The robot was green and purple. It was almost around the size of Bane when he injected himself with Venom. The eyes were yellow.
They all attempted to attack it with some of their signature moves, but they all failed.
"If this is a robot, I should be able to drain its energy." Static said. A similar strategy worked when he, the turtles and the Saturdays defeated Hun in the large robot he was in. He attempted to perform an energy drain. Which actually worked.
For a time. It was lifeless. Until its eyes glowed back to life.
"Backup energy source activated. Rebooting systems." The AI within the robot said. Within seconds it rose again. Static got the idea of trying to drain the backup source too, but it didn't work.
"I was afraid it wouldn't be that easy." Batgirl said.
"Was always told if something's too good to be true then it probably is." Static said. Missiles launched at them in retaliation for the last attack.
They all dodged out of the way.
"If you can drain energy, then the reverse should hold true, correct?" Batgirl asked to Static.
"You're right. I might be able to overload its systems." Static said. He sent a stream of Static electricity its way. It was surrounded in energy, but it didn't look like it was taking the surge of energy in a negative way. It was doing the exact opposite.
"Primary energy source recharge complete. Switching to primary source. All systems are fully operational." The AI said.
"Great. All I did was just charge its battery." Static said.
Its fists were then charged with green-colored electricity. It threw punches at the three heroes. Using their speed, they were able to dodge the attacks. Batman and Batgirl tried to counter, but none of their hits seemed to be causing any effect to it.
Batgirl attempted to do two leaping kicks to its head but it ducked them before grabbing her by the legs. It was about to swing her down, possibly causing some of her bones to be broken. But Static was able to save her with an attack of his own before that happened, sending a manhole cover the robots way, coming at it with the speed of a fastball. It staggered it, allowing Batgirl the time she needed to perform a flip and get herself free, hitting it in the chin.
Something rolled under the robot's feet. About 2 seconds later, it exploded, with smoke coming out of it. It attempted to adjust its vision to see through the smoke, but by the time it did, there were several batarangs thrown by Batman stuck on it. All explosive. After three seconds the batarangs exploded, causing it to be knocked down. Until it got back up.
Using another fire hydrant, Static sent water the robot's way. Which did absolutely nothing to it.
"Worth a try." Static said.
"Static, keep him grounded." Batman said.
"You got it." Static said. Using his static electricity, he kept the robot stuck to the ground. It attempted to lift itself off the ground, but it failed. Several bombs and batarangs were sent its way. The bombs exploded, and the batarangs stuck onto the robot. Within seconds it was covered in ice.
"Looks like you've been put on ice." Static said
Several seconds passed.
The AI in the robot spoke again.
"Warning, unit temperature lowering to critical levels. Shutdown imminent. Rerouting power to thrusters." The AI spoke.
Using the thrusters, it was able to heat the ground to a high enough temperature to melt the ice. Once its feet were free, the rest of itself proved to be no issue. A puddle of water was beneath it as it stood.
"Spoke too soon." Batgirl said to Static.
It stood there for a moment. "What's it doing?" Batgirl commented.
"Move!" Static and Batman said simultaneously. They had the same thoughts. It wouldn't just sit for no reason. It was doing something.
And they were right. About a second after the warning, it began to fire from a gatling gun and shot missiles at them. Static thought about using his static electricity to stop the missile, but the bullets were another issue.
And the missiles were heat seeking. Eventually, the robot ran out of ammo on its machine gun.
Batman leaped off a car and used his grappling hook to grapple onto a lamppost and leap downward on the ground. Before he could even turn around, the missiles exploded the car that he leapt off of. The car was parked on the sidewalk, so no one was in it.
Batgirl was able to use her acrobatic skills to swing horizontally on another lammpost and propel herself forward. She then grapples onto the ledge of a billboard. She waits until the missiles are close enough before leaping away, causing the missiles to hit the billboard instead.
Static tried to outrun them while flying on his saucer, which proved to be a challenge. He looked down and noticed the fire from the car that exploded and got an idea. He flew towards it and, using the fire to his advantage, moved upward. The missiles honed in on the fire from the car and hit it instead.
Static flew back to where Batman and Batgirl were.
"We've got to get this thing away from here. People are gonna get hurt." Static said. "Follow me."
Batman and Batgirl followed, using their grappling hooks to take to the rooftops.
As expected, the robot followed in the air.
Static led them all to a junkyard. Here, no innocent people could get hurt. And now, all bets were off.
