Chapter 60 Crushing Bane
Bane carried an unconscious SWAT officer in one hand.
With the other—
He shoved an overturned SUV directly into the middle of the avenue like a toy.
The vehicle slammed sideways across the street and formed an instant barricade.
Hydra exoskeleton troops spread outward behind him in disciplined formation.
Then—
Batman arrived.
The first attack came before the landing itself.
Three batarangs sliced downward simultaneously from the rooftop.
Their trajectories converged precisely toward the tubing connections on Bane's mask.
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
The batarangs embedded themselves into the reinforced connection ports—
But failed to sever them completely.
Titanium-reinforced couplings.
Hydra had upgraded the Venom-delivery system specifically to counter Batman's previous tactics from comic encounters like their earlier Gotham confrontations.
Bane looked upward slowly.
Then saw the silhouette descending from above.
"Batman."
His voice emerged through the Venom mask in a deep mechanical growl.
"I've been waiting."
Batman dropped from the rooftop while the cape spread outward briefly to slow descent.
He landed directly in front of Bane.
The surrounding Hydra soldiers didn't fire.
Instead—
Bane raised one finger.
"Don't interfere."
"He's mine."
Batman moved first.
A direct frontal advance.
The opening attack—
A low front kick targeting the knee joint.
Standard anti-heavyweight engagement doctrine.
Destabilize lower-body support first.
The strike landed cleanly.
Bane's knee bent sideways slightly—
But did not break.
Analysis of All Things identified the reason instantly from visual observation.
Venom enhancement had increased skeletal density dramatically.
Estimated reinforcement factor:
Over threefold compared to baseline human bone structure.
Bane counterattacked immediately.
A massive backhand strike swept sideways through the air.
Batman ducked beneath it—
But the compressed air pressure alone clipped the shoulder armor.
Crack.
Part of the armored shoulder plate split apart instantly.
The strength disparity was obvious.
This version of Bane exceeded most prior comic incarnations in raw physical output.
Batman changed tactics immediately.
No direct exchanges.
Instead—
Mobility warfare.
Smoke grenades.
EMP devices.
Precision batarang strikes.
Continuous harassment designed to exhaust the opponent gradually.
But Venom-flooded Bane resembled a rampaging beast more than a man.
Five.
Six.
Seven impacts.
Still advancing.
At the same time—
Three Hydra exoskeleton soldiers moved toward Batman's flank.
Their Gatling systems rotated simultaneously.
Then opened fire.
Heavy-caliber rounds tore through the street in a storm of sparks and shattered asphalt.
Batman abandoned pursuit instantly and rolled behind an overturned police cruiser for cover.
One person wasn't enough.
Then—
The left flank changed suddenly.
One of the exoskeleton units stopped moving.
More accurately—
Its right knee joint collapsed inward violently.
A dark figure had appeared from the blind side.
Lynn.
Black hooded trench coat.
Half-mask.
No visible insignia.
His right fist struck directly into the exoskeleton knee hinge.
That exact location had already been highlighted by Analysis of All Things as the unit's primary structural weakness.
Hydra's mass-production standards created microscopic instability around the fastening bolts.
Under normal conditions—
Irrelevant.
Against force amplified by Captain America's Super-Soldier Physiology and Jessica Jones's strength—
Catastrophic.
The hinge deformed instantly.
The entire two-meter-tall armored frame lost balance and crashed sideways onto the pavement.
The operator inside slammed against the cockpit restraints hard enough to lose orientation temporarily.
Another exoskeleton rotated toward Lynn immediately.
Machine gun barrels aligned.
Fire.
The heavy weapon unleashed a barrage exceeding six hundred rounds per minute.
Lynn didn't dodge.
He charged directly through the gunfire.
Bullets struck his body continuously.
The sensation resembled dozens of fingers poking against reinforced steel.
Large-caliber rounds flattened harmlessly against Luke Cage-level skin reinforcement.
Spent rounds scattered across the street around his feet.
The Hydra operator hesitated.
Only briefly.
But enough.
