Present Day

5 minutes earlier

The gut wrenching attack had left the Dark Knight on his hands and knees, gasping for air. The blow was so hard it knocked to wind out of his lungs. His head was swirling as he got back to his feet and checked to see where he was. Bane had tossed him to the other side of a large hallway. His helmet was in disarray as he could vaguely hear something talking and heading towards him. Batman slowly turned to face Bane as the krogan stomped his large boot into Batman's chest.

The force of the kick had him crash into an elevator entrance, denting the metal sliding doors. Batman slumped down and saw Bane walk up to him and smash down the metal doors into the long shaft below. Batman attempted to get up, but before he could Bane grabbed his leg and shoulder, hoisting him over his head and crushing his back over his armored knee.

The pain was excruciating as Batman tried to stay conscious. All his suit's systems were malfunctioning as he could barely feel anything anymore. Bane then noticed the elevator car descending from the top floors and tossed Batman down the shaft hoping the elevator would lower on top of him, resulting in a slow and painful death.

Present Day

Now

Every single nerve in his body screamed in pain as the actuators self-adjusted on his joints. Batman dropped to one knee and supported himself by a fist on the ground. The agony was starting to subside as the medicine starting taking effect and he was getting used to the actuators. He started to remember techniques to quell pain both physically and mentally as he slowly got to his feet.

"Still with me Alfred?" Batman coughed as his HUD started to come back online with all functions in reboot.

"Barely Sir," the AI's voice was different, going into high and low pitches, "systems are restarting, however the eezo-assisted actuators are online at 100%. And Sir, my initial scan of you seemed to be inaccurate." Batman watched as the elevator that was slowly making its way down get closer and closer to the bottom. He started to walk away from the elevator shaft and into a maintenance tunnel as best he could.

"Oh?" Batman asked trying to speak as normally as possible considering the pain he was in.

"With the amount of damage done to your back and torso, it seems the your armor and the actuators are the only things keeping you upright" regrettably replied the AI.

"Great," grunted Batman inside his helmet, "Alfred, activate the homing beacon". He could now hear Bane pounding on the malfunctioning elevator doors, that were about to give any second. He searched his belt for any equipment he had left and felt three smoke bombs. Just as he looked up, the large krogan burst through the metallic doors and searched through the dark hall with his glowing blue eyes.

Batman could feel his adrenaline going as he forced his body to ignore the pain it was in and toss the smoke bombs at the krogan's feet. The smoke rose and filled the dark hallway, concealing where Batman stalked around Bane. The krogan crime lord moved carefully through the smoke, taking his steps one at a time.

Batman saw his moment and leaped from the smoky shadows and brought a powerful fist into the krogan's side. Bane growled in pain as he turned to face where the attack had come from, only to get another armored fist underneath his jaw.

Bane stumbled back, noticing that these punches were considerably stronger than the Bat had been dealing previously. Having enough of the smoke and darkness, he raised both of his arms in the air and brought them both down onto the floor, spreading a shockwave of biotic power in all directions. Dim light pierced the darkness as Bane saw Batman leaning up against a cracked wall. Seeing him vulnerable, Bane rushed where Batman stood and before he rammed into him, the image Bane saw of Batman seemed to flicker and then come back on. At the last second, Bane realized it was a hologram.

The krogan decimated the wall as he fell through clear to the other side and into the presidium commons. Since Ivy's lair was well concealed in the depths of the presidium infrastructure, he fell nearly fifty feet down onto a platform below. It was night hours, so there weren't as many people out walking along the walkways of the commons. Bane growled to himself as he got to his feet and looked up at the hole in the wall above.

Batman stood defiantly in the cracked wall and looked down at Bane. The hologram he had created was just enough to distract Bane, even if it did almost fail. Batman saw in the corner of his eye the Batwing hover to his level in front of the hole. He never kept his eyes off the krogan as he leaped into the open cockpit and flew off into the artificial horizon.

