Bronze Tiger was about to go down under Bane's fist, his life hanging by a thread, when suddenly a sharp wind cut through the air—something flying straight for Bane.
Bane didn't flinch. With two fingers, he caught the hidden weapon mid-flight.
"Hmph. I figured you'd try something like this after your best fighter fell," Bane said, his voice cold and confident. "Norton, you're pretty much nothing without your guns. If you think ordinary darts can hurt me, you're dreaming."
Deadshot, stayed quiet in the distance.
But Adam, standing beside him, smirked and called out, "You're a little full of yourself. Even without guns, Norton's tougher than you think. But that's not the point—I told him to throw that. I wanted you to catch it."
Bane's eyes widened in surprise. He glanced at his hand and realized he wasn't holding a weapon—it was a small test tube, bubbling with green liquid.
Before he could throw it away, the tube burst open—and a cloud of green smoke hissed out right in Bane's face.
Bane jerked his head to the side, trying to escape the gas, but pain shot through his foot. Adam rushed in with a cluster of needles attached to his wrist, punching them straight into Bane's body.
"Taste what real fear feels like!" Adam snarled, forcing a dose of imitation fear gas—just like the one the Riddler had once brewed—into Bane.
Adam had learned this trick from Batman's final fight with Superman: let your enemy grow overconfident, lure them in, and then strike when they least expect. It was a simple plan, but it worked.
Suddenly, Bane started roaring and swinging his arms wildly. All at once, the world twisted around him—he was back in the prison of his childhood, surrounded by all the monsters of his past. This was the fear gas at work, dragging out the worst nightmares hidden deep in Bane's mind.
While Bane lost control, Adam ducked and dodged, rushing to pull Bronze Tiger out of danger. The master fighter could barely walk, having pushed his body to its limits and beyond.
"Norton, grab him! Now!" Adam yelled.
Deadshot caught Bronze Tiger and tied them together with a length of vine, retreating toward the river valley as fast as possible.
Adam turned to run, but before he could get away, Bane's massive hand closed around his body.
"Did you think a little smoke or poison would finish me?" Bane growled, his eyes burning red as he squeezed Adam tighter. Adam could barely breathe—his face turned red and his vision began to blur.
But even trapped like this, Adam managed a thin smile. "You think this is over? Getting caught by you… that was part of my plan."
With a sudden twist, Adam bent his body like a spring, using Bane's grip for leverage. He kicked his foot powerfully behind Bane, smashing down on the green tube sticking from hsi back—the source of his strength.
Adam wasn't strong enough to hurt Bane directly, but if all of his weight and effort landed on that weak spot, it might be enough. Sure enough, there was a nasty tearing sound. The tube ripped free, and Bane's muscles on one side shrank almost instantly. Suddenly, only half his body was big and powerful—the other half looked much weaker.
Adam wasted no time. With Bane off-balance, he delivered a hard punch to Bane's shriveled arm and broke loose. He gulped for air as he stumbled away, thinking for a split second about finishing Bane now. But when he saw that Bane, even only half as strong, was still breaking trees with his bare hands, he thought better of it. Adam grabbed an empty tube and scooped up some spilled venom as a sample for the Riddler to study later.
Without looking back, Adam jumped to the vines and slid to safety.
The truth was, Adam didn't get involved because he was particularly noble—he knew Bane's real goal was to capture them alive. If Bane had wanted to kill them, he could have blown up the road or set more traps. Adam realized that out of all of them, he was the most valuable prisoner. He also knew the move he'd just used—a surprise kick to tear out Bane's venom tube—came straight from the old Batman movies. He simply adapted a classic strategy for his own escape.
Sometimes, the best way to win is just knowing which story you're in.