The two mercenaries never saw it coming. They had been simultaneously taken out by Batman and Spider-Man. The heroes heard the walkie talkie buzz, demanding a response, but Batman opted to let the order go unanswered. He tuned the headset in his cowl to listen into their communication. Spider-Man meanwhile cocooned the two mercenaries to a rock.
"Looks like Bane is here to help someone escape. His men have subdued the armory, and the guards are under watch in their barracks," he reported.
""Well, they're gonna find it pretty tough to get off the island in that" Spider-man pointed to the boat which he had also webbed up. "I say we go in there, scope out the situation and then call the others for backup."
"They may not get here fast enough," Batman replied.
"But if they have to stop and throw up because they swung over here with half a pizza that hadn't settled in their stomachs; that might be even longer," he countered.
Batman gave a sighing breath through his nose. "10 minutes but if we determine if anyone has been freed already, we contact them immediately" he compromised. But as Spider-man swung ahead of him, he activated his tracker so the others would know exactly where they were. They stopped at the empty space in the wall where the heavy steel door once stood.
Spider-man looked back at the door which had been tossed on the beach as easily as an empty soda can. "Gee this Bane guy must work out."
"Among other things" Batman added, and they headed further inside the prison.
Another pair of mercenaries were still watching over the subdued slumbering guards. Batman and Spider-man observed them from the catwalk above them. They conversed with each other in Spanish, and Peter wished Miles was there to translate. Batman drew a batarang and tossed it at a nearby fire extinguisher which caused it to explode, the alarmed guards were thrown off, as the two heroes silently took them down. They looked at all the guards who were still unconscious, having collapsed wherever they had been standing at the time.
"Did they use gas?" Spider-man asked, but Batman already had a miniature gasmask on as he entered the room. He felt the pulse of one of the guards slumped in a chair in front of his computer. "They're still alive, breathing normally," he added, lifting an eyelid. "Effective tranquilization. Usually not Bane's method of operation."
"No, if that door is any indicator I bet he prefers punting guards like they were footballs" Spider-man replied. Batman ignored his comment and started typing on the computer. "Wait, what are you doing?"
"The cameras might be down, but we can at least track by finding out what doors they've accessed," Batman explained, he deduced that if a keycard had been used, it was not by a guard. Even if Bane had knocked down a door, he figured there would be some sort of alert in their security system. He found the path of the hallway doors that opened automatically and then to the singular cell which had been accessed. I brought up the prisoner file and Spider-man recognized the mugshot.
"Oh great, Electro, not only do we have your superstrong tank running free, but he's just freed a living superconductor" he lamented. Batman looked up at him, and he read the dark knight's mind. It was time to call in the others.
At this point, Miles, Gwen, Dick, and Barbara had two pizzas and were eating on the roof of a building. The two young spider-heroes had selected this one because of the great view. They were playing a game of who had fought the dumbest villain, and Batgirl was just recounting her first run in with Killer Moth.
"Look he may have looked ridiculous but at least you said his suit could fly. The Hypno Hustler crashed our high school homecoming dance. He just used his guitar to entrance his audience so he could rob them blind, and his music has been out of style since the 70s." Spider-Gwen replied.
"And at least your Moth goon was smart enough to target Bruce Wayne, an actual billionaire; the Hustler chose a public high school. We don't exactly have Rolexes and Lamborghinis." Miles added. "He was such a clown!"
"Well clowns can be pretty terrifying," Robin countered. He was about to try and win the dumbest villain contest by mentioning Kite-man but was interrupted when the bat-wave communicator started buzzing. "I guess our dinner break is over" he sighed, placing the communicator on speaker. "We're all here Batman, what's going on?"
"Bane and his mercenaries have seized control of the east wing of the Raft maximum security prison. They've freed a super criminal codenamed Electro and don't appear to be done yet. Get over here as soon as possible." Batman directed then signed off before they could respond.
"Something tells me we're getting a new lineup for the Sinister Six" Miles said as he and the others felt a twinge of anxiety. Batgirl sighed and tossed her pizza crust to a nearby gathering of pigeons.
Batman and Spider-Man subdued the guards in the armory. "This sort of organized assault is not spur of the moment. They've been planning since before the train derailment. But what is their endgame" Batman wondered aloud.
"Want to try asking one of these guys? This one might still be conscious" Spider-Man replied, spinning a mercenary that was hanging upside down wrapped in web. Batman knew they didn't have time to break a train Santa Priscan mercenary.
