Chapter 8: Let The Games Begin
Andre Bourgeois found himself alone in his office, seemingly looking as if he wanted to forget this whole party had ever happened. In a way, he DID want to forget about tonight. This was quite possibly one of the worst nights of his life. He threw a very expensive party for Batman to try and cash in on his popularity, a common tactic of many a politician, and what happened instead? The Joker crashed the party, ruined everything, tried to attack his own daughter and when Batman came to stop him, he didn't stick around for an interview! He was the reason the party had even happened to begin with and now Batman had left, he felt as if he had nothing to gain other than unsatisfied guests and a feeling of total embarrassment. He should never have bothered with this stupid party to begin with. It had all been a waste of time and would likely make people remember him for the wrong reasons. He massaged his forehead tenderly, trying to ease the stress he now felt from tonight.
"This is not the kind of night I had planned..." he muttered, "At the very least, Batman could've stayed around for an interview, that would've saved face!"
He sighed, letting out some of the stress inside him. A good sigh seemed to be just the thing you needed to relax yourself.
"Well, maybe I'll get lucky another time. For now, I'll just try and make everybody forget about this night." Andre murmured, "I'll go see how Chloe is doing. She better be in bed by now and not on her phone again..."
He stood up and headed out of his office, making his way down the path that would lead him to the hallway that would take him to his daughter's bedroom. As he passed over, he noticed police officers, either in uniform or from the forensics department, were studying the damage that the Joker had caused in his attack, such as removing bullets that had been lodged into the walls, studying any spilt blood, and a few guests being kept behind and being interviewed by the police detectives over what exactly happened. Andre realized that he'd probably have to keep the hotel closed for a week of two until the damage had been fully repaired and he could open it to the public again.
Soon enough he found himself in front of his daughter's bedroom door. Surprisingly, he couldn't hear the tapping of digital keypads from her phone, neither could he hear the television, giving him a hint that she was asleep. However, he felt it was better to be safe than sorry, so he gotten hold of the door knob and twisted it clockwise, pushing the door in so he could try and spot his daughter in the dark.
"Chloe? It's me, your father. Everything alright?" he softly called in as he tried to get a good look. Thanks to the lights of the hallway, he could see a bit clearly into the dark room, but what he found was not what he wanted to see.
His eyes widened slightly as he found the balcony doors of her bedroom kicked in, shattered glass everywhere, the make-up table wrecked and on its side...but worse if all was the fallen spots of blood that led to the balcony itself. Already with his blood running cold and his skin shivering, Mayor Bourgeois turned on his heels and frantically ran back the way he came.
"Captain Roger! Captain Roger! Come quickly! Please, please, I need your help!" he cried out in a mad call, reaching the wider section of the upstairs that connected to the stairs that would go down to the lobby.
Soon enough, the rather big police captain came bolting up the stairs, a worried look on his face, not the usual expression he wore whenever the mayor called him.
"What is it sir?" he asked, trying to fight off the nervousness that crept in his voice. Andre grabbed his shoulders and his face twisted into that of utter panic.
"It's Chloe! She's gone missing and her whole bedroom is a mess! I-I-It's like she b-b-been kidnapped!" he yelled frantically, already feeling his body getting rigid with fear.
But what alarmed him more was the equally frightened look on the captain's face.
"You c-can't find her?" he asked with a lot of nervousness.
"No, I can't find her anywhere!" came the scared response from the big man of Paris, though he still looked confused about the captain's scared look. But in a matter of five seconds it was answered.
"I can't find Sabrina! I told her to wait for me in the squad car, but when I went to check on her, the windows were smashed in!" Roger explained with his arms going to his head in a frantic manner, trying to hold down the rising panic inside him.
"She's gone missing too!?" Andre replied worriedly. Usually he wasn't all that bothered about Sabrina, but given what happened about half an hour earlier with the Joker, he couldn't help but feel genuinely worried for any other Parisian out there. Had the Joker kidnapped them both out of revenge because he lost!? Holding them hostage somewhere!? Or worse yet dead!?
"Yes, she has! I'm so scared for her..." Roger fretted, "What if The Joker's got her?"
"That's what I'm wondering too." the mayor said, "We have to find the two girls and fast before anything bad happens to them!"
"I swear when I get my hands on that clown, I'm gonna lock him in a cell and toss away the key!" the police captain declared, "And I don't often do that to men I arrest!"
"Just gather your officers and get them to search the perimeter!" the mayor ordered as he dashed down the stairs with the police captain following after him. Tom and Sabine Dupain-Cheng were just finishing their interview with other officers when they saw Captain Roger pull the other officers aside. Being the kind pair they were, the married couple stood up and approached them all.
"Excuse me, officers, but what's happening now?" Sabine asked in a soft tone, not wanting to be pressuring so as not to stress them out. But she was stunned as Captain Roger gave her a nervous look.
"It's my daughter and the mayor's, they've gone missing!" he exclaimed, leaving both the Chinese woman and Frenchman surprised and worried.
Normally they weren't bothered about Chloe given how much she bullied Marinette, but she was still a young teenager nonetheless, and given what happened just now with the Joker, she wouldn't even want her worst enemy to cross paths with him, especially after he threatened Tom. She covered her mouth as it settled in and she looked up at the big policeman.
"Oh dear, that's really not good. Where did you last see them?" she asked kindly.
Before Roger could reply, however, they heard someone calling out the Dupain-Chengs from outside. Looking to the doors, they saw Adrien's secretary, Nathalie, and his bodyguard, the Gorilla, come dashing in and heading towards the baker couple. The pair of them had worried looks on their faces, which was quite unusual to everyone else present. Nathalie turned to Sabine and Tom with a frantic look in her eyes.
"Mr and Mrs Dupain-Cheng, we can't find Adrien or your daughter anywhere!" she exclaimed, panic well there in her voice.
Tom's and Sabine's eyes widened in utter horror upon being told that.
"Wh-What!? But Marinette told us she went home!" Tom gasped as his heart began to beat faster and heavier.
"Adrien told me that too, but we found it was all shut and no lights were on in the upstairs windows!" Nathalie responded, shaking fast as she wondered what on Earth had happened to the children, and not even the Gorilla's soft patting on her back was going to ease her.
Tom looked at Captain Roger and gave him a sharp look.
"Captain, you have got to find Marinette and the others! They've clearly been kidnapped! Bring armed police in with heat seeking goggles or anything! Just get her home please!" he begged, falling to his knees in panic as the thought of Marinette being held by the Joker soared through him like a rocket.
"Rest assured Mr. Dupain-Cheng, we will NOT rest until the missing children have been found!" Roger declared, "I'll organise a city-wide search and if it takes us all night, I swear we'll find them!"
The determination in his voice was enough to put anybody at ease. Sabine and Tom already felt like they had nothing to fear given how serious Roger was about his determination to find the children. It really helped how France had some of the finest cops in Europe.
"Oh bless you, bless you so much!" Sabine thanked graciously.
"We're forever in your debt officer." Tom said gratefully.
"Just doin' my duty sir and madame." Roger replied, "Come on men, let's get looking for those missing kids!" he barked, blowing his whistle to catch every officer in the perimeter's attention.
