Godfather Owl: Guardian of Batman

The title "Reverse-Flash" is most famously associated with Eobard Thawne in the DC Universe.

Born in the 25th century, Thawne was an obsessive fan of the Flash, dedicating his life to studying the Speed Force but failing to gain its favor.

One day, he stumbled upon an old Flash suit, and using the residual energy within it, he finally achieved a connection to the Speed Force.

However, a series of events led to his descent into darkness. Once Thawne fully turned against the Flash, the Negative Speed Force was born.

He became the Reverse-Flash.

But this time, Cedric had studied the Speed Force with a singular purpose: to counter it.

Without succumbing to darkness, he created a force specifically designed to suppress the Speed Force.

The Negative Speed Force.

When a speedster comes into contact with it, the Negative Speed Force consumes their power like a relentless cancer.

At this moment, Paradox Batman was the living proof of its devastating effects.

He stood in stunned disbelief as his speed drained away, bit by bit.

The certainty of his victory was crumbling.

"Bruce, I need to tell you something in advance," Reverse-Flash Cedric said, his tone calm as he addressed Bruce.

"I understand now that all of this was part of your plan. And it's a good one."

"But you'll be disappointed to learn that the moment the Speed Force was introduced, its impact on this world became irreversible."

"I've tried countless times, only to reach the same conclusion."

"The Speed Force has become a fundamental part of this world. The best we can do now is to suppress it."

Reverse-Flash Cedric had been running along the timeline for a long time, considering every possibility. He would not have appeared before Bruce unless he believed it was time to alter fate.

"I know," Bruce replied, nodding as he rose to his feet.

He had actually recovered most of his strength but had been sitting to take a breather.

Kathoom had told him long ago that the Speed Force, once born, became an integral part of the universe's fabric. To completely erase it was impossible.

But—

Destroying Paradox Batman? That was achievable.

"Ridiculous," Paradox Batman sneered, clenching his fists as black lightning re-emerged around him.

His speed had indeed been diminished, but it was still within a tolerable range.

Reverse-Flash eyed this alternate timeline version of himself—his destined nemesis. He didn't underestimate him, readying himself for a fierce clash.

"I've been waiting to meet you," Cedric said, sighing softly. "The time just wasn't right before."

"But now, I can finally run with you!"

In the blink of an eye, Reverse-Flash transformed into a streak of yellow lightning and lunged at Paradox Batman at blinding speed.

Paradox Batman refused to go down easily. Activating the Speed Force, he began running once again, racing through bolts of lightning.

A black streak and a yellow streak disappeared from Bruce's sight.

They might have reached the other side of the Earth—or left this timeline entirely.

"Make the most of this," Kathoom advised Bruce. "The battle isn't over. Take the chance to recharge."

"No problem," Bruce replied, pulling a small bag from his belt and extracting a mountain of food.

He and Kathoom devoured the rations ravenously, replenishing the energy drained by the Speed Force.

Moments later, the yellow and black lightning streaked back, encircling the world and passing by Bruce.

As they sped past, Reverse-Flash casually tore off a slice of pizza and ate it mid-run.

Paradox Batman had reached his maximum speed.

But no matter how much he accelerated, he couldn't shake Reverse-Flash from his trail.

In fact, Paradox Batman felt an eerie sensation: although he was running forward, his body seemed to shift backward at times.

The gap between him and Reverse-Flash was closing rapidly.

The closer they got, the more terrifying the effects of the Negative Speed Force became.

Paradox Batman's speed continued to drain.

Panic began to set in.

If he allowed his speed to be drained completely, he wouldn't even be able to open a temporal tunnel. He'd be trapped in this timeline.

"This desperate struggle of yours has been quite entertaining," Paradox Batman sneered suddenly, leaping into the air and turning to face Reverse-Flash mid-flight.

"But in the end, you're just an inferior version of me. All I need is a little time to regain control."

Behind him, a temporal tunnel opened.

Paradox Batman fell backward into it, vanishing in an instant.

Before disappearing, he flipped Reverse-Flash the middle finger.

The message was clear:

I'll be back. Wait and see.

He was retreating into the timeline to find a safe pocket of space-time to devise a counter to the Negative Speed Force.

