AN: Something a little different this time.
The main reason I wanted to write this (aside that concept wouldn't leave my mind) was that with all the stories I had written so far, I have never tackled writing one of my favorite Batman villains. I felt that putting Riddler and Bats in NGNL would be interesting so we'll see where the story goes from here.
Now, this chapter is purely set up and I feel that I may have gone overboard with the technicalities (I actually had to come up with some of these riddles, which wasn't easy). A part of me wonders if I should've just jumped straight into the isekai stuff but I wanted to establish Batman's and Riddler's dynamic first. As for which version of the character this is, I was shooting for something like BTAS and the Arkham game. Definitely not a serial killer.
Hopefully I'll have the next story ready in time for Batman Day.
Batman and all related characters and elements are trademarks of DC Comics. Batman is created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.
No Game No Life is created by Yuu Kamiya.
CHAPTER 01: Prologue
It stood out like a sore thumb within Gotham's desolate suburbia.
Seized by creeper vines and crass graffiti, the stout derelict building was so stripped away of its former splendor that its identity would've been lost if not for the rusted arch sign over the gateway that proudly displayed 'NEW ROME STUDIOS'.
"We're here, Oracle."
Behind from where Batman stood, another person hopped out of the Batmobile and joined at his mentor's side. Not a Robin, but a young boy none the less. The hero-in-training was an African American boy decked in a yellow and black costume with a reflective Bat-insignia and wore a yellow helmet that had bat-like ears and a black visor that fitted over his face like a domino mask.
"You sure this is the place?" Duke asked. "I mean, I get the theme and all but isn't it kinda too on the nose?"
"He's using an out-of-state ISP and I had to sift through a dozen proxy servers but there's no doubt. He's in there somewhere." Barbara's voice sounded through their earpieces.
There was no need to question the fact any further; both vigilantes knew that if anyone could track his location, it was Barbara.
"He WANTS it to look obvious." Batman rasped. "His ego won't allow for anything less. This is his way of goading us."
"So we're apparently just gonna walk into a trap. Because…?" Duke's question warily.
"Because we don't have a choice."
With that grim answer, Batman addressed Barbara again through the Comm-link.
"Oracle, any luck in retrieving that data?"
As she responded back, Duke expression turned despondent and his his heart weighed heavy with guilt.
"Unfortunately, not yet. The guy's got a firewall a mile thick"
"Keep at it, we'll buy you some time. Batman out."
The Caped Crusader took a few steps forward before halting when he realized that Duke wasn't following him.
"What's wrong?" he asked, looking back.
"I…"
Duke's felt his throat go numb, his words crumbling at his lips. He struggled to articulate an excuse, or brush it off with a 'Nothing, never mind' but all be could finally do was sigh with defeat and just come out with it.
"I'm…I'm sorry, Batman. I really messed up."
There was no change in the Dark Knight's expression and that alone made Duke feel ten times smaller before his presence.
He remembered Stephanie warning him about this. About what it's like working with Bruce. Sure there were the usual difficulties about his personality that all the Robins were familiar with but there was also that certain pressure of proving yourself.
That no matter how much leeway Bruce allows, or how detached you are to him, the thought of disappointing him can be overwhelming.
Batman fully turned and stepped towards him.
"It's not your fault."
"Yes it is!"
Hearing Duke suddenly raise his voice certainly surprised him, as did the rest of the boy's emotional outburst.
"If only I wasn't so careless and cocky! Then maybe this whole thing would've never…"
Duke trailed off again and Batman remained silent, his jaw firmly set as the earlier events ran through his mind again.
Gotham's criminal underworld was sent into an uproar in the past two weeks and it all began when a reporter from the Gotham Globe named Henry Cromwell received an anonymous e-mail.
The sender claimed to have compiled all the dirt on every mob boss, politician and corrupted elite; scanned documents, text messages, phone recordings, photos, videos…the most incriminating collection evidence anyone could ask for.
This "whistle-blower" never said where he obtained it from but to prove its validity, he shared a few convincing nuggets of information which he claimed were only the tip of the iceberg.
When the Cromwell was told where he could find this treasure trove of data, he thought he had found the biggest break in his career.
Instead, he found himself riddled with bullet holes courtesy of Black Mask's False Face Society who were also tipped off of its existence.
Soon word got out on the street and before long, everyone from low-life thugs to the corrupted in power began gunning for it. The Penguin, Black Mask, Great White, the Mayor,…everyone. It wasn't just to protect themselves but also for the possibility of blackmailing the competition or to simply sell to highest bidder. It was literally a violent and bloody treasure hunt.
It was a long grueling battle but in the end, Batman and his family managed to fight through the chaos, taking down a plethora of Gotham's villains, and finally take the prize in their possession before the city erupted into a full-scale war.
So what was this coveted treasure? This holy grail among criminals?
It was a mere 16 gigabyte USB flash drive with an embossed 'BJ' logo.
When he took back to the cave, Batman found himself suspicious of the thing; he had never heard of an electronic brand named 'BJ' before.
But Duke waved it all off, rationalizing that it was probably some cheap knock-off Chinese brand that was easily available in the market.
"Relax man, not everything is more than it seems." Duke chuckled as he plugged it into the Batcomputer with haste.
It was too late for Batman to stop him and when that device was read, an image displayed on the large monitor.
