"Are you seriously talking about drawing conclusions from other cases, or is this straight-up plagiarism?"
Axel's words made Bruce Wayne approach the scattered armor fragments with a frown. He crouched and examined them quickly. After a brief glance, he looked up sharply.
"You're really making me plagiarize. This armor is a finished product, practically perfect for mass production!"
Bruce picked up an arm piece and angled the palm, scorched from energy discharge, toward Axel.
"Look here, the energy emission channels are concentrated in the palm and the chest interior. Every research team has their own design logic. I can't simply copy them, and the suit I'm building for you won't look like this!"
Bruce's tone carried a hint of disdain. He jabbed at the armor's glossy red-and-gold finish.
"And definitely not this color. Don't you think it's a bit flashy?"
Without wasting time, Bruce gathered the armor fragments and roughly assembled them on the restaurant floor, just to visualize the design. He finally held the chest piece in his hands, scrutinizing it.
"Curious… why are all the energy input channels focused here in the chest? And inside the armor? Axel, are you sure this isn't auxiliary armor for some mechanical life form? For a human wearer, wouldn't they need some kind of advanced energy generator embedded in their chest?"
Axel grinned and nodded.
"Bullseye, buddy. You'll see when you check the photo."
He pulled out his phone, showing Bruce the image of a horrified, bare-chested Tony Stark, frantically covering himself.
Bruce's jaw dropped.
"This… this is criminal, Axel!"
"Haha! If I committed fewer crimes than usual, it wouldn't be me. Come try to stop me, bastard!" Axel kicked Bruce's calf playfully, then patted his shoulder with exaggerated weight.
"Alright, buddy. You want to be the cosmic cop, meddling in other universes? Fine. I just need to know if these things are useful to you. If they are, share them with Luthor, and then get me a proper suit! Understand? My clothes tear just from flexing my muscles!"
He gestured to his shoulder, where the fabric had split.
Bruce exhaled, trying to mask his irritation, then looked away.
"Yikes..."
"Damn it!" Axel complained, leaning on Bruce and ripping the seam further.
Bruce frowned. "Wait, Axel, if you've already stolen this suit, why not just wear it yourself?"
"Because it's too damn flashy!" Axel teased. Then he went serious.
"The real reason is that this armor suits ordinary humans. It helps them reach peak strength but limits me. I brought it back because with your brains, Luthor's tech, and the original design, together we can make a suit that fits me perfectly."
He leaned closer, lowering his voice.
"My suit has to be form-fitting, easy to put on and take off. Luthor has top-tier nanotechnology—don't forget to mention that to him. And it has to fly. Because I am just… ordinary."
Bruce's eyes widened. "You're just an ordinary person?!"
Axel waved him off impatiently.
"Less chatter. Not flying still makes me ordinary. I'm close to the Saitama model: insane strength, high durability, long jumps, fast, but can't fly. I even suspect I can't breathe in space."
With that, Axel vanished.
Moments later, he reappeared inside the restaurant, pinching his nose, frost coating his body. He exhaled and nodded.
"See? No breathable space for me."
Bruce nearly snorted with frustration. "I never doubted it. You're human, Axel. No magic, no divine intervention—breathing in space is impossible."
Axel looked like a mischievous caveman with a lightsaber to Bruce. But then Bruce's mind clicked—he saw a new application.
He could finally impress that evolutionary genius, Luthor.
Axel broke his thoughts. "So, you knew this all along? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Forget it. Back to the gaudy armor. You saw Stark's Arc Reactor, right? Can you replicate it from the photo, or do I need to bring you a sample?"
Bruce raised an eyebrow.
"Finding a sample, huh?"
"No nonsense. I'll get a sample. I've already paid respects to the guardians of that universe. Besides liking to kill people, I'm a decent moral guy!"
Bruce raised an eyebrow skeptically. "What did the guardian say?"
"She said she couldn't control me," Axel grinned.
Bruce blinked. "Is that a good thing?" He closed his eyes, taking a moment to recover from Axel shattering his worldview.
When he opened them, he spoke firmly.
"Since it's tech from another world, I'm genuinely interested. Luthor will be too. During your absence, he called Alfred. He'll be bringing his lab to Gotham around ten o'clock. And that Arc Reactor… that name sounds familiar. Where have I heard it?"
Rachel, standing nearby, chimed in.
"Bruce, remember the comics we read as kids? Stark's familiar for a reason, and the color scheme—don't you recognize it? That's Iron Man's armor!"
Bruce's eyes went wide. He looked at Axel pleadingly.
No, don't answer that!
Axel nodded casually.
"She's right. This is Tony Stark's Iron Man armor."
Bruce staggered. "So you were just traveling through the Marvel universe? Everything we've seen—comics, movies—is… a story?!"
Axel laughed, pointing at Bruce.
"Rachel, look at him. Why is he losing it? Even if we're part of a story, life still goes on."
He punched Bruce lightly on the head. Bruce snapped his head sideways, then nodded.
"I get it!" he groaned, shaking off the punch.
Axel continued.
"You know why I'm such a pain? Our world is basically a cult comic with me as the protagonist. Works featuring a villain like me are popular elsewhere. Let me guess… is it called 'The Legend of the Wraith'?"
"The comic is called Batman!" Axel laughed, rubbing Bruce's head.
Bruce froze, then shook off Axel and nodded thoughtfully.
"So you're saying even if we're not protagonists, we can be our own heroes. But don't joke about Batman anymore. I've decided to abandon that name. It's already tied to Gotham gangs. Especially the Bat-Gang—they've made it infamous. Batman is one of the top bosses now."
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