To Play the Fool

Chapter Sixteen

"You let him go?" Tex shrieked.

"There was no evidence of a crime he committed. We didn't even have a crime to charge him with, so after 48 hours, we had to release him." Commissioner Gordon sounded a little peeved, but this was somewhat routine. "We just need to collect some actual evidence."

"What about the fact that he had people with guns? What about breaking into secure government computers?"

"The gunmen said they had no idea who he was and that they weren't working for him. And we had no way to prove he wasn't just an innocent bystander in all this."

"This is just unfair."

Gordon sighed. "That's the law for you. If the Riddler's smart, he'll stay out of trouble and leave us alone. If not, we'll catch him and keep him. Either way, he shouldn't be any more trouble for us personally. I can't say the same for anyone else."

"But … Now he's just gloating." She gestured to the man in a green suit and bowler hat as he walked away from the police station. He stopped, turned around, looked up to the roof, and bowed with overstated grandeur to Tex and the Commissioner. "Jerk."

"He's up to something. He let himself get caught."

"Batman thought the same thing."

"Is he following the Riddler?"

"Nope." She hopped onto the ledge. "He says that it's my case, so I get to track him."

"Sounds like he's got you doing his busywork."

Tex shrugged. "It's busywork for the Batman. I couldn't be any luckier. Did you get any other information on the Riddler?"

"He said his name was Edward Nygma. It checked out with driver's license database, but considering his skill with a keyboard, it could have just as easily been faked."

"I'll let him know. Thanks." Tex stepped back and fell off the building, presumably figuring out how not to die on the way down. Gordon looked down to the street, but Tex had vanished.

For his part, Batman was not being lazy. He was holed up in the Batcave with a mug of coffee in one hand and a computer mouse in the other. Out of costume, Bruce Wayne scoured the data the police had collected from the cyber attack. So far, he hadn't been able to find anything useful that the police hadn't found already, and none of it connected to the Riddler. Whatever program Tex had used to stop the attack had erased itself completely and left behind a firewall about as strong as the Pentagon's.

"Computer code," Alfred commented as he arrived with dinner on a tray. "I didn't think this was your area of expertise." He let a stray eye wander over a stack of programming reference books.

"It's not. It's Tex's, apparently."

"Is she working on this too?"

"No, I'm having her track the Riddler."

"Isn't that your area of expertise? You two seem to be working at cross purposes."

"She needs the practice, and so do I. The Riddler himself can't do much damage without his friends, so it should be safe." His phone rang in his pocket. He let it ring a few more times and go to voicemail before he pulled it out, checked the caller ID, and set it down on the table.

"Star again?"

"I'm kind of busy right now. I already told her I have an emergency at work."

"With all due respect, you can't just keep putting Star off. She's not going to wait forever."

"I'll get to her when I'm done with Tex." He took his other, untraceable phone and dialed Tex, whose number he had stolen from his secretary's cell. "Where are you at?" he asked in his disguised voice.

"At a power plant just outside of town," Jackie whispered. "The Riddler's meeting with a whole bunch of guys, and they're all in SUVs and pickups."

"What's he saying?"

"Nothing. He's handing out maps and papers. I can't get close enough to read them."

"Do you have plate numbers?" Bruce pulled up a program to find out who owned the vehicles.

"Yeah. MM0 137. Z24 – oh shoot!" Bruce heard boots tearing through a dry, grassy field. Tex was running after something. The sound of a car running got closer, then something like a chain-link fence being driven through. A few moments later, there was a crash of metal against metal and glass, but the engine was still running and getting even louder.

"Tex, what's going on?" he shouted, but he could probably guess when the lights suddenly shut off in the Batcave and his computers let him know that they were running off separate power supplies.

Gravel crunched under Tex's boots and she opened a car door. "Are you conscious?" she asked someone. "Are you breathing?" That someone grunted a reply, and then something large and soft like a body hit the gravel. Tex dragged it over the gravel a ways before a whoosh of flames crackled in the phone's receiver.

She was on the line again. "Batman, I really need your help."

