Blood. A trace of blood spilled from the corner of Batman's mouth aboard the Helicarrier the very moment the Enchantress's words fell.
Even with the Gargoyle Suit's Vibranium matrix absorbing kinetic energy and dispersing damage, not only was Batman's armor not constructed entirely from Vibranium, but even Vibranium's capacity for kinetic absorption had an absolute upper limit.
Earlier, to protect Venom Robin, Batman had absorbed damage pushing the absolute physical limits of his body, to the point where even Peter Parker's body had come close to yielding under the strain.
Coughing up a mouthful of blood, Batman rested one hand on Venom Robin's shoulder, relying on the boy's support to alleviate the searing pain coursing through his body.
Venom Robin snapped fully back to awareness at that exact moment. When he saw the blood dripping from Batman's mouth, a murderous rage flared instantly in his sinister, stark-white eyes.
Clack!
This time, it was Venom Robin's turn to snatch the double-bladed battleaxe from Batman's hands. Crouching low, the symbiote matter along his lower limbs twisted, swelled, and coiled as it seeped through the gaps of his mummy-like wrappings.
With a thunderous bang, a massive section of the metal deck beneath him collapsed inward. Venom Robin hoisted the battleaxe high, ripping through the air with a visibly distinct shockwave trailing in his wake.
In the span of a single blink, he closed the distance to the Enchantress, bringing the battleaxe down right over her head without a shred of mercy.
CLANG!!
A deafening screech of tearing metal reverberated through the engine room of the Helicarrier, the echo lingering for a long time.
Venom Robin hadn't hit the Enchantress; his axe slammed squarely into the industrial steel beam she had been standing on moments before.
Just as the battleaxe was about to split Amora the Enchantress vertically in two, she melted into a shadow and vanished, reappearing full fifty meters away from Venom Robin.
"Don't be so impatient, little guy. Seeing how you can freely alter your body's size, why don't you spend a night with me instead?"
The Enchantress teased playfully.
Venom Robin roared in pure fury, yanking the battleaxe out of the deep gouge in the alloy deck with a harsh creak, intending to charge the Enchantress once more.
This time, however, he was denied the chance.
During his initial strike, five or six figures had already moved in near-perfect synchronization toward Venom Robin's landing spot. Among them was a cloud of floating gas, crackling yellow-green lightning resembling wheat awns, and a figure clad entirely in pitch-black.
These combatants encircled Venom Robin in a tight ring, glaring at him like beasts stalking prey.
"Your injuries seem quite severe," the Enchantress said, no longer looking at Venom Robin but turning her eyes toward Batman as he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, speaking in a tone dripping with mock concern.
Batman said nothing; he had to conserve every ounce of energy for the upcoming battle.
He could vaguely sense that almost every entity here possessed combat capabilities no weaker than The Lizard—and after his evolution, The Lizard had been capable of briefly going toe-to-toe with the Hulk in his base form.
Even in a one-on-one scenario, Batman would need to treat such opponents with absolute seriousness. Right now, there were fourteen of them standing here.
Back then, there had only been twelve Frost Giants.
This would mark the single toughest battle Batman had encountered since crossing over into this world. He lacked even basic intelligence on who these individuals were or what abilities they possessed, let alone the opportunity to prepare strategies in advance.
"Alfie. Reflection," Batman's low voice sounded, parsimonious with words.
"My apologies, Master Wayne," Alfred's voice remained calm, though Batman caught a distinct trace of gravity in it. "Reflection is currently unable to provide you with air support."
Batman took a deep breath, asking no further questions.
If Alfred put it that way, the situation facing Reflection Batwing was likely no better than Batman's own current plight.
And in truth, that was precisely the case.
High in the sky, a dense swarm of drones had ascended into the air, using a grid-search sweep to pinpoint Reflection Batwing's location.
Forming a spherical blockade from all directions, virtually every gap was choked full of drones, trapping the Batwing in a position with nowhere to run.
"Master Wayne, hold on. Wait for me," Alfred said.
By now, the old butler was already piloting Reflection Batwing in aerial combat against the swarm, neutralizing at least five drones at blinding speed.
Yet the sheer volume of drones was overwhelming, swarming like a plague of locusts and relying purely on numerical weight to stall Reflection Batwing.
"Understood," Batman replied softly.
In the very next instant after Batman spoke, Alfred commanded Reflection Batwing to engage one of the new craft's specialized operational protocols:
"Fear Mode."
Reflection Batwing had already disengaged its super-high-speed penetration mode, deploying its dual wings in a standard hover configuration to face the overwhelming drone swarm.
Yet under Alfred's manual control, even as the aircraft maneuvered through the sky to evade the incoming drone assault, the entire fuselage began undergoing a earth-shattering transformation.
The wing membranes inside both main wings retracted entirely, leaving behind sixteen bare, skeletal structural struts.
The tips of these structural struts burst into eerie blue flames, and every single strut began to fold and morph.
Razor-sharp Adamantium talons deployed directly above the thruster nozzles, rapidly being scorched into a white-hot glow by the heat.
The scale-like armor plating across the fuselage surface rippled in layered waves, as though coming alive at this very moment, breathing in unison.
At the nose of Reflection Batwing, the narrow, elongated eyes ignited with a scarlet glare, while the three dramatically styled nasal leaves below flared open, like a vampire bat opening its maw to expose deadly fangs.
Along the interior of the nasal leaves, the directional ultrasonic array and acoustic weapons were initialized simultaneously.
In what felt like a single blink, the aircraft that had looked merely oddly designed a moment before transformed into a massive, predatory bat monster hungry to devour anything in its path.
Bzzt!
Two beams of red light fired first from Reflection Batwing's eyes, converging onto a single point. Within a breath, at least twenty drones were sliced cleanly in two, trailing thick smoke as they plummeted downward at an angle.
Under Alfred's control, Reflection Batwing seemed to come genuinely alive; the tips of its sixteen structural struts flexed forward, their flames and razor blades tearing through the drones with total abandon.
The acoustic weapons emitted continuous output, utilizing the ultrasonic positioning matrix to strike precision blows against enemies at tricky angles.
The red light from its eyes proved utterly unstoppable.
Simultaneously, the Batwing's flight dynamics shifted entirely: transitioning from mechanical flight maneuvers—no matter how agile—into the unrestricted, predatory swoops of a demon.
Diving, twisting, and weaving through the air, it was the absolute embodiment of an agile, cunning, and ruthless beast.
A rainstorm gradually began to fall from the sky—a downpour composed entirely of drone wreckage large and small, crashing down to the earth below with a chaotic racket.
Inside the Helicarrier, Batman remained motionless, fighting for every second to gather his strength.
Amora the Enchantress stood safe behind the varied array of monsters, holding forth eloquently:
"Batman, do you want to know whose hands you'll die by today? Zzzax? Or Bi-Beast?
"Oh, it seems I forgot to introduce them to you... Where should I even begin?"
The Enchantress cupped her heavy chest with both arms, her eyes rolling around as she pondered the options.
Yet clearly not everyone was willing to let the Enchantress dally. A towering man bathed in purple energy—his body straddling the line between an ionic state and physical flesh—took the initiative to launch an attack against Batman first:
"Iron Man killed my brother, so I will kill you to avenge him!"
"Oh, Simon Williams couldn't hold back! Do be careful~" the Enchantress let out a gasp, her voice sickly sweet. "His brother goes by the Grim Reaper, as for him... he is Wonder Man."
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