Solving the Labyrinth
It was yet another choice. Three doorways stood before them, a symbol on top of each one. There was a round circle, a perfect triangle, and a square from left to right respectively. Naturally there was a riddle involved.
I have a head, a tail, but never any legs. Do you know what I am?
"Knowing this guy, it's an animal with all their legs cut off," Catwoman had said the moment she finished reading the riddle.
Batman was disinclined to agree with that. While a cruel, if not sadistic answer, an animal with their legs cut off violated the clue that it never had legs to begin with. So what had a head and tail and no legs?
It couldn't be an animal, or at least a mammal. The same went with birds and reptiles and the like. Fish, on the other hand, didn't have legs, but they did have a head and tail. So how did these shapes fit in?
Perhaps the answer had nothing to do with living.
So that left an inanimate object with a head and tail and most likely corresponded with the shapes above the doors. Eyes narrowing, Batman went to the leftmost door, passing through it.
"Hey! Are you sure that's the way to go?" Catwoman called after him.
"Pretty sure," he said back, which was followed by the thief quickly following after him. No traps seemed to be triggered after awhile, so it had to be the right way.
"I guess you were right," Catwoman said after awhile. "What tipped you off?"
"The symbols over the doors," he answered her. "Whatever the answer was, it had to fit with those."
"I see. So what was the answer?"
"A coin."
This caused the woman to look at him, raising an eyebrow. Batman didn't miss a beat. "A coin has a head side and a tail side, but no legs. It also fit the shape of a circle rather than the triangle or the square."
"Clever. So how much further do you think we have to go?"
The corridor made a sharp left turn, which they made, only to come to an abrupt stop. Straight ahead was a dead end, no branching hallway to be found. "What the hell?" Catwoman snarled as she slowly approached the end, placing a hand on it to make certain it was a solid wall.
"Congratulations!" the Riddler's voice suddenly announced, causing Catwoman to pull her hand back, the two looking around for the speaker.
Suddenly, the dead end went static before the image of the Riddler appeared. "I must say, I never expected you to answer all of the riddles correctly, at least without losing an arm or a leg. You have successfully navigated my labyrinth."
"Uhh, you do realize this is a dead end," Catwoman snarked.
"Quite true, my feline friend, but there is a reason for this, I assure you. You see, this is the entrance to the labyrinth; but as you've so eloquently put it, it is a dead end. The reason for this is because I sealed it off. It would be too easy for it otherwise."
"The fuck?! Are you telling me we did all of this stupid crap just to find out we can't ever get out?!"
"Your words wound me," the Riddler said dramatically, placing a hand over his chest. "There is certainly a way out, but the original entrance is not that. That is too easy and I am looking for some modicum of intelligence in the Gotham populous. Like you, I've searched high and low, and even to its center; unfortunately, I have come up empty-handed."
"I rather doubt that is what this is all about," Batman interjected before Catwoman could berate the man. That would get them nowhere. "You didn't go through all of this to see if people were smart enough to best you."
The Riddler shrugged. "If that is your conclusion, World's Greatest Detective, then prove yourself."
"If you wanted to test the city's intelligence, there would be more people than just the two of us in this maze. Then there's your targeting of teenagers throughout the city. You're after something and you want everyone's attention off of you to get it. Everyone's going to pay attention to kids being held hostage. You also put us here to remove potential threats to your scheme. That's all this is."
"Well, I certainly can't deny any of that," he admitted. "Your mind continues to impress me, Dark Knight. Perhaps a reward is warranted, a mere bauble, if you will." He then leaned closer to his camera, which caused his image to enlarge, particularly his face. "At this very moment, the GCPD has tracked my broadcast signal to this location. They are on the other side of this very wall that seals you inside. However, they are finding it quite difficult to assist you."