All the police on duty did as they were told and began to file out of the hotel to begin searching for Marinette, Adrien, Chloe and Sabrina. Nobody would be getting any rest tonight, not while there were kidnapped kids to find. That was the thing about mankind. They always seemed to fear for the lives of their children then themselves. Missing adults raise suspension, missing kids create panic, total and uncontrollable as everybody begins clamouring for their safe returns. As the police left, Sabine embraced her large husband, her eyes full of tears and her hands trembled. Tom could feel his small wife shaking against his stomach and chest and he embraced her, hoping to ease her nerves.
"Please Tom...please let Marinette be alright!" Sabine whimpered.
"I'm praying for her too Sab." the Frenchman replied, hoping their prayers wouldn't go unanswered...
The police of Paris were looking for four missing children. If they were to find the Riddler's safe house, they would realize that there were more missing children than just the four. And Batman, Ladybug and Cat Noir were about to realize the same thing too.
Ladybug was the first to wake up, moaning sleepily as she came out of unconsciousness. She didn't even know what had hit her. What had knocked her out? That was the first thing that came to her head. But then she found herself having all new thoughts coming to her head as she opened her eyes and took in what she was looking at. The trio of heroes had been taken to a cell that was lit up by a green lightbulb that dangled from the ceiling. The cell looked featureless though Ladybug assumed it wasn't. This had to be the Riddler's safe house and if that was the case, even the cells had to contain some kind of puzzle. And the spotty heroine was getting an idea on what it was.
She had noticed that she and her black-clad friends were chained to the wall, their limbs spread out in an X shape and held in place by thick clamps that looked impossible to break. Batman seemed oddly relaxed, presumably because he was used to being in this position and because he was known to be a master escape artist. Ladybug and Cat Noir had never ended up like this before and the feeling of being restrained was beginning to make them feel uneasy. They wanted to get away. They tugged on their cuffs, but immediately stopped when Batman glanced over at them.
"Don't. You'll cause yourself too much stress and harm." he warned, "You have to stay calm. I have a feeling The Riddler will tell us how we're meant to escape..."
A crackle of a radio like device then went off a bit, and soon followed was the smug voice of the house's owner, who was obviously smirking even if the trapped heroes couldn't see him.
"Ah, so glad that you've woken up. Are your brains operating at full capacity? They better be because I don't like spoon feeding brainless chimps!" the Riddler spat through the com, making Batman roll his eyes under his cowl, while Ladybug and Chat Noir frowned upon hearing him.
"That's the Riddler, I take it?" the former asked as she looked over at Batman, who nodded.
"Yes, that's him" he confirmed.
"Heh, sounds almost like he's Chloe's long lost twin brother." Chat Noir joked, earning a smirk from Ladybug, nothing from Batman, but gotten a growl of annoyance from the Riddler.
"Why you simple headed pretty boy! I'm nothing like that brat of a simpleton!" he exclaimed, sounding as if he was about to pop a blood vessel in his extreme rage, only for the trapped heroes to hear him pant repeatedly to calm himself, almost as if he entered a race with Flash. When he spoke again, a chuckle escaped his lips.
"But I can gladly tell you three that I'm not alone this time..." he informed as another buzz of electricity was heard. What followed next dreaded Ladybug's and Chat Noir's ears, even if the voice itself was soothingly calm.
"My dear young Miraculers, what trouble have you gotten yourselves into this time?" the two French superheroes gasped as they recognised it. It had been a long time since they last heard such a voice, but they knew for sure it was him.
"Hawk Moth!?" Ladybug exclaimed in disbelief and anger, clenching her fists despite them being restrained to the wall. Batman lifted his head up, suddenly interested and alarmed at hearing this new voice.
"Hawk Moth? That's him?" Batman murmured, "What's he doing casting his lot in with The Riddler?"
"No doubt they're trying to get our Miraculouses..." Cat Noir theorised, "Is that your game Hawk Brains?! Huh?! You and The Riddler teaming together just so you can get our Miraculouses?! Is that it?!"
There was a long silence that followed, probably done on purpose to make the feline-themed hero feel uneasy for a moment. Then there was a reply, delivered in a condescending tone.
"My, my little cat, we are a bad-tempered one aren't we?" Hawk Moth sneered, "But you're clearly not a buffoon. You've accurately worked out my part in all of this. Now I'll switch you over to The Riddler so he can inform you on what's to come."
"Forget it, we don't need to hear anything from that jerk." Ladybug snorted, "We know what he's doing, he's gonna make us play some kind of game. Batman's told us what The Riddler does and how he operates."
The response the bluenette heroine received was one she hadn't expected. It was a mocking laugh that seemed to be deliberately trying to annoy her in how it was delivered. The Riddler clearly sounded amused by the impetuous nature of his captive.
"I think I can see why the Dork Knight decided to team up with you!" the puzzlemaster snorted, "You're just as big-headed as he is! But as much as it pains me to give you brainless gorillas a compliment, you were absolutely right Ladybug. I am going to make you play some kind of game. And you better play...or many lives will be sacrificed by your selfishness..."
As The Riddler concluded his sentence, a TV screen descended down from the roof. Batman had expected something like this and knew full well that tonight was about to get very unpleasant. He dreaded to think what captives The Riddler had in his death traps now. The TV turned itself on and all three captives got a nasty shock. For Batman, it was just shocking but for Ladybug and Cat Noir, it was shocking on a personal level. The screen showed four different camera views of four different rooms all over the safe house. And each one showed off a group of bound and gagged children, all terrified and screaming muffled cries for help. The victims being children was already disgusting to them but what made it worse was the fact that Ladybug and Cat Noir knew perfectly well who those children were. It was their entire class from Lila to Alya to Nino and even Chloe! Both French heroes cried out in despair whereas Batman wasn't sure how to react. He'd never known The Riddler to stoop so low as to kidnap children and put them through hell.
"No..." Batman murmured.
"We know those teens!" Ladybug gasped, her face white and her voice full of fear, "They're some of our biggest fans and all of them were once akuma victims! Why did The Riddler have to use them?!"
"Don't even think of shouting the usual "let them go" because that's just cliche and idiotic. Your in no position to make any demands." the Riddler pointed out, not noticing just how stunned and upset Ladybug and Chat Noir were.
While they were worried about all of them, they took notice of Alya and Nino on one of the screen's digital panels, seeing they were tied to a pole in the middle of one room, with the walls opposite them covered in some sort of metal, and the walls looked odd. Chat Noir didn't know how exactly the Riddler gotten past his house's defence systems, but he was going to make sure they'd be upgraded once this was all over.
"Take your pick, kids and adult, but be quick, otherwise our dear Riddler will get bored and get VERY angry. He's not the type to wait things out." Hawk Moth informed them, his voice ever so calm, though they could tell he was enjoying this. Ladybug looked downwards and narrowed her eyes into an angry scowl.
"If we manage to free all of those children, we'll give you our Miraculouses, Hawk Moth." she said in a bitter tone, surprising Chat Noir and Batman, even their captors.
"My my, what's this? Pre-surrender plans even if you win? This means tonight is my lucky night!" the silver masked man said in a pleased voice, his grin probably as big as the Joker's right now. But then something occurred to Chat Noir that made him cock a masked eyebrow, before looking up at the ceiling.
"Before we start this, I want to know something, Dorkmoth: why didn't you just take our Miraculouses when you knocked us out earlier?" he questioned in a sharp tone, gaining raised heads from Batman and Ladybug, both realising he raised a good point.
A moment of silence passed until they gotten an answer, and this time it sounded as if Hawk Moth was pouting.
