TDoBW Up for another game? [Lex Luthor]

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He sat in the booth of the hotel restaurant wearing a fairly bland black suit. He didn’t bring Allen with him to this meeting, mostly because the last time he met with Luthor, he ended up killing one of his henchman that had been with him for five years. Was Edward a litter bitter about the death? No, in the end, he had only been a henchman, but he had no interest in Luthor getting another one on him and killing another one of his men.

The early morning sun came down through the window showing how beautiful the five star restaurant and hotel truly were. It just made Edward squint. He hated mornings. With all the late nights he had, he rarely woke up before ten, but of course when meeting with Lex Luthor you had to fit into his schedule and go to his hotel to make it the most convenient for him. It was jaw wrenching. But he supposed it was a miracle in itself that Luthor was meeting with him at all. Their last meeting had not been pleasant with Luthor threatening him to terrorist status to have the entire U.S. Government to be breathing down his neck, and Edward…innocently supplying the man with a poison drink giving him replica of aids. He did supply the antidote as well as his files. At the end, they came to a compromise. It just had not been a pleasant meeting.

He suspected this would go better. After all, there was not a woman involved in this meeting and women had a talent of muddling up men affairs. He took a gulp of the coffee hoping to liven himself up. He could feel the bags under his eyes, and the way his hair probably looked disheveled. While his appearance seemed not as perfect as usual, his mind was still sharp. He had been preparing for this meeting unlike any of his others. He would not walk into Luthor unprepared. Besides for the Batman, Luthor was one of the few that knew how to play his game of chess.

He checked the time on his phone. He frowned. For a man who had such a tight schedule, he was already 5 minutes late. Edward was tempted to order breakfast without him.

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Lex stressed that timing was key to many things; business deals and meeting especially. However, this meeting was not a typical business deal, it was more than that. This alleged meeting with a man who had kepy himself shielded almost as well as Lex has makes him curious and cautious at once. Lex had cleared his schedule, lightening his load and freeing his mind from other thoughts. This meeting would commence another sparing between the mind of a riddled man and a mind of a god. Many meetings have left both puzzled or victorious, but something about the nature of recent events made him wonder if this meeting was about the late doctor. Obviously it was set up by Edward, an unusual change-up, and he had requested Lex to meet with him. Usually it is vice-versa….


The ride to Metropolis through his private jet was not hard, but it made him slightly more relaxed than he is when he visits the putrid dump. Luthor remembered how the last meeting left both players stuck, no clear winner, no definite answers. It was like a philosophical debate. All meetings have their key players and the key views, but meetings with Rogues of Gotham are more than that to a degree. People such as Crane or Edward know the game well, they live it, abide by it, and breathe it. Others like the Joker, mock it and degrade it…


As he enterered the busy restaurant, he requested Mercy to wait for him in the car and relax. He came prepared with a light gun, but nothing too heavy. This was not about to end in destroyed bone and tendons for either of them, but one must take a lightning rod to a scenario that could turn hot. He was wearing a nice charcoal suit, new and not worn until this morning. His black shoes clicked on the floor a bit before he sat at the booth and gleamed at Edward. The gleam was a mixture of authority and mastery infused with bits of respect. Let this be a meeting of Lex’s gain solely. “Good Morning Edward, curious to see a dead man speak to the living. Dr. Stenet gives her regards.” This was the first act, a testing of boundaries… let it begin.

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Edward straightened when he saw Luthor stepped into the restaurant. The man had a talent of making an entrance by his pure aura of arrogance. Edward took a sip of his coffee at one final chance to wake himself up before having to play a battle of minds with a master chess player.

The first statement made him tilt his head, and he smirked, “I’m afraid I have no interest in whoever you are talking about.” Because he didn’t. To be honest, the more he thought of Dr. Stenet the more he had no idea what had ever captured his attention on her. She was self-absorbed, and not in the normal way. She thought she mattered more to this Earth than others, yet strangely felt the need to play victim in all her life affairs. If Edward were a Doctor, he would possibly diagnose her with Munchausen syndrome. She didn’t pretend to be sick, but she pretended to be the victim to gain sympathy and attention from others. He remembered it being one of the things that infuriated him about her and one of the reasons they got into so many fights. He was always the ‘bad’ guy, and she was always the victim. To him she had the power to control the outcome of her life. She had much more power than most, yet she chose to be the victim. She chose to place her own failures on someone else. It disgusted him to no end! Every person has the potential to be anything they want, but when they purposefully decide to do something against what they want or act like someone else is preventing them from succeeding, all Edward saw was failure. He truly would have been fine never seeing the woman again, but he had to stop Jonathan’s plan in his track. He knew the man wanted to use Nina in his plan to ruin Edward, so he merely took out his piece. He had no plans to see her again unless she got in his way somehow.