Static was gathering energy to pull several objects, but before he could, he, Batman and Batgirl were suddenly somewhere else. They and the robot seemed to be in a room of sorts. The robot stood still. It appeared to be on standby. Just then a monitor lowered itself to be seen by the trio. And the man that appeared explained why the robot was on standby.
"Riddler." Batman said.
"Welcome back. Apologies for the delay. Your little sidekick threw a wrench in my plans." Riddler said, referring to Batgirl.
"Next I'd like to throw you in jail." Batgirl said.
"It would pay for you to learn manners." Riddler said before noticing Static. "Well, well it appears we have a special guest in our midst."
"The name's Static. But I already know who you are back on my world." Static said.
"Well then Static, how about a little riddle for you? My home is everywhere, but nowhere. What am I?" Riddler asked Static.
"Everywhere but nowhere." Static said, thinking for a second. "I got it! A nomad!" He answered.
"Correct!" Riddler said. "This is not your world. And this is not your fight. I can bring you back to your world." Riddler offered.
"No way." Static said before pointing at the monitor. "Your robot trashed my city. I'd say this is my fight now."
"Well then, that's too bad. Because now you won't be going home to your city at all." Riddler said before pressing a button. The robot started to move again. It was reactivated.
Suddenly, the robot went over and picked up Static.
Batman looked as if he was about to pull something from his utility belt.
Although it wasn't seen by the pair as they were turned around, Riddler wagged his finger. "Ah ah. Your friend chose to fight, now he's a part of the game too. Stop me, and I'll detonate the bombs here and now. That goes for you too Static, stop me and you'll be responsible for the destruction of Gotham."
Batman no longer was reaching for his utility belt.
After attaching what seemed to be some sort of bug or chip onto his neck, the robot put him down. It also handed him a headset. He put it on.
"Now then, because I don't know of your origins, I will make this a bit easier for you. Instead of questions about your identity, I will ask you a set of riddles. Get them right, and you'll be just fine. Get them wrong, and the bombs will advance an hour. I hope your mind is as electrifying as your abilities." Riddler said.
"And one other rule, no cheating. If anyone is caught helping him, the bombs go off. I hope you learned your lesson from last time with your partner Ellen Yin Batman." Riddler said.
Batman just stood in silence.
"I will be watching. Now then, let the games begin." Riddler said. The monitor raised itself up, disappearing. A virtual city began to manifest itself.
The robot began to go against all three heroes.
Like a bull, it charged at Batman, who slid under it.
Static attempted to use his static electricity powers to try and short circuit the robot's insides. But that failed as well. Its exterior was already immune to his electro-blasts the last time he tried this. And it only led to the robot being charged.
"Your first riddle. What does an orange and bell have in common?" Riddler asked, via an earpiece given by Riddler that only Static could hear through.
Static creates an electromagnetic field around himself to block the explosives being sent at him. After blocking it, he answered Riddler's riddle.
"They both have to be pealed. " Static said.
"Correct!" Riddler said.
Batgirl ran from the robots laser blasts. Until she jumped over two people that were holding a mirror. The mirror was strong enough for the blasts to be reflected back at the robot, to Batgirl's surprise. It also appeared to have really felt its own attack.
A riddle appeared on the tablet-like device that was given to Batman. It beeped to indicate that a question was incoming.
The question was: "Are you rich?"
Batman answered "yes".
"I feel am I getting closer and closer to getting to know the real you." Riddler said.
Batman threw two batarangs, this time, at the robot's head. They hit it in its eyes, seemingly disrupting its vision sensors, causing it to shoot frantically before it pulled the batarangs out.
"Batman, Batgirl! Get down!" Static said.
Static began to gather energy inside himself,like he was intending to do before they were teleported to Gotham. But instead, he was going to use it for something else. He gathered all the energy he had and used a nova burst, looking to end it in one attack.
The field field caught everything in its path, blowing away the robot and several other objects including the manhole covers, parts of buildings and other metals. It was on the ground, seemingly shut down from the overload of energy.
Static was clearly drained from the attack. But after a few moments of silence, the robot rose again. "Backup power source activated." The AI said.
"Aw man. Can't get a break." He said. He then pulled out a zap-cap.
"Good thing I always have at least one of these." Static said. He absorbed the electro-magnetic power from the cap. He felt energized again immediately. But one was exactly the amount he had with him at the time. Hopefully, he wouldn't regret having only that one.
Static flew next to the now standing Batman and Batgirl.
"It's like nothing's even hurting it. That was one of my strongest attacks." Static said. "And it seems like it learns every time we throw something new at it. It's like it's unbeatable." Static said.
Batman thought back to when they first found Riddler on the boat.
