Late into the night, the three scientists on South Brother Island hadn't slept. They were engrossed in their experiments, forgetting food and rest.
After confirming that Professor Connors couldn't find a short-term cure for the lizard gene, Professor Banner shifted to helping Connors control the monster within them.
Dr. Otto scribbled equations and diagrams on a whiteboard nearby, frowning in thought from time to time.
Developing prosthetics was child's play for Dr. Otto. He devoted most of his time to calculations for nuclear fusion energy formulas.
He'd already sensed the problem lay in the formulas, but with no prior research data on South Brother Island, Dr. Otto had to start from scratch, occasionally discussing points with Dr. Banner.
The man who should have been hiding here with nothing to do—Dr. Banner—was now the busiest of all. He had to teach Professor Connors the sensations of transformation and methods to avoid losing control.
He also joined Dr. Otto's nuclear fusion research. And since Dr. Banner had expertise in biology as well, he simultaneously contributed to Professor Connors's failed regeneration agent studies.
Aside from essential meals and sleep, the three scientists spent all their time in the lab. As for the leisure and relaxation area Batman had prepared for them, none had touched it once.
To ordinary people, such a life would be dull and tedious, but for these three, no place suited them better.
But Batman's sudden return startled them all.
The instant they heard the noise, before even seeing who it was, Dr. Otto nearly reflexively ducked into a corner. Dr. Banner stepped forward, shielding Professor Connors behind him.
Dr. Banner wasn't protecting Connors—he was protecting the intruder.
He feared Connors might turn into the uncontrolled Lizard and tear the guy apart.
Professor Connors remained relatively calm. He looked up toward the lab door.
It was usually locked. Forcing it open would trigger an alarm, alerting not just the three of them but Batman to an outsider's entry.
Dr. Otto had once stolen electricity in sewers for experiments, always at risk of police discovery. Dr. Banner had lived on the run for years.
The two instinctively overlooked that no alarm had sounded, but Connors did not.
"Extract bone marrow? What for?" Professor Connors patted Dr. Banner's shoulder in front of him, signaling he was fine, then asked Batman.
Batman looked disheveled. His Arkham suit was torn from tangling with the anti-venom, covered in dirt and even a few stray blades of grass.
"I've found the way to defeat that extraterrestrial creature. It's in my fourth-from-last vertebra," Batman said, voice ice-cold and expressionless. "I need you to extract it for me."
Professor Connors, Dr. Banner, and Dr. Otto shook their heads in unison.
"No good. We don't have the facilities for surgery here, nor the puncture needle for it."
Dr. Banner held degrees in numerous fields, but surgery wasn't one of his strengths.
"If you don't want to end up paralyzed, you'll need a specialist."
"I happen to know a specialist who could perform it. Peter's met him too," Dr. Otto suddenly spoke up.
Peter?
Connors immediately looked at Dr. Otto, brow furrowing before smoothing out.
From Otto's tone, he judged the doctor didn't know Batman and Peter Parker were the same person.
Batman also turned to Dr. Otto. He'd already guessed who the specialist was.
"When Peter accompanied me for the surgery to remove my mechanical tentacles, the doctor in charge was Strange."
Sure enough, Dr. Otto named the neurosurgeon at Metropolitan Hospital in New York, known as "God's Hand"—Strange.
"I rested there a few days and got quite familiar with Dr. Strange. If you need, I can introduce you," Dr. Otto said.
"Then now, Dr. Otto," Batman replied.
"Now?" Dr. Otto glanced at the lab clock. "It's past one in the morning."
"Now." Batman's voice was low.
In an upscale Manhattan community where Wall Street elites and industry leaders predominantly resided.
Dr. Stephen Strange had just returned home from a midnight party.
Removing his watch, tie, cufflinks, and handkerchief one by one, Dr. Strange was about to wash up when his private phone rang.
Few knew this number. It only rang for critically important surgeries where he was indispensable.
Without time to think, professional instinct sent Dr. Strange jogging to answer.
"Hello?"
On the other end was Dr. Otto. He briefly explained Batman's request but omitted that the spine held a solution to an alien creature.
Even the three scientists on South Brother Island couldn't comprehend why Batman's method resided in his spine. Otto's pitch was that a patient had a spinal issue requiring emergency marrow extraction.
But that didn't sit right with Dr. Strange.
"Spinal extraction to treat illness? Just pull it out and done? Dr. Otto, I hope you're not joking."
"I don't want to wake up one morning to headlines about Dr. Strange conspiring with Dr. Otto to murder a patient."
Dr. Otto sighed over the phone.
"It's a long story, but this truly is the patient's own request… He—no, He might not be human in the way you and I understand."
Unsure if Batman was even human, Dr. Otto used the reverent "He" reserved for God or angels to ease Strange's concerns.
"May I ask who He is?" Dr. Strange's curiosity was instantly piqued.
On South Brother Island, Dr. Otto looked to Batman, who nodded slightly.
"It's Batman."
"That trending urban legend, the vampire living in New York?" Dr. Strange agreed at once. "I'll notify Metropolitan Hospital to prep for surgery."
"No, no prep needed." Batman's low voice came through the phone. "No anesthesia, no sedatives… Just simple disinfection and the puncture needle."
"Makes sense—for a vampire, after all." Dr. Strange thought it over. "Twenty minutes. Metropolitan Hospital."
"Welding bench, goggles, crucible…"
Thousands of miles away in the Middle East, Tony Stark directed Ten Rings members back and forth in a cave, moving missiles and tools to designated spots.
He would disassemble every missile, extracting a total of 1.6 grams of palladium metal.
As lens pieces assembled into a crude but functional device, the metal target was placed at the front of the lens array.
The first step to escape: Tony Stark would replace the bulky electromagnet in his chest and the car battery with something better.
He'd swap it for a miniature Arc Reactor, just like the large one his father, Howard Stark, had designed beneath Stark Tower.
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