Bruce’s luck wasn’t particularly good or bad—he hadn’t encountered the Avengers, even though he’d heard they were also in the maze.

After enduring the embarrassing backstory assigned to “Batman,” Bruce found himself grouped with three others. One had already been “captured” by Evil Batman, leaving Bruce with a seven-year-old girl and a slightly chubby nine-year-old boy, both from East Gotham.

For the kids, the maze was just an adventure game, with “Batman” providing thrilling moments. They were easily distracted and aimless in their exploration—currently, they’d forgotten all about regrouping with their friend and were competing to see who could jump higher in the low-gravity environment.

Bruce, adjusting his tone to sound like a responsible peer, quickly earned their trust. It wasn’t long before he discovered the secret of the rainbows on the ceiling.

Hand in hand, Bruce led the way, walking with the kids across the inverted gravity that allowed them to tread on the ceiling.

Ahead lay three paths, each distinct. One was strewn with candy, another littered with candy wrappers, and the last was plain and bare.

Glancing behind, Bruce noted that the path they had come from had vanished.

“So, which one should we take?” Bruce asked.

The boy shrugged and said nonchalantly, “There are three paths and three of us—let’s split up.”

Before Bruce could object, the boy stepped onto the candy-strewn path and instantly disappeared, though the candy remained scattered on the ground.

The girl gasped and clung to Bruce’s shirt. “Where did he go?” she asked, wide-eyed.

Bruce raised a brow. He guessed the boy had been teleported elsewhere. Turning to the girl, he asked, “Which path do you want to take?”

“I want to go with you,” she said softly, clutching his hand tightly.

If Bruce had been alone, he might have chosen the plain, unmarked path. But since the girl insisted, they took the middle path with the candy wrappers.

As they walked, the girl stooped to pick up the colorful wrappers. “These are so pretty,” she said shyly, dividing her findings with Bruce. “I love collecting candy wrappers.”

Bruce crouched to help her gather them. The more they collected, the livelier the path beneath their feet became. The plain ground transformed into vivid, shifting imagery. When Bruce picked up the final wrapper, the clouds beneath them began to move, turning solid beneath their feet.

Suddenly, the ground dropped away.

Bruce had just enough time to grab the girl’s wrist before they both tumbled down.

They fell into a new space, cushioned by the bouncy floor below. The girl let out a delighted laugh as she got to her feet.

Bruce scanned their surroundings. They had landed in a circular maze, very different from the grassy, open paths above. This maze was crafted from pink ice cream walls adorned with candy decorations. Above them, the sky was chocolate-colored, and beneath their feet were cookie tiles in various flavors.

As they fell, Bruce had memorized the maze’s layout with a single glance. With his tactical mind, he could navigate it easily—assuming the walls didn’t shift like the maze above.

The girl, however, was busy leaping to grab a star-patterned candy wrapper stuck to the wall.

“Wynna?” Bruce called.

The little girl turned to him. “Yes?”

“I memorized the maze when we fell. Did you? Let’s compare notes,” he suggested.

“You want to find a way out, Thomas?” Wynna asked, using the fake name Bruce had given her.

“Of course,” Bruce said, feigning arrogance. “I’m a genius.”

“You memorized the map?” Another voice interrupted.

Bruce turned to see a black-haired boy with two streaks of white in his bangs, wearing a black mask that only left his teal-blue eyes visible. The boy had one hand in his pocket and the other braced against a wall made of strawberry ice cream.

“Work with me, kid?” the boy asked, his voice forced into a deeper register.

The tone and stance struck Bruce as oddly familiar. The boy stared at him, clearly puzzled, but didn’t immediately say anything.

Just then, a two-headed, chibi Batman flew out from behind the boy, exclaiming, “What’s wrong, brave warrior?”

“Ah!” Wynna squealed with excitement, stumbling as she ran toward the chibi Batman. “Hello, Little Bat! I know you’re the good Batman!”

The chibi Batman wiped imaginary jam from its face and nodded solemnly. “Yes, brave warrior, only goodness can conquer evil!”

The boy in the mask—Jason—looked at the scene with a mix of exasperation and realization.

He took a hard look at Bruce. The posture, the subtle movements—there was no mistaking it.

The orange T-shirt with a cartoon cat, the glowing sneakers, and the cheesy bravado were a disguise, but Jason was certain.

This “Thomas” could only be Bruce Wayne.

Batman and Talia’s biological son—if Talia cared for him, it would make perfect sense for her to name him “Thomas,” after Batman’s father.