"I'm on my way. What's your location?" He was already getting his armor on.

"Just go to a power station. All the other cars are gone. I think they split up to attack the other plants. I just don't get why."

"To cause a blackout. Where's the Riddler?"

Tex looked around and let out a scream of frustration away from the receiver. "Gone!"

Batman felt her disappointment, but knew he would have rescued the driver too. "I'll find him. Find out why the driver agreed to attack the power station."

"Problem with that. The place is crawling with people now."

"Then you'd better hurry."

Tex hung up with a huff. He didn't have much time to get out and stop at least one of the drivers. He finished gearing up and shut off the computers to save power. Then he got inside the Tumbler II, revved up the engine, and roared out of the cave.

The closest power station was most likely the one Tex was already at, so he raced to the next one in an attempt to head off the Riddler's men. His headlights were the only light on the road for a while until he reached the next section of the city supplied by a different plant. Only a minute away from the power station, the electricity died in that section as well.

Gotham had three major power stations, and two were already down. Batman powered on the thrusters and hurtled through the outskirts of town. There were only a few drivers on the road. Luckily for him, the drivers of Gotham had long ago learned what the Tumbler II sounded like, especially if it was in a hurry, and out of habit, pulled over to let him pass like he was in an emergency vehicle or something with a siren blaring.

The Tumbler II went flying over a hill and landed by the entrance of the third power plant. The chain-link fence topped with a healthy dose of barbed wire was still intact. The Riddler's men hadn't made it yet. Batman opened up the hatch and scanned the nearby surroundings with a pair of binoculars.

His haste had paid off. Twenty seconds behind him was a dark green SUV racing straight for the gates. He got back inside the Tumbler II and revved the engine menacingly. The SUV wavered slightly, signaling that the driver had heard and/or seen the obstacle and decided to keep driving.

If the man wanted to play chicken, so be it. Batman held his ground, knowing he would barely feel the impact.

What he did not calculate on, however, was the two other vehicles, another SUV and a pickup truck, that came behind the first one. The SUV hit the back bumper of the leader, sending him careening off the dirt road. The other two overtook him in a desperate race for the gate. Batman started off towards the oncoming vehicles, aiming for a point in between the two.

Batman flipped a few switches, spun the Tumbler II around, and dropped several spiked balls in the road. The SUV's tires burst on the spikes and the driver lost control, having no choice but to stop. The pickup, however, managed to miss the spikes entirely and drive alongside the Tumbler II in Batman's blind spot. But the time he noticed that there were only two disabled cars instead of three, the pickup had overtaken him and burst through the gate. The Tumbler II had no difficulty building back its speed, but the damage was done. The pickup rammed into a significant part of the power station with a brilliant display of sparks and minor explosions. The plant suddenly died like it had been stabbed in the heart, and Batman could almost hear the electricity fizzing out of the wires.

The driver climbed out of the truck, wobbled for a second, and then ran away with a limp. Batman decided he wasn't worth tracking down, and drove back to the disabled SUVs. The first one managed to get itself back on its feet and drove away as soon as it could. The other one, on the other hand, had no tires. Batman leaped out of the Tumbler II, opened the driver's side door, and pulled out the hapless man. "What was all that about?" he snarled.

The man was in his 20's, frail, and bald. There were holes in his arm and raised veins where IVs would have been inserted. "The Riddler promised a million dollars to our families if we crashed into a power plant or cell phone tower, but only the first person to each site gets the money."

"It was a race? How many are left?"

"I don't know. He just gave us a map with places marked where we should go." Batman found the map on the passenger seat, grabbed it, and started for the Tumbler II. This made the man panic. "Wait! Aren't you going to kill me?"

The Batman turned back, surprised. "No. Why would I do that?"

"I just thought –"

"You were wrong!" He jumped back into his tank and sped off, leaving the man dying of cancer behind. On his way back to town, he called Tex back to check in.

"What is it?" Tex shouted over some background noise, most likely a motorcycle engine.

