On a boat bobbing in Gotham harbour, a very serious man lay in wait for the city's most prominent vigilante. Unfortunately for Edward Nygma, as he would soon find out, nobody as serious as he was would arrive in time.
The Riddler had prepared for any potential snags in his scheme. There were armed guards swarming the area, traps were set up all over the boat, and he had Gotham socialite Silver St. Cloud tied up below deck. St. Cloud was the most important part of Riddler's plan. He could threaten her the riddles he left weren't followed precisely.
He paced up and down the bridge of his ship, clearly in wait of something. He'd been at this for almost an hour and his impatience was growing.
"You there!" Riddler pointed his question mark shaped cane at one of his henchmen. "Has Batman found our riddles yet?"
The goon froze and turned to his boss "Yeah, we've been monitoring him. Last I checked he was on the third one. He's partnerin' up with Batgirl though. They think they'll solve the puzzle faster that way."
"Well then... That isn't playing by the rules." the Riddler smirked. "Tell the tech team to hack into the Batmobile, disable its systems. That will be the first penalty Batman receives."
"Right away, boss."
The Riddler watched his hired thug scurry away to carry out his orders. His satisfied smile grew. In his mind, there was nothing that could stop his scheme from going as planned. Well, there was one thing. And it was in the shadows right behind him.
"Hey Eddie! Anyone ever tell ya that you're not a very nice guy?" a shrill voice rang out through the boat. An equally high pitched laugh followed this.
"Oh no… Just when everything was going my way! Not him! Not the Creeper!" Riddler gripped his cane tighter in his anger.
Down from above lept the boa-wearing, green haired maniac known as the Creeper. He landed in front of Riddler and took a rather theatrical bow, like something you'd see at the end of a play.
"The one and only! So, Eddie, I don't exactly know what's going on here but I do know that it probably isn't legal. Let's sort this out together, hmm?" the Creeper began to pace in circles around the Riddler. "Now, I'm technically at odds with the law myself. But the way I see it, you're more of a criminal than me. So make this real easy and turn yourself in, okay Eddie? Or, would you like to do it the fun way?"
"What do I pay you people for!" Riddler shouted to the boat at large. "Protect me and get him!"
With the order given, the hired goons descended upon the Creeper while Riddler himself dashed to safety. The Riddler hid away inside the boat's computer room. A small team of three tech experts he hired were hard at work on the computers.
"We can still salvage this, people!" Riddler declared to the techies. "Did you disable the Batmobile? We practiced this part remember."
"Doing our best, Mr. Nygma. It's tougher than anticipated." one of the techies replied, eyes glued to his screen.
"Understood." the Riddler tried to calm himself. "The Creeper is only a minor setback. I'll have him put downstairs with Ms. St. Cloud once my men subdue him."
The Riddler looked out through the window of the computer room and saw his men attempting to brawl with the Creeper. In the short time that Riddler had been looking away, the Creeper had managed to take down a fair number of the goons. The Creeper fought like nothing Riddler had ever seen before. It was like the man, if he even was human, had a limitless amount of energy. Bouncing off walls, tricking his goons into hitting each other, climbing whatever he could find. It was like his body moved faster than his brain could think.
In the span of another two minutes, the Creeper took out more than half of the thugs Riddler employed.
"Damn." the Riddler gritted his teeth and looked down at his tech experts. "You three! Keep feeding Batman the riddles! I have a plan to take care of this lunatic."
The Riddler left the tech room and went back out onto the deck. He opened the door just in time for the Creeper to throw one of his own men at him. Moving quick, Riddler jumped to the side and the goon just hit the ground
The Creeper spun around and saw the Riddler. He waved at the criminal as two goon tried to attack him from behind.
"There you are, Eddie!" the Creeper hit both the thugs in the face with the back of his hands, not even looking back at them. "I'll be with you in just a second!" he turned back around and returned to fighting Riddler's henchmen.
The Riddler grimaced and hurried off towards a door on the other side of the boat. He went through the door and rushed down a flight of stairs, cane still firmly gripped in hand.
"I'm not going down to him." the Riddler whispered to himself.
The foot of the stairs led into a long straight corridor filled with doors. He sprinted straight down the hallway. There was a single guard by the door at the end of the hallway. Riddler stopped as soon as he was in front of the guard. He tried to use his words but only found himself capable of breathing heavily.
"Hey, you okay chief?" the goon asked.
In response to this question, the Riddler grabbed the thug by the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer.