After all, ambushes were never Batman's strong suit.

Seeing Paradox Batman disappear, Reverse-Flash stopped running. He didn't chase after him; there was no need. The next battlefield would be on the timeline itself.

A minute or two wouldn't make a difference now.

"You'll soon realize," Reverse-Flash muttered to himself, staring at the sky, "that escaping into the timeline was your worst decision.

"If not, even I might not have been able to deal with your immortal body."

Reverse-Flash Cedric reappeared before Bruce.

"How's it going?" Bruce asked, his voice muffled as he chewed on a mouthful of food.

"He's been forced into the timeline," Reverse-Flash replied with a smile. "How about it, Bruce? Can you still run?"

"Because next, it's our turn to play hunters in the timeline."

To hunt down every single Paradox Batman.

"Give me a second," Bruce said, swallowing his food in one big gulp.

"Burp."

Patting his stomach, he grinned. "Alright, tell me your plan—how do we catch Paradox Batman?"

"You call him Paradox Batman? That's... fitting," Cedric said with a chuckle. Yellow lightning flickered around him.

A speedster's lightning color was determined by their essence.

Yellow, like Hufflepuff. Cedric's heart had never wavered.

"My plan is simple," Cedric declared. "We just—"

"Run."

"Run, Bruce, and let Paradox Batman, who's been toying with time, face the consequences!"

Bruce nodded. "Alright!"

Kathoom rejoined Bruce, their energies merging seamlessly.

The Hellbat suit's wings extended, releasing a surge of red lightning like a dragon's roar.

Once again, the Speed Force became Bruce's strength.

"Wrap your thoughts in the Speed Force to avoid the confusion caused by time travel," Reverse-Flash instructed. "It's tricky, but I believe you can handle it."

This step required Bruce to master the process himself. Cedric's Negative Speed Force couldn't assist.

"No need to be so precise—just wing it!" Bruce replied confidently. "Trust me, my mind's got backup!"

The Zurr-En-Arrh persona, an extreme form of willpower, was unshakeable. Temporal confusion wouldn't defeat the Bat of Zurr-En-Arrh.

At most, it would annoy him for a while.

"Alright, I trust you!" Cedric laughed. "Ready, Bruce?"

Bruce nodded, meeting Cedric's gaze.

Together, they said—

"Run, Bruce, run!"

"Run, Cedric, run!"

A streak of red and a streak of yellow lightning shot across the Earth, their absolute speed on full display.

Side by side, Bruce and Reverse-Flash raced into the unknown timeline.

---

Seventh Year.

Voldemort stood before Hogwarts, the Death Eater army looming behind him.

"Ahahaha!" he cackled maniacally, arms spread wide, gripping Salazar Slytherin's wand.

"Harry Potter is dead!" he proclaimed. "You deluded fools, now you see the truth! He was nothing—just a boy relying on others to die for him!"

Hagrid knelt nearby, bound and sobbing, holding Harry's lifeless body. Tears dripped onto Harry's pale face.

"Now is the time to choose your side!" Voldemort shouted at the frightened rebels in the castle. "Join us, or—"

He never finished the sentence.

The sky tore open, revealing a strange portal. Three streaks of lightning burst forth.

As they passed Voldemort, the yellow lightning struck the black, sending a figure flying from the flash.

The figure collided with Voldemort.

The Dark Lord let out a grunt and collapsed.

"Damn it!" Paradox Batman cursed, ignoring Voldemort beneath him. Black lightning surged as he resumed running.

The black lightning fled, the other two streaks chasing relentlessly.

In their wake, a panicked cry rose behind them.

"Master! What's wrong?"

"Master, wake up!"

The laughter froze on Voldemort's face.

He had been struck by the Speed Force.

At least, one of his lives had ended.

---

Paradox Batman was running through the timeline, but his speed had drastically diminished.

A strange howling sound began to fill the air.

Suddenly, countless eerie figures in tattered black robes appeared beside him, relentlessly closing in.

Their forms were blurry and bizarre, as though they existed between reality and nothingness.

With pale skin tightly clinging to their bones, their skull structures visible beneath, their sunken eye sockets burned with an eerie green light.

