Riddles trapped in shadows cannot always be answered [Ras]

[Deleted]

[Starts in North Gotham and ends up in Ra's Hideout]

The sun glared down through the full length glass window onto Edward stretched in his bed. His face buried in the pillow and the sheets a mess around him. He was currently residing in the JW Marriott in downtown Gotham. He had been switching hotel every couple days, and of course, he still had his warehouses scattered throughout the city, but the idea was to prevent anyone confirming his location. He had too much riding on this plan to be captured by the GCPD over such a silly matter of them merely locating his newest residence.

It had been another long night making the appropriate calls, and meeting the appropriate people, so of course, he slept in until the late morning. As the sun attacked his body, he shifted, the heat starting to agitate him. He mumbled incoherent nonsense and stretched his body. He slowly opened his eyes, shading them with his hands. “Riddle me this, what can create and destroy life?” he mumbled to himself in regards to the sun and in reference to the planets. He groaned, and finally pushed himself out of bed. Wearing his question mark boxers, he headed to the bathroom to handle the usual morning necessities.

He turned on the hot water of the shower, testing it with his hand before stripping and stepping in. His shoulders rolled back the hot water stained his skin. He finally started to feel awake, but he still let out a yawn as he reached for the shampoo. He poured some in his hand and started to lather his hair. He had a busy day ahead of him. He needed to go through those codes to get him access into the classified area, but that could be done while he got brunch. He washed his hand of the soup, and just as he was about to step under the water rinse his hair, the shower curtain came crashing down and a force pulled him forward.

He yelped as hit the floor, tangled in the curtain. His eyes darted and body jerked trying to determine the source.

Standing above him were two ‘ninjas’ to be in simple terms, dressed in full black and samurai sword in easy reach. Shit, he inwardly cursed. He thought he had been so careful! But then looking back, he had been in such a rush, things could have been carelessly left for clues. “Now, now, is there any reason to interrupt a man during the shower? This isn’t the Bates Motel,” he said as he tried to look for anything he could use.

“The Riddler, aka Edward Nigma, aka Edward Nashton, our superior wishes to speak with you,” one of them stated emotionlessly.

Edward pushed himself off the ground, ripping a towel off the rack and wrapping it around his lower half. “Can I at least get dress?” he asked.

The two League of the Shadow members looked at each other uncertain of the answer until the first one turned back and said, “Yes.”

He grunted and went passed them into his room to where his clothes were perfectly folded next to his cane and hat. He felt their eyes on him as he started to get dress, his mind drifting to possible escapes. He could jump out the window, but that would require something like a rope to swing him to the hotel below. He started to button his shirt. He had a few items he always kept in his pockets for emergencies like this. He grabbed his jacket and swung it over his arms. He could feel the soap in his hair dripping down his cheek. He would not die today, not after he went to so many trials to prevent his death. He would not. He straightened his tie, and started to pad himself down as if he were primping himself. His hand reached into his pocket. “Riddle me this, can you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?” he asked, as his fingers gripped onto something. Of the two ignored his words, giving no answer. He pressed the button, his mind counting down the seconds. He then whipped it out, throwing the puzzle at them. “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow.” Edward ducked behind the bed as it exploded right at their faces knocking him and the bed back causing the glass to shatter and the fire alarm to go off. His ears rang, and his clothes were tattered, but he pushed himself up, grabbing his hat and cane from the floor. “Yesterday, I was dead, today, I am alive, tomorrow, I sha’ll win, and no one will stop me from reaching my tomorrow,” he muttered as he grabbed his suitcase not wanting to be related to the incident with two shredded bodies now on the ground.

He quickly headed to the hallway, a headache pounding against his forehead. People were poking out of their room, some heading to the exit as well. Edward followed the masses down the stairwell until he poured out with the rest of them in the alley. He smirked. The League of Shadows might not be so difficult to avoid. He separated from the panic people going further into the darken alley. Just as he pulled out his phone to call his driver, something hard hit him in the back of the head. His eyes widened as his body stopped. He could see everything going black before he collapsed on the ground with two more ninjas above him.

