The Arkham Asylum Riot

[nigma]

In the outskirts of Gotham City lies the horrific sight of the Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane – it's a dark and grimy building, which lies hundreds of dangerous men and women who are legally insane. It also seems to be the inevitable home of many of The Batman's many rivals, such as The Joker, Harley Quinn, The Scarecrow, Two-Face, Killer Croc and Black Mask...and of course, The Riddler. Riddler is currently Batman's most well-known enemy that's in the Asylum, but that wouldn't last very long – as everyone knows, the enemies of Batman seem to have created a bad habit of escaping the confinements of the asylum. Which will be seen once again in just a few moments...that's right, there's another riot set to take place within Arkham Asylum, and everyone knows when a riot happens – Gotham City becomes dangerous for anyone who is a resident...even when Batman is around to protect them. As our scene takes place on the top floor of Arkham Asylum, we can see two security officers – heavily armed with assault rifles, they are also wearing helmets just encase one of the prisoners attempt to strike. There are two officers, all heavily armed, outside of each cell – our scene begins outside the cell of Edward Nigma...known to the public as “The Riddler”. Inside the cell was Nigma dressed in a completely white outfit – including a white straight jacket, with his arms tied together firmly. He lets out a sick laugh, his chuckle echoes throughout the entire floor – that's when one of the two guards turns his head and starts to yell into the cell, banging the door firmly with his clenched fist as he does.

“Shut the fuck up, Nigma!”

The guards command didn't really have much effect on the situation, Edward continued to chuckle loudly in his own unique fashion. The high-pitched and irritating laughter started to make the prisoners yell and bang on their cell doors – it was clear that they were attempting to sleep, but the laughter was delaying that. That's when the plan would begin – the guard proceeded to slip the key into the door, twisting it as he pushed the door open slowly but carefully. The guard then approached the giggling Edward, swinging his firearm as it made impact with the skull of Nigma, causing him to fall to the ground and stop the laughter. That's when the guard nods confidently, turning around as he begins to make his way out of the cell – before he could take a single step, Nigma leaps to his feet and wraps his wrapped arms around the guards neck, grasping his throat firmly until the guard eventually falls the ground. The other guard clearly wasn't aware at what just took place, otherwise Nigma would be dead by now – Edward then proceeds to tip-toe his steps up to the entrance to his cell. This is when the guard became suspicious as to why the other was taking so long to return from silencing Nigma. As the other guard moved around until he was in front of the doorway, Edward took advantage of the situation, charging towards the guard, slamming his shoulder into the abdomen of the guard and sending him flying over the railing only to fall to the ground below. Luckily the closest cell to Edward's was quite far away, otherwise he would have been overwhelmed by guards by now. Edward quickly moved across the top floor of the Asylum, hoping to get away from his cell before anyone noticed the bodies. Eventually Edward reached his desired destination – he stood in front of a convenient switch, he reached out, inhaling a deep breath before tugging it down...that's when the lights in the asylum turned to red, and started flickering one-and-off quickly as the alarm sounded. The doors to every single cell in Arkham Asylum flew wide open – Edward took this opportunity to make his way to the room filled with every costume, gadget and personal belongings to the majority of the criminally insane. Edward grabbed a machete that belonged to one of the insane between his teeth – he used it to cut the straight-jacket apart, his arms were now free. He let out a slight chuckle, rotating his head as his neck made a satisfying cracking sound – it was clear that the plan was going quite well. Gunfire could be heard echoing throughout the entire building as Edward took the time to look for his locker – which he eventually did. Tugging open the door, he laid eyes on the spandex suit that he wore when Batman last caught him. He would have preferred the business suit, but now was no time to be picky – he slipped into the outfit whilst the guards were distracted by the hundreds of prisoners. It only took around five minutes before he was fully geared in his spandex outfit, he slipped his hands into his purple gloves, moving his fingers around to get used to the feeling. As Edward wrapped the purple eye mask around his skull, he gently placed his green bowlers hat upon the dome of his head, he let out a short sigh of relief as he grabbed a hold of the gold question mark shaped cane. He twirled it around in a circle as he leaned on the cane with both hands, a grin spread across his lips as he slowly paced his steps out of the room he was in...Edward Nigma had now once again become The Riddler. It seemed like a stroll in the park as he made his way through the asylum, the guards were at battle with the escaped prisoners as Riddler found that a door that led to the outside was wide open – this seemed far too easy. Maybe they should highly improve the security of the place...as Riddler made his way out of the building, a spotlight shined brightly on Riddler as he stood directly on the spot, the sound of a voice speaking over an announcement system could be heard as Riddler glared up at the spotlight with a foul look displayed on his face...