"In all honesty, I was tempted to take them, but the Riddler persuaded me that this way of getting them would be much more fun and it would be worth it. So far I'm getting satisfied." he said, a tickle of a chuckle sliding off his lips
"I guess the same can be said about me and my identity. Too easy for you to take off my mask while I'm unconscious, Riddler?" Batman then questioned with a snarky voice, clearly wanting to throw another jab at the nutty genius again before starting this deadly game.
"Oh you should know me by now, Batman. I find the easier things too lazy, especially for a terrific mastermind like me. Now, are we getting this game started or shall I just kill the brats now?" the stubble faced criminal asked, getting impatient with having this big of banter going off.
He wanted to see what made them tick and wanted a lot of fun out of it. Sighing in response, Batman looked at the screen again, sadness filling his masked features as a familiar feeling settled in upon seeing the young teenagers all bound and gagged in lots of uncomfortable ways...it reminded him so much of Jason's last moments of being alive. He could only imagine the terror and fear he was feeling as the Joker beaten him to death all over his body with that crowbar...he felt like he lost his own child then. If any of these children were to lose their lives tonight, he'd never forgive himself. They all had their parents out there, worried to death about their current whereabouts. They needed to be saved and he was determined that not be of them would share the same fate Jason suffered at the hands of the Joker.
"Alright. We'll play your game, Riddler. But Ladybug and Chat Noir can choose who we save first. They know who those children are, so it's down to them." he grimly said, sharing a glance with the two young trapped superheroes, both of whom looked at him in surprise: they never saw him look so...sad and unsure before.
Of course, they never knew the story about Jason Todd, but it became evident to them that he had been in a similar situation once. But Ladybug and Chat Noir had already made up their minds who they wanted to save first.
"We wanna go into the room which has Alya and Nino in it." Ladybug said, "They're the two kids in the glasses together." she added, in case The Riddler didn't know which ones were them.
"You seem closest to them then if they're your first saves my dear." came the gloating voice of The Riddler, "Well then, let the games begin! Your first challenge is this: If you can work out which one of you three is the odd one out, your cuffs will open. Be careful though, you only get THREE guesses. If you fail then you'll be trapped forever and those stupid kids will never be saved!"
There was a hiss of static as the intercom switched off, leaving the captive heroes alone in their silence. They exchanged glances with one another, pondering about the question. It was certainly and interesting challenge. Who was the odd one out of the three?
"Odd one out...odd one out..." Ladybug murmured, "Let's see, who could it be? Is it me because I'm red and you and Batman are black?" she thought, "And also the fact that I'm the only girl too?"
"It could be me. I'm the only one who's NOT themed after a winged animal." Cat Noir noted, "But it could also be Batman since he's the only adult here and he's also the only one who's NOT from France."
The two teens thought for a moment, almost scared to give their guesses to The Riddler. What if they were wrong? They'd never get free if that was the case. But Batman looked calm and collected, as if he'd worked it out.
"The answer is simple." Batman cut in, "It's a trick question. There is NO odd one out. We're all too dissimilar from each other for there to BE an odd one out."
The cuffs made a bleeping sound and then suddenly opened up, freeing the heroes's wrists and ankles. They all lowered their arms and rubbed their wrists better, relieved to be free. Cat Noir beamed, his grin so wide that he almost looked like a friendlier version of The Joker.
"Wow Batman, that was great! You worked it out!" he complimented.
"He's had plenty of experience with the guy kitty, he's gonna work his questions out quicker than we can." Ladybug noted, "Now we're free, I assume we'll be on our way to our next challenge."
"Indeed." Batman murmured, walking up to the door, "And with any luck, we're not too late to save Alya and Nino."
He proceeded to kick the door down, where he and the two young superheroes found themselves in a dimly lit corridor that was being lightened up by small green light bulbs. Very typical of the Riddler to do such a thing.
"So much for this being a cafe. Must be in an underground room." Ladybug stated as she remembered the old safe house's former use.
"The Riddler must've had this plan in mind for a long time to have all this constructed. I'll need to find all of his contacts after we've brought him in." Batman responded as he then approached a dark green door, with a small screen on there displaying the light green text letters "A" and "N".
Batman hummed briefly, knowing very well that Alya and Nino were behind the door, but wasn't sure whether to trust the door or his instincts. Though he made his choice as Chat Noir was about to bash it down, getting in his way.
"Wait! Remember what happened outside?" he reminded the young black clad teen, who nodded in response, before standing back to allow Batman to handle situation.
The vigilante removed some sort of tiny silver disc that was laced into his gloves, before tossing it at the door knob, which crackled to life with electricity and zapped the small disc as a massive bolt, only for the disc to make a small explosion, blasting out a chunk of the door and rendering it's built in trap harmless.
Sighing in relief, Ladybug led the way in, only to find herself standing on the ledge of a balcony of some sorts. Frowning, she gazed about the room, taking note of its grey bricked walls and the cold chill of the air inside it. Yet no sign of it's occupants...
"LADYBUG! DOWN HERE, GIRL!" ah, there we go.
Following the voice of her best friend, Ladybug gasped in surprise and relief to see Alya and Nino were a few feet down on the floor below, tied to a pole in the middle of the room, while the walls on the bottom floor had some metal fencing on it. They both smiled as they saw the trio of heroes above them.
"I knew you'd come, Ladybug!" Alya cried in relief as Nino nodded in agreement with her.
"You've gotta get us out of here, this is far from rad, more like rock bottom!" Nino yelled as he struggled against his bonds.
Ladybug readied her yoyo, only for a crackle of the intercom to come back, and soon enough came the Riddler's smug voice.
"Now now, my dear. This wasn't going to be easy, it never was. Yes, you beaten the riddle. But can you beat time?" he asked with a tiny giggle at the end.
A sudden groan of mechanics came to life, making Ladybug and Chat Noir gasp as they saw the electric fencing on the walls came to life, but what was worse was that walls were literally starting to close in. And that gave Alya and Nino very good reason to start panicking.
"Not good! Not good!" Nino exclaimed fearfully.
"Get us outta here, now!" Alya cried, not enjoying this moment at all, and who could blame her!?
Ladybug was about to leap over the balcony, only for Chat Noir to pull her back with a firm grip.
"Stay here, M'Lady, I've got this!" he declared, before leaping over the edge, did a spin in the air to increase his speed, and landed on the bottom floor in a few seconds.
Swiftly, the blonde feline drew out his bo-staff, lifted it over his head and increased its length very greatly, to the point where it stretched across the room and pushed against the closing walls, connecting the staff to the small clearing above the fencing to avoid getting zapped by the electricity.
Leaving it there in place, Chat sped over to the two captured teens and increased his claws.
"Right, sorry if I scratch you, but this has to be done quick!" he warned, earning a pair of tightly closed eyes from the two teens. Slashing his claws downwards, he cut through their bonds.
Gasping in relief, Alya and Nino joined his side as he gave them a comforting smile.
"We're nearly there, guys." he reassured as he took hold of Nino's hand, and Nino instinctively grabbed Alya's. Reaching his hand up, Chat grabbed his extended baton and retracted it's length a bit, before swiftly slamming its rear end on the floor and rocketed himself and the two teens upwards into the air, the three of them quickly reaching the balcony where Ladybug and Batman were waiting for them.
As soon as they'd landed, Alya and Nino grabbed each other tightly as if thinking their embrace could make this whole nightmare suddenly disappear. And then they hugged Cat Noir graciously for his impressive save.
