Masterstroke | The Dark Knight Trilogy

THREE - WILL TO ACT

I ran up to the other side after parking Bruce's bike from afar. "Hey! You seen Gordon around?" I asked to a patrolman. He threw his thumb over his shoulder; I looked over it and saw that Gordon was talking to Flass. "Boss!" I stopped in front of him.

"Nina?" Gordon said as soon as he saw me.

"These are for you." I said showing him the antidote. "One to inoculate yourself and the other for mass production. It counteracts Crane's drug." Gordon took it. "There'll be more."

"Where are you going?" Gordon asked following me as I walked to Bruce's ride.

"I'm going to block the train before those guys arrived in the narrows. Slow 'em down a bit." I replied.

"You be careful." Gordon said gripping my hand.

I nodded quickly, before putting on my helmet. "Wish me luck."

***

I was nearing the train stop when the gas was released into the air. The manhole cover flew into the air as the water was vaporized. I pulled the reins and the horse stopped. I jumped down and started to climb the stairs two steps at a time. I pulled out my gun with the safety off. I pointed my gun at the conductor of the train as soon as I got in.

"GCPD, sir. I'm gonna ask you to get out of this train. Now!" The man raised his hands up immediately and he stepped around me staying as far away from me as possible. Muttering something about me being a crazy woman and another think about complaining to the police about it.

I blocked the door I just got through with my handcuffs. I took a sudden step back as I saw Ra's mercenaries arrived. They stopped in front of the door. I aimed my gun at the door stepping backwards to the conductor's room. I was confronted with yet another problem. The conductor's room had no door. There was no way for me to completely secure the train.

Two men entered the train and went straight for me. I moved into my muscle memory of martial arts training ingrained into my mind and quickly took them down, only for four more ninjas to jump out of the shadows, and for me to further take them down and arm myself with one of their swords. I turned to face a man with cold emerald green eyes who I could only guess was the leader of this operation and the train started moving. I moved into action lunging at him, kicking his jaw while smoothly somersaulting and landing on my feet like my kendo instructor called me a panther. He moved in a fighting position and we went at each other viciously.

"You have incredible skill and it's rather honorable of you to try saving your town." He smirked as he had managed to pin me to the wall, and I noted his British maybe European accent. "But it's useless. Gotham will tear itself apart, regardless. You're only one person."

"She's not alone." A familiar rasp sounded behind me and the whirring of a machine stopped and the man was kicked off me by Batman.

"Stay back, Nina. Rā's, we can end this now. There's no need for further bloodshed."

The man, Rā's, however, seemed unmoved, his conviction unwavering. "Oh, you are wrong, Bruce. There's an enormous need," he declared cryptically, his eyes reflecting a depth of purpose that sent shivers down the spine.

"We'll stop you," Batman asserted, determination etched on his masked face.

But Rā's, with a confidence bordering on arrogance, countered, "No. You won't. Because to stop me, you would have to kill me, and you will not do that."

"You're sure?" Batman questioned, his voice cutting through the tense air as Rā's edged around the ominous microwave transmitter, a silent witness to the impending clash.