Flashback
Batman and Batgirl confronted the Riddler, with several of his men dressed in a similar fashion as he was accompanying him.
"Ah Batman, so you have solved my riddles." Riddler said.
"If you're going to tell us where you are, at least do it in a regular way. Or better yet, why tell us in the first place? We'll just find you, kick your butt and stop what you're doing. And I thought you were supposed to be one of the smarter villains." Batgirl said.
"It appears your new partner isn't exactly keen on fun." Riddler said to Batman.
"That isn't fun. It's annoying." Batgirl said.
"You wouldn't just do all of this without an endgame. What are you after?" Batman said.
"I am the man from Gotham that everyone knows but no one really knows the real me. Who am I?" Riddler asked.
"Batman. Too easy." Batgirl responded.
"Very good." Riddler said. "And you said riddles were annoying."
"Riddles aren't. You are." Batgirl shot back.
Riddler points his cane at Batman. "You see, all of this was about learning to know the real you, Batman. But of course, learning from the last time we played the game of 20 questions, I know that you won't play without an... incentive to do so." Riddler said. He goes to grab a remote.
"Tell me Batman. There is one thing that many people wish they had more of. More than money. More than power. And maybe even more than love. What is it?" Riddler asked.
"Time." Batman answered.
"Precisely. And you'll only have so much time in our little game if you hope to win. How much you ask? Well then, find out, with a riddle. On my side, I am everything. Cut me in half, I am nothing. But standing together, I am something. I occur once and at the beginning of an hour, once at the end of a month, but never in a second, day, week, or year. Put these two together, and you'll have a certain amount of time. How much time do you have?"
"On my side, I am everything. Cut me in half, I am nothing." Batgirl said out loud, thinking, hand on her chin.
Batman was the first to answer out of the two. After seconds passed. "Eight hours." He answered.
"Correct, my friend." Riddler said.
"Enough with the riddles! If you're planning on riddling us to death, I hate to say it, but it's starting to work." Batgirl said.
"You're no fun." Riddler said, frowning before pressing the button on the remote. The monitors around them display bombs placed throughout different parts of the city.
"You see I have bombs placed throughout the city. You have eight hours to solve my riddle. If you do, Gotham is spared. If you don't... well... you don't need a riddle to know what happens then." Riddler said. He began pacing, cane and hands behind his back as he put the remote down on a desk. He goes to pick up a tablet.
"Now, there's the matter regarding your identity." He hands Batman the tablet. He waits to see what is on it before he takes it. Once he realizes what it is, he takes it.
"I will send you questions through here for you to answer about you. Answer them truthfully, and you'll be fine. And I'll be one step closer to figuring out the true identity of the Batman. Be dishonest, and the bombs will advance by an hour." Riddler said.
Riddler's men start to approach Batman, but he gets into a fighting stance. Before he could do anything, he was grabbed by some sort of crane device and was held. One of the men planted something on Batman. Batgirl leapt to Riddler and kicked him. Angered, he turned back around and smacked her with his cane.
"Sorry, but this game is single player only." Riddler said, attempting to spray her and knock her out with sleeping gas. What he didn't expect was for her to be using a rebreather. When the gas disappeared from her face, it revealed her to be using a rebreather. She hits him with an uppercut to his jaw and takes his cane.
"You won't be able to disarm the bombs or remove the lie detector chip I placed on Batman with that." Riddler said, rubbing his jaw. "They're both linked to my game. They both will be disabled when the game is finished. But since you decided to butt in, I guess there's room for one more." Riddler said. He attempted to have a chip placed on her too, but she was able to get out of the way. One of the men pulled out a weapon. She threw a batarang at it, but it only got stuck inside it. The man shot it anyway in an attempt to stop the approaching Batgirl. After being hit, she disappeared. The man shot at a robot and the restrained Batman too, but right after, it started to go haywire and he dropped it in a panic.
"Now then, let's have a look at our players." Riddler said, picking up his cane again. He looked on a monitor, but there was no signal. Nor was there a signal from his lie detector.
"I don't understand, they should be here!" Riddler said, looking on a computer screen himself.
"Figure out what happened and bring them back!" He ordered the others as he looked at the broken weapon on the ground. It was supposed to take them to the virtual world he designed to duke it out with a robot that would be sent where they went. The robot was sent with them, but to where, he didn't know.
End Flashback
Although Batman wasn't around when Riddler ordered his men to bring them back, from his previous dialogue, he could tell that bringing them to Dakota was a mistake. He then thought about what Static said, along with Riddler's "game".
"The robot is the riddle." Batman said, low.