"Way to go CN!" Alya cried, "My god, I thought we were goners down there!"
"I just hope I can feel my heart again..." Nino gasped, "Great save dude!"
"Yes, that was a very impressive save." Batman complimented, smiling slightly, "The three of us may well pull through at this rate."
Cat Noir smiled modestly. It was usually his female companion who got all the praise while he got some of it for his assistance. But he was grateful for the thanks and congratulations he was receiving.
"What can I say? Some people are worth risking my nine lives over." he said.
The brief moment of happiness was interrupted by a burst of static as The Riddler's voice rang out over the intercom once more.
"Inconceivable!" he moaned, "How did you pull that off?! I really should've taken away your stick cat boy! However, don't get excited yet. That was the EASY one. It gets harder from here."
"Do your worst Riddler! We'll beat all of your stupid challenges, even if we have to tear this house down just to get to you!" Ladybug growled.
"Give it up while you still can Nygma. It'll be less humiliating for you if you do." Batman warned.
"No chance Dark Knight! I've worked too hard to make this genius death trap and I ain't wasting it now!" The Riddler retorted, "Now for your next challenge, there is a room that contains three young girls who I'm sure don't wanna die today. I had to look at their phones to learn their names. They're Lila, Rose and Juleka. No doubt you know them since you seemed familiar with all my captives. You want them? Then find the next room..."
"And to further point out, Alya and Nino CANNOT help you answer the riddles. You three are the superheroes after all." Hawk Moth crowed, leaving the recently freed young captives to growl angrily.
"So much for the short moment of joy" Nino said with an angry tone.
A sudden burst of electricity came from outside, bringing the heroes and the two youngsters back into the corridor, where they found half of the corridor had been cut off by a huge blasting wall of electricity in the middle of it. From what they could make out, there was a door on the other side waiting for them, most likely containing the three captive girls. The Riddler's voice then returned over the intercom.
"For this riddle, if you get it right, the electric wall will come down, but you only have three guesses. Get one wrong, and you'll earn a zap of electricity for your stupidity." he informed them, only for Ladybug and Chat Noir to glare at the ceiling, assuming he was somewhere above them on the surface.
"Give us all you have, Riddler! What's the riddle!?" Ladybug angrily demanded, clenching her fists to ease the adrenaline that was already running right through her.
"Simply put, my dear, here it is: there is a creature that lives in different stages of the day. In the morning, it's on four feet. In the afternoon, it's on two feet. In the evening, it has three feet to walk on. What is it?" the Riddler smugly responded, chuckling as he saw everyone's faces twist in confusion. Even Batman was lost on that one.
"Never heard that one before..." he quietly noted, making sure that the Riddler didn't hear him, while Ladybug tapped her chin in thought.
"I might've heard this one before..." She whispered to herself, beginning to pace from one wall to the other to get her brain going.
Nino then raised his hand, as if he wanted to be noticed or, simply put, to ask a question "Is it some sort of insect?" he asked with a frown.
In a sudden response, the entire ceiling suddenly glowed green with a huge blast of electricity, from which a bolt of it came flying towards Nino, who gasped in shock and dove to the side, cringing as he heard the bolt blast down a section of the wall behind him. Everyone looked shocked at what had just occurred, but no one was more angry than Chat Noir and Alya. As the electricity on the ceiling faded, they both helped Nino up.
"What the hell was that for!?" Chat Noir demanded.
"He was interfering with a question that he's not allowed to answer, dear boy. Can't let your friends give your brain a hand in solving this riddle." came the cruel response of the Riddler.
"You're sick!" Alya spat with an angry scowl, only to get a nasty chuckle in response.
"Oh seeing you apes get so angry over this is getting me all giddy in a good way. How I love it" he said, as if wanting another insult from the youngsters. Batman patted Alya's shoulder gently.
"For your own good, stay out of it, and don't let him get to you" he calmly suggested, only to get a sigh of disappointment in response. Given she often clashed with Chloe in class, Alya was the argumentative type of person: she wouldn't stop until she owned the person she was arguing against.
A sudden click of fingers brought their attention to Ladybug, who beamed brightly as she realised something.
"I've got it! It's us, humans!" she exclaimed pleasantly, only to get a bunch of frowns in response. Raising her hands in a calm manner, the bluenette spoke away.
"When we're born and as babies, we crawl on our hands and feet. Then when we get older, we walk on our two feet. Then when we reach old age, we end up using a walking stick sometimes to help us get around" she explained as if she was the master brain box, gaining surprised looks from the others.
"That...actually makes a lot of sense" Batman stated as it settled in, colouring him impressed.
Spinning on her heels, Ladybug smugly looked up at the ceiling and placed her hands on her hips.
"That's my final answer. Am I right?" she asked calmly. There was a brief moment of silence before a dread filled sigh came over the intercom
"Ugh, how do you do it? Yes, it's right, you can pass." came the Riddler's miserable voice.
Ladybug punched the air triumphantly, pleased to have scored a point. She imagined that he'd be very humiliated if he got bested by not just Batman for the millionth time, but two teenagers too. The electricity shut off, allowing the heroes to move on down the corridor. They reached a door that had the initials "L, J and R" on. Lila, Juleka and Rose. It had to be. Batman used another disc weapon to short circuit the screen and unlock the door again, opening it so they would walk inside. Alya and Nino had watched, impressed and excited that they were watching Batman in action and seeing his famed gadgets for themselves.
The trio walked inside the room and saw a grisly sight. There were Lila, Rose and Juleka, shackled to the wall by their wrists and still gagged, crying muffled cries for help. They looked terrified, more scared than they'd ever been before. Even their becoming akuma victims wasn't as terrifying as this. Ladybug tried to go forward but Batman grabbed her shoulder and yanked her back.
"Don't. That's what he wants you to do." he said grimly.
To prove his point, he took out a Batarang and tossed it at the wall just above Juleka's head. The weapon got nowhere near for it suddenly tore itself to pieces in midair and fell to the ground. The four teens gasped but Batman didn't even look surprised. It was hard to see in the dim light but he knew what it was.
"Razor wire." he explained, "We can't get near. No doubt we have to answer a riddle to make the path clear for us."
"That is correct Dork Knight!" the puzzlemaster's voice gloated over the intercom, "The three captives will find themselves shared out in halves unless you can beat my next challenge. Above them is a saw blade..." he paused as lights switched on, illuminating three huge, wicked sharp saw blades that hung above the captive girls, "...it will descend slowly and steadily until...well, you get the "point" I hope." he sneered, "Now be SHARP my dim-witted captives! You need to answer a riddle to stop the saw blades and get rid of the razor wire..."
"Trust him to make puns worse than Cat Noir's just to stick it to us." Ladybug sighed.
"So riddle me this heroes!" The Riddler crowed, ignoring Ladybug's remark, "What is the ONE question in the world you CANNOT answer yes to?"
As soon as he'd finished, the saw blades whirred into life, a loud squeal of death splitting through the air and making everybody cringe. Lila, Juleka and Rose all screamed muffled screams of terror as the deadly blades began to slowly descend down a straight track that led to them. If the riddle wasn't answered in time, they would be killed instantly and a lot of blood would need moping up from the floors and walls later.
Chat Noir pulled his hair in frustration and nervousness, not liking this one bit.
"How the hell do we answer that question!?" he exclaimed, his feline eyes turning to slits.
