slowly approached its corner looking over the alleyway, he saw a man running towards the street with an AR-15 Carbine in his hands, running down the alleyway towards the open street. He noted the dark gray Reebok hoodie, surrounded by a black leather coat and blue jeans. While Batman could have easily struck right at that second and had the thug down on the ground, an unknown factor was how much ammunition was available in his firearm, as he could neither confirm nor deny any shots being fired. The last thing he needed to do was jump towards the man and then have to worry about a fully loaded 30-round magazine. Something was off about him though.
The thug took a second to check both ways before crossing the street, a behavior that rarely occurred with crooks who were trying to run away. Normally there will be a loud tire screech & honk of a vehicle that nearly hits them. Batman watched the thug carefully as he ran towards the other side of the street and crawled under a chain-link fence that had its lower-left corner cut apart from the support post and entered a construction zone. He took a mental note that where he was going was once the old Acme Brick manufacturing company warehouse. It was abandoned and all its equipment was relocated years ago and was supposed to be scheduled for demolition in the next few days. So why were there some electrical generators placed on its farthest left side, and why were they fully running and operational?
Batman theorized that he may have found another hide-out of Black Mask's that Ben may have missed, or it was a new one that just popped up, but that would contradict the entire premise of why Loeb was killed, so maybe it was something entirely unrelated. The ladder of the three was the most likely, Bruce confirmed that Ben had wiped out the rest of Black Mask's drug operations. Maybe it belonged to the Penguin or Carmine Falcone. Either way, Batman was going to scope it out. The first thing he noticed was that there was no security, no one patrolling the perimeter, and no one was on the rooftop. It may be a single-man operation, he thought. Batman watched as the crook nearly entered the warehouse and made his move. Jumping from the apartment building he fired his grapple gun, connecting to the side of a nearby highway billboard, pulling him into the air and allowing him to glide from the air towards the top of the warehouse. Batman looked at a small window that overlooked the main hall of the warehouse and approached it carefully. He took note that only the bare body of the floor and structure was left. No equipment was inside and saw the same thug had stopped running and appeared to take a breather, using his rifle as a balance with its muzzle pointed up and buttstock towards the ground. It was now leaning more towards being a one-man operation, a few lights were on inside and even they were not fully functioning. He could use detective vision to confirm and was about to until a second thug showed up and began talking to the other. Another function of the detective vision is that it can listen in on conversations without being fully activated. Leaning towards the glass he eavesdropped on the conversation. Should he have to pounce the gunman was close enough to not be able to get a shot on Batman before he took him down.
"Did you get him?" The newly known thug asked.
"Yeah, I got him good. Though I think we better split, Gotham Police will probably be here soon." The rifleman confirmed.
"Good, that rat will no longer be an issue. Had we not taken him out he would have caused us some major problems. Let's pack up our produce and-"
The sound of shattering glass interrupted them as it rained down on top of their heads. As both men looked up they covered their faces to prevent the shard's landing in their eyes. They couldn't even see the silhouette of Batman with his wings flared out with his white soulless eyes descending upon them like the angel of vengeance. The first thug tried to raise his rifle and fire, but Batman's foot landed on the shoulder of the armed thug, the momentum and force slamming him into the ground, knocking him out and sliding the rifle across the floor to his left. The other thug was startled and couldn't react fast enough before Batman's fist slammed into his jaw and delivered a powerful uppercut. As the thug was sent into the air Batman's other hand grabbed him by the ankle, and yanked the man back to the ground only for his throat to be grabbed by Batman's other hand. He gagged and was dangling well above a few inches from the ground, Batman's arms fully extended, and soon began to interrogate the man.
"Start talking. What 'Rat were you just talking about, and what did you do to him?"' Batman growled slowly squeezing the thug's neck harder and harder.
"We just caught him." Someone answered.
The lights all turned on and completely illuminated the warehouse and All around Batman were groups of people all wearing the same blue uniform with black accessories. Quickly glancing, he counted at least 30 individuals, some on the same floor others were on the top balcony looking down. He looked to his right to find a younger man around Ben's age to be standing with a red stripe across his chest and a gold emblem on his left side. His hair was neatly parted and his skin was a darker tan, he stood ready for combat along with other groups around them. Batman also took notice of three larger individuals wearing the same outfit. Each was around the same size but had distinct characteristics, one was African American and bald, the next had a short brown parted haircut and sharp jawline, and the last had a full beard and ginger hair. Batman cursed himself in his mind, he should have used detective vision fully, for he would have caught this trap before blindingly entering, he won't be making that mistake again. He then took notice of the golden badge and the embedded 'GJ' on it.
"Global Justice." Batman sneered as he dropped the man he had a chokehold on. The man gasped for air and slowly crawled away.
"A trap?" Batman asked.
"Yep, one you fell for hook, line, and sinker." Crash said casually pointing to Batman before crossing his arms.
"Can't stop racking up assault charges can ya?" Bern commented.
"I assume Miss Possible put you up to this?" Batman asked. In the corner of his eye, he noticed a small security camera watching him.
"We owed her a favor, as she has worked with us many times in the past, so when she asked for some help, how could we say no?" Will answered.