All the people were completely unaware of what had occurred, their eyes locked to the tall floors of the buildings. They never noticed two men in black lugging an unconscious man in green off to the shadows.

[Deleted]

A black Mercedes sped through the empty outskirts of Gotham, through the morning sun that had begun to creep over the City. It stopped for no red light, powering along the open roads towards the very extremities of Gotham. Through the tinted windows, no one would know who was driving the vehicle that awoke few as it’s efficient yet quiet engine moved past the sparse homes. Behind the wheel sat Ubu, Ra’s bodyguard. He had been hand picked for this assignment, it was an important one for Ra’s thus he sent his favourite protector to collect Mr. Nigma from his Hotel Suite. Ubu has been Ra’s loyal subject for many years, providing help for his special missions. They’d been driving for about an hour through the back streets of Gotham, towards a warehouse that the League had just confiscated from Edward, who lay unconscious in the boot of the fasting moving vehicle.

A few moments later, the car arrived at a desolate Warehouse, the buildings of Gotham now behind them in the distance. The front gates slid open and two hooded figures in black beaconed them in as they pulled the main huge doors open with a lever, closing it behind the car as it entered. The light flooded quickly out of the building, with only strips of sun coming in from the smashed windows above, which illuminated only part of the vast building. The rear red lights flashed as the breaks were pulled, bring the car to a slow stop in the middle of the empty room. While the engine was still on, one of the rear doors opened and a black suited man climbed out and walked around to the back of the car. His gloved hand sprung the boot open, creating an echo.

Placing both of his arms into the rear of the Mercedes, he grunted for a moment and lifted the man out, dropping him onto the cold floor, sending dust up around them. Ever silent, he left him there for a moment as he grabbed the steel chair that was near them. He placed it down in the very centre of the room, where a large window shone light in from above a walkway at the end of the building, blinding anyone who sat there. With little effort, he pulled Edward up and sat him on the chair, allowing his head to slouch forward a little bit. From the rear of the car, he took out a few steel handcuffs, tying all of Edward’s limbs to the steel chair. Now his arms and legs would no be able to move and he doubted that he wouldn’t get far if he attempted to escape. And with that he was gone, climbing back into the car before speeding off through another door, leaving Eddie alone.

Not a noise stirred through out the hall, the light sounds from Gotham however echoed from the far off distance. At this point, he’d begin to awaken from his slumber to find himself bound in an unknown location, not knowing what will happen to him. A set of footsteps ran through the building, echoing as someone approached from afar. The chains that hung from the roof, rattled as they swung in the light breeze. The approaching footsteps continued then suddenly a figure appeared before the light above faded out and a shadow of a man was projected over Eddie from high above. “No one is untouchable, Mr. Nigma. As you have just discovered.” From above him a cold laugh ran through the warehouse as Ra’s stood proudly, his cane placed in one hand as his bright emerald eyes shot down to his captive below.

It did not take long for The Head of The Demon to find Edward, finding people was one of their specialities. In fact Ra’s was ready to boast the success of finding him, making it sound easier than it actually was. In fact it took a while, longer than he would have liked. This very building was Edward’s, one of his many warehouses found in the City. As was finding Edward himself, finding this warehouse was easy too. He just had to look in the right place. Although originally it contained many weapons, over the past day Ra’s has had it’s contents moved, confiscated until he could decide what to do with him.

[Deleted]

Edward’s head hurt.

He had to admit the one consequence to his little bath in the Lazurus Pit would most likely be his tolerance to pain had drastically diminished. He had become so accustomed to the pain that he had started to become numb to it. Without the pain, he felt like the world was clear and focused like a man getting glasses for the first time. But as pain returned, it like someone had just cracked them. He groaned and rolled his head, feeling the sun on his face.