"Would it have to do with secret identities or something!?" he looked to Batman as he asked this question, only to get a small hum in response.
"Highly unlikely. It's to obvious and it would be easily wrong." he responded as he tried to think this over in his head.
"Why do I get the feeling if it's to do with religion?" Ladybug suggested as she looked over to Alya, who shrugged.
"Don't ask me, girl. I wouldn't have a clue and we aren't aloud to help you out." she stated, earning a groan from Ladybug.
Chat Noir frowned and played with his feline ears for a bit "Religion...would it be Does God exist or Is there a life after death? Could be one of those." he summed up.
"But you CAN answer yes to that question since people believe in god and heaven." Ladybug noted, "It can't be that."
Batman nodded, agreeing that that answer was wrong. He watched saw blades, descending slowly as the Riddler had promised. It would take about ten minutes before they reached their targets. The captives squirmed, trying to get free. Lila's eyes were full of fright, Rose was in tears and Juleka seemed to be trying to forget this was happening. Ladybug and Cat Noir were full of fright, desperately trying to work out the answer. They weren't used to thinking on their feet. Batman found himself growling in anger. It just wasn't right. How could The Riddler put children's lives at risk just to prove his own intellectual superiority?! Batman couldn't let the children die, not like this!
Die...death...dead...
Batman's head reeled as he thought about the words. Why did they mean something to him? He pondered about the meaning of the words and the riddle...and then the pieces of the puzzle finally connected. He had worked it out! The saw blades were halfway down, nearing their targets as the Dark Knight worked out the answer.
"Are you dead?!" Batman shouted up at the ceiling.
Everybody stared at him as if he was crazy but Batman didn't take any notice. He carried on.
"You can't answer "yes" to the question "Are you dead?" because if you can, you're not dead!" Batman explained, "You're alive! You'd be lying if you said yes to "Are you dead?"!"
The saw blades continued down as if the answer had been wrong. That made Ladybug put a hand to her eyes in fear. Did Batman get it wrong? But then suddenly...the blades stopped! They were halfway and a quarter down the track, a safe distance still above the captive's heads. They all sighed with relief through their noses. They were safe. Batman also saw briefly in the light that the razor wire was disappearing too, retracting back into the walls like some kind of magic trick. The path to the girls was now clear. The Riddler's voice rang out over the intercom again.
"How the hell did you work that out?!" he whined pathetically.
"Because I'm powerful mentally as well a physically." Batman retorted.
"Whatever, just go free the stupid girls already!" The Riddler sighed, "You can have a moment for kisses and cuddles and then your next challenge will be to save two boys named Kim and Max. Don't take too long!" he added tauntingly, switching off.
As soon as his sentence was finished, the youngsters all ran over to the trapped trio of girls, undoing their bonds and gags, with Chat undoing Juleka's, Alya undoing Rose's, and Ladybug was undoing Lila's. As soon as they were free, Rose embraced Juleka, who sighed in relief as she returned the hug.
"I thought we were goners for a moment!" Rose cried out as she rested her head on Juleka's chest.
"It's okay, we're free now." she softly responded, making her friends smile at the sight.
However, Lila looked at Ladybug in surprise after she was freed by her, her young face twisting into confusion.
"Ladybug? Y-You saved me...why?" she asked in disbelief. Given her last encounter with the blue haired girl, she wasn't too fond of her, so the fact that Ladybug herself chosen to get Lila out of her bonds was a massive surprise to her.
Ladybug rested her hands on Lila's shoulders and gave her a soft smile.
"Because I care, and I want to show you that I'm really sorry for how I treated you when we first met. Admittedly, I thought you were just an attention seeker and a liar, but I gotten you akumatised, and I ended up hearing that you were saying those things because you were feeling lonely." she explained, gaining everyone's interest.
Batman couldn't help but feel quite curious about this bit of info he was overhearing. For a young teenager, Ladybug certainly had a good heart on her and was greatly noting her own mistakes towards someone who seemed to deeply dislike her. She would've made Superman proud, that's for sure.
"But all those horrible things I said about you..." Lila pointed out, only for Ladybug to raise her hand in a soft gesture to get her to stop.
"I deserved every insult you dished out, Lila. I was being VERY selfish and I acted very similar to Chloe, treating one person like dirt and treating another like a trophy. I shouldn't have done that and I'm really sorry. Think you can forgive me now?" she kindly asked with a small smile, not noticing Chat glancing down to the floor with a small blush as he revered that confrontation in the park.
For a few seconds, Lila looked unsure, making the atmosphere a bit intense for a moment...then she sighed and her expression softened.
"I can't be mad at someone forever, specially someone like you." she responded, before giving her a good hug.
Batman couldn't help but awe at the sight of the two girls giving each other a hug. Certainly reminded him back in the days when Robin was an early trainee whenever they made up after having a falling out. Rose smiled happily at the sight.
"That is cute! I told you that they'd make up!" she happily told Juleka, who smirked at her best friend's enthusiasm.
"Heh, this is totally going up on the Ladyblog later" Alya noted, mentally wishing she had her phone on her now.
Lila pulled back and gave Ladybug a pleasant smile "Thank you, Ladybug. Thank you so much." she said gratefully, earning a kind nod in response.
"Your welcome, Lila." she responded.
Before a moment of silence snuck in, Batman walked over to them both "As nice as it is seeing this, we have two other children to save along with a few others. I suggest we move forward now." he explained in a sharp tone, getting back to business.
"Ah yes, of course." Ladybug quickly said, "Let's go."
With that said, the three heroes and five rescued children ran off towards a door set in the wall and they let themselves out of the room, entering another corridor. Then they traversed down the corridor, approaching another door which had the letters "K" and "M" to mark that Kim and Max were in this room. It was certainly an odd duo, the jock and the nerd trapped in a room together, but that wasn't important. Batman noticed that this door had something different to a screen though. It instead had what appeared to be some kind of puzzle. There was a touch screen with a keypad up on it and under the screen was a series of numbers. Some kind of code? They said:
1 18 5, 25 15 21, 21 16, 20 15, 20 8 5, 3 8 1 12 12 5 14 7 5
Cat Noir saw this and scratched his head, puzzled.
"What the heck does that mean?" he mused, "What kind of puzzle is this?"
"A pretty thought challenging one." Batman answered, "It's a code written in numbers and in order to decipher it, we have to connect them to letters of the alphabet. For example, 1 becomes A, 2 becomes B and so on."
"Wow, that's pretty clever and creative, as much as I hate having to give that jerk a compliment..." Ladybug scowled.
"So um, what do the numbers say when you turn them into letters Batman?" Juleka asked.
"I'm about to find out now." the caped crusader murmured as his fingers hovered over the touch screen, ready to press some keys to put the letters in.
He began to type away, being steady and careful with his deciphering, having to rely on his memory of the alphabet's numbering and translate that as he typed away on the pad. Alya was tempted to say something regarding her phone's location but felt it was best to keep quiet so that way the Dark Knight could concentrate hard. Shortly afterwards, the air intensified as Batman stepped back from the door, having finished his work on decoding the numbers. Up on the screen was the translated words "Are you up to the challenge".