“Nigma, get back inside before we shoot – this is your only warning.”

Riddler slowly took a single step back as a grin spread across his lips, he raised his hand to his face, clenching his fist as he cleared his throat. He raised his hand, lifting his index finger as he speaks in his quirky high-pitched voice...

“Now, where would be the fun in that? Honestly...we both know how this will end, I’m going back to Gotham City – whilst you will increase the security for my next visit. You may as well make it easier on yourself to allow me to leave, so it will give you time to clean up this mess...How about a riddle?”

“Don't start, Nigma – get inside, or we will shoot...I will not repeat myself.”

“Very well, make it difficult upon yourself...boys, do your job!”

That's when the spotlight changed to complete darkness, Riddler was basically invisible without that bright-shining spotlight. The guards proceeded to fire their guns into the darkness, hoping to get a shot into Riddler – but they didn't. It was clear that Riddler had people working from the inside, as the gates that led into the asylum slowly parted ways as the exit to the place was made available. The shooting changed directions as several escaped prisoners managed to find a way up on top of the wall where all the guards were shooting from. Whilst they distracted by the prisoners, Riddler casually made his way through the open gates – the only thing between Riddler and Gotham City was a rather large bridge. Riddler quickly paced his steps across the bridge – he could hear the sound of sirens off in the distance, it was clear that the law had been informed about the current riot taking place inside the Asylum. Riddler quickly made it to the other end of the bridge, and hid behind a near-by wall as dozens of police, FBI and SWAT cars flew by him, quickly going across the bridge. By the time all of them were at the other side, Riddler then casually strolled into the city – The Riddler was back in Gotham. Upon arriving in West Gotham, Riddler proceeded to stroll through the alleys of the city, to remain out of sight of the public – as he arrived at one of the side-walks, a grin spread across his thin lips as he realized the part of the street was clear of any civilians, he then took his time to leap into the street, keeping a good grip on his golden cane as he does. He raises his hand to the dome of his head, adjusting his green bowlers hat which rested on top of his head, the streets were in complete silence aside from the occasional sound of car horns in the distance, and the low sound of police sirens which are still around Arkham Asylum, trying to keep the riot under control. Riddler cleared his throat rather loudly before speaking in his over-exaggerating and high-pitched tone...

“It's good to be back...now, what can I do first to celebrate my inevitable freedom? Hmm...”

[Nina Stenet]

The streets don't remain completely vacant for too long, as Dr. Nina Stenet has decided to walk home from yet another self-imposed long shift at work. Almost any other form of transportation would be much quicker, and safer for that matter, but walking helps her think and she has more than a few puzzles of medical science to mull over. Just because she's managed to convince herself that it was about time she left the lab and went home doesn't mean that she's not mentally still at work - someone like her can rarely leave their work at work.

And she's not as utterly defenseless as she appears. Why that's the case is her little secret. But she certainly doesn't appear to be anything special - just a woman somewhere between youth and middle age. A smart one, to judge by the lab coat, the sensible flats, the bag large enough for paperwork or a laptop hanging from her shoulder, and the well-practiced look of intense concentration on her face. In fact, her thoughts are so inwardly focused that when she rounds a corner she doesn't immediately notice the man standing down the street - if she had then she'd certainly react. While she spends a lot less time watching or reading the news than the average person, she doesn't live in a hole and even if she'd never heard of the Riddler it pays to be suspicious of anyone too oddly dressed, especially if their ensemble includes a mask.

[nigma]

As The Riddler studies his surroundings, attempting to get used to Gotham City once again – he was trying to create an idea in his mind that would get Batman's attention once more, he wanted Batman to KNOW he was back. How would he get the attention of the big, black bat? That was one riddle that even The Riddler had yet to solve – but he would...Riddler figured Batman was at Arkham Asylum right now, maintaining control of the riot – but who knew, maybe Batman was somewhere completely different. Wherever Batman was, Riddler knew one thing for sure – it wouldn't be long before the two put their deductive abilities to use against each other.

As Riddler stood completely still, as if time had just come to a haul – his train of thought was quickly interrupted as something caught his eye. At the edge of his eye-mask, he caught the sight of a middle-aged woman, which almost immediately brought a devious grin to his thin and dry lips. He spun around before she could get out of sight, not removing his eyes from her figure – he slams his golden question mark-shaped cane onto the ground, he leaned against it – seemingly unable to remove the smirk that was spread widely across his face. Riddler then raised his free hand to his face, placing his index finger upon his chin as he proceeds to speak in his high-pitched tone a second time...

“Hello there – I, am The Riddler! Considering I must get used to my riddling ways once again...RIDDLE ME THIS! Which is the correct saying? “The yolk of the egg are white”...or the “yolk of the egg IS white”!? A simple riddle...but do you know the correct answer?”