It was a picture of a Roman head bust with a text message below it: 'TWO STEPS FORWARD, ALWAYS A STEP BEHIND'.
Batman's eyes widened in alarm.
"Duke! Shut it off! NOW!"
Just as he said so, the display violently glitched while multiple rectangular windows opened in front of the scrambled image, each displaying a rapidly filling progress bar with with word "UPLOADING…" tauntingly visible.
Duke frantically pressed various key combinations but to no avail.
"Nothing working! The system's locked me out!"
Batman's mind spun wildly, he knew very well that cutting the power off wouldn't work; he designed the mainframe with a sophisticated twelve hour power backup and if the Trojan virus had taken over the entire Batcomputer, then he was certain it would take advantage of that too.
And that left him with only one option.
"Get away from there!" Batman yelled as he tossed a sticky bomb that attached itself to the computer.
He then quickly pulled Duke to a safe distance where he shielded him with his cape before detonating the explosive. Needless to say, the Batcomputer was destroyed in a thunderous burst of fire and shrapnel that was only quelled thanks to the Cave's anti-fire system that spat out jets of CO2.
The loud commotion had of course alerted Alfred from the Manor above, who rushed down to see what had happened but by then, Batman was already contacting Barbara to alert her of the situation while Duke had opened his own Laptop to track the stolen files from his end.
"Just how much was stolen exactly?" Batman asked Duke.
Duke responded with a sense of dread.
"All of it."
"You made a mistake."
Duke looked up, hearing the tone of his mentor's voice slightly harden. The air of sympathy that came with the Dark Knight's earlier expression seemed to have dulled and although he didn't exhibit any harshness, his eyes and jaw appeared to tighten as he spoke firmly.
"And in the future, you'll make more mistakes, Some haunting you more than others, but now isn't the time for self-reflection, now is the time to act! In this line of work, you'll face times like this more often than you think."
In an act that surprised Duke, Batman laid a heavy hand on his shoulder and clasped it in assurance.
"But remember what I said in the beginning: I'm not training you to be a Robin or to take my place. I'm giving you the chance to become something else entirely and that requires you to grow on your own. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir." Duke nodded, numbly taking his words to heart.
"Then let's move."
With the mission at hand and nothing else left to be said, Batman spun around with a swish of his cape and began to make his way towards the building. After a brief exhale, Duke shook off his feelings and was about to follow him when something on the ground caught his attention.
At first thought, he reckoned his eyes were playing tricks on him but at his feet, he could see an array of glowing yet hazy lines stretching down the road towards the building. It when he tilted his head and angled his vision when he realized that the lines weren't on the ground, but actually UNDER it.
Knowing full well what this was, Duke quickly jogged up to Batman and stopped him by grasping his arm.
"Hold up." he called out.
Batman was taken aback but remained silent as the boy fanned his sights over the ground. The glowing lines did indeed lead towards the building but then abruptly banked right and looped around the structure.
"Ghost vision is picking up something." Duke said as he gestured with a pointed finger. "Underground electrical cables, active and leading around the building."
The Dark Knight nodded with a barely audible sound and let Duke take the lead while he followed.
He was all too well aware of Duke's Metahuman powers, particularly his photo-kinetic vision that the boy had dubbed 'Ghost vision' which allows him to perceive light differently from others. Essentially, Duke can see "ghosts" of past events and even future ones. But it went beyond that: Duke could even perceive the entirety of the electromagnetic spectrum. In fact, Batman surmised that Duke was probably able to perceive the photonic energy from the electric current below.
However, he was also aware that both Duke's powers and his control over them were still in its infancy and that the boy couldn't rely on them as much as he'd like.
In a way, he felt that this was a good thing; it allowed Duke to focus on his other aptitudes. Although, despite his hopes that he could steer the boy on the right path, he couldn't help but feel unease about the potential danger of having such powers.
He had already written up a file detailing its scope and possible countermeasures if necessary. A file, which he reminded himself, was now in the enemy's hands.
After the new dynamic duo circled to the back of building and stopped at the staircase leading to the studio's back entrance, Duke noticed that the lines lead to a hodge podge of shapes from where many thinner lines spread out in various directions. He guessed it was a relay device.
"Wiring branches off at this point." he observed.
As he spoke, he trailed one set of wires which surprisingly lead to the foot of the staircase.
"One of them stops right there. I think it's a sensor or something. "
With the utterance of a "hrm", Batman strode up to the bottom steps of the staircase and peered at it closely. Most of it was concrete except for one particular fake panel that looked like it could be pressed in. Was it a booby trap? Or perhaps…
"Always 'a step' behind." Batman murmured.
There was a brief apprehensive pause before Batman lifted a foot up and stepped on the panel. On cue, a section of the ground at the base of the building gave way and slid open with the sound of mechanical servos.
"Woah…" remarked Duke.
There was no need for Batman to inspect the opening with his flash light since Duke stepped before him and activated the bat insignia on his chest to shine a wide beam of light towards the descending staircase below. After the two heroes climbed down, they found that the steps abruptly turned to a light brown stone texture.
It was only when they reached the base did they realize that they had been climbing down what looked like an Aztec pyramid. In fact, looking around, they found that the environment resembled ruins of an ancient civilization with foliage over stone-cut walls and doors.
"What is this place?" Duke asked.
