#3 Always have a backup plan
It spread like wildfire through the forensics department. That bastard Enigma is among us.
People openly whispered it in the corridors and various break rooms of the GCPD. It was impossible to put to rest and Edward Nashton, the head of the Cyber Crime Unit heard it told at least three times before he'd even gotten to his desk. Twelve before he'd finished his first coffee of the day.
Pretending to be one of us!
That traitorous bastard!
Should be lynched!
All that was being let out was that Internal Affairs were confident an arrest would be made soon.
Good luck with that. Edward thought smugly. You idiots couldn't possibly know who it is.
Although, now that he thought about it…The day was not normal. It was something he couldn't quite put his finger on. People seemed to be watching the clocks a little closer than normal. Like something was about to happen.
Edward wouldn't be anything if he weren't appropriately paranoid.
He ever so casually looked up and over his computer monitor. His office was a Spartan, clinical environment. No pictures, no novelty items, no personal effects. But it was pretty open on the floor.
How many times had he done this? Too many, always during the late night when it was only ever him left. Now, he was going to do it in broad daylight, surrounded by cops no less.
It wasn't hard to hack into the higher level computers, it was child's play to run a sweep and net the file he was looking for and only a computer illiterate buffoon like the head of internal affairs would have his password as 'Ponyplay' Which frankly made it impossible for Edward to look the man in the face again without cracking some kind of joke in future.
'Persons of interest in regards to ENIGMA.'
There was only one name on the list. His. He skimmed through the file expertly as rage threatened to break his icy calmness.
It was infuriating enough that they'd worked out it had been him who had almost brought the city to it's knees but even more infuriating that the possibility was recommended by Batman.
Oh he was going to teach that meddling Dork Knight a lesson he would never forget if it was the last thing he did, but first Edward Nashton needed to get the hell out of dodge.
He unlocked the file drawer of his desk, something that he had never been seen using and opened it up. Unsurprisingly, there were no files, however there was a little green question mark on a stand- a prototype as it turned out- and below that were several pounds of RDX that should have technically been in evidence lock-up. It was the work of a few moments to arrange the bomb and close the drawer. If he'd calculated correctly –And Edward was never wrong- It should be just enough to blow the entire floor and kill everyone he'd ever worked with.
He carefully arranged the trophy in a way that garnered maximum view for the tiny little fisheye in the tittle and picked up his coffee mug. For all intensive purposes, he looked like a man on the hunt for caffeine as he approached the stairs, careful to stay out of sight of the elevators.
On the next floor, he dumped the mug on someone's desk and strolled almost nonchalantly towards the exit.
Long ago he'd clocked the sweep of the cameras and if timed just perfectly, his exit could go unseen.
Sometimes, he wondered what life is like without contingency plans.
Chaotic and full of surprises he supposed. Edward hated surprises and he hated chaos but Batman was quickly overtaking both of those to be the thing he hated most of all.
He waited in one of his favourite cafes for someone to make a move. A finger trailed up and down the pristine cup of his espresso patiently; The accompanying muffin untouched. He was much too engrossed to eat, his eyes never left his phone.
This was excitement. This was living on the edge. Although it would have been much more fun to tease them with a puzzle about what he intended to do, he didn't have time. An utter shame, that.
He saw a flicker of movement in the lens of the camera and felt his breath halt as the shape moved. Something was happening. Unfortunately the prototype's camera wasn't as high tech as he'd like, all he could see past its ideal depth were blobs. He needed them closer.
He began breathing again as the cautious shapes moved closer and lamented that he hadn't included a microphone in the design. He wanted to taunt his colleagues turned victims. He wanted to converse and hear their frustrations about how they nearly caught him. The next one. He promised himself. The next one will have a microphone. Or maybe just a simple recording. He could put his riddles on them and wind the damn Bat up a little more. It was brilliant.
Unconsciously, he wondered when his breathing became heavier and when he began to pick up all the smells around him. It was the hidden work of adrenaline, responding to his excitement.
Which little idiot is unwary enough to come to investigate my little trap?
Oh Edward was going to teach them exactly who they were messing with. They needed to get in closer; he wanted to see their faces.
Suddenly, they backed away. Wary, afraid. What had gone wrong? What had tipped them off?
His heart rate suddenly skyrocketed as a dark figure stepped out from behind the desk.
Batman.
Blow it; blow it now while I have the chance!
He pressed the detonate button on his phone and braced for the sounds of utter carnage but nothing happened.
What?
He pressed it again and again, each time becoming more and more frustrated that his bomb had not detonated.
He watched the smug visage of Batman hold up the crushed receiver and lost all semblance of control.
'That goddamn Bat!'
The taste of victory all but soured in his mouth as he swept an arm across the table in sheer fury; porcelain shattered on the floor and menus flew as stormed out to the shock of the staff and patrons.
They had his computer now. Oh it would have nothing of great use to them on it, but that wasn't the point. The point was to make it clear he was not to be underestimated and Batman patently hadn't. He shouldn't have tried to be showy; he should have had a back-up plan.
The next time, he would ensure his plans were fulfilled. One way or another.
A/N: It's Dead Switch again, folks. As Edward learned, so many people have tried to blow Batman up that by now he kind of expects it I guess. Still, that's no reason to disappoint him now is it? Oooh Lookit that, it's a prototype trophy! You would not believe the gadgets he's stuffed into these over the years. Microphones, C4, poison…You name it; it's been in one of those little beauties. Oh and a tittle is the dot on the bottom of a question mark. Yeah, you pick a lot of that sort of thing up…