It was clear that Riddler was testing this unfortunate young woman, she was just going about her evening and minding her own business – and here she was being forced to answer riddles from the man of a thousand questions himself. The Riddler swung his foot to the side, kicking the golden cane with the side of his foot as it spins round in a complete circle – he carries the cane firmly on his hand as he approaches the woman...Upon arriving directly next to the woman, he glares down at her due to his tall height – he still had that sinister smile on his face. He loved to do this with people, test them, slowly cracking their minds wide open with his many riddles and brain teasers...it was always entertaining to see their reaction.

[/blockquote][/size]

[Nina Stenet]

To say that Nina is surprised to see one of Gotham's most notorious criminals seemingly appear out of nowhere would be a huge understatement. The worst trouble she'd contemplated running into during the long walk home was an opportunistic mugger or rapist - both of whom she feels completely prepared to deal with. But this...

However, Nina is not the average woman walking down the street and though she stops in obvious fear, it's gradually replaced with confidence as she reminds herself of this. Confidence that allows her to think clearly. "The yolk of the egg is yellow," she answers quietly, attempting to keep the lingering fear out of her voice with only some success. Thinking quickly, she adds, "Now leave me alone or I'll..." The pause comes abruptly, but not because she can't think of how to finish that threat. No, the pause is because she's not about to explain what she can do, especially not The Riddler.

But the pause last only a moment before she amends what she was going to say with, "...I'll ask you a riddle." Not a particularly dire threat, especially when delivered with a shaky voice, though she is serious in trying to warn him that she's not to be trifled with and puts as much of that into her voice as she can. After all, it wouldn't be fair not to warn him, would it? Mentally she begs for him to take her seriously, but fears that he won't - if she remembers, he was classified as insane, wasn't he? So there's no telling what he'll do. But hopefully if she answered the riddle correctly it softened him up; she's a bit unsure of her response, as she knows which answer is grammatically correct but she somehow doubts that the answer he deemed to be correct would be that easy.

[nigma]

Little did this stranger know – The Riddler was expecting her to get the correct answer, and if she didn't...he'd look at her as nothing more than a fool and a waste of his time. Something about this woman made Riddler have a great amount of interest in her – maybe it was because she was daring enough to direct threats towards one of the most dangerous individuals to ever come out of Arkham Asylum...or maybe it was simply due to the fact she got the riddle correct, when the majority of the people would fall for the yolk color trick. Who knew?

Riddler's eyes shrunk as his devious grin was soon wiped away, although he expected her to be correct – he really wanted a good reason to end somebodies life, and getting one of his riddles right certainly wasn't a good reason in his intellect mind. Riddler returned to his original posture, placing his hand on his hip whilst his other hand remained sat atop his golden question-mark shaped cane. His eyes fell, directing his attention to the very ground he stood on, before raising his blue orbs back up to her eyes – that's when he let out a small chuckle before speaking in a slightly calm and not so exaggerated tone...

“Excellent, you'll do quite nicely...as for your petty threat, it is meaningless to me – riddle me this...why do you look so...familiar to me? I know I have seen that face...whoever you are, it does not matter – I have a proposition for you!”

Could he be wise enough to judge someone just due to the fact they got his riddle correct AND threatened him? The Riddler was a complex human being, that's for sure – throwing around propositions and offers as if he didn't have to trust people to ally himself with them...It was odd, to say the least. Riddler raised his chin up high, keeping his eyes on the middle aged woman – it was pretty obvious Riddler didn't want her to escape when he least expected it, that wouldn't do nicely at all. Riddler then extended his free hand, offering for her to shake it and accept the offer as he spoke...

“This will likely be a mistake in my near future...but I am quick to tell that you could prove useful to me...I am in dire need of assistance if I wish to return to my former self – I need allies, to aid me against The Batman...and someone so wise, brave or perhaps unintelligent as yourself...well, I could use a lackey! Now, shake my hand to agree to this partnership...or be a victim to a project I have been working on...it is your choice...”

Perhaps Riddler truly was insane, he had no idea who this woman was – even though she did look oddly familiar, but he was still courages or stupid enough to offer partnership to a complete stranger. Somebody who wasn't expecting this from their evening, somebody he felt had potential to be a worthy ally...or maybe he was just insane, and would have offered a partnership to just about anyone he saw – only the future could tell. Riddler could tell by the fear in her eyes that she would be no real threat to him if she was to disagree to his offer

[/size][/blockquote]

[Nina Stenet]

That she seem familiar causes Nina to raise an eyebrow, but she doesn't bother to comment on that. Within the scientific and medical communities she's quite famous actually, having authored a number of landmark research studies and even been dragged into presenting at a few conferences, so it's only mildly surprising that he or anyone else would see her as a familiar face. All that's required for that is for someone to have more than a passing interest in new medical discoveries during the past few years. Or maybe she just looks like a cousin of his.