Seeing that he had enough light to work with, Batman walked to the edge of the room and began to search for something along the surface of the wall.
"Before their bankruptcy, New Rome Studios spent a fortune building an elaborate set for an ill-fated TV game show called 'The Diamond Labyrinth'." he explained.
"Hey, I remember watching reruns of that show when I was a kid!" Duke eyes lit up with a nostalgic smile. "I actually thought it was kinda fire back then. How come they don't make shows like that anymore?"
"Higher standards probably." Batman muttered as he found what he was looking for: a concealed door that led to the backstage.
Duke wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or not.
The backstage area that the two entered was quite large and although all the technical equipment was missing, there were still hollow set pieces and props. On both opposite sides of the room and along the walls were a set of three doors that probably led to the rest of the Labyrinth's themed rooms.
Seeing that his mentor didn't seem to budge an inch since entering the backstage area, Duke figured he might as well ask him something that had been nagging at him.
"So, how did you figure it out? I mean, the moment you saw that picture on the Batcomputer you knew it was some kind of message. That was a bust of Julius Caesar, right?"
"That alone was the tip off." Batman replied. "The whole thing was a Caesar Cipher."
"A Caesar Cipher?"
"A simple code where the letters are replaced by the next or preceding letters in the alphabet."
"Yeah, I know what a Caesar Cipher is but shouldn't there be a key and a message?"
The Dark Knight glowered on the spot.
"It was all right there in front of us."
Despite Duke not believing him, Batman meant it when he said it wasn't Duke's fault because he blamed himself far more. He felt angry with himself that he didn't figure it out sooner.
"'Two steps forward', a shift of two, A becomes C and so on. The message was the USB drive itself. If you read what's printed on top of it, it says 16-G-B-B-J followed by the copyright symbol, C. 16 represents the sixteenth alphabet."
"Okay, shift of 2. P is R, G is I, B is D…" Duke trailed off as he silently decoded the message mentally until he suddenly stiffened. "It spells-"
With a loud and sudden sound, the entire room lit up and a large holographic video feed was projected in front of them.
Standing tall in the translucent holographic haze was man decked out in a 3-piece green suit with purple tie, gloves and a green bowler hat. Both bowler hat and tie were embellished with a question mark and over his eyes was fitted a purple domino mask.
"RIDDLE me this, Batman…" the Riddler addressed while stylishly pointing at him with his question mark shaped cane.
"It lets you seize without a hand, it lets you repel with a hand. To eat from it would only feed someone else. What is it?"
"What do you want, Nygma!?" Batman demanded of him.
"Ah, ah, ah." tutted Riddler with a wagging finger. "Asking the questions is MY job. Come now, tell me the answer. It's an easy one."
"A hook." Duke spoke up.
The criminal's smug expression contorted into annoyance. He had planned for Batman to answer and after which he would've gone into a dramatic spiel about how he fell 'line and sinker' into his trap. With that moment now been derailed, he cast a conceited glance towards Duke.
"Oh. And who's this?"
"The Signal." Duke answered as he slammed a fist into his palm. "And I'm here to punch your lights out!"
Snootily sniffing in dismissal, Riddler addressing Batman again.
"Hm. I think I liked your partners a lot better when they had, shall we say, a more jarring color scheme."
"Enough! I'm not in the mood for your games!"
Riddler smiled slyly and chuckled.
"I'm afraid you'll have to be, Dark Knight. If you don't want me spilling all your little secrets to every corner of the internet. All those case files and so-called contingency plans…secrets can be dangerous things, am I right?...Bruce Wayne?"
Duke's eyes enlarged in shock and quickly turned them towards Batman only to see him just narrow his own eyes and remained as stony as ever. Riddler laughed at the sight of their reactions.
"Oh please! I actually figured that out a long time ago! I was never really interested in using your secret identity against you."
"And yet here you are."
The green-clad villain casually twirled his cane before hitting the butt of it on the floor, like a showman, with loud THUNK.
"I only care about the 'GAME', Batman. The duel of the minds! And as you might know, games are nothing without high stakes. All you have to do is beat my challenges and I'll save your pet hacker the trouble by returning all your data."
"And how do we know you're just not full of it!?" Duke asked accusingly.
The Riddler's lips greasily stretched into a wide grin as he rested the cane on his shoulder.
"That my yellow friend, is for you to find out. So what do you say? Are you in?"
Batman continued to scowl.
"I'll take that as a yes."
And with that, the holographic projection blinked out.
"Think he'll do as he says?" asked Duke.
"Hard to say." Batman said. "Nothing is ever simple with Nygma, it's in his nature."
A sudden sound diverted Duke's attention and he looked to see that one of the doors in the room was open and highlighted by the bright glow of the light above it.
"I guess we go that way."
When the two heroes entered through the doorway, they found themselves in a in narrow room designed like a medieval dungeon. Right in front on them was cabinet-like device similar to an ATM: with an LCD screen and a keypad. But the most striking this was what was on top of it.
Duke looked up to see an obsidian statue depicting a hunched grim reaper-like figure carrying a large sack on his back while its skull face grinned evilly down at him. On the base of the statue was a plaque with the written words:
'I AM ONE SHORT OF A JESTING SNEER,
I BRING DEATH SEVEN TIMES A YEAR'
"Creepy…" he grimaced.