Fittingly, the League of Assassins was active in Gotham City, where Bruce himself once trained. Naturally, young Thomas would have been nurtured by the League.

Fascinating. Two little birds had flown out of the League. Would the old Bat ever let this one become Robin? He certainly looked qualified for the role. And judging by how he interacted with the girl, he even had a decent personality. Jason couldn’t help but wonder what Talia had taught him.

As the second Robin, Jason thought he might feel conflicted upon seeing his potential replacement’s potential replacement. But instead, he found the situation hilariously absurd.

Little Thomas seemed startled by Jason’s sudden appearance but recovered quickly. With a small bounce, he landed in front of Jason and cheerfully asked, “What’s your name? Want to team up?”

“Jack,” Jason said coldly, though his childlike face drained the intimidation from his tone. “Just call me Jack.”

Beside them, the chibi Batman planted its hands on its hips and said, “That’s right! We’re looking for a way out. Our brave warrior had remembered the route, but… we couldn’t resist exploring the maze more.” It let out a loud burp.

…So, that’s how they learned the maze layout changed every fifteen minutes.

If Jason had known this was how things worked, he would never have let the chibi Bat slow him down—not even if it begged.

Initially, Jason had intended to let himself be “eliminated” from the maze, but now he understood why people left hating Batman. If the “big Bat” caught him, it might publicly reveal his identity as Jason Todd.

No, the only option was to find a way out—or at the very least, stall until the hour-long “child form” effect wore off. But if that were his only achievement, what was the point of coming here in the first place? To play games?

Little Thomas nodded to himself and immediately grabbed Wynna’s and Jason’s hands, dragging them forward in a chaotic dash.

Wynna hesitated briefly, glancing at the candy still decorating the maze walls. Her collection of wrappers was incomplete. But she didn’t want to be the one slowing them down.

The three charged through the maze’s twists and turns, occasionally encountering other children. While the maze didn’t look large from above, it was sprawling from within. As they ran past intersections, other kids, caught up in the moment, joined their stampede.

“What’s happening? Is the Big Bad Batman here?”

That thought alone drove the growing group of children into a panic, making them run faster.

By the time Bruce and his group tumbled into the maze’s endpoint, a crowd of children had gathered behind them, all convinced they were escaping a close encounter with the dreaded “Batman.”

At the maze’s end, they were greeted by a gargoyle—but not a real one. It was a plush gargoyle toy with a visible lump on its head.

“Before you is a furry darkness,” the toy announced dramatically. “Are you sure you want to enter?”

The children responded enthusiastically, shouting, “Yes!” “Hurry up!” “Batman’s coming!”

Bruce Wayne, the actual Batman, could only stare in silence.

The gargoyle sighed, raising its paw to touch the bump on its head but failing to reach. “It’s dangerous to venture into the dark alone. Take this with you.”

From behind, it pulled out a string of transparent goggles. “With these goggles, you can see your companions in the darkness.”

But they were clearly just children’s safety goggles.

Bruce’s eyes lowered to the toy’s ankle, where he spotted a price tag:

“Punched Gargoyle” Plush — $35 (20% off during the festival)
Available at Gotham East District, Rosa Street No. 117, Toy Store.

Bruce: “…”

The plush gargoyle moved aside, and the children eagerly grabbed goggles before pausing to look expectantly at Jason and Bruce.

Bruce sighed. “You want us to join you?”

The children cheered, “Yes, yes!”

He turned to “Jack,” who, to Bruce’s surprise, reached out and gently touched the plush toy’s head. Jason scoffed softly, muttering, “Let’s go.”

For a brief moment, Bruce’s expression grew contemplative.

Wynna waved a cheerful goodbye to the gargoyle. But as Jason stepped toward the darkness, he paused and turned. “Do you want to come with us?” he asked the plush toy.

The gargoyle fidgeted with its paws, then shook its head wistfully. “I can’t. I don’t have thirty-five dollars.”

Bruce: “…”

Of course, not all the “children” in this group were genuinely kids. One girl, barefoot and wearing a skirt—Bruce suspected she’d started in high heels—spoke up. “I can pay for it!”

Others chimed in: “No problem, I’ll chip in.” “I’ll ask my dad for money.” “Let’s all pitch in together!”

Bruce: “…” How many of you are real children?

Finally, under the persuasion of these “kids,” the gargoyle stood and joined the group, walking into the furry darkness at the center of their circle.

