Lucas waved at the Fed-Ex man as he walked up the sidewalk towards the large two-story brick house. Little did he know that the Fed-Ex man was in fact... duh duh duh- one of the Riddler's henchmen! (Bat-gasp!) He merrily continued in his way, almost skipping up to the door before skidding to a halt as it suddenly swung open.
Standing before him was a beautiful redheaded goddess, clad in plaid with a huge smile pasted onto her face. He stared at her for a second as she engulfed him in a huge bear hug.
"Lucas! I'm so glad you're here!" She released him and gave him a peck on the cheek. He blushed as she pulled him inside and instructed the maid to carry his bag to one of the guest bedrooms.
"Miss Gordon?" An elderly English butler of the Alfred-type approached them with a small package. "This just arrived for you, Madam."
"Thank you, James." He nodded to her as she took the brown box and then again to Lucas as he left. Barbara turned her attention to the package in her hands. "I wonder what this could be." Puzzled, she tore at the brown paper. It fell to reveal a green, wooden box. She exchanged a look with Lucas before unfastening the latch and lifting the lid. The box then dropped to the floor as an opaque smoke started to hiss out of it. Barbara grabbed Lucas' hand and together they started to run out the door, but the gas was quicker, and before they could get far, the world turned black as they fell to the floor, unconscious.
Commissioner Gordon stopped pacing and glanced at his watch. 2:45. Barbara and her college friend were an hour and a half late meeting him for lunch. He sighed, his brows furrowed in worry as he once again dialed the number for his home. He had called once every ten minutes for the past half an hour, and he had yet to get an answer.
It rang several times before a voice answered, "Gordon residence."
"James, it's Jim. Let me speak with Barbara."
"Sir, there seems to be a problem with that."
"Excuse me?"
"Miss Gordon is... missing, sir."
"Missing?!?"
"Yes, sir. Both her and Mr. Walenczak have... disappeared."
"Dis-disappeared?"
"Yes, sir."
"James, I'm coming home." He didn't wait for an answer; he just let the phone fall from his hand to the floor and steadied himself on his desk. He was in shock. His head felt light and there was this knawing ache in his stomach...
His gaze fell on the red phone under glass on the corner of his desk.
The Riddler laughed and frolicked around like a little schoolgirl. Everything was going as planned, even better! Now he had two hostages to work with. He just needed to go about finding out who his unexpected guest was... He raised both of his hands to his chest and tapped his fingers together, Mr. Burns style.
"Excellent," he said sinisterly. "Excellent."
"Excuse me sir, but you have a phone call," Alfred said, handing the red phone to his multimillionaire boss, Bruce Wayne.
"Thank you, Alfred," Bruce said. He and his youthful ward Dick Grayson were lounging in the Library, catching up on their summer reading. His voice deepening, he answered. "Yes, Commissioner?"
"Batman, we've got an emergency. It's Barbara. She and one of her friends are missing. They were supposed to meet me over an hour ago," Gordon explained.
"We'll be at HQ as soon as we can." Hanging up the phone, Bruce turned to his ward who had walked up next to him during his phone call. "Dick, to the Batcave!"
The dynamic duo slid down their poles in their everyday clothes, but by the time they reached the bottom, they wore their full superhero attire.
"Robin, to the Batmobile!"
"Holy emergency, Batman! What's going on?" Robin exclaimed as they hopped into the conveniently unlocked, open roof of the ridiculously long car.
"Commissioner Gordon's daughter, Barbara has been kidnapped along with a friend of hers, Robin."
"Holy predicament! Any clues as to who done it?"
"Who did it, Robin, and not yet, but we're heading to the Gotham City Police Headquarters now. Hold on, old chum."
Lucas woke up in a large room. Upon looking around to get his bearings, he discovered that he was tied to a chair next to Barbara, who was in the same position.
"Babs?"
"Hmmm?"
"Babs, are you awake?"
"Huh?" Barbara opened her eyes and looked at her situation, much like Lucas had done moments before. "Lucas, what's going on?"
"I was just going to ask you the same thing."
The conversation was cut off as a wiry man bounced into the room with a group of idiotic henchmen dressed in suits pertaining to what the strange man was dressed in: question marks.
"Good morning, kiddies!" The man beamed.
"Riddler! What do you want?" Barbara demanded.
"And give away my plan? Don't you know that all villains who give their plots away too early are condemned to fail?"
"Riddler?" Lucas was obviously lost.
"So, Barbara, would you like to introduce me to your little friend?" The Riddler moved towards Lucas to get a better look at him.
"Leave him alone!"
"No, Babs, don't try to protect me!" He said dramatically. Turning his attention to the Riddler, he said, "Let her go. You only need one hostage."
A devious smile crossed the madman's face. "But when you have two, you can kill one!"
"Commissioner!" Batman and Robin shouted together as they crashed through the door. Robin initiated the conversation.
"Where was Barbara last seen?"
"At home. James, our butler, said that she just disappeared.
Swishing his cape in front of Robin, Batman began. "I suggest we go directly to your home, Commissioner."
Arriving at the Gordon's home, the three were greeted by James.
"Welcome home, sir."
"James, where was the last place that you saw her?"
"She was standing with her young friend here in the entryway, Master Gordon. A Fed-Ex man had just delivered a package and I gave it to her."
Batman raised a hand to his chin. "Hmmm... what was in the package, good citizen? And who sent it?"
"Why, I don't know, sir. I left before she opened it and I don't recall seeing a return address."
"Holy vanishing act!" Robin jumped in. "Where is the package now?"
"I took the liberty of sealing off the front entranceway. I left everything the way I found it, sir." He led them to the hallway and opened the door. "Will you be needing my services any longer, Master Gordon?"
"No, James. Thank you." He nodded and left for the kitchen. The trio entered the hallway and looked around. The wooden box lay on the floor in the middle of the entranceway. Taking out the Batgloves, Batman put them on and picked up the box. On the lid he saw a handwritten note that read:
Violets are blue
I've got your daughter
And her little friend, too.
Don't try to save her
Ôcause Gordy, you'll find
your baby and her friend
will wind up in a bind!
Surrounding the note were little green question marks. Instantly, the duo looked at each other and said in unison, "The Riddler!"
"Do you really think so?" Gordon said hopefully, as if he, being the police commissioner, he couldn't have come up with that exact same conclusion himself.
"I'm positive, Commissioner," Batman replied. "We need to get this back to the cave to run some tests. Don't worry. Barbara will be fine. One more question, though. Who exactly was this friend of hers?"
"An old college buddy, Lucas Walenczak."
"Walenczak... like Walenczak Industries?" Robin piped in. "Holy yuppie, Batman!"
"Now Robin, you must not assume that this poor boy in the clutches of the Riddler is a yuppie just because he is the son of a multimillionaire."
"Yeah, I know, Batman. I'm sorry."
"Well then, old chum, to the Batcave!"