Absolute King Chapter 23.

Chapter 23: Shadows in the smoke.

-0-

Blockbuster was tearing everything apart, and Zattanna’s cloaking spell began to fray and fail. The alarms screamed as the facility initiated full lockdown and every guard on duty was put on high alert.

Guards converged toward the lab where Mark’s father’s workstation sat, but Zattanna unleashed a gusty spell that blew them all back, sending men sprawling.

On the other hand,Mark danced around Blockbuster’s swinging fists; the brute smashed anything his fists touched, yet moved with a ponderous, predictable rhythm.

Compared to Mark’s earlier opponents, Blockbuster was slow — but his durability was on a different plane. He shrugged off Mark’s blades, coming away with only minor scratches that didn’t slow him. Annoyed, Mark realized he couldn’t afford to waste time on this monster. He had to get his father out, fast.

On the upper floors the alarm blared, “Intruder alert,” drawing more guards. Bane and Lady Shiva — who’d been overseeing a cargo shipment for the Cobra organization — abandoned their loading to head down. Shiva muttered through gritted teeth, trying to work out how the intruders had bypassed sensors, surveillance, and the patrolling guards. The thought only made her angrier.

“We need to intercept them and don’t let Dr. Flinch escape,” Lady Shiva ordered. Her guards and Bane’s troupe fell into line; her loyalty and single-mindedness had put her in charge of Project C-2.

But before they could descend, smoke bombs arcs into the crowd, exploding at their feet and turning the center of the courtyard into choking fog. Shiva watched her men collapse one after another, coughing and firing wildly before being taken down. From within the haze she saw a silhouette and lunged.

“Batman. It’s always you who stands in the way,” she snarled, her blade clashing with one of Batman’s boomerangs as he defended against her strike. She aimed to cleave into his shoulder.

“Don’t be disappointed,” Batman growled, shoving her back and then countering with twin bat-boomerangs hurled at her. Shiva parried quickly, the smoke beginning to clear and the figures revealing themselves.

Robin vaulted and dodged Bane’s crushing blows, using superior reflexes and miniature explosives to keep the behemoth off balance — each blast making Bane angrier. “I’ll kill you,” Bane roared as he activated his venom, swelling in size. Robin, seemingly unhurt, drew his blade and kept up the pressure.

Meanwhile, Constantine and Katana Girl pushed through the guards and Cobra thugs. Katana Girl cut down League of Shadows attackers in rapid succession as they threw themselves at her. Constantine turned his trickery and fire magic on rifle-bearing guards, but the numbers were high — this had been meant as a quiet infiltration and extraction, not an all-out brawl.

Shiva pressed the attack on Batman, slashing with intent. Batman defended with the claws on his gauntlets, landing a roundhouse kick to her torso that sent her skidding back several meters. She grunted, pain cropping her face, but fury replaced it immediately — failure was not an option.

“I won’t let you take the Doctor away, that you can be assured of,” Shiva hissed, leaping with a vertical strike followed by a horizontal slash at Batman’s torso.

He parried and slipped past with graceful movement, pivoting to kick. Shiva blocked the kick with her sword and pressed on.

The fighting escalated — a clash of teams, each locked into their opponent, every movement a test of resolve and determination.

Bane lashed out at Robin. “I will crush you into minced meat and feed you to your mentor’s dogs!” he bellowed, slamming both fists down. Robin backflipped clear as the concrete beneath them spidered with cracks from the impact.

Bane was a problem — and Robin could see Constantine struggling against the tide. He wanted to help, but the giant kept blocking his path.

Robin’s patience snapped. He decided to take Bane out for good. He rained boomerangs that detonated on impact, staggering the giant and creating an opening. His plan was surgical: sever the venom supply tube that ran from Bane’s arm to the back of his head near the medulla oblongata. Cut that line and Bane would be brought down to a level where more precise work could be done.

Using a smoke screen for cover, Robin slipped a thin, steady wire from his arm and looped it around Bane’s legs, tying him up and making him unsteady. The gas was anesthetic, and Robin wore a small mask to protect himself while Bane gasped and coughed.

As Bane’s strength ebbed and his breath shortened, Robin charged and leapt, finally managing to sever the tube. The green liquid sprayed out in a gruesome arc, like blood spurting from a severed artery in a horror film, and Bane’s massive body began to slump.