My head was pounding, it hurt to breathe and I think my mouth was full of sand it was so dry. I sat up groggily and smacked my lips. It was a comfy bed at least. Huh? Comfy-? I tried to regulate my breathing as I opened my eyes slowly. If he was watching I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me go into a panic attack.

I could move all my limbs without them hurting but…where were all my scrapes from the other day? I had gotten a few on my hands but they were all bandaged with fresh wrappings, as were the ones on my back.

As my eyes adjusted to being open I came to the conclusion that…if I hadn't been drugged then I would have come here willingly as the furnishings of the room were just up my alley. The plump, downy pillows were slung one after another at the head of a memory foam mattress covered with a silk sheet that could have been mistaken for a fabric version of grass. Hell, this was the style I had always wanted but could never afford. Everything was in the colors green, black, white and purple, but nothing was vibrant enough to be alarming. Then of course I remembered that I had just gotten chloroformed by a nut that had escaped an asylum only a few days ago.

My muscles were shaky as I sat up slowly, no doubt from what I had just gone through. Being drugged wasn't usually on my to-do list. The pools of the fine cloth slid over me and I realized I was naked. I squeaked in surprise and dove back underneath the covers.

"When I get my hands on him..." I hissed to myself. Actually, no that was the wrong thing to say right now considering my...current state of affairs.

"There are many ways my brilliant mind could take that. So I'll choose the one most flattering to me. Whmat will happen when you get your hands on me?" Riddler's voice taunted over the loudspeaker next to the bed.

I snatched the box that was talking to me up and practically screamed.

"Where the hell am I? Let me out! Now I can see why they had you in Arkham and not in Blackgate you filthy-" he cut me off before I could finish.

"Get your clothes on, I had them washed. I didn't undress you that was all Ivy's doing. Really, I'm better than that."

"Where-" I started.

"At the foot of the bed genius." This guy was going to get on my nerves. I liked him much better when I could taunt him, and not the other way around.

Slamming the radio down on the bed side table, I crawled to the other end of the bed trying to keep myself covered and snatched up my clothes stacked in neat piles. As I was getting dressed I looked around the rest of the room I was in. It was pretty large but only had a desk, a TV and a projector scattered around nest to the bed. What really caught my eye were the seven doors on the opposite wall. They were all numbered in order from one to seven and each had a lock. I tried opening one of them but got shocked when I touched the knob.

"Ah, ah, ahh. No cheating!" I looked over at the projector to see it on and pointing to a big space of white on the barrier opposite it. The Riddler's grinning face was projected on the white space in the wall. Had he been watching me this whole time? I was so embarrassed I couldn't a have made a peep much less talked.

"Nothing to say? Not surprised. I should have guessed that your primitive mind would need a few seconds to adjust. I'll wait."He leaned his head on his hand and stared at me.

"P-primitive?" I spat angrily, "Who was that answering all your riddles in the asylum? I could have sworn that was me!"

"Pure luck, I have devised new ones that would baffle the great Holmes himself." He looked quite proud of himself.

I snorted in disbelief. "Yeah, sure, I'll believe that when I see it." The doubt in my voice was starting to piss him off I could tell. Good, it was meant to.

"You shall. Do you recall the tests I spoke of in our…last encounter? They are about to begin." He sounded way too excited at the prospect.

"Oh our 'last encounter'? You mean the one where you drugged and kidnapped me, throwing me into one of your so called death traps? No, I don't recall, please refresh my memory." I put as much sarcasm as possible into that one, but he seemed to overlook it completely.

"Death trap is not the word you are looking for, as the ones I have set up include no physical harm. Only puzzles."

That threw me off. But physical harm was beside the point. This was still a death trap and he had put many other people into one like this. The body count showed that they had indeed been quite vicious ones at that.

"If you are as good as you say you are then you should have no problems at all. My traps are a simple distraction to a mind such as this one." He pointed to his own head for embellishment.

"You enjoy watching people squirm like ants under your magnifying glass!"

"I give them a chance. I pick out the bad seeds in Gotham so that the city itself may thrive. They get the riddle wrong, they're a bad seed. You on the other hand get…special ones." His grin was back as he put his head on the cane in front of him. I didn't like the sound of that at all. Or maybe it was a good thing, better at least than the other ones apparently. I said nothing, letting the situation sink in, but he didn't want me to think this through, not right now at least.

"I draw your attention the safe beneath your desk, your first and final challenge of the day. This is simple. Decode it. Inside you will find a key. That key will unlock the first door and the one inside the first door to the second and so on. Only one challenge a day though, we don't want this to go too quickly now do we?"

I looked around again and noticed another door, apart from the others in a corner of the room.

"What about that one?" I asked, nodding to it.

"I'm getting there! After you complete the day's challenge, you may go through there to find something to do. No, it's not the way out and it doesn't unlock until you're done."

"But why can't I-" I started to say, but he cut the screen off. Well this was just great. I looked at the safe ruefully and lugged all fifty pounds of it over to the bed. I looked at it for a while before my stomach started rumbling. I figured food was off limits as well until the challenge was complete. My mind stewed as I toyed with the dial. This wasn't even a challenge; I could do better than this and so on.

It turned out to be a twelve digit combination that took about three hours to crack. I had never really taken a course in safe-cracking but figured out the basics soon enough. Not so easy after all I had to admit. I would never tell that to him though.

When I finally got the last number I almost cried as the lock popped. I opened it victoriously and grabbed the key labeled "1" glancing over at the first door. I could do that tomorrow; I just needed food right now. I started towards the corner exit but glanced at the first door again. It couldn't hurt to try…

I picked up the key and ventured over, inserting it into the slot. A shock traveled up my arm again, this one more vicious than the last. I gasped and dropped the key, shaking my hand to relieve the tingling. Even if I couldn't hear him, I knew he was laughing at me. I grit my teeth at the thought and shuffled over to the door, opening it to reveal a table full of food and…him sitting at the table reading a newspaper.