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"At last the Grace in sight

I shout unto my feet

I offer them the whole of Heaven

The instant that we meet

They strive and yet delay

They perish

Do we die?

Or is this Death's Experiment

Reversed in victory?"

Emily Dickinson

As the needle touched Batman's bared arm, Joker got to his feet, knocking over the chair with a great deal of noise and drawing everyone's attention to himself. He strolled over to a wary Dr. Fredericks and flung an arm over the older man's shoulder, patting the man on the chest.

"Hold on there, Freddikins. You're forgetting something."

"And what would that be Joker?"

"Why the unmasking, of course." Joker left Fredericks standing there and went to put his arm around Batman instead while he kept his other hand in his pocket. The Dark Knight gritted his teeth at the nearness of his archenemy but kept silent wanting to see what would happen. "We need to see who ol' Bats is under that mask before you shoot him full of that stuff and he gets all gross and deformed."

"There will be time for that after I inject him. The drug takes several minutes before the effects begin." Fredericks sounded irritated but he was being careful. Joker was too unpredictable and there was no telling what he might do if he didn't get his way.

"Come on, it'll be more fun this way. I think my fellow psychos agree with me. Scarecrow, don't you want to see the fear in his eyes? And Eddie, I'm sure you'd like to know the answer to the only riddle you were never able to solve."

"Yessss. Take off his mask." Scarecrow was obviously salivating at the idea of seeing fear on Batman's unmasked face. The other inmates all chimed in with agreement except for Two-Face who was practically comatose with indecision after being presented with two questions he couldn't flip on. Eddie didn't answer but he wondered why Joker was dragging him into this. There was something else going on here but he couldn't figure out what Joker's angle was.

"Very well." Fredericks, seeing that he was outnumbered, put the syringe down and reached for Batman's mask. Fredericks flinched visibly as Joker suddenly caught the doctor's wrist in a tight grip.

"Uh-uh. You wouldn't want to deprive me of the privelage of doing it myself, would you Billy?" The psychiatrist shook his head and stepped back as Joker let go. The green-haired lunatic stepped towards Batman and the Dark Knight tensed, ready to try and stop Joker any way he could. Joker's hand grasped the edge of Batman's mask and tugged on it before stepping back to the confusion of everyone watching.

"Oopsie, almost forgot. Let's make this more interesting." Joker pulled his hand out of his pocket and showed them what he was holding. Fredericks gasped at the sight of the transmitter for Hatter's control chips, previously in his jacket, in the hands of the madman. Before he could protest, Joker pressed the button that turned the chips off and the guards began looking around in a befuddled manner.

The inmates realized what was going on at about the same time as the guards realized where they were. Fights broke out as some attacked the guards directly while others tried to flee. Scarecrow tried to head in Batman's direction only to be knocked over by a guard thrown by Killer Croc. The guard staggered back to his feet. Scarecrow did not. The door was wrenched open and everyone spilled out into the hallway leaving only Riddler, Joker, Scarecrow's unconscious form, and a frozen Dr. Fredericks in the room with Batman.

"Why???? Why would you do such a thing?!" Fredericks was torn between rage and bewilderment at Joker's actions. Riddler thought he knew but his attention was on a ring of keys, including the one for his cuffs, about ten feet away. It had been dropped by one of the guards during the fight. Batman was the only one who took note as he carefully worked his chair backwards towards the keys while trying not to attract the attention of Joker or the psychiatrist.

"I like Batsy exactly as he is...well, except for that pesky breathing problem of his but Dr. Joker will cure that real soon. Batman is mine to deal with, not yours or those losers." Joker snagged a stethoscope and hung it around his neck as he waved a hand in Riddler's direction. Nygma froze but Joker wasn't really paying attention to him and after a second, he continued his slow crawl towards the keys.

"No! I planned this so carefully. I won't let you ruin everything." The doctor grabbed one of the scalpels from the tray and charged Joker in a blind fury. His rush was halted when Joker neatly swept Fredericks feet out from under him with a well-placed kick and then smashed him over the head with the steel instrument tray. Fredericks lay limp, either dead or unconscious, as blood slowly trickled down the side of his face from the blow.

"Now, where were we? Oh yes, I was going to take your mask off before I took your head off." Joker picked up the dropped scalpel and advanced on Batman who was still glaring at him. "Don't worry Bats, this won't hurt a bit...til I jam this down your throat!"

As the scalpel began to slice through Batman's mask, Nygma reached his goal. He threw his weight to the side making the chair fall to the ground in the same way Joker had in order to get everyone's attention. His hand closed over the keys and he managed to get one cuff off and was starting on the second before Joker was suddenly straddling his chair.