That's when the Riddler disappeared and a black-and-white image appeared. It was clearly security footage and it showed several police cars parked in front of the maze. In between the two were these tall, mechanized robots that were armed to the teeth, firing unbelievable firepower at the cops. Batman stared at it agape.
"As you can see, they will not be of any assistance to you." The footage disappeared and the Riddler reappeared. He was smirking, a hand resting underneath his chin. "If I had been of lesser intelligence, I would have been unprepared for their tracing of my broadcast signal. Unfortunately for them, I had taken that into consideration. Now you have another problem, Dark Knight. Surely you won't allow the lives of these law enforcement agents to be needlessly wasted."
A scowl appeared on the dark-clad man's face. Doing an about-face, he began stalking back the way he came, leaving the Riddler's gloating behind him. "Hey, where are you going?" Catwoman called after him as she began following him once again.
"I need to find a way out of here," he told her as he made the turn, heading back to the area of the last riddle.
"Yeah, me too. But you're going the wrong way," she retorted.
"This way is blocked off and unless you want to hear the Riddler gloat, we're just wasting time. Right now, I need a weapon."
"What, aren't your hands registered weapons?" she quipped.
He chose to ignore the woman. It was going to take some time, more than he was willing to give, but there wasn't much of a choice. There were innocent people dying out there and him being contained here was unacceptable.
Picking up his pace, he went into a run.
Artificial light lit up the stage, cameras focused on the podium with its built-in microphone, and off to the side, sound engineers held up poles to hold overhead mics to capture and record more sound.
It was the perfect arena for attention, and Mockridge reveled in it even before he took to the stage. So many eyes would be trained on him, reporters dying to be the first to report back on what he was about to announce.
The business mogul had heard back that the program his R&D department had been working on was finished, and with minutes to spare. Close to him, a bed with a teenaged girl wearing a tampered Omnicron stood ready to be wheeled out. A volunteer from some desperate parents, both of whom happened to be shareholders, but another prop for him to display for this conference.
With a final glance at his Rolex, Mockridge adjusted his tie, then strolled out into the limelight. Cameras flashed on him, the heat of exposure burning into him. He strode with confidence, reaching the podium and taking his place behind it. Taking a second to adjust the thin mic that emerged from the top of the podium, he flashed a winning smile to the crowd.
"Thank you all for coming at such short notice," Mockridge greeted. "However I could not wait to share this news with you. The hardworking employees of Computron have been working day and night to help bring an end to the nightmare that has afflicted our city for the past forty-eight hours. On day three, I am proud to announce that we have developed the means in which we can liberate the helpless victims held by the madman calling himself the Riddler."
So many cameras were taking shots of him. In the back, the much larger cameras were broadcasting him out into the city itself. The eyes in the room as well as those of the city were on him, and he preened under the attention.
"I could take the time to explain it...but I think that might send more people to dreamland than to the sides of their loved ones," the mogul continued. "So, I thought it would be better to show you." Gesturing with an arm, his volunteer was wheeled out on her gurney and onto the stage, the eyes of everyone turning to her. "This here is Anne, another child, another victim. Today here and now, she will be the first of a thousand to return to us."
Glancing with his eyes, Mockridge noted how an employee set up a laptop at the girl's bedside. Half the preparations were already done; this was for show. To build up suspense, anticipation, and expectation. "To honor this moment, I request that everyone keep silent, and observe. Wait until this child, who asked for none of this to happen to her, is rescued. This is a moment for Gotham, to show that we aren't helpless to madmen and lunatics who think they can disrupt our way of life and expect us to do nothing. That time is over." Peeling his eyes away from his audience, Mockridge turned his sights on his employees, specifically the one behind the laptop. "Whenever you're ready, gentlemen."
The employee whose name Mockridge made a note to learn later looked down at the monitor, fingers tapping over keys and pressing down on the small touchpad interface. The man said not a word, giving the impression that he was wrapped up in the moment, or so the businessman told himself. Who knew, perhaps they had the makings of an iconic moment. What was the word for it? It was internet slang, he knew that much.
