Chapter 199: Red Hulk
"I've noticed something interesting, Doctor Banner."
"Since you began operating in New York, 'Spider-Man' disappeared."
"This confirms my hypothesis."
As The Leader's words concluded, Batman's eyebrow twitched involuntarily beneath his faceplate.
Batman required only seconds to completely reconstruct The Leader's flawed analytical process.
Since arriving in this world, Batman had worn the Spider-Man suit publicly exactly once—deliberately drawing out the Spider-Slayer Smythe.
Afterward, the red-and-blue spider suit remained hidden. The pitch-black bat suit had replaced it entirely.
Ordinary people observing "Spider-Man vanishes, Batman appears" might conclude Batman was the former Spider-Man.
But ordinary people lacked resources to verify Batman's identity further. Virtually every online video potentially exposing Spider-Man's movements, voice patterns, or body type had been systematically deleted.
To someone like The Leader, "Spider-Man vanishes, Batman appears" transmitted entirely different implications.
Spider-Man: high-profile, flamboyant, frequently appearing in public view, behavioral patterns relatively predictable. Even Norman Osborn had designed the Spider-Slayer exploiting Spider-Man's civilian rescue patterns and street-level crime intervention habits.
But Batman: low-profile, silent, operating covertly with tactical precision and ruthless efficiency. Though similarly combating criminals, he'd never demonstrated Spider-Man's good Samaritan behaviors—like helping elderly pedestrians cross streets.
The Leader had developed two hypotheses.
First: Spider-Man experienced major personal trauma. He recognized street-level heroism's limitations, deciding to become a more effective, terrifying symbol. Therefore he abandoned the Spider-Man identity, transforming into Batman while continuing New York operations.
But The Leader quickly rejected that theory after investigating the Osborn and Parker family situations.
Peter Parker's Uncle Ben had died a full month before "Batman" appeared. This contradicted "Peter suffers family tragedy, transforms from Spider-Man to Batman"—the timeline didn't align.
Moreover, a single individual could hardly achieve such extreme personality transformation within compressed timeframes—unless the previous "Spider-Man" persona itself had been elaborate misdirection.
Therefore the second possibility gained substantially higher probability: "Spider-Man" represented a retired designation or agent. Behind him likely operated an organization.
That organization—responding to Oscorp and New York's cascading problems—had deployed higher-tier operatives. Namely "Batman" replacing the New York assignment.
Combined with SHIELD's Dharavi misdirection operation, plus Batman's obsessive focus on Norman Osborn's gamma experimentation, The Leader reached his conclusion:
Batman was Bruce Banner—SHIELD's classified operative.
As for how SHIELD Director Nick Fury thousands of miles distant interpreted "Spider-Man vanishes, Batman appears"—that represented an entirely different analytical angle.
---
Batman gasped heavily. His physical exhaustion had actually resolved within seconds of combat concluding. The continued heavy breathing served multiple purposes beyond increasing oxygen saturation—primarily deceiving The Leader.
During those brief gasping moments, Batman rapidly reverse-engineered The Leader's analytical process from his spoken conclusions.
Like confronting all adversaries, Batman never fought without preparation. Even unavoidable engagements were based on either intelligence gathering or preventing critical developments.
He didn't understand The Leader. But from the instant Batman emerged from the elevator shaft, he'd continuously probed The Leader across multiple dimensions.
Deducing The Leader's thought process constituted another probe—using his own intellect to simulate The Leader's cognitive patterns, assessing the degree of intelligence mutation.
'If I were The Leader, facing Batman who'd defeated the gamma creatures yet remaining seated confidently, I wouldn't do so from arrogance but from genuine confidence.'
Batman multitasked—simultaneously modeling The Leader's thought process while analyzing both The Leader and General Ross:
'The instant I emerged from the elevator shaft, Ross showed no surprise. But hearing The Leader mention Abomination triggered brief confusion.'
'This confirms earlier suspicion regarding The Leader's authority seizure. Ross has been effectively marginalized, becoming The Leader's puppet.'
'If I were The Leader who'd heard Ross describe the Oscorp Tower incident and learned of Batman's existence, I'd prepare five contingencies.'
"Surface-level Abomination. Underground gamma creatures. Ross healed via gamma technology. Norman Osborn in containment. Plus personal escape mechanisms reserved exclusively for myself."
"If analysis proves accurate, The Leader's next move deploys the Ross card."
Batman's internal deliberations concluded. The Leader spoke exactly on cue:
"Doctor Banner, I hope you'll remove that armor. Apply your seven doctoral degrees toward humanity's evolution alongside me."
"Alternatively, you may fall to General Ross, then serve as my second test subject posthumously."
Batman nodded imperceptibly. He'd successfully predicted The Leader's statement, confirming The Leader's intelligence enhancement hadn't transcended superhuman cognitive limits.
Yet despite this assessment, another voice erupting in the underground plaza exceeded Batman's projections.
The speaker was General Ross. He'd lowered his hands from his hips, staring at The Leader with obvious shock, one finger pointing at himself:
"Me?"
Batman had previously assumed Ross understood his potential transformation. But observing this reaction, Batman rapidly updated his intelligence assessment:
'Ross only knows his legs healed. He's completely ignorant regarding what happened to his body. Doesn't even know about Abomination's existence—hence his confusion hearing that name.'
'Ross extremely likely possesses transformation capabilities into some creature. The Leader probably wields control over that transformation.'
'This explains how both Blonsky and Ross maintained human forms. Mental domination? Illusion projection? Telepathy? Must be one of those three.'
Though The Leader hadn't yet demonstrated any abilities overtly, Batman had essentially mapped his opponent's capabilities.
But knowing The Leader's cards proved insufficient. Batman recognized brutal combat awaited.
Because following Ross's verbal acknowledgment, his body visibly swelled. Clothing shredded while simultaneously igniting, disintegrating to ash.
Crimson-red skin emitted rolling heat waves. Papers positioned on nearby gamma apparatus spontaneously combusted. The underground plaza's temperature spiked several degrees instantly.
Transformed Ross's appearance closely resembled the Hulk—except his eyes lacked focus, appearing clouded and vacant. Beside him, The Leader pressed one hand against his headband device while retreating several steps.
WHOOSH!
Before Red Hulk attacked physically, invisible psychic assault pierced directly into Batman's consciousness.
This wasn't one-on-one. Batman faced two opponents simultaneously—Red Hulk and The Leader!