A pen weighing more than twenty tons was lifted single-handedly by Batman. The immense weight caused the ground beneath his feet to sink deeply, nearly burying him up to his knees.
BAM!
The metal pen was grabbed with one hand and slammed into the open space nearby, revealing a large, thick steel plate underneath.
Even though the big-headed old man inside the pen had turned a reddish-brown color, Batman paid him no attention whatsoever. Instead, without the slightest hesitation, he walked straight toward the steel plate, bent down, and tried to lift it to slip into the passage below.
The entire above-ground portion of the base had been completely crippled by Batman's electronic virus, rendering the switches that opened the cage useless.
As long as he lifted the steel plate and entered the base to retrieve Norman Osborn, Batman's mission in New Mexico would be half complete.
Everything had gone impossibly smoothly. It seemed that, once again, only a tiny fraction of his countless contingency plans would see any use.
At the same moment, among the soldiers who had been knocked out by Batman's smoke grenades laced with anesthetic and sedative gas and tossed aside, a massive figure silently rose to his feet.
His body wasn't as enormous as Professor Lizard's, but it was far more imposing than even the Hulk's. His skin was covered in countless thick keratin plates, forming heavy armor or bony spikes at the joints. His ears had mutated into fin-like structures.
His name was Emil Blonsky, once a KGB spy embedded at General Ross's side.
On the night General Ross forcibly oversaw Oscorp Tower, Blonsky had been on the rooftop with the general. He was knocked unconscious by Batman first, only to be jolted awake by the Hulk's roar moments later. There, he witnessed a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life:
Connors transformed into the Lizard. Banner became the Hulk.
And between those two monsters, the tiny figure of Batman unleashed terrifying power, repeatedly holding both beasts in check.
In that moment, Blonsky found the purpose of his life. He craved power—the kind of power that could punch through thick concrete floors as easily as the Lizard or the Hulk.
But such power was not something one could simply stumble upon. When General Ross was captured, Blonsky's hope had nearly vanished entirely.
Yet when Ross—dragging his legs that Batman had shattered—regathered his men, relocated to the gamma bomb research facility in New Mexico, and brought Norman Osborn with him, Blonsky knew his chance had come.
He confessed his spy identity to General Ross in exchange for the unquestioned right to undergo gamma experimentation.
The entrance to the underground section of the base lay beneath that steel plate. On the surface, the big-headed old man, Yuri Topolov, was stationed there as the apparent guard. In reality, however, Blonsky…
No. After his transformation, he had a new name: Abomination. He was the true defense meant to stop any intruder from reaching the lower levels.
The sounds of Abomination's transformation had been masked by the noise of Batman lifting and smashing the iron cage. Now, on all fours, he crept up silently behind Batman, slowly raising a fist, drawing it back, and gathering power.
The instant Batman's fingers dug into the heavy steel plate on the floor and began to lift—
BOOM!
A fist nearly the size of a grown man's torso tore through the air, slamming toward Batman with terrifying force. The sheer power whipped up a ferocious gust throughout the base.
Within that howling wind, the fist closed in on Batman's back. The thick keratin scales on its knuckles would shatter Batman's spine the moment they connected.
Just as Abomination believed his blow had landed perfectly, Batman—who should have been fully committed to lifting the steel plate—abruptly rolled forward without warning and evaded the strike.
"Hm? When did you notice me?" Abomination's punch hit nothing. Confusion flickered across his scaled face as he stared at Batman, who had already rolled back to his feet and turned to face him.
"The moment I arrived," Batman replied expressionlessly, as though Abomination's appearance was entirely expected.
Peter Parker's body came with incredible superhuman strength, and it was undeniably useful. But that didn't mean Batman would ever abandon his mind.
When he had used the spider-bots to map personnel distribution and personally calculated the maximum coverage radius of the smoke grenades, Batman had already memorized every soldier's face.
General Ross wasn't here. Forty-nine of the fifty soldiers who had accompanied Ross on the Oscorp Tower rooftop were also missing.
But Emil Blonsky was the exception. Batman had seen him on that rooftop.
Now, only Blonsky—blending in among the soldiers guarding the big-headed old man—showed no trace of tension. He had looked utterly relaxed.
From the very first move, therefore, Batman had remained in a state of extreme mental alertness. He had even consciously extended his honed spider-sense to its maximum range.
He suspected something was wrong with Blonsky.
"The old man enjoying himself safely inside a cage" was far too obvious a target. Anyone would focus most of their attention on him.
But Batman would not.
Even though the old man's body had turned reddish-brown and remained completely unaffected by the smoke grenades, and even though the real passage to the underground levels was indeed beneath the cage—everything pointed to the old man existing solely to guard the entrance, and removing him would solve the problem.
Batman refused to let himself be lulled into carelessness. His habit was to overestimate his enemies and prepare accordingly for every possible scenario.
Even after crossing into this world, most of his backup plans had gone unused.
Here in the gamma bomb research facility, Batman once again chose to overestimate his opponents.
Before approaching, he had even entertained the possibility that the entire base was filled with beings on the level of the Hulk.
Therefore, no matter how ordinary a Hydra soldier appeared, Batman would never lower his guard.
That was why, despite being able to bulldoze straight through the base, he still moved with extreme caution—stealthily taking down Hydra soldiers one by one, avoiding interrogation entirely and instead letting Venom possess them to extract information.
His caution had paid off. Blonsky was indeed a problem. The base was indeed conducting gamma radiation experiments on human subjects.
And, as expected, the big-headed old man was a decoy—meant to draw Batman's attention. Blonsky was the real threat.
Creak… creak…
As Batman and Abomination faced each other down, the metal cage that had been casually tossed aside was forcibly bent open. The big-headed old man brushed the dust off himself and smiled pleasantly at Batman.
"Am I being ignored?"
Batman glanced at him but said nothing.
Abomination turned his head toward the old man, baring a mouth full of jagged fangs.
"Gargoyle, get lost."
Aboard the Helicarrier, in a completely soundproof, pitch-black chamber, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury was holding a classified meeting with the Chairman and members of the World Security Council.
"Based on the assessment report provided by Director Fury, we confirm that the New Mexico facility is simultaneously conducting gamma bomb research and Oscorp-related human experimentation.
"If the intelligence leaked by the individual Fury calls 'Batman' is reliable, Hydra is also present there."
"I support the proposed nuclear strike plan. Regarding the timing and location of this launch, I will issue statements to all nations that this is merely an exercise."
The council members' holograms loomed high above, their facial features obscured. The current speaker was distinguishable only by his neatly side-parted blond hair.
Nick Fury gave a slight nod, his voice low. "I will personally oversee the launch procedures."
Just as Nick Fury turned to leave, a deep, resonant voice stopped him.
"Wait."
Fury turned back, fixing his single eye on the tall, thin-faced figure who had spoken.
"Councilman Stern, do you have a concern?" Nick Fury asked.
Councilman Stern's voice remained low and commanding.
"I understand and agree that we must eliminate the threat with maximum decisiveness. However, a nuclear warhead is not the only solution. We solve this problem today with one nuke—what about next time? Another nuke? And what if the next incident occurs in a densely populated metropolis, like New York?
"My recommendation is to dispatch a tactical strike team.
"Step one: establish a containment zone and ensure the threat does not spread.
"Step two: infiltrate the facility, assess the situation, and secure all core technology and data.
"Step three: only after confirming that valuable assets have been safely extracted do we discuss whether physical elimination is still required."
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