Unable to Change

Deep within Gotham Circus's maze.

"Five minutes left. We're out of time!" Bruce said anxiously. Even Batman could not remain calm when faced with a comrade about to die.

"Relax. Gordon will be fine, because we're here."

After rounding a sharp corner, the two finally reached the very center of the maze. There was a stone platform here, once used to display treasure. At that moment, Gordon was tied to it.

Beside Gordon stood a robot taller than a man, holding a massive blade aimed directly at his neck. Without question, once the countdown ended, Gordon's head would roll.

When Gordon saw Bruce and Jude arrive, he was overjoyed. The weight in his heart finally lifted. As long as that man was here, he would definitely be safe.

A beam of white light flashed, and Nygma's image appeared on the wall.

"Hehe, first of all, congratulations on successfully reaching the end of the game. But we all know every game has a final boss. Now, keep solving riddles."

The moment he finished speaking, a red light flashed in the robot's eyes, and it spoke in a mechanical voice.

"I have millions of eyes, yet I never see the light. I have millions of ears, yet only four pituitary glands. I have no muscles, yet I control two hemispheres."

"What am I?"

The instant the robot finished its riddle, Bruce blurted out, "The brain—and also the thing you, Edward Nygma, admire most."

"The brain has millions of optic and auditory nerves, but only four pituitary glands, and it is divided into left and right sides. So the answer is the brain."

The Riddler had not expected his carefully prepared question to be solved so easily. Wasn't that proof that his intelligence was far inferior to Batman's and Jude's? He refused to accept that.

His teasing expression turned dark and twisted as the Riddler roared, "Very good, you solved the riddle. But I changed the rules in advance. If you answer correctly, Gordon dies instead. Kill him!"

A red light flashed in the robot's eyes, and the raised blade came crashing down.

"Despicable!"

Bruce cursed and fired his grappling hook, catching Gordon and yanking hard to drag him off the stone platform.

With a deafening bang, the sharp blade split the platform cleanly in two.

"You boys have fun. I won't be keeping you company. We'll meet again someday, hahahaha..."

With that, the Riddler's image vanished. Clearly, he was worried the two would come after him once they saved Gordon. He had no desire to return to Arkham.

After missing with its first strike, the robot immediately gave chase. One hand held the blade, while the other had transformed into a Vulcan Gatling.

"FUCK!"

Jude cursed under his breath and ran with Bruce and Gordon toward the corner they had entered through. Bullets carved long trails of fire across the ground and walls, while spent casings clattered endlessly onto the floor.

"This thing has way more firepower than the drones!"

"You don't have to tell me. I can see that."

"Then do you have a workable plan?"

Bruce said, "Where's your Freeze Gun?"

"It's out of energy. Forget the Freeze Gun—even the Laser Gun has no power left."

Bruce frowned. "Come on. Maybe we can use one of Nygma's traps against it."

Boom!

Before he could finish, the wall shattered and collapsed. The robot did not take the usual route—it chose direct demolition.

"There's no time. I'll go first. Get ready."

"What are you going to do?"

Jude grinned. "No machine can escape my eyes. This is the Genius Eye that sees through everything. I'll find this thing's control center, and then you destroy it."

Having laid out the plan, Jude gave Bruce no time to react. He put on his portable microscope calibration device and, aided by his Gravity-Adhesion Shoes, darted up and down around the robot.

His eyes searched ceaselessly across the robot's body. At that moment, every connection point, every axle, every screw, and every armor plate was dismantled piece by piece in his vision.

Inside Jude's mind, the robot's head was quickly deconstructed, followed by its neck, arms, torso, and eventually its entire body.

The robot swung its Vulcan Gatling around, firing wildly after Jude's moving figure. Suddenly, a grappling line shot out from the side and wrapped around the gun barrel.

"Hmph!"

The muscles in Bruce's arms bulged as he let out a strained, pained grunt.

Bang!

But how could human strength possibly contend with a machine's power, even if he was Batman?

The robot's wheel axle spun faster and faster, its distinct creaking echoing through the narrow passage. Its Gatling arm swung violently, instantly flinging Bruce away and smashing him through a wall.

Seizing the chance, Jude leaped onto the robot's back. One hand gripped its shoulder, while the other clenched into a fist and hammered its back.

Clang!

The robot visibly froze for a moment after that punch.

"Right here, Bruce!"

Bruce crawled out from the rubble and dashed to the robot in a few strides. He dodged the massive blade with a swift turn and moved behind it.

With a sharp hiss, the wrist blade extended from his gauntlet. He stomped down, leaped, and punched—sparks flew everywhere!

Crack, crack...

The robot's movements suddenly became sluggish. The lights in its eyes flickered and shifted constantly as the Vulcan Gatling fired wildly at the ceiling.

Suddenly, a small explosion erupted from its back. Then it dropped to its knees, the light in its eyes fading away.

"Whew... Fortunately, this robot wasn't all that sophisticated. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy to deal with."

"Come on, let's high-five, Bruce."

But Bruce stood up and walked away without even looking at Jude. "Let's get out of here. Spade K is still waiting for me to deal with him."

Jude lowered his raised right hand and said without the slightest embarrassment, "Can't you trust those kids? You'll exhaust yourself living like this, Bruce."

Bruce said gravely, "It's my mission."

"Mission? I think you take yourself too seriously. You're not the only one who wants Gotham to get better. If you suddenly died one day, another Batman would surely step forward. Do you believe that?"

This time, Bruce stopped. But he only paused before walking onward again.

"If that really happens—if I truly die before Gotham gets better—I hope things will be as you say, and more people will stand up."

James Gordon walked over to Jude and sighed. "A lot of people have said similar things to him, but he's stubborn like that. That's why he's Batman, and not someone else."

Jude shrugged helplessly. "True. If he could be changed by others, Bruce Wayne wouldn't be Bruce Wayne anymore."

When the three emerged from the maze, a ray of sunlight shone down, as though it had pierced a little of the mist hanging over Gotham.

At that moment, Alfred's voice sounded in Bruce's earpiece.

"Bad news, Master Bruce. Wayne Group has been robbed!"

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