"And the late Team Impossible decided to join the ranks?" Bruce had heard of Team Impossible once before, the super-secret commando squad that was responsible for helping people, but charged a premium to do so. It wasn't until Kim Possible became the teen hero who did the same for free that they were seemingly forgotten.
"It was a good idea, and it provided us with some tax benefits," Bern said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Regardless, your so-called 'Vigilante' days are over. Now we can do this the easy way where you come quietly, or the hard way." Dash said, clenching his fist towards Batman. The other agents in the room soon began to take stances to prepare themselves to charge at Batman.
On the other side of the warehouse, Kim, Ron, Dr. Director, and Gordon all watched Batman from the command center, all of the warehouse security cameras were hooked up to a small series of screens. A few other agents had started to look as well. Kim was in a state of hyper-focus, nothing was distracting her from watching Batman on that small screen. She felt like she needed to be in there as well, but Dr. Director was persistent on her being a contingency in case all the other agents could not handle them. Ron and Rufus looked as well, they only caught a quick glimpse of Batman back at Blackgate, and now they could finally see what he looked like. Dr. Director even studied him and Wade was able to patch through one of the cameras and look. To both of them, the Batman was merely a myth, a warning tale from Kim and an online conspiracy theory, but now he stood before them as real as it could ever be.
"So that's him huh?" Dr.Director asked.
"Yep," Gordon replied.
"This is so fascinating, no one has hard video evidence of this guy. It's like discovering a new animal!" Wade exclaimed, almost excited.
"He kinda reminds me of the Fearless Ferret," Ron commented with Rufus agreeing and sticking his tongue out.
"He changed outfits. His last outfit was more armored with black and dark gray. Now it's more traditionally gray and a dark blue, and the emblem is different as well." Kim said.
The scowl on her face was prominent and watched as Batman continued to just stand there. She recounted in her head. There were at least 100 agents here that offered to help, including herself, Dr. Director and Olympus Squad, and Commissioner Gordon, that alone was 107 people that Batman had to get through. The haunting question still revealed itself. What about Ron?
"Initiate lockdown!" Dr. Director commanded.
Batman scanned the room, determining his best course of action. The main hall was big and spacious to accommodate a group this big and with a smaller 2nd level that would mean fewer groups of people to deal with. Not everyone was here in the main hall, and with the security camera it means others were watching in another room, that must be where Global Justice set up their command center inside the warehouse. He then heard the sound of slamming metal as all of the windows were shut by barriers, the doors were all closed off, and now even the other GJ agents blocking any possible path. Batman clenched his fist and glared down at Team Olympus, escape was not an option.
"Lockdown secured." Crash informed Will.
"Good. There's no escape Batman. Do us all a favor and surrender, it doesn't have to get ugly." Will demanded.
"That's not going to happen," Batman replied.
"Then you leave us no choice," Will said, now taking a fighting stance.
Batman took a second to take a breath. 34 people in this room all wanting to take him down, in a large warehouse main hall with no exits and a lockdown sequence to deactivate in the command center. He applauded their strategy mentally as it left no room for escape, if he wanted out, he would need to go through them by force. All of this stepped in the way of Black Mask's capture and there has been no sign of him at all tonight. This one little mistake Ben has made exploded into a whole ordeal that got some high-level attention involved. With GJ on their tracks, finding Black Mask was going to get severely more difficult. Though that issue will be dealt with later, now he had a room of agents to push through. The tension was high and the room was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. There was nowhere to go but forward, and Batman decided to be a bit courteous first.
"Does anybody want to back down?" Batman asked. He gave a second for anyone to respond, but no one responded. Wishful thinking.
"Fine… Just know you brought this on yourselves." Batman said, standing ready in a fighting position for the first opportunity that would present itself. That motion brought confusion to everyone else. Even to those watching from the command center.
"He's going to fight!?" Dr. Director asked in pure disbelief.
"No way! He is completely outnumbered. The odds of winning this fight are less than 5%!" Wade said now leaning in closer to his monitor back home.
Kim couldn't believe it, she looked as if she saw the most psychopathic person in the world on that small security screen. 1 man against over 100, there's no way he could pull that off, that would be impossible… would it?
"Is it bad to say that it might be very entertaining?" Ron said with his finger up.
"Ron!" The whole group yelled.
All eyes went back to the screen. Ron did have a point though, the atmosphere felt like it was the last football game of the season, and the team they were rooting for nearly had victory assured. They just would need one more play to make it happen. Batman stood completely still as he waited for them to make the next move. He already had a plan in action. He just needed one of the agents to move. Time to test out some of Lucius's newly designed tech.
"Cocky Bastard isn't he," Bern said, slamming his fist into his palm and popping his knuckles. He took a single step forward. "Numbers are not the only I can crunch big guy, I can't wait to put you to the ground and lock you-"
Batman suddenly sprang to life from his still as stone posture, his right foot slid forward and his left hand reared back and flung a white ringed circular Batarang right towards Bern. Bern instinctively dodged by ducking under the Batarang and watched as it flew between him and Crash, and went back up towards the open center of the warehouse hall. He noticed Batman had flung his cape above his head and covered his torso as the Batarang flew above him. Everyone's eyes watched the device fly, miss the intended target, and fly back above Batman who couldn't retrieve it. Some people laughed, others just watched, until the magnesium inside the Batarang was set off. Resulting in an explosion that yielded a very small blast, but a massive 14 million candlepower light that went right into the eyes of the GJ agents. The sound made the better half of the group lose their stance and composure, a majority also had the light glare blind them temporarily. The ringing in their ears, the light glare in their eyes, made them easy targets. That's when the brawl started.