"It's 31." Batman said.
"Huh?"
"Death' could be interpreted as an 'end to something'. 'Seven times a year', as in the seven months that end in 31 days. As for the first verse, a sneer or a smile needs 32 teeth. 'One short' of that is also 31."
Confident with the answer, Batman entered it on the keypad and sure enough, a mechanism triggered where the booth sank down into the opening on the ground which was then sealed off by a trap door. After that, another door in the room opened, beckoning the two crimefighters to continue on; it was apparent that more puzzles awaited them.
But as they continued on, Duke decided ask Batman another question that was on his mind.
"So what did you mean when you said 'it's in his nature'?"
"Edward Nygma is dangerously smart but the only things that hold him back are his arrogance and compulsions. He's obsessed with the so-called 'game' between us. No matter how much of an advantage he has, he always leaves a clue thinking nobody will ever figure it out."
"But you always do."
"So far." Batman let out a weary breath.
Soon they found themselves in another themed room with another puzzle machine. After solving that, the door opened to another room of the Labyrinth where another puzzle awaited them. Then another and another, and so the process repeated. It was honestly starting to get on Duke's nerves; they had solved six cabinet machines so far and he found the riddles getting progressively easier and easier. It was becoming more tedious than anything.
The next cabinet machine they came across had lit up square shaped touch panels arranged in a 3x3 grid, each panel being a different color laid out from left to right: red, purple, pink, blue, light blue, green, orange, yellow and gray. Also on each of those panels were pasted bold black letters which were arranged as:
ORJ
PSK
QTL
The plaque on top of the machine read…
'SOME SOLUTIONS ARE AS PLAIN AS DAY,
PRESS THE PANEL THAT IS IN-BETWEEN P AND K.'
"Is he being for real right now?" Duke grunted in exasperation.
"Hm?" Batman turned his head to him.
"It's obviously not the center panel so it's got to be the one at the top right. Because 'in' between P and K is pink!"
Much to Duke's surprise, Batman seemed to only somewhat agree, crossing his arms with a closed index finger against his jaw to give it some thought.
"That's certainly reasonable."
"There's no way that's not the right answer. Yeah relax, I got this."
With a smile of confidence, Duke strode up to the machine to touch the panel while Batman remained pensive on the spot.
If this was a straight forward riddle then the pink panel did seem to be to be correct answer. Knowing The Riddler's MO, this was the kind of riddle he'd have a penchant for. But then what about the first verse?
"Plain as day…" Batman recited in his mind before his eyes suddenly popped open in realization.
"Duke, wait!"
It was too late. Just as Duke pressed the pink panel, the boy screamed as the trap door gave way from under him and send him falling through the dark shaft below.
"DUKE!"
Batman dove to grab his hand but by then, Duke had already disappeared.
"Oopsie! Ha! Ha! Ha! You really ought to teach that kid to have some patience." Riddler's hologram materialized behind him. "Though I can't say I'm not glad that little eye-sore is gone."
"Where is he, Nygma!?" Batman spun towards him in anger.
The Riddle paid him no mind and continued to gloat with a smug grin.
"The center panel was the correct one, of course. Didn't think I had it in me, did you? That I could made a trick riddle like that, that I could condition your brain so you might slip up. Contrary what to what you might think of me, I'm a lot more flexible than you think!"
"Where. Is. He!?"
Even though he was only speaking to a hologram, Batman got into his face with a threatening growl. But Riddler knew that the Caped Crusader was in no position to make threats and only regarded him with a raised brow.
"Fine, enough with the warm ups. If you want him back, you're going to have to play for him."
On cue, a nearby door swung open with the light above highlighting it. Riddler gestured with a bow while pointing his cane and free hand towards the exit.
"It's time for the main event!" he declared.
Batman remained on the spot for a moment, regarding the hologram with suspicion but then he silently turned away and entered through the door as instructed.
From behind him, the hologram of Edward Nygma smiled like a wily fox. There were a few bumps in the plan and it didn't go exactly as he expected but he couldn't have asked for a better outcome. And he had his new partner to thank for that.
It began two months ago not long after Edward's escape from Arkham. Getting out of there was child's play for him but re-cobbling his computer systems and resources proved to be another challenge all together, something he had the Bat to thank for.
He was still seething from his defeat and humiliation from the Dark Knight and was ready to devise his next caper when something strange had popped up on his computer screen.
Much to his surprise, a chat window opened up and displayed before him a simple message:
[Have you ever felt that you were born into the wrong world?]
Needless to say, it certainly grabbed his attention.
[Who is this?] Edward typed.
There was no response.
The sender had no name and any attempt to track his IP went nowhere. Being a man who prided himself with having all the answers, one might say that Edward found himself very irritated by this unknown person who had somehow hacked into his system.
But at the same time, he couldn't say that he wasn't intrigued by both the identity of this person and the question he posed. He may pride himself with knowing all the answers but that often came with a burning curiosity.
And so, after a few attempts to goad the hacker into a conversation with him, he finally got a reply.
This person identified himself as 'Tet' and he claimed to be a huge fan of the Riddler. He had been watching him closely, following his exploits and crimes in the news and message boards. He apologized for not responding right away, saying that only reason he didn't was because he felt nervous meeting his idol.
Naturally, Edward got a big head from that but Tet's earlier question remained at the forefront of his attention.
