"Professor, there may be patients at Metropolitan General Hospital. I need you to go check it out in your capacity as Connors," Batman instructed the Lizard lurking in the sewers as he carried Doctor Strange and ran in the direction of the Batcave.
Given Batman's mental agility, and the fact that despite having only met Doctor Strange three times he already knew everything about him, Batman realized at a glance why this doctor had been drag racing through the streets while Manhattan was in the middle of a massive war between the superheroes and Hydra.
"No problem," the Lizard rasped in a muffled voice.
Amidst a rustling sound, he crawled rapidly along the sewers toward Metropolitan General Hospital. A few minutes later, he slipped on a white lab coat he had picked up along the way, transforming into Professor Connors.
Meanwhile, Batman brought Doctor Strange to the Batcave and hooked him up to the exact same life-support equipment he had previously used to sustain the gamma monster.
Batman had no time to treat him at the moment. Doctor Strange was covered in blood; the fingers on both of his hands had been thoroughly impaled by shattered windshield glass, and they were fractured almost to the point of being crushed to splinters by the falling bricks.
He had also suffered over a dozen fractures across his body, though fortunately, there were no critical injuries like internal bleeding that demanded immediate surgery.
However, given the severity of Doctor Strange's injuries, his hands would remain completely crippled even if they healed, and he would have to rely on assistive bracing mechanisms just to use his fingers normally.
His career as a neurosurgeon was effectively over.
After settling Doctor Strange in, Batman intentionally sealed off the medical bay from the rest of the Batcave, ensuring that even if Doctor Strange woke up, he would merely believe he was inside a hospital.
"Doctor Otto, I noticed you failed to rendezvous with Wolverine, Robin, and the others."
Returning to Fifth Avenue, Batman continued rushing toward Times Square, contacting Doctor Otto mid-transit to question him.
Before setting out, Batman had assigned tasks to every member of the Justice League. Doctor Otto was supposed to rendezvous with Wolverine, Black Widow, and Daredevil.
Yet right now, Doctor Otto was positioned at the very top of the skyscraper opposite Stark Tower, remaining completely stationary for over ten minutes.
The monitoring system Batman had installed inside Doctor Otto's suit confirmed that his physical condition was normal—his heart rate and respiration were slightly accelerated, but it was unclear whether the doctor was suffering from external influences.
"Doctor Otto?" Noticing the lack of response from the other end, Batman called out once more.
"Batman," Doctor Otto's voice finally came through after a long pause, spoken in an incredibly low murmur. "I think... I've fallen in love with her."
Batman's heart skipped a beat. He had anticipated that the Enchantress might suddenly make a move at some point, but this still came far too abruptly.
"Doctor?"
Doctor Otto's voice sounded as if he were reciting poetry:
"Batman, do you know that feeling? It is like soaking inside a hot spring, where a snake slowly swims up to your feet, rubbing against you with its dense scales, gradually binding you with its soft body and dragging you beneath the water."
"I love her. I am willing to give everything I have for her, even if the price is my own life."
"Batman, do you understand?"
Batman's voice was deep and commanding:
"I understand."
Doctor Otto let out two soft chuckles, and then no further sound came through the channel.
Batman also cut the encrypted communication, exhaling a long breath from his chest.
He did not contact anyone else this time, continuing straight until he reached Times Square.
Gathered here already were the Avengers, the Justice League, the temporary alliance formed by Captain America, Wolverine, Blade, the Black Knight, and others.
Their opponents had also long since shifted from ordinary Hydra soldiers to individuals who had clearly undergone cybernetic modification. While they might not stand a chance against the superheroes in one-on-one combat, they held the advantage in sheer numbers.
The moment Batman arrived, nearly half of the crowd turned their eyes toward him.
"Batman!" Jack Monroe was the first to shout out.
Batman nodded to him, then walked briskly over to Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Right now, Ant-Man and the Wasp had not shrunk down. Instead, they maintained their normal sizes, continuously firing energy blasts to exchange fire with Hydra.
The Wasp was firing yellow energy directly from her palms like stings, while Ant-Man relied on the devices mounted on his suit's wrists to attack.
"Ant-Man, I need your help," Batman said quickly.
Ant-Man glanced at Batman, then turned his head back to continue dealing with Hydra, completely ignoring Batman's request.
The Wasp, Janet, stared over with wide eyes. "The ones who clearly need help are us, aren't they?"
"I know you are conserving your strength, but right now I need you to shrink down and rescue one of my companions," Batman said, looking into the Wasp's eyes.
"A companion?" the Wasp asked curiously once more, her hands continuously unleashing stinging energy blasts.
"He is Doctor Otto. You should have heard of him—a top scientist who was once a prominent figure in the field of nuclear physics," Batman said.
"It's inconvenient for you to act?" Ant-Man asked, without turning his head.
"Correct."
"Then I'll go help—" the Wasp agreed readily, but before she could finish her sentence, she was cut off by Ant-Man.
It seemed that Captain America's return had given Ant-Man confidence. He was no longer filled with the despondency he had displayed back at the Pym Technologies building.
"What is the compensation? Since you chose to come straight to us as a couple instead of looking for someone else, you must know that we are the only ones capable of doing this."
Batman did not hesitate for even a fraction of a second:
"If you do not help, I will make the formula for Pym Particles public."
"What?!" Ant-Man's heart skipped a beat, and he nearly jumped right out of his boots. "Are you fucking kidding me?!"
Realizing his voice was a bit too loud, Ant-Man quickly lowered his tone:
"Don't tell me you've already replicated the formula for Pym Particles. That's fundamentally impossible."
"Nothing is impossible," Batman stated.
During his brief dialogue with Doctor Otto just now, Doctor Otto had clearly transmitted a distress signal to him.
He was in trouble—and it was the kind of trouble that could cost him his life.
Judging by the words Doctor Otto had spoken, the one he had encountered was not Amora the Enchantress, but Madame Hydra.
Those so-called expressions of love were merely a metaphor used by Doctor Otto; Batman wasn't so dense that he would fail to pick up on that.
Batman's supply of Pym Particles had already been exhausted when he enlarged and restored things back at the Adirondack Mountains base. It was definitely too late to manufacture them from scratch now, so the safest and fastest approach was naturally to seek help from Ant-Man.
Most importantly, Batman needed to remain at Times Square, using his identity to serve as the backbone for this group of superheroes to prevent them from being picked off one by one by the criminals from Latveria.
"Damn it," Ant-Man cursed under his breath in response to Batman's retort. After exchanging a look with the Wasp, both of them simultaneously pressed a button on their suits.
In the blink of an eye, the two of them vanished from the spot, heading toward the coordinates provided by Batman.
And just a few minutes after their departure, a Wakandan aircraft materialized out of thin air above Times Square. Supervillains clad in suits and weapons primarily dominated by a dark-green color palette leapt down one after another.
The criminals of Latveria had arrived.
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