Batcave
The Batcave was silent.
Not the comfortable silence of an empty room.
The oppressive kind.
The kind that settled between the machines and stone walls, thick and heavy, as if the very air was holding its breath.
The only sounds were the quiet hum of computers and the occasional electronic chirp from the diagnostic equipment, their beeps echoing like distant heartbeats in the darkness.
Barry Allen lay inside the specialized scanning chamber Bruce had constructed beneath Wayne Manor.
His red suit had been removed from the torso upward, leaving his bare chest exposed to the translucent panels surrounding him.
Dozens of holographic readings flickered across the chamber, casting eerie blue and green light over his tense face.
Bruce stood behind the main console, his expression unreadable, his fingers flying over the controls as he adjusted parameters, his mind racing through the data.
Barry, however, was beginning to get nervous.
His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides, his breathing shallow.
"Anything?"
Bruce did not look up, his voice calm, controlled.
"Nothing yet ."
Barry swallowed, his throat dry.
"That's… reassuring?"
Bruce adjusted the parameters again, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the results.
"Your blood is normal."
Barry managed a weak smile, his voice tight.
"That's great news."
"Your DNA is normal."
Barry nodded, his relief short-lived.
"Even better."
"Your nervous system is functioning normally."
Barry smiled weakly, his voice laced with sarcasm.
"Can I go home now?"
Bruce did not respond. His fingers moved over the console, his expression grim.
"No."
Barry sighed, his body tensing.
"Figured."
Bruce initiated another scan, his voice a command.
"Again."
The machine hummed, its sound deepening as it whirred to life.
A series of scans passed through Barry's body, their energy waves probing, searching, analyzing.
Cellular composition.
Metahuman physiology.
Neural activity.
Speed Force interaction.
Genetic abnormalities.
Foreign biological material.
Nothing.
Bruce narrowed his eyes, his mind racing.
"Your blood is normal."
Barry frowned, his voice dry.
"You said that already."
Bruce ignored him, his focus absolute.
"Your DNA is normal."
"Your nervous system is functioning normally."
Barry shifted uncomfortably, his voice tight.
"Bruce, I know I'm in great shape, but"
Bruce cut him off, his voice sharp.
"Run."
Barry looked at him, his expression confused.
"Here?"
Bruce did not blink, his gaze unyielding.
"Yes, just run on the same spot or vibrate ."
Barry took a breath, his mind racing.
Then
WHOOM.
The chamber filled with a brief red-gold flash, a burst of light so intense it cast shadows on the walls.
Barry vanished.
For less than a second, the scanners struggled to track him, their sensors flickering as they lost and regained his signal.
Then he reappeared, his body materializing in the chamber, his breathing quick.
Bruce stared at the data, his expression darkening.
Something had changed.
Not much.
Almost nothing.
But enough.
A tiny fluctuation had appeared inside several cellular readings, a blip on the screen that shouldn't have been there.
Bruce replayed the scan, his fingers moving over the console, his mind analyzing.
Barry noticed the change in his expression, his voice urgent.
"What?"
Bruce did not answer. His eyes remained fixed on the screen.
"Do it again."
Barry frowned, his confusion deepening.
"Do what?"
"Use your powers."
Barry accelerated again, his body blurring as he moved at superspeed.
WHOOM.
The same fluctuation appeared, its signal flickering on the screen like a distant warning.
Bruce froze.
He rewound the footage, his fingers moving over the console, his mind processing.
Then he slowed it down.
Again.
And again.
The anomaly appeared at precisely the moment Barry accessed the Speed Force.
Bruce enlarged the cellular image, his breath catching as he zoomed in.
One cell.
Then another.
Then another.
Most looked completely normal.
But deep inside several of them,
There was a tiny black point.
Bruce zoomed in further, his expression hardening.
The point expanded across the screen, its edges blurry, its structure complex.
Barry's expression slowly disappeared, his voice a whisper.
"What is that?"
Bruce did not answer.
He increased the magnification, his mind racing.
The black point wasn't a point.
It was something attached to the interior of the cell.
Something microscopic.
Something alive.
The image sharpened, its details coming into focus.
And there it was.
A grotesque structure glowing faintly crimson beneath an almost impossibly dark exterior.
Thin tendrils extended from its central mass, their movements slow, deliberate, like fingers testing the edges of a cage.
They moved slowly.
Searching.
Testing.
Pressing against the cell membrane.
Barry stared, his voice a rasp.
"That's…"
Bruce increased the resolution, his expression grim.
The tendrils flexed, their movements fluid, unnatural.
One touched the cellular wall.
The machine immediately registered a microscopic reaction, a tiny ripple in the cell's structure.
Barry swallowed, his voice tight.
"Is that inside me?"
Bruce did not look away from the screen, his voice cold.
"Yes."
Silence.
The air in the Batcave seemed to thicken, the weight of the revelation pressing down on them like a physical force.
Bruce isolated the anomaly from the surrounding biological material, his fingers moving over the console.
The computer began analyzing it, its processors humming as it worked to identify the unknown structure.
For several long seconds, nothing happened.
Then
BEEP.
Bruce's eyes narrowed, his mind racing.
Another warning appeared on the screen:
FOREIGN BIOLOGICAL STRUCTURE DETECTED.
Then another:
GENETIC COMPOSITION: UNKNOWN.
Then
MATCHING PREVIOUS BIOLOGICAL SAMPLE DATABASE.
Bruce stopped breathing for half a second, his mind processing the implications.
Barry slowly turned toward him, his voice a whisper.
"What does that mean?"
Bruce did not respond, his expression unreadable.