[About your question, are you asking hypothetically?] Edward asked.
[You might say that.] Tet replied and further chat lines appeared.
[This world is chaotic, unreasonable and unfair. It has no meaning or value and yet people don't accept this even though they know they can't change anything. Wouldn't you agree?]
With a frown and a bitter feeling in his heart, Edward told him that he would. He had always felt that the world had indeed always been unfair to him; from his dimwitted father who abused him to the other Neanderthals in this city who refuse to appreciate his genius and lock him up because they think he's 'crazy'.
Time flew by as Tet continued to converse with him and the more Edward learned about him, he couldn't help but feel a kinship.
From what he was able to surmise, this person was highly intelligent and most likely lived in isolation and loneliness. Like him, he seemed to exhibit a distaste for society; seeing it as a broken game with too many parameters and no clear rules.
After a little prodding, Tet finally came to the heart of the matter.
[What if I told you that there's a world out there that was a better fit for genius like you? A world where everything is decided by games. A world on a board with clear-cut objectives and rules. A world where only the smartest would be king. Would you abandon this world for something like that?]
Edward stared at the glowing text in rapt contemplation for almost two minutes. At first, it seemed like he didn't know what to make of it; was this still a hypothetically question? Or was it actually a riddle or some kind? What was Tet really asking him?
His mind spun until finally, a wistful smile settled on his face before he typed his answer.
[Well, if something like that really did exist, then I can't say I'm not tempted. But I don't think I could even if I wanted to.]
[Why not?] Tet asked.
[Riddle me this…] Edward smirked as he continued to type.
[His first is in awry,
But not in askew,
His second and third are before six,
But not before two,
And his fourth and last is sung in reverse,
When you know your cue.]
[Who is he?]
A few seconds ticked by until Tet had at last responded.
[A Rival?]
[Indeed. You are quite clever, Tet.] Edward acknowledged.
The Riddler's smile faded and was replaced by a darkened expression as he typed furiously.
[As much as I despise this city of brainless monkeys, that man is the only one worthy of a little game between us. And until I have finally bested him, I don't think I could bring myself to leave.]
There was another pause before Tet reply appeared.
[Then we should settle that matter first, shouldn't we?]
With his brows raised in curiosity, the Riddler typed back to him in a tentative manner.
[What are you proposing exactly?]
"Ah, you made it." The Riddler's voice sounded through a speaker system.
When Batman emerged from the doorway, he found himself inside an enormous space that spanned several meters across. He was on a viewing platform that had a chair in front of a wide glass window pane. From behind the glass, he could see that it was facing an identical viewing platform a distance away where Riddler stood by his chair, in the flesh this time.
The crimefighter's glare angled down towards the chasm between them and there below, he could see that the viewing platforms were overlooking a huge chess board complete with large chess pieces. One particular piece caught his attention: a black king piece where Duke was tied and shackled against it.
"Batman? Is that you?" Duke called out
The young hero swerved his head around, his helmet was removed and eyes covered by a visor like device that Batman surmised was cutting off his extrasensory vision. Riddler must've seen what he was capable of and decided to take measures.
"Let him go, Riddler!" Batman yelled out.
"Weren't you paying attention?"
Riddler responded from his viewing platform, with his voice being relayed through a speaker on Batman's side.
"I already told you: you're going to have to play for him. Him AND your files. Isn't the game more interesting now that we upped the ante?"
"What's the point of all this anyway? If you already knew who I was, you could've gotten to me sooner. Why the charade involving Cromwell? An innocent man was killed!"
"So many questions." Riddler hummed coyly. "Now what good is a riddle if I gave away all the answers, hm?"
Seeing that the Caped Crusader was only able to glare at him from the other side only heightened how much the green-clad villain was enjoying this.
"But since I'm a good sport, I give you just one. What is the point, you ask? The point of everything up till now has been designed to lead up to this one moment."
Riddler paced around raving in manner that began dramatically but slowly descended into frustrated rage.
"The grand finale. The ultimate showdown. The final portion of the game that'll make you pay for all the humiliation you put me through and prove once and for all which one of us is the smartest!"
Batman ignored his ranting and cast his white steely eyes over the elaborate set below. It was apparent what this 'final game' Riddler had in mind was.
"Chess…"
"A fitting battleground for our duel, wouldn't you say? No elaborate gimmicks here, simplicity at it's finest."
"I've beaten you at this game before." Batman stated, looking back towards him.
"Oh wait, maybe I was too hasty with the term 'simplicity'. There's just one little thing."
"Which is?"
Riddler grinned and seated himself leisurely with his hand resting on his cane.
"Here are the rules: after every move I make, I ask you a riddle. Only AFTER you give the answer can you make your move. You'll have thirty seconds on the clock to do both."
Batman noticed that there was a device resembling an alarm clock fixed on the side of the chair. No doubt that it was a timer and that he needed to press the button on top of it to reset the timer after each move he made.
"If you answer wrong or fail to move before the timer runs out,…"
On cue, a medium-sized panel extended out of Riddler's chair and opened in front of him. On that panel was a red button which he threateningly hovered his finger over.
"Then Yellow Robin dies."
"The name's Signal!" Duke barked.
"Whatever." Riddler responded dismissively.
"Forget about me, Batman! Just take him down!"
"Quiet you!"
