The fallout from Harlem shook the city to its core. Footage of Hulk's battle with Abomination filled every screen, but woven into the chaos were reports of something else. Civilians spoke of the shadow they'd seen before. Soldiers swore a dark figure had intervened. Batman had already stepped out of myth during the bank heist. Harlem was not a revelation, but a confirmation. The shadow was real, and he was here to stay.
Nate Cross sat in his office the next morning, screens alive with news reports. Anchors spoke of Hulk and the green monster, but always the footage looped back to the shadow in the cape. His presence was undeniable now. He could not disappear back into rumor.
But Batman was not the only one affected. Harlem had left behind scarred families and broken homes. Among them were children who had lost parents in the destruction. Nate felt that old wound ache. If he had a weakness, it was this. Orphans. He remembered being one himself, remembered how the world looked colder when you faced it alone.
Batman could not help the city in this way. But Nate could. As CEO of CrossTech, he moved swiftly. Within days, the company announced major donations to Harlem's relief efforts. Funds went to orphan care, education, and medical services. Nate ensured that at least some of those left behind would not face the same hopeless void he once knew.
CrossTech's growth was relentless. Demand for compact batteries and wearable safety gear had surged. Now, after Harlem, companies and city services craved stability. Emergency resilience tech became the focus. Nate provided it.
A month later, at an investor conference in New York, CrossTech's valuation soared. Its technology was spoken of as revolutionary, the kind of practical advancement that could shape daily life. Nate presented new designs for medical devices, compact power stations, and wearable rescue gear. Investors leaned forward in their seats. For once, he was not dismissed as a young outsider. He was leading.
The conference buzzed with voices when a familiar name cut through the air. Tony Stark. He entered the room with a grin and a casual wave, instantly drawing every eye. Nate studied him carefully. Stark had already announced himself as Iron Man, and his presence alone commanded the stage.
When Stark reached Nate, the exchange was cool and sharp.
Stark: "CrossTech. I've been hearing things. Compact batteries that outperform anything else on the market. Reliable data systems. That's you, right?"
Nate: "That's me. Efficiency and stability. Nothing flashy."
Stark: "Sometimes flashy saves lives. Trust me, I know."
The crowd chuckled, but Nate held Stark's gaze.
Nate: "Flash fades. Reliability endures."
The conversation hung in the air. Respect. Curiosity. Stark's wit against Nate's control. They both knew this was not their last meeting.
In addition to power tech, Nate announced a new business venture: emergency medical rescue devices. Advanced tools for rapid response, life-saving equipment, and automated medicine distribution systems. Among them were compact, portable units designed for field use. Devices that could seal external wounds, slow internal bleeding, and stabilize vital functions long enough to get the injured safely to a hospital.
He also revealed prototypes of new pharmaceuticals. Compounds with accelerated healing properties and drugs that made complex surgeries faster, safer, and far less invasive. His knowledge of future medical science allowed him to design solutions decades ahead of anything currently available.
The demonstration drew applause, but Nate knew it was only the beginning. He wasn't just building a company. He was laying the groundwork for infrastructure that could keep people alive when the world inevitably broke again.
At night, the streets gave no applause. They only gave whispers. Finger's name kept appearing. Batman followed the trail to Marlo, a chop-shop operator above the old Hanover textile mill on Mercer. Marlo was known to meet clients at The Rook after midnight.
Batman stalked him through the shadows, waiting until nearly one in the morning. When Marlo left the club, Batman struck. A cable whipped out, wrapping his arms, yanking him into the dark. He crashed into a wall, the impact knocking the breath from his lungs. By the time he realized what happened, he was already on the ground, dragged into an alley cloaked in silence.
Batman loomed above, voice low, flat, inescapable.
Batman: "Finger. Who is he."
Marlo tried to shake his head, words tumbling. "I don't know. I swear I don't. I just run cars, clients, money. That's it."
Batman planted a knee at Marlo's shoulder, fingers at the base of his skull. Pressure, not crushing, enough to disorient. He spoke quietly. "I am not going to ask again..."
Marlo swallowed, panic curling in his throat. "I told you. I don't know."
Silence swallowed the alley. Batman let it sit there, an unbearable thing. Then he leaned close until his breath fogged the thug's face.
Marlo gasped, fighting for breath. "I don't..."
A sharp click echoed. Batman flicked a device, an electrical charge humming in the predator's hand. The faint glow reflected off the cowl's pale lenses. He didn't touch him with it. He didn't have to. The proximity alone was enough.
Batman spoke again, slower, each word deliberate.
Batman: "I can break every bone in your hand before you finish your lie.
