On the yacht deck, Bane and Batman were fighting.
"Batman, you've fallen. Working with a thief now," Bane shouted, swinging a punch that smashed right through the ship's rail. Bane's strength was insane, like a bulldozer.
But with his powered armor, Batman wasn't easy to mess with either. "It's your ambition that worries me more than any thief," he replied, shoulder turbines spinning as his fists lashed out.
Boom!
A single punch blasted a hole in the deck.
Both men had trained under the same teacher—their combat skills were top notch. With their strength evenly matched, technique became the real key. Batman and Bane moved with an almost animal-like precision, every motion packed with power.
Blow after blow, move for move, attack and defense, it all looked like a scene straight out of an action movie. Batman and Bane really were perfect rivals. Neither could take the upper hand. Batman jumped back to gain distance, then tossed a smoke bomb.
"You'll never learn," Ben said, watching Batman use smoke bombs again with clear disdain.
Batman didn't answer, plunging into a fierce fight with Bane inside the smoke.
Darkness, fear, pain—both of them had suffered it all. Now, inside the swirling smoke, their shadows clashed like two ancient giants locked in a roaring struggle. One had found redemption in the night, the other had been lost to it. After enduring so much, Batman wanted to protect others from that pain. Bane, on the other hand, wanted everyone else to suffer just as he had.
Last time, Batman lost. But this time, he wouldn't lose again. This world was worth saving. The powered suit's turbines whined louder, pumping energy into Batman.
Boom—
Kaitou Kid glanced over just in time to see Batman throw a punch that turned the smoke into a swirling vortex, instantly drawing all the darkness to his fist. It was like a dragon roaring forward, swallowing Bane whole.
Batman cut through the darkness—the same darkness that gave birth to both him and Bane. Now Batman wasn't hiding in the shadows; he was controlling them, surpassing Bane in that one instant.
He hit Bane's mask dead-on, sending him stumbling and crashing to the floor.
"Batman, you know you could just cut his feed line and he'd lose all that power," Kaitou Kid said, stepping up after dealing with the henchmen.
But Batman kept his eyes on Bane, still on high alert.
Suddenly, Kaitou heard something whistle through the air. He looked over just in time to see that Bane wasn't knocked out—he was only pretending, waiting to lure someone close. Now, a knife flew toward them. Kaitou tried to react, but was a little slow.
Batman was even faster. He shot out a metal arm and caught the blade in a flash, just before Liu A'dou's fingers even had a chance to grab it.
'Seriously? Batman's showing off again,' Kaitou Kid thought, annoyed. "That doesn't count. I totally could've caught it myself. I don't owe you anything for this one."
Batman didn't reply. He tossed the knife aside and stepped up to grab Bane. "Tell me! Where did you get this virus that turns people into the walking dead?!"
Bane's mask was broken. That sneak attack had drained his last bit of energy—he twitched on the ground, almost like a seizure.
"Tell me!" Batman shouted.
"I don't know what you want to know. But maybe I can help you—after all, New York is my turf."
The voice came from the sky. Both Kaitou Kid and Batman looked up. Iron Man was dropping from above, his voice echoing before he even landed.
Four jets of fire kept Iron Man hovering in the air. Under his mask, Bruce frowned. 'Why is Iron Man here?'
Kaitou Kid raised an eyebrow too. Looked like his impersonation of Tony had been exposed. Sure enough, Pepper had noticed both the jewel and Tony missing and had called Tony for help.
Tony was surprised—he hadn't even gone to the yacht, so how did he run into Pepper? He had to see who was pretending to be him, so he rushed to the yacht as fast as possible and found Batman interrogating Bane.
Batman set Bane down and slowly stood, looking up at Iron Man. "This has nothing to do with you."
"If it's happening in New York, it has everything to do with me. Hand Bane over. I want answers about the virus too," Iron Man said.
"No." Batman refused.
"So you're going to make me do this the hard way?" Iron Man cut his jets and landed hard on the deck. "Just like the rumors say, you're not much of a team player."
Iron Man straightened up, standing face to face with Batman.
Damn, Liu A'dou hadn't expected the two richest guys to actually get into it here. Forget the time he'd impersonated Tony—this was their first real face-off. What a historic moment, and he just happened to be here for it. Too lucky.
"You're just like the rumors too."
Iron Man whistled. "What rumors?"
"That you're not easy to like," Batman said.
The two tycoons stared each other down over Bane. Iron Man didn't hold back—he reached out to take Bane away.
Batman grabbed Iron Man's wrist.
"Let go. This is my favorite suit," Tony said.
"Bane is going back to prison with me," Batman said, voice low.
"Oh?" Iron Man replied. "You mean that Gotham City rat hole where prisoners always escape?" He looked up. "I think New York's prison is way more secure."
Creak, creak—the sound of armor straining. Batman was trying to force Iron Man's hand away. Two suits of armor pressed against each other.
"I said, this is my favorite suit." Iron Man lifted his other hand and fired a repulsor blast at Batman.
Batman crashed through the wall and fell into a room.
Whoa, it was already getting physical? This was good—Liu A'dou really wanted to see which of these tycoons was stronger.
The bat suit's turbines whined again. Boom—Batman shot out of the hole like a black arrow, tackling Iron Man. The two armored heroes smashed the deck in pieces and finally stopped at the rail.
"You want a fight? I'm in." Iron Man blasted flame, grabbed Batman, and the two of them crashed through the yacht's cabin.
Batman still moved easily even in the air. He pulled explosives from his belt and slapped them onto Iron Man's suit. Iron Man let go, dropping Batman, who crashed back down onto the yacht and made another big hole.
"See? Now you know how tough I am," Tony boasted as Batman fell, but he didn't get to enjoy it long. Boom, boom, boom—three explosions went off, sending him tumbling and crashing through the deck to the lower level.
Liu A'dou's eyes went wide as he watched the fight. Clearly, Batman's attacks were more unpredictable. In the first round, Batman had the upper hand.
But that kind of blast couldn't take out Iron Man, and Tony shot out of the hole, mad as ever. "You scratched my favorite suit!"
Batman got up too, ready to fight, saying nothing—just staring at Iron Man. Light flashed from both their masks' eyes as they glared coldly at each other.