> "Everyone thinks I'm just brooding.
They never ask what I see when I close my eyes."
— Bruce Wayne, somewhere between insomnia and inevitability
---
[Location: Gotham – Post-Shadowfall, Pre-Doom, Mid-Usual Trauma]
Batman returned to a city that never thanked him.
Same streets. Same screams. Same crimes.
But beneath it all, he could feel it.
The ripple.
A distortion.
Something watching the story... from behind the story.
---
[Morning – Rooftop Recon]
Gordon lit the Bat-Signal. It flickered.
Gordon:
> "You vanished. Again."
Batman:
> "Multiversal business."
Gordon:
> "Did you bring souvenirs?"
Batman (deadpan):
> "Only emotional damage."
Gordon:
> "Classic."
---
[Midday – Wayne Manor Basement, AKA the Library of Nightmares]
Bruce scoured every file. Every cosmic thread. Every nonsensical mission log from the Chat Group.
His findings?
Deadpool has five timelines suing him for timeline pollution.
Buggy may be a "narrative fixed point" accidentally keeping three realities from collapsing.
MC… has no origin point. He's not even supposed to exist.
Alfred (pouring tea):
> "Still trying to solve what cannot be solved?"
Bruce:
> "I can solve anything."
Alfred:
> "Then why do you look tired again?"
---
[Afternoon – WayneTech Experimental Simulation Chamber]
He built a predictive AI.
It tried to simulate the Chat Group.
It exploded.
Then begged for deletion.
Bruce (not surprised):
> "They are the anomaly.
The multiverse bends around their stupidity."
---
[Private Ping to MC]
Bruce:
> "You knew I'd investigate."
MC:
> "Of course. That's your role."
Bruce:
> "You aren't leading this group to stop a single war.
You're preparing us to survive the rewrite."
MC (paused):
> "Yes."
Bruce:
> "Then I'm staying. But I want to be at the center when the story turns.
No more hiding behind the comedy."
MC:
> "Deal.
But you're still the guy who wore glitter during the Idol Arc."
Bruce (typing slowly):
> "I will end you."
---
[Evening – Rooftop Monologue, Obligatory]
He stood again where it all began.
The Bat-Signal buzzed overhead.
The sky shimmered.
A tear in reality blinked open for just a second—then closed.
> "We're not the heroes they expected.
But maybe… that's what makes us dangerous."
---
[System Notification]
> Trait Gained:
"Narrative Aegis (Lv.1)" – Immune to forced exposition, foreshadowing traps, and unwanted tragic flashbacks.
Can punch metafiction in the face.
---
End of Chapter 39: Bruce Wayne