Batman shed his cape and cowl, becoming Bruce Wayne once more.

“We bought all the neighbors.”

So we did, Alfred recalled. He took Bruce’s cloak as they walked away from Lucius Fox’s latest contribution to “the cause.” The Bat was an impressive aircraft, he had to admit. Perhaps too impressive.

“From the look of the television coverage, you seem to have your taste for wanton destruction back.”

Bruce ignored the gibe. He plucked a USB drive from his Utility Belt.

“I retrieved this.”

“Shouldn’t the police be gathering the evidence?” Alfred suggested.

“They don’t have the tools to analyze it.”

Alfred glanced around at a high-tech apparatus filling the cave. It was enough to make the FBI envious.

“They would if you gave it to them.” But Bruce shook his head.

“One man’s tool is another man’s weapon.”

“In your mind, perhaps,” Alfred said. “But there aren’t many things that you couldn’t turn into a weapon.”

“Alfred, enough,” Bruce said impatiently. “The police weren’t getting it done.”

“Perhaps they would have,” the butler persisted, “if you hadn’t made a sideshow of yourself.”

Bruce refused to even consider the possibility.

“Perhaps you’re just upset that you were wrong.”

Alfred looked puzzled.

“Wrong?”

“You thought I didn’t have it in me anymore,” Bruce said.

Alfred returned the cape and cowl to the closet where they belonged. He wished he could lock them away for good.

“You don’t,” he said. “You led a bloated, overconfident police force on a merry chase with some fancy new toys from Fox.” He called Bruce’s attention to the ghastly security footage on the main monitor. “What about when you come up against him. What then?”

On the screen, Bane murdered a roomful of security guards with terrifying speed and brutality. His lethally effective fighting technique was eerily similar to Batman’s, but much more final. Bruce’s jaw tightened as he contemplated the footage.

“I’ll fight harder,” he said. “Like I always have.”

“When you had something to fight for,” Alfred argued. “What are you fighting for now? Not your life.”

Bruce frowned and moved to switch off the screen. Alfred stopped him.

“Take a good look,” the butler said. “At his speed, his ferocity, his training. I see the power of belief…of the fanatic. I see the League of Shadows resurgent.”

Bruce stared at Bane.

“You said he was excommunicated.”

“By Rā’s al Ghūl,” Alfred said. “Who leads them now?”

“Rā’s al Ghūl was the League of Shadows,” Bruce insisted. “And I beat him.” He sat down at the computer and killed the security footage. “Bane’s just a mercenary, and we have to find out what he’s up to.” He plugged the USB into the computer, then pecked at the keyboard and streams of text scrolled across the screen. He scrutinized the data.

“Trades of some kind,” he realized. “Coded.”

The text vanished, replaced by a scanned image of a thumbprint. Bruce scowled.

“Is that—?” Alfred began.

“Mine,” Bruce confirmed. “Courtesy of Selina Kyle.” He’d tell Alfred about his run-in with Catwoman later. Right now he had more pressing concerns. He rose from the computer and unplugged the USB drive.