The two met in the middle, with Batman's brains easily winning out against Bane's unabashed brawn.
Bane's outstretched hands grabbed empty air as Batman easily dodged the move and simply rolled between Bane's legs. As the detective sprang back up behind him, Bane twirled around to greet the vigilante only to be met with a sensation he had not felt in a long time: pain.
The electrified knuckle duster quickly found its target in Bane's lower jaw, delivering an electrical jolt to the brute that sent him reeling.
Now foregoing any sense of strategy or even form, Bane was now haphazardly throwing rights and lefts in an attempt to clobber Batman while the detective continued to evade every blow.
Keeping his arms raised in a boxing stance, Batman ducked and weaved past Bane's next sprawling haymaker and responded aptly with another right cross to the face that actually staggered the giant.
Touching the now burnt spot on his cheekbone where the electrically discharged metal had connected, Bane yelled out his frustration before attempting to grab his smaller opponent with both hands.
Ducking underneath his right armpit, Batman proceeded to deliver a smashing uppercut to Bane's groin area.
His knees nearly buckled as Batman's punch resonated, causing him to fall to a knee as the sudden jolt of pain briefly overcame his Venom-enhanced adrenaline surge.
Unloading a flurry of rights and lefts to the now vulnerable solar plexus of Bane, Batman struck with as much force and fury as he could possibly muster in each gauntlet.
He aimed at anything and everything that would disorient and otherwise incapacitate the augmented giant.
And slowly but surely the Dark Knight was beginning to wear his opponent down with every punishing blow to his temple, each arcing blow more powerful than the last.
Just when he figured the brute had had enough, Bane suddenly lashed out with his free arm and caught Batman's left wrist mid-strike.
Glaring up at the Batman angrily, Bane spat out a mouthful of crimson before turning his gaze towards Batman's left blunt-shaped knuckle-duster. Easily crushing the metallic armament with only a few meaty fingers, Bane swiftly slammed Batman to the floor in an emphatic thud.
Peeling the Dark Knight off the floor, he then proceeded to effortlessly sling him over his shoulder and throw him overhead behind him.
Impacting the floor shoulder-first, Batman instinctively winced as he tumbled down the floor in an unceremonious heap.
Righting himself mid-tumble, he dug his heels in and grounded himself in a defensive position as Bane slowly got up.
"Is that the best you can do, pendejo?"
The slits in Batman's cowl narrowed in quickfire contemplation as he removed the now dysfunctional duster away and reached into his utility belt.
Aiming another Batarang at the leering giant, he focused in on his intended target before hurling the projectile and standing up.
Easily dodging the Batarang by merely tilting his head to the sides, Bane eagerly cracked his knuckles before breaking into a frenzied charge towards the Dark Knight.
Walking calmly towards the gargantuan mass of humanity charging at him, Batman also broke out into a run as the two adversities looked set for a collision course.
Making earthquakes with every step he took, Bane was the complete antithesis to Batman's more calculated, reserved sprint. Armed with just one electrified knuckle duster, Batman continued to fearlessly run towards the belly of the Venom-addicted beast without hesitation.
Then, just as the two were about to collide the Batarang thrown earlier finally hit its target.
Looping back around after Bane had dismissively dodged it the first time around, the reverse Batarang sliced through the tube attached to the base of Bane's skull.
Immediately gasping in pain as he felt his primary source of Venom supply dissipate, he stumbled forward breaking his forward momentum which allowed Batman to capitalize.
Using the nearby railing for added aerial support, Batman landed another emphatic Superman punch to Bane's temple that definitely bruised, if not outright broke the cartilage in Bane's nose.
Now teetering back, Bane blindly swung at Batman with another backfist to which the detective replied by leaping over Bane's forearm in a sideways somersault.
Landing behind him, Batman selected his remote charger gun and after just a few seconds fired a well-aimed shot into the now open socket that the now severed tubing had previously fed into.
Immediately growing limp as the electrical discharge exploded into the base of his neck, Bane remained completely vulnerable to the Batman's next combo.
Using the railing as a springboard, Batman nailed a low dropkick to the back of Bane's right knee, drilling his heels into Bane's flesh and forcing him to kneel. Then, he ascended up the back of the behemoth in just a few steps before kicking off the base of his skull.
