At Downton Manor, a thunderous crash rang out as Kara tore through the walls. Bruce bolted upright in bed, startled out of his sleep.
Beside him, Rachel blinked tiredly, reaching out to rub bruises on Bruce's back.
"What happened? That noise was insane."
Bruce pushed himself up.
"I don't know. You stay in the corner of the house where it's safe. I'll go check."
He threw on a bathrobe and dashed out, only to run into Alfred in the hallway, still in pajamas.
Seeing Bruce, Alfred exhaled in relief.
"Thank goodness, Bruce. I was worried that was you and Axel actually fighting!"
Bruce frowned.
"With how beat up I am right now, even if Axel did smash me to paste, there's no way it would make that loud a racket."
Alfred nodded, and the two hurried to Axel and Selina's room.
Standing outside the closed door, they exchanged worried glances. Bruce pushed it open.
Inside, a shredded carpet and broken floorboards led to a large hole in the wall. Axel stood in front of it, back to them, gazing at the moonlight.
Bruce walked over and called out.
"Do you know who attacked us? Were they after you or me?"
As he stepped closer, Selina lifted her head from beneath the covers.
"With all due respect," she said flatly, "Axel is pissed right now. You probably don't want to get closer."
"Pissed?"
Bruce looked puzzled as Axel slowly turned his head.
" Morning grumpiness, that's all," Axel grumbled. "It's bullshit that gods with zero sense of time choose this hour to interrupt my sleep. I hate it when I'm woken up like this. Once I'm awake, I'm fine, so don't worry."
He looked at Bruce with glowing blood‑red eyes. Bruce swallowed.
"You sure you're okay?"
"Of course," Axel sneered, turning back toward the ruined window.
Bruce hesitated, then glanced at Selina, whose head peeked out from the covers.
"So the window damage…"
"That was done by Axel's comrade," Selina cut in, licking her lips. "Short hair, hella powerful, and plenty of attitude."
She paused and called out to Axel's back.
"Hey babe, once all this is over, can that girl spend a night with me? She's exactly my type, I'd love to hear her beg."
"You'll only hear your begging," Axel replied with a smirk.
At that moment, Kara burst in with a sonic boom, slamming into the room and cracking more of the already‑destroyed floor.
Alfred and Bruce flinched and exchanged another glance. Kara looked at Selina with a chill of contempt, then stepped forward and presented a severed hand dripping with blood to Axel.
Bruce stared in stunned disbelief.
"That's… Diana's hand! She's a goddess, how did you—?"
"She's just another weak god," Kara said dismissively.
Axel took the severed hand, examining the bracer on the wrist.
"What a nice hand," he said with a crooked grin, treating it like a firm handshake. Then, in a bizarre casual motion, he swung the limb over his shoulder like a baseball bat.
"Diana and Doctor Fate wanted to destroy Wayne Tower," Axel explained to Bruce, "and they chose *the time that pisses me off the most. Since they disturbed my sleep, this is their token of apology."
He waved a hand at Kara.
"Diana's coming this way, Kara. She's your problem now."
"She's no match for me, especially without her Bracelets of Submission," Kara replied as she drifted toward the broken window to confront the approaching threat.
Axel then looked at Bruce.
"Bruce, my friend, look after my sister‑in‑law. I'm off to protect Wayne Group."
Bruce blinked, dumbfounded.
"Wait, what? Why would Doctor Fate turn against Wayne Group, and why target Wayne Tower? What's your connection to Wayne Tower, and why destroy it? Are they trying to stop you? Is there some ritual involving Barbatos…"
Before Bruce could finish, a streak of blue lightning flashed by.
A familiar voice cut in, irreverent and smug.
"I heard the name Barbatos. So Bruce, do you even know what that means?"
Standing there with a cigarette and a cocky grin was none other than John Constantine, flanked by another man crackling with speed.
Bruce's head spun.
"What does it mean? Who are you? And why is that guy dressed like a comic book reject?!"
His entire worldview teetered on the edge, torn between gods, assassins, multiverses, and now two men who seemed to defy logic.
Constantine flicked ash from his cigarette and grinned.
"I'm John Constantine from another universe. We've worked together plenty there, Bruce."
The speedster beside him stepped forward.
"I'm Flash. You probably don't know me — in my universe you died early. I thought you were a minor character, but after hopping between universes, I realized you're maybe the most dependable and unreliable hero anywhere. I'm from your future, sort of, but not exactly. We don't have time to go into all that. Bottom line — Wayne Tower needs defending if we want any shot at stopping the version of the Lord from becoming hell‑bent in the future."
Bruce staggered, overwhelmed.
Before this chaos, he almost had a plan. He'd accepted gods and magic. But time travel, multiverse Flash versions, cosmic Barbatos gods — this was too much.
Flash started to speak again, but Constantine stopped him with a wave.
"Barry, hush. Bruce, you don't need all the details. Just know this — Barbatos is a Dark Multiverse entity, basically a lord of destroyed realities. He'll try to consume your universe unless someone stops him."
Bruce exhaled shakily, forcing himself to focus.
"So even though Axel is the immediate threat in Gotham, the Axel of the future might be the only one who can save Earth? Is that right?"
"Pretty much," Constantine said. "But Axel isn't doing this for Earth. In his eyes, Earth is his territory. But you're not wrong — your ingenuity matters."
Constantine clapped Bruce on the shoulder, and Bruce recoiled before asking sharply.
"Why do you talk to me like that? What's our relationship in your universe?"
Constantine laughed, too casual for the moment.
"Come on, Bruce. You're the world's best detective, better than Sherlock Holmes. In my universe… we were lovers. The only thing that kept us apart was my own promiscuous self… sweetheart."
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