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[Batman x Ironman] Ch: 106 [Epilogue]
🕑 Added 2025-04-30 22:00:41 +0000 UTC[Arctic Circle - Moments After Impact]
The blizzard howled across the frozen wasteland, snow swirling in angry gusts as the wind tore across the crater. But above it all, something faster than sound sliced through the sky.
Kara.
Her blonde hair whipped behind her like a comet's trail as she flew, eyes glowing faintly with concern. She had seen the burning object from orbit. Something in her bones told her it wasn’t a simple meteor. Something in her heart told her it mattered.
She hovered over the crater now, snow and steam rising in a thick cloud around the blackened vessel. It wasn’t Kryptonian. Not quite alien either. The metal was strange, groaning with heat and energy, its surface scarred by interdimensional friction.
Kara landed lightly on the crater’s edge. Her boots crunched on the frozen earth. She took a breath and stepped forward.
The air was thick with residual energy. Her vision shifted to X-ray. She scanned the wreck.
Her heart nearly stopped.
There was a figure inside.
Human. Male. Heartbeat faint.
Familiar.
"No way," she whispered, voice almost breaking. "No. It can't be."
With a surge of power, she drove her fist into the metal shell. It buckled like paper under her strength. She tore the twisted alloy apart, steam hissing, heat burning against her skin. She didn’t stop.
Not until the body was revealed.
His chest rose. Barely.
He was covered in frost, half-naked, riddled with injuries. Burn marks. Fractures. Cracks across his skin that pulsed with fading golden light.
Kara dropped to her knees beside him.
"Bruce..." Her voice trembled. She brushed snow from his face. His beard had grown. He looked older. Weathered. But it was him. It was him.
She didn't waste another second.
Kara scooped him into her arms, wrapping him in her cape to protect him from the cold. Then she launched into the sky, a blur of light cutting across the arctic winds.
[Earth – Pamela’s Sanctuary]
Hidden deep in the biotechnological jungle she had designed, Pamela Isley’s sanctuary was alive in every sense. Trees responded to heartbeats. Flowers bloomed in response to emotional signatures. And the air itself carried particles that could read cellular decay and shift in real-time to combat infection.
It was the safest place on Earth for someone like Bruce.
Kara landed at the entrance. As soon as her boots touched the mossy floor, the plants reacted. The vines curled back, recognizing her aura, and the living doors parted to let her in.
Pamela looked up from her workbench, where she had been tending to a rare hybrid blossom that only bloomed in anti-radiation zones. The moment her eyes met Kara’s, her posture shifted.
"What happened?" she asked, moving forward.
Kara didn’t speak. She simply pulled back the cape to reveal Bruce’s limp, frost-covered body.
Pamela froze for a beat, then her scientist instincts kicked in.
"Put him in the chrysalis chamber," she instructed, turning sharply. "Now."
Kara followed her through a narrow path to a room pulsing with green and gold light. Bioluminescent roots formed a shallow pod in the center, designed for deep cellular healing. She gently placed Bruce in the basin, the vines immediately reacting to his touch.
Pamela grabbed a scanner from the wall and ran it across his body.
"What the hell… his cell structure is saturated with non-native quantum energy," she muttered. Her eyes narrowed. "Fragments of cosmic law. He’s been somewhere outside the multiverse."
Kara looked at her, stunned. "You can tell all that from your scan?"
Pamela didn't look up. "Bruce’s biology is one of a kind. Kryptonian hybrid with Infinity-based augmentations. I helped design most of his regenerative protocols back in the day and he taught me certain things. These readings…" She paused, adjusting the scanner's frequency. "They’re way beyond that."
She placed two fingers to his neck, where the faintest pulse still beat. The vines around the pod slowly extended and wrapped around his limbs, not to restrain, but to stabilize, syncing with his vitals.
"He’s alive," she said, her voice softening. "Barely. But his cells are unraveling. It’s like his body is… incompatible with reality. Something’s been keeping him together, but now that he’s here, that glue is falling apart."
Pamela moved quickly, selecting a series of botanical vials—bright green, golden, one glowing faint blue.
"I can stabilize him. But his state is delicate, Kara. If anyone finds out he’s back like this… in this condition…"
Kara swallowed. "You think someone might try to kill him?"
Pamela finally looked her in the eyes.
"I know someone will."
Kara opened her mouth, then closed it.
She knew Pamela was right.
"He needs time to heal," Pamela said, returning to the chamber. "And he won’t get that with reporters, gods, and assassins swarming the moment they hear his name."
"So what do we do?" Kara asked quietly.
