It was probably not the SMARTEST idea to run around cities like Gotham and Blüdhaven in full Robin cosplay when Halloween was months away, but that didn’t stop Maps. She’d been dying to try her new costume out, and what better time to wear it than when she was doing a little ADVENTURING?
Yellow sneakers beat down the sidewalk as she raced through the near-empty streets. Her backpack was bulky, heavy with cartography tools and homework she hadn’t quite gotten around to doing yet, but Maps felt light as a feather. With a getup like this and an imagination like hers, she didn’t feel like fourteen- year-old Maps Mizoguchi anymore. She was Robin; ever-faithful, butt-kicking sidekick to Gotham’s COOLEST hero, Batman. The mask and cape made her feel INVINCIBLE.
Well. Almost.
Before she could pull her head from the clouds, something BIG slammed into her. A startled yelp strangled out and the world spun for a bewildering second. In the next, pain sliced across her cheekbone as something forced her face-first against the nearest wall.
“—The Bats really does have a new kid, huh?” The voice was hard and gravely and too close. Maps’ heart leaped. Oh crap. This was not good.
“H-hey! Wait–ungh–wait a second!” She squirmed, trying to twist free, but he had her arms and she could feel his foot against the small of her back, pinning her in place. “Y-you have th-this all wro–OW! Owowowowow!”
“Kinda dis’pointed,” the man laughed. “Here I figured th’ little birdies would put up more of a FIGHT.”