The first sign that something was happening could be spotted on the side of the Omnicron. Where the ears would be assumed to be, the glowing green circle that possessed a black, stylized question mark began to dim, then flicker. It was as if this was a visual sign of a battle happening, one in the digital realm, and only once that damnable green shut off would it be over.
Mockridge gripped the sides of the podium, energy rushing through him as he waited impatiently. This was the pivotal moment; this had to go his way. So much was riding on it.
Seconds were passing by, and the green circle fought against their attempts to circumvent it. Dimming was followed by brightening and back to dimming. His employee was frowning, typing at the laptop, each pressing of a key sounding like an explosion in the silence.
Abruptly, the green circle blackened, leaving only a ring of blue behind. Mockridge instantly knew what that meant. The headset was still operational, but the program that had imprisoned the girl had to have been deactivated. He had done it!
The absence of the question mark was causing a lot of murmurs amongst the gathered reporters. The business mogul's claims of having found a way to free the hostaged children of Gotham were not empty boasts at all. This here might be the beginning of fighting back, and this was newsworthy. More, they were going to need more, and here he was able to give it to them.
"It should be safe," the employee whose name he was going to learn spoke, the technician looking at another employee. It was the cue to try and take the VR headset off, and now here was going to be another historical moment. Oh, this was great, fantastic, and getting better and better.
This other nameless employee moved around the gurney carrying the girl, his hands placing themselves on either side of the Omnicron. Pressure was applied—
The man was jolted off and away from the girl, a visible crackle of electricity almost throwing the employee off his feet. There was another crackle, but this one came from the speakers.
"Now, now, did you really think it was going to be that easy? Honestly, Mockridge, you are so predictable."
Mockridge heard the gasps, and he felt his stomach hollowing out. He was feeling clammy. Why was he feeling clammy?
"You always were more focused on the sales side of the equation. Your R&D team is nearly anemic. There were only so many people you could get to work on such short notice. Jimmy, I know you're underpaid for what you do, but damn it man, could you be more original? Using software to counter a hardware problem? Typical. A simple destabling program was going to override circuitry designed to hijack the human brain? Honestly, I foresaw you people trying this solution months ago."
The Riddler's taunting words boomed over the press conference, offering only condemnation and insults. Mockridge found himself looking from one side of the room to other, like he was trying to zero in on one speaker and then search for another. There was no face to see, nothing to get angry at or fight against. Just a voice that was in no way done with any of them.
"Now folks, don't fret. I may be a tough love kind of guy, but I'm not about to allow a child to suffer for the sins of the stupid. At least not yet. This time I give you a shock. If you care to tempt fate again, then she really will suffer. Now put little Anne Malkovic back where you found her. If she survives this, the humiliation from being plastered all over the news and the internet might finish her off.
"But honestly, you so-called adults are so predictable. I am genuinely afraid for our future if you are the example they have to live by. But before I go, I have a riddle for you Mockridge, and I hope you can answer it in front of all those unassuming reporters and journalists. If you're so rich, why aren't you smart? A conundrum for the ages, I wager."
Mockridge's face had dropped, and lips parting but no sounds slipping out. The words were switched, but he knew what had happened. Whenever he had faced, i.e. fired, a difficult employee, you know the type, the ones who thought they were smarter and better than the rest, he usually gave the same taunt.
If you're so smart, why aren't you rich?
His own words were echoing right back at him, and it was all being televised.
In this moment, as a bombardment of questions was being fired at him, Mockridge had no answer to give.
It was longer than he would have liked, but he found what he had been looking for. Retracing his steps, he found the area where two griffins had staged a surprise attack on them, destroying each other in the process.
While it was possible he could have found one if he took the wrong path of a riddle, there was no guarantee Batman would get what he was looking for. This was the only surefire place he could and he was determined to remove all doubt at this point.
