Issue 11
Into the Predator's Den
Batman's breathing is ragged, his throat parched from the climb. His entire body aches. The rough mountain face has ripped his gloves to shreds, leaving his fingers bloodied. The same goes for his knees. He staggers along on all fours, dragging Green Arrow with him.
He stops to catch his breath as he realizes he's on flat ground again. Green Arrow pulls away from him, trying to stand up. Batman looks around. Unlike before, this isn't a narrow ledge they now find themselves on. instead, it's a large, open valley on top of the mountain, ringed by a semi-circle of much smaller, irregularly-shaped peaks. At the center of this circle, gazing out across the tops of the jungle trees below, is a spaceship.
Green Arrow finds his feet, and stares in awe at the ship. Its strangely beautiful, familiarly aerodynamic yet strangely alien at the same time. The nose of the ship rests lightly on the ground, while the hull swoops up and back toward the rear of the ship. Long, sweeping indentations accentuate the ship's graceful curves, while also providing a somewhat menacing sense of depth. The smooth plating seems designed to deflect missiles, while the metal itself seems thick enough to withstand any conventional bombardment. At the rear of the ship, large rearward thrusters on either side of the ship are rotated downward to serve as landing gear. All in all, the ship exudes an aura of grace and power, a weapon of deadly precision. The perfect vessel for the greatest hunters in the known universe.
Apart from the ship, the valley seems deserted. No animals, no plants, no Predators.
After catching their breath, Batman and Green Arrow tread forward cautiously. There may not be any of the Yautja in sight, but they've already seen the aliens use some sort of cloaking technology. Adding to their concern is the fact that Bane seems nowhere to be found either.
Green Arrow grips Soultaker, Katana's sword, in his remaining hand. Batman lost his rifle during the climb, but he holds a Batarang at the ready as they move toward the rear of the ship. Here they find the entrance, with a lowered ramp leading up to what looks like a cargo bay. There's still no sign of either Bane or any sort of Yautja sentry as Green Arrow and Batman climb the ramp and step inside the ship.
On closer inspection, what had seemed to be a cargo bay now appears to be some sort of medical station, with a couple of operating tables in the center, along with various machines neither Batman nor Green Arrow can guess the use of. Against the walls on either side, however, are large, upright canisters made of reinforced glass with a glass door on the front. Tubes feed into the canisters, possibly to sustain a passenger in stasis. Batman realizes how they were brought to the planet with no memory of their trip through space. Seven of the canisters stand open, and seem to have been used recently.
Seven canisters for seven human fighters, turned loose in the jungle to serve as game animals for the Predators.
Green Arrow puts a hand against the glass, steadying himself as he looks around the chamber. His gaze finally settles on a door at the far end of the room, which is open to the room beyond. Batman notices his gaze, and nods toward the door. Gritting his teeth, Green Arrow nods in return. Together, the duo makes their way cautiously toward the next chamber.
Batman takes a step into the second room. His black boots make no sound on the soft carpet inside. The room is mostly dark, but with patches of light here and there from glowing panels overhead. Like the first chamber, there's no sign of anyone here in the room. Once fully inside the door, the Dark Knight looks around in some surprise. While the medical area just inside the entrance ramp was relatively spartan and impersonal, this second area appears much more lived in. The dark carpet underfoot is worn with the paths of heavy boots. Dust lurks in the darker corners, but is noticeably absent at the center of the room. Here large, thronelike seats are draped with the hides of unknown animals. The fur of mammals, the scales of reptiles, some with enormous talons still hanging from their paws. The seats themselves form an irregular circle, a sort of lounging area with a table in the center. A setup that looks like a game waits on the table, interrupted.
Green Arrow's gaze is drawn to the walls, however. Or rather, the displays on them. On the wall to the left of the entry is a massive skull, easily a foot across at the eyes, with long horns curving forward from the temples, and a narrow lower jaw hanging open to reveal three rows of serrated, razor-sharp teeth. Another row of teeth lines the upper jaw, which seems to be grinning almost devilishly beneath the enormous, empty eye sockets. Above the ghoulish face, a third horn rises from the base of the skull and curves forward over the head.
Next to the first is another skull, this one much narrower than the first, and elongated. The back of the skull must have extended well behind the creature's shoulders when it was alive. And while the skull itself is smaller and narrower than that of the three-horned creature, it is framed by a large, bony frill – like that of a triceratops. This was probably a protective feature, indicating that the creature walked on all fours, or at least leaned forward, probably like a tyrannosaurus. And like an ancient dinosaur, the creature's jaw is lined with sharp fangs. But unlike any dinosaur on Earth, a secondary, extendable jaw rests inside the creature's mouth.
These first two skulls seem to form the centerpiece of this particular display. Around it arranged a handful of smaller skulls. One looks like the frilled creature with the extendable inner jaw, but is smaller and lacks the distinctive frill. A couple of the skulls appear to be human, though one has fangs set in the upper jaw. Green Arrow can't help but wonder if the second formerly belonged to his one-time trainer, David Cain. Next to it is a skull that looks somewhat human as well, only larger, and with strange ridges on the forehead.
Batman studies another display on the opposite wall, to the right of the door they entered. The centerpiece of this display is a skull roughly twice the size of a human's. Unlike a human, however, this particular creature lacked eyes, instead having exaggerated ear canals. Apparently, this creature had an exoskeleton as well as the normal internal skeleton. Though the flesh and brain matter have been removed, the external plates have been reattached to restore the creature's original appearance. The eyeless monster continues the theme of sharp teeth, with a thick row of needlelike fangs in the upper and lower jaw.
