Chapter 139: Batman's Shadow Came Alive
Batman strictly controlled his strength. He didn't immediately unleash the over thirty tons of force Peter Parker's body currently possessed.
He needed to first test Vulture Toomes, Scorpion Mac, and Shocker Schultz's current impact resistance, then decide what range to control his force within.
Accompanied by the crash of shattering window glass, Batman simultaneously launched attacks on all three men.
"Fear Takedown"—as the name implies, Batman used his extremely strong stealth methods to suddenly attack enemies, rapidly and consecutively striking down multiple opponents while they were in a state of fear.
Batman's ability to suppress Scarecrow-led villains and countless thugs in Gotham in a single night, and nearly sweep Manhattan's gangs clean in half a night recently, relied on precisely this technique.
Ordinary people could be taken down with a single controlled strike from Batman's fists and feet. But these three men weren't ordinary—the suits they wore blocked most of Batman's attacking force.
"Testing complete." Batman silently adjusted his strength while flicking his wrist. A batarang flew toward a corner of the room.
This batarang didn't embed deeply into the wall upon contact. Instead, following the angle Batman calculated instantly, it ricocheted toward the room's light bulb.
CRASH!
It was deep night. As the batarang shattered the bulb, the room immediately plunged into darkness—only Batman's eyes faintly glowing white.
After briefly testing and learning the force all three could withstand, Batman immediately adjusted his strength.
"Schultz! He's here!"
Scorpion Mac roared. His chest had taken a strike from Batman's cape tip without injury. He activated the barbed tail behind him and charged Batman.
"I know!"
Shocker Schultz immediately responded in darkness. He rapidly clenched both fists and struck toward a direction in the room through empty air.
With a low vibrating sound, the sunlamp circuit they'd prearranged was connected. Dazzlingly bright searchlights immediately activated, illuminating the room from all directions.
Vulture Toomes was sent flying by Batman's punch. Since Batman controlled his force on the first strike, Toomes similarly sustained no injury.
Instead, he spun in mid-air, whooshing open the wings on his back, charging toward another corner of the room at extreme speed.
There sat the holy water they'd retrieved from a church during daytime, specially prepared for dealing with Batman.
After Shocker Schultz's punch activated the sunlamp circuit, he rapidly turned, grabbed a cross from the table behind the sofa and threw it into the air, then struck it with another punch.
Under Shocker Schultz's shockwave gauntlet attack, the cross made a whistling sound through the air, flying toward Batman like lightning.
Scorpion Mac swung his barbed tail, viciously stabbing toward Batman from another angle. His hands weren't idle either—clutching garlic bulbs in both hands, he thrust them toward Batman's exposed jaw.
From Batman crashing through the window until now, only a few seconds had passed. These three men cooperated through division of labor, clearly having pre-arranged their respective actions and anticipated Batman would come tonight.
They just misjudged one critical point—Batman wasn't a vampire.
Garlic. Holy water. Crosses. Sunlamps...
These things couldn't produce even the slightest effect on him.
TING!
Spider-sense combined with Peter Parker's body's agile speed made Batman's fingers intercept first despite moving last, catching the cross the moment before it reached his face.
Simultaneously, Batman's other fist seemed to have eyes, blocking Scorpion Mac's hands thrusting garlic at him.
Batman's arm didn't budge, but Scorpion Mac couldn't help crying out. He felt like he'd collided head-on with a steel plate, the impact numbing both his hands.
In the next second, Batman's hand catching the cross released, letting it drop toward the floor. He reversed his cape from behind to his front, blocking all the holy water Vulture Toomes splashed.
CLANG!
The cross hit the floor. Simultaneously, all sunlamps outside the house had fully activated, completely exposing Batman's figure in the light.
WHOOSH!
Masked by the successive sounds of sunlamps activating, another attack arrived silently.
Batman had blocked the holy water, blocked the garlic and cross—but Scorpion Mac's barbed tail only truly exerted force now.
The barbed tail's tip gleamed with cold light under the sunlamps. At this moment, Scorpion Mac, Vulture Toomes, and Shocker Schultz's gazes almost all focused on Batman.
As though in the next second, Batman's body would be pierced through by this barbed tail.
"Simulated sunlight, crosses, and holy water are all ineffective on Batman. He's not a vampire?" Vulture Toomes' body clung to the ceiling. He felt something wasn't quite right.
His group had almost treated "Batman is a vampire" as fact and completely based their battle plan on that information.
But those vampire-countering methods were completely useless against Batman. Instead, the scorpion barb—not intended as the primary attack method—became the key to currently defeating Batman.
"He has a shadow. This at least proves Batman is some kind of creature. And as long as it's a creature, there's possibility of defeating it."
Vulture Toomes watched Batman's shadow behind him, silently thinking.
Scorpion Mac looked at Batman so close at hand—supposedly overwhelmed by their three consecutive attacks—and grinned.
He'd been brought out of Rikers Prison by Shocker Schultz. Upon hearing about the plan to deal with Batman, Scorpion Mac had donned the Scorpion suit without hesitation.
He wouldn't forget how Batman had tied him to subway tracks and continuously intimidated him. He decided after capturing Batman to use the same methods, making Batman experience lying on tracks in despair.
Last time he hadn't seen clearly. This time Scorpion Mac saw clearly—beneath Batman's mask was a human jaw. This meant beneath the pitch-black armor was just a human like them.
And humans couldn't block his barb.
Shocker Schultz's heart nearly jumped to his throat. His eyes stared unblinking at Batman. He'd waited for this moment far too long.
'He has a shadow, meaning he's not the ghost those three unreliable guys claimed. Scorpion Mac's barbed tail is a devastating weapon Vulture Toomes and I spent great effort creating. It must—'
Watching Batman and his shadow, Shocker Schultz's thoughts lasted only an instant. In the next moment, he immediately detected something wrong.
All four directions surrounding the entire house had sunlamps. The carefully arranged positions made the room bright as day... Under these conditions, where did Batman's shadow come from?!
Schultz couldn't even warn Scorpion Mac in time. In the next second, he witnessed an incredible scene.
The Batman shadow that shouldn't exist rippled to life. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a ferocious giant maw. A scarlet tongue extended from within, violently coiling around Scorpion Mac's barb.
SNAP!
Under the tongue's coiling, that maw densely distributed with sharp teeth bit down on the scorpion tail, rendering the barb carrying all three men's hopes completely immobile.