Inside Gotham's clocktower

Inside her secret lair at the top of Gotham’s clocktower, Barbara Gordon was having one of the worst nights of her life. She was monitoring one of his interventions against Two-Faces henchmen, heard several gunshots then nothing but static. Her calls stayed without any answers, feeling the young woman with anguish.

“Damn’it Bruce, where are you?” Barbara said out loud. She couldn’t call Alfred since he was visiting his family in England, calling the cops was out of the question. She was wondering if she should go herself when she heard a loud noise near the window. She was relieved to see Batman appearing, luckily he didn’t seem hurt.

“You’re okay Bruce,? Damn’it you really know how to raise someone’s nervous tension!” Barbara sighted. Despite all these years working with him, she was still getting nervous. The fact that she was stuck in a wheelchair instead of fighting crime at his side wasn’t helping.

“I’m okay Barbara, one of these goons shot me but I’m not hurt, I think the suit’s protections are working. The only damage seems to be the radio and the GPS tracker.

“You need to be more careful Bruce,” Oracle said as she moved her wheelchair back to her desk.

The dark knight didn’t respond. Strangely, he wasn’t worried or shocked by what happened. The fact that someone emptied a full clip of 30 bullets on him without hurting him wasn’t normal but he didn’t pay too much attention to this. His armored suit and sharp reflexes saved his life once again and he made sure the goon who shot him received a severe beating.

Both of them failed to notice the various lacerations on the side of his torso, revealing no wounds. Caught in the heat of the action, he didn’t notice the changes provoked by M. Mxyzptlk’s crystal.

True to the imp’s words, the crystal had improved him. His skin was now stronger, thicker, able to resist bullets impacts. His muscles had grown, bulging beneath his suit.

“What are you wearing on your neck?” Barbara asked, noticing the small necklace.

“Oh, it’s nothing, some sort of gift someone gave me,” Batman said, removing the black crystal tucked under his suit, briefly wondering if the thing really worked or if it’s just one of Mxyzptlk’s prank.

“Oh, by the way, I have another one here, you could have it. I made some analysis on it before and it seems harmless,” Bruce added, removing another crystal from his belt before tossing him toward Barbara.

“Thanks, I guess?” Barbara said, puzzled. It’s not the first time Bruce gave her something, hell almost all the equipment of her tower came from him. But jewelry? That was new. She stared at the veined stone, grey and red parts beautifully intricated together. When she finally moved her gaze upward, Batman was already gone. Barbara put the necklace on her, not noticing the tingle coming from her legs as soon as the stone made contact with her skin.

Back at the Batcave, Batman removed the top of his suit before sitting in front of his computer and calling the others.

“Did any of you noticed something unusual with the crystals?”

“Nothing Batman, no changes, no weird things, seems like another idiotic prank for me,” Superman answered in her usual calm manner.

Aquaman’s answer took longer to come, nothing unusual when you’re communicating with someone who’s several hundred feet under the ocean’s surface.

“Yeah, everything is fine for me, no weird shits, nothing unusual.”

Relieved, Batman ceased the communication and left the cave for his bedroom. Hundred of miles away, Aquaman was riding the waves, faster than ever. No one could see the dark blue scales spreading or his webbed feet and fingers.