WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point #2, by Donald Mustard, Christos Gage, Reilly Brown, Nelson Faro DeCastro, John Kalisz and AndWorld Design, on sale now.
The Island, the sunny locale where the endless action of Fortnite takes place, has seen a whole line of surprising guest stars appear to frantically fight in battle royale skirmishes, the latest addition to the video game world is Batman and some of Gotham City's most dangerous residents.
And as the Dark Knight struggles to acclimate to the never-ending cycle of fights to the death and remember his past life before arriving on the Island, he builds a makeshift Batcave to better understand the mysteries of Zero Point and its sudden link to the DC Universe.
As with last year's Marvel/Fortnite crossover Fortnite x Marvel: Nexus War - Thor, those that arrive on the Island progressively lose their memories the more time they stay in the video game world, retaining their combat skills but no recollection of who they were beforehand. This becomes more pronounced with each cycle, with Batman visibly stranded on the Island for countless cycles as he grows dirtier, his Batsuit becomes more ragged and worn and he begins to grow a full beard. In order to carry over information gathered from previous cycles, Batman has constructed a remote cabin from the materials provided on the Island to contain his notes and serve as his headquarters separated from the rest of the DCU for the time being. This locale appears to survive the rebirth of each cycle, with Batman scrawling messages and clues to his next cycle self before he runs out of time.
Batman is no stranger to creating different Batcaves away from the original below Wayne Manor. The 1999 crossover event "No Man's Land" revealed that Bruce Wayne had secretly installed Batcaves throughout Gotham City to provide himself with bases of operations on the go, including one connected to Arkham Asylum. Similarly, within the Hall of Justice in Washington, D.C., Batman maintains his own Batcave to work out of when called to serve among the Justice League, complete with its own security system that can potentially bar out even his immediate teammates if he prefers to work in complete privacy.
This sense of privacy doesn't extend to the Island, with at least one another combatant discovering the Dark Knight's secluded getaway: Catwoman. Just as Batman has scribbled notes for himself that assures him Catwoman appears to be an ally, along with other data about Zero Point, Catwoman has discovered this cabin and left notes for Batman as well. Given just how cutthroat the competition on the Island is, it is unclear if this is just an elaborate trap laid by Selina Kyle as she handles her own memory loss and trust issues with the Caped Crusader but it shows the two heroes are aware of their predicament across multiple cycles.
Even with the acute memory loss caused by the Island and Zero Point, Batman still remains enough tactical wherewithal to instinctively build a Batcave in this strange, violent world. The Dark Knight still doesn't quite remember who he, Catwoman or Harley Quinn are beyond their activities in the endless cycle of combat or a way to return home but at least he's not working without any foundational knowledge moving forward. And with even more deadly opponents slated to go up against Batman next, he's going to need every possible edge if he hopes to survive.