Am I playing with timelines and universes? Yes. Am I enjoying shaking things up? Yes. Do I love literary anarchy? Kind of.
Chapter Fourteen: Beast of Yucca Flats
**Riddler**
"It doesn't make sense," he muttered to himself, tearing the paper up and splaying the pieces across the table.
He had written the names of all the known criminals on them for a visual in order to help him put the pieces together, but it wasn't going well regardless of his tactics.
"I am but a small piece among a sea of pieces," Jervis declared proudly from nearby. "How marvellous!"
"Jervis," Edward turned to him with a saccharine grin. "I'm sure in whatever gelatinous mess of a mind you have managed to concoct out of the primordial soup of your mother's womb you are quite certain you are indeed on to something, but here in reality, you are so far from something you're into the void."
"My mere presence in a void would nullify it being a void," Jervis replied calmly, wandering off to continue sweeping the lighthouse.
Edward gawped after him, hair falling into his eyes.
"When the Hatter bests you, Edward, perhaps it merely means you need a rest?" Crane inquired from where he sat reading a ten year old Time magazine on the lower step of the winding staircase.
From her spot beside Crane, where she had draped herself so that her head and luscious red hair hung over the edge of the steps, Ivy coaxed a long tendril of her namesake, playing with it idly with a long, elegant green finger and scoffed, "Eddie, maybe you should get some sleep? We're here holding down the fort if you need anything."
Eyeing the pieces of papers, Edward thrust his arms forward, shoving them off and slamming his forehead against the wood.
"Someone needs a happy face balloon," Crane muttered.
Ivy chuckled, earning her a sharp glare from Eddie as the man peered out through his ruffled red locks.
Sweeping to his feet, the Riddler smoothed his hair back with a graceful motion and threw his shoulders back, bringing himself to his full height, moving like a dancer across the lighthouse to stand before the Scarecrow.
"Jonathan," he began. "Why don't you, instead of sitting here and amusing Ivy, go out into the world and find yourself the biggest, hairiest pig with which to copulate."
Crane stood up fluidly, towering over the Riddler a little. "Excuse your mouth, Edward?"
"Boys," Ivy began softly. "Let's not fight without our shirts off and our chests greased…"
"Pamela, I'm half certain you—" Jonathan was cut off as Edward absently shoved him, sending the Scarecrow back onto the stairs, the Riddler had a distracted look on his face. His brow delicately furrowed.
A pile of gangly limbs, Crane fought to get back to his feet, glaring hard at the Riddler.
"I can destroy you!" Crane declared.
Edward was already walking off, moving to his table, falling to his knees on the floor and digging through the dust for his little papers with the carefully written names on.
"What is it?" Ivy asked, rolling over on the stairs in order to look at him properly.
Even Crane was curious, approaching the man slowly.
Edward stood up and slapped a piece of paper onto the tabletop.
Crane looked at the papers, eyebrows rising.
"What is it?" Ivy demanded, getting to her feet and approaching.
The Scarecrow picked up the paper and held it out for her to see.
"Professor Pyg?" She read aloud. "What about him?"
"I was too busy looking for suspects who may have had a grudge against us? But I should have been looking at suspects that fit the modus operandi!" The Riddler declared proudly. "Who is the one amongst us who likes to experiment, who doesn't care one bit about honour among the thieves? The one who is always in it for profit and glory?"
"You?" Ivy teased.
Edward paused and opened his mouth with a scathing retort just on the tip of his tongue, when the door burst open and Selina slipped in, her arms full of Firefly's gear.
"Selina?" Crane breathed. "Ever hear of—"
Catwoman shot him a warning glare, full of promises of murder.
"Is that Firefly's—"
"They got him." She stated, her tone icy and clipped.
Edward eased his hip against the table and folded his arms, he was unfamiliar with that tone in her normally composed voice.
"Dead?" He asked.
Selina gently set Firefly's gear down, resting his helmet on top like a cairn, warning all others about unsafe passages which lay beyond the gear.
"Selina?" Ivy urged as the woman in black leather stood by the gear quietly, her clawed hand on the helmet.
Jervis paused on the stairs, eyes wide, hand clutching his broom.
"Why do I help you anyways?" Selina snarled at them, turning around with hard eyes. "This isn't even my fight. I just came to leave this."
"Selina?" Jervis warbled.
Catwoman turned around sharply and marched off, storming back out the door.
Edward eyed the gear for a moment in silence.
"Is he nevermore?" Jervis chirped softly.
Glancing over at Crane and Ivy, who were quietly studying the gear left behind by Catwoman, Edward quirked a brow and touched a hand to his chin, before slipping away, trailing after Selina.
