The silent, ever vigilant protector of Gotham City was perched on a gargoyle, overlooking the city from one of the many tall buildings.
He touched a finger to the side of his mask. "Report in."
"Red Hood, standing by."
"Red Robin, standing by."
"Signal, standing by."
"Blue Bird, standing by."
"Batwoman, standing by."
"Batwing, standing by."
"Robin, standing by."
"Nightwing, standing by."
"Batgirl, stand by."
Bruce couldn't help but smirk under the mask. Hearing all their voices gave him all the confidence in the world that the threat at hand was going lose.
All that confidence was promptly snuffed out when he heard static inference in the cowl, along with a deep hispanic voice.
"Batman."
"Bane." he growled back.
"This is between you and me. Leave the niños out of this, or this married couple will be gone forever." Bane said with amusement.
"The hell are you talking about?" Batman asked angrily.
"If you wish these people to live, come to this warehouse in Kingston."
An image pointing to a warehouse in Kingston appeared in the lenses.
"How do I know this isn't a trap?"
Bane chuckled "Where is your sense of danger... Mister Wayne."
The interference behind the voice ended.
"Batman?! The comms have been hacked!" Oracle shouted.
"What happened?" Batwoman asked.
Batman clenched his fists. "Batman to all points- Bane has hostages. I can't take the risk. Stand down."
A flurry of exasperated and frustrated defiance from multiple voices overwhelmed the comms. Oracle finally got everyone to shut up, then addressed Batman.
"You need to let us help you, boss. This is clearly a trap."
Batman darted his head back and forth in thought. "Have them converge on the location I received a kilometer out. They stay put until they recieve the S.O.S."
"Acknowledged."
Batman took off into a glide. Luckily the warehouse wasn't far. He reached it within twenty minutes, landing on the roof silently. He opened the sky light and dropped in. Inside were two caskets sitting parallel in the middle of the large room. He recognized the coffins instantly.
He buried his parents in them! He ran over to one and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge.
"BANE!!! WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Batman yelled.
"What I should have done already!" Bane shouted from behind him. Batman turned to him.
"But why? Why now?"
Bane starting walking toward him maliciously. "When I broke you, you had only your prodigal son and your butler. Now, you've established some sort of pho-family... my sources tell me there's a new addition-"
Batman heard enough. He grabbed a smoke capsule and smashed it in front of him, but Bane wrapped a large hand around his head through the smoke and threw him into one of the caskets. His bulky frame knocked it over. He heard a muffled scream emanate from it, but before he could breathe a sigh of relief that the contents weren't what he thought it was, the casket was kicked into him by Bane; Batman jumped onto it, forcing it to the ground, perching on top. He opened a pouch on the belt and pulled out several sharpened batarangs. The dark knight threw them at Bane and lept.
Bane threw his arms up, the batarangs sank into the thick flesh of his arms.
"AARGH!!!" he screamed. He put his arms down, only to see a giant bat flying at him. The soles of his soundproof boots crashed into his face.
Bane stumbled back, then threw a punch. Batman caught his wrist and punched his elbow, attempting to snap his arm. The large arm didn't break, Bane chuckles and punched him in the gut. Batman doubled over, then was met by a knee to the jaw. His head was thrown back, but Bane grabbed his collar and punched his temple, sending him back over to the knocked over coffin. He heard another muffled scream. He quickly touched two fingers to his mask and activated the sonar, he then looked at the coffin; inside was a woman, bound and gagged. She had several cuts and bruises.
"BANE!" Batman roared.
"Heh. Perhaps you've had enough." Bane taunted.
"Never." Batman snarled.
"Maybe we should make that decision for you."
"We?" Batman asked. He instinctively tried to press the S.O.S. button on his belt, but something poked his neck. Suddenly, his body stopped working, falling off of the coffin and onto the floor next to it. He kept sending those signals to his body to get up, but they seemed to get lost in transit.
"I know you, Wayne. You don't trust. You keep trying to convince yourself you're more than the mask... that you can love. Men like you and I aren't made for such things."
"N-nothing... like you!" The vigilante struggled to shout.
"There are similarities."
A familiar sultry voice purred from behind the coffin. The source of the voice walked past the coffin and into view.
"No..." Batman said weakly.
"You sound suprised...pumpkin."
"What of the hostages?" Bane asked.
"I'll deal with them." Catwoman replied, holding up a hand and popping out the claws.
"NO!" Batman managed to shout at her.
"Awww!" she cooed, than walked over to him and squatted next to his head, "You actually thought I loved you. That's adorable! Face it lover, you love that stupid oval on your chest more than you'd ever love me or any of your little cult." she taunted, before pulling out a syringe. "Why don't you take a nap so I can slice these people's throats, 'kay?"
"Don't-!!!"
Catwoman stabbed him with the needle and pushed the plunger. Batman slipped into the blackness of unconsciousness. She noticed the buckle on his belt started blinking.
"They'll be here soon. Kill the other hostage, I shall handle this one."
Bane grunted in confirmation. The woman in purple leather went to the other side of the coffin and lifted it open. Catwoman stooped down, gave the hostage an evil smile, and swiped her throat open with the claws. She then closed the coffin as blood began pooling on the ground and ran toward the door.
Catwoman closed the door behind her just in time, as she heard the rest of the skylights breaking inside.