He slowly opened his eyes and attempted to move his hands…

The handcuffs jerked, and his head snapped to it as all the memories of this morning came to the for front of his mind. His jaw locked in frustration. Stupid! Stupid! He growled and looked around to see his familiar yet very different warehouse. His things! They took all of his things! He had been collecting those for years! His eyes darted looking for anything out of the ordinary and found himself alone. He wasn’t even being guard. Now, they were just insulting him.

He grunted. “Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous,” he mumbled and pulled out his lock pick from the hidden spot in his sleeve. To think they didn’t even clear out his tools. He quickly got to work on undoing them. He paused in his movement when he heard footsteps, and concealed the pick just as easily as he had pulled it out. He watched a man come from the shadows. Yes, the shadows, always in the shadows, so cliché and predictable.

He knew the man in front of him even though he had never met him. His face was unknown to most, but Edward had caught artistic descriptions of him in the archives of many different civilizations when he had been trying to locate his survival. He knew this was Ra’s Al Ghul.

He tilted his head which was still pounding from an unbearable headache and smiled. “What do I owe this honor for the Head the League of Shadow to seek me out?” he said innocently and made a teasing glance around, “I can see you already made yourself at home.” He stated causally as if he wasn’t trapped in a chair at the moment.

[Deleted]

Placing both of his hands upon the cold metal railing, Ra’s glanced down at the man below with both disdain and admiration. It is a rare thing for the Head of the League of Shadows to think this and although he would never admit it, Nigma was in a different class over many other criminals. He was more of a scalpel than a hammer, having finesse and skill rather than brute force. Always on the look out for promising recruits who could join him, Ra’s would have used these skills if it were not for Edward’s alignment with the criminal classes. He shouldn’t put rehabilitation out of his mind though, real rehabilitation not what those fools at the Asylum do. Standing up straight, he gave a slight smirk to his captive, a sinister grin that wouldn’t console the prisoner, rather scare him further. Although he doubted this was a man intimidated easily.

“I’m not in the mood for games, Mr. Nigma. You know very well why I’ve brought you here.” Quick to the point, Ra’s wanted this over with quickly. On the other hand he wanted Edward to suffer over a long period of time for his crimes. Next to him stood a set of ladders, winding down to the warehouse floor below. With an echoed thud, his feet touched the floor as he let go of the ladder, turning around to face Edward who still sat in his chair. Advancing towards him, the sound from his shoes bounced about the room as he walked from the darkness into the same light which covered Edward. Now he was standing above him, casting a shadow over the beaten Riddler, who sat shackled to the chair. His hands upon his jacket buttons, Ra’s undid the tailored suit’s black coat before removing it and throwing it over one of the many crates. Beneath he wore a matching black waistcoat with a crimson tie.

Looking around the warehouse, Ra’s inspected the various crates and boxes which no doubt contained various weapons used or yet to be used by the man before him. The League could afford these munitions ten times over; he had no reason to keep them. “You have quite the collection of weapons here, Mr. Nigma. For a man that prides himself upon his intelligence, you were quiet easy to find.” Laughing, Ra’s leaned forward slightly, striking Edward across the face with his closed fist, having his swift right hook connect with his already bruised cheek. “Be honest, how long did you think you could hide for? We have eyes and ears every where in this City. Better yet we have eyes, ears and fists.” With his opposite left hand, Ra’s turned again and gave a brutal uppercut to his jaw, his knuckles slamming upon the bone of his face.

