Prologue

Thank God it's Friday. Edward mused as he walked into the Wayne-Tech Lab at eight in the morning, a crossword puzzle in one hand and his engraved black pen in the other. He finished two questions in the time it took to pass through a doorway.

The lab itself was well established, the wood grain meshed very well with the white walls and flooring. Harsh black seemed to be the accent colour for most of the main rooms such as the lobby and lunch room. Edward walked briskly solving more answers on his crossword, finding himself close to the end of his work.

He passed through the rows of scientists before heading down a more narrow hallway. The pigments of his red hair illuminated under the fluorescent lights, standing out against his white lab coat. A few other scientists walked past him, none even dared shoot him a friendly look knowing how high he was on himself.

Edward smiled to himself; today was the day they'd be working out the final plans for the brain enhancing software. Edward wasn't overly surprised his idea was such a big hit, but he certainly didn't expect it to take off so well. He just needed to turn in the last few riddles to the software and then it was complete. He took his time, but he knew full well his team was waiting for his arrival.

Turning another corner he passed Pamela Isley but continued on by; that woman seemed to hate anything that wasn't filled with chlorophyll. In her hands was a lab-created plant in a large pot; if someone tried to touch it she'd surely bite their hand. Eddie continued walking, ignoring the mad woman.

With his usual confident stride he swiped his key card to one of the secluded offices that was his current project center. Most of the team hadn't shown up yet aside from the two women who were always punctual. The blonde woman with the icy eyes and model-like looks glanced up at him, "Did you bring the disc Mr. Nigma?"

Edward smirked a little holding up the black floppy disc he'd written most of the program on. "Why yes, Miss Lafferty, I did. Now the project will run its course. Perhaps you'd like to hear some of the riddles I've come up with." He glanced at her beautiful form.

The blonde beauty Kate Lafferty looked up at him with minor disgust. "No thank you, Mr. Nigma. I've never liked riddles."

"I suppose they're not for everyone, riddles..." Edward brushed off her rudeness casually; she must have been jealous of his ability to finish most of the project all by himself without her help. It wasn't easy working with a genius. He set his completed crossword puzzle on his desk.

"I wouldn't mind hearing what you've got." A small voice said from the far end of the lab room.

Edward fixated his gaze on the other girl in the room; her black hair was tossed into a messy bun and her bangs hung almost in her moss-coloured eyes, save for her black wire frame glasses. She wasn't overly talkative, but she had a tendency to keep optimism in her work. Edward approached carefully. "Alright Miss Davenport... With pointed fangs it sits in wait, with piercing force it doles out fate, over bloodless victims proclaiming its might, eternally joining in a single bite. What is it?" he asked, excited to tell her the answer, knowing many wouldn't get it.

Miss Eliza Davenport took a moment jotting down a few ideas on her notepad. Edward took a moment to observe as she crossed out a few less logical answers before looking up at him. "It's a stapler." She said simply.

Edward looked at her. "You've heard that one before?" was the only logical answer in his mind.

The raven-haired girl shook her head. "No, I just like riddles."

Before Edward could say another word he heard the lab door make a keypad sound before it opened allowing inside the two other men, Bennet and Wintor who had been discussing something with Dr. Sparrow. They seemed to be laughing about something until their eyes fell upon Edward, their expressions changing to one of cruel intent only masked by a small smile. "Hello, Mr. Nigma, how are you?" William Bennet asked curiously.

Edward looked at him for a moment. "Fantastic, the software is complete," He handed his disc to Dr. Sparrow. "You'll notice that it's flawless."

Dr. Sparrow took the disc and pocketed it. "Thank you, Edward. Now first and foremost, I wanted to have a chat with all of you." Dr. Sparrow watched as everyone took a seat at their own desks. "As you may have heard, this company is losing money, and a few cutbacks are being made around here."

Everyone stared knowing this could affect their research. "We will just have to make due with what supplies we have." Kate Lafferty said rather coldly.

"Correct, and we will. I have come up with a harsh, but economical solution to this problem, and how we can still get our work accomplished without cutbacks affecting us too much." Dr. Sparrow looked around the room at them all.

Everyone stared curious about the proposal. "What is it?" Mr. Bennet asked curiously.

"One of you will be removed from this team as well as from the company." Everyone looked at one another horrified, but Edward sat back curious to see which one of his co-workers was going to get the boot; it wouldn't be him, he did all the planning so clearly he was safe.

"Well that is sad Dr. Sparrow, but if it helps the project run smoother, then I guess we'll have to do it." Edward said without a hint of sympathy in his voice.

Dr. Sparrow twisted his mouth into the slightest smile, "Well I'm glad to see you're taking this so well Mr. Nigma. I decided to choose you as the person I'm cutting from the project."

Edward felt the burn of embarrassment in his cheeks. "Excuse me Dr. Sparrow? I think I just heard you wrong. I thought you just said you wanted to cut 'me' from this project... you must be mistaken."

Dr. Sparrow's black hair glistened as he leaned down to pull out a document from his chocolate-coloured briefcase. "It says here that you're on a contract with us that can be terminated when the use with you has come to pass. The others in this room have no such contract, but you with your level of creativity were suggested as a paid-to-hire employee. I'm sorry Mr. Nigma, but we'll have to let you go."

"Dr. Sparrow, I worked on this project for hours and hours per night, it was 'my' genius that went into both the creation process and the production of it. You can't just let someone as valuable as me walk. This whole project is mine!" He looked at his boss fearfully.

"A contract is a contract, Mr. Nigma." Dr. Sparrow looked at him.

Edward stood up outraged, his shoulders raised with anger, "You need me, Dr. Sparrow. This project won't get anywhere without me."

Dr. Sparrow looked at him calmly, "I believe we have enough work done that we can get by on our own now, Edward." He raised the disc that Edward had worked so hard on during the past week tantalizingly.

Edward turned to look at the rest of his team mates. "I want a vote, who agrees with Dr. Sparrow that I should be the one leaving?"

To his shock and rage, everyone in the group with the exception of the dark haired girl in the corner raised their hand. "Better you than us Eddie." Mr. Wintor stated calmly.

Edward turned back to Dr. Sparrow, a darkness playing in his eyes. "You'll regret this... all of you will..." His voice was cold.

"Edward, you'll be just fine. You'll just be transferred back to the regular sector of lab workers." Dr. Sparrow assured him.

"You don't understand..." He glared grabbing his things from his desk.

Everyone watched as Edward stormed from the room, pleased they weren't the ones being chosen for exile. Once he made it into the main hall he got an idea. In a low voice he grinned manically. "I'll make you understand."