Spider-Bat: New Way Home
Chapter 19: Movin' Out
Despite the spider bite giving Peter a minor burst of energy, mostly due to its survival instincts kicking in, he was feeling completely exhausted, so exhausted that he didn't even know how he managed to make it back to Wayne Manor that night, let alone, all the way from New York, and then somehow sneaking past the guards.
He also felt rather feverish and sweaty as he fell over in his bed, ready to pass out, not knowing what the morning would bring. Would Norman Osborn and his goon-squad come looking for him? Did they even escape the fire, or the crazed madman that Phillip Sterns became in the secret lab? He didn't know, and more importantly, he didn't care. All he could think about at that moment was getting some much needed rest. He figured he could sort everything else out the next day… if he was still alive in the morning that is.
Meanwhile, the symbiote, that was controlling Bruce's body, had other plans. It could sense that Peter had made it home, and it wanted to bond with Peter so that it could use him as its host. If it managed to bond with Peter, its plan to regrow a new symbiote planet could begin to take effect.
Due to the fact that the symbiote had Bruce in a completely hypnotic state, Bruce was unable to control what the symbiote wanted to do next, leaving him totally helpless… Or so the symbiote thought.
As the symbiote used Bruce's body to creep towards Peter's room, Bruce suddenly received a vision. It was a vision of his mom and dad. They were calling to him, telling him to fight the symbiote's control over him. He wasn't quite sure how he would accomplish that feat, seeing how he had no control over his own body.
Just then, as the symbiote opened Peter's bedroom door, Bruce received another vision, this time seeing what the symbiote was planning to do once it bonded with Peter. He saw an Earth which was completely covered in a black tar-like substance. He also saw several symbiotes worshiping someone. That someone being Knull, the creator and the king of the All Black.
The closer to Peter the symbiote got, the harder Bruce tried to fight it. The symbiote could feel Bruce's resistance, but it was so salivating for the opportunity to bond with Peter that it didn't really care, nobody had ever managed to break out of the symbiote's hypnotic state before.
Bruce was only a few feet away, and the symbiote began reaching out with its primordial limbs, touching Peter's face, allowing itself to begin the bonding ritual.
Bruce knew, once the bonding process was complete, it would be the end of mankind as he knew it; and it would be the end of the Wayne legacy.
"You have to fight, son," Martha's angelic voice commanded.
And that's what Bruce did. Before the symbiote could bond with Peter, Bruce took hold of his emotions, and with all his might, he forced the symbiote to return to his body.
"Impossible!" The symbiote shrieked.
Somehow, Bruce had done it. His will had become too strong, even for something as powerful as the symbiote.
Bruce then walked out of Peter's room and shut the door. The further he walked away from Peter, the less powerful the symbiote became.
A few hours later, Alfred, who had fallen asleep on the couch after waiting for Peter to come home, was awakened by the news report on the television.
"This is a special news bulletin, coming to you live from downtown Manhattan, where a blazing fire has broken out at the Oscorp building. So far, fire crews aren't sure what caused the blaze, and at first they weren't sure if anyone was in the building when it started. However, upon going to Norman Osborn's home, Mister Osborn's son, Harry, said that his father was indeed in the building only hours before the fire broke out. Police and rescue crews are still searching for Mister Osborn and a couple other lab workers who might have been in the building at the time. The first one to notice the fire was the night-time security guard. He too isn't sure how the blaze started. We will bring you more information as the story unfolds."
Alfred wasn't really concerned with that news reporting at that moment. All he wanted to do was rush upstairs to Peter's room and see if he had made it home safely. And when he did, he was so relieved to find out that Peter was indeed home safe and sleeping soundly in his bed.
He then went to check on Bruce, but upon entering his room, Bruce wasn't in there. Upon looking further, the only thing Alfred found was a note, which read:
"Dear Alfred. I have spoken to Henri Ducard, and he is allowing me to stay with him at his house in France for the unforeseeable future. I chartered the family plane and I will be gone by the time you wake up. I am sorry I didn't properly say goodbye. I do have very good reasons for wanting to go, and I hope I get a chance to explain them to you one day."
Alfred instantly had a numb feeling in his chest after reading the letter. Bruce was like a son to him. Not only was Bruce gone, but Peter was also leaving soon, having to go live with his aunt and uncle in Brooklyn, leaving Alfred all alone, with no one to care for but himself and the estate.
Peter finally woke up at about noon. He was surprised that he had slept that long. However, he felt completely rejuvenated from all the rest.
Something else felt different. He seemed more alert than ever before. Plus, his muscle tone had improved. Not only that, he realized he didn't need his glasses any longer because he could see perfectly without them.
Finally, Peter decided to head downstairs. He wanted to see if the news had anything to say about Oscorp. Alfred was waiting for him when he came down.
"Where did you go last night, Peter?" Alfred asked. "You had me worried sick."
Peter noticed that Alfred was already watching the news. He then pointed at the television, the screen showing the fire at Oscorp. "I was there," Peter responded.
"You were at Oscorp last night? What happened?"
"Norman Osborn trapped me in a secret laboratory and tried doing some kind of experiment on me," Peter recalled. "The man who killed mom and dad was also there."
"What?" Alfred blurted. "How did you manage to get away?"
"The details are still a bit blurry. I'm not really sure what happened. I just remember being hooked up to a machine that was trying to extract my blood, and then a fire broke out."
"Why were they trying to take your blood?"
"I'm not sure. Norman said something about healing powers, but I'm not sure what he meant by that. However, I think I know someone who might."
