Chapter 192: No Escape
The large-headed old man Abomination called "Gargoyle" changed expression dramatically. His previously smiling features turned ice-cold:
"General Ross assigned me to guard this location. Not you. Technically speaking, I'm your superior, Blonsky."
Abomination's snarling grin collapsed. He bared his full complement of fangs, glaring at Gargoyle with undisguised contempt:
"General Ross can go to hell."
Without warning, Abomination whirled and lunged, driving Gargoyle to the floor. One massive hand engulfed Gargoyle's skull completely, fingers tightening with crushing force.
CRUNCH!
Gargoyle—who minutes ago had been contentedly eating snacks on his sofa watching cartoons—had his head pulverized instantly. Fluids splattered everywhere.
The creature requiring a twenty-ton cage for containment hadn't survived a single exchange with Abomination. Total execution time: under two seconds.
After crushing Gargoyle's skull, Abomination shook fluid from his palm, turning toward Batman:
"You're Batman, correct? The Commander knew you'd come eventually. Specifically arranged for me to wait here."
Batman observed Abomination—who'd just cursed General Ross before immediately adopting the persona of an obedient soldier following orders. His brow furrowed slightly:
"Commander? Besides General Ross, there's another authority figure in this facility?"
"The Commander said," Abomination clenched his fists, "regardless of your questions, I only need to answer with my fists."
"You subdued both the Lizard and Hulk simultaneously at Oscorp Tower. Let me test exactly what you're capable of!"
BOOM!
Completely different from Abomination's execution of Gargoyle, his footfall striking the floor sounded like a missile detonating inside eardrums.
The facility shook violently, simulating a localized earthquake. Massive floor sections fractured. Debris scattered. The tremendous shockwave and ground vibrations themselves became weapons, transforming the surface beneath Batman's feet into a wildly pitching deck during a hurricane.
Within this seismic chaos, Abomination's mountain-sized frame demonstrated speed completely incongruent with his bulk—cannonball velocity. He employed zero technique. Pure linear charge.
Beyond lacking the shrieking whistle, Abomination resembled nothing so much as a runaway locomotive.
Batman remained extraordinarily calm, flashing aside from the linear charge. He watched Abomination demolish countless walls before apparently losing orientation, circling the facility's center-left zone in a wide loop.
Batman didn't exploit this opportunity to access the underground passage. He needed to eliminate Abomination first—ensuring no complications when extracting Norman Osborn back to the surface.
Time to activate the contingency originally prepared for the Hulk but brought to New Mexico for gamma creature encounters:
"Barbara, initiate Siege Engine Protocol. Activate composite waveform device. Deploy electromagnetic pulse ordnance."
High above, the steadily orbiting Batwing's belly suddenly opened. One of three bat-pods—resembling Doctor Banner's former stasis chambers—dropped earthward.
The elliptical pod's surface featured multiple concealed struts and thruster ports, enabling mid-flight directional and velocity adjustments.
Currently all thrusters fired maximum, leaving contrail streamers through the air. Gravity and acceleration combined, hurtling the pod toward Batman's position at tremendous velocity.
Simultaneously, Batman rapidly assessed his surroundings—the destruction Abomination had wrought—calculating every available leverage point. One hand swept across his utility belt, extracting a collapsed syringe.
His fingers triggered the mechanism. The collapsed syringe instantly expanded to operational configuration. He tossed it behind himself, voice sharp and commanding:
"Robin!"
"Ready!"
A single Venom tendril whipped from Batman's body, snatching the airborne syringe.
The enhanced sedative featured a diamond-tipped needle. Once penetrating biological tissue, the syringe would generate extreme pressure, forcing injection into the target's system.
The sequence continued. As Venom secured the sedative, Batman rapidly produced another vial—viscous green liquid. The gamma inhibitor prepared for Norman Osborn.
Doctor Banner had synthesized only one dose. Batman had replicated several backups from that sample.
Again tossing the inhibitor backward to Venom, Batman's hand returned to his belt.
This time he extracted not chemical compounds but a rapid sequence of specialized batarangs—including high-frequency ultrasonic variants and gel explosive models.
Simultaneously, the Batcycle Batman had left outside the facility activated autonomously.
Not the engine. The onboard composite waveform device and electromagnetic pulse bomb.
Batman trusted his electronic warfare virus to effectively block facility monitoring. But as insurance—preventing Venom's exposure—he'd deploy the EMP first, completely paralyzing all electronic equipment.
This would inevitably reveal Batman's presence to personnel in the secret underground laboratory.
But Abomination's charging rampage had generated sufficient commotion already. Further concealment served no purpose. Batman would simply cripple electronics while continuing to mask Venom's existence.
WHIR—
Dozens of specialized batarangs streaked toward various positions. Batman finally stopped reaching for his belt, instead clenching both fists as he focused on Abomination's location.
"Oh, you're actually waiting for me here?"
Abomination thundered through another series of demolished walls, returning to the facility's center-left position. He seemed genuinely surprised finding Batman still positioned defensively.
Batman hadn't deployed smoke grenades to access the facility passage. Hadn't retreated from the destruction Abomination caused.
Abomination's excitement intensified. He spread his jaws wide, exhaling twin jets of rolling heat from his nostrils as though the previous rampage had been mere warmup:
"I demolished every surrounding wall. Since you didn't escape before, now you have nowhere left to run."
Abomination advanced with massive strides, raising one foot high before stomping toward Batman. Missing that strike, he immediately lifted his other leg, leaping toward his target.
Batman evaded both attacks. Abomination apparently recognized foot-strikes involved excessive motion and insufficient speed. He rapidly switched tactics.
This time he slammed both fists into the floor with devastating force. The tremendous impact detonated outward across the surface, shockwaves racing toward Batman.
Simultaneously, Abomination's body never stopped. Fists still clenched, he pursued his own released shockwave in a full sprint toward Batman, alternating punches hammering down from left and right.
Batman never counterattacked. Only dodged continuously. Venom didn't even bond to his body.
His evasion radius remained compact—maintaining exactly three meters from Abomination while silently calculating elapsed time.