Absolute Batman Vol 1 #14 - CGC SS 9.8 - Clay Mann cover - Signed by Scott Snyder

Several days before the planned fight with Bane, Alfred has Bruce activate one of his two remaining infusions of Venom left to test if his system can handle it; and Bruce is able to maintain control of himself while under the influence of the Venom. Alfred advises him to wear out Bane during the fight until he has exhausted his own supply of Venom, and then to use the last infusion to deliver the killing blow.

On the day of the fight, Mayor Hill gives a press conference where he insists that all of Batman's claims are lies and there will be no fight at Veteran's Arena; however he privately tells Bullock that the fight will go ahead and to cordon off the ten blocks around the arena.

At midnight, Bane enters the arena and calls out for Batman to show himself. The Red Hood Gang up in the stands activate the floodlights to reveal Batman standing before him, and bring in a fleet of camera drones to broadcast to the city. Batman sets off explosive charges in a nearby skyscraper, which break it apart in the middle and send the top half falling towards Bane, announcing "Welcome to Gotham". Bane merely chuckles as the tower hits him and then climbs out of the wreckage, having grown to a gargantuan size. Alfred charges in with the Batmobile, and at Bruce's signal he fires harpoons into Bane's back, then drives into him at top speed. However, Bane instantly heals from his wounds and tosses the Batmobile aside.

Bruce charges at Bane, repeatedly striking him and even plucking out one of his eyes, only for it to instantly regrow. He climbs onto the now house-sized Bane's back and repeatedly slashes at him, until Bane manages to catch him and slam him repeatedly into the ground. He yells at Batman to use his Venom, but Batman refuses. At Harley's command, the Red Hoods open a hatch to the sewers and Waylon leaps out. He charges Bane and wraps around him, tearing chunks of flesh from his body and devouring them, while Bruce hacks at Bane with the axe. Although the two inflict great damage to Bane, the monstrous man just heals from it.

Bane grabs Bruce and throws him into the stands. Alfred warns him that Bane just keeps mainlining Venom and that the plan to force him to reach the maximum possible infusion may not work, He tells Bruce to activate his own Venom and escape but Bruce refuses. He leaps at Bane and slices him open at the spine just as he was about to rip Waylon apart. Bruce tells Waylon to go and climbs on top of the paralysed Bane. He severs Bane's spine again to make him quadriplegic and mocks him for killing his father. In a rage Bane infuses even further, regaining the use of his limbs as his muscles prolapse out of the broken skin on his back. Bane furiously rains down blows on Batman, screaming that he gave everything so his people and home could be safe, but it's Batman's turn now. He smashes his fist down on Batman, screaming at him to use his Venom. Meanwhile Doctor Arkham, who is monitoring Bane, sees that his cells appear to have become embryonic as eyes and teeth grow out of his chest.

Alfred yells at Batman to use the Venom as it's his only chance, and Batman orders Catwoman to take the shot. From up in the stands Catwoman fires multiple darts into Bane's now exposed Venom delivery system. Two days previously, Bruce and Selena secretly had Eddie extract all the venom from his system and put it into hypodermic darts. The additional Venom finally overloads Bane's system and he grows to fill the stadium, then explodes into a pool of flesh and gore. Batman crawls out of the gore and stands victorious, witnessed by the whole city. He loads Bane's seemingly dead remains into the Batmobile's bed and dumps it in the harbour.

Later Selena flies out of Gotham, smuggling a sample of Venom in her luggage. Meanwhile at Ark, M Doctor Arkham speaks to Bane's brain, eyes and spine; kept alive and conscious within a containment tank. She brings a laptop to the tank, through which the Joker is making a video call. The Joker tells Bane that he considers his defeat at Batman's hands a minor setback. He then says that he believes Bane would not be happy in retirement as he loves war too much and so, as Bane's "friend", he has decided to help him. The Joker forces Bane to watch as he nukes Santa Prisca, telling him that he is now "free" of his distractions and can focus on what really matters.