When Marlo clutched at the wall, trying to pull himself upright, Batman tightened a gauntleted hand around his throat. Enough to quicken panic, not enough to end breath. The point wasn't brutality; it was leverage. Between the silence, the small shocks, and the catalogue of details Batman tossed like stones, Marlo's resistance crumbled.
"Shell companies," he choked. "Offshore accounts, always different names. But there's a constant. Midland Circle Financial. Not in the records. Not on paper. That's all I know."
Batman released him. Marlo sagged to the wet pavement, coughing, eyes wild. The shadow stepped back into the alley mouth and melted into the night, leaving the man trembling and certain he would never forget the shape that had found him.
Back at the base, he hacked deeper, combing through financial networks. Patterns emerged. Shell companies worldwide. Funds that vanished and reappeared. Always leading back to Midland Circle Financial. But this is not enough to reveal 'Finger'.
Later that week, while patrolling, Batman was ambushed. Shadows moved faster than common thugs. Warriors armed with swords and throwing knives. Their movements were disciplined, trained.
The ambush came fast. From the rooftops, blades flashed, throwing knives cutting through the air. Batman twisted aside, two blades clattering off the pavement. Another he snatched from the air, gauntlet snapping shut around the steel.
The first assassin lunged with a sword. Batman shifted his stance, gauntlet angled to catch the strike, sparks leaping as steel scraped against reinforced plating. His counterpunch drove into the attacker's ribs. A crack followed as the man dropped.
Two more came at once, throwing knives flashing through the air. Batman spun, cape flaring wide, catching the steel in its armored lining. His free hand snapped forward, Batarangs hissing out. One struck a wrist, another clipped a shoulder, dropping the knives before they could be thrown again.
A blade scraped against his cowl as the fourth assassin leapt from above. Batman rolled, firing his grappling line mid-spin. The hook snapped around the attacker's ankle. A yank slammed him into a wall, leaving him crumpled.
The last two pressed in tight, swords cutting in practiced tandem. Batman shifted low, body moving with brutal economy. He caught one strike on his gauntlet, twisting the blade free and driving his elbow into the assassin's jaw. The second tried to flank, but Batman dropped a smoke pellet at their feet. Visibility vanished in a choking gray. In the confusion, his silhouette blurred through the haze, striking from angles they couldn't predict.
Seconds later, silence. The smoke cleared to reveal bodies scattered across the alley, groaning, unconscious, weapons useless at their sides. Only one remained struggling, gasping on the ground. Batman grabbed him by the collar, pinning him against the wall.
The man's eyes hardened. His jaw clenched. Before Batman could extract a word, he bit down. Cyanide. His body seized, then went limp in Batman's grip.
Batman lowered him carefully, pale eyes narrowing in the dark. Whoever had sent them wasn't playing games.
Batman grunted his breath. He had nothing that could counter immediate poisons. All he could do was watch as the assassin's life slipped away.
The words from the street were true. Finger commanded assassins who moved like ghosts. Ruthless enough to kill themselves before capture. It reminded him too much of the League of Assassins from his past life. He added the note to the Bat-database: Finger's men – assassins, highly trained, suicide before capture.
The day came when Nate received a private invitation to Stark Tower. This time, it wasn't about tech collaborations.
Tony greeted him with his usual swagger, Pepper at his side. Yet behind the sharp smile, Nate noticed it—Tony looked pale, his posture just a fraction heavier than before.
Nate: "You don't look your usual untouchable self, Stark."
Tony waved a hand, smirk intact.
Tony: "I party too hard, build too much, and occasionally forget to sleep. It's called genius. Don't worry, I'll live."
But Nate's eyes lingered, sharp, assessing. He spoke carefully.
Nate: "Some of the medicine I've been developing accelerates recovery. Stabilizes the body under extreme stress. Might be worth your time."
For a flicker of a moment, Tony's gaze sharpened, the mask slipping. The truth was something Nate couldn't know—the palladium in his chest was poisoning him daily. The only thing keeping it from spreading faster was the experimental compound Nate's company had unknowingly provided. Without it, he would already be in worse shape.
Tony chuckled lightly, deflecting.
Tony: "Nice sales pitch. I'll keep it in mind. Maybe."
Pepper stepped in, her voice crisp.
Pepper: "CrossTech is impressive, and Tony knows it. Stark Expo is coming up. It's the right platform for you to show the world what you're building."
Tony raised a glass, masking his silence with a smirk.
Tony: "Big lights, big crowd. Bring something new to the stage. Impress me."
Nate just smiled politely and offered a small, confident nod....