The Riddler continued to smile at him for a moment, before he jerked Barry up by his blonde hair.

Letting out a pained hiss, he was forced to walk toward the makeshift gallows. Once they were on the platform, Riddler shoved the noose around Barry's neck roughly. Barry grunted at the rough treatment. Watching as Riddler walked off the stage to stand right in front of the gallows.

Digging in his pockets, he pulled out a camera. "Now. I couldn't have all the fun. And you must know that I love to have an audience!" He messed with the camera for another long moment before placing it on a stand that Barry hadn't seen before.

He must have put it up after setting down the box.

A red light started to blink on the front of the camera. Signifying that it was recording. Riddler looked satisfied and started talking.

"Sorry to interrupt this scheduled program but I've got a more interesting game I'd like to play. See I've decided to branch out a bit and visit the home of the scarlet speedster. And the park seemed like the perfect place to start my game. Now, I've got several people here and only one of them is smart enough to play this game." He paused and turned the camera towards Barry. "Now, be a gentleman and tell the viewers your name."

Barry turned to look directly into the camera, "My name is Barry Allen." Barry knew he'd made the right decision when the Riddler seemed to calm down even more. He turned back to the camera.

"Well then, the way this game works is simple. I'm going to ask some Riddles and If Mr. Allen here gets them correct, I'll let a hostage go. If he doesn't, the door under his feet will fall a little lower. Now, eventually the door will completely fall out from under him and then my game will be over. As will Mr. Allen's life."

Iris and Wally looked horrified at the prospect. Wally wiggled in his bonds trying to free himself.

"And I'm smart enough to learn about the heroes, so I've made a device that will cut off any connection the speedsters may have to their powers. So, Mr. Allen,"

"Are you ready for the End Game?"

Barry's heart rate picked up. This was not a good situation. But he couldn't think of a way out. He hoped that the Justice League would step in soon.

…

...Minutes Earlier...

Hal Jordan or Green Lantern stared blankly at the screens in front of him. Sighing for what had to have been the hundredth time in the last hour, he turned to his WatchTower partner, J'onn.

They haven't talked much with each other since their shift started early that morning. Hal was usually partnered with Barry or Flash but his friend had somehow managed to talk Spooky into letting him off of WatchTower duty.

When Hal had asked Barry how he had done it, Barry had simply said, "Hal the only thing I did was talk with him calmly and reassure him that I'd make up for it later. You might even be able to do the same if you managed to calm down a bit. Also if you dropped the nickname."

Hal had gawked at Barry, insulted before replying, "But- Bar- that goes against everything I am."

Barry had just rolled his eyes at him and stared back at the many monitors.

He'd have to call Barry to ask about how the picnic had gone. Barry seemed very excited to be able to hang out with his wife and nephew.

An alarm brought him out of his thoughts. "J'onn? What's going on?"

"I'm not sure. Though the computer seems to have locked on to something."

He was right. On one of the monitors closest to Hal was an image of the Riddler.

J'onn suddenly clutched his head in pain. "I'm sensing severe emotional distress coming from the Flash."

Hal's head snapped in J'onn's direction in alarm. "What? Wait, where is the Riddler right now?" He started to type for a second before he froze. "This is coming from Central City."

"I've already alerted everyone to meet with us here as soon as possible." J'onn reported.

Hal nodded.

Not long after, everyone was gathered around the screen.

"What's this about, Lantern?" Spooky question with a hint of annoyance.

"The Riddler decided to head down to Central."

The air in the room became tense.

"He somehow managed to take over every news station in Central. And he's recording what he's doing live." Hal answered, wasting no time bringing up the live broadcast. What they saw was horrifying.

The Riddler was standing in front of what looked like a makeshift gallow. Someone was standing on the platform. They couldn't see who it was at the moment.

"Sorry to interrupt this scheduled program but I've got a more interesting game I'd like to play. See I've decided to branch out a bit and visit the home of the scarlet speedster. And the park seemed like the perfect place to start my game. Now, I've got several people here and only one of them is smart enough to play this game." He paused and turned the camera towards the unknown man on the stand. "Now, be a gentleman and tell the viewers your name."

The camera shifted and now they could see the man on the gallows and Hal almost lost it right there and then. Spooky seemed to be prepared for that and grabbed his arm.

It was Barry freaking Allen!

God dammit, Barry! How do you get yourself into these situations!

Barry had his head tilted forward and after a moment he looked directly at the camera and Hal's breath hitched.

His left eye had swollen shut and his lip had been busted. His hair and clothes were covered in dirt.

"My name is Barry Allen." The Riddler was satisfied with that answer and turned back to the camera, "Well then, the way this game works is simple. I'm going to ask some Riddles and If Mr. Allen here gets them correct, I'll let a hostage go. If he doesn't, the door under his feet will fall a little lower. Now, eventually the door will completely fall out from under him and then my game will be over. As will Mr. Allen's life."

Batman's eyes were narrowed and he was carefully studying everything on the screen. Everyone else, including Hal, were watching the screen in horror.

Hal, tired of waiting while his best friend was in danger, stood up to help but once again the Bat grabbed his arm.

"Wait, Lantern! We can't go until we know all of the facts."

"What? No! We need to go now! Barry needs help now!"

"The Riddler has something that will stop us from getting to him and we need to know what that is before we go charging head first into this situation."

Huffing, Hal fell back into his chair and continued to watch the stream.

"And I'm smart enough to learn about the heroes, so I've made a device that will cut off any hero's connection to their powers. So, Mr. Allen,"

He turned to Barry, a shark-like grin on his face, "Are you ready for the End Game?"

Hal shuttered, and took notice of Barry's slip of composure.

He looked panicked, scared.

He turned back to Batman, who was already walking toward the door. "None of your powers are going to work. So if you're coming then don't get in the way."

Hal jumped up and noticed Oliver standing as well and they headed out of the WatchTower.

"Don't worry, Bar. We're coming."

End of chapter.