Chapter Two – Riddle me this

It was a calm, sunny, July morning in Gotham City. Bruce Wayne just got done with a meeting at Wayne Tower. On his way out, he stumbled across a man he hasn't seen in months. Harvey Dent. "Hey, uh, Harvey. Nice to see you again." Bruce said with little enthusiasm.

"Yeah. You too." Harvey replied with the same enthusiasm as Bruce.

Bruce wasn't sure if he should say it, but he did anyway, "I'm uh… Sorry about Rachel. I know you two were close and I just-"

"It's alright." Harvey said just to end Bruce's apology, "I'm fine. Besides, you have nothing to be sorry for." Harvey smiled and walked away. If only he knew Bruce thought, If only he knew…

All across Gotham City, televisions were going Haywire. At random times, pictures of a green question mark would appear on screen for a few frames, then go back to the scheduled programming. It confused people, but they just thought it was part of the show. That was until the question mark stayed on for minutes and not soon after, a silhouette of a man with hair smoothed over and a thick set of glasses that were only noticeable because of the sharp edges that stuck out of his face. The entire city was confused and in awe at the mysterious figure on their TV's.

The man sat there for a while before starting, "Hello, citizens of Gotham City. It is I, Edward Nigma. You may know me for the murders I committed in 1998. But, I'm about to tell you something the police probably didn't tell you then." Bruce Wayne looked toward his TV to see the next part of the message. "Whenever I killed someone, I would leave a riddle as to where I would kill next. Do you remember how many people died before the police found me? 27. It took them 27 riddles to figure out who and where I was. If you think that today's police force would do any better, be my guest. However, I am about to put them to the test. The first riddle is this: On this place you keep an eye, where the ground touches the sky. If you think you know the answer, you might want to tell them before it's too late. Because it could be anybody…" He finishes his sentence while laughing a maniacal, evil laugh and the screen goes dark.

In the Gotham Police Department, people are yelling over each other, pieces of paper are being written on as everyone tries to figure out the answer. Finally, Commissioner Gordon raises his hand up and yells "ORDER!" he pauses and walks to the center of the room "We need order if we're going to solve this! We need to show the people that they can trust us! Obviously that is what he's trying to prove; that we can't handle our jobs." The people nod and Gordon continues to speak, "Now, does anyone have any idea of what the answer is?"

The room is silent until a young officer by the name of John Blake steps up. "It could be about the Horizon Motel on West Avenue." Everyone stares at him incomprehensively until he continues, "You know, where the ground touches the sky, keep your eyes on the Horizon?" He smiles before he continued, "You guys never heard those sayings before?"

Commissioner Gordon just waves his hand as if to say 'hold on' and speaks louder than before, "I need a crew to stay here, a crew to secure the inside, and a crew to scan the perimeter! We're going to the motel!" He finishes and runs out the door, followed by forty men and women.

The officers ran into the motel, forgetting that the people were clueless as to why they were there. "Whoa, Whoa, Gordon, what the hell is going on?" the owner asked with confusion.

"We believe Nigma's message was referring to this hotel." He said with confidence, "We need all the residents out as soon as possible, including yourself!" He led a few officers upstairs to check the rooms. The first room he went into was covered with green question marks. Standing in the center of the room was the Dark Knight himself. Batman and Gordon made eye contact but Batman just looked away. "You're here early." Gordon said humorously.

"I figured out the riddle." Batman said, "But I don't think he will attack the hotel, not tonight. He knows that we know the answer. It's too risky, even for him." Batman walked over to the closet.

"You honestly think that'll stop him?" Gordon said without looking up from his radar, "I mean, look around the room for god's sake. He's a madman!"

Batman opened the closet door and called Gordon over to him. When Gordon reached him, he was shocked at what he saw. The closet walls were lined with C4 and sitting on a chair inside was a USB flash drive.