The spectacular battle is about to begin. Now press the voting device in your hands and tell me, which duel do you want to see first! Come on, let's use voting to decide the first duelists to come on stage!
A voting device appeared in front of all the audience, allowing them to choose who to go on first by color. Bruce shoved the corner of an ice cream cone into his mouth, chewing as he said, "Which one do you want to watch first, dear?"
"Is that even a question? Of course, it's Superman vs. Batman!"
"Are you serious?" Bruce frowned, "What's there to watch about it? Clark comes over every day yelling for me to work, and we end up fighting. And you just sit there applying hand cream."
"You're not blaming me for not helping you, are you?" Selina glared at him and said, "It's 8:50 and you're supposed to show up at work by 9:00, and you're not even awake. I can't even find an excuse to advise Clark."
"Uh, it only takes me two minutes to fly to the base."
"Yeah, and after you get to the base, it takes you another half an hour to freshen up, and an hour to eat breakfast. By the time the morning meeting is over, it's already time for lunch."
"My god, how do you know so well?"
"Brainiac can't stand you anymore."
"He didn't have to tell you about it, though."
"He just wanted to know how I put up with you. He's asked almost everyone who knows you that question."
"Well, he just had bad luck. Give him a classic version of Batman, and he wouldn't be happy either." Bruce snorted coldly.
Yet, Selina and Bruce still voted for "Batman vs. Superman." It turned out no one wanted to miss this fun. In the end, "Batman vs. Superman" was elected by a large margin. The two contestants were immediately thrown into the field.
"What's with both of them?" Arkham Batman asked while flexing his wrists and ankles.
"If I said it was a matter of attraction, you'd definitely say Superman isn't that kind of person. But it's hard to say that primal instinct and hormones don't play a significant role in their relationship."
"Looks like you left a good impression on Superman," Arkham Batman's voice carried a hint of a smile.
"Completely different," Primary Universe Batman said, "Aside from looking a bit alike, there are almost no similarities."
"Isn't that a bigger problem then?"
Primary Universe Batman seemed reluctant to discuss this issue further. Arkham Batman just chuckled softly and continued, "Too bad I didn't leave a good impression on the Superman from our universe. If there's a gender-swapped version of me, he'd probably avoid me."
"Sounds like you're quite regretful."
"I'm not."
Now it was Arkham Batman's turn to avoid the topic, and Primary Universe Batman tactfully refrained from asking further. He looked through his mask across the field. The familiar Superman floated in the air, his blue eyes sinking under his brows with an unusual seriousness.
Without warning, the two moved. The Transcendent let out a sharp scream, as he didn't have time to shout start. But the two on the field had already collided.
There were no fancy skills, no preamble. It was the most primal, raw physical collision—the kind that everyone most wants to see.
The audience erupted into deafening cheers, screaming madly. There was no rational dialogue, no emotional exchange, just the purest clash. No one could refuse such pure aesthetics of violence. The violent genes buried within the intelligent life forms were fully unleashed, making them howl like madmen.
Bang, the steel-like bodies collided with real steel. Main Universe Superman raised an eyebrow because Arkham Batman miraculously didn't get knocked flying. For a Kryptonian, this was incredible, like an ant underfoot flipping you over.
Both used poses best suited for impact, generating force from their lower bodies, shoulders crashing together. This brought their faces close enough to make out every little expression from the other.
And just as Arkham Batman's lips curved into a slight smile, Batwoman said inside Main Universe Superman's mind, "Go."
Main Universe Superman quickly retreated, but it was too late. Arkham Batman's other hand threw out a grapple, wrapping around Main Universe Superman's waist, flying upward with him but higher due to inertia. The spread cloak obscured the sky, like an endlessly extending night.
First was a downward kick, followed by a smooth mid-air turn, then a whipping kick, and finally a heavy punch.
Main Universe Superman watched as the number "3" appeared above his head and then a string of white letters "Freeflow Attack!"
Main Universe Superman, of course, wouldn't take a beating for nothing. As Arkham Batman approached in the next second, he lifted his hand for a punch. However, the other swung his cloak, a flash of white light. Arkham Batman seized his fist, performing an acrobatic flip over his head, landing behind him, and struck Superman down with a punch.
Everyone was stunned.
Wait, whom did you knock down?!
This could definitely be listed alongside dodging gamma rays as one of Batman's classic moments.
But it wasn't over yet. After knocking down his opponent, Arkham Batman followed up with three punches, then immediately leaped into the air, delivering a heavy strike that sent thick dust rising from the dueling field.
Main Universe Superman got up from the ground and quickly ascended into the air, not giving Arkham Batman a chance to shoot his grapple. Batwoman said, "This looks like some sort of fighting game mechanic. If you get caught in his combo, you're sure to be knocked down."
