The days of being a spiritual mentor in Meiman.

Chapter 4290 Heroes Strike! (22)

Chapter 4290 Heroes Strike! (Twenty-Two)

"An exciting battle is about to begin. Now press your voting buttons and tell me which match you want to see first! Come on, let's decide the first duelist with our votes!"

A voting machine was placed in front of each audience member, allowing them to choose who would go on stage first by color. Bruce popped a corner of his ice cream cone into his mouth, chewing as he said, "Which one do you want to see first, honey?"

"Is that even a question? Of course it's Superman vs. Batman!"

“Are you serious?” Bruce frowned. “What’s so interesting about this? Clark comes to call me to work every day, and we have to fight it out. And you’re just sitting there applying hand cream.”

"You're not blaming me for not helping you, are you?" Selena glared at him. "You're supposed to be at work by 9:00, and it's 8:50 and you're still not awake. I can't even find an excuse to say something to Clark."

"Uh, it only takes me two minutes to fly to the base."

"Yes, after arriving at the base, we'll spend half an hour washing up and an hour having breakfast. We can have lunch after the morning meeting."

"My God, how do you know so much?"

"Brainiac can't stand you anymore."

"Then he doesn't need to tell you all this."

"He just wanted to know how I could stand you. He asked that question to almost everyone he knew."

"He can only blame his bad luck. Even if he had a classic Batman, he wouldn't have wanted one," Bruce scoffed.

However, Selena and Bruce still voted for "Batman v Superman." As it turned out, nobody wanted to miss out on the fun. Ultimately, "Batman v Superman" won by a landslide. The two contestants were immediately thrown into the arena.

"What's going on with those two?" Batman Arkham asked, cracking his knuckles.

"If I said it was lust at first sight, you would definitely say that Superman is not that kind of person. But I really find it hard to say that primal instincts and hormones did not play an important role in their relationship."

"Looks like you've made a good impression on Superman." Arkham Batman's voice carried a hint of amusement.

“Completely different,” said the main universe Batman. “Aside from looking somewhat alike, they have almost nothing in common.”

"Wouldn't that make the problem even bigger?"

The main universe's Batman seemed unwilling to discuss the matter further. Arkham Batman merely chuckled and continued, "Unfortunately, I didn't leave a good impression on our universe's Superman. If there were a personality-swapped version of me, he'd probably avoid me like the plague."

"You sound like you're disappointed."

"I do not have."

Now it was Arkham Batman's turn to avoid the topic, and the main universe Batman wisely refrained from asking further. He looked through his mask at the person opposite him. His familiar Superman floated in the air, his blue eyes set deep beneath his brows, displaying a seriousness unlike his usual demeanor.

Without warning, the two moved. The one who had surpassed the others let out a scream, because he hadn't even had time to shout "start!" But the two in the arena had already collided.

There were no fancy skills, no previews. It was the most primal and brutal physical encounter—the kind everyone wanted to see.

A deafening roar erupted from the crowd; everyone screamed like madmen. There was no rational dialogue, no emotional exchange, just the purest clash. No one could resist such pure, violent aesthetics. The violent tendencies buried deep within the genes of intelligent life were fully unleashed, driving them to howl like madmen.

With a resounding thud, steel-like flesh collided with real steel. The Superman of the main universe raised an eyebrow, because the Arkham Batman hadn't actually been thrown off his feet. For a Kryptonian, this was simply unbelievable; it was like an ant being stepped on and then hurled away with an over-the-shoulder throw.

Both men used the most suitable posture for impact, that is, using their lower bodies to exert force and colliding their shoulders. This brought their faces very close, allowing them to see every detail of each other's expressions.

Just as Batman in Arkham City smiled slightly, Batwoman said in Superman's mind in the main universe, "Let's go."

The main universe's Superman retreated quickly, but it was too late. Arkham Batman swung his other hand, using a grappling hook to wrap around the main universe's Superman's waist, and flew up with him, but using inertia, he flew higher than him. The spread cape blocked out the sky, like an endless, stretching night.

First, a downward kick, followed by a smooth mid-air turn, then a whip kick, and finally a punch.

The main universe's Superman watched helplessly as the number "3" appeared above his head, followed by a string of white letters: "Freeflow!"

Superman, of course, wouldn't let himself be beaten so easily. The instant Arkham Batman closed in, he raised his fist. However, the opponent flicked his cape, a flash of white light. Arkham Batman grabbed his fist, performing a spectacular somersault, leaping over his head and over his back, knocking Superman down with a single punch.

Everyone was stunned.

No, who did you knock down?!

This, along with the roll to dodge the Omega Ray, can be considered one of Batman's two most iconic scenes.

But that wasn't all. After knocking his opponent down, Arkham Batman threw three more punches, then leaped into the air, delivering a powerful blow that sent thick clouds of dust billowing into the arena.

The main universe's Superman scrambled to his feet, leaping into the air and pulling away, giving Arkham Batman no further chance to launch his grappling hook. Batwoman remarked, "It looks like some kind of fighting game's hitbox. If you get hit by his combo, you're guaranteed to be knocked down."

