Of all the things that had ever woken Selina up, she never expected one of them to be what felt like an entire building shaking.

As soon as she heard and felt the shaking, Selina jolted awake. For a split second, she felt tired as hell. However, that feeling quickly faded away when she fully registered what was happening. She was so shocked that she fell out of her bed and onto the cold, hard floor. She quickly got to her feet, nearly falling over again, on account of all the shaking. Besides the obvious shaking sound, there was some kind of horrible creaking, clanking noise that pierced her ears. It made her long for the screaming she experienced back at her home. At least then it didn't feel like her ears were going to actually start bleeding.

Over the tumultuous noise, she heard someone yelp, following by a crashing noise. She spun around to see Leslie sprawled across the floor. She quickly ran up to her, helping her up to her feet. "What the hell is going on?!" Leslie asked. For once in her life, she and looked sounded genuinely terrified.

"I don't know!" Selina yelled over the noise. "An earthquake, maybe?"

That didn't seem to ease Leslie. "Then what's that ear-piercing clanking noise?!"

Selina didn't have an answer for that. She just shook her head. "Whatever, we need to get out!" She linked arms with her. "Don't break away!"

Leslie did as she was commanded as they rushed up to the door. Selina was quick to charge into the door with her elbow, causing it to fly open. The two then fell to the ground, heads spinning.

Unfortunately, the shaking and the horrible noise didn't stop. If anything, they grew louder and more prominent. Looking around, Selina noticed that the entire hallway was shaking too. And yet, despite all the shaking, the paintings and pictures still stayed on the wall.

"What's happening?!" A panicked voice yelled. Selina looked over to the source, seeing the rest of her friends, who were standing around Barbi. They were all clinging onto each other and looked about as scared as she probably did.

"I don't know, do I, Barbi?!" Pam yelled, her voice a lot more shrill than usual.

"Is the hotel collapsing?" Doris asked, frantically looking around.

"I'm too young to die!" Harleen wailed, running around the group in circles. Carol hadn't said anything. She was just sitting on the ground, holding her hands over her ears and gritting her teeth. And yet, the hotel kept rumbling. And rumbling. And rumbling, before...

It stopped. In just about the time it took for someone to blink, the noise instantly faded away and the rumbling stopped. Once it had ceased, Carol opened one of her eyes.

"Are we dead?" She asked, looking around her.

Selina looked back at the ceiling. "I... don't think so."

With that, the rest took a sigh of relief. Well, with the exception of Harleen. She was still running in circles and screaming her head off. That is, until Doris caught her head in her hand.

"Harleen. Shut. Up." She released her, which caused her to fall down onto her backside. "The place isn't falling apart. Least, I don't think so."

Harleen breathed a heavy sigh of relief, wiping the sweat off her forehead. "Whew, that's good to hear." She stood up. "Almost lost my cool back there."

Pam began to feel herself, as if to assure herself that yes, she was still alive. She grabbed her potted plant. "Phil, are you OK?" A brief silence followed. "Wait, come again?"

Pam stared at the plant for a good few seconds, listening into what it was saying. Eventually, Barbi grew impatient.

"OK, you're Poison Ivy, right?" she asked, marching up to her. "So, maybe you could tell us what your plant is saying if it's important, which, unless you're actually just insane, I feel like it-"

Before she could even finish, Pam's half-lidded eyes burst open. She quickly spun around to face Selina, accidentally nailing Barbi in the gut in the process. "Girls, we need to get out."

Selina just took a step back. What? "Pam, what are you on about?"

Pam's face still kept that terrified expression. "Quickly, we need to leave! Phil can sense something bad here and-"

Suddenly, another noise rang throughout the air. It was a crackling noise, like an electric current running through wires. They looked around, searching for the source of the noise. However, they couldn't find it. Doris just looked at Leslie, frowning.

"Oh, ha ha, Leslie," she sneered. "Maybe try one of your electric tricks after we leave?"

This statement caused Leslie's face to harden. "Hey, I didn't do anything, meathead," she hissed. "Did you see me do anything?"

Doris's face fell into a confused expression. "Well, uh, no."

"Then it wasn't me!" She looked around. "But whatever it was, I doubt it was anything good."

At this point, Barbi had gotten up from the floor, clutching her stomach in pain. She looked over at Harleen, who was staring at something. She took a step towards her. "What are you staring at?" She asked.

Harleen didn't say anything at first, and instead kept staring, looking totally confused. Barbi followed her gaze, her face gaining the same kind of look once she saw it. Selina walked over to them.

