"What goes into an alley on six legs and comes out on two?"
The voice broke the stillness of the dim, abandoned factory like a ripple across a tranquil lake.
A few chattering rats in the corner scattered into darker hiding places like startled fish.
Hearing Lynn's riddle, Batman immediately furrowed his brow, his expression growing grave as he began to think.
After pondering for a moment, he rubbed his chin with his right hand, his brow tightly knitted.
Batman raised his eyes to study the man before him, dressed in iron armor and wearing a bear mask.
"Riddler, this riddle of yours... really is a difficult one."
Clearly, he had mistaken Lynn for the Riddler.
But Lynn didn't care about that. All he cared about was whether he could complete his mission.
"Right? If you can't guess it, let me take the money Joker stole. Plenty of us need that money."
As he spoke, Lynn pushed Willis forward and continued:
"Look at him. He can't even afford healthcare for his son anymore. You can't just stand by and watch an old father struggle to support his own son in Gotham, can you?"
Batman glanced at Willis, then fell silent.
A moment later, he looked up and gave his guess in a low, gravelly voice.
"Wrong answer." Lynn shook his head and pulled Willis back behind Joker.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a yellow taxi parked nearby, riddled with bullet holes.
Not only that, Lynn also noticed what looked like a black briefcase on the driver's seat, identical to the one he had stolen earlier.
"Wrong?" Batman froze at that. He carefully considered Lynn's riddle, then went over his answer again.
How could it be wrong?
My answer fits the riddle perfectly. No matter how you look at it, it shouldn't be wrong.
"Do you know what the real answer is?" Lynn looked at Batman and spoke calmly.
"The answer is... the Wayne Family!"
The instant the words left his mouth, Lynn grabbed Willis and sprinted toward the yellow taxi.
"Run! The money's in there!"
Taking advantage of Batman's stunned silence, the two hurried into the battered taxi.
Once again, Lynn relied on his superb skills as a veteran Horizon player to drive the taxi out of the abandoned factory.
Batman stood rooted to the spot like a gargoyle statue.
"Hahahaha... Batman, never thought I'd see the day..."
Joker's mocking laughter rang out, grating on the ears.
"Give us a smile, Batman. Give us a smile! The world's just that cruel, just that cruel, aaah!!"
Bam! Bam! Bam!!
Three punches knocked Joker's soul loose. Officer, I'm the Bat-man.
Blood mixed with some kind of clear fluid dripped from Batman's fist.
Batman turned his head, his eagle-sharp eyes fixed on the direction the taxi had fled.
"Riddler... you won't get away!"
Once he caught the Riddler, he would build him the most secure prison imaginable and make sure he never escaped again.
Holding Joker in one hand, Batman gritted his teeth.
"Take your lousy riddles and spend the rest of your life behind bars!"
Rumble!!
With a roar like a wild beast, the enormous, pitch-black Batmobile smashed through a wall and charged inside like a tank.
Amid the flying rubble, Batman grabbed Joker, leaped into the driver's seat, and floored the accelerator.
In the damp, desolate, rainy night, the Batmobile roared thunderously and hurtled forward.
[Main mission "Rob Gotham Bank" completed] [Rewards obtained: Intelligence-Reducing Aura ability card ×1 (the same kind Peter Griffin has), resurrection card ×1 (rise again, my player!), Gotham reputation +30, EXP +20, assets +$10,000]
Inside the speeding taxi, fierce wind mixed with icy rain battered Willis's face.
He felt as though everything that had happened today was more eventful than all his previous decades of life combined.
"Are we safe now?" Willis asked the man in front of him.
Lynn raised his head and surveyed the dark streets around them, listening to the howling wind and the sobs drifting out of the alleys.
On the system's minimap, a dot so red it was almost purple was chasing him.
"We should be safe... probably?"
Before he finished speaking, a blue, mechanical-looking box popped up before Lynn's eyes.
[Side mission: Escape Batman's pursuit] [Mission description: Escape from Gotham's final BOSS, Batman, and head to story character Willis Todd's home] [Rewards: Health pack (fully heals any injury or illness; the ultimate bleeding-heart special), Iron Man's Mark III Iron Man Armor (from Marvel Rivals, a must-have for Bat Gang members, all stats +5.2, durability 100)] [Note: As a player, if you've angered the big BOSS, you'd better make absolutely sure you escape~]
Seriously, you're really making me join the Bat Gang, huh?
Lynn's bright eyes fixed on the rewards before him, and he already had an idea of how to complete the mission.
"Dinosaur War God, hold on tight. I'm speeding up!"
Vroom!!
The engine roared for all it was worth, and the numbers on the dashboard kept climbing, past 200, then past 250...
The powerful acceleration caught Willis off guard, making the seat smack him hard in the back.
Veins bulged on both his hands as he clutched his seat belt in panic.
"Didn't you say we were safe? Why are you speeding up? This isn't Fast & Furious!"
"Batman's right behind us. I can feel him catching up. This is more fucking intense than GTA!"
As he spoke, Lynn jerked the steering wheel, accelerating into a drift at the end of East District Bowery.
"The money! Our money's falling out!"
In the chaos, Willis saw the briefcase full of money fly out through the shattered window and immediately reached for its strap.
"Phew... finally caught it." He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
If I went through all this life-threatening crap and got nothing out of it, wouldn't that be one hell of a loss?
But just as Willis was congratulating himself on his good fortune...
Rat-tat-tat!!
A barrage of bullets came from behind.
Bullet after bullet slammed into the taxi. Under that torrent of steel, Willis didn't even have time to pull the briefcase back inside before the bullets shredded it.
Countless green bills fluttered through the air, then fell into the puddles along with the icy rain.
"The money! Our money!!" Willis's eyes widened, bloodshot, as nearly all the hope in his heart crumbled.
Lynn was doing everything he could to shake Batman with his extraordinary driving skills.
But Batman's Batmobile stuck to their tail like glue.
Lynn pulled his phone from his pocket and called Batman's communicator.
The call connected quickly.
"Riddler... I'll catch you, then lock you up in the finest room Arkham Asylum has to offer."
The low, gravelly voice sounded like a demon from hell.
Goosebumps rose all over Lynn's body.
"Yikes... I was just making a joke to lighten the mood. Don't be like that, Bat-kitty. Actually, my mom's name is Martha too..."
"...What exactly are you trying to say?" A trace of suppressed fury crept into the husky voice.
"Well... Batman, can we call a truce?"
Batman scoffed on the other end of the line.
"Now? Too late!"
The call ended instantly, and at the same time, two missiles shot out from either side of the Batmobile.
Lynn: "..."