For a second it looked like the monster truck could balance without the 4th wheel attached. However, as soon as it reached an uneven surface the clusterfuck came.
Batwoman detached the grappling hook and jumped off. With her cape spread out, she managed to stop midair and slowly return to the ground, while the car continued on in a violent roll.
A streetlamp did it so the vehicle crashed in the shadow of her gliding, the outline of a bat.
What had seemed like impenetrable metal was bend and crushed against the concrete structure of a tunnel. There the burning wreckage had finally stopped its rampage.
All around people were fleeing the streets until only Batwoman remained. Taxis got abandoned, stores got empty and red streetlights got ignored.
She approached what had been a 4-wheeled instrument of death, though with some caution.
Suddenly a broad figure emerged from it. For a little while he just stood there as if the fire was nothing to him. Then he jumped down in a way that both showed off how heavy and how athletic he could be. Lieutenant Trogg had the face of a caveman and the suit of a businessman. A dark ponytail and thick sideburns. His expensive jacket could not cover up the fact that this man had arms like pythons.
“Out of ammo?” he yelled to her, and brought attention to the fact that she clearly hadn’t reloaded.
“I don’t need a gun to take someone like you down,” Batwoman shot back and made no effort to stop him from getting close.
“Clearly you’ve never seen me in the cage fights of Peña Duro prison. I am nothing you’ve ever faced.”“What? You work for a guy who has abducted a member of the Bat family. You think that makes you any different from any other jaw I’ve shattered these past nights?”A flicker of rage could be seen in Trogg’s face as he leaped forward and began a series of hooks.
Instantly she noticed that he had not been exaggerating; his attacks were both experienced and calculated, and he unloaded them with such ferocity.
At first, she took the punishment. Deflected a few attacks, let a few get in, before firing a jab at his eyes that threw him off course. When he drew his arm back for another strait hook she directed another jab at his sight and then planted an elbow in his stomach. Now her opponent was disorientated enough for her to jump up and connect with her knuckles. Then a palm to his jaw and a knee in his groin.
With a balanced spinning-kick, she sent him stumbling sideways like a drunken teenager.
It looked like his anger would take over, but then he just smiled and ripped his jacket off in a single movement.
“I’m going to enjoy this,” he smirked and revealed two metallic instruments on his forearms, each with a small canister. They looked rather different from the tubes Bane was famous for using.
“This is not the watered-down version like we give our men,” he proclaimed.
“Not the white-bread patches and not just for muscle mass. No, this is pure, untainted Venom! It's like liquid of the God of War himself!” With those words, Trogg activated the devices. His expensive shirt was torn to pieces and his shoes ripped apart. Countless muscles swelled up with superhuman speed. Suddenly a huge beast stood before Batwoman.
She took a step backwards.
“Drugs won’t make you a fighter-“Before she could say anything else he launched at her. Even though she blocked the blow, it sent her flying strait into the window of a car. With a blurry vision, she shook her head and saw little pieces of glass fall from her hair.
“It’s too soon to pass out,” she heard him laugh.
“We were just getting started. Besides if you do, you won’t hear how much you’re actually wrong. You see, we did much more than just abduct your Batgirl.”“Liar.” She forced herself to stand and raised her fists. She ran forward and just when he threw a punch she slid under it, stopped and kicked his ankle. Before he could turn around she jumped on his back and placed him in a headlock.
Even with his airways blocked he could do the most sinister laughter. He reached backwards found her cape and used it to swing her right down into the road.
“You seem to take pain a lot better than the others. Such a stunt was crippling to them. You see … the little Batgirl was just one out of several.”Batwoman inhaled precious air after having had ever little bit knocked out of her.
“You’re bluffing,” she said with her first new breath.
“No. Does the name Nyssa mean anything to you?”“Ra’s Al Ghul’s daughter?”“That’s the one.” Trogg grabbed Batwoman by the collar and raised her up into the air, but she was ready for it and placed one hand on his arm and one around his index finger. A hollow sound came as she broke it and removed the smile from his face.
His response was a quick punch to the face that almost knocked her out right there and then.
“Good one. This fight is getting interesting. Stay with me now, cause the plan gets better. Bane didn’t just take little ol’ Batgirl. And he didn’t just grab Nyssa. He took one more.”Struggling in his grip Batwoman managed to let out her insult.
“I doubt he’s got the guts to challenge any more people. Bane has always placed it safe. He's a coward.”“You have no idea, what you’re talking about. He’s greater than you can imagine. Bane also took Rose Wilson.”“Is that suppose to mean anything?”“The daughter of none other than Deathstroke.”With a sudden burst of strength Batwoman freed herself by placing both legs on his chest and kicking herself backwards. She rolled, got up to her knees and grinned her teeth, as the big man towered over her.
“I think I’ll bring you back to meet them," Trogg said.
"I would love to tie you up, gag you with your own mask and see the helplessness in your eyes. A damsel in distress like the rest of the collection."“Let me guess. Your hideout is an ancient castle. You all seem to like clichés,” she hissed at him.
“Not at all. In fact Bane is current located at…” Trogg stopped and suddenly showed the first signs of concern that night.
“Wait a minute, wait just a minute. This-this is a trick. You’re tricking me to get to the truth!”Batwoman’s distressed face changed to a mask of calmness and she wiped the blood from her lip. Without any effort, she got back on her feet and faced him, while almost shining with an aura of control.
“You want to hear the truth? Truth is that I was never out of bullets. Truth is that it doesn’t matter how well you fight, if you can’t predict where your opponent is gonna be next second.” She moved her head back just in time to see his fist fly by.
“Speed and strength is nothing, if you don’t keep balance.” Right when he got close she dropped, took a batarang and buried it into his knee.
His outcry echoed through Gotham. He took another shot at her, but she was back on her feet in an instance. When the punch came she did the opposite of what was expected: She moved in and swung at him too. While his attack only grazed her, Batwoman’s punch landed right in the joint of his arm.
At first it seemed like it had no effect, but the second time he used the arm, it had gotten just a little bit slower. And another hit in his joint rendered it useless.
His surprise left him open to a whole combination of physical insults to his throat. Now he was the one struggling to breathe.
Batwoman had gotten more than a few surprises this evening, but the first real attack that surprised her came in the form of a kick.
Maybe out of desperation, Trogg had tried a new kind of move, and it payed off as it sent Batwoman hurling down the street.
Thank god, I was quick enough to let my arms take the blow, she thought to herself and felt the pain hammer her nervous system.
The monster in front of her prepared another attack.
“Is… is that the best you- AHHHH!!!“Her grappling hook had buried itself into his thigh where it stayed in place. His hands closed around it, yet before they could do anything the hook pulled Batwoman right up into his face, boots first.
Trogg went down in a cascade of blood and slammed his head into the pavement. There he got his connection to the Venom severed, and Batwoman bound his hands and feet with the steel wire of her grappling hook. After reloading her gun she pressed it against his temple.
"Stay down for now, or I'll make you stay down forever." Then she called over the radio.
“We’ve got some garbage here, ready for pick up.” She had to pause, since she finally allowed herself to feel the major beating she had so willingly taken.
“Bane’s lieutenant, Trogg, is down, but alive. He has some… some troubling news.” 