Grappling up a few feet above to ensure maxim impact of this pivotal blow, Batman propelled himself up in the air before releasing the trigger and descending down on his unsuspecting foe.
Batman almost instantly felled the giant with an electrically charged right from above, Bane's head snapping forward towards the grated floor as the blow connected off the side of his skull.
"Uggghhh…" Bane remained flat on the ground as Batman stood to his full height, his second knuckle duster now bend beyond further use. Tossing the armament away, he sorely clutched his shoulder before regarding his adversary.
With his hulking mass still face down on the floor, Batman carefully scanned his barely stirring body for any hint of a resurgence. Sensing no immediate threat, he activated his comlink.
"Oracle, I've neutralized Bane. Tell Jim to get a team in-"
"Ugh…" Batman's report was cut short as Bane suddenly grabbed him by the throat, victorious in this game of possum.
Caught off guard by Bane's continued resilience, he soon found himself struggling to draw breath as life once again returned to the brute.
Snarling at the gargling vigilante with one eye swollen shut and a broken nose, he gingerly rose to his feet while taking the Dark Knight with him.
Picking him up in a one-handed choke, Bane glowered at his adversary with pure hatred while Batman struggled to free himself.
Striking Bane again and again with his free hand, Batman's desperate attacks had no effect on the giant who merely shrugged off the blows.
"There will be no escape from me, Batman. I am your destiny!" he roared in Batman's face, before rearing his free hand back for the coup de grace.
Sensing an opening, Batman whipped out his explosive gel gun and quickly shot out a cartridge of the volatile gelignite straight unto the unexpected face of Bane.
"What is this-?" The explosive gel blew up before he knew what hit him, eliciting a pained yell from the behemoth who still somehow maintained a grip on the detective.
Involuntarily slamming Batman through the railing to dangle helplessly above the watery current below as he struggled to regain his balance, Bane let out another guttural roar of frustration before finally throwing Batman away with the burning sensation in his face breaking his narrow-minded concentration.
Sailing across the air, Batman had just enough time to better position himself before breaking the fall with his shoulder.
Groaning inwardly, he rolled a few times before digging his gauntlet spikes into the ground and righting himself.
Clutching his bruised and probably fractured midsection, Batman quickly scanned his surroundings and got up.
Seeing that he was now on the opposite end of the catwalk where Bane had originally entered, Batman strategically retreated back into the sewer corridor as the smoke finally cleared from Bane's eyes.
The mask now fully dissolved, the green veins tattooed on his facial features had become more pronounced than ever before, with his emerald eyes searching intently for the Bat.
Noticing a small opening above him, Batman quickly produced his grapple hook as Bane took off in an almost superhuman sprint towards him.
Finding a pipe to grapple on to, Batman hastily fired the hook upwards, unaware that Bane had transformed into a blur of raw power and speed in the interim.
Just as Batman's feet had left the ground Bane was already upon him.
Grabbing him by the ankle just as he was out of range, Bane brought Batman back down to earth with a vengeance.
The forward momentum of Bane's superhuman dash had wrenched Batman's fingers away from his coveted grapple gun in mid-air before the rest of him hit the cold floor.
Looking on hopelessly as his de facto transport device clattered harmlessly to the ground mere fingertips from his reach, Batman soon found himself an unwilling passenger to Bane's continued charge.
Clawing desperately at the ground before being effortlessly hoisted up into the air Batman was unceremoniously catapulted overhead and even further into the corridor.
Colliding hard against a horizontal pillar, Batman painfully slumped down to his knees as Bane turned towards another pillar.
Doubling over in a sudden fit of shaking that almost overwhelmed him, Batman spat out yet another glob of blood and saliva while ignoring the pain now shooting up his spine.
"Bruce, your vitals are plummeting fast! The suit can't take much more of this punishment," Oracle finally piped in, her voice stricken with worry and urgency.
"I can take it!" He insisted through gritted teeth, before glancing up around him. "Oracle, I need schematics of this sewer system. Now!"
Wrapping his massive forearms around another pillar, Bane dug his fingers in deep before tearing apart a sizable chunk of the infrastructure.
Briefly weighing the metallic boulder in one hand, he effortlessly hurled the makeshift projectile at the still downed Batman as if it was a basketball.
Throwing himself to the right just as the boulder tore through the pillar he was just leaning against, Batman slid across the floor just in time.
