The next day, at the early hours of dawn I went straight to Ivy's flat and, not finding her there, I headed straight to the lab. I was pretty sure that she would be there.
_______________________
"Good morning, Ivy," I greeted her. "What are you working on?"
"Going over our project data," Lillian Isley replied, briefly setting her notebook aside. "Kavita's way ahead of me on this. If we're going to work together, I need to catch up."
I stepped up beside her and started reviewing the same files. Most of it involved gamma radiation.
"With Eve's help, I was able to get access to some of Dr. Bruce Banner's early research on gamma radiation," Pamela explained, noticing the confusion on my face.
"Now better known as the Hulk," I mumbled. "Wasn't he trying to recreate the serum we're after?"
"The attempt failed… spectacularly," she confirmed. "His actual transformation data is lost. But the early notes survived. They're vague, but they lay out his line of thinking. Useful enough to give us direction."
"And where exactly did you get those?"
Pamela gave a sly smile. "The data comes from Ozcorp Industries. We were able to cross-reference some of their early gamma serum studies."
"How did you get access to Ozcorp files?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Artificial intelligence works wonders," Kavita chimed in, suddenly joining us. She adjusted her glasses, completely unfazed. "Thanks to Eve, we hacked their external servers and downloaded their early research archives. Most of it's half-baked nonsense. The real data is on the internal servers—top level, physically secured. No way we're getting in there digitally."
I blinked, mildly stunned.
Apparently, I'd been underestimating Eve's capabilities. Hacking into Ozcorp—even partially—was no small feat.
So Norman Osborn's team worked on recreating the serum using beta rays instead of gamma…
Yeah. Didn't do him much good.
Sure, he became strong, fast, agile—almost on par with Captain America. But somewhere along the way, he lost his mind.
Not exactly a glowing endorsement.
This is why we would need to take every precaution to prevent side effects.
"Alex, there are still a few components missing," Pamela said with a dangerous smile. "Kavita requested some equipment already, but it's not nearly enough. I'll be making a list… I assume I have an unlimited budget?"
"Ahem… Yes. Of course… Get whatever you need. I'll cover it."
Just thinking about my empty bank account made me want to bang my head against the wall. Maybe I had rushed into this super-serum business without considering the company's finances. A little late now.
When Eve broke down Isley's projected expenses, I nearly passed out.
And I only had four in the account.
No backup funds coming for at least two weeks…
Guess it's time to ask for an advance.
I spent the rest of the day in the workshop with Ivy and Kavita, helping wherever I could—until they politely told me to go work on something else and stop distracting them. I took the hint and returned to my hologram glasses project.
Sasha Bordeaux, of course, stuck by me like shadow to flame.
In case you were wondering.
As night fell, I prepared for a meeting with the Bat-family.
Naturally, I couldn't take Sasha along—it wasn't the kind of gathering you brought your bodyguard to. Not with Gotham's dark defenders involved.
Sasha wasn't thrilled to be left behind. At all.
She demanded to know exactly where I was going. With nothing to hide, I told her straight: "I'm meeting with Bruce Wayne."
That only made her more suspicious.
She didn't understand why a rendezvous with the richest man in the city should exclude her, especially if her job was to protect me. I couldn't fully explain it—so I just promised I'd make it up to her next time.
Still not happy, she left grudgingly.
Later that night, I descended into the Batcave.
As usual at this hour, the Dark Knight was in his lair, surrounded by computer screens, steel platforms, and the quiet flutter of sleeping bats clinging to the stalactites.
Dick and Barbara were sparring. Alfred stood nearby, polishing the Bat-computer as if wiping down the command console of a spaceship.
My arrival drew their attention.
Barbara greeted me with a smile—and even rewarded me with a brief kiss on the cheek.
"Hello, bats," I grinned. "Did you miss me? I know, I know, I wasn't around for a few days. You must've gotten way too relaxed. Don't worry—I'm here now to fix that. Trust me, by the end of tonight, you won't forget it."
"Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling?" Dick muttered, glancing at Barbara.
"You're not alone," she agreed.
Alfred merely inclined his head in a subtle but unmistakable gesture of skepticism.
"You doubt me?" I asked with mock hurt.
"On the contrary," Barbara said softly. "We always trust you."
"And that," Nightwing added darkly, "is when things start going sideways."
"Ahem." I cleared my throat and turned to the man of the hour—Gotham's great detective and keeper of ten thousand secrets.
Bruce stood silent and still, as always.
"Speak," he said, like a judge at the throne.
"You make it sound like I'm about to throw a verbal punch," I replied sweetly. "Not very trusting of you, Mr. Wayne."
"Isn't that exactly what's about to happen? Doesn't matter. I'm ready. You can't surprise me anymore."
"Don't say 'hop' till you've jumped," I said, cracking my neck dramatically.
"First of all, I'd like to request an advance from fidget spinner sales. I need $100 million."
Bruce's expression darkened.
"You can deduct it from my final earnings at the end of the month. Fair deal, right?"
"…I can provide it," he said at last.
"Excellent! Of course you can!" I interrupted, beaming.
He frowned even more darkly.
"Sorry, sorry. Go on."
"Just one question: why do you need this money urgently?" he asked. "And second… if you truly want the advance… tell me why you broke Pamela Isley out of Arkham."
"Bruce, did you know these two questions… are completely connected?" I said with a fox-like grin, settling onto a stone ledge. "I think it's time I finally told you… exactly what I'm planning."
I want to tell you all something, I'm still not on discord.
So I was thinking of making one, should I go with my name only or should I don another monicker?
Anyways thank you all for reading, don't forget to vote with power stones.
The week is closing and till now we have stayed in the rankings, let's try to maintain that.
YOU ALL CAN READ EXTRA CHAPTERS ON P@TREON.
[email protected]/annihilator009
Ko-fi.com/annihilator009