DAMIAN'S REWARD & THE GIFT OF GRONCKLE IRON
1. Damian Finally Checks His System Rewards
After waking from his month-long recovery, Damian stretched his arms and felt strength flowing back into him—real strength, not the burning adrenaline from the Doomsday fight.
He closed his eyes.
System Menu → Mission Rewards
The screen appeared instantly.
[REWARD 1 — GRONCKLE IRON (x40 BARS)]
Forty bars of dark, impossibly dense metal materialized before him inside the system's dream-space.
Each one looked like a black meteorite forged into a perfect brick.
They hummed with raw power.
Even here—where gravity didn't exist—Damian felt their weight.
Damian whispered:
"Gronckle Iron… indestructible metal."
He turned one bar in his hand.
It absorbed light.
It radiated ancient strength.
It could survive volcanoes, supernovas, gods.
His mind raced:
Armor that even Kryptonians can't break.
Weapons that can cut through magic, steel, and metahumans.
Toothless's armor, upgraded beyond anything in the dragon universe.
But the System wasn't finished.
[REWARD 2 — CYBERPUNK TECH PACKAGE | SAFETY-ALTERED]
A glowing cube floated forward, rotating smoothly.
Inside were holograms of:
cybernetic limbs
artificial hearts
neural implants
synthetic organs
nanofiber muscle layers
It looked like a mix of futuristic engineering and science fiction made real.
System Notification:
"Compatible with Humans, Kryptonians, Atlanteans, Amazons, and other known species."
"No cyberpsychosis risk."
"100% biological synchronization."
"Perfect for medical reconstruction, augmentation, and organ replacement."
Damian stared in awe.
Damian:
"…This could save so many people."
People with crushed spines.
Lost limbs.
Destroyed organs.
Heroes.
Civilians.
These schematics alone could revolutionize medicine.
He took a deep breath and closed the interface.
Damian:
"Good. I can finally put these to use."
2. Damian Walks the Watchtower
Fully awake now, Damian wandered the curved hallways of the Watchtower.
The Earth floated below like a massive blue jewel.
Even after everything he'd been through, part of him felt… amazed.
Damian (thought):
"It's not every day you get to be in space."
He walked until the door of the meeting chamber came into view.
The Justice League was inside—Batman included.
And he did owe his father something.
3. Damian Interrupts the Justice League Meeting
The doors slid open.
Superman paused mid-sentence.
Wonder Woman's eyes widened in surprise.
Flash waved instinctively, smiling.
J'onn tilted his head, sensing Damian's presence—although his mind was now unreadable.
And Batman…
Batman's eyes softened for half a second.
Batman:
"You should still be resting."
Damian walked forward calmly.
Damian:
"I know. But I needed to speak with you."
He lifted his hand.
His personal pocket dimension rippled open behind him—a swirling vortex of black and blue energy.
The League froze.
Pocket dimensions were rare.
Pocket dimensions you could access casually were almost impossible.
One by one, ten bars of Gronckle Iron floated out and gently dropped into Batman's hands.
The weight almost shocked him; even kryptonian-forged metal didn't feel like this.
Damian:
"This is your present, father.
A late one, but… I hope you enjoy it."
Batman turned the nearest bar, analyzing its density.
It didn't scratch.
Didn't bend.
Didn't react to scanners.
Didn't fit into any known periodic table.
The League stared.
Superman squinted, activating x-ray vision…
and saw nothing.
It was too dense.
Superman:
"…Bruce. That metal isn't from Earth. Not from this universe, even."
Wonder Woman stepped forward.
Wonder Woman:
"Damian… what is this metal?"
Damian simply shrugged.
Damian:
"Something I found.
Father can make anything with it—armor, weapons, tools… it's indestructible."
Flash poked a bar with one finger.
Flash:
"…This thing weighs more than my entire apartment building."
Batman finally looked up from the metal.
Batman (softly):
"Thank you… Damian."
A small smile touched Damian's lips.
Damian:
"I'm still recovering. I'm going back to my room to rest.
Good day, father.
Everyone."
He nodded once and walked out.
Leaving the Justice League completely stunned.
4. The Room Erupts the Moment Damian Leaves
Flash broke first.
Flash:
"OKAY. Soooo—what dimension did he reach into?
And what is that metal?
And HOW did he lift it?!"
Superman:
"It's denser than dwarf star alloy."
Wonder Woman:
"It feels divine in nature. Ancient."
J'onn:
"I cannot read the material. Nor Damian.
His mind is… sealed."
Batman held one bar carefully.
His voice quiet.
Batman:
"I've never seen anything like it.
He said I can make anything…
He wasn't exaggerating."
The League exchanged worried glances.
Damian Wayne was evolving into something none of them had a name for.
