The silence between us was almost physical. Heavy. Tense enough to make the air vibrate.
I took another step.
Batman didn't move — not back, not forward. But every muscle in him was ready.
He didn't fear me.
He analyzed me.
His visor projected a series of quick diagnostics, and I heard every faint beep hidden inside the layers of his cowl — he was checking my heart rate, body mass, temperature, behavior… everything.
"You crossed half the world to come here."
His voice finally broke the silence.
Deep. Controlled. Emotionless.
"You're easy to find when you decide to make noise," I replied, glancing around the destroyed warehouse. "And you made plenty."
He turned fully toward me.
Not in an attack stance.
But like someone who recognizes the board pieces have shifted.
"What do you want ?" he asked.
I drew a deep breath.
Part of me wanted to unload everything right there.
The stolen DNA, Homelander, the government hunting my existence.
But looking at him — hard, methodical, impenetrable — I realized talking to
Batman wasn't like talking to any adult.
It would be like speaking to a distorted mirror.
Someone who also carries the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Except my world was… much bigger.
"I want answers," I said firmly. "And I want help."
Batman didn't reply. Not yet.
He walked over to one of the unconscious criminals, picked up what looked like an energy cell from a fallen weapon, and stored it in a belt compartment with a dry click.
Every movement showed monstrous precision.
No wasted energy.
No hesitation.
When he finished, he turned his face back to me.
"Help with what ?"
I met the opaque white eyes of his visor and felt, for the first time in months, that uncomfortable sting of vulnerability.
"They took my DNA."
Batman froze.
Apparently even he knew that the DNA of one of the most powerful people in the world, in the wrong hands, is a disaster.
"Who ?" he said, lower.
"The United States government."
My voice came out rough.
"They're trying to create monsters to control me, and as much as I hate admitting it, they're starting to piss me off."
Batman tilted his head slightly.
"Cloning ?"
"Something worse."
He stayed silent for a few seconds — long enough for me to notice that he was reorganizing every piece of information into patterns, risks, probabilities.
Then he turned off the holographic visor.
Something in his posture shifted.
He was finally treating this as a real threat.
"And why come to me ?" he asked.
"Because I believe you can help me — and I can help you in return," I answered.
And he knew that.
For an instant, the quiet warehouse felt suspended in time.
Great meetings often begin like this — small moments, big decisions.
Batman stepped closer.
"Tell me everything."
I nodded.
"It's going to be a long night."
"Then let's begin. Follow me."
Leaving the warehouse, we were enveloped again by the night. Cold air drifted across the city, and the distant sirens of ambulances and police cars told me the night wasn't difficult only for me.
Batman said nothing else. He just walked to a side wall, fired a grappling hook, and ascended with almost unnatural speed. I followed through the air, landing on the ledge before he even reached the rooftop.
The building was tall — tall enough for the wind to cut like thin blades, pushing away any chance of eavesdropping or interception. The streets below were far too distant for our voices to be captured.
Batman looked around first.
Always checking. Always evaluating.
Three cameras on nearby buildings, already hacked.
Two municipal surveillance drones, diverted through silent interference.
No suspicious vital signs in the perimeter.
"Now we can talk."
His voice was firm, but there was something new — genuine interest. Controlled concern.
I crossed my arms.
"You already knew, didn't you ?" I asked. His posture stiffened slightly.
"Nothing conclusive. I detected suspicious money movements coming straight from the White House. I tried investigating, but they have technopaths, and I haven't broken their defenses yet."
"You spy on the governments of the whole world, or just the United States?" I joked.
He remained silent, thoughtful.
He moved closer to the building's edge, his cape swaying like a living shadow.
"The government wouldn't make such aggressive moves without a reason."
"I'm the reason," I replied. "I was born there. Raised there. And now that they've discovered what I can truly do…"
"They want you back."
Batman finished the sentence with surgical precision.
"They don't want me back."
My fist tightened.
"They want control. They want replicas. They want weapons."
Batman stayed quiet, analyzing every nuance in my voice.
"Show me the scope of the problem," he finally said.
I breathed deeply and handed him my phone. Just one image: the red symbol marked on Dr. Meryl's files.
RE-0.
Batman zoomed in, eyes analyzing lines and patterns indistinguishable to most.
"Modified genetic sequence," he murmured. "She created false layers."
"To deceive them."
He stared at me for a long moment.
"Is this doctor trustworthy ?"
"She's the one who helped me not destroy an entire hospital when my quirk awakened," I answered. "She understands my power better than anyone."
"And even so, she kept your DNA."
Batman wasn't accusing.
He was stating a fact.
I looked away.
"She tried to protect me. But that doesn't change what she did."
"It doesn't," he agreed.
The wind grew stronger, blowing dust and ash from the rooftop. Below us, the city breathed — chaotic, alive, dark.
Batman stored the phone in his belt.
"A project, maybe," he said. "Cloning. Weapons. What exactly are they trying to build ?"
"Something using my physiology as a base. Even if unstable."
I looked at the horizon, trying to control the anger.
For the first time, Batman subtly clenched his jaw.
A clear sign that this was serious.
"And what do you want from me ?"
The question was calm.
Quiet.
But powerful.
I drew a breath.
"I want you to help me track this facility," I said. "I want to reach them before they reach me."
Batman analyzed me for seconds that felt like hours.
"And you want to do this without involving governments, agencies, or the Japanese heroes."
"Yes."
"Because you know that if this leaks, the whole world panics."
"Exactly."
He took one step forward. We were now only a meter apart.
My cape shifted with the wind.
Two completely different figures.
The sun and the shadows.
But there, on that rooftop, we hunted the same enemy.
"Superman," he said, lowering his tone, "if what you're saying is true… isn't just a risk to you."
I stayed silent.
"It's a risk to the entire world," he concluded.
I nodded.
Batman turned, walked to the edge of the building, and stopped there, back to me.
"We start immediately."
He activated a holographic panel on his arm.
"I'll track all unofficial Department of Defense movements from the last three months. You'll give me everything you know about the theft."
"And after that ?" I asked.
"After that ?"
He looked out over the city with a razor-sharp gaze.
"After that, we hunt the man who's hunting you."