"The Riddler's making this a game –"

"Yeah, I know." The call was abruptly cut off. However, she left her cell phone on so she could be tracked. Batman pulled up her coordinates and set his course for her.

Tex was traveling at about 45 miles an hour towards downtown Gotham with no sign of slowing down. It took Batman nearly fifteen minutes to somewhat catch up with her and plot an intercept course. He was nearly at an intersection when he saw a red streak zoom down the street perpendicular to his. Tex was racing away on her bike followed by three diesel powered trucks that basically plowed through traffic.

He backed the Tumbler II up, turned around, and went down a parallel street to head her off. When his tracking system said he was far enough ahead, he turned right down the next street, and right again onto Tex's street. A second later, he saw her dart around a car, looking over her shoulder quickly to see how far ahead she was. Tex was losing ground and one of the trucks attempted to hit her, but she sped up and dodged him.

Batman switched to weapons mode and aimed for the trucks' tires. Tex sped up even more and took advantage of the Tumbler II's design by driving straight over top of it, stopping at the back end, and laying her bike down. The trucks chasing her suddenly had reservations about challenging the Batman, but still didn't stop or back off. With Tex out of the way, Batman had a clear line of sight and shot out the tires with some machine-gun fire. The trucks swerved to avoid it, and crashed into the parked cars on either side of the road.

"Are you alright?" Batman asked as he climbed out of the Tumbler II.

"Yep. Super," she growled, inspecting her bike. "Thanks for the rescue."

"The Riddler's having his men play against each other for money."

"Yeah, I noticed. He offered $1 million to whoever runs me over first." Tex started to walk her bike off the Tumbler II, but Batman just took it and set it down on the street. "Thanks. Want to know how much they can win to kill you?"

"How much?"

"Nothing. No one's stupid enough to try to kill you, and Riddler's smart enough not to ask." The two of them jumped off of the Tumbler II. "What makes people nearly kill themselves or others for money?"

"They're desperate and trying to provide for their families."

"How do you know they have families?"

"Because they're dying. The man I talked to had cancer. These men probably have the same. The Riddler wasn't just taking out Gotham's power. He's taking out the cell towers too."

"He's cutting off the city. Do you think he'll go after the phone lines next?"

He shook his head. "Landline phones need electricity. Plus, he'll need some sort of network in place to commit his style of crimes."

"Okay. So what's he going to hit next? Apart from, you know," she gestured to the dark buildings around them, "everywhere."

Batman thought for a moment. "He plays by a certain set of rules. I wonder ..." He trailed off as he found the map with the marked locations. On the bottom of the page was a series of numbers and letters. "How good are you with codes?"

Tex took the paper and gave it a glance. "Not very. There's a watermark in the paper. Right here, it says 'We.'" She pointed out a spot just to the right of the center.

He held it up to the light. "W. E. It's the Wayne Enterprises logo. He got the paper from Wayne Tower." He jumped into the Tumbler and started the engine back up.

"What does the code say?"

"I'll figure it out and let you know. Meet up at Wayne Tower."

"How will you get in touch if the cell towers are out?"

"I'll bring something. Go!" He closed the hatch and sped away with Tex only a few feet behind him.

After getting some gas and checking her tires, Tex finally made it to Wayne Enterprises. Batman had only gotten there minutes before, but the way he stood in the back parking lot with his arms crossed made it seem like he had been waiting for ages for her to show up.

Tex parked behind a dumpster and approached him. "So, do we just wait out here for the Riddler to show up?"

"Not exactly." He went to the back door usually used for shipments, and 'cracked' the code to get in. "We'll wait in here."

Tex peeked inside, but was hesitant to go in. "Are you sure Mr. Wayne won't mind us breaking and entering?"

"As long as we don't touch anything, I'm sure we'll be fine."

"Shouldn't we wait out here for the Riddler? It seems like it would be much easier."

"They're not criminals until they break in. Until then, they're just loiterers. Besides, we have the advantage inside."