Despite running at full speed, Paradox Batman couldn't escape these creatures.

Time Wraiths!

The Paradox Batman, who had disrupted the timeline, had finally drawn the wrath of these beings from the void!

"Is this really fair?" Bruce muttered as he ran alongside.

It was Reverse-Flash who had collided with Paradox Batman, sending him toward Voldemort, but now the consequences seemed to be falling squarely on Paradox Batman's head.

"In the end, we're both Cedric," Reverse-Flash said, his voice calm. "We're the same person. Why bother separating us? His existence alone makes him more susceptible to the Time Wraiths."

Paradox Batman had been born in a timeline that no longer existed.

His very existence was a sin.

The Wraiths were catching up to Paradox Batman.

Dry, skeletal hands clawed at his arms, threatening to drag him into the void between time and space—a prison from which no one could escape.

"If he stays in a fixed point in time, I wouldn't have to deal with his divine form," Reverse-Flash mused. "But now that he's entered the timeline, he's abandoned his greatest advantage."

"But Paradox Batman won't just sit back and die."

Bruce was not so optimistic. "He's still Batman. Escaping from dire situations is his specialty."

"That's right," Reverse-Flash agreed with Bruce. "He'll come up with a plan soon."

At that moment, Kathoom within Bruce's mind suddenly spoke.

"Hmm?"

The owl-like voice was heard. "Bruce, don't you think those Time Wraiths look exactly the same?"

"They're so withered, but the more I look at them, the more familiar they seem."

He was becoming one of them.

Paradox Batman's skin had begun to pale and decay, the first signs of transformation into a Time Wraith.

The sight sent a chill through his core.

"I'm rootless!" he realized in an instant.

"The timeline that created me no longer exists. I've been marked as a rogue entity running through time, and when I come into contact with these Wraiths, I start transforming into one of them!"

But even as terror gripped him, Paradox Batman's mind raced, formulating a solution.

"If that's the case," he muttered, "then I'll recreate the circumstances of my origin!"

He needed to restore the worst-case scenario timeline. If Cedric's transformation into Paradox Batman was reinstated as the "correct" fate, then the reverse would happen—Reverse-Flash would become the anomaly.

The hunted.

"I will restart the God of War Feast!"

Paradox Batman's eyes gleamed coldly as his plan took shape.

He would jump through the timeline, reenacting the events that led to the darkest outcomes, no matter the cost.

"Will it work?"

"Won't Reverse-Flash and Bruce interfere?"

"They won't," he assured himself.

All he needed was a small diversion to slow them down.

Just a few seconds.

His thoughts crystallized: First, I need a temporal remnant!

The moment he formed the idea, another version of himself appeared alongside him, running in perfect synchronization.

This was a Temporal Remnant—a copy of himself, created through the manipulation of timeline possibilities.

Temporal remnants were complex and fraught with risks. Overuse could lead to catastrophic consequences, as Barry Allen's experience with Savitar had proven.

More remnants began to appear.

An army of Paradox Batmen, all running, each representing a different possibility.

"These will all die," Paradox Batman mused grimly, "eventually turning into Wraiths that will hunt me.

"But if they can buy me just a little time, that's enough."

Amid the chaos of his copies, Paradox Batman's original form disappeared.

The plan to save himself had begun.

---

End of Second Year.

The northern English coastline lay shrouded under stormy skies, waves crashing against jagged rocks.

Remus Lupin stepped out of a small boat, his feet finding the solid ground of society once more after years in Azkaban.

He was accompanied by his cellmate Gibber and the large black dog that was Sirius Black.

The promise of a new life lay before them.

As Lupin turned to take a final glance at Azkaban's ominous silhouette on the horizon, time froze.

The air grew still, the world halting like a suspended frame in a film.

Only streaks of black lightning remained, crackling through the frozen tableau.

Paradox Batman emerged before Lupin's immobile form. Without hesitation, he pulled a thread of shimmering silver from his own mind and thrust it into Lupin's brain.

"Hold on to this," Paradox Batman said coldly. "And don't forget to give it back."

Then, with a flash, he vanished from the timeline.

Time resumed, the stillness breaking like a shattering mirror.

