"Exclusive News: Stark Industries CEO Tony Stark Attacked En Route to Middle East Weapon Demonstration; Military Conducting Full-Scale Search."
The Daily Bugle newspapers were rolling off the presses in a frenzy, with nearly every person in New York grabbing a copy, eager to be the first to know what had happened.
Half a day had passed since Tony Stark's attack and disappearance, but the impact of the event hadn't diminished in the slightest due to the rushed timeline.
Stark Industries' stock price plummeted again and again, and the company had yet to issue any response to the incident.
Batman no longer bothered buying copies of the Daily Bugle for intel. Ever since acquiring the Prophet AI, he had directly hacked into the newspaper's internal systems and embedded a stealth program within them.
The Prophet AI could compile all the intelligence gathered by the Daily Bugle and deliver it straight to Batman.
Until he had his own satellites, a city-wide surveillance network, or enough connections built up through the Peter Parker identity, the Daily Bugle's vast network of reporters and contacts remained a resource Batman could exploit.
But now, back in the abandoned City Hall subway station in Manhattan, Batman wasn't reviewing the media outlet's reports.
He had learned of the incident a step ahead of everyone except Obadiah and the terrorist organization.
At that moment, Batman was decrypting the encrypted email the terrorists had sent to Obadiah, attempting to reverse-trace it to their exact location.
Meanwhile, the Prophet AI was analyzing the footage from Tony Stark's global livestream of the Jericho missile demonstration, using the mountain shapes visible in the video to pinpoint the location.
It was also scouring the internet for traces of the symbol in the video email—a logo made up of ten interlocking rings hanging behind Tony Stark.
"The logistics records for A.I.M. Security over the past decade show hundreds of entries in various Middle Eastern regions, with financial records routed through layers of trusts and funds.
"From the records, we can roughly determine Tony Stark's location, but this—"
—is far from enough.
Batman stared at the Venom symbiote in its containment tank, lost in thought, while Venom had curled itself into a ball, resembling a blob of jelly.
Batman felt, once again, that he was stretched too thin.
Delayed by the issue of Tony Stark's weapons flooding the market, the listening device and micro-tracker Batman had planted on Schultheiss had lost their effectiveness when the man changed clothes. Schultheiss had vanished again.
The listening device and tracker were now sitting in a trash can in Queens.
The white symbiote born from Eddie Brock's body remained unaccounted for, and the pheromone bait had yielded no response so far.
Until this problem was resolved, Batman couldn't head to the Middle East to rescue Tony Stark.
On top of that, Obadiah, Stark Industries, Hydra, S.H.I.E.L.D., and a string of other issues all demanded Batman's attention.
Even the three scientists on South Brother Island required daily check-ins to prevent situations that could lead to Professor Lizard and the Hulk tearing each other apart.
In the midst of Batman's thoughts, the Prophet AI had already identified the organization represented by the ten-ring symbol in the video email: "The Ten Rings."
But according to the Prophet AI's search, the Ten Rings had branches scattered across nearly the entire world, with almost no communication between them and no central leader.
This made it exponentially harder for Batman to pinpoint Tony Stark's location. He couldn't track the specific Ten Rings cell holding Stark through information from other branches.
But Batman didn't give up. By cross-referencing financial flows, logistics routes, email transmission addresses, and the background in the livestream footage, he rapidly narrowed down the possible area where Tony Stark was being held.
Just then, an alarm blared.
The pheromone bait Batman had left in the Adirondack Mountains had been triggered.
The bait had been rigged with flame and high-frequency noise triggers that would activate automatically if the white symbiote made contact or came near.
But now, the bait, noise, and flames had all activated simultaneously, indicating that both of Batman's countermeasures were ineffective against it.
Batman's first instinct was to head to South Brother Island to calm the three scientists in advance and ensure they didn't act rashly.
He didn't want a lizard or the Hulk suddenly leaping into the fray while he confronted the white symbiote.
"If it were any other type of opponent, and if I had built a more reliable trust with Hulk and Connors than I have now, I could let them handle it."
"But for now, I can only rely on myself."
Without hesitation, Batman stood and prepared to move out. Glancing at the balled-up Venom in the containment tank, he decided to bring it along, clutching the tank in one arm as he raced through the subway tunnels and sewer system toward Rikers Island.
The alarm had also reached Venom inside the tank. It lifted its head, watching Batman sprint silently through the sewers, vaguely guessing what was happening:
"That guy's shown up?"
Batman glanced down at the containment tank held against his chest. Through the transparent reinforced glass, he saw the symbiote's mass jiggling with the motion of his run.