Riddler coughed before continuing.
"Now, unless there are any objections, I decided for you to play the black side of the board. I figured it's more your color anyway."
For a while, Batman didn't seem to move a muscle. He took stock in all his options before him. Obviously there was something fishy about this whole setup but he wasn't sure what it was. Regardless, one thing was definite was that Duke's life now hung in the balance and that Riddler still held the upper hand. The only path forward was to play by his rules and work his way from there.
"Let's just get this over with." Batman said as he took his seat.
With a grin, Riddler made his first move.
"Pawn to D4. I have barrel that is never full, a hammer that doesn't miss, a book that is thin and a way to the abyss."
As Batman assumed, the white piece on the board moved to its designated spot, confirming that the mechanism was operated by voice command. On cue, the timer fixed to the side of his chair began to count down. Surprisingly, Batman found himself paused; something about that first felt off to him.
"A Blackmar-Diemer gambit? He has never played that opening before. What's he up to?"
"I'm waiting, Batman." Riddler goaded him.
With the timer ticking halfway done, Batman put that mental query aside and decided to make his play.
"A gun."
"Hm? What was that?" Riddler mockingly asked while cupping his ear.
"I said a gun! Knight to F6." he grunted before hitting the timer reset button.
"Knight to C3. The sum of my parts will never be eleven,
But the sum of my opposites be always be seven."
"A Dice. Pawn to G6."
From there the game went on steadily, with both of them advancing and developing their pieces. But throughout that time, Batman couldn't help but feel that something was bothering him. He was well accustomed to Riddler's play style but the moves being played seemed different.
It was on the 11th turn when he first witnessed the nature of how captures are done in this game.
"Pawn H5 takes Pawn G6."
With the Riddler's command, Batman's pawn was destroyed in a small explosion before Riddler's white pawn took its place. Batman glanced towards his king where Duke was held and the unease at the pit of his stomach grew heavier.
Riddler gave his next riddle.
"I was battered and beaten, Like an unwanted cretin,…"
"I wish." Batman thought.
"Yet I rise in the morning, Without any scorning. What am I?"
There was no time to let himself get worried right now, he had to focus.
"Bread. Pawn F7 takes Pawn G6."
Two turns later and Riddler takes out another of Batman's pawn with his rook but Batman countered by taking it out with his own rook at the king side of the board. But in the next turn…
"Bishop D3 takes Pawn G6. Check! I anchor tall towers, I am cause and effect, some say I'm a radical but I would never deject."
The king was now at risk. Batman knew that Riddler was trying to pressure him by endangering Duke but he wasn't worried. He had calculated that in a few more moves, Nygma would exhaust his offense and leave him with the opportunity to develop his pieces while also evacuating his king.
"A Root. King to E7."
He could see Duke stiffen with a start as the large piece he was tied to moved. It was apparent that the boy couldn't tell what was going on and all Batman could do was silently ask him to hang in there.
Now that Duke was safe from Riddler's Bishop, the green clad mastermind resorted to use it to take out Batman's rook but that left his piece nowhere else to go. Batman in turn, takes out one of Riddler's pawn with his own pawn.
And from there, the two opponents again took turns advancing their pieces with calculated intentions. It was a to and fro struggle with Riddler attempts at endangering Duke and Batman using his pieces to protect him and move him to safety.
As he did so, he was also advancing his pieces towards Riddler's own king and by his 27th turn, the time came to put the squeeze on him.
"A Clock. Knight C4 takes Bishop D2." Batman gave his answer and made his move.
After an explosion, Batman's knight was now a square away from Riddler's king. Granted, he felt he could've had a better advantage by playing his queen but his plan was to bait out the king so he could then check him with his bishop.
However, Riddler gave a confident slick smile and leaned back casually against his seat.
"Castle Queenside." he declared.
In a surprising turn, the king piece levitated and hovered two squares to the left while the white rook moved under it until the pieces swapped sides.
"What is greater than a king but lesser than his palace?" Riddler asked.
Batman couldn't help but pause, trying to process what just happened. It was indeed a legal move and it was a move just derailed his strategy. With the Riddler securing his king, he can now act undeterred and put Batman's pieces in danger.
"Oh come on, even a child can answer that one." he could hear Riddler taunting him.
The Dark Knight glanced over to the clock and could see the timer was only a few ticks away from zero. He had make a decision now.
"An Ace. Queen to F6." he said through grit teeth as he hit the timer reset button.
Unlike him, Riddler did not have a time limit to worry about and was showing off in his own subtle way by taking his time in his usual smug manner.
"Hmmm, now what shall I take away from you first? The knight or the bishop?"
This wasn't a bother for Batman as the more time Riddler took to gloat meant more time for him to figure out what was going on.
From their past encounters, Riddler had never played like this before and he had initially suspected that he was cheating by using an AI.
Except that Batman had played against AI players before and whoever was making these moves was definitely not an AI.
The other thing that was bothering him was the riddles themselves, there was something odd about them. More accurately, it was the answers to those riddles that he found strange.
Riddler finally decided to take out Batman's bishop with one of his knights since that piece posed a larger threat and the move not only positioned him to attack his opponent's last remaining rook, but set himself up to break down his opponent's defense.
There was an option for Batman to take Riddler's knight with his queen but if he did that, then Duke would be left defenseless.
