mtl008 Chapter 4291 Heroes Strike! (23)
Chapter 4291 Heroes Strike! (23)
Chapter 4291 Heroes Strike! (Twenty-Three)
"Who are you supporting?" Natasha asked Bucky while eating her ice cream. They were sitting towards the back of the stands. Their postures were almost identical: leaning forward, elbows on their knees, eating while intently watching the game.
“Uh, Batman. I think he has a better chance of winning.” Bucky thought for a moment and said, “The combination of Superman and Batman is strong, but it still can’t beat Batman and Batman together.”
“If Batman’s consciousness is in Batman’s body, then he’s just an ordinary Batman, right?” Natasha asked.
“It’s different, isn’t it? This Batman’s body is obviously stronger. His armor is different from other Batmen’s.” Bucky thought for a moment and said, “I just think this armor is pretty cool, that’s why I think he can win.”
“I think you can offer a little help to his victory.” Natasha turned to look at him. Bucky felt her gaze and turned to look at her too, then saw Natasha grin at him with a bright smile.
Bucky felt a chill run down his spine, but before he could react, Natasha grabbed his shoulder and snapped his arm off with a "crack." She then swung his arm and threw it onto the field, yelling, "Batman!! Over here!!!"
Arkham Batman looked in the direction of the sound and saw a mechanical arm flying straight towards him. He immediately fired his grappling hook, grabbed the mechanical arm, swung it around his head twice, and then slammed it down towards Superman from the main universe.
Superman from the main universe widened his eyes and quickly flew up to dodge. But this thing was nothing like a Mexican corn cob. After countless iterations by Howard Stark, the Winter Soldier's mechanical arm could be considered the culmination of Stark technology. Although it looked similar to the first generation on the surface, it was truly intricately designed.
Although it's not attached to the body and can't be operated, the materials used alone make it a perfect striking weapon. The exterior uses vibranium, which can absorb all sound waves and vibrations; while the interior uses a combination of adamantium alloy and molten steel alloy, balancing hardness and toughness, and also includes counterweights, making the entire arm quite balanced in weight.
Batman from Arkham made a very precise grab, landing right on the elbow. The grappling hook was tightly wrapped around the hand, so it wouldn't fall off no matter how he swung it.
Well, that's it! Arkham Batman swung his arm like a windmill. The main universe Superman didn't expect someone to help him, and he took the hit squarely, almost falling from mid-air.
Enraged, he grabbed the arm, inadvertently pulling the other Superman, Arkham Batman, up with him. Arkham Batman spun around and hugged the main universe Superman from behind. The two slammed to the ground together.
Neither of them fared well this time. Superman, with his Iron Body providing significant damage reduction, didn't lose much health, but his cape got tangled in the grappling hook. Arkham Batman, despite having armor, didn't have as much damage reduction, and the fall still cost him a considerable amount of health.
The main universe's Superman, somewhat agitated, snapped the grappling hook and raised his arm to throw it away. Before Bucky, the owner of the arm, could even stand up, Rocket Raccoon jumped up on the other side.
"Here, here!! Superman, I'm your fan!!!"
Superman simply tossed his arm over. Rocket Raccoon leaped and caught it, gazing at the gleaming mechanical arm with genuine admiration: "Wow—!!!"
Bucky covered his forehead with his only remaining hand.
The main universe's Superman is genuinely angry. This forced knockdown ability is annoying enough, but to also grab objects in the environment is just awful. Grabbing a super spicy corn cob is one thing, but grabbing the Winter Soldier's arm? Why don't you just grab Doomsday?!
"Fine, fine, so you're providing off-field assistance? You can arrest me, I'll arrest you too." In a fit of anger, the Superman from the main universe took to the air and flew directly to the host's floating island above the arena.
"Hey, hey, what are you doing?! You can't come up here!!!" The Beyonder tried to stop the Superman from the main universe, but it was too late.
The Superman of the main universe in the air took a deep breath, his muscles becoming even more defined as he exerted force, making him look like a solemn and majestic statue. He lifted the sky island with both hands, ignoring the screams of the Beyonder above, and slammed it down towards Batman in Arkham.
boom! ! ! ! ! !
The spectators were blinded by the smoke and dust and had to quickly cover their faces with their hands. The powerful airflow blew the ladies' long hair back and popcorn into the air, creating a popcorn rain over the entire audience.
The gray fog quickly seized the opportunity to disperse. When it coalesced again, the popcorn bucket, which had just been empty, was refilled, along with two cheese corn sticks that no longer had any cheese powder.
“Batman must have lost by now, right?” Steve looked around the arena and said, “Even with that armor, he probably wouldn’t survive being hit by such a huge floating island.”
“There will definitely be an announcement if we win… Oh, the host has already been thrown off? Never mind then.” Stark said, taking a sip of his cola.
