Things often don't go as planned. Batman was training Robin at the abandoned shipyard, and just as the night was about to pass, something happened to The Lizard on North Brother Island.
Fortunately, it had nothing to do with Norman Osborn. He was currently clinging to a tree with what little food he had left—a shelter he had selected during the day.
Norman Osborn didn't even know what was happening on North Brother Island where he was. He only knew that, just like last night, an endless stream of reptiles was crawling out of the water onto the shore again, rustling as they moved toward the center of the island.
He didn't know, but Batman, who had long ago installed countless micro-sensors on the island, was perfectly clear on the changes occurring on North Brother Island:
The Lizard was molting.
Professor Connors was a herpetologist. After injecting himself with the regenerative serum, the form he transformed into was also a reptile: a lizard.
But unlike the previous "Spider-Man," Peter, who couldn't spin silk from his body, and the Green Goblin, who wasn't a real goblin, this was different.
The Lizard that Connors transformed into seemed like a true lizard, possessing almost all the physiological characteristics of a cold-blooded animal. Now, there was the addition of molting.
"Dr. Banner, initiate Emergency Protocol C immediately."
Sensing the changes in The Lizard, Batman didn't hesitate. He immediately contacted South Brother Island via the Arkham suit's long-range communications.
"Understood." The anomaly with The Lizard had been detected simultaneously on South Brother Island, and Dr. Banner responded immediately.
Before the communicator cut off, Batman heard Dr. Banner's voice being replaced by the Hulk's heavy panting.
"Robin, return to the Batcave. Guard the Gamma monster imprisoned on the second level," Batman said to Robin, who was training hard.
"What happened?" Robin looked at Batman with a blank expression.
Batman explained quickly:
"There's an anomaly with The Lizard. I need to go handle it, and I need you to help me guard the Batcave."
"I want to go too!" Venom Robin instinctively thought this was a great chance to show off his skills.
But Batman just shook his head at him:
"I'm not sure if the changes in The Lizard are good or bad. Therefore, aside from South Brother Island's Emergency Protocol D, I also need you in the Batcave, ready to activate the Alfred Protocol at any time."
Venom Robin was even more confused:
"What is that?"
"The Alfred AI hasn't been fully coded yet, but the function to activate the protocol is ready." Batman didn't explain further this time. "I will tell you on the comms channel if it becomes necessary."
Venom Robin blinked, somewhat curious about what this mysterious Alfred Protocol actually was.
Seeing Batman standing there without moving after giving his instructions, Venom Robin urged him:
"Isn't this an emergency? You're not leaving yet?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Venom Robin suddenly looked up at the night sky.
In the pitch-black, cloudy night sky, a faint humming sound went from far to near. One second it was in the distance, the next it was already above the abandoned shipyard.
Darkness couldn't block Venom Robin's vision; he saw it clearly. Speeding to the sky above them was an aircraft with a design completely different from conventional flying machines.
It was the second Batwing, produced according to the scheduled process by Parker Industries' simultaneous acquisition of heavy industry while Batman was traveling to New Mexico.
The Batwing didn't hover, nor did it even slow down. It merely swept low over the abandoned shipyard, then performed a loop in the air, turning around to fly back in the direction it came from.
Whoosh!
Venom Robin only heard the sound of a cape flapping wildly in the wind. He hurriedly turned to look.
Batman, who had just been standing beside him, had already raised his hand, shooting a strand of pitch-black webbing to grab the Batwing. Enduring the flight momentum that hadn't slowed in the slightest, he pulled himself into the cabin.
The moment Batman entered the cabin, the Batwing's speed surged again, breaking through layers of dark clouds to reveal the obscured moon before vanishing in the blink of an eye toward North Brother Island.
"The old Bat isn't giving me a ride?" Venom Robin was dumbfounded.
On North Brother Island, Norman Osborn was drowsy, but the wind waves caused by the Batwing's takeoff rustled the woods on the island, startling him awake again.
He widened his eyes, staring into the surrounding darkness. After hesitating for a moment, he realized he couldn't hear that strange hissing sound from the previous few nights.
Just as the thought "did something happen to the monsters on the island?" popped into Norman Osborn's head, but before he could act on it...
Buzz buzz.
The Batwing hovered at a low altitude of less than a thousand meters. Batman descended from the sky, landing precisely beside the tree where Norman Osborn was.
Without a single word of explanation, Batman yanked Norman Osborn down with a line of webbing, then grabbed him by the back of his collar.
The wind whistled past his ears. Norman Osborn couldn't see the surroundings clearly, but from the violent bumps, he knew he was being hauled a great distance by Batman.
Batman didn't stop until they reached the shore of the island.
Norman Osborn was so shaken he could barely breathe. Before he could open his mouth to ask, Batman stomped violently on the ground.
Bang!
Amidst a muffled thud, a shallow pit half a meter wide appeared where he stood, and Batman leaped a hundred meters into the air carrying Norman Osborn.
The Bat-cape could be used for gliding, but long-distance gliding with the combined weight of Batman and Norman Osborn was clearly unrealistic.
Yet Batman still chose to glide across the East River. Holding Norman Osborn in one hand, he threw his other hand back, instantly electrifying the Bat-cape.
Then, a series of pitch-black webs shot from Batman's hand. These webs quickly bonded together in the air, weaving layer by layer, forming a small parachute in the blink of an eye.
Relying on the parachute and the Bat-cape, Batman had already stepped onto South Brother Island when he fell from the sky.
"Hulk, watch him for me."
On the shore of South Brother Island, the Hulk had been waiting for a long time.
"Leave it to Hulk," the Green Giant said in a muffled voice, rubbing his fists together as he looked at Norman Osborn.
Norman Osborn couldn't help but take half a step back. He looked up at the Hulk, who was about three meters tall, seeing the ferocious face and bulging muscles. While terrified, he also felt a sense of déjà vu, as if he had seen a similar guy somewhere before.
But Norman Osborn didn't have time to think too much. Hulk plonked his bottom down on the ground, pointing to the spot beside him, and said to Norman Osborn:
"Sit down."
Norman Osborn didn't dare refuse. He turned his head to ask Batman what was going on, but Batman had already silently vanished without a trace.
In the laboratory on South Brother Island, Batman was currently separated from Dr. Otto by a workbench, each looking at the screens before them.
"Placing Norman and Connors on North Brother Island at the same time was intended to observe both of them simultaneously."
"According to our projections, Norman Osborn, who was likely to cause trouble, has been behaving himself so far. Conversely, it is Connors who has developed a situation."
Dr. Otto's fingers flew across the controls, rapidly sending a stream of data from North Brother Island to Batman's screen.
"Nothing happened the night before last. Last night, pheromones were released, attracting reptiles. Tonight, molting..."
Dr. Otto's mechanical tentacles were equally busy manipulating other experimental equipment. He felt that Connors' condition didn't seem quite right:
"If I had to use one word to describe it, I believe The Lizard is 'evolving'."
Professor Morbius wore a pitch-black trench coat with a red lining. This outfit should have made him look dashing and cool, but right now, he couldn't care less about image or demeanor.
As a scientist accepted by Batman onto South Brother Island, Professor Morbius was also aware of the emergency plans Batman had prepared for the four scientists on the island, labeled A, B, C, and D.
Professor Connors showing abnormalities naturally corresponded to Emergency Protocol C.
Professor Morbius wasn't idle either; utilizing his professional expertise as a biologist, he was concocting a reagent at the lab bench with extreme speed.
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