His hits were both brutal yet expertly placed in a position to get the most pain from the victim. This wasn’t Ra’s first time. However he didn’t like using his fists upon men like this, he’d often employ a wider range of toys upon them to make their life a living hell. There were large amounts of pleasure to be had from sadistically torturing a fiend such as Nigma, seeing it as true justice. Beating him like this was just Ra’s way of getting started; soon he’d use more efficient methods. Hitting men like this could become unproductive as after a while his fists could ache with the pain of punching him so much, making him tired. He was supposed to enjoy this after all. Grabbing his face with in the clutches of his hand, Ra’s sneered at Edward before asking further questions. “Don’t lie to me although I believe you’re smart enough to do other wise.” While letting go, he pushed him away slightly while taking a step back awaiting his response. He wanted to know how he found one of his Lazarus Pits.

[Deleted]

Edward swallowed thickly as the man descended to his level. Yes, he knew exactly why this man was before him, and quite honestly, he was shocked that he had managed to track him down out of the entire population. He had been so careful, but then again, after reanalyzing his actions, his mental state when he was dying had been extremely unstable. He had spent many of the days in Africa drunk and rambling nonsense off to local in search of the pits. When he actually had managed to arrive at one, he had been stumbling, tripping, and begging for life. He certainly probably dragged his feet, likely got his nice suit torn on something, and probably left his fingerprints everywhere, even if he was wearing his signature purple gloves.

Yes, the time certainly had not been his better moments, but what could be expected of a man given a death sentence?

As he removed his jacket, Edward shifted back in his chair. He could unlock the handcuff, but he likely wouldn’t make it far enough to get away. He would have to find another way out of this, and use his most prize possession, his silver tongue.

“Now Mr. al Ghul, couldn’t this be considered as a dramatic response to whatever act you believe me to do? You haven’t even considered the possibility that I could have been framed. After all, you are correct, I am intelligent. It’s unlikely you would be able to find me, if I didn’t want to be found,” he said smoothly, but as the man laughed a shiver went down his spine. He knew the League of Shadows was not keen on keeping people they don’t agree with alive.

His jaw went slack as his head little jerked to the side, pain exploding through his face. He didn’t even have time to comprehend it before another slamming pain hit him. He could hear something cracking.

His ears rang as all he could think about was the pain. Luckily, from his leg, had gained quite a pain tolerance, but since the healing of his leg, it had decreased dramatically. He coughed, spitting up blood on his white Calvin Kline shirt and purple tie.

The threat was evident.

“I don’t lie,” he coughed, and for a moment a flash of his father came to mind before he pushed it back. He turned his head lazily up to look at him. “I must ask…,” he said through a bloody mouth hoarsely, “what do you gain by wasting your time with me?”

[Deleted]

Everyone, no matter how hard they try, are invisible. Even those whose jobs require them to come and go in a stealthy manner leave evidence of them being there. Cameras, witnesses, anything could be used to find someone. Someone even as skilled as the Riddler himself. The League was not simply another street gang, roaming the streets of Gotham. As far as Ra’s was concerned, they were masters at locating their targets, no matter who they were. Edward just took a little longer than usual to find, no matter though, they had him now. Although he claimed other wise, Edward was highly predictable. Following him from Africa back to Gotham was no hard task for him.

While Eddie gave no explanation, Ra’s had begun to circle him, walking around to the rear of him where his head couldn’t turn. He listened as he attempted to worm his way out of the predicament he found himself in. Eddie didn’t provide him with an answer to his query, which only made him angrier. “Dramatic? If anything, this is me at my most merciful. If I’m feeling kind, I will dispose of you with a quick slash of my sword, if you are so lucky. Many a man would do anything for such a clean and honourable death, you should think yourself kind.” A dark smirk appeared on Ra’s face as his long fingers land upon both of Eddie’s shoulders, patting the green material. “If I was to be dramatic, I’d start by publically humiliating you in a way which destroys your soul. Then I’d kill all you hold close, and don’t say you don’t love anyone. But I wouldn’t kill you, oh no death is quick. You don’t deserve quick.” His voice was sinister; it was obvious that he meant every word he said.

