Ch: 198 [Batman vs Lady Shiva]
Bruce had already scanned the surroundings and noticed some unscannable machines installed around the place. Since his scanners couldn't scan them, they must be extremely advanced and unknown to mankind. So, he quickly concluded that they were either from ancient times or from the future. Did Thawne also manipulate them when he was still alive? Whatever the case may be, it won't change the outcome.
"Why should I waste my precious time when I can simply vaporize this entire island along with you all?" Bruce asked with a cold smile.
"Oh, I'm pretty you won't do that because you are after the original Lazarus Pit, and this place is completely cut off from the rest of the world. No signals can enter or leave this place. The same for you and your nanites. As for that Kryptonite friend of yours..." Lady Shiva raised her right arm in the air and instantly, around a hundred assassins aimed their kryptonite arrows at Kara. "I knew you would bring her here, so I came prepared. This place is loaded with Kryptonite, enough to kill her dozens of times over. So, you better behave or else..." Lady Shiva threatened.
"Hahaha! Really? This is your plan?" Kara let out a loud laugh. "Kryptonite?" She zoomed before one of the assassins and grabbed the kryptonite arrow with her bare hand, crushing it to dust. "And? What else you got?" She mocked.
Lady Shiva narrowed her eyes at Kara. According to the files from Lex's base, both Superman and Kara were vulnerable to Kryptonite. However, judging from the situation, it has no effect on her. Was Lex's information wrong? But since the machines that can suppress Bruce's tech were working fine, then there's no doubt that Kryptonite should work as well. Unless...
"Those jammers and your info on kryptonite... Where did you find this information and machines? No one knows about Kryptonian's weakness and there ain't any machine that can shut down my nanites, except those from the future. You made a deal with Thawne or something?" Bruce questioned Lady Shiva with a serious expression on his face.
Lady Shiva looked at Bruce with a slight smile on her face, "You found out pretty quickly. Well, if you are talking about that speedster, then no. As for where I found all these... You gotta work hard to earn that knowledge, boy."
"Haaa..." Bruce sighed, shaking his head as he slowly flew a few inches above the ground. "You clueless woman. I don't need gadgets or technology to get rid of you all. But it would be such a waste. I need all the manpower I can get to face Darkseid and upcoming dangers. So, be a good girl and stand down."
"Or what?" Lady Shiva smirked. "You'll kill us all? Yes, your Kryptonian friend is strong indeed, but so are we. The pit granted us enhanced strength and agility far beyond normal humans. We are now nigh-invulnerable and our reflexes are on par with that Kryptonian woman. As for you... Well, I can easily take you. But considering how you are floating without any tech, I guess, you aren't normal yourself. I wonder how you achieved that. Perhaps, you used Ra's weak pit?"
Bruce sighed once again.
"No. I'm bored and annoyed," He said, and within a split second, heat vision zoomed past Lady Shiva's head, missing her by an inch and striking the boulder behind her. The boulder instantly shattered. He zoomed toward her at a blinding speed. Before she could even react, Bruce grabbed her face, slamming her on the mountain's feet.
BOOM!!
The ground beneath Lady Shiva's body instantly cracked upon impact, creating a small crater around her.
"You wanna fight, let's do it," Bruce looked back at his team. "Stand back."
She kicked Bruce hard on his stomach, "NOW YOU ARE TALKING!" She yelled with a large grin as her punch was strong enough to shatter Bruce's armor and send him back flying. He flipped over and landed on the ground. "Kryptonians, humans, technology, metahumans... It fucking doesn't matter to me. I can beat you all!!!" She roared as she rushed toward Bruce with a burst of explosive speed.
This time Bruce didn't have the time to react. Despite his evolution with the Kryptonian DNA and being enhanced to the limit, Lady Shiva's speed was much faster. Within a fraction of a second, she appeared before Bruce, punching him hard on the chest, causing the armor to crack as he was sent flying once more.
She followed up with another punch as Bruce barely managed to block it with his arms, but he still ended up skidding across the ground for a few meters before stopping. His arms were numb and hurt like hell. Even with the Kryptonian DNA, SSS, and Extremis, Lady Shiva's strike still had some effect on him.
"Now, what were you saying about getting rid of us all? Care to repeat it once more?" Lady Shiva mocked.
"Hahahahahahaha!" Bruce burst out in laughter as he cracked his knuckles. "How long has it been since I faced an opponent worthy of going all out against? Oh, it feels so refreshing. COME AT ME!" He took his fighting stance and charged at Lady Shiva with an explosion of speed.
"Oh, so you want to die huh?!" Lady Shiva smirked as she also took her fighting stance and charged toward Bruce.
BOOM!!!
Both Bruce and Lady Shiva collided with each other at the same time, creating a shockwave that rippled through the entire island, cracking the ground beneath them. They exchanged punches and kicks in a flash, their movement so fast that it became almost imperceptible to the naked eye.
Even Kara, who was watching them, could barely see their movements. Bruce and Lady Shiva were moving so fast that Kara couldn't even react to it.
"Hmm? What's happening?" Harley asked, confused. She and others, including Kara, were still standing at the same spot, completely frozen. "What are they doing? I can't see anything," She asked once again.
"They are moving extremely fast," Kara explained. "I can barely keep up with their movement. Let alone you guys."
"FASTER THAN YOU? IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?" Harley yelled in disbelief. "BATTY CAN MOVE FASTER THAN YOU?! HAHAHAHAAHA! I ALMOST BELIEVED IT FOR A SECOND!"