Pamela’s voice was steady.
"We keep this quiet. But the thing is... We need to take him to the League's base. There's only so much my plants can do. We need the Lazarus Pit."
[League of Shadows Outpost – Nanda Parbat]
The mist clung to the ancient mountain walls like breath on cold glass. Nanda Parbat was quiet tonight, too quiet for a place that often pulsed with the silent tread of assassins, monks, and warriors of the hidden world.
But that was intentional.
Because tonight, the League had cleared its ranks.
By order of Talia al Ghul, no one but her most trusted stood guard.
Pamela's message had arrived an hour earlier. Encrypted. Urgent. The only content: a pulse signature and a phrase that struck like lightning.
He’s alive. And he needs the Pit.
Now, Talia stood at the entrance of the Lazarus Sanctum, her emerald eyes hard with restrained emotion. Behind her, torches flickered, casting gold across ancient stone. She wore her League armor, but no mask. She wasn’t hiding today. She was afraid, excited, and somewhat happy. 'He's alive.'
The wind stirred.
And then, from the sky, came a streak of light.
Kara descended, cloak snapping in the mountain air. She landed lightly beside Pamela, who held a small biosphere, a living cocoon of vine and bio-resin. Inside, Bruce’s body was curled in a fetal position, his breath shallow, his skin pallid and faintly glowing with golden light.
Talia stepped forward.
She didn’t say a word.
Her eyes locked with Pamela’s.
Pamela gave a single nod.
Talia reached out and gently placed her palm over the biosphere. Her fingers trembled.
Bruce shifted inside.
A faint gasp.
Her throat tightened.
"Is he..." she began, but the words caught.
"He's hanging on," Pamela said. "Barely. The longer he stays in this state, the harder it’ll be to anchor him back to our reality."
Kara added, her voice low, "If he dies now... I don’t think anything could bring him back. Not even the Stones."
Talia’s jaw clenched.
Then she turned, leading them down the steps into the Lazarus Sanctum.
The chamber was ancient. Lit by a soft, ethereal green glow that rose from the Pit at its center.
"Are you sure the Pit won’t harm him further?" Kara asked, her brow furrowed as she looked into the eerie glow.
"This isn’t a normal Pit," Talia said, reaching into a hidden compartment beneath the altar. She pulled out a small, jagged crystal and dropped it into the water.
The Pit hissed softly, turning momentarily golden.
Pamela raised a brow. "Modified?"
"No. This is the untouched pit. After Bruce disappeared back then, we took over the island and shifted one of the pure original pits here with Skylar's help," Talia explained.
Pamela looked down at Bruce. "Then it might be enough."
Kara gently lowered the biosphere. The vines uncoiled as unseen hands lifted Bruce’s body, carried it across the green-lit chamber. He hovered over the Lazarus Pit.
Talia stepped forward.
"I got you, Bruce," She said softly.
"Come back to us."
The vines released him.
Bruce sank beneath the surface.
For a moment, there was nothing but ripples.
Then the Pit surged with light.
A burst of energy rippled through the chamber, green and gold, streaked with strands of blue and red. The torches flared. The air grew hot.
Bruce's body rose halfway from the water, back arched, muscles taut, every nerve in his body firing at once.
He screamed.
It was not pain.
It was the memory.
It was the sound of timelines crashing together.
A heartbeat later, he collapsed again, floating in the Lazarus Waters.
Still.
"That's enough. Pull him out," Talia said a little too loudly.
Pamela moved first, vines reaching into the pool and drawing him out gently. Kara was there in an instant, wrapping him again in her cloak, her hands trembling.
He coughed.
Once.
Then again.
His eyes fluttered open.
He blinked.
The light dimmed.
He looked around slowly. For a moment, everything looked blurry, and he was dead tired.
"…Kara?"
Her heart stopped.
"Bruce," she whispered. "You're here. You're back."
His voice was hoarse. Dry. But steady.
"I feel like shit. I think I'm gonna sleep a bit... Just a bit..."
...
[One Month Later]
The room was dim, lit by a soft amber glow emanating from the living walls. Vines curled along the stone, pulsating gently with bio-light. The quiet hum of ancient tech fused with plant life created a calm, rhythmic ambience. The heart of the sanctuary had grown around him. Pamela’s design, seeded with purpose and care, had turned the cold stone of Nanda Parbat into something... alive.
Machines lined the walls. Nothing invasive, just passive monitors. Screens tracked his vitals, quantum signatures, energy fluctuation, and brain activity.
For the last month, there had been nothing.
