Bat versus Bat

"I didn't expect a bonus haul."

The figure in the night burst into laughter as clear as wind chimes and shook the document envelope in her hand.

She took one last look at Falcone Manor below the mountain, then wheeled a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-11 out of the bushes.

She pressed the ignition switch, and a beam from the xenon headlight pierced the mist along the mountain road.

It also illuminated the towering black silhouette behind the dense fog.

Stuart's body lurked behind his cape like a seventeenth-century coffin built to imprison a vampire.

The woman froze for a moment.

When she had fired her grappling gun and left the rooftop, she had indeed caught a black shadow flashing past out of the corner of her eye.

But she had been too busy escaping to stop and look.

"I wasn't seeing things. You've returned to Gotham."

A flicker of surprise lit her eyes.

Her voice, however, was cold and restrained.

"But this city doesn't need a hero of the night who breaks his promises. Starting today, I'll take your place as that symbol."

She twisted the throttle, and the engine unleashed a throaty roar.

Stuart raised a hand to shield his eyes from the headlight, scanning the woman from head to toe.

She wore the same bat mask, and the serrated hem of her cape danced in the exhaust's gusts.

Apparently, she was another Batman imitator.

"No objection here, but you have to give me those documents."

He held out his hand, his gaze settling on the envelope tucked at her waist.

The woman didn't answer. She curled her lip, exposing a neat row of white upper teeth.

With a look of disgust as her opening statement, she cranked the throttle all the way. The front wheel rose, and she accelerated straight at Stuart.

William sprinted at full speed along the winding mountain road.

This body, fresh out of the police academy, was young and strong, but it still fell far short of Batman's.

A few minutes earlier, he had merely pointed out where the suspect had fled. In the blink of an eye, Stuart had vanished, leaving only the bushes beside him trembling.

He hadn't even had time to offer a few more warnings. The guy was far too impatient!

Ruling out the possibility of a Batman impersonator, the person he had encountered earlier was most likely Batwoman. That theory fit the current situation perfectly: Batman had disappeared, and another hero of the night had stepped forward to prop up the teetering city.

All William could do now was pray that Stuart wouldn't hit too hard.

While his thoughts ran wild, a roar rapidly approached and thundered overhead.

A bouncing beam of light flew over his head.

Looking up, William saw Batwoman gripping the handlebars, her face contorted.

And Stuart was clinging tightly to the rear of the bike, fluttering up and down like a ribbon.

The out-of-control motorcycle swayed across the mountain road and hurtled down the slope.

William dropped to the roadside and peered over. Below, the headlight bounced more and more violently, scattering sparks along the way.

And farther down the runaway vehicle's path...

Wayne Manor stood in utter darkness.

It seemed like a cruel joke played by fate. The motorcycle barreling down the mountain smashed through the manor's iron gates. With its fuel tank ablaze, it slid sideways into the fountain and exploded.

Batgirl was also hurled toward the castle by the blast, her back slamming squarely into the carved wooden doors.

This wasn't her first encounter with Batman.

But it was the first time she had stood against him.

She hadn't expected Batman to attack her. The worst she had imagined was him shooting her rear wheel with a grappling gun and dragging her off the bike.

Instead, some madman had grabbed the back of her motorcycle and deliberately caused a crash.

Wasn't this guy afraid of getting someone killed?

Batwoman had barely pushed her upper body up, one hand cradling her head, when a sharp blur swept into view from above and to the side.

A violent rush of air scraped past her lips, and the crack of shattered masonry rang through the darkness.

She really ought to have been grateful for her quick reflexes.

Even a muscular grown man couldn't have withstood that kick.

Without question, that strength was enough to tear her entire arm off.

But the savage assault had only just begun. A front kick came hurtling toward her face like a cannonball.

Batwoman tilted her head and narrowly dodged it, but the heavy wooden door behind her was kicked open.

A cold draft poured out of the dark hall. She looked up, her gaze falling on the towering black silhouette in the hazy moonlight.

She couldn't see his face, but her sixth sense told her something.

This guy...