The screen flashed a comforting green, showing that Batman had indeed cracked the code and the door opened up, allowing the heroes inside the next room. What they saw was a pretty horrible, but also slightly unbelievable sight. They saw Kim and Max, strapped down to a table each in the centre of the room and two huge laser cannons attached to the ceiling and pointing down at them. The whole scene was slightly ludicrous, like a scene from a James Bond movie. But the one thing that made it terrifying was the fact it wasn't a movie. It was real. The lasers would be real and the deaths they caused would be real. The two boys tried calling for help but their gags kept them silent.
"There they are!" Ladybug cried, "We've gotta save them!"
But as she stepped forward, two rectangular slots opened up in the walls, one on each side and a force-field emitted between them. Nobody would be able to reach Kim and Max now. Batman had a feeling that was the point. Solve a puzzle and the force-field would shut down. And as the intercom cracked into life once again, the Dark Knight knew they were just about to receive their challenge.
"You've made it this far my dim-witted cheaters but this is where it ends!" The Riddler announced, "As you can see, Kim and Max are just about to end up as two halves of one whole! If you want to make the "cut" my friends then you better be able to answer this next question. If not, then the lasers get to see how long it takes to cut through live people!"
Then, as if done deliberately to give them less time, the lasers started before the question had even been asked! They leapt out of the barrels and hit the tables just at the top. They would then slowly move down towards the victims until they hit and the killing would start.
"H-hey! That's not fair! Ladybug didn't get her question y-yet!" Rose stammered feebly.
"If you want to save the boys then don't waste time by saying such stupid drivel!" The Riddler snorted, "Now, riddle me this Batman, Ladybug and Cat Noir: Poor people have it, rich people need it. If you eat it, you die. What is it...?"
Rose gasped and was about to answer, only for Nino to gesture at her not to say anything, otherwise she'd get a blast of electricity for her troubles, or worse get shot in half by a pair of lasers. It was down to the three superheroes to solve, no one else. Batman tapped his head thoughtfully, thinking hard about this riddle.
"I remember something similar to this back when I first started...it can't be money, that's for a start" he said more to himself, unintentionally blocking out the others.
Ladybug groaned as she scrunched her face up while Chat rested on his baton in thought, playing with his feline ears to get his brain ticking.
"Oh I don't know this one! I'm starting to wish I read all of those clue books back in my early years!" she said frustration, resisting the urge of pulling her pigtails. If only the Miraculous magic increased their knowledge of history and riddles.
The rescued friends were watching Kim and Max nervously as they saw the laser beams etch ever so closer to their heads. Kim might've been a troublemaker, but he was miles better than Chloe in terms of attitude, and Max was the youngest out of their class. Like the rest of them he had his whole life ahead of him. No way did he and Kim deserve to be blasted in half, especially at such a young age.
The eyes of the two captives grew wide as they felt their hair beginning to get hotter and even though they were gagged, they could sniff out that horrible burning smell. Next thing they knew it would be the smell of burning flesh and they didn't want to find out what that smelt like. Sweat drops began to dribble down their heads, and the pair closed their eyes tightly as a hard fist clenched around their hearts, readying them for the possible end...
"Nothing! That's it, nothing!" Chat Noir suddenly yelled at a click of his fingers, making everyone whirl around and turn to him. He grinned happily, almost certain that he hit the jackpot.
"It's one of the oldest riddles out there! The poor have nothing, The rich need nothing, and if you eat nothing, you will die! That's it! It has to be!" he yelled at the ceiling, barely containing his excitement. It was his second try at solving a riddle and he knew it in his heart that he got it.
To confirm this an angry sigh came over the intercom, before Hawk Moth's voice spoken out over it.
"The Riddler is considering bashing his head against a wall because you got it right." he said simply, almost as if he couldn't handle the absurdness of the so called genius.
Surely enough they could all hear a few thumps of a head hitting a wall over the intercom, but it didn't settle the nervousness that fell over the freed youngsters. They all heard Hawk Moth's voice once in their heads, and to hear now as clear as day, after months of recovery work, it made them sick.
However, they let out a massive gasp of relief as they saw the lasers stopped, then about eight clicks were heard, showing the clamps that held down Kim and Max had clicked open, allowing them to get off. The force field had shut off too. The two boys ungagged themselves, ran to the larger group of freed youngsters and embraced them, happy to be free of that would've been gruesome death.
"Oh man, you really saved our skins back there!" Kim cried out, "Man I've never been so terrified in my life!"
"It was a pity that I was gagged so I couldn't help you with the answer for I knew the answer to that riddle too." Max declared, "But you worked it out anyway so my assistance clearly wasn't needed."
"Yeah, good call Cat!" Kim praised, fist-bumping the feline hero.
"Heh, what can I say? I have my brilliant moments." Cat Noir chuckled.
"So who's next Riddler?" Batman called up to the ceiling.
"There is a room containing two fat frumps named Ivan and Mylène and an annoying tomboy named Alix." the question-obsessed man replied, "I know for a fact you won't be able to save them so don't bother getting your hopes up twerp squad!"
"Twerp squad? Pfft, seriously Riddler, your insults are beginning to get worse and worse!" Ladybug jeered.
"Bare in mind he just banged his head against the wall, girl, his mind's been rocked a bit." Alya said with a smirk, earning a snicker from Lila.
"Don't think he had a mind in the first place" she pointed out, making everyone except for Batman giggle, while the Riddler was resisting the urge to throw a bitch fit over the intercom.
"Oh! Why you...I'll be the last one laughing tonight! Move along!" he ordered.
Once the crackle of the intercom went off, Batman turned to the youngsters with a hard look on his masked features, making them all stiffen up.
"Uh, Batman? What is it?" Juleka asked, sounding quite calm given how calm and assured she was feeling at the moment.
"I need you all to stop making this seem like it's a joke. Actual lives are at risk here, and you all making jokes is not making the situation better. Your friends that are still trapped could still end up dead, and if they do, you won't be laughing then." he said, resisting the urge of letting his anger getting to him, though all he did was make the teenagers shrink back nervously, all of them feeling a bit ashamed over the laughter they caused. Ladybug then stepped in front of Batman, having a more softer look on her young features.
"I'm afraid he's right, guys. You have to realise the seriousness of the situation. This isn't like every other day for us where it seems like it's a cheesy TV show. People are in danger, they could die, and the more serious you take the situation, the more focused we can be at saving them, okay?" She explained to them all, easing the intense atmosphere that Batman had created.
Nino stepped out from the crowd and gave her a nod "Lead the way then, Ladybug. Let's get the rest of them outta here!" he said in a determined voice, getting a smile off the dot clad heroine.
"That's the spirit. Move out, guys!" she said kindly, watching as they all exited the room and headed onto the next door out in the hallway with Chat Noir. Before they headed out, Ladybug turned to Batman and gave him a firm look.
"Next time just be a bit more easy on them, okay? They're only young." she sternly said, before jogging out after the youngsters, leaving Batman to think over how he just handled that moment earlier.
Yes, they were young and part of them would find this fun, but he had to bring out that other side to them that would take things more seriously. That way lives would be saved on a quicker pace. He wished he had a longer time of being young once, but it all ended on that fateful night...
Not wanting to think any further, the Caped Crusader headed back into the hallway, where he found Ladybug swinging her yoyo at a fast movement, creating the usual energy wheel that it would form at such a speed. Cocking his head, Batman reached his hand out .
"What are you-" he was cut off as the yoyo swung forward and shredded through the door they were in front of, before the yoyo came flying back and entered Ladybug's hands.
A small creek was heard and the door fell off its hinges in two pieces. Batman chose not to say anything, instead pushing forward into the next room with the others following after his huge figure.