Bane knew exactly what Batman was doing; first he created a hole where C-Sec could trace back to Ivy's lair, thus exposing his hideout. And second; goading Bane to follow him back to his lair. Bane looked around at some of the fleeing pedestrians and could hear the sirens of C-Sec on their way. Scowling, Bane started to run to one of the maintenance levels that came off the commons, as he knew every corridor of this part of the Citadel.

He raised his omni-tool to his mask piece, "This is Bane to all units on the Citadel, meet me at rendezvous point bravo….tonight we're hunting the Bat!"

Casey knew he only had minutes. He entered the hidden techno cave from the secret entrance on the underside of the Citadel and started to prep the Batcave for an all-out assault. Bane already knew his identity and Casey knew he would not be able to resist his challenge. Casey wanted to be ready for him and anyone he brought with him.

He landed the Batwing in the center of the cave and instantly leaped out, grimacing in pain as his boots hit the ground. Taking off his helmet, he made his way over to the main computer and started to go through all his contingency plans.

"Alfred, prep the auxiliary Bat-Armor, with enhanced Eezo-assited actuators in place" Casey let his right curl into a fist, stretching his hurt muscles as he continued to type into the main holographic controls. Alfred, now having repaired itself through the Batcave's mainframe, complied immediately and began to prep the new outfitted armor within the armory.

"Sir, before getting into the new armor, would you have me see some of your wounds and possible try to set some of your fractures?" Casey finished up with his last commands into the main frame and started to make his way to the armory.

"There isn't time" Casey stepped into the armory and let the mechanical arms extend from the walls and remove the broken armor from him. Additional arms protracted to help keep Casey on his feet as he could barely stand without the actuators strengthening him. With the old armor put away, Alfred began fitting the new armor piece by piece.

Casey knew a day would come when an opponent would get the better of him and so always had back up plans. The new armor was modified for helping him for when he was already hurt, so that he could still fight. This included enhanced eezo-assited actuators for easier moving and more support as well as pain regulators. Lastly with everything in place, Alfred lowered the polished Bat shaped helmet over his head.

The seal engaged, showing all systems were online and at 100%. The mechanical arms retracted as Casey stood idle in the armor, letting the actuators adjust. Every time he activated them, they put pressure on his joints and nerves, but without it he would stand no chance against Bane in his condition.

Casey emerged from the armory in the full Batman armor ready for anything. He spoke in his augmented, deep tone to the AI throughout the cave, "Alfred, ready all invasive protocols in the cave. Seal the mansion entirely. And cut all lights in the cave."

The technological cave was never fully lit up when used, but now was completely dark as the bats talked to one another. Batman used his boosters to ascend to the rafters that lined a portion of the caves ceiling. From there he could see the entire layout below. He waited patiently as he checked all defenses on his dark blue omni-tool.

"Perimeter breached on lower level, sewer entrance" said Alfred into Batman's helmet. He knew exactly where they were as Batman examined his omni-tool and brought up an image of the sewer entrance. He saw Bane enter through a hole they created through one of the metal grates in the sewer line. It wasn't a direct route to the cave, but just one of the hidden entrances. Batman tapped a holographic button on his omni-tool and watched as Bane's mercenaries began to hold their heads in dismay.

A high frequency sonar emitted throughout the narrow sewer way. The mercenaries without a sealed helmet clutched the side of their heads in pain as the screeching intensified. The sound was so extreme that some of the humans as well as salarians in Bane's crew passed out. Bane did not have his helmet on and only seemed annoyed by the sonar as he and the others pressed on.

Batman noted that it seemed like Bane had an innate knowledge of navigating through the lower levels of the cave. He thought perhaps Bane had stumbled upon blueprints of the cave from whoever occupied the manor before his parents bought it all those years ago. Batman couldn't think on that now, Bane and his crew had just entered the level underneath the main floor of the cavern.

That whole level was mainly generators for the cave and manor above. The entire floor was rigged with sensors that tracked unauthorized movement. When detected, untraceable stun mines emerged from the floor and walls, disabling anyone who walked near them. At first only two of Bane's mercenaries suddenly fell to the ground, then as the others started to panic and move more frantically, more began to fall.

