Miraculous Ladybug: Arkham Rogue

A Tactical Retreat

"Bring it on," Barked Monarch. He reached down with his left hand and tapped on of the Alliance Rings that had a yellow and black bumblebee icon. The ring itself flashed yellow. The poor Kwami, Pollen, had been absorbed into the ring, and had its unique powers transferred digitally to Monarch before he left his villainous lair. Within an instant, the Alliance Ring granted Monarch the power of the Bee Miraculous.
"Venom!" A yellow and black bee stinger appeared around Monarch's right hand. Without a second delay, Monarch lunged forward towards Batman. Batman was ready for the attack, and jumped over Monarch. Monarch did not let up, he continued to throw his fist in Batman's direction. Batman had expertly dodged each attack in succession. Monarch had planned to corner Batman against two buildings, however Batman already anticipated this.
As Batman dodged the last attack, he leaped back with his legs behind him. His feet touched one of the walls and he managed to effortlessly bounce from one to the other. He flew over Monarch, who surprised to see such agility out of a mere man. Monarch threw his whole weight forward, trying to land a single hit with the paralysis inducing stinger. But to no avail. Instead he slammed his fist into the ground, causing it to ripple and break in all directions. It only took a moment to free his hand from the newly created gravel, but was flung to his rear as he did.
"I figured you had something sinister connected to the Alliance Rings. They obviously play a key part in your latest scheme, Gabriel."
Monarch turned to look at Batman, a furious snarl on his face. Monarch pulled out a dark colored sword that had a purple jewel underneath the handle. It came from the staff that he carried on his back. He ignored his powered up hand in favor for trying to get in close to Batman. Batman was no stranger to dealing with foes with such weaponry. He's faced the likes of Raa's Al Ghoul* and Deathstroke numerous times.
The only difference is that they did not posses anything close to the strength or agility of Monarch. Batman found this out when he blocked the first sword attack. The sides of his gauntlets had the three spiked ridges which was his go to option to defend against deadly blades. He had raised both arms up to match the trajectory of Monarch's swing. Batman stopped the attack, the blade nuzzled in-between both sets of gauntlet notches. However, his feet began to slide a couple feet back from where he originally stood. Batman's arms also vibrated from the impact, his arm muscles pulsed in pain.
By raising his arms into the air, Batman was able to cause Monarch to stumble back. It gave Batman enough distance to jump away. Monarch pursued Batman, attempting to slice him apart with his sword. But no more attacks made contact with the Dark Knight as Batman chose to evade rather than block. Batman knew it would be unwise to engage in hand to hand combat. So he planned on playing the waiting game and to rile up his foe on an emotional and irrational level.
"That is now twice I have had my identity found out by two people from Gotham. It is starting to get on my nerves." Monarch growled as he continued to slash the air around Batman.
After Monarch said that, Batman threw a Batarang that sailed by Monarch's head, though it was not intended for him. The Batarang arched back like a true boomerang and hit a lock that held a fire escape ladder in place. The ladder came crackling down in front of Monarch, who had to jump away to avoid getting hit in the head. Batman leaped to the ladder and immediately jumped up to one of the platforms of said fire escape. He looked back down at Monarch.
"I believe I have a knack for that," Batman said, making a rare quip. It was one thing for Monarch to hear a such remarks from the likes of Chat Noir. But from Batman, a truly imposing adult hero, made Monarch's blood boil even hotter.
"Voyage," Monarch yelled as he raised his hand up. Using the stolen power of the Horse Miraculous, a blue portal popped into existence in front of the purple clad villain. From above Batman, another portal appeared and down came Monarch. Batman did not have enough time to move, and Monarch jumped on top of him. Batman laid on his back against the metal flooring as Monarch stayed hunched over him. Not unlike how Batman had been to Mr. Freeze several minutes before.
Monarch had deciding to go back to the close range bee stinger hand, and raised it to attempt to paralyze Batman once more. Batman reached his hands out and grabbed Monarch's arms at the elbows to restrict movement. They struggled for a moment and with just enough of a budge, Batman managed to roll the two of them forwards. The two crashed through the simple bar railing of the fire escape and tumbled off into the air.
Batman kicked Monarch away and used his cape to float in the air. While Monarch landed with a thud, Batman pulled out his grappling hook from his utility belt. He shot the hook onto a a chimney that was on a building from across the street. He allowed the grapple hook to pulled himself across to it at an extreme speed.