This time, inside this room was something one would see on a reality TV show. Stood in the middle of the room were three glass containers, each having a pipe connected to it, and each containing one person, this being Alix, Ivan, and Mylène, all of whom stood up and banged on the glass walls of their containers, calling out to them only for nothing but silence to reach everyone's ears. It became obvious to them that the glass was made of some sort of soundproof material, making it further frustrating. Shortly afterwards, the Riddler's voice returned.
"For this one, apes, you have to solve the riddle before the water finishes them off." he simply put, though they could tell he was smirking as the pipes began to open and water shot inside the containers.
The trapped teenagers cried out in horror as the containers began to fill up. The water cascaded around their feet and slowly began to climb up, threatening to swallow them whole. The banging against the glass intensified as the water rushed in, eager to drag them down to their fate. Ivan and Mylène both place a hand against the glass in a way that made it look as if they were touching, very afraid for each other. They hadn't been together long, they didn't want to die now.
"Don't bother breaking the containers before they fill. It'll take too long!" The Riddler gloated, "Now riddle me this: In a one-storey pink house, there was a pink person, a pink cat, a pink fish, a pink computer, a pink chair, a pink table, a pink telephone, a pink shower– everything was pink! What colour were the stairs?"
He chuckled, thinking that at last, he'd managed to tell the one riddle that nobody would manage to get right. Batman, Ladybug and Cat Noir all began to ponder quickly on the question. It was indeed a very good one. What was the answer?
"What colour were the stairs...?" Ladybug murmured.
"Pink! Everything else in the house is pink so the stairs should be too!" Cat Noir declared.
His answer just made the water flow increase. He had got it wrong and this was the price he had to pay. Now it was filling in quicker, climbing over the captives's feet and halfway up their legs in seconds! That made them panic all the more and they started throwing themselves against the glass, eager to get free. The freed teens all gasped in horror, dreading to think that they were about to witness three horrible deaths in front of them. Ladybug scowled angrily, not at Cat Noir but at the fact they were wrong.
"Damn, wrong answer!" she cursed, "We have to think again Cat Noir!"
"Well what could the answer be then?!" Cat Noir shrieked, "Is it another trick question?!"
"Hurry! Alix, Ivan and Mylène are gonna drown!" Rose squealed.
The containers were now half full. In a matter of seconds, the water would rush over their heads and then they'd be forced to play a hideous game of "How long can you hold your breath?" The difference? Nobody would be around to celebrate their win and they would all be dead. Ladybug and Cat Noir thought desperately. What could the answer be?! But Batman looked relaxed, as if he had worked it out. That was because...he had. He looked up at the ceiling.
"There ARE no stairs!" he declared, "It's a one-storey house! One-storey houses DON'T have stairs so the stairs can't have a colour! There are none!"
When the intercom came back on, they heard the Riddler blowing through his nose, trying as best as he could to hold back his boiling rage of humiliation.
"Urgh...well done, you got it right..." he sighed and the intercom went off.
In a few seconds, the glass containers fell apart, thankfully not into shards, each face of glass slamming on the floor, with the water splashing out across the room. Ivan ran over to Mylene and gave her a strong hug, which she returned, and were soon joined by Alix, who shivered as she kicked her legs about to get some of the wetness off, which was quite silly to do, but hey, she was young.
Ladybug smiled along with Chat Noir, feeling the tension in their chests easing. They weren't going to let their guards down, but they couldn't help but feel this would end in a similar case to all the battles they fought in the past. Hopefully everyone would be alright and the villains would be defeated in no time.
But the relieving moment was ruined when Hawk Moth's voice came over the intercom.
"The Riddler has gone to make himself some tea to calm himself down, because right now he's turned as red as a tomato." he said in an almost bored tone, probably disappointed with the fact he couldn't akumatise the riddle obsessed man.
"Tell us who's next, birdbrain!" Chat Noir demanded, scowling at the ceiling.
"There are only two students left my dear Miraculuers and Justice Leaguer. You may be familair with them, especially since one of them is responsible for so many of my akumatizations..." Hawk Moth purred sinisterly.
Ladybug and Cat Noir nodded. They knew exactly what he was on about and who those two people were.
"It's Chloe and Sabrina..." they both muttered.
"Chloe...isn't she the mayor's daughter?" Batman murmured. He had heard about Andre Bourgeois and the fact he had a daughter.
"She is and out of all the people the Riddler's kidnapped, she's the one person where I wouldn't mind just letting her get chopped to pieces or something." Ladybug sighed, "But even Chloe doesn't deserve something like that. Besides, maybe rescuing her from death like this might turn her around and make her a better person." she suggested.
"She better be grateful for it." Cat Noir sighed, "Well, let's get saving her and Sabrina!"
"And with those two safe, the Riddler will be mine for the picking..." Batman growled. He had seen enough children in danger. He wasn't going to let The Riddler get away with such heinous acts of villainy like this. His terror was ending tonight!
Exiting the room, the gathered group made their way towards the last door at the end of the hallway to their right, with Batman leading the way. From what he can observe, this door was plain and simple, with the letters "C" and "S" drawn on them in crayon. Either the Riddler ran out of tech or, if Hawk Moth was with him, chances are he brought the Joker along and had him finish the touches to the door.
Seeing that there was nothing to prove this door was rigged with a deadly trap, Batman stretched out his hand and gripped the doorknob, twisted it to the right, and pushed it open with a calm push. Leading the way in, he almost felt sick with what he and the rest of the youngsters ended up seeing: sitting there was Chloe and Sabrina, on a pair of wooden chairs, on a wooden decking, and a bunch of wires wrapped around them, and attached to metal crocodile snappers that clipped onto their clothes. Both girls were quite frightened, with Sabrina sniffling as two tears streamed down her face, while Chloe was visibly shaking like mad. Ladybug, Chat Noir honestly couldn't help but feel bad for both of them. Usually it was Sabrina they pitied more out of the two, but in this case neither of them should be here.
Interestingly, though, there was a TV camera in front of them, connected to some sort of box on the wall behind it, making the vigilante and the youngsters turn to see it from Chloe and Sabrina's viewpoints. That was then the Riddler's voice returned, sounding a little more chirpier after having that coffee.
"Well, considering this is the big finale, and these two girls are the daughters of two important figures in all of Paris, I felt it would only be fun to tap into the news cameras and broadcast this live across the country!" he chuckled.
The casual tone of The Riddler's voice made Batman seethe with rage. How could anybody, mad or not, possibly imprison two helpless children, show their terror off to the world and be so non-chalant about it?! Why did mankind have to have so many demons?! Ladybug clenched her fists, her masked features curled into a hardcore scowl of hatred.
"It's bad enough that you put these innocent people through hell just so you can have fun but now you're making their terror PUBLIC?! Do you even have a conscience?!" Ladybug cried out angrily.
"I did once. I stepped on him like a cricket and pretended he never existed." The Riddler sneered.
"So what's the final game then Nygma?" Batman demanded.
"As you can see, Chloe and Sabrina are fastened to a couple of chairs each and those crocodile pincers on their clothes aren't there for nothing." The Riddler purred, "You have to answer my next question correctly. Every wrong answer you give will give them an electric shock that gets worse the more you get it wrong! So you better have your thinking caps on or you're gonna be making some powerful fathers VERY upset..."
He paused, as if for effect, and then he gave out the final question.
