(Batman II #23.4) - With Batman being reported dead Bane planned to strike Gotham City and conquer it. To prepare he refined his Venom and tested it by inviting some of his hired hands to his home and demanding they try their best to kill him of be killed instead. Batman brutally slaughtered them, and when he was about to kill the last man he realized the man’s daughter had snuck into his house. Bane assumed it was a ploy for him to show mercy, but the girl told Bane her father beat her and her family and she wanted to watch him die. After Bane broke the man’s back the girl took Bane’s hand and said he was her hero. Bane warned her he’d kill her too if she ever touched him again. Bane and his captains Malicia and Brute loaded tanks of venom, an artillery and a small army onto a boat. Bane told the captain of the ship he wanted to reach Gotham within two days or he’d start executing the ship’s crew. Bane orchestrated a prison break at Blackgate, having sent some of his men in advance to join the prison as corrections officers. Bane’s men freed the prisoners, killed the legitimate guards and confronted warden Agatha Zorbatos. The Arkham Asylum inmates had also gotten free, and Bane didn’t want them interfering in his plan, so he had Malicia fly ahead to Gotham City in a helicopter. She had a dose of Venom and was instructed to give it to one of Bane’s guards so he could hunt down the Scarecrow. Bane wanted to make an example of him so the Arkham inmates would know they couldn’t interfere with him without major losses. As Bane’s ship arrived on Gotham’s coast he gave a speech to his men. Bane called them his apostles and said he was sending them to Gotham to show Santa Priscan dominance and violence. He thanked his men for helping him fulfill his destiny.