The only choice he had was to position his only rook to E3 where it could potentially attack Riddler's queen. But it would seem that Riddler saw that coming.
"Knight to H5. I am the person you trust the most, I live without deceit, Yet I always flip the truth every time we meet."
With his other knight at hand, Riddler positioned it to attack Batman's own queen.
Rather than being taken aback, the Dark Knight's eyes narrowed in suspicion before he gave his answer before making his next move.
"A Mirror. Queen to G5."
After his piece moved out of danger, he abruptly spoke up before Riddler could make his next move.
"I'd like to interrupt to ask you something."
"Aw, need a breather do you?" Riddler said with mock pity.
But then, the villain crossed his arms behind his head while leaning back in a casual manner.
"But fine, I'm in a good mood. Ask away."
"This entire scheme of yours seemed to hinge itself on a few convenient conditions."
"Your point being?" Riddler asked in a bored tone.
"What would you have done had we not used the drive on the Batcomputer?"
"Is that all?" he laughed. "Give me some credit, Batman. My plans are a lot more multi-faceted than you might think. Whatever the conditions, I'm always two steps ahead of you."
"Two steps…" Batman voiced in his mind.
And then it hit him like a bolt of lightning. With his eyes widened in realization, Batman quickly recalled their match from the beginning and when he applied his newly found perspective, a pattern which he didn't notice before began to emerge.
"Could that really be it?" he wondered.
While he was preoccupied with his thoughts, Riddler spoke up in a doleful manner while tipping his hat forward so the rim could hide his eyes.
"Now, if you're done stalling, I'm saddened say that our game is almost at an end. It's too bad really, you were a worthy opponent."
But then he tilted his head back up with a toothy evil grin sported on his face.
"But then again, we both can't be winners. Queen to G4."
The large white chess piece glided itself over the board to its position and boxed in Batman's own queen. Riddler then gave what he was sure would be the one of last few riddles that Batman would ever hear from him.
"There's a place large enough to house all of mankind. There is another that can house a sizable population. But when the two are combined, it can only house a select few. What is that place?"
Despite the losing position he was in, Batman continued to mull on his epiphany. There was still the possibility that he was wrong and if he was, then Duke would die. But if he was right, then it would explain everything that has happened in this match till now. Should he even take that risk.
"Time's ticking…" Riddler taunted him.
He snapped out of his thoughts and looked over to the timer: Fifteen seconds left. He needed to make a decision.
Batman quickly scanned the board and he understood his predicament.
It was obvious to him that the point of Riddler's move was to force him to take his queen with his own. If he doesn't right away then Riddler could simply advance his pawn and allow his queen to check him in the next turn. Capturing the queen then would be pointless because said pawn was on the verge of being promoted to a second queen.
But if he did, Riddler's knight would be freed and on his next turn would not only check the King but would simultaneously endanger his queen.
Either way, all would be lost and he would fail to protect Duke.
3 seconds left.
Batman decided right then to play his ultimate gambit.
"A University. Pawn to B3."
With the timer reset button hit in time, a single black pawn on the board lumbered one square forward and then there was a stunned silence as Riddler looking over the board with a perplexed face.
"A pawn? That doesn't make any sense. What is he…?"
In the next instant, the green-clad villain slapped a hand over his mouth to muffle a gasp as his eyes enlarged in shock, scanning the board again in disbelief. It hadn't occurred to him what the significance of that move was until now.
Essentially, Batman had flipped the board on its head by creating a situation where if Riddler were to make any other move, then he would simply use that pawn to capture Riddler's pawn on the queen side of the board and be one turn away from promoting and checking his king. There was nowhere to run because both rook and bishop were within striking distance and could easily checkmate him.
However if Riddler decides to take out Batman's pawn with his own, then Batman can capture that position with his knight and check the king. Just as the other scenario, no matter where the king ran, he would be promptly checkmated eventually.
The Riddler was flabbergasted. How did this happen? How could he let this happen!? It had to be some kind of trick! Batman must be cheating in some way, that had to be it!
He glanced towards the panel in front of him. Unbeknownst to Batman, the panel had more than a single button. There was in fact also a small keyboard and monitor that displayed lines of a chat log.
Riddler subtlety moved hand there and quickly typed.
[Tet, you better let me take control. I think he's on to us.]
There was no response.
[Tet! What are you doing!?] Riddler typed again.
"Your move." Batman suddenly spoke up, startling him.
"Um, y-yes, yes." Riddler nervously regained his composure. "Round as a button, Deep as a well. If you want me to-"
"A third person."
"Ah-"
Riddler was taken aback by the sudden answer but regained his cool when he processed what was actually said.
"I'm sorry but that answer is incorrect." he said to him.
"I'm referring to your OTHER riddle." Batman calmly stated.
"What other riddle?"
"Poor deluded Edward." Batman shook his head in contemptuous pity. "Even when you have the upper hand, you just can't help yourself."
"What are you blathering on about!?" Riddler yelled in anger.
"Another Caesar Cipher. Two steps. That's the real riddle you've been hiding, wasn't it?"
Riddler's eyebrows jumped.
"All those riddles you've been giving me? They were clues. Take the first letter of each answer and then shift the letter by two, it spells it out."
