Batman hadn't expected that after meeting Iron Man Tony Stark tonight, he would immediately stumble upon a lead regarding the so-called father of the Maximoff siblings.
It was getting late, and making a rash visit to disturb them now wouldn't be appropriate—primarily because it didn't fit his identity as Peter Parker, the founder of the Parker Group.
Furthermore, Batman needed to conduct a further investigation into the lead provided by Tony to prevent the whole affair from ending in a ridiculous mix-up.
Beyond all that, there was one more crucial point: Batman needed a brand-new suit.
He remembered clearly that Wolverine Logan had mentioned the old man he encountered at that Canadian bar possessed the power of metal manipulation.
The material of the Gargoyle Suit was a blend of Vibranium, a small amount of Adamantium, and memory fibers—all of which counted as forms of metal and could likewise be controlled by that old man.
That was hardly a scenario Batman wanted to see, which meant he needed to craft a suit utilizing carbon fiber, memory fibers, and Kevlar armor...
Perhaps something resembling a retro-style suit?
At the very least, the current Batman lacked such gear; all of his suits in this world incorporated metallic components to varying degrees, and the percentage of those components wasn't low either.
"Hey, don't even think about reneging," Tony said, waving a hand back and forth in front of Batman while gesturing with his chin toward the outside of the helicopter. "Your problem is solved, but mine still isn't."
Once again, Batman displayed an expression of helplessness in the face of Tony:
"I won't renege."
Mid-sentence, without any visible movement from Batman, the "Shadow" Batwing spiraled down from the high altitude like a phantom.
This was evidently Alfred's handiwork. Although his primary server was housed beneath the Batcave, he could still rely on the server integrated within the Gargoyle Suit to provide long-distance technical support.
Seeing Batman raise no objection to Tony Stark's repeatedly voiced request to go up for a ride in the Batwing just moments ago, Alfred had already understood that this Tony Stark held considerable weight in Batman's heart.
He practically ranked among Batman's closest friends in this world, carrying no lesser emotional weight than Black Panther T'Challa or Blade.
"Tony, please..." Batman began.
Before his words could finish, an encrypted communication channel that had never been opened before suddenly chimed to life.
It was a dedicated, private encrypted channel between the Daywalker Eric Brooks and Batman.
"Brother," Blade's greeting to Batman was identical to the one T'Challa used. "I was tracking vampire leads in Brooklyn when I spotted a suspicious fellow."
Batman's gaze sharpened:
"Suspicious?"
"That's right. His speed is terrifyingly fast—twice as fast as my motorcycle, practically like a cheetah," Blade said. "If I recall correctly, Robin is also operating in Brooklyn. I suspect that guy is gunning for Robin."
A knot tightened in Batman's chest.
"The reason I reached that conclusion is because that guy lingered for several seconds right along the paths where Robin and Spider-Man passed. That Spider-Man should also be one of your people, right?" Blade added.
Another knot formed in Batman's chest.
"I can't guarantee whether I can handle this alone; you'd better get over here." Blade said.
Whoosh—
Batman exhaled heavily, his voice turning exceptionally raspy and low:
"Thanks. I'm on my way."
Cutting the encrypted communication with Blade, Batman turned his gaze straight toward Tony Stark:
"Tony, come with me."
"Robin's in danger?" Tony asked.
Batman gave a single nod.
"You head out first; I'll be right behind you." Tony Stark lifted his wristwatch to check the time.
The moment Batman's Batwing had materialized out of nowhere earlier, he had already summoned the Mark VIII armor; at this point, only a dozen or so seconds remained before the armor flew to his location.
Tony Stark knew that even for a mere dozen seconds, Batman wouldn't stand around waiting here.
Ceasing his clamor to board the Batwing, Tony instead reached out and gave Batman a firm shove:
"Go!"
Batman offered no resistance to Tony Stark's push, springing upward from the helicopter's cabin on the momentum and dropping straight into the cockpit of the Batwing.
Swish!
Unlike the silent, soundless flight of the Batwing prior, this time the twin wings of the Batwing flapped with a powerful stroke, generating a shockwave of displaced air strong enough to tilt the very helicopter Tony was riding in.
By the time the helicopter stabilized its posture once more, the Batwing had already vanished without a trace, leaving behind nothing but a straight-line wake carved right through the cloud cover in the sky.
Simultaneously, Batman piloted the Batwing through the sea of clouds at hypersonic breakthrough mode, opening the encrypted communication channel linked to South Brother Island.
"Dr. Banner, I need the Hulk."
"Professor Connors, destination Brooklyn."
"Dr. Otto, prepare for combat."
"Professor Morbius, I need you to garrison the island and keep watch over Warren the Jackal."
Batman's voice was frighteningly low. Aside from the Battle of Manhattan, this marked the first time Batman had ever issued a distress signal to every single member of South Brother Island.
"What's going on?" On the other end of the encrypted feed, Dr. Otto's voice sounded laced with urgency.
"Robin and Benjamin are in danger." Batman dropped only those words.
Back on South Brother Island, Warren the Jackal and Professor Miles Warren exchanged a bewildered look, clueless as to why the expressions of the other individuals had suddenly turned one by one into masks of sheer terror.
Warren the Jackal watched with his own eyes as the mild-mannered Dr. Banner pulled off his glasses; with a sudden shudder of his frame, the bones throughout his body rumbled like muffled thunder, transforming him in the blink of an eye into the Incredible Hulk—a towering mass of bulging muscles radiating explosive power.
Professor Connors's pupils shifted into vertical slits, and a single glance from his cold, golden reptilian eyes sent a shiver of dread straight down Jackal's spine.
Behind Dr. Otto, four ink-black mechanical tentacles surged wildly upward, swaying without a shred of the mechanical stiffness typical of human operation—weaving back and forth like four flexible, lethal pythons.
In contrast, Dr. Michael Morbius appeared far more subdued; he merely bared his full set of fangs and flashed his grey claws, lacking the sheer terror-inducing presence of the other three.
Yet Warren the Jackal needed only a single glance at those glinting, ice-cold claws to realize that even Dr. Morbius was not an opponent he could casually trifle with.
Perhaps the original Warren the Jackal had harbored a lingering sliver of secret ambition, but as those scientists transformed one by one into terrifying monsters, whatever scant trace of nerve he had left vanished completely into thin air.
"May I ask what's happened?" Miles Warren lacked those reservations, speaking up directly to inquire.
"Robin and Benjamin are in danger." Dr. Otto's face was dark enough to kill, simply relaying Batman's exact words.
"Huh?!" The moment Warren the Jackal heard that Benjamin was in danger, his expression changed instantly as well.
No matter what, Benjamin Reilly's physical body had been cloned by him after all; Warren the Jackal possessed an instinctive aversion to watching a life born from his own hands face a crisis.
And so, without the slightest hesitation, he blurted out:
"I'm going too!"
--
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