"The Creeper…" the Riddler's voice was raspy and ragged. "He's up there, do your job and stop him!"
"What about St. Cloud?"
"I have a plan, I know what I'm doing. Just go!"
Nodding, the goon ran off back to the upper decks as fast as his legs could carry him. Riddler opened up the door the guard had left. On the other side was an enclosed space, barren except for a chair. On the chair was his hostage, Silver St. Cloud. She was slumped over forward in the chair, apparently asleep.
"Wake up, Ms. St. Cloud!" Riddler barked.
The shouting caused Riddler to stir in her sleep. "Hmmm… What…. What's going on?"
"We're having a little problem, and you are the solution." Riddler went up behind Silver and guided her off the chair. He looked down at her hands and made sure they were still bound behind her.
"Has Batman finally showed up to stop you?" Silver asked in a mocking tone.
"No, he isn't smart enough to solve my puzzle. Someone much worse has shown up."
Riddler put an arm around Silver's neck and led her out of the room. They stepped into the hallway just in time to see one of the henchmen tumble backwards down the stairs. The same shrill, psychotic laughter as before echoed through the hallway.
Leaping down the stairs came the Creeper. "Hey Eddie, thought I lost you for a sec! Who's that little fox you got there?"
"Her name is Silver St. Cloud. And she will get hurt if you try anything."
"Hmm, I don't believe you." the Creeper casually remarked while calmly strolling down the hall towards him.
"I mean it!"
"You're bluffing."
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Silver eyed the Creeper.
"Hi, the Creeper, how you doing? First name The, last name Creeper. Maybe we can get to know each other over a nice candlelit dinner." the Creeper winked.
"Both of you, quiet!" the Riddler pointed his cane at the Creeper. "Here's how it is going to work. I'm going to ask you a question. Get the answer right, I release St. Cloud. Answer wrong, things will be unpleasant for the both of you."
"Sure, give it your best shot!" the Creeper cheered.
"What has cities, but no houses; forests, but no trees; water-"
While Riddler was wrapped up in his question, the Creeper charged ahead at a great speed and punched him in the nose. Silver was freed and stepped to the side as the Creeper picked up Riddler by the collar of his Jacket.
"How you feeling, Eddie!" the Creeper cackled.
"My nose… I think you broke my nose…" the Riddler groaned in pain.
"Yep, looks like it."
"There's just one thing I want to know before you have me arrested… How did you find me? It seems impossible. How could you solve my riddles faster than Batman?"
"Oh, I didn't." the Creeper's grin grew wider. "Y'see, I was on my nightly jog. Well, actually, it's more like I was climbing that suspension bridge on the East Side. Anyway, while I was up there, I saw a boat out in the water with a bunch of question marks painted on it. So I thought to myself, 'Gosh, that doesn't belong there'. And like I responsible citizen, I went to go check it."
"You didn't even find a single riddle!" with the little strength he had left, the Riddler made a fist and went in to punch the Creeper.
In response, the Creeper simply threw the Riddler to the floor. It was at this point that the Riddler began to slowly lose consciousness. The last thing he was able to at least semi-fully observe was the Creeper walking up to Silver St. Cloud.
"So, how about it? Wanna take me up on dinner?" the Creeper flung his arms in the air as if expecting a hug.
"I think I'd rather go home first." Silver replied.
"That's fair. I have a little man to drop off with the police…" the Creeper turned around to face Riddler.
After this point, Riddler passed out. When he regained consciousness again, he found himself in a very different situation. His hands were tied up and he lay flat on his back in front of a police station. Standing around Riddler were several cops, including one Detective Harvey Bullock.
"So, Bat caught ya again, eh?" Bullock smirked down at Riddler. "Figured he'd be able to do it."
"Oh, not Batman… The Creeper…" The Riddler said venomously. Two officers got Riddler to his feet and restrained him. "And the next time I get out of Arkham, he'll learn a thing or two about being clever…"
"Whatever ya say, pal." Bullock looked at his partners. "Take 'em away, boys."
As the Riddler was led away by the cops his mind grew clouded with thoughts of the Creeper and how such a fool was able to beat him. Rage at his defeat grew inside. But the Riddler realized that when he was in Arkham he'd have plenty of time to cook up a new plot. And plotting was one thing the Riddler considered himself an expert in.
"The Creeper will regret the day he crossed paths with the smartest man in Gotham..." the Riddler grinned as the officers continued to direct him where to go.
The End