"If you're so smart, why aren't you rich?"

Those cruel words from an uncaring boss had haunted Edward Nigma for years, had turned him into the supervillain known to all the world as the Riddler. And now? They were a joke.

I'm a billionaire, and you're worthless. Who's the smart one now, Mockridge? Riddler thought, chuckling to himself.

February had been the most successful month of the Riddler's life. He had gone on a blind date which lasted eleven and a half minutes—a new personal best. Also, he had hacked a computer in the White House, giving himself the passwords needed to pull off the biggest cryptocurrency theft in recorded history. Thanks to that heist, the Riddler was now worth a little over one billion dollars.

Not bad for a guy who sometimes ran around in green pajamas.

The funny part was that the Riddler didn't care about the money. All he cared about was getting a chance to meet Lex Luthor, the wealthy, brilliant and bald supervillain of Metropolis. Luthor was throwing a very exclusive party, for billionaires only.

Riddler tapped the invitation in his pocket, to make sure it was still there.

It was.

Riddler smiled to himself. With his brains and Luthor's resources, the two of them would be able to conquer the world! This was surely fated to be the most important day in all of history!

Riddler had to stop himself from squealing a bit, when he saw Lex Luthor standing by the front doors of the ballroom. Lex was greeting all the guests as they went in. Bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, Riddler pushed his way past some loser named Bruce Wayne and began talking loudly.

"Lex Luthor, so good to finally meet you!" Riddler said, shaking Luthor's hand enthusiastically. "I've been waiting so long for this!"

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Lex asked.

"I'm Edward Nigma, you know, the Riddler!" Riddler said, in his most dramatic voice.

"I've never heard of you," Lex said. He pointedly looked at the nearest security guard. One of Lex's assistants, a woman with blonde hair, leaned in and whispered a few words into his ear.

"Oh, right, that one," Lex said. He sighed. "Might as well get this over with quickly, then. Why are you here?"

Undaunted by Lex's standoffish attitude, the Riddler pressed on. "I have a wonderful business proposition for you," he said. "If the two of us work together, I believe we can—"

"Pass," Luthor said.

"Wha-what?" Riddler asked. "You haven't even heard my plan yet!"

"And I don't need to hear your plan, which is undoubtedly foolish," Lex said. " Suffice it to say, I'm not in the business of dealing with C-list villains such as yourself. Whatever you're planning is sure to be a failure."

"C—C-List?" Riddler stammered. No way! He was one of the world's greatest supervillains, wasn't he? "But—but I outsmarted Batman! He hasn't been able to stop any of my crimes in weeks!"

Luthor shook his head. "You haven't outsmarted anyone. The only reason Batman hasn't stopped you yet is because he's been too busy dealing with more important things."

"I...I'm important..." Riddler whimpered.

"I've been to three different parallel universes," Luthor said. "I can say with full confidence that there is no universe in which the knock-knock afficionado is at the top of anyone's priority list."

They're riddles, not knock-knock jokes, Riddler thought, but he knew Luthor would only laugh in his face, if he said that out loud. Gathering up all his dignity, Riddler shook his head.

"I...I changed my mind," Riddler said, his voice cracking slightly. "I don't think I want to attend your party after all, Mr. Luthor."

"That would be for the best," Luthor nodded. Noting the Riddler's sad face, he added, "Don't take it too personally. Your cryptocurrency theft was quite clever. Not many people could have done that. But alas, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to return the money by the end of the week. With interest. If not, I'll have to get the CIA involved, and we wouldn't want that, would we?"

Riddler saw Luthor's smirk for a few seconds, before the tears blurred his vision. Crying, Riddler ran away from the building.

This was supposed to be the night of my greatest success, not my greatest humiliation!

After returning the stolen money, Riddler checked the Internet. He was surprised to see that most people agreed with Luthor. All the listicles that ranked Batman villains consistently put the Riddler at the bottom.

"This is ridiculous!" Riddler cried. "Who the hell voted Joker as Batman's greatest enemy? His jokes aren't even kind of funny! Anyone with a decent grasp of wordplay can see his punchlines coming from a mile away!"

Riddler felt rage rise up within him, as he read more and more online comments.

Riddler is dumb, lol

Riddle me this: why are you awful?

Total ripoff of the Cluemaster

Stupidest villain ever

I think the Riddler is pretty hot. I would totally date him... (See more.)

Riddler gasped as he read that last message, from SexyGirl12234. Could it be possible? A sexy girl thought he was hot? He quickly clicked the link to see the full message.

I think the Riddler is pretty hot. I would totally date him...NOT! Ha ha, Riddler is dumb.

"AAAAAAAA!" Riddler screamed. He started cursing loudly and made a note to program a virus to permanently destroy the computers of those foul Internet trolls.

So, they underestimate me. I'll show them. I'll show everyone! Soon, the Riddler will become the greatest criminal in all of Gotham! Never again will anyone think of me as a mere C-lister!