Reformatted Knives

Abruptly Batman realized he wasn’t hearing the sounds of the slot machines. He glanced over his shoulder and understood why. The gamers were all gathered around the blackjack table, and they all had their knives out.

As the first of them slashed at him, Batman pulled the Hatter’s arm down, using his mass as a counterweight and launching himself into a twisting backward somersault over the table and into the dealer’s enclosure. He landed with the Hatter between him and the knives. Tetch sprang at Batman, who spun into a judo takedown, driving his opponent to the floor.

The gamblers began to scramble over the table to get at him. He dropped the nearest with a straight right hand, doubled another over with a spinning kick, then felt the tug of a knife blade cutting through his cape and the sharp bright pain of a blade nicking the back of his shoulder.

One of the slot players grabbed him from behind. Batman countered with an elbow that blocked the slash of his knife and followed through to crunch into the side of his face. He glanced down and saw the Mad Hatter on hands and knees, picking up his knife again. At the same time another slot puller leapt from the table, knife high and aimed at Batman’s face.

He stepped forward, ducking his head and grabbing a double fistful of the knife puller’s shirt and cravat. Pivoting, he brought the man down on the Hatter’s back with the force of his thrust and the slot puller’s momentum combined. The air whoofed out of the Hatter’s lungs and he rolled around on the floor gasping for breath as Batman stabbed a heel into the fallen gambler’s head. He recovered just in time to dodge another knife thrust.

Four down, but there were plenty more where they’d come from. In this confined space, sheer numbers would overwhelm him sooner or later. They were all on the table now, spread evenly around its half-circle. Their eyes were completely devoid of consciousness, as if they weren’t aware what they were doing. The contrast with the Hatter’s manic whimsy was even more unsettling than overt bloodlust.

One of them jumped down into the dealer’s enclosure. Batman dropped him as soon as his feet touched the floor, but in turning to do that, he exposed himself to others. A knife gouged at his ribs, slowed but not stopped by the protective material of his suit. He spun and kicked the wind out of his attacker, caught two others and smashed their heads together, then took another cut across the thigh as one of them flailed in mid-fall.

Eight down.

Batman: Arkham Knight: Riddler's Gambit, Chapter 18, Pg. 198