The lead mercenary spun around in surprise. His eyes widened at the sight of the feline intruder. Confusion was written over his face.

“Who?” he demanded.

Batman dropped from the ceiling, hanging upside-down like the creature that was his namesake.

“Me,” he growled.

The startled soldier of fortune didn’t even have time to raise his weapon before the hanging wraith slammed into him like a wave of darkness, and then vanished back into the shadows. Caught by surprise, the other gunmen opened fire. Muzzle flares lit up the murky tunnel, and bullets blasted away at the ceiling.

The echoes were deafening now.

Catwoman darted around a corner, pursued by a shouting mercenary. He tried to keep the elusive female figure in his sights, only to feel powerful hands grab onto his shoulders and yank him up into the dark. His terrified scream was cut off abruptly and his weapon clattered to the floor.

Two down, Batman thought.

He picked off the rest of the patrol, one by one. A grappling line yanked one man off his feet, so that his head smacked against the hard stone floor. Skulls were slammed together by hands that struck silently from the shadows. An expert jab to a crucial nerve center dropped another man to the floor. The guns went silent, replaced by echoing shouts and bone-crunching thuds.

Disposing of the last of the men, Batman caught up with Catwoman. He followed her down a dark tunnel and onto a long metal catwalk. The shadows were too deep for him to find details in his surroundings, but he heard run-off water rushing beneath them like an underground river. The lack of odor indicated that the water had been purified.

“Just a little further,” she promised.

A heavy steel grate slammed down between them, like a portcullis in a medieval fortress. Bright halogen lights flared overhead, exposing a lair hidden deep within the sewers. A small army of mercenaries glared down from various elevated gantries and platforms. The catwalk led between twin waterfalls that poured into a foaming channel one level below. There was some kind of headquarters located beyond the waterfalls—much like in the Batcave.

“Sorry,” Catwoman said from the other side of the grate. “I had to find a way to stop them trying to kill me.”

Batman realized then that she had deliberately lured him into a trap. He was disappointed by her betrayal.

“You’ve made a serious mistake,” he growled.

“Not as serious as yours, I fear,” a deep voice interjected.

Batman turned to see a masked figure emerge from behind the falling curtains of water. He recognized the man’s elaborate mask and powerful physique from the grisly security footage Alfred had shown him before. Muscles rippled upon the killer’s bare chest.

“Bane.”

The infamous mercenary approached him.

“Let’s not stand on ceremony here, Mr. Wayne.”

Batman wasn’t surprised that Bane knew his true identity. The man was connected to the League of Shadows, after all—he likely had heard of Bruce Wayne’s tangled history with Rā’s al Ghūl.