Casey smiled under his helmet as he watched several more mercenaries fall unconscious from the sudden shock from the traps. Bane finally let loose a medium sized shockwave, deactivating all the micro-bats and shaking Batman's perch slightly.

Batman then heard a small detonation below him and knew that Bane had reached the cave. Bane only had a dozen mercenaries with him now, all the others falling prey to the cave's defenses. The krogan's muffled voice echoed through the cave as he gave commands, "He's here somewhere, spread-out and start planting the charges."

Explosives; one of possible scenarios Batman thought Bane would bring with him. He was ready for any eventuality, including the worst possible outcome. Batman scanned and painted all the targets throughout the cave, including Bane. He saw the mercenaries begin to set high powered explosives in different parts of the cave.

"I figured since you showed everyone where my home was, I would do the same for you" Bane stood in the very center of the cave, next to the powered down main console. "Then the whole galaxy will know that the charitable billionaire, Casey Kane, spends his nights dressed as a winged rodent" the krogan said mockingly waiting for an answer.

Batman ignored him and was already on the move so that he was directly over top of Bane. Then Batman pressed another button on his omni-tool which started an echoing chirp throughout the cave. The soft noise started to multiple, chirping more and more. The entire cave was teeming with micro-bats, robots slightly smaller than regular bats with concussive charges wired into them. They were mixed in to the populace of live bats all throughout the cave. When activated, they each started a tiny chirp that caused them to swarm at targets.

The chirp also stirred the live bats in the cave, causing them to fly with the robotic micro-bats. With all the bats in the cave circling the targets below, the chirp quickly turned into a screech that caused all the mercenaries below in disarray, trying to fight off the winged creatures.

One by one the mercenaries fell due to the numerous concussive blasts. Some tried to shoot wildly into the air as others just tried swatting at them, but there were too many. Batman heard as each of Bane's gang fell, but never took his eyes off Bane, who stood unflinching as the bots tried to take him down.

Batman saw that there were only two of Bane's crew left, running around the cave trying to find cover and so leaped down. He opened his cape and glided through the haze of bats down to where Bane, landing hard directly in front of him. The impact caused no pain, meaning the new actuators were working properly.

Even in the complete darkness, Bane looked right at Batman as he draped his cape around himself. "Did you think you are the only one who felt more comfortable in the dark?" Batman gave his answer as he charged forward landing a pinpointed fist into the krogan's stomach. Batman knew exactly where and how any foe; target sensitive organs, the problem with krogan however is they have back up organs.

Batman twisted and accurately brought around his elbow into the side of the krogan, causing him to stumble backwards. Bane slammed his fist down onto the ground, firing a streak of blue energy towards where Batman used to be as he rolled out of the way. Mid-roll he tossed three batarangs towards Bane's face which lit up the dark cave in three brilliant bursts.

Temporarily blinded, Bane growled as he took a device off his belt and hit the button on top of it. Having thought the explosives were on a timer, it surprised Batman to feel the cave shake as several explosions went off all over the place. Fireballs expanded out of every corner of the tech cave, rupturing walls and shaking the entire foundation of the manor.

"No doubt the explosions reached to the exterior of the cave and mansion" thought Casey to himself, "Alfred what is the average response time for C-Sec to emergencies on this pod of the Citadel?" asked Casey out loud as he looked around at all the fires through the cave.

"Seven minutes Sir." Batman turned to face Bane, who had recovered, with only seven minutes to clean up this whole mess.

"I know all about you, you know" Batman started as he once again draped his cape around himself. Fires now lit up the cave, as Batman began to walk in a large circle around Bane. "I've been to Tuchanka, learned what you did to your clan."

Bane started to walk opposite of Batman as he said nothing.

"I know that you deemed your clan un-worthy because you thought they were weak, a lesson you probably learned from your late father" Batman guessed at that last part, but felt he was correct because of Bane's emotionless stare. "Then you killed every last one of them, just to prove your point. And when you confronted the other clans' elders, they exiled you."