Batman recognizes the next skull. The square jaw, sloping forehead, and toothed mandibles mark the creature as a Yautja, though much larger than the standard and almost as large as the one in the black armor. Apparently the Predators sometimes hunt their own.
There are other skulls here as well, a few human – or at least vaguely human – and some almost impossible to describe. There are a few trinkets as well, like a handle for some kind of energy weapon. There's no trigger, so Batman guesses it must be some sort of melee weapon, though he can't see how to turn it on. Or a hockey mask with dried blood streaked over it like war paint, and a heavy-bladed machete hanging next to it.
Batman runs his fingers over the mask, apparently lost in thought. "So this is why he stopped killing," he muses under his breath.
Standing in the center of the room, Green Arrow looks slowly around before turning to Batman. "What is all this?"
The Dark Knight thinks of Joe Chill's revolver, Joker's card, and Mr. Freeze's original freeze-gun, along with over a dozen other weapons, costumes, and trinkets encased in glass in the Bat-Cave.
"This," he says finally, "is a trophy room." He gestures toward the array of skulls. "Tokens of their victories."
Green Arrow places his hand over the stump of his severed arm, feeling a twinge of phantom pain from his missing hand. He looks at the trophies, attempting to mentally reconstruct what kind of horrific creatures the skulls once belonged to. "Monsters," he mutters. He turns back to Batman. "And the Predators see no difference between them and us. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?"
Batman's eyes narrow. "Wonder about what?"
"What kind of monsters we are."
Batman can't think of the right response. He remembers the many lessons of Ra's al Ghul, he remembers Maseo's blood on his sword. Since returning to Gotham and assuming the role of Batman, he had worked tirelessly to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. But still, he sometimes wondered if he wasn't just finding an outlet for the violence inside himself, a violence the League had cultivated, turning him into a deadly weapon. Perhaps even a monster.
He can't think of an answer for Oliver, and so he says nothing. Instead, he steps away from the Predator's display, and approaches the next door.
He stops short, Green Arrow right behind him. There's blood on the floor here. Green blood.
They're standing in a narrow corridor, with doors on either side leading to other rooms. A trail of green blood leads down the hall. Ahead of them, on the wall to their left, is a bloody handprint. And this blood is red.
Bane.
Still unarmed, Batman and Green Arrow push forward all the same. They pass a door nearly broken off its hinges; beyond it there's a sharp dent in the wall. A bullet casing on the floor, a splatter of green blood on the wall. Further on is a broken knife, laying in a puddle of red.
The door at the end of the hallway has been knocked completely off its hinges, laying on the floor of the room beyond with smears of both red and green on it, plainly visible thanks to the natural light spilling in from a wraparound window. From inside the room, they can hear ragged breathing.
Crouching low, ready for an attack, Batman steps through the doorway. It's the control room. There's a row of consoles and machinery beneath the massive window, along with two chairs facing the sunset outside. A Predator lays motionless directly ahead of them, slumped against one of the chairs. His mandibles are peeled back in a final scowl. The trail of green blood ends in a puddle around him, with a thick-bladed Bowie knife driven into his chest.
"Took you… long enough."
Both Batman and the Green Arrow turn toward the voice. Just inside the door, facing the dead Predator, is Bane. He's sitting on the floor; his giant frame is slumped over, propped up only by a cabinet behind him. Blood is smeared on the wall behind him, puddled on the floor around him. Red blood, his own blood. Cuts and slashes zig-zag across his forearms and torso, the marks of the Predator's wrist-blade. Snapped off its gauntlet, the blade is now stuck in Bane's chest.
He looks down at it as if it were the most natural thing in the world for someone to have a foot-long blade protruding from their body. Then, grinning weakly, he turns to Batman. "I told you I'd take the ship. I beat him, Bat. I beat him."
The grin fades as the Venom-fueled giant fights back a wave of pain. Batman kneels beside him, examining the wound. Bane reaches up to grab the broken piece of metal in his chest, but Batman stops his hand.
"I don't have the equipment to stop up that wound," he says. "If you pull that blade out, you'll bleed to death."
Bane sighs, almost sounding exasperated, and lets his bloodied hand fall to his side.
Batman turns to look up at Green Arrow. Weak from blood loss and the climb, and still in shock from the loss of his arm and gritting his teeth through the pain, Oliver is on the brink of collapse. Batman can see the first signs of defeat creeping into the archer's eyes.
He stands up just as Green Arrow stumbles forward. Catching him before he can fall, Batman helps him toward the front of the room and lowers him into one of the chairs facing the controls.
"You once said you could fly anything," Batman tells him. "We need you to figure out these controls and get us out of here while I head back to the medical bay."
Green Arrow sits up as well as he can in the pilot's seat. "Okay."
At that moment, Batman's ears prick up. there's a footstep behind him.
Bane shouts, "Incoming!"
Batman spins toward the doorway, just in time to see the lead Predator in her black armor charging straight toward him.
. . .
The first skull Green Arrow sees belongs to a Violator from Spawn comics.
The second skull - the one with the frill - belongs to a Xenomorph Queen from the Alien franchise.
The smaller elongated skull is of a regular Xenomorph, while the humanoid skull with fangs belongs to a vampire. The other human skulls are random warriors encountered on their hunts.
The larger humanoid skull with the ridges on the forehead belongs to a Klingon, of Star Trek.
On the opposite wall, we find a large skull lacking eyes and covered in a sort of exoskeleton. This skull is from one of the monsters from A Quiet Place.
The over-sized Yautja skull belongs to an enhanced Bad Blood Predator (as seen in 2010's Predators).
As for the trinkets, the energy weapon is a lightsaber, while the mask and machete belonged to Jason Vorhees (did you notice that Batman recognized them?). Needless to say, this particular Yautja Clan definitely gets around.