BATMAN BELONGS TO DC COMICS (A CREATION BY BOB KANE AND BILL FINGER)
He found Eddie at the park again. Once again, he found the child alone, curled up against himself, not enjoying the swings nor running around like everyone else. Lost in his shady thoughts, too shady for such a young boy whose only worries should have been choosing a side the next time he played Indians and cowboys with his friends. Bruce knew he had no friends. He didn't look like a likable guy. In his face could be seen that naughty character which could potentially harm others, cheater, know-it-all. Maybe only him knew there was something else under that appearance. Maybe because he had visited the park enough times to start some conversations with him, to the point that he tolerated his presence and sometimes opened up to him. Because...well, he was not normal, either, and freaks like them knew where to find and take care of each other.
Anyway, that day, when he approached him, he found Eddie was more somber than ever. Once he was close enough, Bruce saw why. He had red marks in his neck.
Eddie raised his head and ran a hand through his neck nervously. He avoided looking at him, like expecting Bruce to stop looking at him if he did so.
"Was it your dad again, Eddie?" He asked with much calmness.
He noted how Eddie's eyes turned brighter and his throat went up and down.
"I wish he was dead like yours." He replied with trembling voice.
"Don't say that!" Bruce said, almost yelling unwillingly.
No day passed that he didn't miss his father. Every time he closed his eyes he saw him, with his lustrous mustache, his dashing smile, his great looks, heard how he called him and said: «That's my boy.» He had to struggle to stop thinking about the last time he saw him, lying on the ground, with a hole in his chest. He missed his father. He wanted his father back.
"Your dad used to take you to the movies, right? And his office, and read to you and told you...and told you how proud he was of you, bought you candy, didn't he?" Eddie looked at him with a frown. "Mine hates me. He would be very happy if I died; I would stop disappointing him."
"What about your mom? Doesn't she...?"
"My mom hates me too! She always looks away while he beats me and says she wished she had aborted me! She never listens! It's like she couldn't see me!
Bruce wasn't very sure of what 'aborted' meant, but it had to be something terrible.
"I'm leaving home. Somewhere where people don't hate me." Eddie muttered, wiping off the tears which were running down his cheeks.
"Come to Wayne Manor. Alfred will make hot chocolate for you, and we'll have pillow fights. I've got lots of games."
Immediately, the two children ran to share their project with the butler, who watched the children from a prudent distance. Them, like the children they were, exposed their idea so hurriedly he had to make an effort in order to understand. When he did, he looked first at little Edward with attention, then turned to his pupil.
"Mr. Wayne, I'd like to have a few words with you...Alone."
Oh-oh. That was bad. Bruce turned to Eddie.
"Wait here. I'll be back soon."
The enthusiasm with which Eddie had gotten the help vanished quickly from his eyes. He seemed to have predicted Alfred's response before he did.
"Sure..."
"Bruce..." Alfred bent a knee so he could look at Bruce to the face, and talked with a voice which was even more discreet than usual. "You see...Eddie can't stay at the manor..."
"His father will kill him! Come on, Alfred, we can't leave him alone. It's a very big mansion and you can't play all the time. He'll be like a brother.
"If we take him with us, his parents will be worried and maybe...well. Maybe they won't take well that he ran away. They will claim we kidnapped him and we will get in bigger trouble. I know you want to help that boy, but this is not the solution. I will get in touch with the police. I will tell them what he is going through. They will help him. Trust in justice, Bruce."
Police. Sure. The police helped him find his father's murderer. At that moment he was in jail, facing a very long sentence. Sure they would help Eddie. Maybe they would give them permission to take him home.
"Eddie..."
"Yeah. I know. Sorry but blah blah blah, right? Never mind it."
"Listen, we are going to tell the police what your father is doing to you. And they will do justice."
Eddie looked at him with mistrust.
"The police?"
"Don't be afraid. You'll see how things change for the better."
He stared at him mockingly, even if his nose was broken and rivers of blood flowed from it. It had to hurt, a lot, but he smiled. He had lost his bowler hat during the fight and his cane, with which he had tried to smash his head and ribs, lied by his side broken in two. Batman stood in front of him, terrible like a demon. And still, he was staring at him with that smile.
"Here's a riddle for you, before you send me back to some dark hole...once again...What kind of animal is so blind he trusts in justice?"
Batman could not hold Riddler's gaze.
THE END
Riddler's past is directly based on one of the audios from video game Arkham Asylum