Batman stopped circling and turned to watch Bane draw closer to where he stood.

"They left you for dead and you probably would have died if you weren't picked up by a mercenary ship that happened to be nearby." After Casey had learned of the krogan known as Kin-Bane, he did his own research, going through ship logs, different sightings of ships in the area to see what happened to the merciless killer.

"You were so beaten, they had to give you red sand just so you could sit up," Batman watched as Bane was only steps away from him, "it's a shame too, I would have loved to have fought you at full strength."

Bane now towered directly over Batman with his blue eyes glaring into Batman's lenses. Then the krogan began a deep laugh that echoed over the burning flames.

"Do you think by telling me my past and attempting to anger me, will somehow give you the upper hand?" asked Bane looking down at Batman.

"No," Batman nonchalantly replied, "just stall you". Batman then rocketed upwards with his boosters as the Batwing soared directly behind him and trampled through the baffled krogan. The compact fighter was only minimally damaged from the bombs as it streaked and skidded across the cavern floor with the krogan trapped at the front of it. In a huge explosion, the fighter collided into one of the already burning infernos on the far wall of the cave, sending fiery debris in all directions.

Batman glided back down and landed on the cave surface. He knew that the explosion wouldn't kill Bane, but would definitely injure him. Batman tried to enhance his oculars on where the Batwing had taken the krogan, but all he saw was burning metal.

Metal creaked and was flung away from the crash as Bane forcefully emerged from the wreckage. He breathed hard as he stepped down to the cavern floor. He had wounds bleeding all over him as he lifted his glitching omni-tool up. He pressed a button on it that caused him to tense up and start growling loudly.

Batman noticed the red mist the krogan normally breathed out when he exhaled had grown in size and density. Red veins began to appear in the areas where the krogan's skin was exposed as he started to get larger. His eyes were searing with biotic power as he started to run towards where Batman stood.

Batman figured he just tripled his dosage of red mist intake to surge his biotic power and numb any wounds he had, but also severely increase the toxicity levels in his blood. He may be more powerful than ever, but sooner or later his body would not be able to withstand that much poison.

As Bane stomped his way to Batman, gaining momentum, the Dark Knight started a light jog straight at the incoming krogan. The jog quickly turned into a run and then a sprint as Batman put everything he had to force his hurt body to go even faster. In the middle of the burning cave they quickly met as Bane tried to swipe and grab Batman as he was coming at him, instead Batman slid underneath of the large krogan's legs.

Sliding between Bane's legs, Batman instinctively placed two magnetic grapple fixtures on each of the krogan's armored boots. Tripping hard onto the metal floor, Bane forced himself to his feet and lifted one leg, tearing the grapple line.

Batman wasted no time as he closed the space between them and positioned a gauntleted punch right into Bane's breathing mask. The hit just made the krogan angrier as he swung a giant fist down at Batman, who braced himself and put both of his forearms up to block the attack.

Even though he blocked it, Batman could still feel his teeth rattle as the massive fist connected with his gauntlets. The actuators in his knees and shoulders strained as he began to push the fist off of him and feeling he had his opportunity, Batman rolled left and sprang up into a battle stance.

Bane took the bait and let loose a jab aimed for Batman's head, but Batman avoided the punch and twisted himself around, landing a strong roundhouse kick to Bane's breathing apparatus, partially damaging the device. The krogan stumbled back, adjusting the tight mask on his face and looking back at Batman with renewed vigor.

Bane composed himself and could feel the powerful poison coursing through his veins as he readied one last biotic attack. Blue energy surged all over his body, preparing to let out a shockwave that would encompass the entire area.

Batman saw the krogan readying another biotic pulse and so quickly unclipped a small explosive device from his belt and magnetically attached it to his right gauntlet, onto his knuckles. As fast as he could, Batman reared the primed fist back and placed his footing directly in front of Bane, throwing the fist as fast as he could towards Bane's damaged mask piece.

