Chapter 69: Batman as Clark
Dr. Octavius needed to remain hospitalized for observation after his surgery.
Batman hired the best caregivers for twenty-four-hour care and, as Peter, sat by the hospital bed reassuring Octavius to rest easy.
After confirming Octavius was no longer rushing impatiently and would wait calmly until discharge to begin the prosthetic limb project and nuclear fusion energy research, Batman finally left.
He needed to visit Harry Osborn at Osborn Manor again—as his friend Peter.
Having experienced the situation where Octavius's mindset changed the moment Batman left, leading him down a dark path, Batman was particularly concerned about Harry Osborn's mental state.
Fortunately, yesterday's companionship and comfort seemed to have had some effect. Even after Harry learned from the news today that Oscorp had been placed under military supervision by General Ross, his mental state remained relatively stable.
At least Batman detected nothing unusual through the surveillance network he'd deployed throughout Osborn Manor.
Earlier on the Metropolitan Hospital rooftop, Batman had already sent reporter Eddie Brock an anonymous email containing data about the Hulk's creation that he'd obtained by hacking SHIELD, along with evidence of human experiments he'd collected himself.
But this was only the first wave of offense. Batman would next unite with Harry Osborn—the person who should rightfully inherit Oscorp—to launch a second wave against General Ross.
The Hulk was born from General Ross's experiments. Batman needed to quickly dismantle Ross's military supervision of Oscorp.
He didn't want more monsters created.
Combined with this morning's request from Professor Miles Warren at Empire State University to get Professor Connors to leave Oscorp promptly, Batman had to visit Harry regardless.
"Peter?"
Harry Osborn saw his friend arrive again. He forced a slight smile and welcomed Batman inside.
"Harry, General Ross forcibly took over Oscorp..."
Meeting without excessive pleasantries, Batman—though knowing Harry already understood the situation from news reports—briefly explained anyway to avoid exposing his surveillance system's existence, then continued, "Harry, your father Norman's case has been determined by psychiatric evaluators as a mental issue. He'll be transferred to Ravencroft Institute in the northern suburbs, not to prison."
"That's good news. But with Norman absent now, Oscorp needs you to step forward."
Batman first revealed that Norman Osborn would definitely be transferred to Ravencroft Institute to stabilize Harry's emotions, then laid out his plan to help Harry strike against General Ross.
"Harry, we need to immediately file a lawsuit in federal court, accusing General Ross's actions of lacking proper legal procedure."
"We can also contact the Securities and Exchange Commission, reasoning that investigating whether the military's actions involve insider trading or market manipulation."
Harry Osborn listened in stunned confusion. The Peter in his memory was devoted to studying, even less knowledgeable about business matters than Harry himself.
But the friend before him now methodically laid out exactly what needed to be done, as though that honest, bookish Peter had suddenly transformed into a politician.
"Peter, when did you learn all this?" Harry couldn't help asking.
"Yesterday," Batman said.
He naturally couldn't say this was experience accumulated from decades in Gotham, but Harry Osborn heard something entirely different in those words.
The young man roughly Peter's age, his nostrils flaring as he struggled to control his emotions: "Peter, I didn't know you'd done so much for me. I... thank you, Peter."
Harry instinctively assumed Batman had learned all this specifically to help him.
But Batman hadn't finished speaking: "I've already hired a private detective. He'll find ways to collect all of General Ross's dirt and expose it."
"Also, Harry, General Ross's actions will inevitably cause stock prices to plummet, triggering financial market earthquakes."
"We need to contact the corporation's directors, mobilize Wall Street's capital power to pressure the White House and Congress, demanding a swift end to military supervision and restoration of normal company operations to stabilize the market."
The private detective he mentioned was naturally his other identity—Batman.
Expose dirt, file charges in court, apply capital pressure!
Batman formulated three strategies against General Ross in short order. Three waves of offense would compress Ross's supervision time to the absolute minimum.
Just one method had left Harry—a wealthy heir not particularly skilled in corporate control—dumbfounded. Now there were three complete strategies.
Harry Osborn looked somewhat dazed, asking instinctively, "Is... is there more?"
Batman's brow furrowed slightly. He looked up at Harry Osborn's expression, judging whether Harry genuinely felt these weren't enough or was asking reflexively.
Harry's expression showed confusion mixed with shock, tinged with gratitude. Clearly the latter.
So Batman didn't proceed to reveal his fourth, fifth, and sixth plans to strike against General Ross.
After discovering "Stark" written on the weapons Black Cat sold to Hammerhead Joseph, Batman had investigated Stark Industries in his spare time.
He knew very well Stark Industries was founded on military contracts, supplying various weapons and equipment to the military.
If the first three offensive waves couldn't impact General Ross, Batman would consider approaching Tony as Peter Parker, CEO of Parker Industries.
Having him contact the military to continue applying pressure on Ross from within the military structure...
And so on. Batman's contingency plans were numerous, but he didn't need to present them all at once.
Excessive pressure might produce negative effects, especially before Batman contacted Professor Curt Connors.
This related to Batman's second purpose for visiting Harry Osborn—contacting Oscorp's core scientists, led by scientist-director Professor Connors.
Under no circumstances could General Ross be allowed to access Oscorp's various technologies, preventing situations like those with the Squid, Green Goblin, and Banner.
Batman could easily find Professor Connors's contact information himself, but his Peter Parker identity had no connection to Connors. Gaining trust over the phone would be difficult.
"The call won't go through, Peter."
Facing his friend Peter, Harry now fully demonstrated his trust, simply conveying what Batman had heard from Professor Miles Warren at Empire State University. Harry immediately picked up the phone without hesitation.
But Professor Connors's phone wouldn't connect. Harry tried several other research staff he knew. Not a single call went through.
"No need to keep trying, Harry." Batman stopped Harry's continued attempts. "You go contact the federal court and Securities and Exchange Commission according to my plan."
"What about you, Peter?" Harry asked.
"I need to find a way to infiltrate Oscorp and directly contact Professor Connors," Batman said.
With Oscorp now sealed, entry and exit required soldiers to verify identity, but this didn't stump Batman. He had plenty of solutions.
Just as the infiltration plan took shape in Batman's mind, Harry suddenly spoke: "Peter, I can let you bypass General Ross's blockade."
Batman looked at Harry.
Harry, excited and somewhat stammering, explained his method: "I have two identities at Oscorp. One is the obvious identity as Norman's son Harry, the other is a low-level research staff member named Clark."
"Father's intention was for me to start from the ground up, gradually learning corporate management, but I made a complete mess of it. That research staff identity was abandoned and became useless."
"The Harry identity is too conspicuous and might attract unnecessary attention from General Ross. But Peter, you can use that research staff identity as Clark to enter Oscorp openly and legitimately."