The Death knell

Albert didn't need an answer—he already knew.

Right before his eyes, the enormous mechanical dinosaur began to move, its hulking frame casting an ever-expanding shadow over him.

The activation sequence had been triggered the moment Barbara connected to the host port. Bliss hadn't relied on any conventional network firewall. She knew that no matter how sophisticated a firewall was, a skilled hacker could eventually break through it.

So instead of a digital defense, she had chosen a physical one.

After all, if an intruder was crushed to death by a mechanical dinosaur before they could crack the system, how could they possibly steal any data?

"Cindy~~~ You might want to see this."

"Ugh, what now?" Cindy turned her head lazily, only to freeze in shock. "Damn it, Albert, what the hell did you do?"

"I didn't do anything," Albert shot back, dodging just as the massive steel jaws snapped shut inches from his shoulder. "Maybe you should ask yourself what security measures you forgot to check in the Batcave."

Rolling to the side, he barely avoided the dinosaur's bite. While its mouth wasn't filled with razor-sharp teeth, getting caught between two enormous steel plates would be just as lethal.

Cindy's eyes darted between the rampaging mechanical beast and Albert. "What is this? Shouldn't bat-themed security have, you know, bats?"

Albert smirked, narrowly avoiding a sweeping tail strike that tore through a steel fence behind him. "Clearly, someone couldn't decide between being Batman or a dinosaur."

The wind from the impact whistled past his ears as jagged metal shards spiraled through the air. Even with his enhanced physique and armor, Albert knew he couldn't take too many blunt-force hits like that. His self-healing abilities were great for wounds, but blunt trauma? That would take a lot longer to recover from.

Luckily, the dinosaur was massive, which made it slow.

"Can you handle it?" Cindy asked, gripping her long staff. She had no immediate way to assist—right now, the dinosaur seemed to have locked onto Albert as its primary target. As it chased him through the cave, it crushed everything in its path—tables, chairs, bottles, and computers.

Albert led it toward a narrower passageway.

"I should be fine," he called back. He ducked between its legs and fired a round from his pistol into its underbelly. Sparks flew, but there was zero effect. "You just focus on protecting Barbara and the host!"

Cindy nodded, standing guard with her staff, prepared to deflect any debris flying toward the system.

Meanwhile, Johnson's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Deathstroke versus a mechanical dinosaur? Now that's content!" He immediately signaled Peter to start recording the fight.

Albert grimaced. He couldn't just blow the thing up—not without risking a cave-in or damaging the computer systems. No C4. No EMPs.

That made things a lot more complicated.

Bliss had designed this trap with a cruel kind of genius: force an intruder to choose between defeating the dinosaur or destroying the Batcave itself—ensuring that her secrets remained safe either way.

Johnson, still filming, shouted suggestions like, "Go for the eyes!" "Kick it in the chin!" "Pull the tail!" Albert ignored him.

Instead, he focused.

This machine needed a lot of power to function. But judging by its movement, it wasn't using steam or internal combustion—and it definitely wasn't magic.

That left only two options:

Battery-powered

Nuclear-powered

Albert quickly dismissed the second possibility. Bliss loved her Batmobile, and even that didn't run on nuclear energy. So, batteries were the only logical explanation.

If it ran on batteries, that meant it had an internal processor capable of independent action. That also meant it had a weak spot somewhere inside its armored frame.

In other words, this thing wasn't invincible—just heavily protected.

He analyzed its attack patterns.

Trampling

Biting

Sweeping with its tail

It had no ranged capabilities and no energy-based weapons.

Albert smirked. "That's your mistake."

The Plan

All of these calculations took less than a second.

He sprinted forward, hearing the wind rush past his ears. The dinosaur lunged, jaws snapping, but he slid underneath it, popping up behind its tail.

Then, he grabbed on.

The force of its tail swing lifted him into the air like a slingshot. He let go at the perfect moment, using the momentum to land on top of its head.

The impact rattled his bones.

Immediately, the dinosaur registered his presence. Its sensor network detected his weight, signaling that something was on its head. But that was exactly what Albert wanted.

Because Bliss had modeled this dinosaur after a Tyrannosaurus Rex—and a T-Rex's arms were too short to reach its own head.

Which meant...

It only had one option left.

Self-Destruction

The dinosaur's tail snapped up—aiming right for its own head.

Albert had been waiting for this.

He let go at the last second, hanging from the dinosaur's eye socket frame just as the steel tail slammed into its skull.

DUANG!!!

The deafening clang echoed through the cave.

Even with his enhanced reflexes, the shockwave made Albert dizzy for a second. It was like someone had set off a giant gong inches from his head.

But he recovered fast.

The collision had cracked the armor on top of the dinosaur's head. Beneath the dark green plating, he spotted something: a thin strip of metal, slightly deformed.

He grinned.

Albert repeated the process.

Luring the tail to strike the same spot over and over, exploiting its pre-programmed attack patterns. A machine can't learn—it follows instructions.

And now, this one was destroying itself.

After several more impacts, a small gap appeared in the head armor.

Albert had been waiting for this moment.

He drew his katana and stabbed it straight into the crack, twisting viciously.

Sparks exploded, showering his helmet with burning embers. Lines of black soot marred the yellow plating of his mask.

Technology is precise. The more complex a system, the easier it is to break with one faulty connection.

It wasn't about destroying the CPU or hard drive—just messing with the wiring was enough.

Still, the dinosaur kept moving.

Just in case, Albert ripped out his shotgun, shoved the barrel into the open wound, and emptied every last round into its circuits.

Game Over

The beast froze.

Then, it toppled over.

Albert remained standing atop its fallen frame, smoke curling around his armor as the dust settled.

Slowly, he bent down, pulled his shotgun from the crack, and reloaded.

Like he had just swatted a fly.