Of course, he had Catwoman badgering him the entire way.
"Can you please tell me why we're backtracking?" she groaned. "At this rate we'll never get out."
Batman ignored her. Instead he was looking at the floor by one of the destroyed griffins. There were pieces of the gilded statue there, some promising, others not. Just to be thorough, he went to the other one and examined the pieces there.
That one. Kneeling down, he picked up a long, sharp, jagged piece. He tapped its end with a finger, feeling a sharp pressure even through his glove. It was perfect.
Turning around, he began heading back the way they came, Catwoman rolling her eyes as he ignored her. "Hey, are you going to tell me what you're doing, or am I going to have to drag it out of you. This is getting old."
"I'm finding us a way out," he told her succinctly.
"How? With a piece of shrapnel? I don't think you're going to carve a way out through a wall with that, ya know."
Again he ignored her, which caused waves of irritation to roll off of her. She would be learning quite soon what he was up to, but telling her wasn't a good idea. The Riddler had complete access to this maze, so it was likely he had transmitters everywhere to pick up their conversation. If he told Catwoman his plan, he could potentially intervene and that was the last thing he wanted right now.
Continuing onward through the maze, he finally found a riddle. Unfortunately, it was one that had booby traps for wrong answers and one exit. That wasn't what he was looking for. Passing through, he could feel himself growing more and more impatient. Every second he was stuck here was another second a police officer was being killed just outside of this place.
Eventually, he returned to the coin riddle, eyeing the two exits with the triangle and the square. This is what he wanted. Purposefully, he took the doorway under the square.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Catwoman called out after him. "That's the wrong way."
"I know."
"You...what the hell does that mean?!"
He pressed on, seeing a long corridor. Excellent.
"You do realize there's going to be a trap?" Catwoman pressed behind him. That's when they both picked up on a sound, one that was growing louder. "Speaking of which—"
There it was, flying down from the heavens—the Hand of Fate. Batman began picking up his speed, running towards it. "C'mon!" he shouted over his shoulder. "We need to get on the Hand!"
"Are you crazy?!" the thief shouted after him, but it was clear she was running after him.
"Jump on!" was all he told her as he jumped into the air. His timing was perfect as he landed right on the Hand's open palm. A moment later and Catwoman was right next to them.
That's when the Hand of Fate began rising into the air. A glance down showed that the maze was...incredibly large. No wonder they had been stuck here for so damn long. The place looked endless from this height.
"You do realize we're going to another part of the maze, right?" Catwoman reminded him then. Shaking himself out of his stupor, Batman got to work. Holding up the jagged shrapnel, he plunged it right into the hand, stabbing it through the gilded surface. Working at it, he made a hole, one that was wide enough for him to see the inner workings of the Hand. By now, Catwoman was quiet, watching him work.
Sticking his hands in, he pulled out a mess of wires. "I couldn't tell you what I was planning," he told her then. "It's obvious the Riddler has this place covered with transmitters. If he overheard the plan, he could have made certain we never ran into the Hand of Fate, which is what I wanted." Working through the wires, he found the ones he wanted. Using his shrapnel, he cut them, stripping off some of the wire covering to expose the copper wiring.
He then reached to his gauntlet. Hitting a button on it, a small compartment opened and he pulled out a small square device, a couple of small openings on either side of it. He then shoved the different wire ends into the openings, clamping them into place. Tapping a small button on its face, he then shoved it back into the hand.
Next, he returned his attention to his gauntlet. While the Riddler had paid more attention to his utility belt, he had left him with the rest of his armor—a big mistake on his part. Opening up a small cover, a small screen with buttons appeared.
It was time to get out of here.
His fingers dancing over the buttons, Batman felt the Hand of Fate react to the commands he was entering. It wavered in midair, going up and down before it veered towards the left.
"Did you just hijack this giant hand thing?" Catwoman asked him.
The vigilante nodded. "I did."