Lupin stumbled, a peculiar thought suddenly seizing his mind:

Stage a cruel and hopeless feast at Hogwarts.

The idea, foreign yet compelling, consumed him entirely.

For a moment, his morality wavered in chaos. Only one notion burned brightly: Host the feast.

What was cruel and hopeless?

To Lupin, the cruelest and most hopeless moments in his life were the nights he transformed into a werewolf.

Mindless. Bloodthirsty.

Even those he loved most were not safe from his monstrous form.

"Then let it be…" Lupin muttered under his breath.

"A Werewolf Feast."

---

The summer holidays after the second year.

Bruce had just returned from the dark world of cloaked shadows.

It was early morning.

Countless owls began their daily work of delivering letters.

One owl, carrying a heavy package, arrived at a wizard's mailbox. Dropping the package in place, it flew off.

Moments later, the door opened, and Cedric stepped outside.

This was not Paradox Batman. Nor was it Reverse-Flash.

This was this timeline's Cedric.

"Who sent this?"

Cedric examined the sender's name and address, finding no name attached. The return address simply read "Hogwarts."

Curious, he brought the package inside and opened it.

Inside were four peculiar items: a test tube and three metallic pieces.

"What is this…?"

Before Cedric could think further, time slowed to a crawl.

Black lightning flashed, and Paradox Batman materialized in the room.

"Poor me," Paradox Batman murmured, his voice dripping with dark amusement. "You must become me."

Without hesitation, he planted a silver thread of memory deep into Cedric's mind.

And then, he was gone.

Paradox Batman raced through different timelines, weaving each thread of his plan.

Every participant of the Feast of Ares had now been set into motion.

The worst-case scenario was taking shape once again.

"All that's left is Hermione," Paradox Batman mused briefly before shaking his head.

"No... she's too close to Bruce. Altering her might raise his suspicions and create unforeseen complications."

He decided she could be dealt with later—capturing her and bringing her to the feast would suffice.

"For now, everyone else has their role and their place," Paradox Batman muttered, finally allowing himself a rare moment of ease.

The timeline was shifting toward its darkest outcome. He would no longer be an anomaly.

He would become the correct future.

The fastest, strongest, and darkest Batman would rise once again.

---

Inside the time tunnel, chaos reigned.

The countless temporal remnants Paradox Batman had left behind had all been consumed and transformed into Time Wraiths.

Their ghastly forms howled as they honed in on their final target.

"Something's wrong," Bruce said suddenly, narrowing his eyes as he ran.

He was right. The unexpected struck in the very next moment.

The horde of Time Wraiths chasing Paradox Batman suddenly halted.

Then, as one, they turned and lunged at Bruce's group.

More specifically—at Reverse-Flash Cedric.

"What's happening?" Bruce growled, instinctively grabbing Cedric's arm to pull him out of the time tunnel.

The moment their hands touched, Bruce gasped in searing pain.

"The Negative Speed Force is lethal to you," Cedric explained, shaking his head and gesturing for Bruce to turn and run instead.

The two bolted, unleashing every ounce of speed they had, leaving the Time Wraiths far behind.

But they both knew this was no solution.

The Time Wraiths would pursue them endlessly, and eventually, exhaustion would force them to stop.

They had to find a way out.

"Bruce, I think I know what's going on!" Cedric shouted.

"Explain!" Bruce demanded, even as they ran.

"Paradox Batman must have altered the timeline to make me the paradox instead of him!"

Bruce cursed under his breath. "How can he rewrite the timeline just like that?"

It was the cursed nature of the Speed Force.

With its power, the time tunnel became as accessible as a public restroom—enter and exit at will, disrupting causality with every step.

"It's the price of playing with time," Cedric said grimly. "Anyone who manipulates time will eventually find themselves manipulated by it."

That truth applied not just to Paradox Batman but to Reverse-Flash—and even Bruce.

"The real problem," Cedric continued, his voice tinged with frustration, "is that we couldn't take him down fast enough. If we had, he wouldn't have had the chance to alter the timeline."

He smirked, almost despite himself. "Then again, isn't Batman's specialty turning the tables in impossible situations?"

"Even Paradox Batman," Bruce muttered, "shares that trait."