Just then, the walkie talkie began buzzing again, and Batman switched on his headset so Spider-man could hear as well. "No resistance, we have reached the hexagon, return to the boat, with what you can carry and await our arrival."
"Oh that's bad on so many levels," Spider-man said.
"Who is in the Hexagon?" Batman asked.
"Doctor Otto Octavius, or you may have heard of him as Doctor Octopus. And even worse than that is that the cell requires 4 people to open and release each of the doc's extra hands." he explained using air quotes as he mentioned the doctor's tentacles.
Batman began looking around the room. They had no idea how long it would take the others to get to the prison. They needed a distraction to slow down the villains. "Come on," he ordered before Spider-man could protest. They went back to the security console, and Batman reactivated the alarms they had deactivated before the breach. Within minutes a blaring alarm echoed through the entire prison and boomed so loud it could be heard across the bridge where the others were swinging towards them.
The noise even penetrated the walls in the hexagonal cell where Dr. Otto Octavius sat in his chair, the ends of his four mechanical arms were anchored to different walls greatly limiting his movement within his holding area. He covered his ears to lessen the ear-splitting sound, and if he hadn't been looking ahead, he would not have noticed the door sliding open. He smiled as Electro and Mysterio followed by Poison Ivy and Bane entered the room.
"It appears we have lost the element of surprise," Electro said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Now is not the time for comedy," Bane snapped. The four villains moved the individual keypads and after Poison Ivy counted down from three silently on her fingers, they all hit the release buttons simultaneously. There was a humming of the hydraulics of the restraints releasing and all of Doc's tentacles were free after thirty seconds.
He moved them like feet that had fallen asleep. "You have my thanks; I can see this alliance is already proving fruitful Dr. Isley" he thanked.
"Let us hold off on self-congratulations until we make it off this island," replied Poison Ivy calmly. "That noise is going to draw every police officer, Bat and Spider right to us."
"They may already be here," Bane interrupted. "None of my men are responding."
"Let's get out of here," Electro exclaimed.
"Not so fast," Dr. Octopus replied, already formulating a plan. "I believe a suitable reception may be in order."
Spider-Man crawled on the ceiling towards the Hexagon cell where he knew Doctor Octopus was locked up. He had sped ahead of Batman but not before syncing up their communicators. "No sign of anyone yet. I'm almost to the hexagon." Batman had told Spider-man to go ahead of him. Turning the corner, he found the door to the cell open. He could see Doc Ock still sitting in spot with 4 others standing around him, two of which he recognized. "Uh oh, Bats I've found them. I'm guessing that the big guy with the luchador mask is Bane. There's a redhead in green, everyone else I know" he reported.
"That would be Poison Ivy," Batman replied.
"Why do they call her that?" Spider-Man asked. He was staring at the villains who had yet to notice him; in fact, he realized they had barely moved. His spider senses alerted just as a vine grabbed his leg. It flung him into the cell as the illusion of the villains fizzled out. Spider-man looked up to see Mysterio standing in the doorway as the vines retracted into a potted plant that had been in Doctor Octopus's cell. Poison Ivy took her hand off the pot and went through the door and Mysterio locked Spider-man in just before the hero could to them.
"Let's see how you like getting stuffed in a cell, Spidey!" Electro taunted. The villains could hear him banging from the other side of the door.
"May I suggest we get moving, if he's here I doubt Batman is very far behind" Poison Ivy suggested. But when they turned to go Batman was already standing in the doorway staring them down. The dark knight pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it at the villains. As four of them either coughed from the smoke or struggled to see through it, Mysterio confidently stepped out in his protective helmet. Batman then hurled a batarang which flung over Mysterio's head by a foot at least.
"Missed me" Mysterio mocked, but Batman did not react, continuing to stare down the villain.
As the others emerged from the smoke Bane looked at his enemy and grumbled. "He never misses." There was an electronic beeping behind them, and before the smoke was completely clear Spider-Man emerged and kicked Mysterio across the room. When the smoke fully dissipated, they saw the batarang wedged in the keypad that unlocked the cell.
"Thanks for the bailout, Bats," Spider-man replied then turned to face the villains, "and aren't you up past your bedtime Doc?"
Doctor Octopus glared angrily. Poison Ivy reinvigorated the house plant, and it erupted into a jungle full of vines that began swiping at the heroes. While they were distracted, the Doc started barking orders to others. "Take them out quickly, our window for escape is shrinking."
