Well, the New Year's heist was a bad way to start off the year for the villains…now, they were in Arkham and after days of blaming each other for being the ones who screwed up, the Crime Syndicate was finally able to calm down.

One day, Riddler was in Arkham's library and grabbing some books to read. He made his way to his usual table before realizing that someone was already sitting there surrounded by piles upon piles of books.

"Uh, do you mind if I sit here?" Riddler asked.

The person sitting across from him looked up from his book: he looked VERY similar to him with similar hair, glasses, and gloves, but the only differences were his dark brown leather suit and the matching hat that had a reading lamp hanging from it.

"Sure thing." he said while gesturing to the seat across from him.

Riddler smiled at him and placed his books down before raising an eyebrow at his new companion.

"I don't think I've seen you around here much…but whatever, I'm Edward Nygma or The Riddler if you want to use our villain names."

He held out his hand to the man, who shook it.

"I'm Ian Kingor or The Bookworm when it comes to villain names."

Riddler gasped upon hearing his name, asking, "Ian Kingor? Like the writer—"

"NO! DON'T SAY IT!" Bookworm said while standing up in a rage. "THOSE BOOKS SHOULD'VE BEEN HIGHER ON THE BESTSELLER LIST!"

Jeez, why do I always get stuck with some of the hotheaded ones? That's a riddle to solve…Riddler thought.

He watched his new friend's expression slowly calm down and take a deep breath.

"I apologize for that. You can say that I'm…passionately frustrated when it comes to my work."

Riddler nodded at him, not sure how to respond. He wanted to say that he actually liked his books, but now obviously wasn't the best time…

"So, you must really like books. I do too!"

"I LOVE books, I live for books, Nygma! I believe that it's true that you enjoy riddles?" Bookworm asked.

"Are you kidding? I LOVE riddles a ton!" Riddler said with a grin. "Want me to give you one?"

The former writer shook his head and went back to reading his book.

"No, I'm not interested. If you excuse me, I must find more inspiration for my next crime."

Well, I tried. Riddler thought with a shrug.

"So, did you know that possession of a printed page in 1480 was a crime punishable by death?"

Bookworm immediately looked up and said, "No, I haven't. Then again, that was the time period where everyone believed the Earth was flat and that the Bible was handwritten on sacred paper."

"Isn't it sad that some people STILL think that the Earth is flat?" Riddler asked.

His new friend nodded, making him smile.

"Tragic, just tragic."

Riddler couldn't believe he was making friends with a former writer that was now a criminal just like him.

"Where have you been all my life?"

"Writing books that never became bestsellers…" Bookworm said before glaring at his stack of books. "DAMN THOSE CRITICS! Sorry about that, I hope you can be used to my meltdowns."

Riddler placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I have an evil split personality, so I hope you can get used to him." he said with a small smile.

Bookworm found himself smiling back at him. If Riddler was as smart as him with similar interests, then this was going to be an interesting start to their friendship…