Bruce Wayne

Chapter 07: Momentary Distraction

Bruce ducked under a pipe swung toward his head, catching the back of it with the side of his forearm and redirecting it in passing as he turned in place. The pipe struck the wrist of a different criminal and forced the man to drop the knife he held. The bladed weapon skidded across the pavement and out of reach underneath a parked car. Pulling the pipe he still gripped, Bruce dragged its owner forward to collide with two of his associates. All three men went down in a tangle of arms and legs, temporarily giving Bruce only four opponents to confront.

One of the four rushed Bruce with a knife, slashing wildly back and forth. Bruce saw the man's weight shift before each swing, and it allowed him to anticipate every move, easily dodging the knife. His opponent lunged too far forward, and it gave Bruce the opportunity he'd been waiting for. Sidestepping the blade, Bruce seized the man's wrist to hold the criminal in place while he brought his knee up into the thug's midsection, knocking the wind out of the thug and doubling the criminal over. Pulling on the wrist he held, Bruce guided his gasping opponent face first into the side of a truck. The man collapsed and was out of the fight.

The three men still on their feet continued their assault, swinging metal pipes in an attempt to bludgeon Bruce into submission. After dodging a pipe swing, Bruce punched his attacker hard in the stomach before latching onto the pipe and pulling it straight out from the man only to shove it toward him again. The criminal had been so focused on catching his breath, his overall resistance to Bruce's maneuver was practically nothing, and the redirected pipe smashed into the man's face. The criminal staggered and fell backwards, blood pouring from his broken nose.

Bruce's injured enemy released his weakened hold on the pipe, and Bruce immediately raised it to block the downward strike of another criminal. The two pipes clanged together, and Bruce made the most of his opponent's arms and weapon being over his head by landing a solid kick with the heel of his shoe against the center of the thug's chest, knocking him backwards over the hood of a dark green truck.

Continuing to use the pipe, Bruce swung across to deflect a thrust toward his stomach by a different mugger. Metal rang again, and Bruce ignored the vibrations traveling up his arm from the pipe, concentrating instead on the precarious position of his opponent and how it could be used. Because of the deflected thrust, the threatening pipe had gone out wide on Bruce's right side, leaving the criminal with his arms outstretched and trying to compensate for the weapon's momentum and bring it back where he could attack again, but Bruce gave him no such opportunity.

Keeping his hands in the middle of the three foot length of pipe, Bruce dropped his foot back to support him as he spun around to his right. As the turn completed, he stabbed backwards along his side to strike his enemy in the ribs with the end of the pipe. Reversing his turn, Bruce brought the pipe back up in a resemblance of a baseball player and clotheslined his foe across the chest, dropping him hard to the pavement. Writhing on the ground, the man made no attempt to get up.

The three men he'd entangled at the first of the fight had managed to free themselves. One carried a knife, but the other two were armed with metal pipes. Bruce stepped back between two cars where his multiple opponents would have to come at him one at a time or be forced to go around.

A purple glow suddenly enveloped one of the pipe wielding criminals, lifting him off the ground, kicking and thrashing wildly as gravity lost its hold on him. From the corner of Bruce's eye, he managed to notice Zatanna standing with her hands outstretched toward the floating man. Both of her hands had an aura of violet energy rippling around them like a cloud. He'd never seen her use the power before, but Bruce had no time to think about it as he still had two muggers wanting to kill him.

The momentary distraction cost Bruce as he failed to entirely dodge the incoming knife. A burst of pain ripped through his side, but he forced it away and focused on the battle.  The injury caused him to drop his pipe and take a hasty step back to avoid being cut further.  When the next thrust came straight toward his heart, Bruce brought his left hand up, hitting the criminal's wrist with his own and pushing the blade off target. Following the defense with a right handed punch to the man's face, Bruce staggered him. Taking a firm hold of the thug by the back of the neck with his left hand, Bruce slammed the disoriented criminal face down on the hood of a nearby car.