What they were staring at was... incredibly odd. It was a TV screen right at the end of the hallway. It was hanging from the ceiling and was only showing static. Obviously, this sent hundreds of questions through Selina's mind. Why was it there? What was its purpose? Did it connect to the rumbling and the electric noise?

After a few seconds, the screen cleared up, revealing an image. On the screen was a man, one facing away from them. He was tall enough, and rather skinny. In his hands, he held some sort of a cane. However, the most alluring part of him was his attire. He was wearing a green bowler hat, a green suit, and purple fingerless gloves. And, on the back of his suit, was a giant yellow question mark.

Realisation hit Selina like a freight train. She was staring at Edward Nygma himself.

A few seconds passed before Edward turned around, finally facing them. Once he saw them, he smiled and took a bow.

"Hello there, my unwitting guests," he said. "Welcome to Nygma Hotel. I am the owner, Edward Nygma. But right now, you can call me..." He paused, chuckling for a little bit. "The Riddler! Well, either that, or just Riddler. I am also quite partial to Mr. Nygma Sir."

The group just stared in utter bafflement, barely being able to comprehend what was going on. Eventually, Harleen spoke up.

"Aw jeez, good ta see ya, Eddie!" She walked up to the screen. "What was with the whole shakin' thing?"

"Yeah, and the electric buzzing noise!" Carol added.

Riddler just stared at them, the grin on his face growing wider. "Oh, nothing much. The hotel was just... rearranging itself. Getting itself ready for the game."

Doris glared at the man. "What do you mean?! Quit speaking in riddles!"

Riddler rolled his eyes. "I'm the Riddler. Of course I'll be a little... confusing. Anyway, what I meant was that the hotel's interior structure has been slightly altered, thanks to the amazing technology Lex Luthor provided me when he was helping me build this place. Nothing major, but the rooms that once housed pools or games now contain..." He paused dramatically, as if savouring the anticipation. "My wonderful traps!"

"Traps?!" Barbi squawked. "Wait, are we going to die here?! I swear, if you kill us..."

Riddler raised his hands up. "Oh, calm down, blondie. You may escape alive once this is all over."

Selina stared at the screen, scowling. She didn't like this one bit. "Explain yourself," she hissed.

Pam walked up to the screen as well. "Yeah. I thought you had turned over a new leaf."

This statement caused Riddler to burst out laughing. "A new leaf?! That's funny!" He wiped a tear from his eye, calming down a little. "I suppose you fell for my... little ruse." His voice was quiet, but dangerous.

Pam stepped back, a little shocked. "Wait, so you..."

"Never reformed?" Riddler announced. "No. I simply fooled the weak-minded heads of Arkham into thinking that I was making a real effort to better myself. Eventually, after two years, I was released. Afterwards, I bought this little hotel." He paused again, a small smirk on his face. "It was the perfect place to exact my criminal activities. And since there's very little of you, I've decided to initiate what I call 'The Gauntlet Protocol'.

Barbi shoved her way to the front, her face twisted into a scowl. "What do you mean?! What's 'The Gauntlet Protocol'?"

Riddler's smirk just got smugger, if that was even possible. He leaned in closer. "Simple. It is a protocol that I activate when there are very little actual guests in the hotel. The rooms are rearranged, as I've mentioned, now featuring my traps and trials. Traps and trials that I will, at one point, use to puzzle and overpower the pointy-eared hero of Gotham. However, they must be tested." He took a step back, raising his cane up. "And you're the guinea pigs. Now, some of you may die... but I'll make sure to clean the blood off the tiles."

Everyone froze. What Riddler said was sinking in. They had to go through some fatal trials tonight. On a night that was supposed to be just a ordinary night in a hotel. It was honestly chilling.

Well, except for Leslie. She just folded her arms, smirking. "Relax guys, I'll just zap myself into the jolly green asshole's control room, shut this stuff off and-"

"I think not!" Riddler announced. He snapped his fingers, and several beeps could be heard. Selina looked down at her wrist. Her bracelet was the source of the beeping. She noticed a small screen on it that went unnoticed by her before now. The screen only depicted a spinning circle as the beeping grew more prevalent. After a few seconds, it detached from her wrist. Looking at the others, she noticed that Carol and Harleen's bracelets had also fallen off. However, the rest of the group's bracelets stayed on. This seemed to please Riddler greatly.

"Go ahead, lightning bug. 'Zap' yourself to me."

"Gladly!" Leslie grinned. She cracked her knuckles and held out her hands, aiming right at the screen depicting the smiling Riddler. But when she psyched herself up to zap herself into the screen, nothing happened. She blinked, the smile falling off her face. She held out her hands again, but, yet again, nothing happened. She began snapping her fingers. Not a single bit of electricity could be seen.

"What the hell?!" She sputtered. "What did you do?!"

Riddler pointed to her bracelet. "That little thing is a power suppressor. It renders you powerless. Helpless. In a word, weak."

Doris growled, looking as does she was going to burst into flames. She tensed herself up, grunting loudly. However, like Leslie, nothing happened. "No way!" She gasped. "That prick!"

Pam looked back at her plant. "Phil? Can you hear me?" She waited in silence, before a worried look crossed her face. "Phil?!" After another bit of silence, her eyes widened to the size of saucers. "I can't talk to Phil!"

"Oh my God, yes!" Riddler snapped, frowning. "What do you think 'powerless' means?"

At this point, Selina was admittedly a little shaken. But like hell she was just going to let this man talk down to them. "Listen, Riddler. I'm sure someone outside will notice this and-"

Riddler imitated a buzzer. "Wrong! That electric noise from earlier was a forcefield that doubles as a hologram! To the outside, the hotel looks totally normal. Plus, it has disabled any signal. So you can't call the police." He placed his hands on his hips, looking prouder than ever. "So, you've all no choice but to play my little game. And hey, if you pass all the trials, I'll let you go free."

The group stood in silence, not able to respond. Selina fiddled with her fingers, staring at Riddler, who just raised an eyebrow. Eventually, she sighed.

"Fine. We'll play your stupid game."

Riddler raised his arms up. "Excellent! I hope we all enjoy ourselves. Well, I will, anyway." He chuckled as the screen was enveloped by static yet again. When it cleared, it was black. Now, they were on their own.

Harleen, now overcome by panic, grabbed Selina and began shaking her. "What are we gonna do?! We're gonna die, no one will find our bodies, I haven't finished my bucket list and-"

Harleen was cut off when Pam yanked hard on one of her ponytails. She squealed, letting Selina fall to the ground. Pam looked up at Harleen, looking very unamused. "Look, we're not going to die. We just need to overcome his trials, and we'll be on our way. Shaking Selina around like a Magic-8-Ball won't change anything."

Harleen sighed. "You're right." She turned to Selina. "Um, sorry Selene. I guess."

"It's fine," she muttered, standing up. She looked at the rest. "OK, I know this is stressful-"

"You're telling me!" Carol interrupted. "At least now I know why the robots took my ring and let you off the hook."

Selina groaned. "I wasn't finished. Anyway, this may be incredibly stressful, but we need to stay strong. All we need to do is complete the trials. Then we'll be let go." She smirked. "Then we can teach Riddler a lesson."

The rest seemed to brighten up a little. "Yeah," Doris said, talking more to herself than anyone else. "We can do this shit."

Selina looked over at Barbi, who was standing in the corner, staring at her phone. Her face was filled with worry, which piqued Selina's interest. She walked up to her. "Um, you OK?"

Barbi shoved her phone into her face. "Do you see this?!" Barbi asked.

"What?" Selina moaned, rubbing her nose.

Barbi huffed and moved the phone back a bit. "My parents haven't texted me! I said I'd be back at 10:00pm, and they said they'd be back at 10:30pm! How have they not noticed that I'm not in the house? Why haven't they called me to see if I'm alright?" It could have just been Selina's imagination, but it sounded like Barbi's voice had cracked with emotion at the end.

Selina rolled her eyes. "Riddler cut the signal, remember? He-"

"Actually no," came Riddler's voice. "The signal was only cut a few minutes ago. You probably would have gotten a text from them if they did."

This only caused Barbi to look even more distraught. She looked at her phone again, her hand shaking. Whether it was with fear or anger, Selina didn't know.

"Anyway, the first trial awaits in the Games Room on the Ground Floor. Time to run the trial, my lab rats."

The group looked at each other, gulping a little. Without another word being said, they stepped into the elevator, and Pam pressed the GF button.

And as the doors closed, they heard Riddler's mocking laughter over the speakers.

The group have finally met up with Riddler, it seems. And now the Gauntlet Protocol is in effect. This can only spell trouble. And possible character growth.

Sorry if I kept anyone waiting. The next few chapters may take longer to get out, because of having to come up with traps and trials and all that jazz. But I'm really looking forward to writing more of this!

Also, Barbi seems to have some issue with her parents. Maybe that could be a riddle for you.

One more thing. Barbi wasn't really thinking about her parents when she made the deal. She wasn't exactly thinking about the immediate future.