Chapter 353: Inheritor of the Ebony Blade
Just as Venom Robin suspected, Batman naturally had other operations running simultaneously.
The original plan involved Batman wearing the Spider-Man suit to personally take down Black Knight Garrett. But with Iron Man Tony Stark's proactive assault, Batman adjusted his plan appropriately.
The full-wave projector transported every bomb detected by the Batmobile-converted signal detector to that prehistoric world.
The plan executed flawlessly. But beneath the Spider-Man suit, Batman's expression grew increasingly grave.
Super strength. Spider-sense. Enhanced senses. All the abilities that had belonged to Spider-Man Peter Parker—they'd returned.
Without hesitation, the instant Batman detected his powers' return, he pressed a hidden button. The Batwing stationed on Bat Island launched skyward under the button's command.
Minutes later, the Batwing swept past the Empire State Building's airspace. A massive metal container descended from its cargo bay with a rushing wind sound, landing vertically and precisely on the building's rooftop.
With a hissing sound from the pneumatic braking chamber, massive quantities of compressed air vented. The metal container—using compressed air as its locking mechanism—suddenly popped its hatch open.
A complete set of fresh Arkham suit stood inside the container, its mouth and eye openings pitch black and hollow.
The next second, mechanical devices inside the container activated, completely disassembling the Arkham suit into seven or eight different components, presenting them in a configuration allowing Batman to don the armor immediately.
Staring at the Arkham suit in the metal container, Batman raised his hand to his chest, gripped the spider emblem, and yanked hard—ripping it and the entire Spider-Man suit off in one motion.
He tossed the instantly-removed Spider-Man suit into the metal container. Batman rapidly changed into his Arkham suit.
One second. Two seconds.
The metal container sealed again. The Batwing swept past once more, its grappling hook snatching the container skyward.
Batman stood motionless, silently counting seconds in his mind.
But a full minute passed. Batman's brow furrowed until it nearly formed a knot. The various Spider-Man abilities within his body still hadn't vanished.
Earlier, when losing his powers, Batman had occasionally smiled with upturned lips. Even facing Garrett's bomb threat, he'd confidently and casually arranged his plan while personally playing the chatty, energetic Spider-Man.
But since the powers' return, Batman's lips hadn't curved upward even once.
"The loss and return of powers might involve eight total scenarios. I need to—"
Batman's thoughts were interrupted. The distant sky roared. A streak of fire rapidly approached the Empire State Building—Tony Stark in his Mark VI armor.
"Peter, I knew you'd be here." Tony landed on the rooftop. Seeing the stern-faced Batman in pitch-black armor instead of that energetic, chattering Spider-Man, he unconsciously relaxed.
He'd rather face the cold, hard, stone-like Batman than Spider-Man, whose talking could make his head swell two sizes larger.
"Call me Batman." Batman stared expressionlessly at Tony, his gaze lingering particularly on the black wooden box Tony carried.
Tony opened his mouth.
"Report your status," Batman said.
Tony's mouth remained open.
He suddenly didn't want to see this cold-faced guy either.
"Garrett is dead." Tony Stark hesitated several seconds before sharing this fact with Batman.
"Cause of death?"
"Inadequate armor shock absorption. Killed by impact forces during our fight." Tony explained.
Batman fell silent for several seconds, apparently processing this information, then asked:
"What did he say before dying?"
Tony Stark handed the black wooden box to Batman.
"That's exactly what I need to tell you. Before dying, Garrett revealed his true reason for wanting to find you: he suspected you're a Whitman family member. He wants you to accept this Ebony Blade and restore the Whitman family's honor."
"Obviously, I'm not." Batman shook his head.
On his first day after arriving in this world, he'd learned Peter Parker's background thoroughly.
Peter's father Richard Parker and mother Mary Parker had both been CIA agents, killed in a plane crash during a mission.
The Parker family showed no connection to any "dynasty" or "family" going back three generations.
"Either way, the sword is yours now." Tony said. "Garrett said even if you're not family, he hopes you'll find his nephew Dane Garrett and give him the Ebony Blade."
Batman didn't refuse. He slowly opened the wooden box's lid.
Tony Stark immediately jumped back a step, creating distance from Batman.
"Wait, Garrett said this sword carries a curse. It needs a fragment from the Metropolitan Museum to lift it... Jarvis, supplement."
"The Metropolitan Museum fragment is from the furnace where wizard Merlin forged the Ebony Blade for the Whitman family's Black Knight in the twelfth century. Garrett believed it could lift the sword's curse," Jarvis AI supplemented.
"So you'd better not open it carelessly, otherwise—"
Before Tony Stark finished speaking, he watched Batman flip his palm. A palm-sized black stone fragment appeared in his hand.
The fragment bore patterns with extremely high similarity to the markings on Garrett's armor.
"Where'd you get that?" Tony stared at the fragment. "After that attempted theft at the Metropolitan Museum, the news reported nothing was stolen. Did you make a replica?"
"The museum's version is the replica, Tony." Batman said flatly.
Tony Stark shook his head, indicating he had nothing to say. He watched helplessly as Batman opened the wooden box, revealing the ebony longsword inside—its surface gleaming with subtle movement, as if breathing.
"The curse..." Tony wanted to remind Batman again.
"Precisely because you mentioned the curse, I urgently need to open it and confirm whether it will affect me." Batman said.
Tony Stark nodded in understanding. He sealed his metal faceplate, maintaining combat-ready status.
Not until five minutes later—watching Batman experience zero changes—did Tony relax and approach.
"Looks like not picking it up keeps you safe."
"Perhaps." Batman said, then reached into the wooden box.
This time Tony didn't jump backward. What Batman retrieved wasn't the Ebony Blade—it was a paper stored inside the box.
The paper listed a series of names. Too lazy to read them individually, Tony addressed his AI directly.
"Jarvis, scan these names. See if I recognize anyone."
"No one, boss," Jarvis reported.
"This is a SHIELD internal roster." Batman had spotted several names he recognized—ones he'd seen when hacking SHIELD or infiltrating the Adirondack Mountains base.
"...Are you sure that's a SHIELD roster and not a Hydra roster?" Tony reminded him. "Before dying, Garrett said this listed Hydra accomplices."
"Hydra hidden inside SHIELD, Tony," Batman said.