Batman raced forward and struck the first agent. His fist bashed into their face and a second punch followed suit to another agent close by. Another agent attempted to punch him from the right but his fist was caught and Batman struck him back twice as hard. He then twisted his body in the opposite direction and elbowed another agent in the face. Batman found another three charging behind him and flung his cape towards them to ward them off, allowing him the time to catch yet another agent's right hook from behind with the opposite hand, elbow him in the chest and use his body as an anchor point to throw the agent into the staggered three.
Batman followed up with a somersault that landed behind another group of agents and when he was back on the ground, he lowered his body which was balanced by his left leg, and used his right leg to slam his foot into the back of one of the agent's legs, causing them to stumble backward. Using his left leg he sprung himself to close the distance on another agent and landed a powerful uppercut that sent the agent airborne. Next, he launched a barrage of quick punches into the chest and face of a third agent, and to finish off the agent he kicked down, he followed up with a reverse hook kick to the back of his head.
By then the effects of the flashbang were beginning to wear off. Will rubbed his eyes to notice Batman had performed a forward somersault to deliver a dropkick to the shoulder of another agent, followed by dodging another punch by ducking his entire body below the agent's arm. Batman sprang upwards using his entire body to bash the agent's face with his head. Batman followed by tripping that same agent and as they landed on their back, he grabbed their left leg and twisted it too far to the left and caused a hyperextension in their knee, forcing the agent to yelp in pain.
The sound forced Will to get up and charge into the fight. As he ran he counted the bodies of unconscious or downed agents. 16 of the 34 in this room were already down, and another 2 were just taken down as he made his way to the fight. Kim did say that Batman was a skilled martial artist, but what has just occurred suggests that he was a master. For an instant, they locked eyes, and in the next moment, Batman threw a single Batarang at Will, who ended up dodging by falling to his knees and sliding on the floor toward his target. He extended his right arm outwards and pressed a small button on his GJ stopwatch and fired its electric taser function. Batman recovered his thrown Batarangs and moved slightly to his right causing the taser to miss.
Will's taser retracted right before he and Batman started their close-quarters bout. Will would throw hooks and uppercuts only to be parried by Batman's hands and forearms, even to dodge a few just by moving slightly out of reach. Batman quickly took notice of how annoyed Will was getting, as anger soon took over him. In a foolish attempt, he tried to do an extended hook using his whole torso for extra range. Batman grabbed his arm and by twisting his torso sent Will face-first into a metal support beam. As he slid down he became disoriented and looked to see Batman about to charge before Dash & Crash stepped in.
Dash & Crash closed in on Batman from either side and tried to both attempt to attack dual fronts. Each of their punches and kicks was being parried by Batman or dodged entirely. Crash then tried to pull back and use a weapon advantage by pulling out what they called the Stun Fork. A tuning fork-like device that was the same shape, but was the size of a mixing spoon, and had an orange-like high electrical current sparking around it. Crash tried to swing, and swipe at Batman only to miss. Dash was also closing in from behind and forced Batman to do a classic move of his. After all, the Stun Fork was like a caddie prod, anyone can touch the wrong end. When Crash lunged, Batman grabbed his arm with both hands and forced the stun fork into Dash's chest, sending an electrical shock into Dash. Crash instinctively dropped the stun fork and a worried expression painted his face. Only for Batman to elbow his nose, slam both of his fists into the side of his head discombobulating him, and to add insult to injury, grabbed the collar of his uniform close to his neck, reared back, and smashed his head into Crash's brow.
Batman watched as Crash fell to the ground with blood dripping from his nose only to feel a force slam into his right side and nearly force him to lose his footing with only one leg trying to stop what was pushing him. When he looked down he saw Bern with his arms around his waist and pushing him towards the wall. Batman slammed his other foot towards the ground and forced Bern's advance to come to a halt. He followed up by raising both his arms with his fists clasped together and slamming down onto Bern's spine whose stance was loosened. Batman followed up with a quick knee jab to his head and then an opened palm hook to push Bern away from him who fell to the ground. With the 4 biggest threats now dealt with Batman was forced to focus on the remaining agents… and not many were left.
Back in the command center, tensions ran high and chaos was starting to seed. Batman had made quick work of a majority of the agents down there and now Team Olympus was struggling to sway the fight in their favor. Kim couldn't believe it, her hands running through her red hair squeezing her head, watching all the careful planning and strategies the group just put together all crumble before her. She watched the whole ordeal as Batman beat agent after agent. It made her recount the fight she had with Batman at Blackgate, sure he was a good fighter and was able to beat Kim after a few minutes of tiresome combat, but what she was witnessing here was something else entirely. This was fighting prowess at its peak, highly tuned combat perfection… It was like watching someone create a work of art.
"Alpha, Beta, Gamma, India, and Hotel squads are down, we only have a few teams left in there, should we send the backup squads?" A technician asked.
"No! Kim! You said Batman was a highly-skilled fighter, but this is insane! You severely downplayed his abilities!" Dr. Director accused.
"He was nothing like this! I kept him busy for 5 minutes straight and we were on equal footing!" She pleaded. Both women were interrupted by Wade.
"Just by watching him and cross-referencing his moves with all known martial arts, he has mastered Mantis Style, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Krav Maga, even Kalaripayattu! He could be the most dangerous man on Earth!" Wade informed.
"Oh yeah that's Impressive but I bet he doesn't know Monkey Kung Fu!" Ron said, trying to lighten up the room's atmosphere a bit. Until Batman just performed a move that marked that fighting style.
"Oh Sorry Ron, he just performed a variation of the Iron Monkey style," Wade informed.
"Aw, man," Ron whined.
Dr. Director was pacing back and forth now with an angry expression on her face. In a mere matter of minutes, Batman had embarrassed the Global Justice fighting force. All but a few agents were left and soon she may have to make a difficult judgment call. Kim didn't feel any better. Her confidence was destroyed and now instead of having Global Justice agents help to take down Batman, all she did was get more people injured. She glanced back at the security screen only 5, no now only 4 agents were standing inside the main hall. Others could join the fight, but at this pace, it would just be more collateral damage. Gordon even argued to try and get some GCPD in here to help but Dr. Director argued that by the time they would arrive they would be far too late.
"Olympus Squad is getting back up!" Another technician exclaimed.
All of Olympus Squad had recovered from their first-round fight with Batman. As Dash looked up he saw the last two agents get pummeled by Batman. The entire hall was littered with the bodies of unconscious agents and groans of the injured, a few even had more serious injuries. Will finally stood up and growled intensely at the sight of Batman. Dash put his hand on his shoulder and forced Will out of his anger episode. He knew Will put himself on a high pedestal, and Batman was seriously knocking him down a peg or two, maybe even the entire pedestal as a whole.
"Will focus! If you, me, and Bern take him we should be okay, while Crash will focus on the injured."
"You're right. Crash, check the others! Bern you're with us!" Crash confirmed and ran to the agent who was holding his knee tightly. Bern rubbed his head but gave a thumbs up. The rest of the Olympus Squad formed up and watched as Batman just turned around standing straight. His dark blue cape hung over his shoulder and arms nearly cloaking his entire body.
"I gave you all an out." Batman reminded them all.
"We're not done just yet Batman, this isn't over by a long shot," Dash replied.
"Then prove it, as of right now I'm not impressed." Batman hissed before he darted towards the remaining members of the Olympus Squad. His speed was almost frightening as he closed the distance fast. He focused on Will first, putting down strike after strike that Will struggled to defend against. Dash & Bern soon assisted and got in both of Batman's blind spots and with attacks from them both put Batman on the defense and switched Will to offense. They swung hook after hook, jab after jab, trapping Batman in a triangle formation of attacks, all were being dodged or parried. Kim almost couldn't watch back at the command center. If they could just find a weakness in Batman's fighting style-
"Kim!" Dr. Director yelled, forcing Kim's mind back to reality.
"It's time." She said running towards the door. Kim took a deep breath to prepare herself, she really didn't want this to happen.
"Okay, let's go." She replied, running behind Dr. Director.
"Come on Rufus, we need to be the distraction probably!"
Rufus gave Ron a thumbs up and jumped into his pocket. This suddenly forced Kim to come to a halt which Dr.Director caught onto and watched as the mental struggle happened. She hadn't had time to decide if Ron would be safe here at all. And with how Batman's skills were far more advanced than recently predicted, there was a much higher chance he was going to get severely hurt, or worse. She just went with a quick judgment call.
"No Ron, stay here!" She told her sidekick.
"Wait what? K.P. You can't just go in there by yourself. I'm going to help." He argued.
"I do have help, I have Dr. Director!" She tried to explain while still walking toward her, but Ron still followed and argued.
"Kim? Let's go!" Dr. Director commanded. The pressure built fast and a decision needed to be made.
"Kim, me, and Rufus can probably distract him! Then you and Dr. Director-" Kim then made the call as emotions boiled over, a moment where her mouth and brain were not in sync.
"God Damn it, Ron just stay here! It's too dangerous, and you can't compete against Batman! You will only slow us down like you normally do, so please for once in your life just stay here and do what you are told!" Kim screamed near the top of her lungs.
"Kim! Now or never!" Dr. Director ordered. Kim didn't have time to process the weight of what she said as both she and Dr. Director bolted out the door. She will have to deal with the consequences later.
The entire room was silent and everyone was looking toward Ron, whose facial expression was that of shock, disbelief, and a bit of pain. Sure he and Kim had their fights, like when they both worked at Bueno Nacho, or when Ron decided to become the Middleton Mad-Dog, sure words were exchanged that pinched a few nerves, but nothing like that was ever said. Things that truly hurt one's feelings. Gordon looked towards Wade for a moment and then glanced back towards Ron. Wade then took his attention off the fight and to Ron.
"Ron? You okay?" Wade asked.
"Um, y-yeah I'm fine… I'm just gonna sit over here." Ron said slowly walking towards an open chair by the corner wall. The weight of Kim's words held his head and his spirits low.
Batman continued to block and dodge the attacks from Olympus Squad. His patience was being tested as this fight was lasting far longer than needed be. He still had to get to the command center and deactivate the lockdown to escape and continue his search for clues on where Black Mask was going, and who his special partner actually was. It was time to finish off these three.
