Human Toy

This was an idea originally conceived by the editor-in-chief of Riverton Daily, Winston Higs. It began as part of a long-standing column that reported on street gangs and civic life.

This column had been around for decades—so long, in fact, that few people at the newspaper could remember exactly when it started. In its early days, the column wasn't optimistic. It focused on the dark underbelly of city life, highlighting the struggles of oppressed residents and the constant threats they faced. Whether it was muggings, harassment, or organized crime, the stories always seemed to carry a sense of dread. Even when written with a more polished tone, there was an unmistakable gloom between the lines, with comments reflecting a pessimistic, even hopeless view of the city.

But this year, things began to shift.

As the months passed, the column became more hopeful. The once dark and grim reports began to tell a different story, one of improvement. Stories of violence and crime were being replaced by tales of resilience and redemption. People started noticing that things were changing in Riverton.

Street crimes that had once been daily occurrences were happening less and less. Incidents of harassment, theft, and intimidation had fallen to the point where the column didn't feature such stories for over a month. Instead, it highlighted something new: the decline of the underworld. There were stories of former gang members attempting to go straight, seeking to rebuild their lives. Other stories told of these ex-criminals performing acts of kindness—rescuing a stranded cat from a tree or helping firefighters during emergencies.

The change in the city was palpable. Unlike the hollow promises of politicians, this was real, visible improvement that could be felt on the streets. People could see it, and they could believe in it.

And everyone knew where the credit belonged.

It wasn't long before the comments in the column started to change as well. Readers began sharing their stories of hope, describing how they felt inspired by the progress they saw around them. More and more, the people of Riverton were gaining enthusiasm and optimism for their future. Inspired by these reactions, Winston Higs came up with an idea—a plan to show the man responsible for these changes just how much of an impact he had made.

That's how the program was born.

Winston had 10,000 custom searchlights designed, each equipped with a simple bat-shaped stamp at the front. He randomly selected 10,000 readers from the comments section of the column and mailed them each a personalized light.

The original plan was to host an event the following week. The lights would be used to illuminate the city, a tribute to the hero who had brought so much change. But then the unthinkable happened: monsters appeared in the square. As chaos gripped the city, and heroes rushed in to fight, Winston realized there would never be a better time.

He immediately reached out to every participant in the program. Across the city, they responded, shining their bat lights into the sky.

The result was a breathtaking scene—

—bats filled the night.

Ten thousand beams of light, ten thousand bat symbols, shone up into the dark sky, scattered across the entirety of Riverton. Each bat-shaped symbol pierced through the clouds, illuminating the night like a constellation of hope.

When darkness fell over the city, Batman had been the one to rise up. He had shown the frightened citizens a light—he had given them direction. His presence reminded them that no matter how dire things seemed, they were not alone. They had someone to look up to, someone to trust.

Now that the city was finally improving, the people were giving that light back. A gift from thousands of families, shining in unison.

...

When Laitos saw the bat symbols filling the sky, the monstrous creature's massive singular eye widened in disbelief.

As soon as the bat lights appeared, Laitos could feel its power waning.

When it first emerged, the people of Riverton had been gripped by sheer terror. Their panic had surged to an extreme level, feeding Laitos and amplifying its strength. But now, as more lights illuminated the sky, the creature could feel the fear draining away. The negative emotions that had once fueled it were fading—replaced by something brighter, something stronger.

Even the people standing beneath Laitos, those it had surrounded with ghouls, were no longer as afraid as they had been moments before.

Why!?

Laitos was stunned. Long ago, before it had fallen into a deep sleep, it had terrorized entire civilizations. Its mere appearance shattered the minds of men, bringing chaos and destruction wherever it went. People had once worshiped it as a god or demon, paralyzed by fear, unable to even think of resisting.

But these people… these modern humans felt different.

Snap.

Batman raised his grapple gun and launched himself into the air. The sky shimmered as a light blue wave rolled across the horizon, and suddenly, a black steel raptor appeared, its cloaking device deactivating as it materialized out of the night. Batman had boarded his plane.

The Batwing—one of Batman's most powerful tools—was now in play. After acquiring it through an upgrade in the b-level equipment pool, Charlie had selected the Batwing for its unparalleled performance. It wasn't designed for conventional crime-fighting like the Batmobile. No, this was equipment made to fight alongside the Justice League, meant for facing the most dangerous, extraterrestrial threats.

Under the sea of bat signals illuminating the night, the Batwing soared. Seated in the cockpit, Batman locked onto his target, the massive ancient creature that had risen from beneath the city.

Laitos locked its grotesque eye on the strange, sleek aircraft.

That's the one.

This human, this insignificant creature in the strange black suit—he was the one responsible for the diminishing fear. The people around it had placed their hopes on this man. They believed that his presence could change the outcome.

How ridiculous.

Laitos's contempt was palpable.

It could sense that this human was no different from the others. Just flesh and bone. And yet, somehow, these people believed he could stop it.

But this would work in Laitos's favor.

All it had to do was destroy this man—shatter their hopes in front of their very eyes. Once that hope was gone, the humans would sink into despair, deeper and more hopeless than before. Their fear would return tenfold, feeding Laitos and restoring it to its full power.

Those who place too much faith in hope will find themselves crushed under the weight of disappointment.

With that thought, Laitos lashed out with one of its tentacles. But the Batwing was faster. Its twin thrusters flared, and with impossible agility, the aircraft shot sideways, dodging the attack with ease.

The Batwing—fully upgraded and now more maneuverable than ever—zipped through the sky. With Batman's neural link armor enhancing his reflexes sixfold, the jet reacted almost instantly to his commands.

As the Batwing pulled out of its evasive maneuver, it fired a missile straight at the massive creature. The missile streaked across the sky, a blur of motion aimed directly at Laitos's towering form.

Laitos sneered inwardly.

Another human toy?

It had already swatted one fighter jet out of the sky, and a missile barrage had barely scratched its skin. The ancient creature felt nothing but arrogance—convinced that this new toy would fare no better.

It didn't even bother to flinch as the missile closed in.

Bang.

The missile detonated with a burst of ultra-concentrated freezing energy. Ice crystals cascaded from the sky like a sudden blizzard. In an instant, the freezing energy encased Laitos in solid ice, trapping the giant creature where it stood.