BATMAN TESTS GRONCKLE IRON & THE LIGHT TRIES TO STEAL THE DATA
1. Batman Takes the Metal to His Private Lab
The moment Damian left the Watchtower meeting room, Batman quietly collected the ten Gronckle Iron bars.
He didn't speak.
Didn't explain.
He simply walked out.
Superman whispered to Flash:
Superman:
"Bruce is going to dissect it."
Flash:
"Oh yeah. He's already thinking twelve steps ahead."
He was.
Batman moved to the deepest, most restricted lab in the Watchtower.
A room even Superman needed permission to enter.
A room only Bruce and J'onn knew existed.
Inside were:
Star Forge–level heat chambers
miniature black-hole compression
restricted lab in the Watchtower.
A room even Superman needed permission to enter.
A room only Bruce and J'onn knew existed.
Inside were:
Star Forge–level heat chambers
miniature black-hole compression devices
nth-metal analyzers
alien scanners
enchanted sensors from Zatanna's father
And Bruce placed ONE bar of Gronckle Iron under the first machine.
2. Test One — Heat Resistance
The chamber heated from:
2,000°C
4,000°C
10,000°C
30,000°C
100,000°C
1,000,000°C (the heat of a star's corona)
**The bar didn't glow, didn't melt… didn't even warm up
The Gronckle Iron… didn't glow.
Didn't melt.
Didn't even warm up.**
For the first time in years, Batman whispered:
"…impossible."
Even Nth Metal reacted under extreme heat.
Even Promethium softened.
Even Kryptonian alloys showed strain.
But this?
This didn't even acknowledge physics.
3. Test Two — Impact Resistance
Batman activated a small gravity generator — the same kind used to simulate Kryptonian-level impacts for Justice League training.
He increased the output:
10 tons of force
100 tons
1,000 tons
10,000 tons
Mountain-busting levels
The machine cracked.
The metal bar did not.
Bruce stared at it in silence.
Batman:
"…This is beyond any material known to Earth, Krypton, or Apokolips."
4. Test Three — Magic Interaction
Using a containment circle Zatanna carved for him years ago, Batman exposed the metal to a controlled magical surge.
Most metals:
react
warp
burn
or reject magic
Gronckle Iron simply absorbed the spell… and shimmered.
Batman froze.
Magic that should've evaporated a tank just vanished into the metal like water into sand.
5. Batman's Conclusion
He wrote one single line in his encrypted tablet:
"This material should not exist."
But he also wrote something else:
"My son trusted me with this."
For Bruce Wayne…
that mattered more than the science.
6. Elsewhere… The Light Attacks
Vandal Savage, Queen Bee, Lex Luthor, Klarion, and the other members of The Light gathered around a projection.
A clip of Damian opening his pocket dimension and taking out the ten bars.
Lex Luthor paused it.
Lex:
"This… should be impossible. Pocket dimensions are New God technology at minimum."
Queen Bee leaned forward.
Queen Bee:
"And the metal?"
Lex zoomed in.
Lex:
"I can't analyze it. The Watchtower firewalls block all chemical readings."
Vandal Savage smirked.
Savage:
"So hack the Watchtower."
Lex glared.
Lex:
"I DID.
The moment Batman walked off with the metal."
He pulled up a screen.
Watchtower Security: ALERT — Unauthorized Access Detected
Source: Unknown / Masked / Level Omega Threat
The Watchtower AI shut Lex out instantly.
7. Light Operative: Retrieval Protocol Activated
Desperate for answers, the Light did the next best thing:
They sent a spy to steal the DATA.
Not the metal.
Because even Lex knew:
"You do not steal a physical object from Batman.
Not even Darkseid risks that."
So their operative targeted:
Batman's metal analysis logs
sensor data
heat readings
energy reaction graphs
arcane interaction results
NOT the material itself.
8. But Batman Was Paranoid… and Prepared
The operative successfully infiltrated a Watchtower terminal…
…and watched in horror as the screen changed to a single message:
"Nice try."
— B.W.
A gas trap activated.
An electrified containment field locked them in place.
The doors sealed.
The operative fainted.
Batman walked into the room, cape trailing, completely calm.
Batman:
"You thought I wouldn't expect someone to try this?"
He tapped his gauntlet.
Batman:
"You're going to answer my questions.
One way or another."
9. Meanwhile… Damian Returns to His Room
Still exhausted from the fight with Doomsday and the month-long coma, Damian reached his Watchtower guest room.
He collapsed onto the bed.
Damian:
"…today was too long."
Toothless' small dragon-head poked out of the pocket dimension portal briefly, chittering at him.
Damian smiled slightly.
Damian:
"Yeah, buddy… I'm tired too."
He closed his eyes.
The Watchtower hummed quietly under the stars.
Outside, across the universe…
gods, devils, aliens, and monsters wondered who —
or what —
the Fire Shadow really was.