Author's Note: Thanks Brock for reading! :)
Sorry it took so long to post, verryyyy busy weekend!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, I'm just borrowing anything you recognize.

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Part 7

One doesn't just go insane. It's a gradual process, slowly building up, and leading to the big finish: the dive off the deep end. And most rogues could pinpoint the exact moment when they had taken the dive. Group sessions at Arkham always revolved around a specific topic; one particular time it was "when was the first spark of criminality lit?"

"The moment I felt the burn of the acid," Harvey began as he always did when he told his story, both eyes gleaming, as if now he looked back on it as a fond memory. "It was liking waking up after a deep sleep. And I saw the bat, through my good eye, and my bad eye, and knew this was where I was going to end up." He grimaced as Doctor Leland scribbled down his words into her notebook.

"Very good Harvey," Next to Harvey was Harley, who was caught in a fit of giggles at her own private joke. "Harleen," Doctor Leland's voice was calm and patient. "Your turn."

"The moment my lips touched Mistah J's…" Harley's eyes glossed over when she talked about the Joker. "I knew I needed him, and he needed me." Lost in her own fake memory, she failed to notice the various scoffs and chuckles from her peers.

The Riddler, referred to as Edward when incarcerated, had a harder time pinpointing his own moment of insanity. He had never liked to think about what drove him to do what he does, nor had he ever had to. After a long moment of pondering, he sighed. "I guess it would have to be the day I was fired from the Carnival I worked at." This was half true. That day he was fired, but that had only been the after effect.

The Great , Master of Puzzles and Riddles.

The sign hanging over his head sang his praises, bold purple writing scrawled across a green background, decorated with question marks. He loved it. He loved his sign; he loved the money; he loved the devastated looks on people's faces as they walked away defeated. That, he loved more than anything else.

Who was he kidding?

Everyday, he dreaded coming to this wretched place, opening up his god damned booth, and revealing his knowledge to those who did not appreciate it. But he had to pretend, because where else could he belong? College, he had decided was not for him, especially when he was smarter than most of his professors. He hadn't talked to his parents in years, since he had gone off to "college." So he stayed here, rotting away in this disease ridden, death trap.

So far, on this particular day, he had made around one hundred dollars, and it was only noon. Counting the crinkled bills in his lock box, he grinned, the money was one thing he definitely enjoyed, but hastily stuffed them away as a man about his age walked up to the book.

" huh?" The man said, running a hand through auburn hair. "Clever."

"I like to think so." Edward smiled. "So what challenge will it be?"

"The cube," The man grinned, and Eddie returned the gesture, just picturing the arrogant man's defeat. Edward placed four mixed up Rubix cubes on the table.

"You can pick on for me, and one for yourself." The man took his time, carefully selecting his own cube, and then placing another one in from of Edward. Not that it will matter, Edward thought, he knew these cubes like the back of his hand, excuse the cliché.

"Very well." Edward took the cube in his hand. "Go." The two men began turning and contorting the cube, and after barely 5 minutes the man set his down.

"Finished." Edward groaned, looking up. Not possible. He shook his hand frantically, examining the cube. "I get $50 right?" Edward was speechless, searching the cube for any indication that his adversary had cheated. The stickers on the blocks were all perfectly arranged. He had genuinely lost.

Edward took a deep breath. "That is right. What is your name?" He took a black marker from under the table.

"David Russell," The man grinned as Edward lettered his name on the formerly empty "Winners" column. Edward sulked, counting out the money, barely able to keep his fingers from fidgeting.

"Honey, are you done playing games?" A softer voice rang in Edward's ears, almost surreal. Standing beside his opposition was a slender blonde woman, who had snaked her arm around his. But Edward noticed none of this, just blue and lavender eyes.

"Adrian?" He was not able to stop himself before the name slipped through his lips.

The woman's lips thinned, and a look of recognizing passed over her face. "Edward," Her tone was almost scolding. "It's been a while huh?"

"Five years next month," Edward honestly could have recited the days, hours, and minutes since he had last seen her, at graduation. She looked practically the same.

"Yes," She smiled nervously, looking away from his gaze. "How have you been?

Her words weren't hateful, or stern, just honest. "I've been very good," He lied, and she probably knew it, but he didn't care. "And yourself?"

"Oh I graduated from GU last year, for teaching…" He looked to the man at her side. "And oh, this is Dave, my fiancé."

Although he had been expecting it, the words hit him like a metaphorical truck to the side of the head. David was the better man, in intelligence, and he had gotten the girl. He barely knew this man and he hated him.

And then he snapped. Somewhere between this moment and the next, he had jumped over the counter and tackled David to the ground. Within a few seconds, he was being lifted up by the collar of his shirt by David, and was taken off the premises by the police, screaming anagrammed curses and death threats to all who made eye contact.

I never could handle losing, Edward had though merrily to himself at the time.

And once again he was jerked awake, pulled from his inner musings, only to find himself in the back of a car, one of his henchmen driving the car. He glanced behind him to see a rusty old van, with a vague question marked shaped smudge on the window. Somewhere in the distance he heard sirens.

At this point, the Riddler was both ludicrously happy, and mildly scared. They had gotten the MRI machine, meaning that he was one step closer to solving this damn riddle of his. The sad part was, that he didn't remember one moment of his glorious heist.