Within just a mere second, Bane unleashed his biotic detonation in every direction, but not before Batman's strong strike impacted in a massive burst of fire mixed with biotic residue. The resulting explosion sent them both of the flying in opposite directions.

Batman skidded on his back before coming to a stop on the other side of the cave. He grimaced feeling his right arm in pain, figuring even with the armor and actuators that it was broken. He curled his arm carefully against his chest as he slowly got up and started a limp towards where Bane was thrown to.

Bane was flung against the wall and had fallen down face first onto the floor. He staggered to his feet, attempting to breathe in more red sand. His breathing apparatus was too damaged, but he was still managing to inhale a small amount of the potent drug. When the krogan breathed in now, the malfunctioning breathing mask now made a long wheezing sound as his inhaled. It did not matter though, the krogan knew he was out of biotic energy and was slowly dying from overdose. .

The krogan eyed Batman as he limped towards him. Finally, Batman stopped nearly six feet in front of Bane and began to stare back at him with no words. Bane knew what it was; it was a stare of judgment. Batman knew he was depleted of energy, that he had nothing left. Batman was judging his strength and Bane knew what he had to do.

"Heh" Bane let out as he brought a shaky hand to his mask piece to un-latch it and let if fall to the ground. Now bare, Batman could see the scarred tissue surrounding the krogan's mouth as he fought for breaths. Bane struggled to speak, "Good fight, you are worthy….I'm…" he wheezed as he fell to his knees, coughing. Batman took a step forward, anticipating what was happening, but stopped as the krogan put a hand up, telling him to stop.

"…not…" Bane exhaled as he collapsed onto the ground. Batman had been monitoring his vitals via his HUD and knew what the outcome was going to be the second Bane began to gather biotic power. When he attached the grenade to his glove and hit him in his breathing apparatus, he had hoped it would cut his red sand supply long enough to subdue him before he could let loose the rest of his energy, but it was a moot effort. He scanned over the krogan's body and read no life signatures.

Debris from the ceiling finally started to give way due to the battle that raged in the cave. The remaining mercenaries that accompanied Bane had already escaped, gathering the unconscious ones with them as they went back the way they came in. Fires still littered the cave as bits of metals and debris fell.

Casey un-sealed his helmet as he looked around the cave, realizing it was lost. "Alfred, is all data saved and transferred?"

"Yes Sir" replied the AI over the wreckage of the cavern.

"Okay, initiate purge protocol alpha one" Casey solemnly said as he started to manually take off the Batman armor.

"Right away, Sir" replied the AI. Above the fires, blue sparks began to shoot out from the walls, frying all the computer systems. Casey was halfway done taking off his armor as he made his way to the secret entrance back to the manor. Small, controlled explosions started to go off amongst the armory, med-corner, and training area. Casey had made it to the elevator that went up the manor wearing the skin tight under suit, holding his broken arm as he looked back at the cave.

"Purge nearly complete, activate the neutron disintegrators?" asked Alfred.

Casey hesitated to answer, but knew it needed to be done, "Do it." Casey then pressed the button for the elevator to close and start to rise. He lowered his head as he heard the powerful disruptors activate, turning all important areas of the cave into dust. Now all he needed to do was confront C-Sec about the crime lord trying to extort him for money and setting off a bomb in his basement below. C-Sec would not be able to find any indication that he was the Batman and would still be able to find Bane's body, which was conveniently not over one of the neutron designators.

Back in the manor above, it took everything Casey had to limp to his closest to change into regular clothes. He had wounds all over him that bled onto the clothes, furthering the illusion that Casey had been brutalized by the criminals.

"Alfred, when C-Sec is at the door, let them in and explain the situation" coughed Casey as he made his to his bed and laid down on it. "And tell them to get an ambulance too."

"Yes Sir" chimed Alfred. The AI was undamaged by the loss of the cave, due to having his mainframe wired into the manor rather than the cave. "How should I tell them you escaped the clutches of the thugs, Sir?"

Casey closed his eyes and took a deep breathe in, "Surprise me."