Arrival

With a thunderous crash, Catwoman narrowly escaped a combined attack from three Talons, the wooden floor splintering where she'd stood moments before.

"Damn it!" she cursed, turning to Deadshot. "I thought I'd finally get a break from playing dodgeball."

"I'm an assassin, not an acrobat!" she complained. "Every fight in this city is the same damn thing!"

The confined space made it impossible to utilize her full agility. She barely parried a Talon's sword strike, her own knife clattering out the window.

"Floyd, why can't you just whip out that sonic blaster or the concussive cannon and blow these guys away?" she griped.

Of course, she knew it was an impossible request. One blast in this enclosed space would bring the whole building down on their heads.

Cheshire cursed her momentary distraction as she backflipped away from a Talon. It dropped its sword, opting instead for a bone-jarring punch.

"Oh, Fuck."

The blow connected, sending her crashing through the wall and plummeting to the floor below. It was an eerily familiar experience, reminiscent of her previous encounter with Bane.

"Damn it!" Deadshot swore, cold sweat beading on his forehead. He couldn't risk using his heavier weaponry in this confined space.

Or could he?

A thought sparked in his mind. He turned to Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Killer Croc, still battling the Talons.

"Bring this place down!" he shouted. "Fight these freaks in the open!"

He aimed his rifle at a load-bearing wall and fired.

"No! Stop!" Mr. Freeze cried out from the floor. "We're still down here! If you collapse this building—"

"You're on your own!" Deadshot retorted, firing another round into the weakened wall. The electrical current sizzled, charring a large hole.

"We must accept our fate... Oh Lord! Almighty Father, the true God, we—" Mr. Freeze turned to see Clayface, half-melted but still delivering a dramatic monologue. He couldn't fault the man; after all, he was a terminally ill actor at heart. But he was still furious!

"Firefly, help me!" he pleaded, turning to the only other villain still somewhat mobile. His suit was ruined, but Firefly's armor and costume were mostly intact.

Mr. Freeze gestured towards the smoking Dr. Phosphorus, who'd mistaken lye for sugar cubes, and the emaciated, human form of Man-Bat. "We have to get them out!"

"Batman, if you don't rescue them, we'll—"

A voice crackled in Penguin's earpiece. "I've jumped from the Batwing. ETA thirty seconds."

A whooshing sound filled the air as a figure descended. Penguin and Ventriloquist huddled together, two terrified figures dwarfed by the chaos.

"Hurry up!" Penguin urged.

Scarecrow, realizing Deadshot's intentions, reacted swiftly. Poison Ivy had joined the effort, slamming a massive plant into a nearby load-bearing wall.

"Stop him!" Scarecrow commanded a Talon.

"Yes, master."

The transformed Talon, despite its monstrous size, moved with lightning speed. It intercepted Deadshot, swinging its sword down. "Floyd Lawton, the Court of Owls sentences you to death!"

Deadshot leaped back, raising his rifle—

Clang!

The samurai sword was caught in a massive, fanged jaw. Killer Croc, with a mighty crunch, shattered the blade.

With a loud clang, the Talon's sword was caught in Killer Croc's massive jaws. The mutant crocodile easily snapped the blade in two.

The Talon, momentarily stunned, retaliated with a punch, but Killer Croc caught it with ease. "Don't play with me," he growled.

His tail whipped out, its green scales rippling over powerful muscles. He planted his foot, then drove it into the floor with a bone-jarring thud.

The Talon was lifted off its feet, spinning helplessly as it was slammed headfirst into the floor like a nail.

Crack!

The Talon's head burst through the floor, protruding from the ceiling below.

Killer Croc sneered. "You're no match for the real Bane."

"Even three of you wouldn't be enough—" He boasted, only to be tackled by five more Talons that had leaped into the fray.

"Not fair..." he grunted as fists rained down on him, the drumming blows sending him spinning. He barely had time to raise his arms in defense.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Deadshot fired another round into the weakened wall.

Boom!

The building groaned, then collapsed in a deafening roar.

Deadshot emerged from the wreckage, facing nine hulking Talons bathed in the moonlight.

"Waylon, you alright?" he called out to Killer Croc.

Killer Croc emerged from the debris, spitting out a mouthful of grit and broken wood. "I'm fine," he groaned. "Where's Oswald?"

"Alive, thanks to you," Penguin's voice replied from beneath a pile of rubble. He and Ventriloquist had taken cover under an umbrella.

"Just hold on a bit longer," Penguin whispered. "Batman's almost here."

"Waylon! My old friend!" Scarecrow's voice echoed through the ruins. He stepped out from behind the Talons, clapping slowly.

"Still as nimble as ever. It reminds me of our glory days together."

He smiled. "I'll give you five million, no, ten million dollars, Waylon. Bring me that sniveling penguin's head."

"Cash upfront, just like old times. You always did love your money, didn't you, big guy?"

"I do," Killer Croc admitted. "But"

He paused, a smirk spreading across his face. "Five seconds."

"What?" Scarecrow frowned.

"Five," Croc repeated.

"Four." Poison Ivy emerged from the rubble, carried aloft by a massive vine along with Harley Quinn. They landed beside Penguin.

"Three." Catwoman, who had been blasted away earlier, sauntered back into the scene, nonchalantly picking her way through the debris.

"Two." Deadshot lowered his guns, a relaxed smile on his face.

"One," Penguin finished.

"He's here."

And with that, Batman dropped from the sky, landing in the center of the battlefield.