Like a gentleman, Batman let Tex go in ahead of him before he shut and locked the door behind him. There were no lights in the hallway, not even the emergency power was running. The only light came from Tex's red eyes. Batman held her shoulders and steered her down a specific hallway. "Do you know where we're going?"

"Research and Development. It's the only place that has the equipment or materials the Riddler wants. It's also the most heavily protected."

"Which is why we got in here just fine."

"The power failure has neutralized several of the security features. Not this one, though. Duck." He had her limbo under a laser trip wire and ducked under it in turn. Batman had to be careful not to let on that he didn't know about all these security measures just because he was Batman. Tex didn't let on if she suspected anything.

They came to a large, warehouse like room with rows upon rows of large containers with the drawers of prototypes. Tex walked up to one of the drawers to see if there were any labels. "I wonder ..."

"Don't touch," he warned again. She reluctantly followed his advice. "We'll wait for the Riddler and his men here. We should have a few minutes until he gets here. In the meantime..." He opened up one of the pouches on his belt and pulled out a small radio receiver that fit in the palm of his hand. "It's tuned only to my earpiece. I can call you, you can call me."

Tex touched the spot on her neck with the button and her helmet retracted before she took the radio. Her red hair fell out of her collar. "Thank you. Does this mean we're going steady?" She noticed the odd look he was giving her for taking off her helmet. "None of the security cameras are working," she explained.

This did not ease his fears, but he let it go. "It means that there's going to be a lot more trouble and I want you ready at a moment's notice. Got it?" He started hunting through the prototypes for something he knew had attracted the Riddler's attention: an experimental EMP cannon that had a nasty habit of shutting itself off every time it fires. He had no doubt that the Riddler would want to use it to keep the city from getting back off the ground.

"Got it." She started fiddling with something inside her collar. "I think I can hook this up to my helmet so you won't have to hear my cancer voice all the time." She pushed aside from hair from her left side, revealing to Batman a scar and barely a flap of skin where there should have been an ear. Faded scars from burns stretched from the edge of her cheekbone into where her hairline should have been. Her hair started a couple centimeters higher than normal.

He noticed it immediately. "What happened to your ear?"

Suddenly, she was done fiddling with the radio and she pulled her hair over her scars. "Nothing," she blatantly lied as she wove a loose braid to hide it.

This piqued his curiosity as Jackie didn't normally lie. Evade questions, yes, but never by lying. "When did that nothing happen?"

She shrugged. "A while ago. It doesn't matter."

"Three years ago, perhaps?" He approached her carefully.

The closing distance and the pointed questions made her avert her eyes uneasily. "Perhaps."

"That's why you're deaf on your left side."

"You know what I haven't explained yet?" she burst out with some orchestrated cheer. "My hands! Might as well tell you about them now while we've got a quiet moment."

This was a strange topic to bring up, but it was clear she would rather talk about her mechanical hands than the lack of an ear. "Make it quick," he growled in true Batman fashion.

"Can I borrow a Batarang?" He pulled one from out of nowhere and threw it at her. She flinched, but her right hand caught it expertly. "Thanks. You have to promise not to puke." He gave her a steely glare. He does not puke. "Okay, but this throws some people off," she warned him before getting started.

He stepped closer to watch her as she carefully separated the two sections of skin on her wrist. This time, she went all the way around her wrist and gently pulled off the skin from her hand like a glove. The skin stretched over her bones, slowly revealing the metal skeletal structure beneath. It was incredibly detailed and sophisticated for a prosthetic limb. Actually, it was complex for any piece of high-tech robotics. Jackie curled each of her fingers and bent her wrist so he could get an idea of how her hand worked. "Both hands?" he said incredulously. "Do you mind?"

"Sure." She gave him her left hand and the skin so he could get a closer look at the mechanics involved. "Before you ask, I didn't chop my hands off for the heck of it. I got these hands because I needed them."

"What happened?"

"Some people who didn't like me shattered all the bones in my hand. By the time I got medical attention, they couldn't be saved and the doctors had to amputate them. After a few weeks, I was part of a controversial medical experiment where they implanted these guys. There are titanium rods fused to the bones in my arms so they can't just pop off, several thousand microscopic wires connected to my nerves so I can move them and feel dramatic changes in temperature, and enough of a computer to house a partial AI that helps me run my hands. It kind of predicts how I'm going to move my hands and helps me stay coordinated. As an added bonus, they know how to fight better than I do."

"This is how you were trained to fight?" he asked with a raised eyebrow of skepticism.

"I wasn't really trained at all, actually. As experimental as these guys are, they are advanced. They play the piano, crack safes, pick locks –"

"Trace hackers back to their location?"

"Yeah," she laughed. "My hands are smarter than me."

He didn't believe that. Her hands weren't the only part of her that fought. In his basic research of her, he learned she had been trained in dance since she was twelve, and it took talent to be as coordinated as she was.

"Oh, I wanted to show you this." The pieces of metal acting as her fingernails extended a couple centimeters, and retracted. "These are great for climbing walls."

"How much stronger are your hands than the typical human hand?"

"I don't know. I think the engineers said something like eight times stronger than normal. Or 18. I was kind of out of it at the time."

"Why hasn't anyone reported on this experiment if it was a success?"

"Well, two reasons. One, it was a private venture and incredibly top secret. And two, it wasn't exactly a success. The AIs got a little out of hand, and then I ran away. So if you see me arguing with my hands … that's normal."

"What company invented them?"

"I'm not allowed to say. I'm not even supposed to let you know that my hands aren't real. And, again, I was really out of it. I have no idea what company it was. I was recovering from a lot more than a couple amputations."

"Like what?" They both knew he was indicating the burns on the side of her head.

"Just … stuff." She abruptly took her hands back and started slipping the skin back on her hand. "Is that enough to satiate your curiosity? Or did I just make it worse?"

"It will do," he replied noncommittally.

"It will do," she repeated. "Does that mean you won't break into my home again?"

"Jackie …" This was a conversation he had been carefully trying to avoid.

"It was a breach of trust and respect! Not just to me, but to Jenny as well. I'm trying to be nice about it, but it's not working. You've never apologized for it or given me a good reason for being there. I'm assuming you had one, but I'm finding it hard to think of one or keep telling myself that."

"In our line of work there is no trust and respect. You appeared out of nowhere and kept finding me despite the fact that I don't leave a trail."

"I was helping you!" she sputtered indignantly.

"To what end?" he growled, stepping into her personal bubble and getting in her face. "I don't have fans. I don't have allies. I have copycats that cause more harm than good and I have people who want to use me for their own purposes. For all I know, you could have been trying to earn my trust so it would be easier to kill me. On top of that, I had no idea how you worked, which I still can't pin down, and I can't account for where you were those two weeks you went missing. I was able to follow most of where you went once you returned, but that told me nothing. I broke into your place to try to learn more about you. I'm sorry that I scared your sister, but I will not apologize for trying to protect myself and the people of Gotham."

To Jackie's credit, she didn't move away from the raging Dark Knight, but her face was starting to fall. "I'm not dangerous. I'm just trying to do what I can to help."

"Your hands," he held one up for emphasis, "say otherwise. You are a weapon, and you haven't accepted that yet."

She pulled back her hand. "I have never, not once in my entire life, killed a person. I am in control, especially when I'm compared to you."

"Do you have something you want to bring up?"

"Not really, no. Look, I tell you what you need to know, not what you want to know. Believe me, I would love to spill my guts out on everything about me, and it was not easy to keep the nature of my hands to myself. But I can't. I can't answer all of your questions, and it would be so much easier on me if you wouldn't ask them."

"You know I won't stop asking."

Jackie sighed and hit her forehead on his chest plate, leaving a Batman insignia imprinted on her skin. "I know. That was stupid to ask. I'll just zip my lips from here on out." Jackie stepped back, wrapped her braid around her neck and put her helmet back on. Her eyes seemed just a little bit duller. "I'll keep an eye out for the Riddler."