Ra’s eyes fell down to his hands, spotting the lock pick in his fingers. With a quick movement from his hands, Ra’s grabbed his fingers, shaking the lock pick from them before grabbing a few of them, twisting them in a manner that would injure them to the point of breaking. “I’m disappointed, I didn’t expect you to try and escape so soon. We’ve only just began!” At this point he’d moved around to stand before him so once he finished his sentence, he gave a hard kick to Eddie’s chest, knocking him and the chair back onto the floor. The clatter of metal smashing off the concrete echoed through the hall, as did the grunts from Edward as Ra’s kicked him. “So you wanted to be found? Is that what you’re saying? Well you did a grand job, here I am.” Kneeling down next to his head, he grabbed his short hair, smashing his face off the floor before standing back up, correcting his tie.

Walking over to one of the crates, Ra’s picked up a brown portfolio. He threw it down by Eddie’s head, allowing all the photos and sheets of paper with in to fly out next to him. There was an image of him in the Libyan airport near the location of the Pit. Another of him was Gotham International Airport a few days earlier. The other main piece of evidence was the medical file for E. Nigma. Ra’s picked that one up and began to read through it. “You weren’t very well, were you?” While speaking, he threw the file at his face, bending down next to him so that they could speak at the same level. Ra’s’ knuckles were a pink colour, from hitting Edward and his shirt had small spots of blood from him too. “Tell me the truth and your suffering will be over.” His tone became quieter, as if he were making one last plea to him to admit to it. For his sake, he hoped he took his final offer.

[Deleted]

Edward’s eyes narrowed, his jaw hurting terribly as he took in the man’s cold words. He knew how the League of Shadows worked, and he understood in a way that he was lucky that they had even kept him alive this long, but for a man who had just tasted the grips of death like Edward had, he had no intention of dying today.

He tried to keep his grip on the lock pick as the man grabbed his hand and shook his fingers, he felt one of them twist backwards and he let out a loud yelp as it was broken. His breathing turned heavy as the pain was starting to fog his mind again like it did before his dip in the pit. But as he sucked in the breath, it vanished from his chest with a large thud, his eyes widening in horror as he hit the ground hard in the chair.

He had to figure out a way out of this or Ra’s would certainly kill him.

A shocking pain went through his head as it hit the concrete ground hard. He could feel the tickling of blood dripping from his scalp. Edward sucked in a sharp breath. Out of all types of pains, headaches were the absolute worst. He coughed, his head tilting to the side to prevent him from choking on the blood piling up in the back of his throat. It spat onto the ground, the room spinning. He could almost consider this beating worse than what the Batman had ever put him through. At least, he had been unconscious for most of the Bat’s beatings.

The papers landed on his face and around him. He saw a picture of himself fall into the blood and watched as it began to soak in red. He swallowed thickly, his eyes closing tightly in frustration. He had cheated death, but it seemed it was trying to pull him back like some sick Final Fantasy movie.

He barely comprehended his words, but he hardly believed that the suffering would be over. It was much more likely that he would have a sword through his chest.

“I…” he coughed hard, clearing his passage for air, “I was dying,” he said just below a breath. His eyes scanned the floor. He couldn’t die here. His eyes came across the items in his pocket that had fallen out with the fall to the ground. “Riddle me this….how do you cheat death?” he muttered, before he pressed his finger into the rubix cube. He sucked in a full breath of fresh air as the cube exploded with poisonous smoke, instantly sounding the area and going to fill the room, deleting the visibility. His other hand reached into his sleeve and pulled out the lock pick. His eyes were watering as he worked, but they clicked undone. With his hands free, he went for his legs to free them.

[Deleted]

Standing with his back to the bloodied man, Ra’s began to pull up his white shirt sleeves up past his elbows. He wasn’t going to ruin fine clothing on this man. He stopped though when Edward gave his reason to why he’d used his Pits. To be honest, Nigma’s reason didn’t mean much to Ra’s. What he wanted to know was how he discovered the Lazarus Pits, so that Ra’s could rectify this leak of information. “Dying? We’re all dying very slowly until we’re put into our graves, why do you deserve to live when so many die?” Ra’s only gives his secret essence to a select few who have proved themselves to be worthy. Edward was not one of those people. Very thought of that man bathing in his Lazarus shook through Ra’s, making him even more temperamental.