"Yes," Batman replied after a pause, his voice low.
Seeing Batman finally acknowledge it and hearing confirmation of the white symbiote's appearance, Venom grew excited:
"Let me do it! If you become my host, we can team up and turn it into paste!"
"No," Batman said.
In the blink of an eye, Batman had raced from Manhattan to Queens.
"But on your own, you definitely can't handle it. Our symbiote offspring are always stronger than the previous generation," Venom said quickly. "Unless it wants you as its host like I do, and you revive Martin Li, then kill him again in front of it."
"That might make it submit like I did."
Batman sharply caught the key point in Venom's words and stopped in his tracks:
"Offspring are always stronger than the previous generation? A full upgrade, or do your weaknesses disappear in it?"
Batman hoped to confirm the data captured by the pheromone bait through Venom.
Venom looked up at Batman, only able to see the exposed chin beneath the mask from its angle:
"I don't know."
Batman glanced again at this creature that played dumb whenever he refused to become its host, realizing that dealing with the white symbiote might not be as straightforward as he'd imagined.
During the brief time Venom had bonded with him, Batman hadn't used any of its abilities and had kept his mind focused on suppressing it within his body.
But Batman was well aware of the physical boost Venom provided. Compared to Peter Parker's current thirty-ton strength, Venom alone granted over eighty tons of raw power.
The strength increase wasn't what worried Batman. But if Venom's weaknesses—high-frequency noise and extreme heat—were gone, the difficulty of taking down the white symbiote would skyrocket.
———————Skyrocket, not become impossible. Heading to South Brother Island to calm the three scientists was part of the plan.
Moments later, Batman stood on the shore of Rikers Island, leaped into the air, and glided toward South Brother Island.
"I could do that too, and even more than your cape can…" Venom muttered softly inside the tank.
Batman ignored it this time, hiding the containment tank as he had before and entering the laboratory alone. The lab, converted from a summer mansion, was nestled deep in the island's dense forest.
This time, all three scientists were wearing lab coats, masks, and goggles, huddled together over data, not saying a word.
Thud, thud.
Batman's heavy footsteps made no attempt at stealth. The three scientists looked up almost simultaneously, turning toward him.
"Batman," Dr. Banner spoke first. "Based on our research, Professor Connors' condition is encoded in his genes. Unless we perform extensive genetic modification, there's no way to fully cure him."
"But that's only theoretically possible, and the success rate… is less than one percent."
Professor Connors said nothing. He removed his goggles and mask, his face unable to hide his exhaustion.
Dr. Octavius shook his head regretfully beside him, his gaze toward Connors carrying a hint of pity.
"There's more than one solution," Batman said, his voice low. "Professor Connors, lizard genes flow through your blood, but your heart remains human. If Plan A fails, we start over from Z."
"Don't doubt the authority of Dr. Banner and myself. We've exhausted all options," Connors said, a trace of irritation on his face. "I—I can't become a whole person again. I'm doomed to be a monster forever."
"No, Professor," Batman said, shaking his head slightly as he stepped in front of Connors. "Curt Connors is dead. That's a fact you must accept."
As soon as Batman said this, Dr. Banner froze, reaching to unbutton his lab coat. Dr. Octavius quietly began to back away.
Connors stared blankly at Batman, confused as to why Batman was declaring him dead when he was standing right there.
"But you haven't vanished. You're now a more complex, more powerful existence. You can choose to let this power consume you and become a true monster."
Batman stood before Connors with no defenses, as if utterly certain the professor wouldn't transform into a lizard over a few words:
"Or you can be the first to master this power, becoming a guardian who ensures no one else suffers your tragedy."
….
Knock, knock, knock.
Having lost his "Shock" gauntlets but finally free from the gaze of Mister Negative and Batman, Schultheiss knocked on the door of a renowned electrical engineer.
"Who is it?"
Creak. The door opened, and a woman in an apron looked at Schultheiss with confusion.
"I'm Schultheiss," he introduced himself. "I'd like to meet Mr. Toomes, the celebrated electrical engineer in the scientific community who's dedicated his life to researching personal flight devices."
Bang!
The door slammed shut.
"I know Adrian Toomes is home, and I want to collaborate with him!" Schultheiss shouted at the closed door.
No response.
Schultheiss stood there for a moment, thinking, then spoke again:
"I know Mr. Toomes' dream—to fly like a bird… I've brought a method that might actually work!"
Ten seconds later, creak. The door opened again. This time, it wasn't the woman in the apron but a skeptical Adrian Toomes:
"Come in. You've got three minutes."