Strong acid, strong alkali, flames, intense light, high-frequency noise, infrasound waves, shockwaves, hardening gel, electric currents, electromagnetic pulses...
At the edge of the Adirondack Mountains, Batman had nearly exhausted every tool at his disposal.
Peter Parker's body—its strength, speed, spider-sense, and reflexes—had been pushed to their limits by Batman. He had already cycled through fifty-six different formulations of web fluid.
But the white symbiote, "Anti-Venom," seemed to have no weaknesses. Neither its appearance nor the data monitored by the Arkham suit showed any difference from when it first appeared.
Batman had once been possessed by Venom. He knew full well that while Anti-Venom itself might have no vulnerabilities, Eddie Brock inside it certainly did. If he could find a way to separate Eddie from the symbiote, he could defeat it.
But whether Batman used ultra-tough, high-tensile webs to slice Anti-Venom in half or ultra-sticky webs to try to peel the symbiote off, Anti-Venom remained utterly unaffected.
Even when Batman attempted to speak directly to Eddie Brock—catching the moment Eddie's face appeared beneath Anti-Venom's—firing a web to stick to his face and yank him out, it still failed.
It seemed that though Eddie Brock existed within Anti-Venom, the two had become completely one. No external force could forcibly separate them.
By now, Batman was covered in wounds. Anti-Venom wasn't standing still, letting Batman test his arsenal.
On the contrary, driven by Eddie Brock's burning hatred for the Batman who had stolen Venom, Anti-Venom was fully intent on killing him on the spot.
Claws, bites, spikes, heavy fists, tentacles...
Anti-Venom's arsenal of attacks surpassed Venom's in variety and, backed by immense power, was executed with terrifying speed.
If Batman's focus slipped even for a moment and he took a direct hit, even Peter Parker's formidable physique would be injured.
But Batman did not retreat. The longer he fought Anti-Venom, the more confident he became in finding its weakness.
Clad in the Arkham suit, Batman became a black shadow darting through the edges of the Adirondack Mountains, with Anti-Venom a white shadow in relentless pursuit.
Wherever they passed, the ground was plowed into furrows several meters deep, soil exploding outward like shrapnel under the massive impacts.
One ahead, one behind, the two had practically turned the entire edge of the Adirondacks upside down.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sound of Anti-Venom stomping the ground echoed like a giant pounding a war drum. Inside the hidden off-road vehicle, Venom blinked in its ecological containment unit, fully aware of what was happening.
"I have to help Batman, but I can't get out of this box…"
Venom bounced frantically inside the container, hopping like a frog pricked by a needle.
It knew that if Batman fell, it wouldn't be long before Anti-Venom came for it.
In a fight between a symbiote with a host and one without, Venom had no chance.
"I have to get out. I have to bond with Batman!"
Listening to the muffled thud-thud-thud of Anti-Venom's footsteps shaking the earth, Venom grew more anxious by the second.
As time ticked by, Venom looked up at the darkening sky through the car window. Gritting itself, it curled into a corner of the container.
Its body compressed into a tight ball, then slammed into the opposite glass wall.
Clunk.
With a soft sound, Venom slumped limply to the bottom of the container.
The glass it had struck remained intact.
Without a host, Venom was little different from jelly. It couldn't muster its true power.
But Venom didn't give up. It curled up again and slammed into the glass once more.
"I can't give up. If Batman loses, I lose. It's only a matter of time before they find me."
"My fascinating host.""If I lose him, I may never find another so powerful, so—"
"I won't give up… I have my Venom Plan!"
Though Venom had only bonded with Batman for less than two days and hadn't delved deeply into his memories, it had already been influenced by him.
—Never give up, and always have a plan.
Venom would use its repeated impacts to draw the white symbiote's attention.
Since Batman refused to accept it and had locked it in this container, Venom would force the white symbiote to shatter the box, then voluntarily merge with Batman to defeat its offspring. That was its Venom Plan!
Clunk! Clunk! Clunk!
The rhythmic sound of Venom striking the glass echoed faintly but steadily.
Venom knew the stronger white symbiote could hear it. It was ready to force its way into Batman's body and become one with him.
"I know you can hear me! And I believe that once I merge with Batman, we will defeat you!"
Venom let out a low growl and slammed into the glass again.
Forty kilometers away, on a mountainside, Batman used a smoke bomb to once again conceal his position. The Arkham suit worked at full capacity to gather data on Anti-Venom.
He had found a way to defeat it, but he needed to retreat, prepare thoroughly, and face Anti-Venom again on his terms.
Batman had entered the phase of using the terrain to cover his withdrawal.
White smoke from the bomb billowed in place as Batman sped toward a forest downslope.
Anti-Venom, facing Batman's repeated smoke trick, dispersed it with a single breath. Tilting its head to listen for Batman's heartbeat, its mouth split into a grin.
Its hands morphed into sharp, curved claws and frantically clawed through the mountain, burrowing toward Batman from within.
The underground tremors didn't escape Batman's superhuman senses. He dodged a split second before Anti-Venom erupted from below.
A swarm of bats filled the sky, summoned by Batman's signal devices, circling low.
Just as Batman assumed Anti-Venom would pursue relentlessly as before, it burst from the ground and stopped. Standing motionless for a few seconds, it suddenly whipped its head toward the distance.
Batman's heart sank. That direction was where he'd hidden the off-road vehicle—and Venom.
His plan to defeat Anti-Venom relied on Venom. If Anti-Venom found and killed it, the difficulty of victory would skyrocket.
BOOM!
Anti-Venom crouched and launched forward. Batman, quick as lightning, fired a web onto its back before it could fully accelerate.
Then he leaped into the air, spreading his cape like a kite, gliding after Anti-Venom.
Batman's speed was no match for Anti-Venom's. He had lasted this long thanks to the endless gadgets in his utility belt and Peter Parker's reflexes.
Chasing on foot would leave him minutes behind. Using himself as a kite was the fastest way.
Anti-Venom, sprinting toward Venom, paid no heed to Batman behind it. On all fours like a beast, it tore through the forty-kilometer distance in moments, crashing straight through trees to reach the vehicle.
SCREEECH!
In a teeth-grinding screech of metal, Anti-Venom's claws tore the off-road vehicle in half, shattering the ecological container along with it.
WHOOSH!
The black symbiote Venom was ready. It surged through the vehicle's seams, then leaped!
Anti-Venom's reflexes were lightning-fast. Spotting Venom, it lunged like a lion scenting blood, claw slashing toward the airborne symbiote.
But in the next instant, Batman landed safely, extending his arm toward Venom.
Not saving Venom would make Anti-Venom nearly impossible to handle. Batman might need far greater cost and time to find another way.
Saving Venom, per his plan, would allow him to defeat Anti-Venom next time—and keep Venom under his control afterward.
The choice was obvious. With a whoosh, Venom surged into Batman's body.
Batman's form, still in the Arkham suit, didn't change in size. Black symbiote matter writhed across him. A massive, jagged white bat emblem emerged on his chest, its edges no longer clean but sprouting sharp spikes.
Radiating from the bat emblem, countless intricate white tendrils spread across his upper body.
His mouth, exposed outside the mask, didn't morph into Venom's monstrous maw, but his eyes slanted upward with an eerie, sinister gleam.
"I need Venom alive to defeat Anti-Venom."
"Batman needs me!"
In that moment, Batman and the Venom within him aligned in thought. Venom Batman was born.