DC Heroes in Marvel

Anton might seem like just an ordinary person, but the forces backing him are anything but small. 

While he technically has no authority to interfere with the New York Police Department, his close relationship with the Justice League and George, combined with his direct involvement in the current crisis, made George and the others more than willing to follow Anton's "friendly suggestions."

To be honest, without Anton, the New York Police Department would likely never have established a deeper connection with the Continental Hotel. 

As Anton himself said, this was an opportunity—a chance to completely clean up New York and restore order.

After a brief moment of contemplation, George resolved himself and led the NYPD into action.

The news of Kingpin's return brought with it an overwhelming sense of urgency. George couldn't shake the feeling that another storm was brewing in New York.

Once George was gone, Anton left Wayne Enterprises, driving off into the night.

As he drove, Anton picked up his phone and dialed Winston at the Continental Hotel.

"Anton?"

Winston sounded uneasy, his voice laced with concern. "I just heard about the attack on you. I can assure you, this has nothing to do with the Continental Hotel."

"I know," Anton replied evenly. "That's not why I'm calling. I'm calling to tell you that Kingpin is back. I need you to cooperate with the NYPD to track him down."

"What?!"

Winston was stunned. For a moment, even the seasoned and calculating manager was at a loss for words.

"Kingpin… How did he escape?" Winston asked, his tone sharp. "How could SHIELD let this happen?"

"It's not that simple," Anton replied. "Your job is to assist the NYPD in locating him. Leave the rest to me."

"Understood," Winston said, the gravity of the situation sinking in. "The Continental Hotel will do everything necessary."

"Good."

Anton ended the call and continued driving until he reached a location in Brooklyn—the safe house tied to the Electro.

Crunch.

The sound of the door creaking echoed as Anton pushed it open.

Before stepping inside, he glanced up at the surveillance camera mounted above the door. His lips curved into a mocking sneer, as if to say, I've found you.

The room was empty, save for two display screens hanging on the wall, both in standby mode.

"I know you're here," Anton said, his voice steady.

He stepped further inside, his gaze fixed on the monitors. "If you've managed to infiltrate the city's cameras and map out my every move, then you must already know why I'm here."

As a digital entity, Dr. Zola could theoretically access any computer system. However, cyber life forms differ slightly from artificial intelligence, and Zola was unlikely to show himself without careful consideration.

Dr. Zola only appeared in places he deemed secure.

This safe house—Hydra's territory—was one such place. For Zola, the chance to interact with Anton was an opportunity he wouldn't pass up.

Suddenly, the display screens flickered to life.

Click!

Text appeared on the screen:

[Hello, Anton Jameson.]

Anton's expression didn't change. He stood firm, his tone calm yet pointed. "I'm guessing this wasn't your idea, was it? This whole mess doesn't seem like your style, Dr. Zola."

For a long moment, the digital figure on the screen remained silent.

It wasn't until Anton began to grow impatient that another line of text appeared in the dialogue window on the display.

[You really know us very well.]

Dr. Zola was clearly surprised. He hadn't expected Anton to be so familiar with his identity and methods.

"Humph!" Anton scoffed. "I've known Hydra's secrets for a long time. I didn't intend to meddle in your ongoing feud with S.H.I.E.L.D., but you made the mistake of targeting me."

[Hydra has been exposed. It was Batman who alerted S.H.I.E.L.D. The one who crossed the line was Batman.]

"If Batman was the one who exposed you, then go after him," Anton replied coolly. "It seems you've been unable to locate him, so you've decided to make me your scapegoat."

[You... Are you stalling for time?!]

[cyborg! It's cyborg! #¥%&%¥#!]

Suddenly, the display filled with garbled text.

The corner of Anton's lips lifted into a smirk. "Just figured it out, did you? For a so-called 'network lifeform,' you're not that impressive."

On the rooftop of the Brooklyn building where Anton was located, Cyborg stood against the evening breeze. His face remained calm, but his electronic eye flickered as countless streams of data passed through his system.

Cyborg had been immersed in the digital realm, systematically breaking through Dr. Zola's firewall and taking control of the program.

"Hm?" Cyborg suddenly frowned. "A duplicate code… It's a clone. No wonder he's survived all these years. He's very cautious."

Through their shared connection, Anton immediately became aware of Cyborg's findings. 

The Dr. Zola he'd been speaking with was nothing more than a minor program—a clone imbued with limited intelligence.

This clone didn't share data with Zola's main body, which would periodically retrieve and review the clone's information before deploying a replacement.

Destroying the clone wouldn't harm the main body at all.

Anton understood that Zola's true form was stored in a massive, outdated computer system from the last century. 

All of Zola's brain data resided within that hardware. To permanently eliminate Zola, one would first need to locate his main body and prevent him from transferring his consciousness to another system.