After dodging one of Bern's kicks Batman went back on the offensive. Noticing Dash and Will were about to strike, he launched himself into a backflip, and by using his feet he propelled off of Dash's chest, tackled Bern, and in the process, broke the triangle formation. The two barreled down a few feet to their right and soon after Batman got behind Bern's body, grabbed him by his uniform, lifted Bern's body over his head, and slammed him down to the ground in front of him with his upper body now facing the floor. Will now sprinting towards Batman jumped and fired his stopwatch once more, it seemed to be aimed at the center mass of Batman and it was going to connect with its electric suction tip, had Batman not twisted his body, and grabbed the wire mid-flight avoiding the actual suction tip. Will's face said it all.
"Oh shi-"
With a firm grip on the wire, Batman jumped back, twirled inward, and used the momentum of his body to fling Will towards him. Will flew right towards Batman and was greeted with a powerful upwards elbow strike to his jaw, causing Will to crash onto the floor now unconscious. The last one standing was Dash, who noticed the stun fork was right next to him and quickly grabbed it, jumped, and plunged its two prongs right toward Batman's chest. He was a lot faster on the attack this time and the only thing Batman could do was block the attack with his forearms between his gauntlet's first two fins. The shock traveled into Batman's body as it forced him to stagger a bit, gritting his teeth and trying to get his body to function again, fighting the electrical discharge. Dash smiled greatly as his attack landed and all he needed to do was keep the stun fork on Batman long enough for it to subdue him. Batman's body began to crumble a bit as the current was doing its work.
"Ha! Gotcha now asshole!" Dash boasted in excitement.
Batman gritted his teeth and felt his body grow weaker by the second. His body begged him to give in, his muscles ached from the fight and the electrical current was surely not helping, had he not been prepared he would have been done for, except he can pull one last old trick. He stood back up fighting against the stun fork's current and with all his willpower, his arms locked the fork between his gauntlet fins and swung his arms outward to expose his chest. The fins made of hard but not very sharp metal, snapped the stun fork in half breaking the electrical current and the tool as a whole. Dash only watched as the top half of the fork bounced into the cold hard floor, only for his face to be met with Batman's boot, launching him into the air. Batman, a bit angrier now, used his grapple gun and aimed at Dash, pressed a button on its right side, similar to how a regular gun would drop its magazine, turned the hook into a small claw, and fired. The claw grasped onto Dash's right shoulder and began to reel him back to the ground. Batman jumped and let the motor of the grapple gun bring not him and Dash together in the air, he then used the force of the collision to wrap his left leg around Dash's waist and his right as a counterbalance, flipping both of them to where they landed with Dash on his back and to finish it off, Batman's fist crashed into Dash's face.
Batman's breathing began to slow as he stood and took a hard look around the warehouse hall. All agents, except Crash, were either knocked out or on the ground groaning in pain. He took no pleasure in what he just did and considered his moral high ground to be justified as he gave them a chance to walk away. As Batman began to walk he passed Crash working on the agent whose knee Batman delivered the hyperextension, who finished the bandaging and splint in what he considered a decent time frame. The agent started to panic as Batman drew closer and Crash soon stood up wiping the blood from his nose and was about to fight once more.
"Let me ask you something you should know. Do Combat medics follow the Hippocratic Oath?". Batman asked, stopping dead in his tracks.
Crash knew the oath by heart. All medical professionals are supposed to follow its ideology to a 'T' and should one be caught violating this simple set of rules it can result in extreme repercussions and disgrace in the field of medicine. Crash, a bit confused with a raised brow, stood between him and the agent that was his current patient. In theory, he should be following the oath, but a single detail changes everything in the so-called, 'thou shalt not harm' oath, the name 'Combat' medic.
"No…" Crash answered, in a begrudgingly low town.
"I'd suggest following it this time," Batman advised as he just walked past Crash. Who just lowered his head and esteem.
Batman then pulled out his grapple gun, switched from claw back to being a hook, and fired it up towards the railing of the balcony of the second floor. After the motor pulled him towards the railing and onto the second floor, He then began to enter the second floor's main set of hallways that held entrances to different rooms. Only a few lit lights illuminated the hallways and the doors were all closed, and the entire place was midway to falling apart. The wall's plaster was chipped everywhere, the cheap wooden floorboards were cracked, and a few doors were off their hinges. Abandoned was the perfect word to describe the scene. As he walked he theorized that the command center was towards the back and he would have to break through a few more squads to do just that.
Batman was forced to take a left down the hallway and as he turned and took a few steps Dr. Director & Kim both turned at the same hallway on the opposite side. Time froze for them at that moment as they both locked eyes with Batman. Kim's heart was already racing from following Dr. Director, now it took a second to try and calm itself down as their main target was in front of them. Dr. Director scowled as she laid her good eye on the one individual she just saw embarrass all of Global Justice. She broke the silence that had shrouded the hallway as Batman slowly kept walking toward them.
"Batman, stop right there!" She commanded. Batman stopped walking and stood still, which caused both Kim and her to look at each other for a second before continuing to talk.
"And just where do you think you're going?" She rhetorically asked.
"To your command center. To lift the lockdown so I can leave." Batman answered.
