A uniformed officer, exchanging blows with an escaped murderer, had the misfortune to block Bane’s path. The masked giant snapped the cop’s neck with a single blow, then casually tossed him out of the way. He trampled over fallen bodies, both alive and otherwise. His eyes scanned the battlefield, looking for the only foe who mattered.

Where is he? Bane thought impatiently. Where is Batman?

He spotted a swirling black figure moving toward him, cutting a swath through raging mercenaries and rebels. Battered bodies fell by the wayside, thrown about by an armored figure whose own fists and boots never stopped moving, striking out with ruthless speed and precision. Bane recognized the modified fighting techniques of the League of Shadows. It angered him to see Rā’s al Ghūl’s lessons corrupted so.

But that is why Wayne can never win, he thought grimly. He lacks the will to do what is truly necessary.

Batman tossed a nameless hoodlum over his shoulder. He elbowed another attacker in the gut, while kicking a third opponent in the jaw with a steel-toed boot. A space cleared between him and Bane so that they came to face to face once again. They confronted each other across the blood-stained snow.

“You came back,” Bane said. “To die with your city.”

“No,” Batman said. “I came back to stop you.”

Unlikely, Bane thought. He had intended for Wayne to watch helplessly from afar as Gotham met its doom, but it seemed Batman was destined to perish on the same day as his city—at the hands of Rā’s al Ghūl’s true heir.

Perhaps it is better this way.

Seeing no point in further banter, he lunged, throwing powerful blows at the Dark Knight’s cowl. He had smashed that ridiculous disguise before, and this time he would not stop until Wayne’s unworthy skull was shattered, as well. He would soon claim another broken cowl as a trophy.

Batman fought back smartly, less recklessly than he had in the sewers. He ducked and weaved, evading the worst of Bane’s blows, while throwing surgical jabs and strikes at Bane’s sides. A rabbit punch to his solar plexus was followed almost instantly by an elbow to his ribs. Bane absorbed the blows stoically. He was no stranger to pain.

His mask filled his lungs with anesthetic gas.

It would take more than a few hits to keep him from his destiny.

They fought in the middle of the street, surrounded on all sides by the sprawling conflict. Bane found himself impressed by Batman’s skill and stamina, especially considering all that Bane had already done to him. No ordinary foe could have escaped the pit— as Wayne must have done. He saw now what Rā’s al Ghūl had seen in this man so many years ago.

But Bane had come too far to be cheated of his ultimate victory. Both Batman and Gotham would die today.

He parried Batman’s attack, then drove the caped hero back with a rapid-fire series of kicks and punches. The Dark Knight retreated onto the steps, deflecting the mercenary’s attacks with his gauntlets and armor. Bane’s steel-toed boots and bare knuckles smacked against his opponent’s body armor, aiming for the joints and weak spots.