As the dust settled, the Beyonder scrambled to his feet, grabbed the microphone, and launched into a tirade against the main universe's Superman. Unfortunately, he was merely the host, not the referee; he had no authority to disqualify a contestant. He couldn't even unleash his powers in self-defense, as this could potentially affect the contestant's performance, so he could only mutter curses as he left the arena.
When the smoke and dust completely cleared, the white light that everyone had been expecting did not appear. Instead, a massive, pitch-black chariot was parked on the field.
Batwoman couldn't help but yell, "Where did he find that Batmobile?!"
"It was probably the item he found," the Superman from the main universe said helplessly. "We were really unlucky; we didn't get a single key item. If it weren't for your strategic planning and cutting off their resources, we probably wouldn't have won."
“No,” Batwoman shook her head and said, “This isn’t his usual Batmobile; the materials and style are different. He probably knocked this out himself.”
"He has this kind of skill?"
"It's not a skill. I guess he probably demolished a building on the map and built his own vehicle."
"Isn't that against the rules???"
Batwoman shook her head and said, "It's not against the rules. This game has more freedom than we imagined. Like when we race them, leaving them no time to search for resources, that's also part of the gameplay. He must have gotten some items to be able to demolish the building."
Just as they were speaking, the black Batmobile engine emitted a deep roar, like a ferocious beast baring its fangs at Superman from the main universe.
The Superman from the main universe swallowed hard and said, "This thing... it probably can't fly, right?"
“What you should be considering is whether the Batman of your universe will go easy on you,” Batwoman said. “Now is the time to test your old friendship.”
"I don't know if he'll go easy on me, but the other one definitely won't."
The moment the Batmobile started moving, the main universe's Superman turned and ran. He fired two heat beams, but both were dodged. He changed direction, intending to attack at close range, but the Arkham Batman was able to fire his grappling hook while driving.
The main universe's Superman dared not let him hook him, otherwise the car would fly regardless of whether it could fly or not. So he dodged left and right, constantly using heat rays to interfere with the other party.
“I have an idea,” Batwoman said. “You pretend to get hooked by him, and then we’ll throw him out.”
“But he won’t stay in the car. He’ll jump out while I’m throwing the car.”
"But he can't actually fly; he can't change direction while in the air. You can seize that opportunity and attack him with heat rays. He doesn't have much health left; if we can hit him head-on once, we'll win."
The Superman from the main universe looked at their health bars, calculated the damage, and realized Batwoman was right. Neither of them had much health left; they could basically be killed in one combo. If he could capitalize on Arkham Batman's airtime and land a heat ray, victory would be his.
Anyway, there's no other good way. If this drags on, he has no chance of winning, so we might as well take a gamble.
The Superman from the main universe immediately created an opening, seemingly flying to the left, but actually pausing in place for a moment, as if he had been distracted while discussing tactics. His performance was so convincing that it even fooled the Batman from the main universe.
The Arkham Batman, unaware of any warning from the main universe Batman, was caught by the grappling hook on the Batmobile, which launched him into the air. Another cheer erupted from the audience.
Seeing that his goal had been achieved, the main universe's Superman stopped pretending, grabbed the grappling hook, swung it around, and threw Arkham Batman and the Batmobile off the field.
The arena is surrounded by walls, and there's collision damage. If Arkham Batman doesn't appear, this collision will be enough to wipe out his remaining health; if he does appear, he'll be momentarily suspended in the air. Arkham Batman doesn't actually fly, and that brief moment of immobility is enough to hit him.
Sure enough, Arkham Batman had no intention of staying in the Batmobile. The moment the Batmobile was thrown off course, he jumped out. And it was this jump that was immediately spotted by Superman from the main universe, who possessed superhuman eyesight and reflexes.
Sizzle—!!!
The heat beam shot rapidly in that direction. But at the same moment, three sharp batarangs flew straight towards Superman. To complete the attack, the Superman from the main universe couldn't dodge. He was betting that the three batarangs wouldn't kill him.
At the critical moment, everyone held their breath. Then, two beams of white light appeared almost simultaneously.
"What happened? Did they both die???"
Selena jumped up in a panic, exclaiming, "What the hell? Who won? It couldn't be a tie, could it?!"
“It shouldn’t be,” Bruce said. “I saw a light earlier, but I couldn’t make out which one it was.”
By this time, the Transcendent had repaired the floating island and returned to it. But this time he was smarter; the floating island had moved outside the dueling arena and was now above the audience seats.
"Alright, I'm sure everyone is very curious about the final outcome of this exciting battle. Now, let's take a look at the battle replay!"
The canopy fell again, and everyone held their breath. Would the main universe's Superman successfully launch a counterattack, or would Arkham's Batman prove superior?!
The scene then shifts back to the final battle. We can see the heat beam hitting Arkham Batman, while the batarang hits the main universe Superman. The difference between these two moments is a fraction of a second. And in the end, it's the main universe Superman's white light that illuminates first.