Batman is indeed an exceptional hero, because his strength comes from his meticulous plans, his mastery of combat, and his unparalleled deductive mind. But in Detective Comics Annual 2025, the Dark Knight takes a new step. Indeed, he has just acquired a power capable of disrupting the laws of reality.
The scientist left him a strange message
It all started with a strange signal detected by the Batcomputer. It is a Morse coded message, broadcast on a loop throughout Gotham, which actually spells out the name "BATMAN".
Bruce Wayne then decides to follow the lead. She leads him to the ultra-secure bunker of Cody Morse, an eccentric billionaire and technology enthusiast. But there, Batman discovers a corpse. Cody is lying on the ground, with a knife stuck in his back. In a final attempt at communication, he wrote a message in his own blood:
"Batman, don't solve my murder."
Certainly, the request is as strange as it is disturbing. But the message seems to pique the superhero's curiosity even more.
A mystery that will take him far
The detective then searches the premises; but nothing seems to have been forced. Everything works automatically. The voice-controlled kitchen has even been modified to attack anyone who activates it. At first glance, Cody appears to have been trapped in his own lair. But one detail has caught Batman's attention. In the middle of a massive digital library, he finds five physical copies of a rare book called How to End the Universe by Arthur Milligan. It's actually an obscure treatise on quantum mechanics. The strange thing is, the same four pages have been torn out of each copy. And no digital version exists.
A Theory to Reprogram the Universe
The investigation then leads Batman to York, where he meets physicist Dr. Jenny Sykes. She tells him that Milligan was a marginal scientist, mocked by his peers. Yet, he had developed a revolutionary theory: observing the universe in a specific way could change its fundamental rules. In other words, by looking at the universe "differently", it could be reprogrammed.
At the time, his equations were unusable. Computers weren't powerful enough. But today, that is no longer the case.
Furthermore, Batman discovered that Milligan managed to publish five copies of his work, solely thanks to a personal favor. He then managed to find the last untouched copy.
A Zone Where Time No Longer Exists
Batman later learns that Dr. Sykes has been kidnapped. Her captor is Paul Briar, Cody Morse's former associate. Briar actually wants the book, convinced it contains absolute power.
Taken aback, he gives him a single page, the one containing Milligan's equation. Briar scans it and the world fractures. The space around him implodes. In a few seconds, he is trapped in a bubble frozen in time. The fact is that the equation only acted within a radius of a few meters, but the effects are spectacular. Time no longer exists in this area. Briar is trapped for eternity, immobile, conscious, but outside the world.
It was there that Batman finally understood the scope of the power he wields. Moreover, he now possesses the complete equation.
A dangerous power in the right hands?
Back in the Batcave, Batman thinks about it again. He knows this knowledge is too dangerous. In the wrong hands, he could destroy the universe, or reconfigure it at will.
Ultimately, he decides to keep the book. Perhaps it's a backup plan for him, or a burden he feels alone capable of carrying?
In any case, this discovery by Gotham's hero could upset the order in the DC Universe. From now on, Batman can freeze time, twist space, alter the laws of nature...
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