A/N: this basically is a rewrite of the beginning of the first episode of RWBY, though obviously slightly different. I hope that you enjoy reading this story!
Two weeks of planning and Riddler was almost positive that he and Scarecrow would be able to pull off the robbery and get what they needed. They actually weren't going to be robbing the store, at least that wasn't their actual plan. They had heard rumors about the vigilante Reaper, someone that was so mysterious and so elusive that no one knew who they were. Naturally this raised Riddlers interest, he couldn't resist a good riddle.
Now, standing in an alleyway several yards away from the shop they had set their sights on, Riddler double checked that everything was in place. Scarecrow was saying something to the thugs that they had hired and then turned to Riddler.
"Why do I have to be the one that stays in the shadows?" he asked.
"Because," Riddler said, "we need someone who's extremely intelligent on the front. I am after all, the most intelligent person in the world."
"You keep telling yourself that," Scarecrow said, patting Riddler on the shoulder. He pulled on his mask and made sure that the Fear Toxin was ready.
"I don't understand why Joker wants this Reaper person anyways," he said, his voice slightly muffled.
"Reaper, whoever they are, is exceptionally good at avoiding the cops," Riddler replied. "They're also very close to crossing the line into villainy. Do you know why they call this person Reaper? It's because they're rumored to be carrying around a scythe."
"A scythe?" Scarecrow scoffed. "So? That's just a small thing."
"Don't ever estimate it," Riddler snapped, getting annoyed. "Let's just get this over with."
He motioned for the Henchmen to follow him and walked out of the alley, cane in hand. Truthfully, Riddler had no idea if this so called Reaper would even show. Joker said that it was highly possible since they'd been spotted a few times in this area of Gotham. But anything that Joker said Riddler usually took it like a grain of salt. He had to agree (grudgingly) that any lead was better than no lead.
Riddler walked out of the shadows of the alleyway and down the street, four of the hired henchmen trailing behind him. People gasped and edged away when they saw him, their eyes filling with fear. Lucky for them, they weren't the targets. In any other day they might've, but not this time. No, he had much more interesting prey to catch.
Reaching the store that was their target, Riddler threw open the door of the weapons store. It was good for them, that one it was still open, and two, they could easily replenish their weapon stock. Get two things done in the same trip.
The henchmen gawked and looked around in mild amazement and Riddler had to refrain from rolling his eyes. Of course those henchmen have only ever done a job by breaking into a place, not walking in. Such Simpletons they were! Not much better than cattle. But, they were useful, easy to be thrown under the bus, or to keep with the metaphor, led to slaughter.
The only person that he could visibly see was the old store keeper who eyed him with weariness. The man's receding grey hair stuck out at weird angles and his face was a map of lines and crevices.
Riddler walked up to the counter and braced his hands on his cane in front of him.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a weapons shop open this late?" he asked.
One of the henchmen pulled out a gun and aimed it at the old man who raised his hands in surrender. At least the man was smart enough to do that.
"Please, just take the money and leave," the man said. Obviously he didn't know what was really valuable.
"Calm down," Riddler said, raising a gloved hand. The man flinched. "We're not here for the money."
He let the man have a split second of relief before jerking his chin at the henchmen. "Grab the weapons."
As the henchmen scattered off, Riddler turned back to the shop keeper. "Riddle me this," he began, "The man who invented it, doesn't want it for himself. The man who bought it, doesn't need it for himself. The man who needs it, doesn't know it when he needs it."
The old man stared blankly at him, the only sounds be that of the henchmen making a bit too much noise while gathering the weapons.
"A coffin," Riddler said softly watching the man's face grow pale. "And that's what you'll end up in if you don't do as I say, if you're lucky enough to even make it into a coffin. Understand?"
The man gave a quick nod.
Near the back of the shop, one of the henchmen was hunting around for a particular weapon that he wanted to keep from himself when he heard music coming from his left. Turning, he saw a red cloaked figure standing near a magazine stand. The figure was short and slight, what was a child doing here? Eh, it wasn't his problem.
"Alright kid," he said, pulling out his gun. "Put your hands where I can see them."
The henchman got no response from the figure. He scowled and stepped closer. "Hey! I said hands in the air!"
Still no response. Letting out a frustrated sigh, the henchman stalked towards the figure. "Hey, do you have a death wish or something?" He pulled the figure's hood back and they turned.
"Huh?"
The henchman was met with the clear gaze of a young black haired, silver eyed girl. She had headphones on, which explained why she hadn't heard him. A girl though, a mere child was standing there. This was almost too easy. The henchman pointed to his ears and the girl took of her headphones.
"Yes?" she asked.
"I said, put your hands in the air! Now!"
"Are you," the girl squinted, "robbing me?"
"Yes!" The henchman yelled half exasperated half mad.
"Ahhh."
Riddler was leaning against the counter making sure that the store keeper didn't do anything that would lower his IQ. He didn't particularly care what the henchmen did, the weapons weren't the reason they had come.
He turned when he heard one of the henchmen yell before he saw that thug get thrown across the room. The henchman crashed into a display stand, knocking it over. What an idiot. Another henchman that was staining nearby looked at Riddler for permission, at least one thing that this simpleton did right, and Riddler gave him the go ahead.
The henchman rushed off and Riddler had a moment of peace to contemplate his next move. It was possible that who'd ever thrown the first henchman was Reaper, but it could've been anyone.
He heard the thug yell "freeze" a truly useless thing is to do, didn't they know that 90% of the time when you yelled "freeze" the person tended to not do that?
