The Labyrinth

Chapter 1: The Wonders Of The Snowball Effect

"On your left Batman!" The childish voice of a small Robin shouted. The colorful ten year old swung elegantly down from the roof he was previously on, his small yellow half-cape flapping behind him and a giant grin on his face.

He struck the gross beast in the face with his (bare) legs, letting go of the wire to bounce off the alley wall to again smack the creature. The beast gargled in some type of growl of annoyance, swinging a hefty green arm after the little vigilante, taking it's attention away from the larger and more tired Dark Knight.

Batman took an explosive from his belt and tossed it at the gnarly thing while he jumped aside to dodge the other flailing limb. The bombs lodged into the creature's back, sinking into the frog-like skin before flashing a violent shade of red and began beeping. Robin rolled to the side to avoid a stomp of a heavy elephant-like foot, now on the opposite side of the beast compared to his mentor. Robin shielded his face with his cape as the detonator exploded, the smoke billowing up and a whale-like cry adding to the Gotham ambiance.

When the smoke cleared the creature was frozen in a standing position, two black soulless eyes staring upwards as the fish-like face gaped brokenly.

"Ha ha! We did it!" Robin celebrated, puffing out his chest and showing off the R that christened him a hero. He sent his mentor another giggle, finding Batman scrutinizing the beast.

"There's still things to be done Robin." He reminded the child, his dark voice telling the boy to tone down the excitement. When the boy became stone faced the Dark Knight relented a praise, "But yes, good job."

Robin practically beamed, humming in place for a moment before rushing forward as Batman took a closer look at the thing.

"This is the third beast like this in a month." Batman said, examining the tough green skin and the goopy, slimy substance that coated its back. It had thick hairy arms and practically no neck, its mouth frozen open and eyes without eyelids. "Still no leads to where they are coming from, so far all of their blood tests have been different."

"Maybe they're created?" Robin offered, staring at the odd creature. It was kinda scary once he got a good look at it, it was a lot easier to fight something when they're being mean.

Batman took a few samples, swabbing skin and eventually taking out a syringe to draw blood (or whatever this creature's equivalent was). Robin hopped up on a trash bin close by, trying to get a better look at the creature's face. The last one looked more animalistic, this one was more amphibian-like.

The Dark Knight grunted, taking a step back. "They don't seem cognitive enough to plan anything, I think you're right Robin. The only link between them all is their mixed animalistic traits and their desire for destruction. The only problem is that no one we know has the scientific capabilities to do this, and we don't know how."

"So it can't be one of the usuals." Robin decued, folding one arm and tapping his chin with a finger like he'd seen Batman do sometimes.

"Which leads us back to square one." Batman growled.

The little acrobat scowled, scrunching his face as he thought. "What if M.A.Z.E. has som- GAH!" Robin was cut off as a giant winged creature tackled him.

"ROBIN!" He heard Batman yell, but it got lost in the wind as the little vigilante realized he was airborne.

Robin huffed as he felt some type of pincher feet clamp on him, digging into his skin and one even punctured his leg. He grit his teeth to keep from crying out in pain, his left thigh was NOT feeling the aster. The acrobat's arms tugged fruitlessly where they were trapped and he looked down to see the ground very far away. Fear gnawed at his stomach, turning to look up at the interestingly Pterodactyl-like beast chugging them upwards, squawking loudly into the clouds.