At the stroke of midnight, the Bat-clock chimed.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrF9LY2F2kj
Five ritual candles flickered to life before the altar, each representing an element—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth.
Tim began chanting a long, intricate incantation—seven pages of Latin interwoven with ancient words.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYV6DRYTEPI
Damian, somehow, had been assigned to percussion duty. He banged on an unidentified object with the energy of a tortured medieval musician forced to perform. The rhythm was chaotic… yet carried a strange coherence.
The others took their positions—Dick held the mirror, Barbara monitored the energy levels, Cassandra stood by the blood-inked sigils with a clipboard…9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQtoVGEzQD
Everyone was doing their part.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGevcvfelUw
And yet, they all felt slightly out of character.
At the spell’s focal point stood Zatanna, arms raised, her voice deep as she pulled threads of energy into form:9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQQCdpkepc
“—What was forgotten, now be summoned; what was rejected, now be named through belief—”
Time stretched thin.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlDFJdoBTFC
Space thickened like melting wax.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpE5uxc9FJ8
For four long hours, they were trapped in a dream that didn’t seem to end.
Until—
Zatanna suddenly looked up.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzwYEFpWP0m
Her expression shifted. As if she saw something too vast to describe.
“Look up,” she whispered.
They all followed her gaze.
Above them wasn’t the sky, just the reinforced steel ceiling of the Batcave—9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZO0AKOgEBx
But now, it was tearing.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWvp82lujC0
Or rather… softly parting, like fabric.
An aurora-like curtain of light shimmered into view, colors swirling—silver, blue, violet, white.
And then, a sound.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHPBLkAjyS2
Whispers.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqtWo7l03N2
Not in any human language.
A figure began descending.
Not standing—floating.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzwziMydXl5
She was curled, as if sleeping. Like a baby being gently lowered from the heavens.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0r6cjYLD2p
Like a lost memory being retrieved.
Jason stood at the center. His eyes locked on the figure above.
And as she reached him—9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlxOGkraA7l
He raised his arms.
The moment her body touched his palms, the floating ceased.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXloR57wpcC
Gravity returned.
He caught her instinctively.
Tight hold.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk8ofv3aBnc
As though he feared he’d drop her.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFdjZbPnS5s
Or worse—feared this wasn’t real.
No one moved.
Batman took a step forward.
He saw her face—9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVF1939ztJF
That girl.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1i4tpjhOHU
That face he once knew but somehow forgot.
Nana.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhY6YQSVOv6
His adopted daughter.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9WztYrKtgM
The one who vanished under impossible circumstances.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ33DNlGb3bk
The child the world refused to remember.
Dick stared, stunned.
That was the girl who used to clip newspaper articles for him.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZPNXF7GKpx
The one who always sat in the corner of the living room, sketching quietly.
“…How did I forget her?” he whispered.
The others, who had never met Nana before, also stood frozen.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJtDRuqH9Oh
She didn’t look like a god.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOBU0ORHdif
And she definitely didn’t look like a monster.
She was just a girl.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcGFc6OaMCN
Serene. Pale. Long ink-black hair spilling down Jason’s knees like silk.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYkmJUXQDlF
She wore only a simple white dress—so white it looked more like blank paper.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdn9sbBTKe1
Like something yet to be named.
Her face was hidden against Jason’s chest.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ6B9yJhQ9j
No one could see her expression.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87IITJsDMo
But Jason held her tighter—9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6dmFQbctro
Then leaned his forehead gently against hers.
He closed his eyes.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3uQ7j5viiI
Tears slid silently down.
His second time crying today.
The first—9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacoDmlrdsK
Was when he read her note.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh1VcEPC2nz
The second—9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ559vv6CRbq
Was when he finally remembered her.
9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSe1MOsfbLI
Everyone stood in silence.
Only Jason remained kneeling, his forehead pressed to hers, breathing like he hoped she could hear him.