"I'm afraid that's as far as you will be going, especially after attacking my agents." She threatened, now putting her right foot forward and taking a fighting stance. Kim then walked slightly in front of her with her arms crossed and eyes like daggers toward Batman. She mentally was going through a few things to make sure she was prepared for the fight to come. Keeping her emotions at bay, her focus completely locked onto her opponent, She refused to lose this time…
"Remember me?" She asked with a hint of sarcasm.
"Of course Kim, and do you remember what I told you?" Batman asked. Since the mantle of Batman was shared, Bruce & Ben created a system of communication where when one was out as Batman they would communicate to the other any major events and crime reporting. So while Bruce was not Batman during Ben's fight with Kim, he already knew everything that occurred and further helped Batman being a single individual.
"Vividly," she answered, annoyed.
"And yet you do the exact opposite, bring in Global Justice, and inconsequentially, more people end up hurt." Batman scolded.
"That's a funny way to gaslight someone, especially when the person doing the gaslighting is guilty of murder." Kim fired back.
"It's not gaslighting if it's the truth, and once again I didn't kill Loeb, now I will only warn you both once. Move."
"You first." She taunted as she made her fighting stance. Kim was ready this time and Dr. Director was now by her side and while she hated to admit it, she felt more confident than if she was with Ron. The thought of what she said crept back into her head but she quickly refocused back into the situation at hand. Both ladies agreed to wait for Batman to make the first move before anything were to happen, let Batman come to them. Though knowing how skilled he 'really' was, the risk of their strategy being discovered had increased. Batman squinted his eyes and bore his teeth at the two women standing in his way. They made it very clear that the only way out now was through those two, and who knows if any other agents were starting to recover. Another issue that would arise is that the hallway environment easily favored the girls. While Kim could use the full function of her cheer skills she can easily use the walls around to maximize her agility and Dr. Director would probably be equal to all of Team Olympus but more nimble. Time was against him and the more he spent here, the more likely Black Mask was to escape…
Batman wasted no time and sprinted forward. Kim and Dr. Director didn't move as planned and waited for Batman's first strike. As Batman ran he used his right hand to grab his cape and shield it around him to appear playing on defense, but instead, he flung 3 standard Batarangs towards them. Kim caught on and quickly launched herself into a forward somersault and landed on the ground closing the distance, with Dr. Directors rolling forward to dodge them. Kim then lowered herself and launched a propelled high kick. Had Batman kept his course it would have landed right on his chin, he thrust his left leg outward to force his body to stop early and block Kim's kick with his right gauntlet. The corner of his eye caught an incoming left hook from Dr. Director and his left palm blocked it. Kim pushed herself from Batman's forearm and attempted a twirling heel kick with the opposite leg, Batman ducked and had to use both arms to block a roundhouse kick from Dr. Director.
Kim and Dr. Director both continued their fury of attacks on Batman who responded with multiple blocks and dodges. It forced him to take steps back to keep being on the defensive, While Dr. Director continued to attack with simple military and police training, Kim was the wild card, Bruce remembered Ben's report he made when he got home.
Kim's Fighting Style is a complex concoction of 16 different regional martial arts & Kung Fu. What makes her a formidable combatant is her tenacity, and cheerleading skills that offer more mobility. There is evidence of gadget use in her prior more public missions but none were used during the engagement. - Ben
Kim would prove those words true, as Dr. Director faked a kick to his torso; she spun to make room for Kim's forward cartwheel and launched herself above Batman. Once she was right above him, both of her legs shot down and forced Batman to block with both forearms. She then jumped behind and performed a second forward rotating heel kick, connecting to the back of Batman's head. With the impact, he stumbled towards Dr. Director, who used each other's momentum to roll backward and throw Batman behind them. He tumbled but quickly recovered and back to his feet to engage the girls again. This time to be on the offensive.
Batman then charged with a series of quick strikes toward Dr. Director. She blocked a few of the blows before catching Batman's hand, she pulled it down to allow for a quick elbow to Batman's head, but a far quicker block was followed up by a quick jab to her stomach and then a forward palm to her head, forcing his arm free. Kim then jumped back in and the two began to block and throw punches left and right. Kim was focused on making sure each attack Batman could throw was blocked and trying hard to make sure any of her strikes landed. Except Batman found an opening when dodging an uppercut. He landed 3 punches instantly, one on Kim's left side, then to Kim's chin, and then into her torso pushing her back. The fight was beginning to anger Kim, and that series of strikes did not help.
Dr. Director jumped on Batman's back attempting to lock him in a carotid restraint, locking her legs around his waist. As Batman attempted to grab and pull her off, Kim had recovered and tackled Batman, forcing all three into a degraded wall to their right, and crashed into the next room. It was a small conference room-like design where only a small series of chairs and a round table was in the corner of the room, but the rest of the room was open. As Batman crashed onto the floor Dr. Director had held in and Kim was now trying to help pin him down. Batman needed to act fast, in less than a minute blood would be constricted to his brain and he would pass out, and with the way the girls pinned him down, there was only one option. Batman took the arm attempting to pull Dr. Director off and reached for his utility belt. He pulled out a blue-ringed Batarang, held it in his hand and activated it. Suddenly an ear shrieking sound similar to an L.R.A.D. (Long Range Acoustic Device) blasted out of the Batarang with a higher pitch & bass. The sound echoed throughout the room and forced Kim and Dr. Director to cover both their ears, the ringing was intense and it felt like the eardrums were going to rupture, while Batman's mask helped take the force of the sound. He took the opportunity to free himself and attack.
