"Roar!"
Vapor had converted her toxic gas into carbon dioxide, clearly intending to make Batman perish from carbon dioxide poisoning—a cause of death that was hardly uncommon for an ordinary human, yet bordering on absurd when applied to Batman.
The instant Batman held a single breath deep within his chest and ceased breathing, Bi-Beast, Madman, Absorbing Man, the final member of the U-Foes—Ironclad—and the Executioner closed in on him simultaneously.
A roar erupted from Bi-Beast as a massive metal claw whistled through the air, aimed directly down at Batman's head.
Madman lunged insidiously from the flank, raising a foot to kick straight toward Batman's chest.
At the same time, the Executioner swung his double-bladed battleaxe diagonally downward, targeting Batman's legs.
Absorbing Man seized the opening to circle around, driving a fist toward Batman's spine from behind.
The last U-Foes member, Ironclad, stood rooted to the spot, his body trembling violently while the air surrounding him emitted a sharp, buzzing hum. He aimed straight at Batman's side, effectively sealing off his evasion vector.
The timing of every move was synchronized to perfection, as though rehearsed countless times over.
Vector and X-Ray restricted Batman's movement; Vapor forced him to inhale deeply, slowing his evasive rhythm by a beat.
Meanwhile, the rest surged in from every direction, taking full advantage of the split second to end Batman's life in a single stroke!
Even Amora the Enchantress hurled her green magical light from above, four chains extending rapidly downward to bind Batman's limbs.
At this juncture, save for the Wrecking Crew still embroiled in a fierce brawl with Venom Robin, every remaining combatant directed their assault straight at Batman.
Spider-Sense flared wildly with urgent warnings; danger loomed from virtually every angle.
Batman narrowed his eyes slightly, his mind processing solutions at blinding speed.
Whoosh!
Gales whipped against the Gargoyle Suit. The strikes from Bi-Beast's claw and Madman's kick carried the greatest force, generating the heaviest pressure waves.
Their attacks were the first to arrive, ahead of all the others.
In that critical instant where a second's hesitation meant certain death, Batman's body sank downward as he dropped heavily onto one knee.
Simultaneously, along the outer sides of the Gargoyle Suit's gauntlets, the serrated blades snapped outward and locked together with a sharp clang, forming two razor-sharp arm blades.
No matter how powerful Peter Parker's physical vessel was, it could not brute-force its way against multiple behemoths that rivaled a base-level Hulk.
Thus, Batman chose to evade their frontal force and employ alternate means.
Following Alfred's upgrades to the Gargoyle Suit and Doctor Otto Octavius finally cracking the Adamantium formula, Batman's suit was leagues stronger than when it was first built.
The serrated arm blades extending and locking together on his gauntlets were the handiwork of Alfred himself, forged from Adamantium.
Indestructible Adamantium.
Especially when such extraordinarily sharp blades—surpassing even Vibranium—were backed by Batman's re-trained physical strength back at the eighty-ton threshold, there was very little in this world he could not cleave through.
Madman's leg was certainly not an exception.
Clenching both hands into fists with the Adamantium blades facing outward, Batman spun his entire body into a violent rotation.
Sizzle!
One of Madman's lower legs was severed clean off, the cut as smooth as a mirror. The strike was so fast that Madman himself didn't even realize what had happened at first.
It was only when his body lost balance and blood geysered from the wound—blasting against the floor like a high-pressure hose—that agony registered in his brain a beat too late.
One of Absorbing Man's legs was similarly severed by Batman's blade. Even the Executioner's double-bladed battleaxe, brought down in a sneaky cleave, was split clean in half; once again, the Executioner lost his weapon.
Having landed his blows, Batman didn't overextend. Seizing the instant Madman lost his balance and teetered toward the floor, Batman curled his body into a tight ball, then launched himself outward like a spring compressed to its absolute limit.
BOOM!
Madman's massive body was hurled backward by Batman's impact. Even while airborne, he maintained the posture of kicking forward with his severed leg planted against the deck.
The trajectory Batman chose for the collision was calculated with precision, launching Madman straight into the path of the various energy beams X-Ray was firing from his hands.
Pfft! Pfft!
The beams failed to penetrate Madman's body, instead blasting into his airborne, helpless form, producing sizzling sounds accompanied by a foul, acrid stench of scorched flesh.
"Curse it! Curse it! His suit is completely sealed! I can't get inside!"
Just then, Vapor let out a furious, exasperated shriek as her form shifted from transparent carbon dioxide back into a cloud of green toxic gas.
She had been trying continuously to find a seam in the Gargoyle Suit to infiltrate it, attempting to slip straight into Batman's lungs.
Yet after taking that single deep breath, Batman sealed his mouth and nose completely. Based on a Vibranium foundation, the Gargoyle Suit presented zero openings.
"I'd like to see how long you can hold your breath!" Vapor stood with hands on her hips, her upper torso manifesting a human outline while her lower half remained a drifting mist of poison.
Venom Robin was entirely immune to toxic gas and remained entangled with the Wrecking Crew, while Batman's suit lacked any seams.
In an instant, Vapor had been rendered completely useless in this battle.
Glaring furiously at Batman, she dispersed her form completely, thick toxic gas blanketing Batman along with the others.
"Let's see just how long you can hold a single breath!"
Vapor thought bitterly to herself.
It was a pity she had never witnessed Batman's battle against Ant-Man and the Wasp back in the Adirondack Mountains; had she seen it, no such thought would have entered her head.
"Cough! Cough!"
The moment Vapor's gas spread out, Vector and X-Ray nearby broke into uncontrollable coughing fits.
Close-combatants like Bi-Beast could rely on sheer physical resilience to ignore Vapor's toxicity, but Vector and X-Ray could not.
Frowning, Vapor condensed the range of her toxic cloud slightly.
By then, Batman had just hit the deck after slamming into Madman.
"Ironclad, Absorbing Man, Bi-Beast."
The instant his feet touched the ground, Batman executed a rapid roll, the floor collapsing downward beneath his landing spot a second later.
Yet rather than dealing with Vector—who kept creating obstacles for him—Batman locked his eyes on Ironclad, Absorbing Man, and Bi-Beast as they recovered and lunged at him anew.
Batman had long noticed that all three possessed bodies composed of metal.
And inside his Utility Belt happened to be a new weapon prepared specifically for this operation: bombs engineered using Antarctic Vibranium's property to liquefy metals.
Reaching into his Utility Belt, Batman retrieved three spinning spheres that immediately flew through the air, streaking straight toward the three targets he had mentally selected.
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