Determination flared in his eyes.

"Then we can't stop now," Bruce said resolutely. "If he can alter the timeline to the worst-case scenario, so can we! Cedric, let's run!"

Cedric sighed and nodded. "No other choice."

Bruce's gaze darkened. Altering the future again was just one more challenge to overcome.

But then, Kathoom's voice whispered urgently in his ear—

"Save your strength, Bruce."

"What?" Bruce snapped, startled by the unexpected interruption.

"Look behind you," Kathoom said. "Take a good look at those Time Wraiths."

Bruce turned his head, catching a glimpse of the black-robed specters pursuing them.

The sight was like something from a nightmare—a horde of relentless, skeletal wraiths.

And then—

"No way…"

Bruce's heart pounded wildly as a chilling realization dawned on him.

"Yes, Bruce," Kathoom said solemnly. "Look closely."

"All the Time Wraiths… have the same face."

"I confirmed it when I saw Paradox Batman's transformation."

Kathoom's voice grew heavier.

"It's clear now—"

"All the Time Wraiths are Cedric."

Kathoom's words hit Bruce like a thunderclap, echoing ominously in his mind.

The owl's voice felt distant, as though it came from somewhere far away.

"How many cycles have we gone through?

"The birth of Paradox Batman. We rewind time, create Reverse-Flash to counter him. Paradox Batman alters the timeline again, is reborn, and now we're here, altering the timeline once more."

"Bruce, how many times have we done this?"

Paradox Batman and Reverse-Flash Cedric were both Cedric Diggory.

Two outcomes on two separate timelines.

Bruce and Kathoom had once believed that time branched like a tree—choose one path, and the others simply ceased to exist.

But the truth was messier than that.

The speedsters, with their constant temporal meddling, had twisted the timelines into a tangled web.

"A Möbius loop," Kathoom sighed. "That's what the timeline has become."

The loop's front was its back, and its back was its front. An endless cycle of repetition.

"That's not right!" Bruce's eyes lit up as he grasped for a contradiction.

"We've been reversing time from outside this world's timeline—it shouldn't affect its flow!"

"Yes," Kathoom acknowledged. "That's been our one saving grace. We don't die when the timeline collapses."

Instead, Bruce and Kathoom were spared—stripped of their memories and reset to the timeline of the worst-case scenario.

And so it began again:

The Feast of Ares.

Witnessing Cedric's coronation.

Reversing the future.

And returning to this very moment.

Over and over, inescapably.

"This can't be true…" Bruce clutched his head, his mind reeling as he tried to deny Kathoom's assertions.

But the faces of the Time Wraiths loomed before him—undeniable proof of the truth.

"Do you remember what I told you, Bruce?" Kathoom said with quiet resignation. "When we think we've saved everything, something irreparable always happens."

The irreparable was now upon them.

"So, it's hopeless?" Bruce muttered, his voice hollow.

"I have a solution," Kathoom offered grimly, "but it's a dangerous one. It would break the loop but create a new disaster."

"What is it?" Bruce asked, desperation giving him strength.

"You must merge with the five metals," Kathoom said, emphasizing each word. "But not the present you—the past you."

Bruce blinked, not understanding.

Kathoom elaborated.

"The five metals will open a gateway to the Dark Multiverse. Here's the key: we're in the Harry Potter world."

"This world's structure is weaker than that of the DC Universe. If the past of the Harry Potter world is altered, it won't change the past of the DC Universe."

"That's where we have leverage."

"By infusing the five metals into your past self, the Harry Potter world will open the gateway to the Dark Multiverse—but DC's past won't be affected."

"This creates a paradox—a multiversal paradox."

"And what happens then?" Bruce asked, his voice tense.

"The Harry Potter world will crash," Kathoom said bluntly.

"It will try to fix the paradox but fail, leaving the world frozen in a permanent state of error."

Bruce frowned. "How does that help? Endless looping or permanent freezing—it's the same outcome, isn't it?"

"No, it's not!" Kathoom countered. "If the Harry Potter world freezes, the Time Wraiths will stop pursuing us."

"That gives us the chance to escape this world and find a solution from the outside."

"Once free, we can figure out how to undo the loop entirely."