Until today.
On the upper right corner of the screen, a new spike appeared. Slight. Fragile. But clear.
Neural activity.
A single ripple across the quiet surface of Bruce Wayne’s mind.
Pamela was the first to notice. She froze mid-analysis, eyes locked on the display. Her voice was a whisper.
He’s waking up.
Across the room, Kara stood. She had been leaning against the wall, her cape half-draped across a nearby chair. She moved quickly, stepping beside the bed. Talia, sitting near Bruce’s left hand, was already rising to her feet, eyes wide.
The chamber grew still.
On the bed, Bruce’s chest rose just slightly faster.
Then his fingers twitched.
Pamela stepped closer, breath held.
Come on, Bruce...
Another twitch. This time more defined. His brow creased faintly, as if something behind his eyelids was pulling him out of a heavy fog. Kara leaned in.
"Bruce... can you hear me?"
For a moment, there was no answer.
Then...
His eyes opened.
Slowly. Just a crack at first. Then wider.
The ceiling above him came into focus. The flickering plant-light, the gentle hum of machines, and then… faces.
Kara’s tear-filled blue eyes.
Talia’s calm, stoic expression, but with something fragile beneath it.
Pamela’s tired, worried smile.
He blinked once. Twice.
His voice came out like cracked earth.
"...I’m not dead?"
Pamela let out a breath that sounded like it had been locked in her chest for weeks.
"Welcome back."
Talia was already reaching for a damp cloth, dabbing his forehead gently. Kara just dropped to her knees beside the bed and grabbed his hand.
"You scared the hell out of us," she whispered, laughing softly through a shaky breath. "You really had to go out with a god-killing finale, didn’t you?"
Bruce turned his head slightly toward her, his lips curling into a faint smirk.
"Darkseid… deserved worse."
Pamela exhaled a breathless laugh, brushing hair from his face. “You sound like yourself already.” She was barely holding herself from hugging him.
He looked at her slowly. His eyes scanned her face, then Talia’s. He tried to sit up but winced.
"Easy," Talia said, holding his shoulder. "Your body’s still adjusting. The Lazarus Pit restructured what it could. The rest... was your own stubborn will holding you together."
Bruce leaned back against the raised bed, staring up at the vines across the ceiling, the golden veins running through them.
"How long?"
"A month," Pamela said.
"A month," he repeated quietly. "And no one’s come hunting?"
Kara shook her head. "Only us. Everyone else still thinks you’re dead. And if they find out you’re not... well, we’re not sure how some people might react. Not after what you did."
Bruce's eyes closed again for a moment. He inhaled deeply. All the old memories coming back slowly.
"I remember... the light. The Tribunal. The Spear. His soul." He opened his eyes again. "Did it work?"
"It worked," Kara said. "Darkseid’s gone. For good."
Pamela stepped forward, scanning his vitals. "But you weren’t just injured, Bruce. You were gone. We saw your body breaking apart. But then, last month, you fell from the sky."
Bruce stared at the ceiling again.
"Well, I didn't actually die. I woke up in another universe or multiverse... There was a war going on with giant alien robots... Arg!" He grabbed his head as a splitting pain assaulted his mind.
"You alright?" Pamela ran to him.
"Yeah, yeah... I'm good. It feels so weird. You wouldn't believe me. But there were these giant sentinels like lifeforms... Reapers... Yeah, that's what they called them. Anyway, after I destroyed them. There were these Geth robots. Asari, Salarians, and many others. They helped me build a dimensional spacecraft, and then I left that universe... It's so hazy now. I don't even remember how long I stayed in that universe... Haaa..."
Bruce sighed.
"Anyway. I want to see everyone... Please call them."
[A few hours later...]
Everyone has gathered in Wayne Manor's main hall. Pamela said that there's a surprise for them. So, Selina, Harley, Diana... (Too many names to write. So, let's go with everyone in the harem and family.) Everyone was there.
Then the door opened...
A familiar man entered the room with his usual signature smile and blue eyes.
Everyone was stunned as their eyes fell on that person. For a moment, they forgot how to breathe. That man looked around the room with a smile and then...
"Yo!"
....................
AN: END> Thank you, everyone, for all your support over the years. And there you go, another book ended. Phew! It's finally over. I am kinda happy with the new ending. I had so many arcs planned when I first started (> Mass Effect, Beyonders, and Anti-Monitor), but well, with the decline in readers and too many characters entering, I had to end it here. It was getting harder and harder to keep track of everyone.
HOPE YOU HAD FUN READING THIS FF.
THANK YOU.