“Furry darkness…” Bruce murmured, slipping on the goggles. He could see the outlines of everyone around him. His gaze settled thoughtfully on “Jack.”

---

On the other side, Diana gripped Vivi’s shoulders tightly.

Before them were three roads: one with toy cars, one with tires, and one with absolutely nothing.

Naturally, following Vivi’s unspoken rule of always going left, they chose the tire path. The moment they stepped onto it, they found themselves on a massive, rainbow-colored disc floating mid-air.

This stage could only be described as “Bumper Motorcycles.”

Above and below them stretched endless blue skies and fluffy white clouds, with the rainbow disc hovering somewhere in between. Each participant was assigned a motorcycle. These bikes didn’t require any real skill to operate, wouldn’t topple over, and had the speed of bumper cars.

The goal? Crash into others, and if your target loses their grip on the handlebars, they’d be knocked off the platform. However, things became even more chaotic when storm clouds appeared overhead—signaling the arrival of Batman. If he showed up, children would be at risk of being “captured” unless they managed to escape. In just twenty minutes, there had already been 27 system announcements, including 7 eliminations by falling off the platform. Clearly, Batman was making frequent appearances.

Additionally, motorcycles needed fuel. Players had to navigate to the platform’s edges, where gargoyle creatures waited to replenish their fuel. Of course, these edges were also prime spots for clashes and eliminations.

There were about ten children on the platform, split into seven teams based on their randomly assigned groups. The game only ended when the teams were whittled down to one. If a player fell off the platform, they’d have to start over and find their way back via the “Rainbow Path.” If Batman caught them and they couldn’t escape, they’d be eliminated entirely.

Fortunately, all three in their group—Vivi, Diana, and Steve—were excellent at riding motorcycles.

At first, Vivi focused on progressing to the next stage. But soon enough, she got into the spirit of the game.

Too much into the spirit.

She launched a flurry of attacks, knocking Diana off her motorcycle—not off the platform, thankfully—and then “persuaded” Diana to ride on her backseat. When two kids on opposing bikes came too close, Vivi instructed Diana to grab one and yank them off. The results? Those unlucky kids either had to jump off the platform voluntarily or risk getting caught by Batman.

Diana: “…”

“This is a seven-against-one game,” Vivi declared confidently, gripping the handlebars. “Let’s take them out! We’re going to win anyway.”

To her credit, she wasn’t entirely merciless; she targeted players who seemed especially skilled at handling their motorcycles. Even Steve wasn’t safe—Vivi and Diana cornered him twice.

“Hey!” Steve protested. “Aren’t we on the same team?”

“Oops, my bad!” Vivi yelled as she sped off. “Didn’t see you there!”

Amid the chaos and laughter, only the three of them remained on the platform—Steve wisely keeping a safe distance from Vivi and Diana.

Overhead, storm clouds began to gather. A gargoyle unfurled its wings, and a black hole materialized at the centre of the disc. The gargoyle handed each of them a flashlight and said, “Below lies a fluffy darkness. Traverse it to reunite with your teammates. Together, you will face the final boss. Defeat them, brave warriors!”

Without hesitation, the trio prepared to leap. Steve dismounted his motorcycle and stepped forward—only to hear an engine rev behind him.

Storm clouds loomed closer. Diana grabbed a flashlight, while Vivi, ever resourceful, revved her motorcycle’s engine and charged forward with a cheerful “beep beep,” yanking Steve’s shirt collar as she dragged him into the “darkness.”

After a brief one-meter freefall, the motorcycle landed on a soft, bouncy surface—similar to what they had experienced earlier.

“…A motorcycle?” Steve asked, his tone incredulous.

“Of course!” Vivi sighed, as if it were obvious. “The gargoyle never said we couldn’t ride in here. Why’d you get off your bike?”

This habitual exploit-anything-not-explicitly-prohibited gamer added, “If they don’t say no, it doesn’t hurt to try.”

Diana switched on her flashlight. “I wonder how Jack is doing.”

“No announcements about him yet,” Vivi noted, tilting her head thoughtfully. “Feels like there’s only half of us left in the maze.”

The flashlight illuminated only a small patch of space ahead—barely three meters. Unlike before, the ground was covered in a soft, fuzzy surface that radiated warmth.

Having a motorcycle was undoubtedly an advantage for traversing this strange terrain. However…

Vivi grinned mischievously. “Hey, Captain, there are only two seats on this bike. Want to ride in the trunk?”