Riddler looked up again when he saw a flash of red fly past him out of the corner of his eye. Whipping his head to follow the moment, he only saw a red clad figure crash though the store's front display window. He smirked, looks like they hit the jackpot, because he was 98% sure, no, he was 100% positive that red clad person was the one they were looking for.
The henchmen looked out the now broken window to see a a young girl, land in a crouch in the middle of the street. She pulled something from her belt and a scythe, taller than her by quite a bit unfurled. It's red and black coloring matching the girls clothing.
Riddler couldn't believe it. This girl, was the feared Reaper? The very one they'd been searching for? This had to be a joke. But it wasn't, Riddler realized. It wasn't a joke. The few sightings and descriptions of Reaper nearly matched that of the girl standing out in the street.
The girl, no, Reaper, stood up her red cloak moving gently with the wind. She looked at Riddler and his henchmen, the huge scythe balanced on her shoulder. She gave it a twirl. With a crash, the scythe hit the pavement, leaving an indent.
"What the hell is that!?" one of the henchmen yelled.
"It's a scythe," Riddler said with an eye roll. Didn't the Simpleton realize that? Though it seemed a bit more complicated than just a simple scythe.
"It's also a customizable high impact sniper rifle," Reaper added, "don't you know anything?"
Riddler gritted his teeth. To say that he, the smartest being alive didn't know anything!?
"A what?" the henchman asked confused.
"It's also a gun."
"...ok..." Riddler said, assessing the new predicament. He looked at the henchmen that were just standing there.
"Get her."
The henchmen rushed off through the door no less, and into the street. Reaper met the first one head on, leaping up with one hand braced on her scythe and kicked him in the face. Using that momentum, she tore the scythe from the ground and landed neatly on her feet.
One of the henchmen rushed her from behind but she quickly acted. Giving a slight twist, Reaper pushed something on the scythe's handle and a gunshot sounded, the noise echoing off of the buildings that lined the street. Using the backlash to her advantage, she smacked the henchman with the flat of the scythe's curved blade. Or was it the edge? Riddler couldn't tell because it happened so fast.
Bringing the blade up above her head, Reaper whirled around and brought it down upon the second henchman, stabbing him through the gut. The man let out a cough of blood before flopping down; dead.
So she didn't acknowledge human lives then, Riddler mused. If they could get her in their side then they'd gain a formable ally. Of course if she didn't... no, they had to make her one of them. There was no alternative.
Riddler watched in mild fascination as Reaper used a combination of backlash from her weapon and the surrounding area to quickly make work of the last remaining henchman. Four of Penguins best henchmen. Taken out in less than ten minutes by a girl. Riddler was sorely impressed.
The last henchman skidded across the pavement and landed a few feet from where Riddler was standing. Riddler's eyes scanned the area for Scarecrow. He didn't see him, but the cry of a crow, was heard from a nearby rooftop. Typical of him to not show until the very end, bird call was proof of that. He'd just stick her with a needle, inject the fear toxin, and then claim all the credit for Reaper's capture. He had to act fast though, the wail of sirens could be heard several blocks away. They were far, but closing in fast.
"You were worth every cent. Truly, you were," Riddler said, kicking the fallen man aside.
"Well, 'Reaper'," Riddler said, pointing his cane at her. He hit a secret button that'd allow him to deal a damaging blow that'd knock Reaper out. "I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening. And as much as I'd love to stick around, I'm afraid this is where we part ways."
Of course that was a lie, Riddler had no intention of "parting ways" with this one, not in the slightest. But he's lead Reaper into a trap and make quick work of her before Scarecrow could do anything.
Pressing the button on his cane again, Riddler sent a bolt of electricity towards Reaper. She blocked it, but since her weapon was made of metal...
No sticking around to see if Reaper had survived his attack or not, if she didn't then he'd say that problems had arisen (there would be no way that he'd admit a mistake to anyone), Riddler quickly made his way across the street to the building that had a ladder attached to its side, he and Scarecrow had planned this building as their escape route for precisely this reason.
Running across the roof Riddler paused when he heard the now all to familiar sound of Reaper's scythe/gun.
"Persistent," he muttered. But that was good. Really good. She's fallen directly into their trap.
"Hey!" Reaper yelled.
Riddler turned with a smirk. He noticed Scarecrow peel himself off of the wall he'd been leaning against in the shadows and quietly stalk across the roof behind her.
"Riddle me this:" Riddler began, "I wear clothes, but I'm not a human. I work in a field, but I'm not a farmer. I was in a movie where one of my best friends was an animal. I stand on a pole, but I'm not an Arctic explorer. I keep birds away, but I'm not a cat. I'm a mannequin, but I'm not found in a clothes store. What am I?"
Reapers eyes widened in realization, a second to late.
"End of the line, Reaper!" Riddler yelled just as Scarecrow lunged forward and sank a needle into the side of her neck. She slumped against him, her weapon falling to the ground with a thump.
"Planning on talking her to death Eddie?" Scarecrow said with a smirk, or at least Riddler assumed it was, it was hard to tell with Scarecrow's mask on.
"The party's not over yet, Johnny," Riddler hissed. "There are the police to contend with."
"True true," Scarecrow said, picking up Reaper. "I didn't expect the famed Reaper to be female, much less a girl."
"You weren't the only one," Riddler said.
"Oh? So the famous, "I know everything" Riddler is saying that he didn't know something?"
"Shut up, Riddler scowled, walking over and picking up the scythe. He nearly dropped it, it was so heavy. Just how the hell did Reaper manage to carry it? Much less wield it with such control and power? Just another thing for him to figure out the answer to.
"Let's get out of here," he said to Scarecrow, before stomping off, scythe in hand.