Once Batman was recovered he turned the sonic Batarang off, and returned it to his belt. He quickly landed a spiral kick on Kim's torso and using the same moment twirled his body to deliver an elbow strike into Dr. Director. Both of the girls recovered soon after and we're back in the fray. They continued to trade blow for blow, punch for punch, kick for kick. While Kim and Dr. Director continued to try and trick Batman into falling for any parry or feint they could muster, Batman was in an entirely different state of mind. He noted how Dr. Director fought with the stereotypical black-ops, law enforcement, and other military training that was similar to Olympus Squad he just beat, he paid no attention, however, Kim was different. He recognized the different martial arts styles she was en route to master, and incorporating her cheer routine was a clever way to keep her opponent guessing, Batman mentally applauded her skills, and had she been the one who he found in the woods with a broken tibia instead of Ben, he would have done the same to take her in and train her the same way, but she had a long, long way to go to be a challenge for him. Batman grew tired of the skirmish and had wasted a solid 15 minutes of fighting to try and get free of the abandoned warehouse, and the girls were starting to show the first sign of fatigue. An opening appeared and the Time to end this fight did as well, and unfortunately someone was going to get hurt.
Batman then ducked below one of Kim's high kicks, and as she attempted to slam her heel down onto his head, he grabbed Kim's heel and lifted her into the air. Kim felt being thrown onto her back as she turned upside down, only for a powerful kick to be delivered onto her spine, forcing her to tumble back to the opposite side of the hallway and hit her head against the wall, making her vision a bit fuzzy.
"Kim!" Dr. Director screamed before attempting to throw a few more punches, all but one being dodged but the last landing in Batman's hand.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her to close the distance, landing a strong punch in her side close to her kidney, and repeated the action once again for another powerful knee into her stomach. It forced a cough out of her mouth along with some spit. Kim's eyes began to adjust as she slowly got up with one knee still on the ground. She saw Batman grab Dr. Director by her neck, pulled her entire body over his back, and slammed her into the ground, knocking her out. Batman soon walked up towards Kim who still was fighting against her clouded vision. She saw the blackened silhouette approach her, and the dark feeling that haunted her and Ron when they first came to Gotham was now in full force, making her skin crawl like sand in the wind. She would refuse to admit it, but she was scared… the white soulless eyes, the pointed bat ears, the slow thuds of his boots approaching her whilst still with one knee on the ground. It appeared a demon had come for her.
"N-No!" she screamed in defiance as she got up and prepared to fight once more.
Batman noticed the shortness of breath, her eyes still trying to stay on him, her stance was weak, and so was she. She then tried one last right hook and swung towards Batman a roar of defiance was forced from her lungs which could be described as one last strike. Batman just moved his head slightly to the left to have her punch miss entirely, and left Kim wide open. Batman then unleashed the uppercut that originally was spared during her first fight with Ben as the Dark Knight. His arm was fully reared back and with his entire body moving his arm his fist smashed into her chin. The entire punch sent Kim airborne above Batman before she crashed down onto the ground, out cold.
Batman didn't even bother looking down towards the defeated world famous teen hero, and walked towards the left of the hallway that the girls originally came down through. He made his way to the end and to his right was a large room with only one door by its center. It had to be the room where the control center was. Batman noticed that the wall closest to him was a bit weaker than the others, similar to the one he just got sent through by the girls. He also deduced that more people were on the other side of that wall, not wanting to fall for a second trap, he turned to detective vision momentarily and noticed multiple people were inside. Most were other GJ agents and operators who were panicking and trying to reach other agents and even Dr. Director with no response. The two more noticeable beings were the now Commissioner Gordon, Ron, and Rufus who was perched on his shoulder. The two were going back and forth about Ron trying to go back out to help Kim. Batman had already pulled out his new Glue Gun and spread a small bat snapped logo onto the wall. It took a second to expand slightly with its bright neon blue color, one it settled he took a step back.
MOMENTS EARLIER…
Ron felt heavily conflicted in his mind. Even with what Kim said Ron was struggling to just sit there and wait for Kim and Dr. Director to come back. Even Rufus was pulling on his black mission shirt to try and convince him to go out there and fight the good fight. Gordon was attempting to help command the rest of the GJ crew while Dr. Director was away. Kim's words echoed in Ron's head, yes they hurt, and yes Kim was under a lot of pressure, but the thought of her fighting Batman was beginning to take a toll on his mind. He couldn't take the thoughts of what could happen much longer. Kim was his best friend, maybe even more…? That thought made his mind clear as he shot ups from the small chair he was sitting on.
"I have to try and help!" Ron argued at the top of his lungs. As he tried to run towards the door. Gordon noticed this and darted to step in front of him. With his hands out keeping Ron from darting either to his right or left.
"No Kim said it herself, it's too dangerous, I'm sure they have the situation under control," Gordon told the teenage boy.
"I don't care if it's too dangerous Kim needs my help! You expect me to just sit here and wait for her to come back?"
"You are not going out unless absolutely necessary!" Gordon commanded. Ron's temper was boiling over. Gordon meant well but nightmares filled his brain of what Batman could have done to Kim.
