“STEP AWAY FROM THE BIKE!”

He scanned the vicinity, mindful as ever of his surroundings. Rā’s al Ghūl had taught him that. Stopped traffic packed the highway. A large car transporter, its racks empty, idled below a nearby onramp.

Jumping back onto the Bat-Pod, he activated the cycle’s twin 40mm blast cannons. The front-mounted weapons unleashed their firepower, and a well-aimed blast struck the back of the transporter, causing its rear ramp to crash onto the concrete.

The Bat-Pod raced toward the truck, mounted the ramp, and used it to jump directly to the onramp above.

Weaving through the stalled traffic, Batman fled his pursuers. But the GCPD remained hot on his heels.

* * *

“Eight years!” Daggett exclaimed angrily. He tossed down a drink from the bar. The fifty-year-old Scotch did little to calm him. He paced back and forth in his apartment. “After eight years, he has to pick tonight to come back!”

Stryver pointed out the bright side.

“He’s drawing the cops off Bane.”

That’s true, Daggett conceded. What do I care about Batman? He’s not connected to me. Unlike Bane.

Maybe things were actually working out in his favor. That calmed him down.

“How did you let him go?” Foley demanded.

The radio squawked in his grip.

“He’s got a lot of firepower.”

“And you don’t?” Foley wasn’t accepting any excuses. “We’re not letting one nut with a bad attitude and some fancy gadgets run this town again, you hear me?”

“He’s heading back downtown.”

Foley grinned.

“Then he’s as dumb as he dresses.” SWAT teams were already in place downtown following the attack on the stock exchange. He got on the horn to Allen. “Close it down, gentlemen.”

Blake turned the cruiser around, joining the thousands of other cops converging on the downtown area. He’d never seen this many units chasing after a single suspect. Jockeying for position amidst the swarm of vehicles, he managed to get out ahead of the other patrol cars.

His eyes widened as he spotted Batman up ahead. He recognized the vigilante’s one-of-a-kind cycle from grainy news footage of Batman’s confrontation with the Joker years ago. Batman had once flipped over a speeding semi-trailer using the vehicle’s built-in grappling hook and cable. Despite his visit to Wayne Manor, Blake had never really expected to see it with his own eyes.

Is this my fault? he wondered. Did I drag him out of hiding?

Batman zoomed down a wide boulevard, only to find another wave of cop cars charging at him from the other end of the street. Soaring choppers caught him in their searchlights, exposing him to the world. He was trapped in a vise made up of two oncoming walls of cars.

But he didn’t slow down. His cycle did a sharp ninety-degree turn, flipping over in the process, and darted into the sheltering darkness of large blind alley. Cops cars squealed to a halt, blocking the entrance. The choppers hovered above them, providing air support. It looked like Batman had nowhere left to go.