"That...is impressive," she acknowledged. "So I'm guessing you're going to use this thing to get us out of here."
"That's right, at the center of the maze."
That caused the thief to give him an odd look. "The center? How the hell is the exit there?"
"The Riddler mentioned it at the sealed off entrance," he explained. "While he was taunting us. 'I've searched high and low, and even to its center,' he said. We've been everywhere but the center of the maze. He had to get us in here somewhere, so with that being the only place we haven't been, there must be a way out there."
"This is first rate cheating!"
The voice roared out from beneath them, causing the two to look over the fingers of the Hand of Fate. Incredibly, the tops of the labyrinth's walls began to glow, forming the face of the Riddler and an angry one at that. The lights moved in time with his mouth and facial expressions too, giving the impression that the maze itself was talking to them. "That is cheating, Batman!"
"Someone sounds like a sore loser," Catwoman observed.
"The Hand of Fate was not meant to be hijacked!" he continued to complain.
"And you never said he couldn't use it either!" Catwoman shouted back.
The Riddler's face scowled. "This isn't over," he growled and then he faded away.
While that sounded like the grumblings of a man not used to losing, Batman didn't have time to ponder on it further. Looking at the maze from his new vantage point, he soon spotted what he was looking for. With a couple taps on the keys on his gauntlet, the Hand of Fate began descending through the air, closing in on the center of the labyrinth.
It stuck out from much of the maze itself. It was a rounded room, with one entrance leading to it. There was no telling if he and Catwoman would have found it wandering around aimlessly. While there were other places he could see from his aerial view, such as the safe spaces, this was much larger than them.
Gliding, the Hand of Fate came to a stop, hovering over the ground. Batman and Catwoman climbed off before the Hand flew away, leaving them with the sparse company.
That company was of a large, golden statue of a minotaur. It knelt at one end of the room, tts back fused into the wall. Before it was a small altar, empty at first glance.
"So this is it?" Catwoman questioned as she looked around their new location. "I'm not seeing a way out aside from the only way in here. I don't think I want to go back that way either."
That was when the eyes of the minotaur glowed red. Batman instinctively clenched his hands into fists, which reminded him that he was still holding that jagged shard from the griffin. He opened a hidden compartment on the underside of his right gauntlet, placing it in there. Normally he would have tucked it into his belt, but that was missing at the moment. This compartment was for bigger pieces of evidence he might find at a crime scene and needed temporary storage.
Carefully, he began creeping towards the minotaur, mindful of the large sword it held in one hand. The statue snorted, a gust of air blowing out of its nostrils before its head tilted down to regard him.
On any other day, he would have complimented the creators of the animatronic. Right now, he just hoped this was all the movement it could do.
That's when a deep voice emanated from the minotaur. "I have billions of eyes, yet I live in darkness; I have millions of ears, yet only four lobes; I have no muscle; yet I rule two hemispheres. What am I?"
Batman stared up at the statue. For once, Catwoman stayed quiet instead of ridiculing the riddle. Instead she looked to him and waited.
She didn't have to wait long either. The Riddler had to be running out of riddles on this one; or thought it was so good to want to use it as the last one in this maze. Either way, it wasn't too difficult. "The human brain," he answered clearly.
The minotaur's eyes glowed brighter before they went off entirely. There was one last snort that left its nose, but it was clearly a release as the animatronic shut down.
Naturally, that was when the clapping started. "Well done," the Riddler congratulated, his voice echoing throughout the room. "You didn't even need time to figure that open out. Consider me impressed, Batman."
"We've solved your last riddle," the vigilante called out. "Now let us out of here."
"Ohh, now that I can't do."
Catwoman snarled. "What do you mean you can't? We completed every one of your little games and puzzles. Now do as you said and get us the hell out of here!"
"Normally you would be right," the Riddler said. "However, there is still the matter of your cheating. I simply just can't let that go."
