Disclaimer: I own nothing.
"It beckons and it baffles
Philosophy don't know
And through a Riddle, at the last
Sagacity must go
To guess it, puzzles scholars
To gain it, Men have borne
Contempt of Generations
And Crucifixion shown."
Emily Dickinson
Normally, Edward Nygma would have been interested in finding out as much as he could about the Batcave. It was Batman's base of operations and a big piece of the puzzle in figuring out the 'who' and 'why' of the Dark Knight. But blindfolded, as he was, there was little he could discover about his surroundings and his mind was on the coming conflict at Arkham. He was impatient to go and silently fumed as Batman moved around the cave, gathering supplies and fiddling with his computer. Or at least that's what Riddler thought he was doing. He himself was seated in the Batplane, secured and still blindfolded, while Batman prepared for the attacks he was certain to face at Arkham.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of boredom, there was a rustle of cloth and Batman's weight settled into the plane. The Dark Knight ignored his passenger and seemed to be getting ready for take-off as Riddler could hear faint clicks and beeps from switches and panels being activated. The engine came to life with a quiet hum and he heard the cockpit close over him.
Nygma was startled when the plane began to move and then there was a faint shudder as they went airborne. He thought that he would be sedated again when they were leaving but that wasn't the case. It proved not to matter much. He had been planning on calculating the distance they traveled from the Batcave to Arkham by judging their speed and the amount of time it took to get there. This would have allowed him to at least figure out a radial distance for the Batcave which might be useful information later but Batman seemed to be flying in circles and was randomly descending and ascending in altitude. Finally, Riddler gave up his surreptitious attempt to riddle out one of Batman's many secrets and merely leaned back and tried to relax.
Shortly after he'd given up, the Batplane began descending again and this time it kept descending which meant they must have reached their destination. Batman reached over and removed Nygma's blindfold. He blinked a little but the cockpit lights were dim and it only took a moment for his eyes to adjust. To his surprise, they were at a small heliport located within sight of Arkham. He'd expected they would land somewhere out of sight and sneak in.
"Were you just planning on walking through the front door? Surely you know there's bound to be a trap."
"I'm counting on it. Fredericks will be put off-balance if I appear to be bringing you back as an escaped prisoner. He won't expect it." As much as Riddler hated to admit it, there was a certain logic to the plan.
"But he must know that I've told you about his experiments. And he'll have to explain why he's greeting you instead of Dr. Arkham or Bartholomew."
"You're a lunatic. Why should I believe anything you say?" Batman's voice had gone so flat and menacing that Riddler had to restrain himself from shrinking back reflexively. "Arkham never comes to meet me. He's averse to my presence because he sees every one of you I return as a failure on his part. And Dr. Bartholomew has a scheduled week of vacation at the moment. Nevertheless, we'll both have to stay sharp in there."
Riddler was startled by the seeming candor but he attributed it to the Dark Knight realizing that Riddler had to have all the pertinent info in order to know how to act. He allowed himself to be helped out of the Batplane and then they were both standing by the Batplane on the opposite side from the Asylum. He took a step to walk towards the building and Batman grabbed him by the shoulder and swung him around.
"One more thing, Nygma. If you help me with this, I'll see to it that your behavior is noted in your favor the next time you're up for parole. But cross me, and you'll be sharing a cell with Joker for the rest of your days." Riddler did shudder this time at the thought but he nodded in understanding.
"I give you my word, Batman. No double-crosses. You can trust me."
"No, I can't." Faster then he would have thought possible, Batman's fist shot out and Nygma was slammed back against the plane's metal skin. He staggered back up and spat blood from a split lip.
"What the #& was that for?"
"You don't want your fellow Rogues thinking you came without a fight, do you?" Riddler could almost have sworn there was a hint of amusement in the man's voice but that was impossible. Glaring at the masked man and wiping blood off his lip, he found himself propelled towards the waiting asylum.
There was no one in sight as they entered the building
and Nygma could feel the tension in Batman's grip on his arm. They headed to the check-in desk and as they reached it, the door leading to the holding cells opened and Dr. Fredericks came through followed by a dozen guards. The doctor had his usual false smile plastered across his face.
