After Batman handed over the new suit and the new tentacles to Doctor Otto on South Brothers Island, and witnessed the birth of the Lizard Professor in his presence.
"Tony, it's Peter." Batman contacted Tony Stark. "How much do you know about Obadiah's whereabouts during this time?"
"Obadiah went to the Middle East, and as soon as he got back, he holed up in a factory and hasn't come out since," Tony Stark said.
"That factory…"
Batman was about to consider whether to reveal the location of the factory where Obadiah was, and that it was actually Obadiah's arms-smuggling channel under the name Ajax Security, when Tony Stark spoke first:
"Peter, do you remember what you told me before? About the problems inside Stark Industries."
Batman fell silent, driving the Arkham Batmobile back to the Batcave, listening to Tony Stark's long sighs over the comms system.
"You were right about that. Obadiah was hiding an international arms channel right under my nose," Tony Stark said. "I can't argue with you for now, but once your Parker Industries grows to a certain size, you'll run into similar problems."
Batman still didn't speak. He had discovered the Ajax Security situation far earlier than Tony Stark, and he had held off acting to uproot it completely.
As for the second half of Tony Stark's remark, Batman chose to ignore it outright.
He knew Tony Stark was making excuses for himself, but when a company grew into a behemoth spanning multiple industries, even Batman himself couldn't control it one hundred percent.
Even Wayne Enterprises, rooted in Gotham, had once had half its board members taken over by the Court of Owls.
Batman didn't blame Tony Stark.
"I have a lot to discuss with you in person. Can you come to Stark Tower? I'll have Happy pick you up," Tony said.
"No need." Batman's voice wasn't low; he was speaking to Tony as Peter Parker at that moment.
"Then fifteen minutes from now, Stark Tower rooftop," Tony Stark said.
Batman turned off the simulated phone in the Arkham suit. By then, he had already returned to the Batcave.
Fifteen minutes later, having removed the Arkham suit and changed into a taupe suit, Batman arrived at Stark Tower as Peter Parker.
Happy Hogan seemed to have been tipped off in advance, waiting alone on the empty first floor of Stark Tower.
Seeing Batman, Happy immediately approached:
"Mr. Parker!"
"Happy." Batman smiled at Happy.
Aside from Aunt May's nagging, Batman did his best to make the Peter Parker identity he was playing as close as possible to the real Parker.
Having played the playboy Bruce Wayne for nearly forty years, Batman wouldn't find it the least bit difficult to switch to a different role.
"Mr. Stark is upstairs. I'll take you up."
Happy clearly had a very good impression of the Peter Parker identity. As he spoke, he bustled around, and though he only pressed the elevator button, Happy made it seem like he was incredibly busy.
The two rode up to the top floor together. Tony Stark's first words weren't directed at Batman but at Happy Hogan:
"Happy, I need you to temporarily disable the elevator access. Make sure no one can come up."
Happy nodded at Tony Stark, waved goodbye to Batman, and continued his busy bustling.
Once Happy had taken the elevator down and the LED screen above the elevator displayed "Under Maintenance," Tony Stark poured himself a drink and said to Batman:
"Peter, do you know you're in danger right now?"
Batman let his expression become bewildered:
"What?"
Tony Stark shook his head, pulled Batman out to the helipad extending from the rooftop, and only then spoke:
"Not long after I got back, I launched an internal audit led by Pepper, under the guise of strengthening company governance and responding to public scrutiny."
"This kind of internal audit used to happen every few months, so my actions didn't raise any suspicion."
Batman and Tony Stark stood shoulder to shoulder, looking out from the Stark Tower rooftop into the distance.
Tony Stark also gazed into the distance, his voice much steadier than before:
"But unlike before, the real purpose of this audit was to cooperate with the Obadiah information you sent me earlier, to confirm which people in the company were Obadiah's direct loyalists, knowing he's the one who wants to kill me."
"Do you know what I found? After my investigation, aside from Happy—this guy who was completely outside Obadiah's expectations—the entire Stark Industries security system is almost all his people."
Batman still looked bewildered, as if he couldn't quite understand what Tony Stark was saying.
Batman hadn't forgotten that in front of Tony Stark, he had always presented himself as a technical genius, not a seasoned elite who had been navigating the business world for decades.
From the perspective of the "Peter Parker" identity, Batman really shouldn't understand what Tony Stark was talking about right now, even though he already had his own Parker Industries.
"I'm not safe, Peter. Neither are you," Tony Stark said. "Once we start implementing the plan to take down Obadiah, he will definitely fight back."
"He has Stark Industries' weapons stockpile, his own security personnel, and the ambition and guts to have me killed through someone else's hands."
"Peter, he'll come for you with a gun, too."
Batman pretended to have a sudden realization and followed Tony Stark's words, asking:
"What are you planning to do next?"
Tony Stark smiled confidently, as if everything was under his control:
"Ever since Obadiah returned from the Middle East, he's been in one of Ajax Security's factories. Even if I don't hack into that factory, I know exactly what he's doing…"
As Tony spoke, he turned to face Batman and unzipped his jacket:
"Look at this."
For the first time, Tony Stark openly revealed the secret on his body to someone other than Pepper, Happy, and using the arc reactor as bait to lure Obadiah:
"Obadiah will come to take this reactor from me soon."
"I announced the closure of the weapons division, but Obadiah has been in that factory this whole time trying to build a suit of armor as a new weapon to replace the Jericho missile."
"He went to the Middle East. With his pitiful intelligence, the armor he builds will inevitably heavily imitate my Mark I, especially the power source."
"But no one in this world except me can build an arc reactor, so Obadiah will definitely come to steal it."
"And I'll record all the evidence, swap in a backup arc reactor I prepared in advance, and take him down in battle."
Tony Stark looked full of confidence. Having the Mark III suit and knowing Obadiah's every move like the back of his hand, he was already itching to beat the man senseless.
But Batman only frowned slightly:
"Tony, do you think of yourself as a WWE boxer?"
--
Support me & read more advance & fast update chapter on my pa-treon:
pat reon .c-om/windkaze