Capítulo 34: Chapter 34 The Slightly Bald Man
"Who's the person inside that other monster?"
Curiosity flared in the mind of the internet-addicted young man.
He watched as Batman turned off some sort of sonic device, and the deafening noise ceased.
Swoosh!
The other monster suddenly turned its gaze toward him.
Finally able to move again, the young man scrambled away, stumbling and crawling to get away from the bridge as fast as he could. He had no time to care about who might be inside that other monster.
Fear took over once more as he put as much distance as possible between himself and the Golden Gate Bridge, finally relaxing only after blending into the crowd.
Back on the bridge, Anton held the barely breathing Drake, looking at Venom.
"It's best you don't reveal yourself now; leave the rest to me," Anton instructed.
"Understood."
With Drake defeated, both Eddie and Venom felt a sense of relief.
Venom agreed, maintaining his symbiote form, and dove into the sea.
Anton leaped into the air, holding the unconscious Drake, and landed on his hovering Batmobile, glancing toward the direction of the San Francisco Police Department.
In response to the flood of emergency calls, both local patrol officers and backup from headquarters were racing toward the Golden Gate Bridge at top speed.
As the patrol car neared the bridge, the officers witnessed a strange sight: a sleek, black car flying through the air.
The car had a wide-body design, with hints of cannons and other weaponry on its sides—both stylish and intimidating. Most notably, a man stood on its hood, a cape fluttering behind him, revealing a face set in stern focus.
"Batman!" one officer immediately recognized the newly popular "celebrity."
"And who's that he's holding?"
"Drake!"
"It's Drake from the Life Foundation!"
The officers exchanged confused glances, unable to make sense of Batman's intentions.
Bang!
Batman tossed Drake toward them, and he landed heavily on the hood, nearly denting it.
Drake gasped for breath, barely hanging on to life. The fall only worsened his agony, his disfigured face contorted in pain, on the verge of passing out.
If not for the protective shell of the symbiote, which absorbed most of the flame damage, Drake would have been reduced to ashes in mere seconds.
"I'm leaving him to you—don't disappoint me, SFPD."
With that, Batman remained on the Batmobile, departing in a dramatic exit.
Chasing after him were numerous curious onlookers. They soon found Drake sprawled on the police car's hood, exchanged looks, and surrounded the vehicle, no longer attempting to follow Batman.
The police officers stepped out, trying to control the situation while questioning the crowd.
Minutes later, backup from headquarters arrived, and they began piecing together the situation.
"This is going to be big!" the SFPD chief inhaled sharply, already imagining the turmoil this would cause at City Hall.
Among the crowd were Annie and Dan Levis, who had initially headed for the Golden Gate Bridge but found themselves swept up in the crowd. They sighed in relief after learning what had happened.
They exchanged smiles.
It's over!
The trouble is finally over!
Thank you, Batman!
Anton didn't return to Annie's house immediately. Instead, he went to the outskirts, retrieved Annie's car from its secluded spot, and drove back into the city, humming a tune.
He was in an excellent mood.
It wasn't just the easy victory over Riot and Drake—that was part of his plan all along. The real reason for his joy was the system notification he received.
[Mission accomplished: Defeated Riot, dismantled the Life Foundation. Reward: 8 million Justice Points.]
Current Justice Points: 10 million.
This meant Anton could now redeem Batman's specialized armor from the system's inventory.
Although he could only afford the more basic ones, it was still a huge improvement.
"I'm finally moving beyond the basic setup!" Anton thought happily.
He contemplated whether to redeem the specialized armor right away or save up for the most expensive one. He could take his time deciding, driving back leisurely to Annie's house.
There, Eddie was already waiting in the living room, prepared to welcome him.
"Anton, I owe you everything!" Eddie said, his expression complicated. Venom had informed him of Anton's identity as Batman.
Symbiotes don't rely on appearances to identify people. Through scent, sound, and other senses, Venom recognized Anton instantly when he arrived as Batman.
"No thanks necessary; it was well-deserved," Anton replied with a small smile, accepting Eddie's gratitude.
Eddie and Venom had been severely outmatched against Drake and Riot, completely overwhelmed and unable to fight back. Without Anton's intervention, the outcome would have been grim.
Frankly, Venom hadn't performed as strongly as Anton had expected. But then he remembered that Venom had also struggled against Riot in the original story, barely managing to win with the help of Eddie's ex-girlfriend.
Of course, this event served as a reminder to Anton: he couldn't rely solely on his knowledge of the original plot to predict outcomes in this world.
"Drake's in police custody now; he won't recover from this," Anton assured him. "Even if he tries, he'll have to contend with Oscorp."
"Oscorp…" Eddie muttered, recalling that while fleeing earlier, he had also been targeted by mercenaries from Oscorp as well as the Life Foundation.
"What do I do about Oscorp?" Eddie asked, concerned.
"I'll handle that. Currently, the Daily bugle has a working relationship with Oscorp, so I can negotiate," Anton reassured him. "Oscorp isn't like the Life Foundation; bringing it down would be an enormous undertaking, practically as challenging as a moon landing. For now, it's best to maintain a superficial alliance with Norman Osborn."
"Understood."
Eddie wasn't too worried about Oscorp. First, he had a symbiote, making him practically superhuman. Second, Batman was his ally, and they were both far from ordinary.
With the fall of the Life Foundation, Oscorp would likely reconsider using such extreme methods against him. Furthermore, Oscorp was more interested in the symbiotes than in him as a host.
As the representative of the Daily bugle, Anton could facilitate negotiations with Oscorp, which would likely lead them to back off.
And knowing Norman Osborn, Eddie sensed that his ambitions didn't lean as strongly toward alien pursuits as Drake's.
Annie and Dan Levis returned home shortly after.
After some conversation, Anton declared, "Alright, no more business talk today. Let's have a proper celebration!"
"On me!" he added, saying the three words everyone wanted to hear.
They spent the night out, partying until dawn, only waking up to the sound of knocking at their hotel doors.
At each door stood a man in a suit, with a serious expression.
"Hello, Anton."
A slightly bald man smiled and introduced himself, "I'm Phil Coulson from S.H.I.E.L.D., a special task force under the International Security Council, dedicated to handling unusual incidents…"
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder