At Nightfall.

  Arcadia Academy rarely slept.

  Even when the halls emptied and the lights dimmed, something always moved beneath the surface.

  And tonight… it was him.

  Batman stood atop the Division B tower, cloak whipping in the wind.

  Below, the lights of the campus flickered like stars.

  But his eyes weren’t on the view.

  They were locked on a single figure standing in the center of the moonlit courtyard—

  Waiting.

  Solis.

  ---

  Who is Solis?

  A myth to most students.

  A whisper among the instructors.

  A boy who had never been seen in css.

  Never attended meetings.

  Never lost a duel.

  They called him the System's Blind Spot.

  Because he didn’t show up on scans.

  Not his stats.

  Not his bloodline.

  Not even his rank.

  He simply existed—

  And the Academy feared him for it.

  ---

  Batman dropped from the rooftop, nding silently before the figure.

  Solis looked up.

  His eyes glowed with burning crimson-gold.

  The same eyes that shattered the seal on the lower levels.

  “You’re te,” Solis said, voice calm but echoing with something unexpinable.

  “Or maybe... I’m early.”

  Batman’s gaze didn’t waver.

  “You’re the one they locked up.”

  “No,” Solis said.

  “I’m the one they couldn’t understand.”

  Neither moved.

  The moonlight flickered unnaturally.

  The wind stopped.

  Something unseen passed between them—

  Not hostility.

  Recognition.

  They were the same in a way.

  Both outsiders.

  Both broken pieces that didn’t fit into Arcadia’s puzzle.

  Solis tilted his head.

  “Do you want to break this world?”

  Batman’s fists clenched at his sides.

  “I want to know the truth.”

  Solis nodded once.

  “Then follow me. And don’t blink.”

  He turned—

  And walked straight through the courtyard wall.

  Not around it.

  Through it.

  Inside the Veil

  The world shifted.

  One moment Batman was in Arcadia—

  The next, he stood in a void of floating stone, glowing threads of data, and countless system messages frozen midair.

  [ERROR: UNREGISTERED ENTITY DETECTED]

  [RECALIBRATING WORLDLINES...]

  [ACCESS DENIED.]

  Batman stepped forward slowly.

  What... is this pce?

  Solis stood in the center, arms raised.

  “Welcome to the true Arcadia,” he said.

  “Not the school. Not the tower. Not the rankings.”

  “This is the engine that runs everything.”

  Solis turned toward Batman.

  “You broke the rules when you arrived.”

  “I was born inside them.”

  “But together?”

  “We can break the machine.”

  Batman’s eyes narrowed.

  “Why me?”

  Solis smiled—

  A tired, tragic smile.

  “Because you’re the only one who already has.” ---