It did not take long for Monarch to get up off the floor and proceeded to chase after the Cape Crusader. Batman knew he could not outrun Monarch, especially with the power of the Horse Miraculous, but he knew he did not have much to work with. There was not a lot of footage of Monarch in action, as he lets the innocent people of Paris do his dirty work. Batman has had to rely on news videos of Ladybug and Chat Noir to see what the Miraculous were capable. He noted that they get an increased boost in agility, power, and durability to name a few.
Though Batman did not stop there, he took a trip to Tibet where a temple that had been long since forgotten had reappeared. This temple was the one where what was called the Miracle Box had been taken from a student at the temple, that held all the stolen Miraculous that Monarch now had his hands on, except for Ladybug's and Chat Noir's jewels. Not only was this self imposed history lesson important for Batman to learn about in case he ever encountered other Mircaulous Holders in the future, it definitely helped him better understand the power of the opponent right behind him.
It was not going to be easy, but he knew he had to find a potential weakness to exploit. He did not know that underneath the purple clad suit, lay a dying and withering man. If Batman did, he probably could've stood some what of a chance. But Batman did not know, and always assumed that, unless otherwise proven, his foe would be at the top of their game. And he would need to be on the top of his.
Just then, a new portal appeared in front of Batman. Though this time Batman was able to react in time and he dived into the street below. He braced himself as he suddenly pulled back on his cape to stop his descent to be about a foot above the line of cars. He could feel his back and shoulders tense up from the exertion of force being put on his body. It was a risky maneuver, considering how much lower Paris is elevation wise compared to Gotham, but it was a necessary one to keep Monarch on his toes. His already acing arms cried out for him to stop extending out to hold the cape in place, but he had to bury these thoughts.
After a few sharp zig zagging turns across the Parisian sky, Batman turned to see if Monarch was still following him. However, he saw no sign of the villain. Batman decided to swoop on top of a roof and land for a moment. Having his first chance to rest his arms after a few minutes of gliding felt like a complete relief to Batman. Though he knew the moment that the adrenaline would completely drain out of his system that his whole upper body would be throbbing in pain. Batman made a mental note to ask Lucius to reinforce his suit to take a higher amount of the force rather than his body.
Lifting his left arm to his face, a holographic display appeared from the gauntlet. He pushed a few different inputs and once the gauntlet made a quiet beep he put his arms down. For only just one minute, Batman knelt down to catch his breath. Even while resting, Batman remained vigilant and kept a watchful eye of his surroundings. It did not last longer than that minute.
A blue glow appeared in front of Batman as a new portal appeared on the adjacent building. With one long and deep breath Batman stood to his feet once more. Monarch had returned with Mr. Freeze beside him. Batman figured Monarch had left long enough to snap Mr. Freeze free of the titanium cable. Freeze created an ice bridge for him and Monarch to walk across. Batman raised his sore arms up. As he did Monarch raised his Venom fist and sword in a fencing like pose, and Mr. Freeze aimed his ice gun right at Batman's chest.
"Give up, Batman," Monarch spoke first. "Nothing will stop us from obtaining Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous."
"Besides," Freeze cut in. "You are simply no match for the two of us. Too bad your precious sidekick is not here to assist you. Had he not abandoned you, you might have had a slightest chance to survive."
Once again, Freeze's words cut deep into Batman's heart. He knew that he would have to deal with not having Dick Grayson by his side. It was a sour topic that Batman had not fully dealt with since Dick went to Blaudhaven***. It made him feel rather sad, as they did not separate on the best of terms. But he could not dwell on what had happen or how it made him feel. Especially with Monarch standing just across from him. If he wasn't already at risk of being Akumatized before, he was definitely far more vulnerable to it now. Batman had to keep up his guard; physically and mentally.
"Clout!" Monarch had activated the Tiger Miraculous' power. He punched the roof and a huge crack formed and trailed towards Batman. Batman had backed up to the farthest edge of the roof, however it did not matter as the roof collapsed bringing all three of them down to the floor below. Monarch and Batman landed soft and swiftly. Mr. Freeze had to use his suit's jet propulsion, which was located on the back side of his suit, to land with relative ease.
They had landed into an empty but tiny office space, no more than twelve desks laid about covered by typical cubical walls. Papers and folders covered the tops of every single one. There was only one copier and one printer. It did have a water-cooler with a stack of paper cups laid in the corner by a foldable table. The table held some paper plates and napkins and a white and gold box with the letters "TS" expertly crafted onto the box.
