Absolute Batman #16 (2026)

Bruce shows up first thing on Friday morning at the site of the destroyed Veteran's Arena to help with the rebuilding. After a full day's work his boss, Mr. Fox, tells Bruce that he will excuse his long absence because he knows that he wouldn't have taken off unless something serious was happening in his life. Bruce assures him that he's fine and Fox asks Bruce to do something over the weekend and have some fun. After work Bruce goes to visit Harvey and Oz in the hospital, but they yell at him to get out. Oz angrily tells him that he's good at saving the city, but next time he should try to save one of his friends for a change. Bruce shamefully leaves. That night as Batman he goes to the Gotham Museum of Natural History and uses the Amulet of Hecate to summon Wonder Woman. He tells her about what happened to Waylon and asks her if there is any magic that can change him back to normal. Diana tells him that the only tool she knows of that could transform someone on that scale is her lasso Sacrifice, but if she used it on someone in Waylon's mental state the results would be disastrous. However, she knows of something in another realm which can help. The journey will take weeks, but as time moves differently on other planes only two days will pass on Earth. He agrees and she opens a portal to a dimension between Earth and the Underworld. Wonder Woman tells Batman that they need to challenge a being called Akrolis who guards a bridge far away. They begin walking across the incredibly dangerous terrain. They hike through the great desert and share their backstories, with Wonder Woman telling Bruce how she was raised in Hell and him telling her about his father's death. After sixteen days they find a skeleton laid out on a plinth with coins laid over the eye holes. Wonder Woman tells Batman that he was a king who died fighting Akrolis and the coins are to pay Charon the ferryman for his passage to Elysium, the resting place of heroes. Bruce is surprised he would be laid out like that as he failed, but Diana says that his people must have loved him. He asks if the coins really grant passage to the afterlife, and after a pause she says that some say they do, some say they do nothing, and others believe that they offer visions and dreams. They reach the top of the ridge and see Akrolis' bridge below. Diana says they will make camp and challenge Akrolis in the morning. Meanwhile it is Saturday on Earth and Alfred Pennyworth drags a cart full of meat into the sewer for Waylon Jones. The increasingly animalistic Jones almost eats Alfred, but he threatens Waylon with a gun and manages to get away. As Diana and Bruce camp for the night, she tells him that Akrolis is a centaur and also a master of transformation. His bow fires arrows that "makes two legs into four and four into two". She reveals that many of the monsters they saw on their journey are beings he changed. Bruce is a little overwhelmed by all the fantastical things he has seen recently, and she replies that his world is new and strange to her too. She gives him a potion to drink which will protect him from Akrolis' magic. He asks her if she thinks he can win the fight to help his friend, and she replies that everything he needs lies inside him as he drinks. After Bruce falls asleep she lays the king's coins on his eyes. In a dream, Bruce meets his father's spirit. He tells his father that Thomas was a hero for saving them all that day at the zoo, but he just keeps hurting the people he cares about. Thomas replies that he doesn't think of what he did at the zoo as saving Bruce, instead "saving" Bruce was what he did every day as his father and a teacher. He tells Bruce that, just like building, it isn't about a single moment, but constantly working to make the city better little by little. Bruce wakes up and wants to tell Diana about his dream, but she says there's no time and they need to face Akrolis. They go down to the entrance to the bridge. Wonder Woman warns Bruce that she can help him in the fight, but he can only be given the artifact he needs after defeating Akrolis. They go out on the bridge and Arkolis attacks them. They are able to bring him down but Akrolis kicks Bruce off the bridge into the chasm below. However, Pegasus swoops down out of the sky and saves him. Akrolis fires a magic arrow at Diana, but Bruce on Pegasus fly in front of it and Bruce is hit. Diana runs at Akrolis, knocking another arrow out of the air, and knocks him out. She goes to check on Bruce and sees that he is still alive. She snaps the shaft of the arrow but leaves the head lodged in his shoulder. Bruce says that he failed but Diana tells him he hasn't and to remember what she told him. She picks him up and says she will get him home as he passes out. Bruce is woken in his apartment by his alarm clock at 5AM on Sunday. He remembers Diana telling him that everything he needs is inside him, then pulls the shaft out of his shoulder and sees the glowing arrowhead. On Monday he shows up to work with his arm in a sling. He tells Mister Fox that he slipped in the shower. In the sewer, Waylon finds the one of Bruce's knives stuck in the wall with the arrowhead hanging off it on a cord and a note. The note tells Waylon to wear the necklace and that he is never alone.