"Eddie, Eddie, Eddie. You aren't trying to steal my thunder are you? Why, I'm going to let my fellow Rogues in on Batman's identity just like I promised but only after I've had my fun with him. And for that, I'm going to need PRIVACY!" In a sudden manic rage, Joker grabbed Riddler by the arm and began dragging him to the door. Somehow, Riddler was able to get his other wrist free and pulled back from Joker's grasp. For a moment the two supervillians faced each other, and then Riddler straightened himself and dusted off an imaginary jacket.

"It's all right. I can tell when I'm not wanted. I can show myself out but first I have something to do." Riddler made his way over to Fredericks body.

He regarded the doctor for a moment and then gave a vicious kick to the man's side using the movement to block Joker's sight. Joker burst out into peals of laughter.

"You're a man after my own spleen, Riddler. Now get out." Riddler met Batman's eyes for a second and the Dark Knight gave him a barely perceptible nod. Nygma headed for the door and Joker went with him to make sure of his departure. After shoving Nygma through the door, Joker turned back to his prey.

Riddler heard the brief fight through the door. Mostly it was grunts and thuds interspersed with crazy laughs. When Batman opened the door, dragging an unconscious Joker as well as Scarecrow, Nygma crossed his arms over his chest and grinned smugly.

"Now we're even." Batman held up the ring of keys Nygma had tossed him unseen, allowing him to escape, and nodded.

"Yes, we're even. I'll escort you back to your cell."

Suddenly exhausted as the events of the last few days caught up with him, Riddler followed the man meekly back towards the cell area where the guards had most of the inmates subdued. At least, he had gotten some sort of revenge on Fredericks even if he had to go back to captivity. He let Batman lock him into his cell without protest. As the sounds of fighting died out with Batman's help in rounding up the inmates, Riddler lay down on his bunk and drifted off into a well-needed sleep.

One Week later...

Riddler studied the chess board, contemplating his next move while Jervis waited patiently. It had been a long week. Fredericks was in custody at Blackgate, still alive but with some sort of brain damage from Joker's blow. From his notes, Batman had discovered that Fredericks had been interested in perfecting his experimental serum so that he could produce exact physical and mental changes instead of the unpredictable ones it now caused. Presumably, he would have then used it on himself or maybe auctioned it off to criminals who wanted to become super-powered. The sometimes positive side-effects such as Wesker's recovery were incidental and unimportant to him for all that he'd claimed he wanted to help others.

The doctor had not been trusting enough to write down exactly how he'd made the drug or what it contained. Batman suspected that Fredericks brother, the chemist had helped develop it but the man was currently on the run and couldn't be found for questioning. Both Batman and the doctors at Arkham had had the serum analyzed but so far they hadn't found a way to reverse it's effects. Nygma was resigned to his current look now. There was nothing he could do about it so he may as well learn to live with it.(A/N)

He'd expected hostility from his fellow inmates over the way it appeared he'd been helping Batman but most of them didn't seem to care. Joker had just given him a long look before laughing again and then congratulated him on his amusing ploy. Scarecrow was giving him the cold shoulder but Nygma didn't feel like looking at Crane's new face anyway so that was okay. All in all, everything had worked out well and he still had his enhanced intellect.

Nygma moved his knight into position to check Tetch's queen when the alarm went off over the door and there were shouts as the guards ran to see what was going on. Killer Croc ripped the door off the hinges from out in the hall, scattering the guards.

"Jailbreak!!!" He bellowed and ran on down the hall. Some of the other inmates present ran to follow but Nygma hesitated. He'd promised Batman he would behave as part of their bargain and escaping probably wouldn't be in keeping with that promise. On the other hand, he hadn't exactly promised NOT to escape. He could behave just fine in Gotham with a lair full of riddle-crime, begotten loot. Crimes were a natural part of his behavior. He looked down at the board which Jervis had abandoned. Moving his queen, he knocked Tetch's king off the board. With his mind made up, he stepped jauntily as he joined his fellow inmates in their escape attempt and managed to make it out a door to the grounds. He looked at Gotham off in the distance.

"Riddle me this, when is a city like an apple? When it's ripe for the taking." Whistling to himself, he set off down the road towards Gotham.

Well, that's the end. Anyone notice the Simpsons reference in this final chapter? A gold star to who ever can point it out and name the episode it's from.

Thanks to everyone who left positive reviews. I really appreciate it.

A/N: In the "Batman Adventures," comic, Riddler does have his hair again and the Ventriloquist does relapse but that's in the future.