Edward’s next question came as a surprise to Ra’s. He could barely hear him; it was obvious that he was in some pain which was affecting his ability to speak. Ever since he was young, he’d never been fond of riddles, always finding them pointless; he’d entertain Edward one last time by answering it. The riddle could be his dying words. “Lazarus my dear Mr. Nigma. That is how I cheat death.” Smirking for a moment, Ra’s didn’t see the cube fall out of his pockets until it was too late. In the blink of an eye, a haze of gas suddenly attacked Ra’s vision, forcing tears to erupt down his cheeks as a torrent of coughing rose up from his chest.

Stepping back from Edward, Ra’s continued to breathe in the gas which had caught him off guard. The clicking from the hand cuffs could be heard from where he was standing, signifying that Edward had still found a way to unlock his restraints. Even though he had temporarily broke free from his shackles, Ra’s still believed that an escape attempt would ultimately prove to be Nigma’s downfall. He had been beaten by Ra’s and his men, putting him in a disadvantage for running away. No doubt Ra’s men would be running to the scene, to give any assistance that may be needed. Although he was now out of the radius of the gas, Ra’s was still feeling its effects. From behind him, his manservant, Ubu, approached with a gas mask over his head and another in his hand. “Take this, Master.” He said as Ra’s took it from him, pulling it over his own face.

“Find him! He will not get away, not this time! Don’t kill him though, I want the pleasure myself.” Even with the mask on, Ra’s still coughed deeply, hurting his chest. In his other hand, Ubu carried Ra’s scimitar, still sheathed in its holder. Removing it, Ra’s inspected the blade as the light from above reflected off the metal material. This time there’d be no mistakes, The Riddler will die by Ra’s blade. Moving through the thick fog, Ra’s found the tipped over chair and pair of cuffs that had bound Edward to it. Turning back to Ubu, Ra’s issued his command. “He won’t get far; I want two teams down here now!” Ubu bowed and ran off as Ra’s went back to the search. Where would he go? If only Ra’s new. He was in no condition to get far, he knew that.

[Deleted]

Once Edward had completely freed himself from his bonds, he quickly went through his items that had fallen to the floor. His eyes were wet and he was running out of air, but he found his small air filter mask and brought it to his mouth. He sucked in a deep breath finally pushed himself off the ground. He could hear Ra’s in the background, the anger, the men. He wouldn’t get far if he ran. Edward wasn’t stupid. He hobbled through the pain and the smoke towards the back room of the warehouse.

Each step made him wince, and he could taste the iron in his mouth from the blood. He quietly shut the door behind him and went to the emergency land line phone. He picked it up and dialed 911. He knew the police wouldn’t be much help, but certainly one of the obnoxious vigilante would hear the call as well.

“911 what’s your emergency?” a voice said on the other end.

Edward coughed, removing his mask and spitting blood to the ground. “Ra’s al Ghul is…attempting to kill…someone.” He said through his wasp of air and gave the address to his warehouse. He knew the name meant nothing to them, but it would mean something to the Bat Family. He hung up the phone without another word.

His hand went to his ribs that were certainly broken. He started to wonder if death was haunting him like in those stupid Final Destination Movies. He laughed through his coughs and fell back against the wall, sliding down to the floor. He laughed harder. It would be so ironic to die after he had found out the most precious information.

“Ra’s!” he shouted out the man’s name with a grin. The gas wasn’t in the room, but it was starting to slip through under the cracks. He pulled his mask back on, still laughing pathetically. “I know I’m important, but not even a stalker gives me this much attention.”