"This is absolutely necessary! I won't just stand here and let the girl of my dreams face a cold-blooded killer all by her-"
A sudden blast rocked the room as chunks of the wall, wood, and plaster dust went flying, with the debris slamming into both Ron & Gordon. Gordon landed on the side of his head and was knocked out by the impact, while Ron had fallen on his chest and stayed conscious during the fall. The rest of the room's occupants dove for cover and hid behind the machines. Rufus had slammed against the wall with a 'squeak' and rubbed his head after landing on his bottom. He instinctively ran to Ron and tried to lift the few pieces of rubble off his owner but physically couldn't. Ron easily moved the pieces of rubble off him and placed his hand on the ground for Rufus to hop upon.
"You okay bud?" He asked Rufus who responded nodding and with a thumbs up while stretching his back.
"What was that?"
Ron had sat up to see Gordon out cold on the ground next to him and noticed other people had taken cover or were unconscious as well. He seemed to be all alone, until he looked up and saw him, and a fear that could rival his Pithecophobia emerged. Even Rufus screamed and retreated to his pocket shaking in fear. Batman's silhouette walked into the room with the same white soulless eyes peering into his newly entered environment, until locking onto Ron and staring him down. He slowly approached him and stood still letting the dust settle around him. Ron never did get a good look at Batman the last time he and Kim encountered him at Blackgate. His cape draped over his shoulders and the majority of his body from view. Ron couldn't tell whether he was staring at a man in a bat-themed suit, or an embodiment of suffering & death. Batman waited for a second to see if Ron would move or do anything before noticing a machine terminal to their left with a large silver handle style switch labeled 'lockdown'. Ron covered himself in fear as this far every interaction with him resulted in physical violence. Batman just walked past him towards the terminal and lowered the lockdown switch.
The sounds of opening metal window frames and the steel door blocks were lifted, revealing the outside world. Batman then for good measure smashed his fist into the screen of the terminal destroying its inner components and making sure the lockdown could not be activated again.
Ron watched as Batman completely ignored him, destroyed the terminal, and walked towards the blown wall cavity he created. Ron was stricken by fear and easily could have wallowed in it until Batman left, but something else filled his mind. Kim and Dr. Director were the last line of defense before he got to the command center, and he was here now… where was Kim? Fear, anger, and anxiety started to control Ron's body and he looked to see Gordon still out from the blast and caught a glimpse of Gordon's Beretta Model 92 pistol. Ron, reacting with haste and without thought, reached for Gordon's pistol and aimed it at Batman. Who stopped dead in his tracks when hearing the pistol be removed from Gordon's holster. Batman turned slowly to look at the terrified Ron Stoppable with a gun nervously shaking in his hand aimed at his shoulder. Who underneath his cape had a Batarang ready to be thrown into the barrel of the pistol. An exercise that needed to be mastered before being allowed anywhere near the cape & cowl. Though with how Ron was acting maybe he didn't need it.
"Do you really want to do that?" Batman asked Ron.
His hands were still shaking to where Batman could hear the internal components of the gun rattle and collide with each other. The sights constantly shaking, Ron's finger on the trigger, He had never even shot a gun before, but his emotions were unstable, Batman l deemed Ron a threat to himself and everyone in the room. If he did shoot, it was a high probability he would miss.
"W-where's Kim?"
Batman approached Ron slowly and calmly as the pistol was still shaking in his hands, he got close enough to where the gun's barrel was against his chest. Ron's hands shook violently, he had a point-blank shot lined up and could put Batman down for good, finish the mission… Ron could kill Batman right here and now. But fear took over him as Batman softly took the pistol away from Ron's hands, racked the slide back to eject the first bullet in the chamber and while holding it in place, pressed the small bottom on the side of the handle to eject the magazine onto the floor and bounced to their right. With the weapon now unloaded and safe for anyone to use, Batman slowly pulled it away from Ron, dropped it to the floor, and kicked it away past them both against the wall.
"She's fine. When she regains consciousness, tell her to stop getting in my way, and to stop forcing innocent people to get hurt in the process. I did not want any of this to happen. She left me no choice, and I did what I had to." Batman scorned Ron who shook before him.
Batman then wasted no time and simply stepped out of the room through the cavity he created, turned left, and walked away. He then walked down the hallway and saw that Kim and Dr. Director were still down, but Kim was beginning to regain movement and consciousness as she stirred. Batman pressed a series of buttons on his arm pad and summoned the Batwing back to his location. As he entered the main hall some of the GJ agents were still knocked out, with others now getting back up slowly and in pain. Batman wanted to ensure that he did not get caught in the middle of a second conflict against Global Justice and jumped from the railing from the second level and into the main hall. As he walked, agents slowly crawled out of the way from his path, he approached the opening to the main hall that he saw the disguised agent walk into and looked up to see the Batwing fly overhead. It approached and entered its VTOL state right above him. Batman grabbed his grapple gun and aimed it right towards the Batwing, which slowly revealed its lower entrance to the cockpit. With a single pull of the trigger, the grapple gun fired and pulled him towards the Batwing. Now back in the cockpit, Batman glared down at the warehouse one last time, turned the aircraft towards the opposite direction, and flew off into Gotham's dark sky.