But Nana lay motionless in his arms.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP970dY1WHV
Her hair fanned out like black waves across his lap.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡojMyUsbZri
No response.
Dick cleared his throat awkwardly.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4kDq94x9ZE
“Um… hey, Zatanna? Why isn’t Nana waking up?”
He asked it like someone afraid of disturbing a napping child.
Zatanna raised a brow at him.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkNLMozJPt
Her face said: Oh, right. You’re all magic newbies.
“Totally normal,” she replied. “Most deities are asleep. They don’t really have much to do, you know?”
“…But we just summoned her?” Tim interjected. “Shouldn’t this be the part where she opens her eyes, we hug, memories flood back, she glows—then—”
“—Then you wake up and it was all a dream?” Zatanna deadpanned. “Sorry, this is real life. Godly slumber can last centuries. Millennia, even. No guarantees.”
Another silence.
The Batcave’s AC system hummed rhythmically.
The only warmth came from their foreheads—and the slow-building absurdity of their collective frustration.
Dick mouthed, So what’s Jason doing now…?
Barbara whispered back, “Reuniting. Sort of. Just… one-sided.”
Tim muttered, “Feels like he’s carrying the whole emotional finale by himself.”
Damian (rearranging the weird drum): “This was a waste of time.”
Dick quietly added, “I just… don’t think this counts as a reunion.”
Zatanna, meanwhile, was pacing thoughtfully, tapping her chin like an amused theater critic.
Finally, Jason looked up.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSIheUBVZRS
His eyes were red again.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6iaIokq1O1
He stared at her—begging for a solution. For hope.
Zatanna smiled.
“…I might have an idea.”
Everyone stiffened.
“What?” Dick blurted. “Say it!”
“No guarantees,” she warned. “But you can try.”
She leaned down, her voice suddenly soft—almost eerily gentle.
“…How do you all feel… about going back to Jesus?”
9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX7GyTdJHRa
“…Excuse me?”9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ998tSE0Y9W
Dick blinked.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvB3Xu2pWKZ
Tim nearly tripped. “I’m sorry, what?! We just finished an occult summoning, and now you want us to—go to church?!”
“Exactly.” Zatanna nodded firmly. “You all need to go to church.”
The silence was so heavy it wasn’t confusion anymore. It was pure disbelief.
“…What kind of idea is that?” Dick muttered, his eyebrows knotted.
“I’m being serious,” Zatanna turned to Jason, then gestured to the slumbering Nana. “Look at your new god. What’s her current follower count? A handful of you vigilantes, no structure, no hymnals, no offerings, no Sunday school…”
“And,” she added, her tone sharp now, “gods compete with one another. It’s a market, folks.”
Tim stared, deadpan. “Religions have… market share now?”
“Of course,” she said, counting them off with her fingers. “Every converted follower rings an alarm. And the higher your status in the world, the louder the alarm.”
Her hand stopped on Jason.
“You, Jason Todd—former Robin, vigilante, resurrected soul—you are the ideal high priest candidate.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf5sp9ysH8r
Your conversion? It’s her signal flare.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNHYCKEEwiS
Everything you do will force her to awaken.”
Everyone turned to Jason.
Still kneeling. Still holding her.
And for a second—just a second—there was a flicker of something divine in Nana’s still form, like she heard from the depths.
Dick, however, couldn’t help but mutter, “…So now we have to chase Jesus? Come on. What is he—a brick? Just grab and place wherever needed?”
Zatanna shrugged.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvWJxqSAdyO
“Think of it as… strategic heresy. You’re borrowing divine Wi-Fi to ping a new server.”
Tim: “…Is this a spiritual DDOS attack?”
Damian: “We’re turning into full-on cultists.”
Barbara, flipping through her laptop ritual logs: “We’ve always been cult-adjacent. Look at those candle placements—just the deviation from true center could give mild-mannered believers a heart attack.”
Batman remained standing in silence.
But he didn’t stop them.
9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKdSkpcJEJu
