Ridley's P.O.V.

I wiped my brow and tottered up the stairs, exhausted from Selina's training. As soon as we'd finished our sandwiches, she'd dragged me down to the basement. Since her weapon of choice was also a whip, she decided to teach me what she knew.

I had to admit that it was beneficial. Richard and Bruce didn't know how to use such a weapon and thus I couldn't learn as much as I could've.

The rapier was also a lot less bulky and lighter than my previous weapon. The elegant blade reacted quicker than the other weapon which was both a blessing and a curse.

The good thing was that it was fast. I could strike quickly and efficiently without any problems. The bad thing was the exact same thing however, I tended to do more damage than necessary. I had to use just the right amount of force while using the rapier in whip mode to deal enough damage, but not so much that I completely annihilated my target.

My weapon could do a great deal of damage to a human being if the settings were on max. I shuddered at the thought of that.

Pausing outside Edward's door, I wondered why he was shut up in there for the past 4 hours. I remember Selina saying that he'd work for at least 5 hours or more straight. How could they just let him do that? It wasn't healthy. There was a difference between doing work and being a hermit and Edward bordered on being the latter.

I knocked on the door before letting myself in.

Edward tensed and whirled around in his chair before visibly relaxing when he saw me. "Oh, it's just you Ridley. What can I do for you?"

I was wondering what you were doing. I signed. You've been cooped up in here for hours, it's no healthy.

"I've just been... working," Edward replied, nervously tapping his fingers on his leg. "Did anyone sent you up to check on me?"

No, I signed. were you expecting someone to?

I wondered what had gotten Edward so worked up. He seemed on high alert. Did he expect something to happen?

"Um no," Edward said, clearing his throat. "The others just usually leave me be when I'm working."

Then they're not really good friends, are they? Being stuck in front of a computer for an extended period of time isn't healthy. You should take breaks every hour. What are you working on anyway?

"Just stuff for our next mission," Edward said, "not that big of a deal."

You're not planning on going, are you? I asked. You know that your-

"I know," Edward said, irritability waving a hand. He turned back to his computer, "I'm trying to rearrange stuff to make up for it. How'd you feel about going in my stead?" He glanced back at me, waiting for my answer.

Me? I asked, taken by surprise. I-I don't know. Do I have to? It's not like I necessarily didn't want to, I always had wanted to go on some sort of mission. That was with Bruce and Richard however, when I would've been on the good side of things; fighting crime instead of causing it.

"You'll have to eventually," Edward replied. "You'll be a sitting duck if you stay here the whole time. I also don't think that you particularly like being stuck here unable to do anything."

That's true, I conceded, but do I really have to?

"We're not going to make you do anything you don't want to," Edward said before pausing. "Besides leaving. You can't do that."

Of course. I frowned. But will going on 'missions' be any safer?

"No," Edward admitted, "but at least you're doing something that way."

He shut off his computer and stood up. "We'll need to train you more before you're ready to go out." He said.

I just got done training with Selina. I protested.

"That was physical training," Edward said walking out the door. "You need mental training as well. Brute strength will only get you so far."

I quickly followed him out of his room and down the hall.

"Your problem Ridley," Edward continued, "is that you're more logical than creative. That is why you failed to understand the clues that I left before your kidnapping."

Wait, wait, wait. I signed, jogging to keep up with him. You left clues?

"Well yeah," Edward rolled his eyes. "The riddles I left? 'What starts and ends with the letter "E" but only has one letter in it?', 'I never was, am always to be. No one ever saw me, nor ever will, and yet I am the confidence of all to live and breathe on this terrestrial ball'? Both riddles you failed to answer."

And how'd you know that?

"Simple," Edward replied, "we were able to kidnap you. For someone really smart, you're fairly obtuse."

I scowled but didn't try to correct him. Disregarding the riddles had been my first mistake. Whether it be a fatal one, I had to wait and see.

Ok, so then how do you know that I'm more logical than creative? I asked as we began to descend into the basement.

"Your test," Edward said, like that explained everything. "I was curious to see what your thinking process was, and going off of your inability to answer the riddles, I asked you only logistic questions."

So... it was a test within a test?

"Exactly!" Edward said cheerfully. "You got every question correct using logic and reasoning. Save for the bonus question, which you got wrong because it was a riddle."

Wait. You said I got every question correct, didn't you?

"I did," Edward said. "Obviously the bonus question wasn't an actual question. It didn't count against you if you got it wrong, so you still got 100%."

But don't riddles use logic and reasoning as well?

We passed by the training room that I'd been in earlier with Selina and continued down the hall.

"Most," Edward agreed, "but not all. It's a bit contradictory, but you get a general idea. Yes, riddles use logic and reasoning, but only so much. Most of it relies on your ability to think outside the box. Which will be your fatal flaw when out on missions. You often won't have time to think out a logical solution to a problem. We'll be working on your reaction time and capability to come up with creative solutions." He paused outside of a nondescript door and fished around in his pockets before producing a key.

"Hopefully with some work you'll be able to get better."

Like you? I asked sarcastically, though it was hard to catch the sarcasm through sign language.

"You won't be as good," Edward said. "I, after all, am the Riddler. The smartest being on the planet." He unlocked the door.

You're awfully full of yourself, I signed, and you're not perfect no matter how much you wish to be; it's impossible.

What Edward said next was so quiet I almost didn't catch it as he walked into the room.

"You're right, I'm not."