"I am everywhere but you can't see me. You need me, but I don't need you. What am I?" Riddler asks through Static's headset.
"Air." Static answered. The "you need me" part gave it away for him.
"Correct. You have a bright mind." Riddler said.
"Thanks. I don't get straight As and Honor Roll for nothin'." Static replied.
"Come again?" Static asked, not really hearing what he said.
"The robot is the riddle. Wherever we go, it goes. The riddle is figuring out how to beat something that's unbeatable." Batman said.
"But wouldn't that mean you can't beat it? Plus, like Static said, it's learning our moves and how to counter them or how to not be affected by them." Batgirl asked.
The robot began to lock onto the three. Batman answered Riddler's next question. It was "Are you in your 20s?" He answered "yes".
"Unless... wait!" Batgirl said, coming to a realization.
"Look out!" Batman said. The robot began to send two continuous laser beams at them. While all three were able to dodge them for a time, Static lost his saucer. It fell harmlessly to the ground. They all took cover while it was searching for them.
"When I jumped over the mirror. When it tried to hit me, it reflected back towards the robot. It seemed to be reeling from it pretty good." Batgirl announced to the two.
"And that's how it can be beat. We don't beat it. We let it beat itself." Batman said. "Static, do you think you have enough power to reflect back some of weapons or lift a part of it?" Batman asked.
"Yeah. If they're metal." Static said.
Batman nodded. "Follow my lead."
Now it was Batman's turn to lead. Batman throws out multiple smoke bombs to disorient the robot's vision. While it changes its vision to see through the smoke. Batman and Batgirl leap on top of it and attempt to go under it respectively. The robot attempts to grab them but it fails. Batman's plan was to have it attack itself by mistake, but it seemed to not work.
Eventually, the robot began to shoot more munitions at the three. Static, who had his saucer back, was in the air. They all went back to where the robot was, noticing that it was stationary when the lock on munitions such as the missiles were after them. Static suddenly flipped over on his saucer and performed a quick 180, a trick that hit the robot's head and knocked it back. The missiles couldn't keep up with the young teen hero and they hit the robot instead. Batman leaped on it and then back off, with Batgirl following his lead, the remaining missiles hitting the robot and disarming it in the process.
Static lifts the dismembered arm. "Here goes!" He sends the arm into the chest of the robot. It falls onto the ground, this time permanently shutting down.
"Well done. With time to spare on the bombs." Riddler said, as they returned back to the boat.
"We've won the game Riddler. Now, disarm the bombs." Batman said, in his usual no-nonsense tone.
Riddler lowered his eyes. "Impressive. Most impressive." Riddler presses a button on his cane. "But the game's not over yet. I sill have one more question to ask you Batman. With the evidence I have gathered, I believe I have dwindled down who you really are."
"Now, back to the game. With all of the evidence I have gathered. You are in your 20s. You are rich. You were born here in Gotham City. You do not have blonde hair. You are not a policeman. Although there are several that may be able to fit this profile, I have deduced a guess from all the evidence gathered. Are you..." Riddler looks down before suddenly looking at Batman and points his cane at him. "Bruce Wayne?"
"His identity is Beyoncé." Static joked, right after Riddler made his guess.
Batman had been found out. But he couldn't lie and say no.
"Quiet! You're just like that detective! You're ruining the game!" Riddler said, shaking his head, trying to block it out and refocus. As he was doing this, Static sneakily sent a shot to where Batman was with one of his fingers. The joke was intentional. He wasn't sure if it was going to work. Or if Riddler's guess was right. But he had to do something. And his gamble seemed to have paid off. It was a quick zap that no one was able to catch. He winked over to Batman.
"Bruce Wayne? Yes or no. Answer now or the bombs go off!" Riddler said, still a little aggravated by Static's joke.
"No." Batman said. Riddler looked up at one of the monitors to see if he was telling the truth. No signal was found.
"What?" Riddler ran over to the monitor, almost pushing the man that was supposed to be monitoring it himself out of the way. "What's going on here?! Why isn't it working!?" He said, going to the keyboard trying to figure out what was going on.
Static picks up the fried chip with his right hand and looked at before grinning. "I removed the chip. Computer chips are sensitive to static electricity. While you were getting worked up over my little joke, I hurried and short circuited the chip. And of course, since I have Static electricity surrounding me, I disabled mine as soon as we got out of that virtual world. I could have disabled it earlier, but I played along so you wouldn't figure out that something was wrong." Static explained, still grinning as he did so. To the expense of Riddler.