In other words, he had no intention of letting them out of the maze. Batman shifted into a defensive stance. What kind of trap did this madman have in mind?
"As you can tell, I simply detest cheating. If I had things my way, I would have every cheater's head lopped off. Alas, the world does not work the way it was meant to. However, I do have absolute control inside the Minotaur's Labyrinth and I can show the world just how it should run. You'll find out that one other shares my opinion of cheating rather quickly."
That was when a tremor ran throughout the room. The eyes of the minotaur suddenly lit up again, growing brighter and brighter. It roared a boar's war cry, cracks appearing along the wall behind it.
And then it ripped itself from the wall. It stood up to its full height, raising its sword overhead, then brought it straight down at Batman and Catwoman.
Instantly, they both jumped away, the sword sliding right down the middle of the altar and crushing the floor beneath it. Promptly, it pulled its sword out of the ground and raised it back into the air, the minotaur taking a lurching step towards them. Its hooved foot pressed down on one half of the sliced altar, crushing it beneath its weight.
"Alright, got any more bright ideas?" Catwoman asked. "Cause we could use one right about now!"
It would have been very helpful if he had his utility belt. He had plenty of weapons that could have been of use. Unfortunately, he didn't have that, so his options were limited. Still, that didn't mean he was out of choices. "Lead it to the exit," he told her, backing up as he did so. One hand went to his gauntlet computer and began entering a command.
Catwoman did as he said, keeping her full attention on the minotaur as it stormed after them. It was raising his sword above its head once more. It then swung it down, but then changed direction, arching into a side sweep. The two costumed mortals ducked down, feeling the wind pulling on them from the sword, and then bolted away, closing in closer to the exit.
The minotaur then quickly leapt at them, raising its sword high over its head again. It let out another war cry right before it suddenly was forced forward unnaturally. Batman and Catwoman dodged to either side of it as it flew between them. Buried into the minotaur's back was the Hand of Fate, driving it through the air, through the exit, and down the corridor beyond it. They didn't stop until they crashed into the wall at the end of the hall, sending a violent tremor throughout the place, part of the wall crumbling into debris from the collision.
Batman stared at the wreckage, wanting to make certain the minotaur would not be getting up. After it became apparent that it wouldn't, he then turned away. Now to—
"Hey, look!" Catwoman cried out. Pointing to the wall where the minotaur had been built into, a large hole had been left behind. Even better was a doorway inlaid into the hidden alcove. "Do you think that's a way out?"
"Only one way to find out," Batman told her and began striding towards it. The two of them picked up their pace and hurried over to the door in the event the Riddler unleashed another trap on them. Nothing happened though, and soon they were dashing down a sort flight of stairs and then down a darkened corridor. At least this one wasn't as high or spacious as the ones they had been trapped within. There was also a small flight of ascending stairs at the end, ones that led to a doorway at its top.
The door wasn't locked either and Batman opened it, albeit cautiously. It would have been too easy if there wasn't a trap; yet, nothing happened. A cool breeze flew over them and soon they were outside. The sight of fencing and what appeared to carnival-like attractions greeted them. Where…?
That was when Batman picked up on the sound of machine guns and explosions. Quickly locating the direction it was coming from, he hurried over to one side of the building, looking around the corner to find those large armed robots firing at police squad cars. The cars looked like large, metal, swiss cheese from the amount of damage they had taken, a couple of which were just burned out husks.
"We have to help them," Batman said as he stood on the edge. "Do you think—"
He came to an abrupt stop. He had half expected Catwoman to have followed him here, but instead he saw no sight of her. Spinning around, he didn't see her anywhere behind him.
Damn it, had she…
Batman shook his head. Never mind her, he had work to do. Expecting help from a criminal outside of a life-or-death situation was a waste of time.
Looking back towards the robots, he began tapping on his little keyboard again. The lens of his mask changed to green, running a scan over each of the robots. The scans would be sent to his supercomputer in his Cave, an analysis done, and hopefully some weakness found.