"Who?"
"Doctor Banner." Peter answered. "Harry Osborn said he was one of the first ones to discover the alien compound that had crash-landed in Smallville. I think he is the only person who can help me."
Alfred knew what Peter was talking about. He knew Peter must have been the result of an experiment Osborn had done on Peter's mother. "What is it you are hoping to do next? The state will be coming to take you to your aunt and uncle's house in a few hours."
"You have to stall them," Peter said. "We have to go see Doctor Banner in New Mexico. We can take the private plane."
Alfred lowered his head and sighed. "I believe that is not possible at the moment."
What? Why not?" Peter retorted.
"It would appear that Master Bruce has taken it upon himself to use the plane to leave for France."
"What are you talking about?"
"Bruce has chosen to live with Mister Henri Ducard for the time being. I'm not sure how soon the plane will be heading back."
"Why did he leave?"
"I'm not completely sure. He said he would explain it to me when the time was right."
"Wow! That's crazy!" Peter exclaimed.
Peter then regained his train of thought. "I really need to get in touch with Doctor Banner. It's very important."
Alfred paused for a moment. "Perhaps we could take the car," he said, jingling a set of keys in his hand.
But- would Peter get his chance to speak with Doctor Banner?
Meanwhile, in the New Mexico desert, Bruce Banner, alongside Tony Stark and a Russian physicist, named Igor Starsky, were about to set off a nuclear bomb, so that they could absorb the Gamma-radiation from the blast with Tony's Arc Capacitor. They would then be able to have enough Gamma-radiation to open a new worm-hole in outer space, which in-turn would be used to rescue the crew members of the Space Shuttle Discovery 13.
Usually, Bruce would never rush things along so quickly, but ever since the accident on the military base, where they lost the Gamma-blasters, he found himself pressed for time. The one precaution he did make was to detonate the bomb underground, allowing for less radiation to escape the surface.
(In previous chapters, Brainiac sabotaged the Gamma-blasters and then transformed Samuel Sterns into The Leader. Phillip Sterns was kidnapped by the Chameleon.)
Tony had created specialized alloy-lead suits for the three men to wear during the explosion so that they wouldn't be affected by the radiation after the blast. Bruce and Igor managed the countdown console while Tony sat in the control room, making sure the numbers looked correct.
"Everything looks good. I believe we can start the countdown," Tony informed them.
"Copy that. We are starting the countdown procedure," Bruce replied.
10…
9…
8…
7…
"Wait! Stop the countdown!" Bruce blurted, noticing someone driving a jeep where the bomb was set to go off underground.
Igor immediately stopped the countdown. "What should we do?" he asked.
"I've got to go get him. We can't afford to let someone get hurt due to radiation exposure," Bruce replied, opening the lead door of the observation bunker they were in.
Bruce tried to hurry, but the heavy alloy-lead suit that Tony created wasn't allowing him to get out onto the field fast enough, therefore, he decided to take it off.
"Hey!" Bruce began yelling at the man in the jeep from several yards away. "You have to get out of here! You could be exposed to radiation!"
The man in the jeep put his hand up to his ear, gesturing that he couldn't hear what Bruce was saying.
Finally, Bruce made it out to him. "I said, you have to get out of here! A nuclear bomb is about to go off. There could already be radiation in the area!"
"I was told to meet a man by the name of Doctor Banner, right here," the stranger in the jeep replied.
Meanwhile, in the observation bunker, Igor had restarted the countdown.
Tony saw the countdown going off. "What the hell?" he said aloud. He then tried to open the door to the control room, but the door wouldn't open. That's because Igor had propped something in front of it.
Doctor Banner was befuddled. "Who told you to meet me out here?" he asked.
"A man by the name of Samuel Sterns," the stranger replied.
"Wha-? That's impossible," Bruce retorted. That is when a revelation entered his head. He realized Igor wasn't who he said he was. He was in fact… The Chameleon disguised as Igor.
4…
3…
2…
"Quick! We need to make it to the safety trench!" Bruce exclaimed.
1…
Bruce had just managed to push the stranger into the trench, when suddenly-
KABOOM! The nuclear bomb went off. The force of the blast hit Bruce, causing him to fly several feet through the air, until finally landing hard on the ground.
The stranger could barely see what was going on due to all the dust that the blast caused.
Bruce should have been dead; and as a matter of fact, for a brief second, he was. But then, something miraculous happened. Bruce's body began absorbing the Gamma-radiation in a most peculiar way, giving him a burst of adrenaline.
His eyes opened wide, revealing a green pupil.
His shirt began to tear at his bicep.
His shoes began bursting open like a can of Pillsbury dough.
Every muscle in his entire body was growing bigger.
Until finally-
He no longer looked like Bruce Banner anymore. Now, he looked like a large humanoid, standing over seven feet tall.
His skin had turned completely gray.
When the dust settled, the stranger who Bruce saved, could see the creature walking away. He could tell it had to be Bruce because it was wearing the same clothes, just a lot more shredded.
"Hey, Mister! Wait!" The stranger called out. "I think you might need to go to the hospital!"
The gigantic humanoid continued walking. The stranger followed behind him from a distance.
Meanwhile, Tony Stark had finally managed to escape the control room of the observation bunker. However, Igor was no longer there. Plus, there were no signs of Bruce either. It was almost as if he had vanished… or vaporized during the blast.
Tony then checked the levels of Gamma-radiation that his Arc Capacitor had managed to absorb. The levels were high enough to finally allow Reed Richards and his team to try and rescue the members of the Discovery 13.