"Noooooo!" Riddler said, grabbing onto his head in agony and frustration. Now he wasn't sure if Batman was telling the truth or not.
"No one outsmarts me! No one!" Riddler said, running to press a button on the computer to manually activate the bombs. But he was beat by a zap that short circuited all of the computers in the room. He tapped on numerous buttons on the keyboard, desperately trying to get it to work
"Hope you had a plan C. Because all of your computers are cooked. Literally." Static said.
"This isn't over!" Riddler said, attempting to run away. His men attempted to cover his escape. Batman ducked under a hook from one of the men and hit them with a one-two body blow, hook combo. Another tried to run at him, but Batman swept him off his feet, causing him to tumble and knock down one of his henchwomen. Batgirl fought two. They held their own, but Batgirl was able to break through their defenses with a spinning kick, something that she had seen Batman do countless times as his cape turned with him.
She used a home-made bola to wrap the two together and knock them down when they got back up.
Static knocked out three with punches. Another was able to get behind him. Batgirl tried to warn him, but she did it too late. He was hit in the back by the scepters of two. A woman with brown hair in a ponytail and a man that was bald. They both grinned, expecting him to collapse from the shocking pain.
A moment passed before Static turned around towards the two, which surprised them.
"Cute trick. Let me show you how a real pro does it." Static sends electricity their way, knocking both of them down.
"Now, where's Riddler?" Static asked.
Riddler was already on a smaller boat to escape.
"Until next time, Batman." Riddler said, looking back at the action. When he turned back around, Static was in front of him, to the shock of Riddler, who had his jaw dropped.
"Leaving without saying goodbye?" Static said, arms folded.
Riddler tried to strike the teenage superhero, but it did him no good. He grabbed onto the cane and Riddler.
The Docks
Riddler was being put into a police car, slumping in defeat.
"I know this one had to have been a tough one. I'll admit I'm not the smartest guy in the room most of the time. Don't think I would have been able to get this one done." Commissioner Gordon said to Batman.
"But Riddler believes he is. And that's what led to his downfall." Batman said.
"Great work you two." Commissioner Gordon said to Batman and Batgirl. He turned to Static. "And you as well. Don't think I've seen you around here. What's your name?" He asked.
"Just call me Static, sir. I'm not from around Gotham." Static said to the Commissioner.
"Well then Static, I appreciate you helping out regardless. The more the merrier I say. It'll take a collaborative effort to keep Gotham City safe. I'll take the help wherever I can get it. I'm sure you three have had a long night so I won't keep you here any longer. I'm looking forward to getting home myself once we're done here." Commissioner Gordon said. He shook hands with Static. He turned back to Batman but he was already gone.
Static and Batgirl shrug before grinning.
"Still have to get used to that." Gordon said.
Epilogue
Dakota
Virgil's House
"So how was it? Meeting the Riddler." Richie asked Virgil on the phone.
"Even in a different world, the guy is as advertised. Really makes you think." Virgil said.
"Oh really? Give me one of his riddles then." Richie said.
"I'll give you an easy one. What does an orange and bell have in common?" Virgil asked, reiterating Riddler's riddle.
"They both have to be peeled." Richie said. "Was that all he gave?"
"I said, that was an easy one." Virgil said.
"Speaking of worlds. What's that Batman like? And Batgirl?" Richie asked.
"Pretty much the same. Even though they're younger than the ones here." Virgil said.
"How did you even get back anyway?" Richie asked.
"Batman fixed the weapon that accidentally brought them to Dakota. He configured it to bring me back. Though we both agreed it should be scrapped once it was done. In the wrong hands, something like that could be dangerous. On one hand, it'd be great if we had five different versions of me, or Superman and the Justice League team up." Virgil said.
"On the other... a team of Lex Luthors? We'd have a big problem on our hands. Definitely a good call." Richie said. "Alright, what's the other riddles?"
Virgil told Richie the riddles he heard. And it eventually evolved to them trying their own riddles.
A/N: And that's it! I hope you enjoyed the story!
By the way, the orange and bell riddle is a riddle from the 1960s Adam West Batman series. I watched it for the first time on Tuesday and I couldn't pass up an opportunity to include a reference to the series here.
The Beyonce reference is also a reference to when Static called himself Beyonce in the Static Shock crossover episode with Batman Beyond, Future Shock.
The method of defeating Riddler's robot is an unintentional, but is a similar method of defeating the Omnidroid in The Incredibles. I didn't catch it until after I finished writing the scene where the weapons hit the robot itself. I decided to take it further by referencing the final fight with the giant Omnidroid when one of the arms are used to take it out for good.