One of the robots fired a missile then, the missile lying right into one of the few remaining squad cars. An explosion erupted as the car was sent flipping up into the air, gravity forcing it back down to land on its top.
Hopefully that weakness was found sooner rather than later.
That's when a small window appeared in his vision. A blueprint of the robot appeared, then it spun around to its back. It was there a small square appeared, indicating a hatch. There was an entry point there, one that he could exploit.
Perfect. Rolling his shoulders to remove any resistance from his cape, Batman dashed around the corner, coming up from behind the rightmost robot. He kept out of the machine's sight, removing the jagged shard out of the compartment in his right gauntlet. He spotted the hatch door quickly and immediately stabbed the shard into it. He aimed for the edge of the door, wiggling the point until it wedged itself into the crease between door and the robot's outer shell. He grunted as he tried to leverage the door open, finally succeeding after a few moments.
And just like the Hand of Fate, he saw circuit boards and wires. Thankfully the window still appearing on his lens hadn't vanished. The super computer was now doing an analysis on what was being viewed and—
Instructions appeared and Batman got to work. Grabbing a wire, he cut it apart, stripping off some of the covering. His override device, unfortunately, was still with the Hand of Fate, so he couldn't use that at the moment. So he needed to do a different tact. A small hole opened up next to the computer screen on his gauntlet, which he shoved the two different ends of the cut wire into. Clamping them into place, he allowed the supercomputer to do its work.
The robot suddenly stopped moving. On the computer screen, Batman stared at it until he saw his symbol appear—meaning he now had control of the robot. Immediately, he began placing in new orders, specifically target orders.
Suddenly, the tracks on the robot began to go in opposite directions, causing it to turn to its left. The other Riddler Robots were still focused on the police, which left them standing in one line. With the hit of a button, Batman had his hacked robot fire its laser cannon, a red beam slicing right through each robot one after the other.
Abruptly, each one stopped its firing, the arms of each one slumping downward. Electricity danced over the damaged portions of each robot's body.
Then one by one, each robot exploded. Flames shot out in all directions as pieces of armor flew in every which direction. Batman shielded himself with his stolen robot, allowing it to take the brunt of the blasts until they were all over. Peeking around, he saw the burning remains smoldering.
Well, that was one threat down. It was time to get to work.
It was quiet. That had to mean the fireworks were over.
Cops were swarming this place, this theme park, but that had never stopped someone like her before.
Slipping away and keeping to the shadows was second nature for her. It became so much easier the further she got from that damn maze. If she never saw one again, it would be too soon.
Peeking around a corner, Selina gauged how safe she was before darting to her next cover. There was no sense in letting her guard down, not yet. Batman was still here and if he had a mind to, could come chasing her down. Good thing there was those robots there; it would have made sneaking away so much harder.
As she hid behind another attraction, keeping out of sight, Selina took a second to figure out how close she was to an exit. No, not an exit, a fence. Something that served as a border and kept people out. She was still capable of climbing her way out here—
There was a rustled nearby, a soft sound, and being on high alert, Selina was immediately aware of it. She looked around quickly, but found nothing. Then she looked up, because that seemed like a logical thing to do with Batman around.
Then she heard the meow from below.
It was a black cat, looking up at her and giving another complaint. Selina felt herself smile for the first time in who knew how long.
"There you are, Isis. I was worried about you," she greeted as she crouched down, holding out an arm. Isis was quick to accept, practically leaping at the costumed woman. There were more complaints, but Selina weathered them all, taking to petting and scratching her feline companion.
"You must have been so worried," she cooed. "Let's go home, Isis. We're both overdue for some relaxing."
Author's note: I didn't feel comfortable killing off a random, underaged, fictional character, especially under the current circumstances that random character found themselves. So, if it seems like Riddler copped out, you can blame me for that. I didn't have the guts.