Tex walked away to the hallway where they had come, sat down, and watched the door. Batman returned to busying himself with the prototypes. Some of these things were built specifically for his use only, and it wouldn't do any good for Tex or the Riddler to be finding them here. Some bat themed gauntlets, a few stray batarangs, a bat shaped phone … that one he wasn't sure why Lucius developed when he was here. Others were weapons and tools he hadn't been able to use yet and were not connected to the Batman. Those could stay put.

What he was especially worried about was a computer that had the capability of breaking any code or encryption, and some energy weapons still in development. Neither of them were up to speed or even functioning, but in the right hands, or wrong as the case may be, they could become operational. He could not let that happen. In any case, the Riddler's gang would not be getting away with any merchandise.

"They're here," Tex announced, although he hadn't heard them arrive. "ETA one minute, four seconds."

"That soon? Here, take these." He threw her some explosives he hadn't used since the Joker attacks, and a couple smoke canisters. "They might be useful."

"Batman, if we do stop them today, what's to say that they won't come back?"

"They're not going to come back. Not after we catch their ringleader."

There was a scratching on the metal door to the department. Tex stood just behind it, waiting. The door gave a click and a squeal as it slid open slightly. Batman ducked behind one of the sets of drawers to give the thieves a false sense of security. One man in a white mask poked his head through. He looked right. He looked left. He saw Tex. He saw Tex's fist. Then he saw nothing.

Tex slammed the door shut and tried to barricade it with her body, but the mass of bodies on the other side was too much for her and they easily pushed it open. She dropped one of the smoke grenades, then fell to the ground to knock some men off their feet with a sweep of her foot. Three men tripped under her feet and came to be victim to her blows.

In the confusion of the smoke and swarming men, Batman slipped into the fray, quietly disarming the Riddler's men and knocking them out before they knew he was even there. For all they knew, Tex with her devilish eyes piercing the fog was taking everyone out. Batman knocked off one person's mask, along with a couple of teeth, stole the next man's gun, and jabbed him in the throat in just about one fluid stroke. Tex preferred dancing around the invaders and letting them run into each other.

"Do you see him?" Batman murmured in the radio.

"Oof. I don't …" Her eyes swept the room. "He's going back out the door," she replied in his ear.

"On him. Stay here!" He pushed through the mass of bodies and escaped out into the hall. The Riddler's distinctive green coat-tails disappeared around the corner and Batman sprinted after him.

Just outside the building, the Riddler jumped into a waiting white convertible that had been hastily spray-painted with green question marks. Batman quickened his pace to catch him, but the Riddler was too far ahead. He dropped a phone on the ground and sped away, burning rubber as he got away.

Batman considered grabbing the Batpod and following, but by the time he would get the engine started, the Riddler would be too far away to follow.

A midi version of the Jeopardy theme rang out from the phone. Batman picked it up and answered it. "I must congratulate you, Batman," the Riddler said with a laugh. "I didn't think you would solve my puzzle this quickly."

"What puzzle?" he growled.

His voice fell. "You mean you just guessed?"

"I never guess. I followed the evidence you left behind."

He laughed again. "I never should have underestimated you, Batman. Tell me, what gave me away?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Never underestimate the value of constructive criticism. And your advice is among the best. Was the code too easy? Did Jenny Harkness get in touch with you? Which map did you find?"

"Turn yourself in and I might let you know."

"Tsk tsk. Too easy. I'll give you another riddle though. He who has it doesn't tell it. He who takes it doesn't know it. He who knows it doesn't want it. What is it?" Without giving Batman a chance to answer, he ended the call.

Tex came out of Wayne Enterprises more or less intact. "Did you catch him? Sorry. Dumb question."

"How did it go?"

"I've got twelve men in there trussed up for the police. They're in a talking mood, but I don't think they know much of anything. What's that?" She asked, indicating the phone.

"Our next clue." He repeated the riddle for her.

"What does it mean?"

"I don't know yet. I hope you're ready for the long haul. Every criminal in Gotham is about to take advantage of the blackout. The Riddler is the least of our worries."

"This is going to be a long night, isn't it."