Leave it for Luthor to leave a bitter taste in his mouth. He took another sip of coffee as the man sat down. “Thank you for meeting me,” he said casually, though it was evident that Edward was exhausted. “Unfortunately, I would rather keep this short for I don’t want people to know we spoke, but I find our interest might align.” He also wanted to go home and take a nap. “Question, would you be interested in taking over Wayne Enterprise and hurting Superman?” he asked, getting straight to the point.

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Luthor’s eyes widened slightly. Edward had taken the prized gun and shot him with a bullet. His haste to make amends and strike a new parternship was admirable at best, but it would take more than that. Lex had been avoiding superman for a total of three years. Thirty-six months of getting new henchman, re-organizing his company, putting life into better, smaller projects, and growing more and more powerful. In those three years he had met and battled with Edward and his associates, winning some, losing minor ones. Yet this was different, he ordered a coffee and injests large sip to be careful and to re-examine such a dream that he had dreamed many times. The only difference being, that this dream was near impossible at the moment.

"You already know the answer to that question, Edward. You already know what I like for in a plan and what I stay out of. Taking over one of the biggest companies in Gotham and critically hurting Superman—I’ve had that dream many times before, but then I wake up and remember that timing is everything.” Edward was playing the game well, but he had rasied the stakes higher… No matter this made things interesting.

When one cuts the small banter in favor of the point, Lex gives what “respect” he can to those who please him.” This was curious, exciting, devilishly powerful. Lex knows not to say anything at the moment, but to let Edward toy and taught. Another sip of the coffee that isn’t even correctly brewed, foreshadows that Lex is just a part of Edwards overall plan. Like Luthor, Edward doesn’t reveal such a plan to anyone until the proper time, usually the moment in which one exit remains and victory can be secured. He did have a few questions to make Edward think, to make Edward sweat and to make Edward annoyed, “Why after all this time, when you’re in pain of the mind, and blasphemy of the soul, do you come to once again wager me in to your game?” He knew there was more, “Who else have you asked to be involved in your plan..”

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If Edward for some reason were to ever change career paths, he would likely be a detective. He read through body languages and clues like a child devours ice cream. He already knew he had just caught Luthor’s interest. He had been hooked, and all he needed was to reel the fish in. It was for that very reason he had been so straight with the man. Luthor never was one to waste his time on something that would not benefit him, and Edward saw that this would certainly benefit him.

However, Edward could not deny his total exhaustion which made him moodier than usual. The Riddler was not meant to be up at the first sign of sunrise. Working so many nights, certainly adjusted his sleep schedule. He took another large gulp of coffee, hoping the caffeine to work its magic as he took in Luthor’s response. He had to admire the man for attempting to pull more information out of him than he wanted.

“We both know the best strategies are ones that are played close to the sleeves. After all, a mere ease dropper could be the stone that ripples through the calm pond,” he remarked as he turned his hand to the crowded restaurant they were in. “I will say, you need to play no role in the game that you wouldn’t naturally play. I am only informing you for you to be more aware. I supposed the Feds would consider it insider trading,” he said the last words almost tauntingly with a smirk. “But on a particular day, Wayne Enterprises stock is going to drop and for the first time since the company went public, you will be able to buy 51 percent of the company,” he commented causally. He certainly wasn’t going to explain the how or why. Besides, why would Luthor want to know that information? Such information could get him arrested.

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Luthor black pupuls tingled with a dose of hubris. Edward Nigma coming to him to inform him about a potential deal that would make him more powerful than he was, richer than he currently is now, and an entry way to expand upon a database of secrets, clients, and contacts . This deal seemed too good to be true, but Luthor doesn’t say or insinuate that. Rather, he takes a look at Edward and then at a women behind Edward drinking her willows away.

There was a time in his life where he longed to be in her position. A time when his business and supreme executive skills weren’t synched with his brilliant mind. He was still growing and still learning the rules… Now he can bend them, mold them, and paint them onto a canvas that brings Luthor closer to his ultimate goal.

He cleared his thought and sympathetically said, “I appreciate the fact that you have come to me Mr. Nigma with this- stunning- information. But such a plan has been attempted, are you planning on hiring a powerful lawyer to smack talk Wayne Enterprises. Or are you planning on making use of you’re computer and explosive skills to bring down the stock the mighty mighty Wayne Enterprises. I’ll answer conclusively that you do not intend to do either, that isn’t your style at the moment. It isn’t green and it isn’t logical. So.. “ Lex had been waiting to echo a phrase that would make Edward still and frozen, even annoyed at the request. It was a mind game, and Lex Luthor makes his living outhwarting the masters’ of such a game… Edward is still learning the ropes, but even he has no idea what Luthor is capable of… even on such a blank canvas such as this one. "-Convince me"

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As per usual, Luthor had a natural talent of expressing his arrogance in such a way, it made Edward cringe. The man spoke to him similarly as a teacher speaks to their student. It naturally made Edward disgusted and annoyed, and his finger started to tap on the table to keep his emotions in check. He had played this game with Luthor before, and he knew what happened when his emotions slipped through the cracks. The man manages to twist them to his doing in a mere moment.

