Let Me Have a Word Alone with Darkseid

Batman wrapped his arms around Darkseid's head from behind.

The Yellow Kryptonite core in his armor's chest gathered energy like a blazing furnace.

It was the Fake Planet-Destroying Cannon Tony had built using technology from the Starry World.

Even fully charged, it could not destroy a planet.

But it could pierce the surface, damage the core, and alter the entire planet's magnetic field.

JARVIS had warned Batman how dangerous the weapon was.

The warning was meant to keep Batman from activating it by accident.

But now Batman had activated it deliberately.

He had even begun charging it early, despite JARVIS's warnings.

"Darkseid, this is humanity's rage."

Batman whispered in Darkseid's ear.

For a moment, he was once again the shadow that prowled Gotham at night.

When he broke Penguin's or Joker's hand bones, he would whisper in their ears too, telling them it was Gotham's rage.

Now it was humanity's rage.

The Fake Planet-Destroying Cannon fired!

There was no distance between them.

An orange-yellow beam of energy erupted against Darkseid's back.

Batman was caught in its blast as well.

They fell from the sky together.

Darkseid let out a howl of pain and fury.

Batman made no sound, as though he had become nothing more than something clinging to Darkseid's back.

But his armor was melting rapidly.

It was easy to imagine the agony he was suffering inside it.

"Shit, my Anti-Superman Armor!"

Tony cried out from inside the Fungus God Armor, heartsick over the armor he had only recently built.

Then Batman's recklessness sent a chill through him.

"That bat's insane! Is he trying to take them both down?" Tony said in disbelief.

Leon appeared beside Tony. "No. This is who Batman really is."

Batman had gone mad long ago.

He had gone mad when his parents died, and