Bruce slowly got up; he didn't continue staying in the mental prison within his mind.
When he had been about to attack Kingpin, those voices in his head had stopped him.
Of course, there had also been voices constantly urging him to just kill Kingpin outright.
But all of it had made Bruce realize what it was he truly wanted.
Seeing Bruce rise, Jessica instinctively took two steps back.
She crossed her arms and quietly waited for Bruce to walk out.
The door opened, and Bruce stepped outside.
Jessica had wanted to say something to him, but everything she had planned to say was swallowed back down at that moment.
Bruce's current condition was far from good.
His face was pale; if it weren't for his still-sturdy frame, Jessica might have thought that a mere gust of wind could blow him over.
Pressing her lips together, Jessica ultimately couldn't bring herself to scold Bruce as she had intended.
"Aunt May baked you some red date bread," she said.
Turning away, Jessica left. Though she had no intention of starting a conversation with Bruce, she also didn't plan to say anything else to him.
"What about the guy in the medical bay?"
Still, that didn't mean she wouldn't ask how Bruce intended to deal with Kingpin.
Of course, if Bruce still planned on doing something drastic, Jessica was ready to punch him right in his handsome face.
"Give him to S.H.I.E.L.D."
Bruce slowly began walking outside.
"I'll hand him over to S.H.I.E.L.D. myself."
"I'm going with you."
Hearing Bruce say he would personally hand Wilson Fisk over to S.H.I.E.L.D., Jessica immediately spoke up. She was genuinely afraid that Bruce might do something reckless along the way, like killing him.
Bruce turned to glance at Jessica but said nothing.
He understood what Jessica was worried about, but he would never do something like that again.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. has a special detention facility. He'll be held there."
As someone who knew S.H.I.E.L.D. even better than S.H.I.E.L.D. itself, Bruce was well aware that they had a special prison for containing super-criminals—Hulk and the Creator were both being held there now.
Kingpin might not fully qualify, but in some ways, he wasn't much different from Hulk or the Creator.
Jessica had some vague knowledge of that prison but hadn't learned much about it before.
Her usual tasks only involved capturing targets or gathering intelligence.
In the medical bay, Gwen was still quietly watching the big man in front of her.
It was this guy, after all, who had caused the multiverse entanglement that brought her into this universe. Although, Gwen had to admit she owed him for that—otherwise, she wouldn't have met so many good friends.
"I recognize you. You were with that other group of spiders who broke into my lab last time."
To Kingpin, the spiders were like the biggest stumbling blocks in his life. He remembered them all too well.
He would never forget these spiders for as long as he lived.
"Is that so?"
Gwen didn't care that Kingpin recognized her.
"Honestly, I don't know what you were thinking. Do you realize how catastrophic it can be when universes are connected? The collision of parallel universes could cause disasters far beyond your imagination. Even if you just tried to bring two people back, it could have easily triggered a massive black hole."
"If that happened, all of Brooklyn—or even the entire Earth—could have been wiped out in an instant."
Gwen rambled on, criticizing just how reckless Kingpin's multiverse collider plan had been.
But Kingpin paid her no mind. His gaze remained fixed firmly on the Spider-Woman standing in front of him.
"And you know what? Just a moment ago, you almost experienced the most terrifying surgery of your life—"
Before Gwen could finish speaking, Bruce had already returned.
He was once again suited up, his face hidden behind the furious bat mask.
Though Gwen didn't finish her sentence, Kingpin could more or less guess what she meant.
Whether it was surgery or some kind of tampering with his body, clearly, that bat was planning to do something to him.
"What's wrong, Bat? Not planning to play the masked vigilante anymore? Now you're moonlighting as a doctor?"
"That's right—a psychiatrist. But for someone like you, a bullet to the head would probably be the better treatment."
Bruce's voice was as biting as a bitter winter wind, cutting to the bone.
He walked over to the operating console beside the table and began his work.
"Sigh~"
Gwen thought Bruce hadn't given up on his plan yet and was about to stop him, but Jessica caught her hand.
Gwen turned to Jessica, who simply shook her head.
Though Gwen didn't know exactly what had happened, she chose to trust Jessica and quietly watched Bruce's movements.
As Bruce finished his operation, the surgical table sprang to life, and a needle injected directly into Kingpin's body.
"About to start surgery? You don't need to bother with anesthesia," Kingpin said nonchalantly. Falling into the hands of the Bat meant nothing but death. For someone who had long ruled the criminal underworld, he had always been prepared for this day.
Bruce didn't answer. He only focused on ensuring the anesthetic was steadily administered into Kingpin's body.
Even with his body honed to the peak of human potential, Kingpin couldn't resist the anesthetic.
His mind grew groggy, his vision blurred, and soon he fell into a deep sleep.
Only when the monitors confirmed that Kingpin was completely unconscious did Bruce finally move.
"Let's go."
Bruce unlocked the restraints on the operating table, grabbed Kingpin by the collar, and dragged him off the table.
There was no elegance or style in how Bruce treated Kingpin—only efficiency.
Jessica didn't say anything.
After all, Kingpin was a heinous criminal.
Gwen?
She had even less sympathy.
No matter which universe it was, Wilson Fisk was never considered a good person by Gwen or any of the other spiders, even if he paraded himself as a philanthropist.
There was no covering up the filth he had committed.
Jessica shot Gwen a meaningful look, as if reminding her of something.
The moment Gwen caught Jessica's gaze, she immediately understood.
"Aunt May brought some bread. Do you want to eat it now, or...?"
Gwen quickly pulled out the red date bread she and Jessica had brought back from Aunt May's house. It was still warm.