Mr. Freeze wasted no time to aim his first few shots. Many of which knocked over some of the flimsy walls and scattered papers in all directions. Batman weaved back and forth between the desks. It was not much but it was better than taking a full ice blast at such a close range. Monarch stayed out from Freeze's vision, wishing to not get hit with an ice blast. Instead he threw many different items towards Batman with an intense sense of force. Any scissors, pens, anything remotely sharp was thrown at Batman, all of the missed and stuck straight up into the grey tattered carpet.
"Hold still you winged pest!" Freeze barked. His shots became unfocused as he tried to accurately predict where Batman would reappear. Which was just the opportunity Batman needed. He waited for a moment, and came running out from his hiding spot. An item similar to a spray can was held in his hand as he ran. He took Freeze by surprise. Before he could take his shot, Bat slid underneath the ice gun. As he was right underneath it, Batman took his explosive gel spray and sprayed a healthy amount around the bottom of the barrel of the gun. Once he was done spraying the gel, he grabbed his Line Launcher and aimed it at the two villains. Two cords sprung forward and connected them together. The cords combined and reeled in at a lightning fast pace, and caused the two to slam into each other.
Batman pulled out the detonator and pushed the button, which activated the chemical compounds in the gel. The gel exploded and resulted in knocking both Mr. Freeze and Monarch to the ground. With this new window of opportunity, Batman quickly threw out two Batarangs, a trail of electricity flew between as they careened up into the air and was triangulated to go around the villains.
However, before they had a chance to make contact with them a green and hexagon patterned energy field spawned around Freeze and Monarch. When the electrified Batarangs made contact with the shield, they harmlessly bounced off the side and fell pathetically to the ground. The power of the Turtle Miraculous had protected them from the Batarangs.
"I'll give you this, Batman," sneered Monarch. "That would have been a good plan, if you weren't outclassed by the amazing power I possess."
"That power has corrupted you, Gabriel. You must know this is not what Emilie would've wanted."
Monarch gritted his teeth as he picked himself off the ground. However, before he could let his barrier down he heard a loud whooshing sound. Freeze began to panic and looked to Monarch.
"Stop him now, before he flees!"
"I have him right where I want him!" Snapped Monarch. "He has nowhere to run."
"Not true," said Batman in a calm voice. He pulled out his Bat-Claw and shot it straight into the sky. The claw went past the ruined roof and all the way up into the clouds. A second later it was pulled tight, and pulled on the grappling gun. Batman went with the Bat-Claw and ascended into the air.
"No!" Screamed both Mr. Freeze and Monarch. Monarch lowered the shield and tried to jump after Batman. But shortly lost him in the clouds. It was not until he saw Batman, dangling from a black air craft. It was styled after Batman's logo and was known as the Bat-Wing. Monarch could see Batman crawl inside the vehicle and into the cockpit. Monarch was not gonna let him go that easily.
Monarch opened a new portal, this one was positioned in front of the Bat-Wing. This allowed him to fly directly onto the Bat-Wing itself; specifically on the window of the cockpit. Monarch braced his body as he adjusted to the speed of the Bat-Wing. Monarch peered into the cockpit and saw Batman's face showed that he was unfazed and was looking back at him. Monarch tried to raise his fist to strike at the glass. With quick thinking, Batman pulled the yoke to the side, making the air craft do a corkscrew spin. Monarch was grasping the front of the Bat-Wing as tightly as he could.
The metal of the Bat-Wing began to warp under Monarch's superhuman grip. Batman took note of that and quickly pulled back on the yoke which made the sharp sides of the Bat-Wing to turn vertically. The Bat-Wing slowed dramatically and Monarch ripped off the pieces of metal he was holding onto and flew backwards with a scream. As quickly as he could, Batman straightened the yoke and pushed it forward. He blasted off higher into the sky, creating distance between him and Monarch.
As Monarch tumbled through the air he could not locate the Bat-Wing to warp to it. Instead, he warped around to position himself in the air in a way to slow his descent. Once he was slow enough he warped himself beside Mr. Freeze, who looked furious.
"You allowed him to escape!" Shout Freeze, showing the most emotions he could through his robotic sounding voice.
"I did not allow anything!" Monarch walked towards Freeze, who kept a tight grip on his ice gun. "You failed to mention that your Dark Knight would be following your coattails."
"I may not have anticipated him to leave Gotham, as he has taken upon himself to protect it with his life."
"It will be a short lived life once I get through with him," Monarch said as he created a new portal. "Let us go back and rethink our strategy."
Freeze did not care much for accepting defeat, but he did not have much of a choice. Knowing Batman, this will not be their last encounter in Paris.