“This is outrageous,” said the Superman from the main universe. “Who would design Batman as a fighting game character? Who could beat him?”

"Be careful, don't let him get close. Use the heat ray."

The main universe's Superman didn't use the heat ray immediately because he didn't want to bully Batman who doesn't have superpowers, but now he realizes that not having superpowers is Batman's biggest lie.

"Wow!" Peter said, pointing to the center of the arena. "Did you see that? That's definitely a super special move, isn't it?"

“That’s just a knockdown move, not a super special move,” Pikachu said. “Batman definitely has something else up his sleeve.”

“I have a feeling Superman is in for a rough time,” Peter said with a laugh.

A beam of heat swept across the center of the arena, and the audience erupted in cheers once again. Superman was using a heat beam against Batman! That's exactly what they wanted to see!

But Arkham Batman remained completely unfazed. In his vision, the instant the heat ray was fired, a white radio symbol lit up above the head of the main universe Superman. In the instant he rolled to dodge the heat ray attack, he swung his cape as if taking flight, dashing through the air to Superman's side, delivering three cape attacks followed by a stun. The main universe Superman, still airborne, was slammed to the ground.

The main universe's Superman clearly anticipated this move. Instead of taking off again, he threw a punch directly at Arkham Batman. In the instant the latter dodged and rolled, a heat ray struck. As Superman continued forward, Arkham Batman was blasted away by the heat ray, and the numbers beside him went to zero.

“That’s it,” Batwoman said. “His skills are all based on combos. If you can break the combo, he can’t use his skills.”

"That's not going to be easy," the Superman in the main universe sighed inwardly. "His combo hitbox is too wide, plus he has the grappling hook and dash to assist him. And he definitely has some ultimate moves he hasn't used yet."

"It's alright, we both have our ultimate moves unused. Now, let's take advantage of the fact that his combo count hasn't stacked up yet and deal some damage."

The main universe's Superman immediately rushed in front of Arkham Batman, intending to punch him. But the latter neither dodged nor avoided, instead turning around and launching a grappling hook directly at the audience. Selena, who was still eating her second corn cob, vanished in a flash.

With a bang, the main universe's Superman, who was charging over, got his face covered in chili powder from the super spicy Mexican corn on a tortilla.

Cough cough cough cough cough cough!

The main universe's Superman covered his face and coughed violently. Taking advantage of this, Arkham Batman unleashed three more attacks, the last one a critical hit that took away a significant portion of the main universe's Superman's health.

"That bastard! He's so despicable!" Batwoman said. "He knew perfectly well that you can't eat spicy food!"

"Cough cough... Even if I could eat it, I couldn't... My god, who can eat such a spicy corn cob?! Cough cough cough cough!!"

At that moment, the camera cut to Selena in the audience. Cheers erupted, and someone rushed over and tossed Selena into the air. Selena was now completely bewildered and helpless, like a cat.

“Selena has Latin ancestry and can handle spicy food,” the main universe Batman said. “You’ve found a very suitable weapon.”

"Actually, I originally wanted to find a corn cob stall. But it seems to be too far away from us, and the grappling hook can't reach it."

“Then forget it,” said the main universe Batman. “If the whole place is covered in chili powder, we might choke on it too.”

"You can't eat spicy food?"

"Can you?"

"Of course. So we can't be considered complete isotopes."

"I knew it when I saw your first-person perspective of the fight."

Superman in the main universe was literally brought to tears by the spiciness. This brings us to another weakness of Kryptonians. They have bodies of steel, but that doesn't mean they don't feel pain; it's just that ordinary attacks can't penetrate their defenses. It's like gently poking your arm with a chopstick—it won't hurt too much, no matter how much it hurts. However, if certain chemicals invade their mucous membranes, they will still feel pain. Superman is immune to most chemicals, but there is one he's not immune to: he can feel the pain caused by capsaicin, which allows him to taste spiciness.

As for why pepper spray isn't used to deal with Superman, let's just say that if you can reach Superman with pepper spray, then you don't need pepper spray to defeat him.

Like right now, Arkham Batman brought over a super spicy corn cob just to stall Superman and restore his combo count. He can even take down Superman; the corn cob is just icing on the cake.

This did delay the main universe Superman for a few seconds. But his metabolic rate was no joke. If a human were smeared with chili powder, they'd probably be snotting and crying for minutes. The main universe Superman recovered in seconds. He didn't want to give Arkham Batman more time to recover his combo, so he threw another punch at him.

Arkham Batman dodged, but still couldn't avoid the heat ray that struck almost simultaneously. The main universe Superman timed it perfectly, firing the heat ray just as his invincibility frames expired, sending Arkham Batman flying again.

Arkham Batman landed smoothly with a flick of his cape. He lost some health, but not seriously; his combo had been interrupted again. He began scanning the audience. This time, he needed to choose a good gadget.