"But how do we solve this outside the world?" Bruce asked, his hope fading.

Time problems had no clean fixes. Every solution risked creating new complications.

"This time, we won't make things worse," Kathoom reassured. "The real issue is that we can't kill Paradox Batman."

"But if we discover a way to slay a god, everything falls into place."

The plan was clear:

The five metals would pause the loop.

Once the loop restarted, they would have the means to kill Paradox Batman and end the cycle forever.

Bruce processed Kathoom's explanation, his despair lifting slightly.

"And where do we find a way to kill a god?" he asked.

"Simple," Kathoom replied. "We go to Wonder Woman's world in the DCEU."

"That world has seen gods fall before. We avoided it before, afraid of falling into Barbatos' trap."

"But now it's different."

"If the Harry Potter world crashes, Barbatos won't notice. It'll take him time to realize something is wrong."

"That gives us a window to return to DC, learn how to slay a god, and escape before we're discovered."

"With the Speed Force on our side, we'll have a much better chance of retreating—or, ahem, strategically advancing—if needed."

Bruce's mind raced, evaluating the plan's feasibility.

Finally, he made his decision.

"All right. Let's do it," he declared.

"This is my fight with Barbatos. The Harry Potter world is innocent—I won't let an entire world suffer because of me!"

Bruce turned to Kathoom, his gaze steady.

"You feel the same way, don't you?"

"Well…" Kathoom hesitated, averting his gaze. "I mean, if you're okay with dying, fine—but I'm not eager to go…"

"Enough!"

Bruce felt a renewed sense of purpose.

Nearby, Reverse-Flash Cedric sensed Bruce's transformation.

Though they had been running together, Cedric had silently observed Bruce's emotional journey—his despair, his hopelessness, and finally, his determination.

It was almost bewildering.

"Cedric," Bruce said quietly. "I might not be able to run with you much longer."

"I understand," Cedric replied without hesitation, a bright smile spreading across his face.

"You've thought of a better solution, haven't you? Bruce, I trust you. Do what you need to do!"

"You trust me that much?" Bruce asked, genuinely surprised.

"Of course I do," Cedric replied with a knowing grin. "I'm Batman too, remember?"

Cedric tapped his temple. "I have your memories."

"Batman always finds a way."

"Good!" Bruce nodded firmly. He vowed to find the means to slay Paradox Batman and free the world.

"By the way," Cedric added, his tone softening, "before you embark on something this dangerous..."

"You should say goodbye to your family."

"Don't leave things unresolved, like I did in the original timeline."

Cedric slowed his pace, allowing the Time Wraiths to draw closer.

"I'll hold them off," he said. "It'll be a while before they can catch me."

"In the meantime, do what you need to do."

This was Cedric's farewell.

He deliberately lagged behind, making himself the target.

"Run, Bruce! Run!" Cedric shouted.

Bruce cast one last look at Cedric.

Reverse-Flash.

Paradox Batman.

Batman.

But most of all—Cedric Diggory, the loyal Hufflepuff.

Bruce turned away and began to run, red lightning flaring around him.

He surged toward his timeline with all his might.

---

The Granger household was peaceful. Hermione was at her desk, immersed in her preparation for the new school year.

She and Bruce had both chosen to take every available class, and the workload promised to be immense. Hermione had resolved to get a head start.

"Where has Bruce disappeared to this time?" she wondered, frowning. "He just got back from America, and now he's vanished again.

"As his older sister, I'll definitely give him a piece of my mind when he returns!"

Just then, the world froze.

Hermione remained in place, her eyes scanning a book she would not remember reading.

A shadowy figure appeared in her room—Bruce, clad in his Hellbat armor.

He didn't pull Hermione into the Speed Force bubble with him.

Instead, he gazed at her for a long moment before stepping out of the room, taking in every detail of the house.

This place, which had been like a home to him, was etched into his memory.

"Goodbye, Aunt, Uncle, and Hermione," Bruce murmured softly. "To free you from the loops of time—even gods, I will kill for you."

He returned to Hermione's room, placing a crude batarang on her desk.

It was a relic of his early years—a rough, hand-carved weapon from his first year at Hogwarts when he had tried to impersonate Batman.