Lynn reached the exoskeleton in less than two seconds.
His right hand slammed downward against a weld seam near the chest armor.
Crack.
The weakened weld fractured instantly.
Then—
His left hand gripped the chest plate itself.
And pulled.
Metal screamed.
The entire armored breastplate ripped away from the exoskeleton frame.
The exposed operator inside reacted instinctively and triggered the emergency ejection system.
Compressed gas launched him backward out of the cockpit.
The empty armor collapsed heavily onto the street.
Behind the destroyed police cruiser—
Batman looked upward.
He saw the unidentified black-clad figure standing amid scattered shell casings and broken armor fragments.
Medium build.
No exaggerated musculature.
No visible enhancement equipment.
Yet he had just torn apart Hydra combat armor with bare hands.
Bruce already knew Lynn possessed abnormal strength.
Knowing—
And witnessing it directly—
Were completely different experiences.
Bane noticed him too.
He stopped advancing toward Batman entirely.
Then turned slowly toward the newcomer.
"Another hero?"
Bane's voice carried mocking amusement beneath the mask.
"When did Gotham begin mass-producing courage?"
Lynn ignored the provocation.
Instead—
Analysis of All Things completed a full breakdown of Bane's combat structure.
Venom delivery system:
Six primary tubes connected to a backpack-mounted reservoir.
Micro-pump mechanisms continuously injected Venom into the bloodstream.
The compound hyperstimulated adrenal function and skeletal-muscle output simultaneously.
But the enhancement also severely destabilized the cardiovascular and nervous systems.
And the tubing itself represented the system's critical vulnerability.
Destroy the delivery network—
And Bane's strength would collapse rapidly.
Target identified.
Bane attacked first.
His fist traveled forward like a wrecking ball.
Compressed air whistled around the strike.
Lynn chose direct confrontation.
He maximized combined muscular output instantly.
Superhuman strength.
Super-soldier biomechanics.
Right fist forward.
Fist against fist.
Boom.
A shockwave burst outward from the collision point.
Nearby glass shattered.
Concrete fragments scattered across the avenue.
Radial cracks spread beneath their feet through the asphalt.
Bane staggered backward one full step.
For the first time since receiving the upgraded Venom dosage—
Someone had forced him backward physically.
His eyes widened behind the mask instantly.
"You—"
Lynn didn't allow him to finish.
Combat instincts seized control immediately.
Batman's predictive tactical framework processed Bane's movements in real time.
Enhanced strength had reduced Bane's agility significantly.
Estimated rotational-response reduction:
Approximately twenty percent.
Lynn moved sideways instantly.
Circling left.
His left hand swept low.
Not a real attack.
A feint.
Bane reacted instinctively and lowered the left arm to intercept.
Exactly as predicted.
The movement exposed the left-side tubing cluster momentarily.
Lynn's right hand struck downward like an axe.
Target:
Third metal connector on the left side of the mask assembly.
Full-force impact.
Crack.
The connector shattered instantly.
One Venom tube ruptured.
Green fluid sprayed outward under pressure.
At the same moment—
Muscle spasms rippled violently across the left side of Bane's body.
Uneven Venom distribution destabilized the enhancement cycle immediately.
Lynn stepped backward once.
Then surged forward again.
Second strike.
This time—
The right-side tubing cluster.
His fist feinted upward toward Bane's face first.
Bane raised both arms defensively.
Then—
Lynn's fist changed trajectory mid-motion and slammed downward into the base of the tubing assembly.
Two tubes snapped simultaneously.
Venom sprayed across the street.
Bane's legs weakened visibly.
The grotesque muscle swelling already began shrinking at a detectable rate.
More than half the Venom supply had been severed.
But Bane still attacked.
With the last of his enhanced power—
He drove one final punch into Lynn's chest.
Even weakened—
The impact still carried enormous force.
Lynn took the hit directly.
Luke Cage's indestructible skin combined with super-soldier musculature absorbed most of the damage.
He staggered backward two steps.
Then stabilized immediately.
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