The mountain range was vast beyond measure; Batman couldn't possibly scour every inch to hunt down the white symbiote.
The moment he arrived, Batman cracked open the ecological containment unit holding Venom just a sliver.
Under Batman's stern gaze, Venom didn't rashly surge out. Instead, it tilted its head in bewilderment, staring up at him.
"You said there's some kind of bond between you and your offspring, right? Now's your chance—call it here." Batman said.
Venom's eerie white eyes instantly lit up with what could only be described as unbridled glee. It looked positively thrilled:
"As long as I bring it here, you'll become my host? Awesome!"
"No." Batman cut through Venom's excitement with an icy edge. "I'll face it alone."
One second, Venom was buzzing with joy; the next, it deflated like a frostbitten eggplant, grumbling reluctantly: "Oh."
"I've already sensed it. It's two hundred kilometers away, heading straight here. ETA… five minutes."
"Any other intel?" Batman asked.
Venom slumped into a limp pancake inside the containment unit:
"No clue. I'd need to bond with you to access my full abilities."
Batman ignored it, sealing the unit tight and tossing it into the off-road vehicle.
Instead of climbing into the driver's seat, he bent down, hoisted the entire vehicle onto his shoulder, and stashed it deep in a nearby thicket.
Bat-signaler, flashbangs, high-frequency sonic emitters, flamethrowers, concentrated acid…
Some of these were tools Batman had crafted specifically to counter Venom; others came from Otto's lab on South Brother Island. He'd brought them all.
They were hidden in every nook around him, while gel explosives, hardening gel, and various ratios of web fluid were scattered across a twenty-meter radius.
Almost the instant Batman finished his preparations, a series of dull, earth-shaking thuds echoed from the distance—like a monstrous beast charging at full sprint.
The sound grew closer. Seconds later—
BOOM!
The white symbiote leaped from afar, arcing through the air before landing squarely in front of Batman.
"Where's Venom? Let him out!"
Facing Batman in full Arkham combat armor, on high alert, it didn't attack. Instead, it bared its teeth and stood its ground, demanding.
Batman tilted his head slightly, eyeing the symbiote towering over three meters tall.
"It didn't strike immediately. It's looking for Venom?"
A realization dawned. He spoke:
"Venom isn't on me."
THUD!
The white symbiote stomped forward, kicking up a spray of dirt and leaving a shallow crater. It roared at Batman:
"Send that coward out!"
As it spoke, it slashed a clawed hand toward him.
Poof—
A smoke bomb detonated instantly. Thick white fog engulfed Batman's form. The claw swiped through nothing but air.
"I have no desire to fight you. I just want Venom released—so I can kill it." Its voice rasped through the haze.
"I can let it out." Batman's voice echoed from within the smoke. "But there's a condition: you must leave Eddie Brock's body."
"Heh."
The white symbiote sneered, inhaling deeply before exhaling a violent gust that scattered the smoke in one breath. Batman's silhouette reappeared.
Its arm stretched unnaturally, lunging for Batman—certain Venom was inside him.
But in the next instant, Batman rolled aside. The pre-planted sonic emitter screeched to life as a flashbang detonated on the spot.
BUZZ—
The smoke vanished, replaced by blinding white light.
Batman's eyes were already shielded by the Arkham suit's lenses. The glare didn't faze him.
But the X-ray feed piercing the light revealed the white symbiote—and Batman's brow furrowed.
Venom writhed in agony under the sonic assault, yet its offspring appeared utterly unaffected.
The flash lasted less than a second. The white symbiote stood unscathed, its surface unchanged.
"Hand over Venom, Batman."
Just as Batman prepared to deploy acid or heavier measures, the symbiote's head suddenly split open. Half of Eddie Brock's face emerged from the biomass:
"It gave me power when I was at my lowest—but minutes later, it discarded me like trash."
"And you, Batman—I saw Venom enter your body."
Hatred burned in his eyes as he gnashed his teeth:
"Anti-Venom wants Venom. I want you. Release the symbiote inside you. I'll make you taste what it's like to gain power… and lose it. I'm sure you'll love it."
With that, Eddie Brock's face was swallowed once more by the white mass.
Anti-Venom grinned wickedly at Batman, then launched into the air, jaws wide, lunging for the kill.
"So, according to your theory, if I help you recreate that 'Scare' gauntlet, my flight problem gets solved too?"
In a classic two-story Brooklyn brownstone, renowned electronics engineer Adrian Toomes eyed Shocker warily.
"Exactly. My last gauntlets relied on Mister Negative's power—and that damn Batman destroyed them… But I learned from it. With enough funding and materials, I can build another pair from scratch!"
Shocker poured every ounce of conviction into persuading the engineer he'd tracked down—the one man who could resurrect his "Scare" identity:
"And I'm certain that, as an electronics genius, you'll crack true avian flight while developing the gauntlets. Soar like a real bird."
Adrian Toomes, with his sharp, hooked nose, rubbed the tip of it and agreed without hesitation:
"I'll fund the gauntlets. But I want to know upfront—what are you building them for?"
Shocker's mind flashed to that pitch-black silhouette with pointed ears.
If not for Batman, he'd still be living large—chief engineer and inventor for the Kingpin, not a pawn for Mister Negative, not caged by Batman, not toyed with like an insect.
Hatred twisted his face, barely concealed:
"Revenge."
--