"Clearly your men weren't up to stuff!" Mysterio taunted Bane who growled back.
Batman and Spider-Man continued to play defense, dodging the vines as they were thrusted at them. "Seriously, I thought plant-ladies were supposed to be friendly!"
"Plants are about the only thing she's friendly to!" Batman responded to Spider-man as the latter cleared an incoming vine. They had to stall the villains. But the narrow hallway made it difficult. Electro let off a blinding light. Batman staggered back but it was a long enough distraction that he didn't see Doctor Octopus's tentacle coming. It clamped around his legs and flung the Dark Knight through a concrete wall. Spider-man saw Batman bracing with his arms and knees, but he knew that might've killed him.
"No!" Peter said diving through the hole in the wall as Poison Ivy's vine slammed into it and caved it in. The villains and heroes were now cut off from one another.
"Let's get out of here!" Mysterio said.
"No, not until they are finished!" Bane replied.
"Bane, if he's dead he's dead, if he's alive it's only a matter of time" Ivy counseled. Bane wrestled internally with what he wanted and what was the smart call.
"Come on!" Doc Ock said, and they were on their way back to the boats.
A police helicopter had arrived ahead of the police boats which were delayed by the regrouping S.W.A.T. team. They shined a spotlight down on the beach at the five villains exiting the prison. The villains paused but then Mysterio removed the camouflage he had placed over one of their boats, the mercenaries' rafts were covered in webs. Before they could get to them the copter buzzed over the boats and they saw a bunch of things drop off the landing skids.
"Those better not be bombs," Electro said as he broke into a sprint. But when he got to the boat the four younger heroes emerged from the boats, with Miles kicking him back to where the other villains had stopped.
"Glad didn't miss the coming out party" Robin said, wrapping his fist with his other hand, a martial arts ready pose.
"Apparently it's just a night for squishing spiders and bats!" Doctor Octopus snapped.
Robin was about to counter with the fact he technically wasn't a bat, but Bane did not wait to charge the heroes. Miles shot a blob of webbing into the juggernaut's face blind him temporarily. He nearly ran into them before they jumped out of the way.
"¡Tú, pequeño bicho!" Bane shouted as he pulled off the webs.
Somewhat surprised to have a villain insulting him in Spanish, Miles responded, "¡Eh! ¡A quién llamas pequeño!" Bane responded by tapping the control on his venom pump. His muscles tensed and he grew larger towering over the spider-heroes.
"You, pequeño spider," Bane replied before trying to flatten the young hero. Miles flipped backwards and then flew up to kick him in the chest. But Bane hardly flinched then flicked Miles off into Robin, barely missing Electro.
"Hey, watch it!" Electro snapped.
A rumbling began getting louder off the coast and they saw a dozen police boats coasting towards the island. "Our window is closing boys! Now or never" Ivy called. She extended her hand towards the thorn bushes growing along the prison walls and they shot vines out to tangle Spider-Gwen and Batgirl. While Miles and Robin tried to help free them, the villains boarded their boat and cast off. They plowed through the blockade with coverage from Electro and then Mysterio made the boat disappear at sea. The first two police boats then beached to secure the prison.
Once Poison Ivy was out of range the thorn bushes receded. One SWAT trooper approached them while the others moved inside the raft. "Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yeah, but I'm gonna need a new suit," Gwen replied looking at how the thorns had scraped up her knees and torn the fabric.
The officer heard a report from inside over the radio. "Overall, this could've been a lot worse, the majority of the inmates never left their cells, and they've found the guards incapacitated by non-lethal means."
"That just means this was planned to a t, they went for exactly who they wanted," Batgirl replied as Miles and Robin helped her and Gwen to their feet.
"Wait where are…" Robin began but the loud call over the radio for paramedics interrupted. He and the others broke into a sprint heading inside. They followed the trail of destruction to where the SWAT and Spider-man were steadying Batman and trying to keep him still. Batman was gritting his teeth; it was plain that he was obviously in excruciating pain. Robin and Batgirl were horrified.
"Doc Ock sent him through the wall. I can't believe he's still in one piece" Spider-man reported.
"Merely a flesh wound," Batman said with a grimace of pain.
"Yeah, we're gonna let a doctor say for sure," Spider-Man replied, trying to keep Batman talking so he wouldn't lose consciousness. The others watched on helplessly. The villains were gone, but right now all they cared about was if Batman was going to be okay.