The Bane of Your Existence

When you came to, you recognized the abandoned building you ducked into, for solitude. Looking around, you saw a large section of open floor above you as well as some of the next floor; there was breakage of windows scattered around you, but you focused on J'onn lying on the floor. You went to him, shaking him slightly. "J'onn? Are you okay?" He groaned as he pushed himself to stand up, rubbing his eyes with one hand.

"George," he said a bit hoarsely. And he cleared his throat before speaking on. "Are you all right?"

You get back on your feet, too, smiling. "Actually, yeah. And it's to you that I owe my thanks." Your smile faded some as you looked to the floor, recalling the memories J'onn dug through. "My family..." The martian frowned as he knew what you meant. He looked at you as he came towards you, holding your shoulders.

"What you went through was terrible," he consoled, "but if your entire family could see what you have made of yourself, the good you did... They would be proud of you." He smiled as you look up at him, and that had you smile back. But the pleasantness was short-lived, for an alert came on J'onn's communicator. "Yes?" he answered.

It was Mr. Terrific answering. Up on the Watchtower, he watched the monitors and observed a huge, burly man, by the look of him, as he was wearing a black mask with a spiked collar around his neck. He was wreaking havoc in Gotham! "It looks like one of Batman's old enemies, Bane."

"Bane..." J'onn thought aloud. Hearing that name made you shudder slightly, and had you remember some stories about him: 'Project Gilgamesh...' Bane once was an inmate in Pena Duro, a Cuban prison meant to contain the most dangerous convicts. The government project in question he was to be selected for was to build super-soldiers, using a so-called 'super steroid' called Venom. Unfortunately, they got more than they bargained for when Bane used his superhuman strength to escape the prison and hire himself as an assassin.

He got so good at his job that he demanded $5 million per job! 'Geez...' you thought.

If Batman thought of him as a worthy opponent, then this will be a great test of your physical strength. Nevertheless, you and the martian weren't just about to let Bane do as he pleased.

Mr. Terrific actually teleported you two to the site of the disaster, where J'onn donned the appearance of Batman. "Let's bring him down," J'onn told me, with Bruce's gruff voice. You both approached him, and you threw a teleport grenade at Bane's back. It wouldn't have hurt him, just get his attention, which it did.

"Batman," he greeted. "I see you brought along a tag partner. Not as confident as when we first met?" he goaded.

"All that matters, Bane--" J'onn began.

"Is that you're going down." You cut him off in the similar gruff tone. You had to remember that in the city of Gotham, there wasn't enough sun to power your nanobots, so you had to be careful around someone like Muscles before you. Bane completely ignored you and went for the disguised Bat. He charged at J'onn, but as you conjured a light-blue staff and threw it, you noticed for a split second that it was also burning! It spun so fast that it tripped Bane up, with the ankles of his boots singed.

He landed on his chest with a grunt, getting irritated with you. "So you wish to be a hero?" He pushed himself up onto his feet and stood tall, allowing you to see his pre-Venom self. "You show a lot of backbone for one so small." As he pressed a round rectangular button on his large wristband, he finished, "It will be satisfying to hear it crumble in my grasp."

Before your startled eyes, you watched his torso, his legs, and especially his arms, become more accentuated with bulky strength. His arms were now like small tree trunks! He grinned at you with his scary red eyes and flexed his muscles, trying to intimidate you. But your inner Batman helped you see where it was that Bane got his juice from...

You charged at his pecs, trying to be like a football player. Sadly, you were going nowhere, and he grabbed you with one hand and raised you high above his head in both of his hands.

He was gonna bury your head in the pavement unless someone does something!