The computer began comparing the virus against archived samples, its processors working at lightning speed.
Derrick.
The samples taken during previous investigations.
The scans Batman had secretly compiled.
The genetic anomalies Bruce had never been able to explain.
The percentage climbed on the screen:
37%.
61%.
79%.
Then
MATCH CONFIRMED.
Bruce's face hardened, his jaw tightening.
Barry stared at the screen, his voice a rasp.
"No…"
Bruce zoomed out, his fingers moving over the console.
The comparison displayed two microscopic structures side by side.
The virus inside Barry.
And the biological signature recovered from Derrick.
They weren't identical.
Not completely.
But the underlying structure was unmistakably related.
The same impossible biological architecture.
The same adaptive cellular organization.
The same unnatural genetic layering.
The same characteristic Blacklight-like signature Bruce had quietly catalogued.
Barry's voice became barely audible, his hands clenching into fists.
"That's… Derrick."
Bruce finally answered, his voice a blade.
"Something from Derrick."
Neither man spoke.
The machines continued humming around them, their sounds the only noise in the oppressive silence.
Barry stared at the screen, his mind racing.
The Speed Force had warned him.
Something was inside him.
Something was trying to consume him.
And now Bruce had proof.
Barry's expression hardened, his voice a growl.
"We confront him."
Bruce looked at him, his expression unreadable.
"Not yet."
Barry turned, his voice sharp.
"Bruce"
"Not yet."
Barry climbed out of the scanner, his body tense, his voice urgent.
"That thing is inside my body."
"I know."
"And it's connected to Derrick."
"I know."
Barry stared at him, his eyes burning with frustration.
"So we go to the Watchtower and ask him what the hell he did."
Bruce shook his head, his voice firm.
"No."
Barry stared at him, his expression darkening.
"Why?"
Bruce pointed toward the screen, his voice low, controlled.
"Look at it."
Barry did.
The tiny black-red organism continued moving, its tendrils shifting like living shadows.
But slowly.
Almost dormant.
Bruce spoke quietly, his mind racing.
"It's barely active."
Barry folded his arms, his voice tight.
"That's supposed to make me feel better?"
"No."
Bruce's eyes narrowed, his expression grim.
"It makes me suspicious."
Barry went silent, his mind processing the implications.
Bruce continued, his voice cold.
"We don't know whether Derrick can control it remotely."
"We don't know whether it's capable of attacking your cells."
"We don't know whether it's tracking your location."
He paused, his gaze fixed on the screen.
"Or whether you're the only infected person."
That thought hit Barry harder than the others.
His eyes widened, his voice a whisper.
"Firestorm."
Bruce looked at him, his expression dark.
"Yes."
Barry's voice tightened, his mind racing.
"And the Watchtower."
Bruce immediately understood, his expression becoming colder.
"Everyone who's been in close proximity to Derrick."
"Exactly."
The room became colder, the air thicker, despite the machinery running around them.
Barry looked toward the computer, his voice a rasp.
"What if I'm not the target?"
Bruce said nothing, his mind already racing through the possibilities.
"What if I'm just…"
Barry struggled to finish the sentence, his voice tight.
"…a test?"
Bruce's eyes remained fixed on the microscopic organism, his expression unreadable.
That possibility had already entered his mind.
And he hated it.
Because Derrick had demonstrated remarkable restraint since arriving in this universe.
Too much restraint.
He had never displayed the full extent of his abilities.
He had never explained exactly how he survived the destruction of his supposed universe.
And now something bearing his biological signature was hiding inside one of Earth's most powerful heroes.
Bruce slowly shut down the scanner, his mind processing.
"Nobody knows."
Barry looked at him, his expression confused.
"What?"
Bruce's voice was a command, cold and final.
"Not Superman. Not Wonder Woman. Not the League."
Barry frowned, his voice urgent.
"Bruce, "
"Until we know what we're dealing with, nobody else gets told."
Barry stared at him for several long seconds, his mind racing.
Then slowly nodded, his expression grim.
Bruce walked toward the Batcomputer, his fingers moving over the console.
"I'll analyze the virus."
Barry nodded, his voice tight.
"And me?"
Bruce did not look up, his mind already working through the next steps.
"You stay away from Derrick."
Barry nodded again, his expression dark.
"That's going to be difficult."
"I know."
Bruce opened a second database, his eyes scanning the League roster.
Superman.
Wonder Woman.
Green Lantern.
Hawkman.
Firestorm.
Black Canary.
Captain Atom.
Martian Manhunter.
And Derrick.
Bruce stared at Derrick's name, his mind racing.
Then at Barry, his voice low.
"What does the virus actually want?"
Neither of them had an answer.
Behind them, the scanner suddenly emitted a quiet sound.
BEEP.
Barry turned, his expression tense.
The isolated image had changed.
The tiny organism inside his cell had stopped moving.
Its tendrils had withdrawn, its form now perfectly still.
For several long seconds, it remained motionless.
Then one thin tendril slowly touched the cell wall.
Bruce stared, his expression unreadable.
Barry whispered, his voice tight:
"Bruce…"
"I see it."
The tendril pulsed once, a tiny crimson glow traveling through the organism.
Then the screen went black.
Bruce immediately shut down the entire system, his fingers moving over the console, his expression grim.
The Batcave fell silent, the only sound the distant hum of the machinery.
Somewhere above them, Gotham continued living normally, its lights twinkling like distant stars, unaware of the storm brewing beneath its streets.
Neither man spoke.
Because both were thinking the same thing.
Derrick had been inside the Justice League longer than they realized.
And whatever he was planning,
It was only just beginning.