Slamming into the walls wouldn’t kill him, and the chibi Batman didn’t recognize Jason’s face. After testing the waters, Jason put his mask back on and decided to pick a direction and leave.

Apparently, you could get knocked out of the game by the boss?

The ceiling was painted like a cartoon sky, and the “walls” were illustrated with whimsical hedgerows, all rendered in a playful, childlike style.

Chibi Batman followed close by his side. Since this wasn’t the Batman, Jason decided to just treat it like a walking, two-headed, life-sized plush toy.

So… where was the boss?

---

Meanwhile, Steve was talking strategy with Diana and Vivi.

“Last time I was here, I didn’t manage to regroup with my teammates,” Steve explained. “The walls shift randomly. Even if you try to retrace your steps, there’s no guarantee you’ll find your way back to the same spot. Memorizing the maze’s layout doesn’t help.”

Diana asked, “What if we leave markers?”

Steve shrugged. “We couldn’t find any of the markers we left before. But aside from that, the maze is full of surprises. Every corner might hold something new. The most surprising thing, though, has to be… Batman.”

Vivi tilted her head, a question mark practically appearing over her.

Steve smiled. “Yes, Batman—the final boss. He could show up at any time, but don’t worry too much. There are warning signs before he appears. You just need to keep moving… I think it’s because the pathways shift after you run. He can’t keep up.”

“Warning signs?” Diana inquired.

Steve took a deep breath. The five-year-old, with his golden hair and serious expression, did his best to lower his voice and mimic the infamous tone:

“I am vengeance. I am the night. I am—BATMAN!“

Diana and Vivi couldn’t hold back their laughter.

“Pfft!”

Steve’s face reddened slightly, but he continued, “You’ll hear his voice before he actually shows up.”

Even though the three were skilled fighters, the combination of gravity and the maze’s altered physics made moving difficult. They shuffled along cautiously. As they rounded the next corner, Vivi asked, “Do you think Jack will be okay?”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Steve reassured her. “The last time I played, one of my random teammates became best friends with Chibi Batman. He was an actual kid. Letting children experience joy… that’s probably the true meaning of Children’s Day.”

Just as he finished speaking, a sudden, gravelly voice echoed ominously from ahead.

“I am vengeance—“

Steve’s face changed instantly. “Run back!”

The three turned and ran, but balancing while running was impossible. The first stumble set off a chain reaction: Vivi tripped Diana, who was launched into the air, her toy-like sword bouncing her higher after hitting the ground. Steve’s shield, though softer in this game, still functioned. He flung it to redirect Diana’s trajectory. Diana, in turn, threw her Lasso of Truth, using it like a rope to stabilize herself.

The trio scrambled and tumbled back to where they’d started, only to find that the path had changed.

What was once a straight corridor was now a three-way junction.

“Left!” Vivi shouted.

Steve led them down the left path, and upon encountering another fork, they chose left again. Finally, they could no longer hear Batman’s iconic growls or the faint flapping of his “wings.”

Diana frowned. “Batman’s not an actual bat. He shouldn’t make wing-flapping noises.”

Vivi, holding onto Diana’s lasso, replied casually, “It’s just part of the game design.”

Diana gave her a knowing smile. “This is your first time playing, isn’t it?”

“Yup,” Vivi said. “No idea what’s coming next. But hey, it’s a festival—no one’s getting hurt. It’s all about fun.”

And grinding Sparklers, Vivi thought privately.

Diana turned to Steve. “Can’t we fight this Batman boss?”

Steve’s expression turned complicated. After a pause, he explained, “In theory, there are 100 participants per round, split into 25 teams. But we haven’t encountered any other teams. Last time, after we escaped, I stuck around to ask the others about their experiences. Several teams reported being chased by Batman during the same time frame.”

Diana’s brow furrowed thoughtfully. “So there’s more than one Batman in the maze at the same time?”

“Exactly. Tony analyzed it—defeating one Batman wouldn’t end the game. You still have to follow the NPC’s instructions. Their dialogue holds clues. We can’t progress until we regroup with Jack and find the path to the final boss.”

“So… the maze can’t actually be escaped?” Diana surmised.

Steve nodded. Diana pressed further, “But what happens if Batman catches you?”

As the 12-year-old Amazonian princess, Diana was the strongest among them. Fearless even in games, she seemed eager to poke this “plastic” Batman with her similarly toy-like sword.

Steve, however, looked haunted by his previous experience. After a deep sigh, he admitted, “If you lose, Batman grabs you like a trophy. You can struggle all you want, but he’ll announce your name—”

He winced.

“Your real name. He’ll broadcast it throughout the entire maze. Three times.”

Public! Humiliation!