It was a tedious task, but Anton took comfort in one fact: Dr. Zola was merely a network-based lifeform, not a true artificial intelligence. 

Zola's limitations ensured he would never evolve into something like Ultron.

With Cyborg's assistance, it wasn't impossible to block Zola entirely.

"Old Man and the others are already on the plane," Cyborg informed Anton through their link. "They're under military protection, so there's no immediate danger. Hydra's main target is still you. They won't provoke the military unnecessarily. Splitting their forces would only weaken them. Hydra isn't that foolish."

In the safe house, Anton observed the real-time status of the others through Cyborg's perspective. Satisfied, he left the safe house and began the drive home.

On the way, his brow furrowed slightly.

Although the situation was mostly clear, one crucial question remained unanswered.

Hydra's true target wasn't Anton. It was Batman—a figure shrouded in secrecy and completely untraceable.

Thanks to his careful planning and the use of cloning technology, Anton had successfully separated his public persona from his role as Batman. 

This ensured that Batman remained a mysterious and untouchable entity.

But it was precisely this elusiveness that had driven Hydra to such desperate measures. Unable to locate Batman, they had resorted to targeting Anton, Batman's so-called "spokesperson," in the hopes of drawing him out.

What they hadn't anticipated, however, was running into Wonder Woman instead.

Anton's thoughts lingered on one critical issue:

Given Batman's unparalleled track record, what made Hydra believe they could defeat him? What gave them such confidence?

…

Rooftop.

Cyborg traversed the vast expanse of the internet, diving through countless internal channels and even infiltrating the databases of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the military.

Before long, he abandoned the fruitless "needle-in-a-haystack" search and zeroed in on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters, where he took control of Alexander Pierce's computer.

Alexander Pierce—the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and current Secretary-General—was a high-ranking figure within the organization. 

While publicly second to the council, Pierce held power comparable to that of Nick Fury, who, in many ways, served as a public face to shield Pierce's true identity.

After all, much of Nick Fury's communication with the World Security Council went through Pierce.

What few suspected, however, was that Pierce was the leader of Hydra.

Minutes later, Cyborg unearthed a classified document buried in Pierce's computer.

Nanoworm Technology.

The document detailed how nanoworms were initially developed for medical purposes, capable of destroying viruses and repairing damaged tissues. 

However, someone had repurposed the technology for weapons development and persuaded the military to fund it, spending tens of billions of dollars to create four nanoworm warheads.

These warheads were as destructive as high-yield nuclear bombs and stored in one of the world's most secure arsenals.

The document also mentioned nanoworm bullets, a smaller, more focused application of the technology. These bullets, while prohibitively expensive, were few in number and devastating in effect.

A test video showed a single nanoworm bullet completely devouring a tank, reducing it to dust.

This weapon posed an existential threat to technological civilizations—and especially to someone like Batman, whose armor made him a prime target.

Hydra believed the nanoworm bullets were the perfect weapon to neutralize and kill Batman.

According to military records, the nanoworm warheads and bullets had been hijacked by a terrorist group three days ago. Investigations revealed the identity of this group:

Cobra.

"It seems this is your confidence… nanoworm warheads, nanoworm bullets, and the Cobra organization," Anton murmured to himself after returning home.

Hydra and Cobra.

"Unexpected," Anton said with a bitter smirk, "but not entirely surprising."

The Cobra organization sounded familiar. Anton realized it was straight out of a movie from his previous life—G.I. Joe. 

In that film, Cobra had plotted to use nanoworm warheads for global terrorism.

But in this world, it seemed Cobra had been absorbed into Hydra, becoming one of its many branches.

Their plan to target major world capitals with nanoworm warheads had been repurposed into a mission against Batman.

"Things just got simpler."

Anton's gaze turned icy. "If that's how you want to play it, I'll start by cutting off one of Hydra's heads. Let's see what other tricks you've got."

Washington, S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters.

Crunch.

The door to Alexander Pierce's office swung open as Pierce himself entered the room.

Having just received reports from New York and a secret communication from Dr. Zola, Pierce learned that the safe house in New York had been compromised and that their plan to draw out Batman had stalled at the first step.

Pierce frowned.

The plan to bait Batman through Anton had failed.

Still, he wasn't overly concerned. He'd anticipated this possibility and had already prepared follow-up measures.

Batman had to be dealt with.

Hydra had concluded, after analyzing his actions, that Batman could never be swayed or recruited. There was only one solution: elimination.

As Pierce approached his desk, deep in thought, his eyes inadvertently drifted to the computer screen.

His expression darkened, and his fists clenched instinctively.

On the monitor, a new image had appeared—a glowing Batman logo.

Below it, one ominous sentence flashed:

[I found you!]

…

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