Kara just glared at her.
"Wait! You ain't jokin', huh?!" Harley shivered, thinking about what would have happened had she not turned to a new leaf and joined Bruce. "Holy crap! Batty's scary!"
While Harley was busy being scared, Bruce and Lady Shiva were still exchanging punches and kicks, their speed and strength increasing with every passing second. Lady Shiva's body was glowing with a red hue. She picked up her long swords, swinging it at Bruce.
But Bruce simply dodged them and delivered a powerful punch to her stomach, sending her flying back. But she recovered quickly and dashed toward him once again. They clashed once more, unleashing a powerful shockwave that caused the nearby assassins to fall back a few steps.
Bruce grabbed her left sword while kicking away her right, breaking them into pieces.
"Hey! You broke my babies!" Lady Shiva growled angrily. "You will pay for that!"
Bruce laughed as he zoomed toward her and threw a punch at her face, but she blocked it with her right arm, and punched him hard on the chest, causing the armor to crack and split apart. He tore apart his armor, revealing his regular costume, and met the oncoming punches. He threw a beam of heat vision at Lady Shiva. But she was too quick and dodged it with ease.
"Did you use Kryptonian DNA on yourself to gain such power?" Lady Shiva questioned with a serious expression. "That's insane! But then again, who am I to complain? As long as you give me a good fight!" She smirked as she zoomed toward Bruce once more.
The fight between Bruce and Lady Shiva continued for a while, with neither side showing signs of giving up. Bruce tried using his heat vision multiple times, but Lady Shiva always managed to dodge it somehow. He was surprised to see her speed, vision, and strength were almost equal to his 60% mode.
Finally, after a few minutes of intense combat, Bruce grabbed Lady Shiva's arm, throwing her up in the air and then slamming her on the ground. She coughed out blood as she struggled to stand up. He flung her body high up in the air and used his heat vision, burning two holes in her thighs. "GAAAAHHH!!" She screamed out loud in pain. Bruce blinked up in the air, then grabbed her head with his left hand, slamming her on the ground.
CRACK!!
Lady Shiva's arm cracked under Bruce's tremendous pressure. A few of her ribs shattered on the impact. Her enhanced body began to heal itself, but Bruce didn't let her recover as he zoomed before her, kicking her hard in the face.
BOOM!!
Lady Shiva rolled away, dodging the kick as she crashed onto a boulder, breaking it into pieces. Bruce wasn't done yet as he blasted her with heat vision once more. The beam hit her right shoulder, scorching her flesh, and making her scream loudly. She jumped forward, avoiding another blast, and charged toward Bruce with all her might. But he easily dodged her attack and struck her back with his heat vision once more, piercing through her feet.
Lady Shiva fell to his knees as Bruce cracked his knuckles once again.
"C'mon, don't tell me this is all you got? I haven't even used my 100% yet and you are already on your knees. Are you perhaps going to disappoint me after all that boasting just like those before you?" He sighed in disappointment.
"Shut... Up..." Lady Shiva growled as she slowly stood up. Her wounds were already starting to heal. Smoke rose from her body as she glared at Bruce with hatred. "Fucking monster!" She grabbed her right chest and coughed out blood. She wiped her mouth with the back of her right hand. "I will kill you! Even if it's the last thing I do!" She roared.
Bruce chuckled, "Then come at me!"
Lady Shiva roared once more as she charged toward Bruce with all her might.
"This is getting boring," Bruce shook his head. "If you won't fight seriously, then I guess, I should end this fight quickly."
"End this? End THIS?!" Lady Shiva laughed hysterically as she flashed past Bruce.
"Humm!" He looked down at his stomach and saw a dagger pierced deep inside. Blood dripped from his wound. He pulled out the dagger and looked closely. "Poison? Really?" Bruce looked back at Lady Shiva, who was panting heavily, struggling to stand straight. "Is this supposed to be a joke?" He questioned her as he healed his wound instantly. "It's useless against me."
"Useless? Hahaha!" Lady Shiva chuckled as she staggered backward. "You think the poison in that dagger is ordinary? It's the strongest poison known to mankind, a combination of several poisons extracted from poisonous plants and living creatures unknown to the outside world. One drop of that poison is enough to kill thousands of people. And that dagger has enough to melt your body to nothingness within ten seconds."
Bruce raised his brows. He sensed his organs started to deteriorate. "Interesting..."
"HAHAHAHAH!! How does it feel knowing that you are dying?! That your insides are melting?! It'll kill you painfully," She yelled with a large and satisfied grin.
"Well, interesting poison. But it's useless against me," Bruce said as he opened his palm. The poison began to emerge from his skin pores, concentrating into a little ball over his palm. His organs healed almost instantly thanks to his Kryptonian genetic evolution and Extremis serum.
Lady Shiva widened her eyes in shock when she saw Bruce extracting the poison from his body. "Wha-? You... What are you?"
"I'm Batman," Bruce blinked in front of her with a spark of lightning and grabbed her throat, pulling her up in the air. "And you lost."
Lady Shiva struggled desperately, trying to free herself from Bruce's grasp, but failed miserably.
"Now, surrender and swear your allegiance to me, or I'll snap your neck right here, right now. Your choice," Bruce coldly threatened her.
Lady Shiva gritted her teeth as she looked down at Bruce.
"You wish..." She reached for a little device in her pocket and pressed a button.
Instantly, a vortex opened over them, tearing apart the reality itself with an insane suction force.
"LET'S DIE TOGETHER!!"