"Hulk!"
Just as Batman hauled up Professor Lizard, who had been burrowing through the floor, the Hulk—who had plummeted from the rooftop alongside him—let out a thunderous roar.
He stomped his foot, causing the floor of the fifty-eighth story to crumble and the ground beneath Batman to buckle upward.
Batman immediately lost his balance, then was hurled away by a follow-up blow from the Hulk.
"Crack."
A faint sound emanated from Batman's suit. The armor, pieced together from the Spider-Slayer, fractured in several spots. Batman was sent flying once more, slamming hard into the wall of the fifty-eighth floor.
"Even in his rage, Hulk retains a sliver of rationality. He didn't target me as his opponent, but made the mutated Professor Connors his primary objective."
After the impact, Batman swiftly assessed the situation.
At the same time, Professor Lizard, whom Batman had pulled up, had steadied himself. His nearly four-meter-tall body almost brushed the ceiling.
His green-scaled tail swept across the office desks and chairs, shattering the wooden furniture into splinters with a series of crashes.
"Hulk—"
"Hiss."
The Hulk roared again, but this time his voice caught in his throat.
Prying himself free from the wall with both arms, Batman fired a dark web, sealing the Hulk's bellowing mouth shut.
Hulk held his breath, and in his fury, he ripped off the web clinging to his face.
But by then, Professor Lizard had crouched slightly from his ceiling-high stance, spun around abruptly, and slammed his thick tail into the Hulk.
With a deafening crash, the Hulk's body was hurled away just like Batman's had been moments earlier—only with even greater force, smashing through four or five walls before finally coming to a halt.
"Thank you, little Bat."
Professor Lizard's golden vertical pupils fixed on Batman. His protruding mouth slowly parted, revealing a maw full of razor-sharp teeth as he spoke.
His tail swayed slowly, and he extended his front claws, sinking them into the floor and ripping up a large chunk before beginning to climb downward headfirst.
But he didn't succeed this time either.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Hulk stomped his feet, closing the dozen meters he'd been thrown back in just three strides, and charged forward again, seizing Professor Lizard's tail and dragging him backward inch by inch.
As Professor Lizard's body was gradually hauled upward, he simply turned his head to glance at Banner, then swung his front claws backward.
Professor Lizard severed his own massive lizard tail, then twisted his now off-balance body—looking unusually clumsy—and resumed burrowing downward.
The Hulk, clutching the severed but still writhing lizard tail, staggered back several steps. Just as he was about to pursue Professor Lizard—
"Bruce, the 'Anti-Hulk Protocol' is ready."
At that moment, the Oracle AI's voice suddenly echoed from Batman's suit.
The gamma-ray device on the eleventh floor of the Osborn Group—which General Ross had mistakenly identified as the core experimental instrument—Batman had chosen to hack using the Oracle AI installed on the Batmobile, overwriting its program.
The program's content was the "Anti-Hulk Protocol"!
On the empty eleventh floor of the Osborn Group, the gamma-ray instrument activated automatically. Under the control of the overwritten program, the instrument no longer emitted pure gamma rays, but a composite spectrum.
"The Anti-Hulk Protocol can buy me less than ten seconds. I need to use those ten seconds to deal with the giant lizard that Professor Connors has mutated into."
Under the influence of the composite spectrum, Hulk's movements grew slower and slower, eventually grinding to a halt, a hint of confusion appearing on his enraged face.
This composite spectrum had been calibrated by Batman based on his knowledge of gamma rays, capable of acting as a short-term tranquilizer on the Hulk at a specific frequency.
Neural sedation alone wasn't enough. Batman raised his hand and yanked down the ventilation duct overhead with a web.
At various points throughout the Osborn Building's ventilation system, Batarangs previously embedded by Batman were still releasing sedative gas, which flowed slowly through the ducts.
Now, with Batman ripping open the ventilation duct, the combined effect caused the anger on Hulk's face to fade gradually.
But if subduing the Hulk were that simple, General Ross wouldn't have made capturing him his life's mission.
This effect would last only ten seconds. Though the timeframe was tight, it was sufficient for Batman.
Previously, he had prevented Professor Lizard from burrowing to the lower floors to avoid interfering with the gamma-ray device's activation. But now, with the "Anti-Hulk Protocol" fully in effect, Batman no longer obstructed Professor Lizard.
In fact, he hoped Professor Lizard would get as close to the lower floors as possible—ideally burrowing all the way down to the eleventh floor.
Time was of the essence. Batman had no spare moments to concern himself with the temporarily sedated Hulk. He tugged on a web, propelling his body through the exterior wall of the Osborn Building with raw force.
Then, with another pull on the web, Batman's form plummeted down the side of the building even faster than Professor Lizard.
"Barbara, execute Plan W3!"
Plunging rapidly through the air, Batman spoke to the Oracle AI.
"Plan W executing immediately. Bruce, catch it." The Oracle AI responded without delay.
At that moment, most of the soldiers inside the Osborn Building were bottled up on the tenth floor and unable to ascend. The Batmobile was tearing through the area, sending various experimental equipment, cabinets, and tables flying.
Coupled with the occasional massive explosions from the upper levels of the Osborn Building, and General Ross—still unconscious and unable to issue commands—these soldiers were somewhat inclined to "just hold the line against Batman (the car) on the tenth floor."
But as Batman initiated Plan W, the Batmobile ceased engaging the soldiers. Instead, four miniature missiles rose from its hood.
These missiles had also been salvaged from the Green Goblin's gear in the secret room at Osborn Manor and modified by Batman into explosive ordnance.
The four missiles launched in sequence, blasting a hole through the wall of the Osborn Building.
The Batmobile, at full throttle, roared out through the breach.
At this point, on the exterior wall of the Osborn Building, the Batmobile was at the tenth floor, while Batman's figure was still hurtling down from a height of thirty stories.
The Batmobile couldn't catch Batman, and his plan had never been for the car to do so.
The Batmobile's roof slid open swiftly, revealing several Dewar flasks—containers for storing liquid nitrogen—on the empty seats.
The electromagnetic ejection system on the seats activated instantly.
With a soft whir, the electromagnetic ejection—originally designed to integrate with the suit—launched the Dewar flasks high into the air.
At the same time, Batman, still descending rapidly under the web's pull, raised his hand and deftly caught the Dewar flasks with another web.
Plan W: Relying on large quantities of liquid nitrogen, pre-analyzed and prepared, to handle Professor Lizard!
"Crash!"
In mid-air, Batman—drawing on his prior knowledge of the Osborn Building's layout—precisely located a window in his descent path, then pulled himself through it with a web.
"Self-destruct device activated." At the same time, the Oracle AI, mounted on the Batmobile, announced.
The Batmobile, accelerating outward, couldn't return inside the building. Its grappling hook, exhausted after entering the Osborn Building, left it in freefall, plummeting to the ground with a resounding impact.
"Boom!"
Flames erupted skyward. Batman's first Batmobile since arriving in this world exploded completely, reduced to utter destruction.