"I swear to God, Eddie," she growled as he fell into step beside her. "If you say anything about my screw up, I'll kick you in the face."
"Question," he began simply. "Is he dead?"
She swallowed thickly. "No."
"Well, then," Edward said. "Why are you so upset?"
"For a smart guy, Eddie, you're a real idiot."
"Careful, my dear, one does not get away so lightly insulting my intellect. Not even pretty kitties."
Turning around, she calmly shoved him hard and he fell on his ass without so much as defending himself. How could he? He wasn't expecting that at all.
"Feel better?" He demanded bitterly from the ground.
"A little."
"Well, you only get one," he pointed out, getting back to his feet.
She shoved him down again and he floundered on the ground as she stood over him, hands on her hips.
"Or…possibly two," he amended, getting to his feet and dusting himself off.
She shoved him down again and despite his best efforts not to go, he went due to her startling strength.
"Really, Selina!" He growled from the ground. "We're not on a playground!" Scrambling to get his long limbs working in order to get back up, he eyed her with a hard look. "You know, I don't much care for Lynns. I couldn't give a flying pig if he dies!"
Selina's spine straightened and Edward forced his anger monster back into its cage before he woke the vengeful goddess.
"But," he said gently, "I recognize that you are fond of him and…while it's a horrible decision on your part, I…feel?" He pondered that word, mulled it over, before continuing. "I feel like I'm sorry? For your loss?" All of this was indeed a question, mostly directed at himself. Glancing up at her cautiously, he found she was thoughtful, quiet. "Etcetera," he ended quickly.
That was far more than those quacks at Arkham ever got out of him in way of an emotional connection and it was more than he was prepared to give to anyone.
Anyone but Selina.
He supposed she was the exception to his personal rule on emotions and such.
That would be analyzed later, he was sure of that.
Selina was quiet, no longer was her spine straightened for an attack. No longer did she look like she wanted to shove him down again.
She was just…quiet.
"I am fond of him," she admitted after a while. "He's a better man than he lets on."
"Oh, yes, I'm sure he's a real pip." Edward grumbled, unable to withhold his displeasure of the man.
"He has admirable qualities," she stated. "Such as an ability to express himself with something other than arrogance."
"Ouch, that cuts," Edward retorted. "Besides, I'm not arrogant. I know that I'm the best."
She glared at him, but the venom in it faded as he offered her a tiny, almost proud smirk.
"Was that a joke, Eddie?"
"Yes."
The black cloud that hung over her dissipated somewhat and she sniffed, looking off at the distant bay beyond the lighthouse. Shifting on her boots, she looked back at him and offered him a small, mysterious smile, before leaning in and kissing him on the cheek.
"Thanks."
"For you, Selina, anything," he said.
It was declared with such ease that it wasn't until she had turned tail and headed back for the lighthouse, that Edward gave pause, angling his head down and away from the cat to consider this.
There was definitely truth in that statement.
Ooh, a revelation like that would need at least three days of solid pondering, so he tucked it away for later, focusing on the now and following her inside.
"Wait," she caught him just before they entered, hand on his chest.
He glanced down at the hand with those dangerous diamond tipped claws, before looking up at her.
"Anything?" She asked.
He quirked a brow and considered his response.
"Yes?" He tried.
She stood up on her tiptoes somewhat to peer into his eyes, hard and scrutinizing.
He smirked and lowered himself a little to give her a better view, meeting her gaze with only a little fear.
"Promise?" She whispered.
"Yes."
Leaning forward she caught his lips against hers and kissed him softly.
His natural response was to reply in kind, hand moving to rest on her hip, eyes sliding shut.
"I'm going to hold you to that," she murmured, pulling away, her hand sliding down his chest and over his stomach as she slipped into the lighthouse.
He swallowed with some difficulty, before exhaling a shaky breath.
"Get it together, Edward, she's a cat toying with her mouse," he cautioned himself, before raking a hand through his hair and bursting into the building with a feeling of renewed confidence.
"Well," Crane greeted dryly from his spot on the stairs. "Look what the cat dragged in."
"Ah ha! Clever worm," Edward returned with a small grin.
"So?" Ivy urged. "Professor Pyg?"
"Ah yes," he took a seat at the table and threw his feet up on it, leaning his chair back on two legs. "It's simple really, when you think of it. Pyg has everything to gain from experimenting on criminals. No one to care if he has to eliminate his test subjects and the perfect patch of imperfection to correct with his damned genetic experiments. Myself excluded from this imperfection naturally," he said smugly. "And the lovely Catwoman amongst our ranks who is practically perfect in every way."
