"Surprised, aren't you, Tony Stark?" Over the phone, Nick Fury's voice was as gruff as ever.
"Wondering how S.H.I.E.L.D. managed to slip a package into your living room right under your nose?"
"Because I haven't upgraded JARVIS since the twenty-four hours I spent building him," Tony Stark replied.
"Your technical guidance to S.H.I.E.L.D. has been satisfactory. The contents of that package are your payment, Tony." Nick Fury ignored Tony's snark, skipping right past the topic.
"You sure this is payment?" Tony Stark scoffed.
"You can't hide your physical condition from me, Tony." There was a trace of amusement in Nick Fury's voice. "The Helicarrier's overall tech might be outdated, but you spent enough time here that night for Agent Hill to notice your problem."
"What problem?" Tony Stark remained composed, walking over to the liquor cabinet in the living room to retrieve a bottle of red wine.
Pop!
Clad in the Mark III armor, Tony flicked a finger, sending the cork flying. He then threw his head back and guzzled the crimson liquid in a highly unrefined manner.
"That reactor in your chest is causing you trouble, isn't it?" Nick Fury said. "Whatever element you're using, it's causing a rejection reaction in your body? Heavy metal toxicity, perhaps?"
Tony Stark didn't appreciate the lecture-like tone, but he didn't hang up. Instead, he simply raised a hand and fired a repulsor blast at the box.
"Don't take it out on the box, Tony. That's your father in there."
Nick Fury could obviously hear the commotion on the other end. He laughed heartily, pausing for a few seconds before adding:
"Things your father left for you."
"Whatever he left me, it won't do any good," Tony Stark said. "I've tried every known element to replace the current reactor core, and without exception, they've all failed."
"You haven't tried everything, Tony."
With that, Nick Fury hung up the phone, leaving Tony Stark standing alone in the living room, lost in thought.
A few minutes after Nick Fury hung up, JARVIS's voice interrupted Tony's train of thought:
"Sir, there is a visitor at the door."
"Tell him I'm not in," Tony said without hesitation.
"Sir, he is already inside."
"..."
The visitor was Agent Phil Coulson, who had been sent to California by Nick Fury after spending over a month fruitlessly searching for Batman in New York.
"If I remember correctly, you're the guy who tried to hit on Pepper at the first press conference I held after returning from the Middle East."
Tony Stark looked at Agent Coulson as if he knew everything.
In reality, during the time it took Agent Coulson to walk from the foyer to the living room, the JARVIS AI had fed Coulson's information to Tony.
"That was me, Tony," Agent Coulson said with a smile.
"Just in time. Go to a chain coffee shop and buy some coffee. I'm going to be busy in the lab for a while," Tony said.
"That's not what I'm here for," Coulson said, maintaining his smile. "Director Fury has authorized me to use any means necessary to prevent you from leaving this mansion."
The corners of Tony Stark's mouth twitched as he laughed aloud.
"What?"
"If I can get into your home, I certainly have the means to stop you. Trust in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s tactical capabilities, Mr. Tony Stark." Coulson seemed to wear a perpetual smile.
Night deepened, and a full moon hung high in the sky.
"I need a helper, but not the three on North Brother Island, nor Venom."
Batman crossed his arms over his chest, watching a rat scurry past a hole in the wall outside the Batcave. The antidote for the Gamma monsters required the three scientists on North Brother Island to develop it; Batman needed their minds more than their strength.
Venom's current status was unclear. Based on previous research into the symbiote, it wasn't dead, but had fallen into some kind of dormant state.
Daredevil, Silver Sable, and Black Cat—Batman believed that if he asked for their help, they would certainly come.
But their usefulness in what Batman was about to do would be limited, and it would be extremely dangerous for them.
Batman needed to find the missing Harry Osborn, Morbius—who had turned into a vampiric monster—and Max Dillon.
"On the day of the incident, a complete power outage occurred at Oscorp, and the location where Max Dillon was thrown coincided with ruptured cables."
"There were signs of damage to the walls, and electrical wires had been torn out."
"There were scorched traces of a human body at the scene, but only the epidermis was burnt, not from the inside out."
"Max Dillon has likely become an entity similar to Superman's former adversary, Livewire."
At Oscorp Tower, Batman was not only gathering clues related to Morbius but also investigating the other two missing persons.
He had even noticed the empty vial discarded after the injection and collected a sample of the Super Soldier Serum from it.
Batman also observed damage to the glass on the top floor of Oscorp Tower and found documents handwritten by Harry Osborn in the penthouse office.
The current situation was clear at a glance: Morbius had become a vampire, Max Dillon had become "Livewire," and Harry Osborn had become the second Green Goblin.
Batman required a partner he could trust but also control. S.H.I.E.L.D. certainly did not fit that description; the only helper he could currently find was Tony Stark.
But there was a problem with Tony Stark as well.
Oscorp Tower had no surveillance footage, but Metro-General Hospital did.
After quickly returning to the Batcave, Batman hacked into the Metro-General Hospital surveillance system. While erasing all footage of his own daytime visit, he reviewed the recording of Professor Warren being admitted to the hospital.
The footage showed Tony Stark in the Mark III armor, his flight path shaky and extremely unstable.
Either Tony was drunk, or the palladium levels in his body had exceeded safety limits, perhaps even to the point of endangering his life.
Batman always prepared for the worst. He unhesitatingly concluded it was the latter and needed to make preparations based on this worst-case scenario.
"Tony is very smart. He wouldn't just let himself succumb to palladium poisoning. He would certainly look for other known elements as a substitute, but he evidently hasn't found one."
Batman's gaze was intense. A series of elements and metals that existed only in his original world flashed rapidly through his mind.
Various colors of Kryptonite, Nth Metal, Element X, Amazonium...
These dangerous thoughts flashed by and were quickly discarded by Batman.
Some could not be created due to limitations in tools, technology, or magic, while others were simply too dangerous to be considered.
Soon, Batman turned his attention to the palm-sized piece of Vibranium that T'Challa had gifted him.