"You are a mere insecto too stupid to stand still and be squashed, Batman. And I have been patient for far too long," Bane declared, stomping towards the hero with his fists clenched into human-sized wrecking balls.
"Bruce, look at Bane's right. There should be some pipes that feed into the active sewer lines. Slice through the metal covering and the steam should incapacitate Bane," Oracle instructed, prompting Batman to spot the rusted pipes aligned perfectly with Bane's hulking mass still approaching.
Snapping out a Batarang, he pushed himself up on one knee, only with seconds to aim.
Hurling the Batarang, the projectile hit its intended target and then some. After nicking Bane's already crushed nose, it also sliced through yet another one of Bane's tubes before lodging itself within the pipeline.
Immediately, a gust of hot steam exploded from its protective casing, right in Bane's face.
Recoiling back as the steam seared onto his already bruised face, the behemoths pained yells brought new life back to the fatigued vigilante as he scrambled to his feet.
As Batman pulled himself back up, he noticed that Bane was now covering his eyes fully with one hand.
"I do not need to see to crush you, Batman," he scoffed between grunts, turning towards the general direction of the Dark Knight.
Circling the hulking mass of humanity warily, Batman carefully scouted for openings to exploit, vulnerabilities to take advantage of.
Then, Batman unknowingly took one step further to the right.
A step that Bane also heard.
Rearing back to Batman's immediately location, he swatted at the Dark Knight wildly.
Falling to the ground instinctively, Batman sprang back up with a Batarang drawn and primed to throw.
Unfortunately, Bane somehow anticipated this and lashed out with a sudden front kick to Batman's sternum that catapulted him backwards.
"Oomph..." Batman's spine bent a narrow vertical pipe, the unwelcoming metallic surface breaking his fall.
Collapsing in a heap with his Batarang clanging to the ground besides him, Batman was beginning to feel something he had not felt in a long time as Bane's booming footsteps seemed to signal his inevitable defeat.
Raising his foot high above the ground, Bane emphatically brought it down in a brutal head stomp that would've spread the Bat's brain matter all over the floor had he not thrown himself to the side.
Only this time, he left something behind for Bane.
Snarling as he felt his bare foot impact the cold floor instead of Batman's cowl, Bane started to look for the fleeing detective while being completely oblivious to the small device at his feet.
A freeze cluster grenade.
The device exploded into a web of ice that quickly ensnared Bane's gargantuan legs, immobilizing him to the ground.
"W-what is this?" he demanded, his voice shaking due to the subzero temperature settling in around his ankles.
"Batman, look at the ceiling below. This system has been active since Wonder City; I'm sure parts of the infrastructure are compromised enough for you to bring down," Oracle told him.
Quickly activating his Detective Vision and scanning upwards as Oracle had instructed, he pinpointed a specific portion of the ceiling that had decayed enough to be brought down.
Aiming his Batclaw upwards, he fired the hook at a rusted piece of rebar that was protruding from the dilapidated ceiling. Latching at the rebar, he only had to tug down briefly before the clump of materials barely held together began to come undone.
Raising his forearms, Bane brought them down against his frozen legs, smashing through the icy barrier while remaining completely oblivious to what was happening above him.
"You may have brought yourself time, Batman. But you have only delayed the in-"
Then, part of the ceiling fell on him.
Bane's arrogant monologue was completely drowned out by the layers of rebar and decaying pipeline burying him in a pile of debris.
Taking advantage, Batman reached into the back of his belt and unveiled a narrow vaccine. Stabbing it against his side, he instantly breathed out as he injected its contents then tossed it aside.
Adrenaline.
Pulling himself up, he produced a smoke pellet just as Bane started to punch his way free.
"I will be free, Batman!" Bane vowed, his mountainous fists making short work of the remaining debris on top of him.
Throwing it down, he allowed the protective smoke to envelope him as Bane finally broke free.
Seizing a sizable chunk of the ceiling debris, he chucked it at the cloud of smoke that had sheltered the Batman.
The boulder flew through the smoke where Batman's body had been seconds earlier, before impacting the nearby wall.
Grinding his teeth together, Bane seethed with a palpable rage that nearly shook the entire system to its very core.
Then, he let out an absolutely monstrous roar that echoed throughout the sewer labyrinth before setting out to break the Bat once and for all.