What does come as a bit of a surprise is the offer, which she doesn't take the time to consider. She is an undeniably good person, after all, so aiding him is completely out of the question. However, she senses that telling him so would be where things might get really dangerous for her, especially when he backs up his offer with a threat for refusal. There's nothing for it, then: her gift is the best way out of this situation. Her attention is suddenly drawn to his right leg, though she's careful to not let her eyes drift that way. No, instead she reaches out mentally just behind the lower part of his femur to the sciatic nerve. More specifically she focuses on the motor nerves that allow him to control the lower part of the limb, since she'd really rather that he didn't use those nerves for a few moments. And as she does this she says, "I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask you my riddle then: What's wrong with your leg?"

And the moment she's done asking the question she sends her mind racing among the cells, temporarily disrupting the delicate chemical processes that allow them to fire with her microtelekinesis. That takes her all of an instant, and she immediately takes this opportunity to try and sprint away from him, since she knows from experience that what she did will only last for a few seconds. Besides, the sudden unexplained paralysis in his lower leg is liable to cause him to fall over, and getting him to try and move right when it happens will only increase that possibility. She's not nearly the fastest runner in the world, but she hopes that since she drew his attention to trying to explain it that she'll trip him up mentally as well.

[Deleted]

Two Face had been planning on a quiet night. Driving around in his BMW, which had been decked out half-white and half-black. His police scanner was on, and in all honesty, all he really wanted was to hear a report about Batman or Joker's location, because that was all he could think about. They had killed his girl, His Rachel, and they were truly going to suffer. It might not be tonight, but sooner or later Batman or Joker would come out from under their rock, and when they did, he would strike. All he needed was a momentary slipping of their guard, and he would punish them, like they punished Rachel.

It was as he was driving his car though, that he noticed the Brunette running away from Riddler. Two-Face hadn't crossed paths with Riddler much, One of their only meetings being when Two Face was Harvey Dent, and had tried, unsuccessfully, to have Riddler sent to Blackgate instead of Arkham. But as was the case most of the time in Gotham, the criminals had the better lawyers, and they would plead insanity. A little bribe money here and there, and suddenly they were in Arkham, instead of in Prison where they belonged. But that was the past, because now Two-Face could sense Riddler might need his help, and when he saw Riddler face-plant himself, both sides of his face grinned, but then he swung the car sideways and roared up beside the doctor. Two Face waited until he was right next to the Doctor, and then kicked open his passenger side door, slamming it into the back of her legs. Two Face then screeched on the brakes, and stepped out of the car, a grin wide on his face.

"I'm sorry Toots. Did I hurt you?"

Two face then cackled evilly and walked around the car, his hands clasped as he walked towards the brunette, and looked past her at The Riddler who was just catching up. Two Face smiled and bowed ever so slightly.

"Good to see you Edward. I thought you were in Arkham? Don't tell me you broke out, only to get your ass kicked by a girl?"

[Nina Stenet]

There's no particular reason for Nina to pay attention to the car coming down the street, not when her sole focus is trying to escape from the Riddler. At least not until it veers dangerously close to her. And though she turns enough to catch a glimpse of the driver that doesn't help her because she hardly has the reaction time necessary to dodge the door with so little warning. Knocked unceremoniously over, it only takes a moment for her to realize what happened and who did it. Two-Face is here too? Since when does she have this level of bad luck?

On the other hand, the sudden increase in the seriousness of the situation causes her to realize that she needs to be very, very careful now. If she is, then she'll get out of this unharmed and so will both of them. It only takes her a moment to figure out what she should do now: not escalate the situation unless and until she needs to and she's ready to. Which means that she stays right where she is, pretending to be too stunned or too afraid to get up. And perhaps the latter is true - for now it's safest if she keeps quiet; it's not that she expects to be forgotten, but if she makes obvious attempts to get away right now it's quite likely someone will immediately try to stop her. No, more likely she'll have to make use of her gift again, but the question is always how to use it and that's not immediately clear to her.

What she does do is twist her head just slightly in order to give herself a clear view of Two-Face. Him she also recognizes from the papers, though she paid much more attention to his story than she did to the Riddler's. He is, after all, interesting from a medical standpoint and that's her field. She'd even had a passing thought that it might be interesting to meet him, though it was mostly to satisfy her curiosity and these were hardly the circumstances that she'd pictured.