Seemed to be enjoying himself!

Her intuition was right. Stuart was indeed enjoying himself.

This was the first opponent he had met who could dodge two of his kicks in succession.

Until then, Stuart had only wanted to retrieve the documents as quickly as possible. Who inherited Batman's identity, whether a man or a woman, hadn't factored into his thinking at all.

Now, however, his heart began pumping faster, and the rush of hormones sent heat coursing through him.

Even the castle had opened its doors to him.

Looking at the empty hall and its polished stone floor reflecting the moonlight, he had a different idea.

"Give it everything you've got and beat me. Then the Batman title is yours."

"What did you say?!"

"I said give it everything you've got!" Stuart lowered his voice, his molars grinding together in an excited creak.

"What do you think that title is... a cheap crown, some ridiculous gold trophy...? It's not an honor awarded to the winner. It's a responsibility..."

Stuart's straight punch cut off her rambling. She deftly dodged and flipped backward, her body gliding into the castle hall like a ghost, like a drop of ink dissolving into the darkness.

Thick-soled combat boots crossed the stone floor with crisp taps.

Stuart stood openly in the center of the hall. At that moment, the bat who should have lurked in the shadows became a reigning champion awaiting a challenger.

Bang!

A faint sound of metal snapping taut suddenly came from the darkness.

A grappling gun fired from concealment.

Trailing a steel cable, the hook shot out from Stuart's blind spot, aimed at the bat emblem on his chest.

Stuart casually blocked it. The cable scraped past the serrations of his bracer, and the hook buried itself in the stone pillar behind him.

A second later, Batwoman shot out from the opposite direction, her body hugging the smooth stone floor.

Closing in on her opponent, she planted both hands on the ground and spun, unleashing a vicious flying kick at the side of Stuart's neck.

Though his back was turned to the tricky attack from his blind spot, Stuart reacted as if he had a surveillance camera mounted behind his head. Without turning around, he bent his right arm to block and lifted his left leg, sweeping his cape aside with a backward hooking kick.

Thud!

The dull impact echoed through the hall. Struck in the abdomen, Batwoman fell to the floor.

But she quickly rolled to dissipate the force, kicked off a pillar, and pressed in again. As she rushed toward Stuart's chest, a storm of blows followed.

A hook, an elbow, a knee, then both fists raised and clasped together for a downward smash.

Stuart slowly retreated, dismantling her assault like an experienced repairman taking apart a malfunctioning machine.

At last, he caught an opening as Batwoman pulled back from a strike. His outstretched hand clamped around her wrist like an iron vise.

"A feint from one direction, an attack from another. Doesn't work on me."

Batwoman didn't answer his taunt. Instead, she turned sideways with the twisting force. Relying on her feminine flexibility, she slipped her right foot into the gap between them and kicked up at Stuart's jaw.

The move caught Stuart off guard, forcing him to let go.

Bang!

Freed again, the woman fired her grappling gun at a ceiling beam.

She seemed to have found a way to counter him. Perhaps only those powerful, long legs could match Stuart's strong arms.

Her body was yanked upward in an instant. She flipped in midair, her legs closing like scissors around her opponent's neck.

But Stuart was faster.

He drove his shoulder into her midsection and wrapped both arms around her waist.

Boom!

Stone slabs burst apart, fragments flying everywhere. Batwoman landed on her back, and the tiles beneath her shattered.

Blood seeped from the corner of her mouth. Even with her armor cushioning the blow, her internal organs had suffered a powerful impact.

All she could do was trade injury for injury.

Almost at the same instant, she swung her elbow hard at the side of Stuart's face.

So how did Stuart respond? He made no attempt to dodge. He didn't even blink.

Their earlier exchanges had already shown him the limits of her strength. Experience told him there was no need to evade this blow.

But as her elbow neared his face, he suddenly caught the smell of machine oil.

Hiss!

The sound of a hydraulic valve venting accompanied it.

Batwoman's iron elbow slammed into the side of his face. For an instant, Stuart almost felt as though his brain had been knocked out of place.