He glanced over to find her approval of his compliment and was not disappointed.
This approval only encouraged him further and his mind raced through the entire situation.
"Lynns mentioned something to me," Selina said. "Leviathan? Does that mean anything to you?"
Edward quirked and brow and dug through his memories for the word. He couldn't make a connection, so he glanced to the others, everyone looked just as stumped as he felt.
"Well, in any matter," he went on. "We find Pyg, we figure out what this Leviathan means and we get some good old fashioned revenge. For our fallen comrades," he added, again glancing to Selina.
She smiled that tricky grin of hers and he beamed widely.
Neither Crane nor Ivy missed this exchange and both took it in with curious, sly grins.
"So?" Edward began. "If I were a Pyg, where would I wallow?"
"He'd need access to medical and scientific equipment," Crane said.
"A place out of sight and out of mind," Ivy supplied.
"A trough!" Jervis exclaimed loudly. "Wait, what?"
"Something's bothering me, however," Edward broke in, ignoring Jervis along with the others, "Selina."
Catwoman levelled her gaze on him.
"Where is Firefly?"
The woman said, "he's safe."
"Where?" Crane demanded. "Custody? The hospital?"
"No, with a friend."
"A friend?" Ivy inquired.
Without a word, Selina moved off, heading for the stairs.
Watching her walk past him up the stairs, Crane quirked a brow and said to Ivy, "he's with Batman."
At the table Edward watched Jervis reverently try on Firefly's helmet and scowled, not at the poor Hatter, but at the thought of Batman and Selina. That bat always seemed to poke his nose into Edward's affairs at the worst times.
"The Bat," Ivy spat. "Will turn him in."
Everyone looked at the Riddler as though he held an answer to an unspoken question.
He sighed. "That's not our concern."
"He'll be a sitting duck in custody." Crane pointed out.
"Hi," a voice said from the darkest corner of the lighthouse, "I know you all forgot about me and…I guess that's okay, I mean I have to pee and I'm a little hungry, but if I may interject?"
Everyone turned their eyes on Batgirl, still tied to a chair, still in the corner.
"With criminals getting killed, I doubt Batman would risk allowing Firefly to get harmed."
Everyone was quiet for a moment, staring at the woman.
"We should really let her urinate before she lowers the resale value of this beautiful seaside home," Crane muttered dryly.
"Look," Batgirl reasoned. "Just untie me and let me help. I can help."
"I almost want to slap it," Ivy said coolly.
Edward eyed Jervis as the Hatter slipped into Firefly's protective leather jumpsuit and pondered Batgirl's proposal.
He pushed to his feet.
"I'll free you," he conditioned. "But you're not sticking around here, little one. Understood?"
"Why?" She demanded. "I can help!"
"Yes, but you want justice," he said, untying her ropes. It wouldn't matter if he released her now, he had a sneaking suspicion Batman knew where they were anyways.
"So?"
"We want revenge," Edward stated with a smile, stepping away and shooing her with a flap of his hand. "It's a little bit deadlier for Professor Pyg. Go on now, before I change my mind and let Ivy slap you."
"That may not be all I do," Ivy said.
Batgirl eyed him with quiet determination.
"Go!" He commanded. "And tell Batman if I catch him sniffing around any of us, I will be the one to destroy him."
Reluctantly, Batgirl left, stopping only once at the door to look back at them, before ducking out.
"Well," Crane said, pushing to his feet. "I suppose it's time to prepare for battle." He turned to Ivy with a small grin. "Kiss for luck?"
"You wish," she snarled, eyeing her nails.
Crane nodded as though he expected nothing less from her and smirked, heading for the top of the lighthouse, climbing the stairs slowly.
Edward looked at Jervis who had put on Firefly's entire costume and folded his arms.
"Who in the world am I?" Jervis asked almost happily.
"Ah, that's the great puzzle," Edward appeased the Hatter.
The short madman giggled in the three sizes too large costume.
laal ratty - Eddie! Finally! Some Eddie! And he seems to have gotten his groove back...
Katherine - Holy crap! You reviewed! I love you! ^_^
The 24th Reader - Gee, I'm sorry for making you wait so long. College is the worst. Learning is dumb and should be hated and stuff. ^_^ Thanks for the review! I appreciate it!
LittleGreyOwl - I hope this chapter allayed your fears, little bird. Don't feel bad, there's like a billion organizations and villains in the Batverse.
NURSE J0Y - Oh, you know Eddie is building some jealousy...it should be good.