Plans changed.
Batman was not surprised.
He had already prepared for Professor Curt Connors refusing to leave Osborn Tower.
Connors had chosen to stay—not for ambition, not for pride, but to manufacture the Temporary Regeneration Stabilizer for seven dying patients at Metropolitan Hospital.
Batman respected that choice.
But respect did not mean abandoning strategy.
He adjusted.
---
While moving through the building as "Clark," pretending to review documents, adjust equipment, and assist minor lab tasks, Batman had already executed Phase Two.
Inside ventilation ducts on multiple floors, he embedded modified Bat-daggers.
They looked ordinary.
They were not.
Each dagger contained a highly potent, slow-diffusing biological sedative.
Invisible.
Odorless.
Colorless.
Under normal conditions, the concentration would remain low enough to avoid affecting civilians.
But if adrenaline spiked—if abnormal aggression surged—if something monstrous awakened—
The sedative would dampen neurological overdrive.
Batman had once used a diluted version to stabilize Harry Osborn's emotional instability.
Now the application was broader.
If a Hulk-level entity emerged inside Osborn Tower, its rage would not be absolute.
---
Simultaneously, Batman implanted monitoring software into nearly every accessible system.
Laboratory terminals.
Security monitors.
Experimental equipment.
Internal communications servers.
All quietly linked to the Oracle AI inside the Batmobile parked blocks away.
If abnormal biometric spikes occurred…
If unauthorized genetic protocols were activated…
If gamma radiation levels increased—
Batman would know instantly.
Two layers of defense.
Still not enough.
---
After disposing of the pizza box containing the encrypted hard drive into the garbage chute—later retrieving it through a secure exit route—Batman climbed to the fifty-eighth floor.
Above that level, access was restricted.
The fifty-ninth and sixtieth floors were militarized zones.
Over two hundred soldiers.
Heavy weapons.
Command center operations.
Ross had fortified vertically.
Which meant something significant was coming.
Batman removed his lab coat in the shadows, revealing his black stealth suit beneath.
Only one hour had passed since he placed the tracking device on General Thaddeus Ross.
Most intercepted conversations involved political pressure.
The Capitol.
The White House.
The Pentagon.
All demanding de-escalation.
Ross resisted.
Then—
Ten minutes later—
A call.
---
"The target will arrive at Osborn Building in one hour," said a steady voice through Ross' secure line. "I've held off Washington for now. Do not fail."
Ross' response carried unmistakable excitement.
"My scientific advisors have completed analysis. Banner's mutation is uncontrolled gamma-driven cellular regeneration."
He paused.
"Connors' research represents controlled regenerative pathways."
Another pause.
"With both… I can mass-produce Hulks."
Silence from the other end.
Then a warning.
"Do not make mistakes."
"Understood."
The call ended.
---
On the fifty-eighth floor, Batman's eyes narrowed.
Ross' objective was confirmed.
He wanted to combine Hulk's limitless mutation with Connors' controlled regeneration.
Stability.
Scalability.
An army.
A super-soldier program beyond anything seen before.
Fortunately, Connors' core data had already been extracted.
But Connors himself remained inside.
And Ross had a "target" arriving in one hour.
Batman left the building quietly and retrieved the hard drive from the chute.
He returned to the Batmobile.
---
"Barbara," Batman said, activating stealth mode. "Search S.H.I.E.L.D. files. Keyword: Hulk."
The Oracle AI responded instantly.
"Latest update: Director Nick Fury dispatched Agents Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff to Mumbai, India, to locate Hulk."
"Search travel data."
"Quinjet deployment confirmed. Departure and return timestamps logged."
"Hack the jet. Retrieve communications."
Seconds passed.
"Communications extracted. Keyword 'Hulk' confirmed. S.H.I.E.L.D. initially planned to transfer Hulk to the Helicarrier. Mid-route, a coded override redirected transport."
Batman's jaw tightened.
"Decipher the code?"
"Attempt possible."
"No need."
He embedded three retractable blades into his forearm armor with a click.
"Ross' target is Hulk. He's coming to Osborn Tower."
He leaned back slightly in the driver's seat.
"The only unknown variable is his state."
Controlled?
Sedated?
Or enraged?
---
Meanwhile—
Somewhere between states—
Bruce Banner was being transported.
Inside reinforced containment.
Gamma levels suppressed.
But his inhibitor system would not last forever.
Banner had designed his cellular degradation carefully.
Blood samples decayed.
But live transport was another matter.
If provoked—
Hulk would surface.
---
Back in New York—
Batman inspected his arsenal.
Web-fluid concentrate.
Gel bombs.
Electrical discharge emitters.
Enhanced sedatives.
Anesthetic capsules.
Signal disruptors.
Smoke cartridges.
EMP nodes.
Every tool checked twice.
Every belt compartment sealed.
He wasn't preparing for a skirmish.
He was preparing for catastrophe.
---
He reviewed environmental schematics of Osborn Tower.
Structural stress points.
Load-bearing columns.
Elevator shafts.
Ventilation pressure flows.
If Hulk rampaged inside—
Civilian casualties would be catastrophic.
Batman mapped fallback plans.
Evacuation triggers.
External containment tactics.
Rooftop extraction options for Connors.
He considered worst-case physics.
A fully unleashed Hulk could punch through reinforced steel.
The sedative diffusion might slow him.
Might.
Batman did not rely on "might."
---
He clenched his fist slowly, testing strength.
Peter Parker's enhanced physiology responded instantly.
Speed.
Power.
Precision.
He had trained relentlessly since entering this world.
Not to win.
But to endure.
---
One hour.
That was the timeline.
Ross believed he was orchestrating an evolution in warfare.
HYDRA was moving in shadows.
S.H.I.E.L.D. was compromised.
Connors was inside.
Seven patients depended on stabilizers.
And Hulk—
Hulk was inbound.
Batman exhaled slowly.
"There are scenarios where we contain him," he said quietly.
"And there are scenarios where we survive him."
The Batmobile engines hummed softly in stealth mode.
Above ground, Osborn Tower stood silent under military control.
Inside, scientists worked under pressure.
On the sixtieth floor, Ross prepared his greatest gamble.
And beneath the city—
A hunter waited.
Batman did not plan for victory.
He planned for survival.
And if the worst came—
He would be ready.**