Bruce said nothing. He merely glanced at Jessica and Gwen before reaching out with his free hand to take the bread from Gwen.
He really did need some carbs right now.
"I'm going with Bruce to S.H.I.E.L.D. You stay here and watch the house," Jessica instructed Gwen.
"Got it."
This Spider-Woman was clearly not someone unreasonable. She immediately saluted Jessica, then smiled and sat down on Jessica's yoga ball.
Watching the Batmobile leave the Batcave, Gwen rested her chin on her hands and looked around the entire cave.
Although she herself wasn't particularly tidy, the Batcave right now did seem rather messy.
"Alright!"
Cheering herself on, Gwen made up her mind.
She was going to clean up the Batcave and make sure everything was in order before Batman and Jessica returned.
Meanwhile, inside the Batmobile, Jessica watched Bruce calmly finish an entire piece of date bread without even flinching.
Jessica swallowed hard, looking at Bruce in disbelief. But it seemed there was nothing she could say—after all, this wasn't the first time Bruce had eaten something like that with the exact same unchanging expression.
"Honestly, I really think you're some kind of robot or something. Don't you have taste buds?"
Bruce didn't respond to Jessica's question. He simply drove the Batmobile straight toward the Tristar Building.
At that moment in Tristar, Monica was observing what the Ultimate Team was currently doing while also receiving reports from all over S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Commander, Batman has entered the building," an agent reported to Monica.
Monica simply rubbed her forehead and said nothing. The agent, understanding the commander's reaction, chose not to press further.
That bat was one of the few superheroes S.H.I.E.L.D. had no authority over.
After all, no one in S.H.I.E.L.D. knew more about S.H.I.E.L.D. itself than he did.
"I'm going to tell you something—I'm not sure if it's good news or bad. Batman has arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D.," Monica said after some thought, deciding to inform the Ultimate Team members.
Captain America looked up at Monica, then turned his attention back to what was in front of him.
"Maybe his presence will give us some new perspectives we hadn't considered."
Hearing Captain America's words, Monica roughly understood what he was thinking.
He wanted Batman to participate in what the Ultimate Team was working on.
Either way, it wasn't a bad thing. At the very least, they would gain another mind to help figure out what exactly they were dealing with.
"When Batman arrives, notify—"
Before Monica could finish her sentence, a deep, chilling voice suddenly cut into her communications.
"I'm aware of what you're working on. I'll come up, but first, I need to drop this guy off at the prison below your base," Bruce said calmly, without the slightest concern about sounding rude.
"Jessica will go up first."
With that, he ended the communication.
Monica was furious, but there was nothing she could do.
After all, how many people present could actually handle that bat?
Let alone S.H.I.E.L.D. itself.
At that moment, Bruce was dragging Wilson Fisk's body into a special S.H.I.E.L.D. elevator, heading down to a prison located a mile beneath the base.
Even deeper than where they had previously dealt with the spider clones.
"Looks like someone has disrupted my plans," a slightly magnetic voice echoed through the underground prison, clearly disturbed by Bruce's arrival.
Bruce, highly alert, looked up at the prison. Suspended above was a transparent cell, inside which sat Bruce Banner.
However, Banner now had a special mechanical device clamped around his neck, continuously injecting tranquilizers into his system to suppress the Hulk.
"I haven't seen you in my universe," said a figure who slowly emerged beside Bruce.
She glanced at Wilson Fisk's limp body at Bruce's feet, then focused her gaze on Batman himself.
"I haven't seen you in this universe either," Bruce replied calmly, showing no sign of emotion as he quietly observed the woman dressed in purple and green.
"Being able to get here means you must be someone important inside S.H.I.E.L.D."
The woman stroked her chin, scrutinizing Bruce with a serious expression.
"Maybe I should deal with you here and now, just to avoid future trouble."
"You're here to release Bruce Banner," Bruce said flatly.
"You guessed right, but there's no prize," the woman clapped her hands happily, as if praising Bruce.
"You seem smart. How about helping me out?"
She extended her hand toward Bruce, inviting him to join her.
"I don't even know what your plan is," Bruce replied.
"I have seen all possible outcomes. I know how everything will unfold. I am here to protect this universe," the woman said with unnerving calm.
"You want to save this universe?"
Bruce thought back to all the events he had observed—the strange disappearance of the Spider-Verse—and knew it had already been a warning. The appearance of this woman now confirmed that something was deeply wrong with this universe.
And the problem was massive.
"Will you join me?" she asked again, stretching out her hand.
Bruce simply stared at her quietly.
Meanwhile, above the prison, the Ultimate Team was busy examining an object laid out before them.
It was a pair of yellow gloves, each fitted with four sockets designed for holding gemstones.
"Why isn't Batman here yet?" Monica muttered anxiously, worried that Bruce might cause some new chaos below. That bat had always had a knack for stirring up trouble.
Captain America simply waved a hand nonchalantly.
He trusted Bruce, trusted that the bat would bring them good news.
"So far, each Infinity Stone seems to have been born from a major cataclysm on Earth—events like the end of the Paleolithic era, Ragnarok, the Ultimate Tsunami, the sinking of Atlantis, and Lemuria," Susan Storm was explaining to the other Ultimate Team members.
"Wait, are you saying these insanely powerful stones just... appeared naturally?" Tony Stark clearly struggled to understand Susan's point. How could Earth give birth to such overwhelming forces?
"I think of them like scar tissue—formed naturally to protect against infection," Susan offered as an analogy.
"So basically, they're Earth's scabs?"
But none of them noticed that Monica, standing higher up, had gone pale with worry.
"What do you mean he is out?" she said, her voice trembling slightly.
(End of Chapter)
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