This was already the second time Batman had heard something like this.
The last time was during the investigation into the escape from Ryker's Island, where, despite Batman's expertise, he had been unable to observe how they made their escape.
It was only after questioning T'Challa later that he confirmed a stolen Wakandan aircraft had picked them up.
"Robin, is there a third party interfering in the Hulk's battle?" Batman asked in a low voice.
"No," Robin quickly replied. "Old Bats, looks like you need backup over at Times Square?"
"Stay put," Batman said. "Stand by at your location."
Robin went quiet, clearly disgruntled, but Batman didn't waste any more words on him, his gaze sweeping rapidly across the surrounding superheroes instead.
"Jessica," Batman called out to Jessica Jones, who was using her crossed arms to block the shockwaves emanating from Schultz. "You protect Daredevil."
As soon as the words left his mouth, a strand of Batman's web-line shot out close to the ground, pulling Jessica Jones over, while he ducked and charged straight out.
Thud!
A telescopic leg descended from above as Stilt-Man planted a foot directly in front of Batman, blocking his path.
Without a second thought, Batman reached out and grabbed the telescopic leg, which had extended to nearly five meters in length. With a single flick of his wrist, he yanked Stilt-Man out of the sky and slammed him onto the pavement with a heavy thud.
If he hadn't been worried that using Stilt-Man as a human club against Shocker would end up killing both of them, Batman would have used Stilt-Man directly as a weapon.
With Stilt-Man down, three members of the Serpent Society moved in to block Batman's path once more.
Puff Adder, Bushmaster, and Cottonmouth exchanged glances. Puff Adder's body began to swell and expand, while Bushmaster opened his mouth to reveal his cybernetically modified, razor-sharp teeth.
Cottonmouth, much like the Copperhead Batman had encountered before, had a copper metallic sheen coating his skin. However, while Copperhead relied mostly on his own physical attributes to fight, Cottonmouth depended heavily on high-tech weaponry.
Batman paused for a fraction of a second before ducking his head and plowing straight into their three-way encirclement.
Clang!
A smoke grenade filled with severe irritants was thrown out. Within the thick smoke, Batman fought three on one. Once he gauged that their physical durability could withstand forces under five tons:
Batman flat-out kicked Cottonmouth flying, then grabbed Puff Adder and Bushmaster each by a leg, using them as living weapons to smash through anything in his way.
This time, with no one left to block his path, Batman dodged every attack from the remaining cybernetically modified Hydra soldiers, vanishing in a flash to appear directly before Shocker, Schultz.
"Long time no see," Batman pulled his cape in front of himself, single-handedly absorbing all the shockwave attacks from the gauntlets at point-blank range as he spoke to Schultz.
"Bruce! His name is Bruce!" The moment Batman closed the distance, Shocker began screaming at the top of his lungs. "He is Bruce Banner!"
Having been captured by Batman three times now—including one time when he was locked inside the Batcave—it was during that stay when Schultz overheard someone address Batman as "Bruce."
Aside from the Leader, Samuel Sterns, Schultz had never revealed Batman's name as "Bruce" to anyone else. As for the surname "Banner," that had been told to him in turn by the Leader.
But now, looking at Batman—who stood unflinching at point-blank range under the full brunt of his vibro-smash gauntlets without his posture shifting in the slightest—Schultz could only pray that shouting out Batman's real name would cause his opponent to hesitate.
Not far away, Wolverine—who was trading blows with the Swordsman as slices of his own muscle were carved away—turned to look over at the sound, then turned his head right back.
No one knew better than him that Batman was Peter Parker.
Bruce Banner? It was probably just a fake alias Peter was using.
"Bruce Banner?" On the other side, Morbius, the Living Vampire, who had finally recovered from the shockwaves and climbed up from the ground, shot a puzzled glance at Batman. "Isn't that Doctor Banner's name?"
A bullet flew out of nowhere, striking Morbius right on the forehead. His head snapped backward violently, and then he understood:
"Just like how I operated under Batman's name earlier, Batman sometimes needs to operate under other names too."
Having figured out what was going on, Morbius, the Living Vampire, turned to look toward the direction from which the bullet had been fired.
Just as he looked over, a massive hail of bullets poured down once more, riddling Morbius's body with holes and shredding the black trench coat Batman had given him into countless tatters.
"Crimson Dynamo?" Morbius recognized the opponent. It was none other than Yuri Petrovich, the man who had previously set the Stark Expo ablaze before getting beaten into a pulp by Iron Man and sent to prison.
The Crimson Dynamo.
Morbius spread the gliding membranes beneath his armpits, intending to fly over, but the moment he leaped into the air, the bullets tore both membranes to shreds.
Morbius glanced down, and the expression on his face turned vicious as he bared a mouth full of fangs toward the Crimson Dynamo.
Swish!
His body transformed into a dark blur as he lunged forward, locking into a ferocious melee with the Crimson Dynamo.
By this time, Batman had already snapped Shocker's bones and stripped off his vibro-smash gauntlets, crushing them into a crumpled heap of metal.
Without Shocker's interference, the pressure on the superheroes instantly dropped by more than half, allowing Batman to finally command the battlefield.
"Wolverine, Jessica, Electro, Patriot, Werewolf, Jack Monroe," Batman rapidly called out several names. "Engage these guys in close-quarters combat with me. Prioritize taking out these specific targets."
Batman spoke at a breakneck speed, unleashing a salvo of Batarangs as he talked, pinning them onto supervillains like Human Torch, Blizzard, and Whirlwind:
"Falcon, Black Knight, Blade, Daredevil, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Vulture, Agent 19—under our cover, prioritize taking down the enemies with long-range offensive capabilities."
"End this quickly; do not cluster together."
Batman's voice was transmitted with precision into the ear of every superhero. Some chose to obey Batman's command, such as the Avengers, Wolverine, and Blade.
Within Captain America's temporary alliance, only Jack Monroe gave Batman a response; the others seemed to have no intention of following Batman's orders whatsoever.
Just as Batman prepared to employ a few methods to force compliance, a silver sports car was flipped through the air hundreds of meters away, crashing heavily toward them.
It was Doctor Strange's sports car, flipped by Quake, who found the vehicle blocking her path.
Positioned behind the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents led by Quake was Captain America.
"Kill everyone here. Execute immediately," Quake ordered, darting past the outer perimeter of the encirclement in a few swift maneuvers as she looked at the superheroes locked in battle with the supervillains.
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