It was a piece of his past, long sealed away within Kathoom's feathers out of embarrassment.

But now, he left it for Hermione.

"This batarang will protect you in my absence," he said, his voice steady.

Suddenly, Kathoom materialized beside him, feathers fluttering.

"Wait!" the owl exclaimed. "I have something to leave her too!"

With a flourish, Kathoom plucked a feather and used a transfiguration spell to turn it into a sleek owl-shaped throwing blade.

"This owl dart will also protect you," Kathoom declared, looking at Hermione's frozen form. "And remember—you better build me a statue someday!"

Their tasks complete, Kathoom merged back into Bruce's armor, and the Hellbat vanished from the room.

Time resumed.

Hermione blinked, unaware of what had just transpired.

The two darts—one bat-shaped, the other owl-shaped—rested quietly on her desk.

---

Bruce raced through the timeline, red lightning crackling around him.

"First stop—the timeline of the worst-case scenario. We need to get the fifth metal!"

The reward from the Feast of Ares: the Electrum, a symbol of the soul.

Kathoom, however, shook his head in Bruce's mind.

"No need. Just stretch out your hand and grab it."

Bruce complied, thrusting his hand forward. A streak of red lightning flashed, and when he opened his palm, a glowing fragment rested there.

"Don't forget—the timeline is swarming with Paradox Batman's wraiths," Kathoom explained.

"Electrum, the metal of the soul, is everywhere in this chaos. Whenever you need it, the Speed Force will gather it for you."

The collection was complete.

The five metals were now in Bruce's possession:

Dionysium from Jason.

Promethium knocked loose from Deathstroke.

Bat-Metal recovered from his bat-projectiles.

Nth Metal gifted by his mother.

And Electrum, drawn from the temporal currents.

"Which timeline are we heading to?" Bruce asked.

"Whose past self are we about to ruin?"

"If we're revisiting the past," Kathoom said with a mischievous tone, "let's go all the way back."

---

The Beginning: Before the First Year

Bruce stood before an iron gate, the imposing structure of an orphanage looming beyond it.

He double-checked his surroundings, certain he hadn't made a mistake.

"This is an orphanage!" Bruce exclaimed, unable to hide his irritation. "I'm not an orphan—I have Alfred!"

"That's not my problem," Kathoom quipped with mockery. "If your fragile ego feels slighted, file a complaint with this world!"

The man and the owl were bickering when the Speed Force activated, freezing everything.

The Hellbat emerged in front of young Bruce.

"You've always been insufferable," present Bruce muttered, glaring at Kathoom's past self.

"Mind your own business and get to work!" past Kathoom snapped back.

With a sigh, Bruce extended his hand. The five metals shimmered in his palm, glowing faintly.

His hand trembled violently as he pressed it to his younger self's chest.

When he pulled it back, the metals had been implanted.

"Run!" Kathoom screeched, like a child who had just thrown a firecracker into a neighbor's yard.

Bruce didn't hesitate. He turned and sprinted, leaving the world behind.

---

As Bruce raced through the multiverse, vibrant and chaotic lights blurred past him.

"By the way," Kathoom began, his voice laced with concern, "there's something I forgot to mention."

Bruce grunted in acknowledgment, bracing for more bad news.

"The Harry Potter world may have crashed," Kathoom explained, "but that makes it incredibly conspicuous in the multiverse."

"What do you mean?" Bruce asked, frowning.

"When every other world is in motion, a single frozen world becomes the absolute focal point," Kathoom clarified.

"And what happens then?"

"It attracts other worlds," Kathoom replied, his tone ominous.

He paused for dramatic effect before adding:

"We call it—the Convergence of Spheres."

---

T/N: wow thats a big chapter, apparently according to the author this entire arc was killing his book but he powered through and it was revived! Hooray! anyways this is actually 5k words but im feeling generous and gonna give ya the usual chapter count

Reader, your presence signifies commitment.

To walk this path is to contribute to the pursuit of eternity.

Should you wish to further fortify our resolve, step forward: [patreon.com/WiseTL].

Each action contributes to the unyielding foundation of our creation. Together, we etch a mark that transcends the fleeting nature of time.

— Raiden Shogun