"Mr. Nygma, it's so good to see you again. I'm Dr. Wilhelm Fredericks, acting head of the psychiatric ward and I thank you for bringing him in Batman. Mr. Nygma is a very disturbed man. If you'll just hand him over, you can be on your way."
"Riddler IS disturbed but he didn't alter his own appearance. I'll hand him over after I inspect the other inmates and see whether what he's told me is true. I suggest you don't get in my way."
"That is highly irregular, sir. You are not a member of the Arkham staff despite your continuing assistance in recovering inmates, and these areas are restricted." Fredericks kept up the smile as Batman headed towards the holding area door accompanied by Riddler. He motioned to the guards to move aside. "However, if you really need to reassure yourself about the inmates well-being then I won't stand in your way."
Riddler was trying to hide his agitation as he followed Batman into the holding area which led to the various detention cells. He knew Fredericks was planning something but he didn't know what. Did the psychiatrist want them both dead or just Batman? Did he have some reason to let them go in without attacking them in the reception area where he had the advantage of numbers?
Batman opened the door leading to the detention cells and before he could react, a scaly green arm reached through and grabbed him. Batman was pulled through the door and slammed against the nearest wall. He'd expected an attack and fought back as Killer Croc pinned him and began to squeeze but Croc's new size and strength gave him the advantage of surprise. Nygma stayed out of the way in the door as the battle raged. Batman had gotten over the surprise and was now kicking at Croc to loosen his hold on the Dark Knight.
"Don't bother struggling, Batman. I'm the new, improved Killer Croc and you can't beat me no matter how hard you..." Somehow, Batman extracted a capsule from his belt and tossed it into Croc's face. The anesthetic gas enveloped the monster's head and he released his hold on the Dark Knight, clawing at the air before passing out with an audible thud.
The whole fight had lasted barely a minute but Batman was obviously affected as he gasped for breath and held on to his bruised ribs. Nygma glanced behind him to find the guards blocking their retreat and when he looked back towards the cells, inmates were rushing in from all directions.
"Scylla and Charybdis." Riddler muttered and wisely chose to stay out of the way as the inmates rushed Batman. After all, he was a thinker not a fighter and with his hands still cuffed there wasn't much he could do to help. Batman was holding his own, tossing punches and smoke bombs but he was outnumbered and it was obviously just a matter of time before he was overcome.
Then in a sudden move, Batman punched a particularly brawny inmate and sent him sprawling back into the masses which succeeded in momentarily clearing a path towards the door. He'd taken a few steps when a dark shape detached itself from the confused crowd and moved to intercept him. Exhausted and smarting from various wounds, he turned to confront the new menace but wasn't fast enough to avoid the thick wooden staff that connected with his chin. He went down hard and lay still.
Nygma stared at the tall, black-clad figure for a moment before he realized who it was. Under the long, black coat; black, wide-brimmed hat; ratty clothes; and decorative noose was the new Scarecrow. Crane prodded Batman with his staff but the Dark Knight was out cold. He looked up at Nygma, standing in the doorway with a stunned expression, and his lips pulled back in a baleful grin.
"What's the matter Eddie? You look scared." Nygma didn't reply. His attention was on Dr. Fredericks who had come to stand beside him. Several of the inmates were trying to get at Batman's prone body but Scarecrow drove them back with his staff, whacking one fleeing inmate in the rear and then the guards came forward to secure their prisoner. The whole thing had the air of a scene that had been rehearsed before.
"You know, I really must thank you Edward. You delivered the ultimate test subject to me and did it a lot faster than I thought you would." Riddler found his voice finally.
"What the hell are you talking about? Are you saying you wanted Batman to come here?!"
"Of course. I wanted him as a test subject from the beginning but I needed some way to get him here where I could control everything and ensure his capture. Once I realized that you would be my perfect lure, the plan came together. Your compulsion to tip Batman off with your riddles ensured that he would find out about my plans and come here, preferably with you in tow. Everything worked out exactly the way I wanted it to."