His lips formed a straight line of seriousness as he listened to the possible ideas to how he planned to lower the stock. Each was an idiotic plan, and certainly not Edward’s taste. However, as he stated his finals words, he tilted his head, looking at him with an almost confused look, before a small smirk reappeared on his lips. Did Luthor think he held the cards for this negotiation? He didn’t need Luthor for this plan to work. There were other ways. He merely reached out to Luthor because the plan would be streamlined in perfection, but if Luthor was not interested, he could work around it. It would be unfortunate for him because he would be missing out on an opportunity of a lifetime, which he suspected only a fool would walk away from.

“You don’t need to know the how or why. It will be done. Simple as that,” he stated with a cocky smirk, feeling more in his element as he took another sip of his coffee, letting that mere statement wrap around Luthor’s mind. “The true riddle is, do you want to be given the advance information on when it will occur? Or does your “moral standing" deny you from insider trading?” he chuckled. The very idea of Luthor being anything moral was an absurd idea.

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Edwards snarky comment was surprising to Luthor. Edward usually kept things close to the chest, a wise move for anyone in Gotham. Usually the “villain” in Gotham announces his plans with the insanity of the Joker. The clown is only effective when he is given materials to use. Unlike the Joker, Edward and Oswald play the mindgame of games. They let their pawns know as much as they need to, and let the rest all fall into place. But Luthor is skeptical of such a promise, even from Edward- Especially from Edward. Though Edwards riddle doesn’t fall on deaf ears, Luthor laughs. It is a brassy laugh filled with intrigue and mockery.

“You have no idea how entertaining you can be. With a simple riddle as it is, you change the entire comedic dynamic of this conversation. I was opting for a more serious tone, but you did remind me that the nature… the nature of doing business in Gotham with “world-known Supervillians” is absurd. I should take a more absurdist view to this city.” said Luthor with a crips of his tongue.This was all true in Luthor’s mind; there was not one redeeming feature about this city. The people were shallow, the police officers incoherent, and the criminals short-sighted. But not Edward… No he was not as short-sighted and in that way he respected him far more than his allies.

The moral standing comment made him pause and react very slowly. Edward was treading deep waters, that made Luthor proud for being a breaker of rules and mandates. The first meeting was usually the one that decided the whole temperature to other meetings and the impact in the end. For Edward to be so valiant and so ambitious, it made Luthor in a way… attracted to him. Naturally his curiousity was peaked and so he responded with a, “Mr. Nigma if that is a riddle, you’ve surely lost your touch. I wish to only know as much as I need to, but a date in the future doesn’t hurt our fleeting transaction.” Regarding the “Moral standing” comment he vastly counterattacked, “The only standing that I have is to know how much pleasure you had when you stabbed Nina? Or was it more of a melancholy expression of justice and regret? Knowing you it was far more simple than that, but then again you aren’t simple… you’re complicated?” He took a drink from his cup and replied once again before Edward could respond, “I find it curiously pleasing that you took the time to meet me. You fixed your panties and you remained calm in delivering the message. Maybe you got laid in the time that you injured your ex.. hmm? Sex has a way of rejuvenating the soul, and insofar you’ve proved that you have new expectations.”

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Edward frowned. He was far too exhausted to be taunted by a CEO. His fingers twitched on his mug of coffee. Edward was not entertaining. He didn’t attempt to entertain. His actions were done to challenge and weed the incompetent out of the human population. He respected Luthor’s intelligence, but the man, for some reason, felt the need to treat him like a kid on his first day of school. Edward had been in this field now for almost a decade. He knew how Gotham worked. He knew the people to respect, avoid, and conquer. He knew how this city worked. He knew how to manipulate the city to get what he wanted.

The fact that he had basically handed Luthor a full course expensive meal on a platter, and the man had decided to spit on it was infuriating to say the least. The one benefit was that it seemed Luthor was finally willing to go along with his plan even if his way of agreeing was outrageously degrading.

At the mention of his sex life, his eyes widened and he abruptly stood from the table. “Don’t you dare speak to me of my personal affairs!” he shouted. In a normal circumstance, Edward would likely be able to keep his cool, but this was not the first time someone had brought up his sex life, it wasn’t even the second. He couldn’t describe the rage he felt for the fact that his entire personal life seemed to be on the fore front of everyone’s minds. He felt eyes on him and remembered that he was in a public place. His jaw clinched, but he sat back down.

In a cold monotone voice he continued. “You should understand, Luthor, that lose ends sometimes occur, and when they do, they need to be clipped,” he said in reference to Nina, “As to the rest of my sexual life, I hadn’t taken you for a man when discussing business would feel the need to taint it with inappropriate conversation.” His voice certainly had edge, and the flare behind his eyes showed his anger, but he swallowed it back. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash, dropping it on the table to pay for their meal.

“The third Thursday of the next month,” he stated.

“Once you’re through with your high school gossip, feel free to be a part of the largest business venture you have ever witnessed. Until then, I have much better things to be doing with my time.”