"This is ridiculous," Main Universe Superman said. "Who would design Batman as a fighting game character? Who can beat him?"
"Be careful, don't let him get close. Use the heat vision."
Main Universe Superman didn't use the heat vision right away because he naturally didn't want to bully a Batman without superpowers, but now he realized that Batman's lack of superpowers was his biggest lie.
"Wow," Peter pointed to the center of the field, "Did you see that? That must be an ultimate move, right?"
"That's just a knockdown technique at most, not an ultimate move," Pikachu said. "Batman must be holding something back."
"I feel like Superman is in trouble now," Peter said with a smile.
A heat beam swept across the center of the field, and the crowd erupted in cheers. Superman firing a heat beam at Batman! This is what they came to see!
But Arkham Batman remained calm. In his view, the moment the heat beam was fired, a white radio wave symbol appeared above Main Universe Superman's head. As he rolled to avoid the heat vision attack, he swung his cloak like he was taking flight, dashing through the air to face Superman, delivering three cloak attacks and a stunning blow. Main Universe Superman, airborne, was directly knocked to the ground.
However, Main Universe Superman had anticipated this move. Instead of choosing to take off again, he punched directly at Arkham Batman. The moment Batman dodged and rolled, a heat beam shot out. As Superman kept advancing, Arkham Batman was directly blown away by the heat beam, the numbers beside him dropping to zero.
"That's right," Batwoman said, "His skills are all based on combo counts. As long as you can break the combo, he won't be able to use his skills."
"It's not that easy," Main Universe Superman sighed to himself. "His combo range is too wide, and he has grapples and sprinting aids. Plus, he definitely has a big move he hasn't used yet."
"It's okay, we both have big moves unused as well. Now, while his combo count isn't stacked, let's deal some damage."
Main Universe Superman immediately rushed to Arkham Batman, aiming to punch him. But instead of dodging, Batman turned and fired a grapple towards the audience. Selina, who was munching on her second corn cob, was still in the middle of eating when the cob suddenly disappeared.
With a bang, the charging Main Universe Superman got a face full of super spicy Mexican corn cob chili powder.
Cough cough cough cough cough cough cough!!!
Main Universe Superman covered his face and coughed violently. Meanwhile, Arkham Batman seized the opportunity for another three-hit combo, with the final hit landing a critical strike, taking a chunk out of Main Universe Superman's blood volume.
"That bastard! So despicable!" Batwoman exclaimed, "He knew you couldn't handle spicy food!"
"Cough, cough... It wouldn't matter even if I could handle it... Dear lord, who can eat such spicy corn cobs?! Cough cough cough!!"
At this moment, the camera of the Transcendent happened to cut to Selina in the audience. The crowd erupted in cheers, and people around her rushed over to toss Selina into the air. Selina was utterly bewildered and helpless like a cat.
"Selina has Latino roots, she's used to spicy food," Primary Universe Batman said. "You've chosen a suitable weapon."
"Actually, I wanted to aim for the corn cob vendor first. But it seems too far for the claw hook to reach."
"Forget about it," Primary Universe Batman said, "If the whole field is covered in chili powder, we might get choked too."
"You can't handle spicy food?"
"Can you?"
"Of course. So we're not exactly identical counterparts."
"I figured as much when I got a first-person glimpse of you fighting."
Main Universe Superman was in tears from the spiciness. This was another of the Kryptonians' weaknesses. They are the Man of Steel, but it doesn't mean they can't feel pain; it's just that normal attacks can't break their defenses. It's like poking your arm with a chopstick; it won't hurt no matter how hard you try. However, if certain chemicals penetrate their mucous membranes, they still feel pain. Superman is immune to most chemicals, but he does feel the pain from capsaicin, allowing him to taste the spiciness.
As to why you can't use pepper spray against Superman, well, if you can manage to spray him with it, you probably don't need it to beat him.
Just like now, Arkham Batman pulled this super spicy corn cob stunt just to stall Superman and rebuild his combo count. He can even knock down Superman; the corn cob was just a cherry on top.
This did stall Main Universe Superman for a few seconds. But his metabolism is no joke. If a human got a face full of chili powder, they'd be a mess for a good half an hour. Main Universe Superman recovered in seconds. He didn't want to give Arkham Batman more time to restore his combo count, so he threw another punch at him.
Arkham Batman dodged, but still couldn't escape the heat vision that was almost simultaneously unleashed. Main Universe Superman timed it perfectly, shooting the heat beam just as the dodge invincibility ended, once again sending Arkham Batman flying.
Arkham Batman steadied himself with a swing of his cape. He lost some health but it wasn't severe, mainly his combo was interrupted again. He began scanning the audience. This time, he had to pick a useful item.