"Then what was the Arinex for?"
"Ah, you know about that. I needed to make you think you were sick so I would have a plausible excuse to keep you in the lab and away from the others while I let them in on the plan. Also, it gave you more motivation to get away from me since you felt threatened by your continuing sickness. I admit, I hadn't thought you would escape by getting Mr. Tetch to start a food fight but what ever works."
"So this whole time you were just using me to get at Batman?"
"Don't take it personally, Mr. Nygma. I had several plans in place to ensure Batman came here at a time of my choosing. If you hadn't been involved, he still would have ended up in this position. Now come along and join your fellow inmates for the experiment."
A guard grabbed Nygma at each elbow and forced him to follow Fredericks. They came to the lab where Fredericks had begun his experiments on him and the others. It was crowded with various Rogues who were all staring at the unconscious Dark Knight who was strapped to a vertically-tilted table across the room. Well, they were all staring except for Joker who had appropriated one of the few chairs and was leaning back pretending to toss non-existent popcorn into his mouth. Nygma was pulled past all of them and seated in the only remaining chair about a foot to the right of Joker. He could hear the hostile mutters from his fellow Rogues behind him. None of them seemed to be directed at him but rather at their nemesis who was so close and helpless while they had to hold back.
Dr. Fredericks took up a position by Batman and pulled a small table over with another of those syringes filled with amber liquid that Riddler remembered from his first visit here. Fredericks picked up the syringe with a flourish and smiled as he addressed his captive audience.
"I am about to inject our guest with this drug which should make him a new man. As you all know, the effects vary with the individual. I wonder how he will react? Will his mind sharpen? Will his body change? Perhaps he'll mutate into some sort of Man-Bat."
"It's been done." Two-Face commented from the back of the crowd. Fredericks looked briefly annoyed and then decided to ignore the interruption and went on.
"Once the experiment is over, all of you will be free to do whatever you like to him, per our agreement. Until then, enjoy the show."
Fredericks turned to Batman who had now regained consciousness and was glaring at the doctor. He moved slightly, testing his bonds but his utility belt had been removed and there was no way to break the thick straps.
"You don't really think they're going to let you live Fredericks? Not after the way you turned them into test subjects."
"They all understand why I did what I did. And the drug has helped a few of them improve such as Mr. Wesker. It can help many more as well once I've perfected it and figured out how to prevent the side effects but I needed to know how it would react on the most extreme cases." The doctor sounded offended that anyone would doubt his plans and seemed to not care that the Rogues were listening.
"So that's it. You used them as guinea pigs for a dangerous drug without knowing what side effects it might have and now you want to do the same to me." Batman's voice raised slightly as he addressed the Rogues who were starting to look uneasy. "Do all of you really want to take a chance that I might end up, 'new and improved' as well? And are you going to let him get away with experimenting on you?"
"He's trying to distract you. Just inject him already." Scarecrow stepped forward, the staff held at the ready as he gestured towards the doctor. Several of the Rogues were muttering uncertainly, especially at the thought of a possibly stronger, faster, smarter Batman than the one who currently defeated them on a regular basis. Joker was still the only one who seemed unconcerned as he folded his arms behind his head, stared off into space and hummed the "Jeopardy!" theme to himself.
"He's right! The doctor wasn't trying to help us." Riddler said with understandable anger. "And none of you should be helping him, even against the Bat. That drug could have killed us or left us mindless drones. We were just playthings to him."
This caused an eruption of arguments with several inmates siding with Riddler while others argued against him. Two-Face was looking frantically for a coin to flip so he could decide what to do, even searching the pockets of the unresponsive guards. Crane stayed where he was but he looked ready to march over and inject Batman himself. Riddler noticed that Joker was watching all of this but not saying anything. The clown was definitely up to something. He was never this quiet.
"Enough!!!" Dr. Fredericks shout cut them all off and brought their attention back to him. "There will be no more distractions. This experiment will go forward as planned." He picked up the needle and positioned it at Batman's arm. Everyone held their breath and leaned forward to see what would happen next...