"Riddle me this. What belongs to you, but others use it more than you do?" he asked.
Batman just sniffed as if the question was too easy for a final one.
"Simple. Your name." he replied, "You told that one before Riddler."
Ladybug and Cat Noir looked at each other suspiciously. That was odd. Why did The Riddler tell a riddle Batman had already been told before? Was the question MEANT to be easy to answer? Even Batman began to wonder if there was more to this than met the eye. The Riddler wanted to make things harder for his enemies so they couldn't beat him at his own games so why had the final question been so easy? The Riddler laughed sheepishly, as if realizing his mistake.
"Well...talk about a fail there." he said, sounding embarrassed, "Yes, that is correct. You have saved the last two children." he said dismissively, "Congrats as always."
With that said, Batman walked up to the two captive girls and removed the crocodile pincers from their clothes. Then he used a Batarang to cut them free from the chairs. Sabrina leapt up and embraced Batman graciously whereas Chloe didn't look pleased. She just scoffed as if the whole thing was an inconvenience to her.
"Seriously Bat-brains, what took you so long?!" she snapped, "Why did you rescue me last?! Do you have any idea how terrified I was?! Ugh, ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous, left to worry my ass off next to my snivelling best friend! The idea!"
"You're welcome." Batman muttered bitterly.
"Ungh, whatever! I can't see why daddy was so keen to meet you! You're a joke compared to Ladybug and Cat Noir! They would've saved me much quicker!" Chloe scoffed, "Well once I find my phone, I'm gonna call daddy to get me outta here and throw this Riddler dork in jail!"
"Who said you needed to find your phones?" The Riddler purred sinisterly.
As he said that, a green light switched on, illuminating that appeared to be a standard cardboard box sitting near the wall. Everybody ran up to it, wondering what was in the box. Surprisingly...it was every rescued teen's phone! That made the three heroes hesitate for a moment. Why steal their phones and just give them back like this? There had to be something going on! The students all took back their phones, each one accurately identifying his or her own phone, but as they took them, the camera trained on them all and The Riddler's evil voice rang out again like a bad nightmare.
"Now time for the REAL final question. What begins with a call...and ends with a BANG...?" he asked cryptically.
Batman suddenly realized what was going on. The Riddler had been TRICKING him! He had made the final question deliberately easy because it wasn't the real final question! This was! And he knew exactly what this question was hinting at. The phones must be booby-trapped or something! He acted before he had even fully come to the conclusion.
"Everybody, whatever you do, DON'T switch on your phones or answer them!" Batman cried out, "The Riddler's indicating that one of them's got a bomb inside! If you switch it on, you'll just kill yourselves!"
The teens all looked at their phones in fright, wondering if the Riddler had indeed bugged any of them and rigged them to blow. They didn't dare do anything. But Chloe seemed dismissive, snorting rudely.
"Seriously dweebs, you actually believe this crazy man for a minute?" she scoffed, "There's no way this Riddler lame-o has rigged our phones to blow! I'm gonna prove it to you all now!"
"NO!" Ladybug shrieked fearfully.
Chloe ignored her and switched on her phone. Ladybug ran forward, trying to snatch it away but Chloe jumped back and ran over into a corner, dialling a number. The phone was on but nothing happened, making everybody wonder if Batman had overreacted. Chloe finished dialling and put the phone to her ear eagerly.
"Daddy..."
She never got any further than her last ever spoken word. The phone suddenly exploded directly next to Chloe's head, tearing her ear off and ripping through half of her head. Chloe was dead before she even realized what had just happened. All that was left of her was a body with only half a head, and a thick trail of smoke drifting up from it. Thick splodges of blood painted the walls behind her and chunks of her brain lay on the floor. The explosion had ravaged her and left her an ugly, gruesome sight, keeling over dead onto the floor. Chloe lay on her side, smoke still drifting from her head, and lay still. Everybody stared in horror at what had just happened. This was the most gruesome, grotesque thing they had ever witnessed. Rose fainted, falling into Juleka's arms, Kim clasped a hand over his mouth to stop himself puking, Ivan pulled Mylène close to him and Lila clasped her hands over her mouth. Nobody looked more shocked than Ladybug and Cat Noir. They had never witnessed a death on their hands and the whole experience was sweeping over them like a terrible wave. Ladybug went white in the face, looking as if she was about to faint.
"Oh my god!" she whispered hoarsely.
"Her phone just exploded!" Cat Noir gasped.
Batman looked equally as shocked, his nerves tingling and his emotions beginning to build up, waiting to explode violently. He'd come so close! SO CLOSE to saving everybody! Why did he have to fail at the last hurdle?!
"Well! Ha, ha, ha, ha! Looks like Chloe is the one with the REAL bomb in her phone!" The Riddler taunted, clearly delighted to have beaten his opponents at last, "Nobody could've worked that out, could they? Looks like that I, The Riddler, have proven that I am better than you at last Dark Knight!"
As if to rub salt further into the wounds that had opened in everyone, they suddenly heard the sound any person of authority would ever have to hear...they could hear the voice of Mayor Bourgeois from a TV the Riddler obviously had plugged in from where he was in the safe house. His voice was broken of hope, filled with dread and sadness.
"Ch-Chloe!? My d-daughter! No! OH MY GOD NOOO! TH-THEY KILLED HER! THEY BLASTED HER BRAINS OFF! YOU, YOU BASTARDS! Y-YOU MURDERERS! MY GIRL! M-MY BABY GIRL!" the TV's sound was then abruptly cut off, allowing the entire reality of the situation to sink in for them all...someone had lost their child, and that someone was their mayor.
All of the anger towards Andre had died, along with the anger they all once held towards Chloe. Yes, Andre was an attention seeking mayor, but NO ONE should ever lose their child to such a gruesome and cruel murder. Not even Chloe, stuck up, bratty Chloe Bourgeois deserved that. She still had her whole life ahead of her...she could've turned around for the better...and that young light was blown out in the small hours it was lit.
Chat Noir had gone numb along with Sabrina. Yes, they both couldn't stand Chloe...but she was still a child in this situation. Every layer of sour feeling Chloe left behind was slowly getting peeled away from their memories until one last later remained. The layer that was first laid when they both first met her back in their toddler years...she was their friend. She was once an innocent, sweet little darling like every child was, before her position corrupted her...she was the only friend Adrien ever had before he made that desperate rush for school...she was once like him...so innocent in such a dangerous world...and in a way she still was.
Batman had been trying to ease the rising temperature of his body, almost feeling his veins increasing inside of him. Never in such a long time, about eight years, had he witnessed the death of a child, or a child's body...not since-
"She's most sincerely dead, wouldn't you say, Bats!?" that made him freeze to his feet. T
hat voice of cruelty and laughter stitched into one. The voice that made the freed captives shiver and cower in fear. Probably the voice that they didn't want to hear along with Hawk Moth's...the Joker's. His horrible laughter echoed throughout the room like he was a haunting ghost. He had seen everything...and he only had the right set of words for the moment from his side of things.
"I guess Jason will be having dome company in the afterlife, eh Bats!? Jason won't be so lonely now, will he!? HAHAHA! As I graffitied on his body, the joke is on you, Batman! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
I bet everybody reading this is dancing for joy over Chloe's death. I know I am! :D
So has The Riddler truly won? Will Hawk Moth and The Joker get what they want? Is it all...over? Maybe the next chapter will answer your questions...