When Time Bent for the Bat
The emergency alert cut through the Batcave like a blade.
Red lights flared. Consoles awakened. The massive cave hummed as power surged through ancient stone and bleeding-edge technology alike.
Batman stood at the center of it all, already armored—not in his usual suit, but in the upgraded combat suit Damian had insisted he keep on.
Barbara Gordon—Oracle—stood near the Batcomputer, fully mobile, her spine straight, her eyes sharp behind her glasses as data streamed across the screens.
"This isn't a drill," she said. "Hall of Justice. Washington, D.C."
Bruce turned instantly. "Who?"
Barbara's fingers danced across the holographic interface. "They're calling themselves the Legion of Doom. And they're broadcasting it live."
The main screen shifted.
The Hall of Justice burned.
Smoke rolled across the plaza. Civilians fled in panicked waves as explosions tore through the iconic structure. A thunderhead spiraled unnaturally above the skyline, lightning crawling through blackened clouds like veins of fire.
Barbara continued, voice steady despite the chaos.
"Confirmed hostiles: Weather Wizard, Solomon Grundy, Toyman, Cheetah… and one unidentified combatant in a mechanized suit emitting high-density kryptonite radiation."
Bruce's jaw tightened. "Lex."
"I can't confirm identity," Barbara said. "He's masking it perfectly. But the signature matches."
Nightwing cursed under his breath.
Damian stood slightly apart, arms crossed, eyes already distant—calculating.
"They're not here to win," Damian said quietly. "They're here to test."
Bruce glanced at him but didn't disagree.
Barbara continued. "Justice League availability: Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Cyborg en route. Others are tied up across the globe—coordinated distractions."
Bruce reached for the release clamps of the advanced suit.
Damian's hand snapped out, stopping him.
"Don't," Damian said.
Bruce paused. Looked at his son.
"You've been wearing it for twenty-seven minutes," Damian continued. "Your nervous system has already adapted. If you disengage now, your reaction time will desync. You'll need at least an hour before your brain recalibrates."
Bruce understood instantly.
Nightwing blinked. "Wait—what?"
Damian exhaled sharply, irritation bleeding through. "I told you. It's detachable, not removable without consequence."
Bruce slowly lowered his hand.
"…Understood."
Damian muttered under his breath, frustrated. "Damn it. This was supposed to be a last resort, not a public debut."
Then he stopped.
Took a breath.
Straightened.
"…It couldn't be helped."
Bruce looked at him—really looked at him—and for a moment, he wasn't seeing a weapon-builder or tactician or assassin-bred prodigy.
He saw a teenager annoyed his best work was being used before it was finished.
"You're with me," Bruce said.
Damian blinked. "Father—"
"Support role only."
"…Understood."
"And Damian?"
"Yes."
"No heroics."
Damian smirked faintly. "I'll try."
Washington, D.C. — War on the Mall
The sky over the capital split as Superman arrived first—like a god falling from heaven.
He hit the ground hard enough to shatter pavement, already moving before the shockwave finished rippling outward.
Lex Luthor turned, armored head tilting.
"So," Lex said, voice echoing from the kryptonite-powered suit. "You came alone."
Superman's eyes burned red. "This ends now, Lex."
Lex laughed.
They collided.
Elsewhere — The City Burns
The Flash arrived in a red blur, skidding across asphalt as Weather Wizard unleashed a hurricane-force gale toward a crowd of fleeing civilians.
"Not today!" Flash shouted.
He ran into the wind.
Redirected it.
Spun the pressure upward, punching the storm into the sky like a fist breaking glass.
Lightning followed him—then vanished as Flash disarmed the device controlling the storm in less than a second.
Weather Wizard screamed in frustration.
Wonder Woman landed near the Reflecting Pool, sword already drawn.
Cheetah stood waiting.
"You came," Cheetah purred. "Just like old times."
Diana's expression softened—for half a heartbeat.
Then hardened.
"I will not fail you again," she said.
Steel rang against claw.
Cyborg intercepted Toyman's aerial drones mid-flight, hacking them faster than they could fire.
"Cute toys," Cyborg muttered. "Let's see what happens when they turn on you."
The drones exploded harmlessly in the air.
The Bat Enters the Field
The Batjet screamed overhead.
Autopilot engaged.
Batman jumped.
Grapple fired.
He swung, landed, rolled—
And fired an explosive pellet directly into Solomon Grundy's chest.
BOOM.
Grundy roared, turning with rage-filled eyes.
"BATMAN!"
Good. Batman thought. Focused on me.
Grundy charged.
Batman didn't dodge.
He stepped forward.
And that's when time broke.
When Thought Outran Time
The Sandevistan integration didn't just accelerate Bruce Wayne's body.
It accelerated cognition.
The world didn't slow.
It fractured.
Every movement became data. Every sound a waveform. Every possible outcome unfolded simultaneously in Bruce's mind like a branching lattice of probability.
Solomon Grundy's swing registered as:
Angle: 37 degrees
Velocity: lethal
Structural weakness: left knee, necrotic ligament decay
Environmental hazards: collapsed pillar, loose rebar, unstable foundation
Batman moved between moments.
He slid under the blow, planted a charge on Grundy's ankle, vaulted off a chunk of rubble, and detonated mid-air.
Grundy stumbled.
Batman was already behind him.
Think faster.
Bruce's thoughts layered over each other:
If I break his balance, I control the fight.
If I control the fight, civilians survive.
If civilians survive, this ends here.
Grundy slammed both fists down.
Batman ran up the shockwave, boots magnetizing to fragments of debris, flipping over the undead giant's head.
Explosive pellets fired.
Smoke.
Sound.
But Bruce heard none of it.
He saw everything.
He anticipated Grundy's counter before the impulse even reached the monster's muscles.
That was the difference.
Not speed.
Prediction.
Damian watched from above, hovering on Toothless, eyes wide despite himself.
"…Incredible," he whispered.
Batman was no longer reacting.
He was deciding reality.
Grundy roared again.
Batman dropped onto his shoulders, jammed a reinforced shock baton into the base of the skull, and discharged a precise electromagnetic pulse.
Grundy froze.
Then collapsed.
The ground shook.
Silence fell around them.
Aftermath — Fear Spreads
Across the battlefield, villains hesitated.
Lex glanced sideways—just long enough to see Solomon Grundy down.
"…What?" Lex muttered.
Superman seized the opening.
One punch.
The armor cracked.
Kryptonite shielding failed.
Lex was hurled through three buildings.
Flash finished binding Weather Wizard.
Wonder Woman disarmed Cheetah, pinning her without killing her.
Cyborg secured Toyman.
And above them all—
Batman stood.
Still.
Unmoving.
The suit's systems cooled.
Time resumed its normal flow.
Bruce exhaled slowly.
Damian landed beside him, Toothless growling softly.
"…You thought faster than time itself," Damian said quietly.
Bruce didn't deny it.
"…This suit," Bruce said, voice low, "changes everything."
Damian looked away.
"…That's what scares me."
Epilogue — Shadows Watching
Far away—
After Superman punch he used a escape hatch to reject himself from the suit puting it on auto pilot to fight Superman and he escaped and to keep his identity a secret from the public
Lex Luthor watched the footage again.
Paused it.
Rewound.
Frame by frame.
"…So," Lex murmured. "The devil fruits aren't the only anomaly anymore."
He smiled thinly.
"And the Bat just became the most dangerous man alive."