Just then, a voice echoed from above, announcing the capture of an unlucky player:

“I’ve caught you, Mary Bell. I will prevail, for I am Batman.”

“I’ve caught you…”

Vivi: “…”

For some reason, she felt Batman might be the one suffering more here.

Diana, caught between laughter and exasperation, knocked on a nearby wall and bounced on her feet. She leapt a full meter into the air, yet couldn’t reach the top. “Have you tried looking from up high? Can this sky be broken?”

“Hmm… all weapons seem ineffective here.”

Vivi tilted her head upward, staring at the cartoon sky and clouds on the ceiling. She pulled out her trusty pipe. “I could give it a shot.”

Though the walls were elastic and unbreakable, Vivi managed to scale them by sticking to their surface. Once she reached the top and touched the ceiling, she shook her head. “Same material as the walls. This whole space must be sealed.”

She jumped down, landing lightly—then promptly fell into an entirely painless bottom-first plop.

Electronic devices were disabled here, negating any chances of cheating. To avoid getting separated, the trio held hands as they moved forward, encountering Batman twice more. Both times, they managed to escape successfully. Along the way, announcements rang out sporadically as players were eliminated. Steve explained that during his last run, he never managed to find his teammates again.

“The maze is just too big,” he said. “Eventually, Batman’s relentless pursuit scatters the team, and we all get caught one by one.”

Since Vivi had two reliable “junior heroes” guiding her, she let her mind wander. The walls, painted with rolling hedgerows, were a whimsical backdrop. As they walked, Vivi looked upward again, her gaze fixed on the ceiling.

Diana also stopped, studying the scene above.

Steve turned to ask what they were looking at, only to be pulled off balance by the two women leaning backward—resulting in all three of them toppling onto the ground.

“I think…” Diana began, lying on her back, “if this game is designed for children—”

“—then it won’t be too difficult,” Vivi interjected. “While outsmarting Batman is fun, it’d get boring if you could never win.”

“I still remember when I was a kid,” Steve mused, reclining with them. “I was sickly but lively, always causing trouble. It wasn’t until I discovered a love for drawing that I finally calmed down and stopped driving my mom crazy.”

The ceiling above them, painted with blue skies and fluffy clouds, occasionally featured a rainbow—just like the room they’d started in.

Wait. A rainbow?

“How many rainbows have we passed so far?”

“Seven,” Vivi answered, raising her hand. “I counted. I was bored.”

Steve nodded thoughtfully. “In mythology, rainbows are sometimes bridges.”

The three exchanged looks before moving to the end of the current path, where the rainbow painted on the ground seemed to break off.

A few minutes later, the path hadn’t changed, but the seam between two sections of the ceiling began to shift. The image above morphed. Vivi kept her eyes fixed on it. When the two sections aligned into a complete rainbow bridge, she shouted, “Go!”

All three stepped onto the path. In an instant, the ground flipped. The ceiling’s image and the original green floor swapped places.

Gravity reversed, and they found themselves standing on what had been the ceiling. The rainbow bridge fractured again, revealing three new paths ahead.

---

Meanwhile, an hour and a half after Tony Stark had instructed his AI to hang up on Batman…

Bruce Wayne’s private jet landed in Gotham. He hadn’t expected the city to transform so drastically during his two-day trip to Washington.

Wasn’t his appointment with Mr. C scheduled for June 3rd?

Now, with the city teeming with heroes—Superman, Wonder Woman, Iron Man, Captain America—Bruce thought even the Joker wouldn’t stand a chance. These heroes would likely fight over who got to throw him back into Arkham first. But this was Batman’s Gotham. He decided to return early and get things under control.

…Only for Tony to hang up on him.

…And for Superman to assure him everything was fine and that he was having fun.

No matter. Batman could handle anything. Using his Batcomputer, he combed through online information, game guides, and rumors about the mysterious magician’s projection, the suddenly appearing circus, the underground Black Goat’s Cabin, and those shrink-you-down cookies.

The guides were frustratingly vague, so Batman decided to experience it himself.

Not as Batman, but as Bruce Wayne—for convenience.

To ensure even Bruce’s identity stayed hidden, he disguised himself further. An orange polo shirt with a cat print, a bandage on his cheek, spiked hair, and glowing sneakers. He now looked like a regular seven- or eight-year-old Gothamite.

No one, except those deeply familiar with him, could recognize Bruce’s disguise.

And so, dressed in his childlike guise, Bruce entered the maze.

Wearing his orange polo, bandaged face, and glowing shoes, he blended perfectly into the festive crowd of shrunken participants.

Above them, a voice boomed:

“I’ve caught you, Mary Bell. I will prevail, for I am Batman!”

…Hopefully, no one will recognize me.

^[1]T/N: This chapter was quite fun (˃̣̣̥‿˂̣̣̥)