The Master of Riddles couldn't believe his ears, even after mentally confirming what Batman said. A part of him hadn't even been aware that due to his compulsions, he was subconsciously disguising the true answer. Still in denial, he stood and pointed an accusing finger toward his foe.
"YOU'RE the one being deluded! Losing has clearly made you lose your mind as well, that's what's going on!"
"'IF I'M NOT HIDDEN, THEN I BECOME THE CROWD'." Batman recited, loud and clear.
The words made Riddler choke and reel back.
"That's what it spells out. The answer is…'A third person'. I've been playing against somebody else this whole time, haven't I?"
"T-that's…n-none that matters!" Riddler declared after struggling to find his words. "You haven't been playing fair, Batman! You broke the rules! And for that, your yellow friend must pay!"
Without hesitation, Riddler pressed the button on his panel.
But nothing happened.
"What?" Riddler voiced in confusion before pressing the button again repeatedly.
His attention was drawn to the board when his white pawn suddenly moved one square to A3.
"Looks like your partner wants to keep playing." said Batman.
"Tet!? What are you doing!?" Riddler yelled aloud.
"Tet?" Batman wondered.
The Dark Knight decided to set his curiosity aside and continue to play, leaning back and steepling his hands like a Machiavellian.
"Rook to C3."
Riddler flinched again, seeing that Batman was again one turn away from a getting a checkmate.
"Stop that! You're cheating!" he exclaimed. "You can't keep playing without the rules! This is a farce!"
As he ranted, Tet moved his pawn and destroyed Batman's rook but the Caped Crusader wasn't worried.
"The rules were a farce in the first place, you made sure of that." Batman stated mercilessly. "Pawn D4 takes Pawn C3"
"TET!" Riddler roared in frustration and even proceeded to repeatedly hit at the panel with his cane.
The game went on undeterred.
"That's the most predictable thing about you, Nygma. Bishop to D3."
Batman continued to speak as he casually made his moves.
"At the end of the day, behind all those smarts,-Knight takes Pawn B3. Check."
His white eyes narrowed.
"You're nothing but a self-absorbed conman. Queen to C1. Checkmate."
Throughout the entire game, Duke had been listening to the moves being played and had been mentally monitoring the whole board. He felt relief that Batman had at last won and assumed that the events from then would be pretty straight forward.
However, what happened next was anything but straight forward. It was something that none of them could ever see coming.
It started with the small monitor on the panel attached to Riddler's chair. The display had suddenly flashed to a dark static. At first, Nygma thought his cane-wacking had finally broke the accursed thing but then he noticed that it wasn't just the screen; there was static everywhere. The floor, the ceiling, the walls!
Batman rose from his seat with a start as this phenomenon spread all around him. It appeared like glitches one would see on a display screen, except there they were in real life rapidly flashing around the environment that seemed to dim and turn to pitch dark.
"What's going on? What's happening!?" Duke swiveled his head around in panic.
Despite Riddler's device cutting off his vision, Duke was still able to perceive something although he wasn't sure what it was. There were flashing colors in his mind's eye and an unease so terrible that he felt that his powers had gone haywire.
It wouldn't last for long; for unbeknownst to Duke, he began to also fade in the darkness.
With his mind in full alarm, Batman tensed himself up and looked for a means of escape but there didn't seem to be any. The floor underneath him had faded away and he seemed to be floating towards the center of the room, same as the Riddler who looked just as confused as he was.
High up between them was where an object materialized: it was a crystal-like dodecahedron with a star shape on its centers and symmetrical gold fixtures on its poles that curled and ended with floating orbs at its points, like a question mark.
Batman and Riddler would learn much later that this powerful relic, that would define their fates, was known as the Suniaster.
And flanking the object was two giant beckoning hands.
"Ahaha!" a gleeful child-like laugh sounded around them.
"You were right about him, Eddie!" the voice said, surprising Riddler in the process. "He IS a worthy rival! But since you can't leave him behind, I figure the best solution is to just bring him along!"
As he spoke, Batman noticed thick red lines drawing around them in the shape of a box with them inside.
And then the box opened, sending the two costumed men hurtling down the stratosphere towards Terra Firma!
Riddler let out a long panicked scream as he clutched on to his bowler hat and cane while flailing his limbs about, the rushing winds causing his body to tumble.
Batman on the other hand, methodically drew his arms back to his sides and assumed the 'Delta Position' by angling his body downwards as he has done so many times in the past.
With his sights trained on the approaching ground, he found that the vast landscape below wasn't anything he had seen before.
It was a vibrant dream-like earth with faint glowing criss-crossing lines above it. He could see a floating island that was passed over by what looked like a dragon. And beyond the horizon along the mountains were giant towering chess pieces, particularly a monolithic king piece that towered over them all.
As he reiterated in his mind, it certainly wasn't anything he had seen before.
"Welcome to my world!"
He heard the same playful child-like voice from before and looked towards the source to see that somebody else was falling alongside them. Though, unlike Nygma, he seemed to be having fun doing so.
The person appeared to be young fair boy, far younger than Duke, with chin-length blonde hair and heterochromia eyes with one being blue and other green. Curiously, his pupils were shaped differently and resembled a diamond and a spade respectively. The playing card motifs didn't stop there: there was a heart symbol under his left eye and club shaped cap-pin fixed on his newsboy cap. The rest of his outfit appeared casual: red hoodie jacket over a light green t-shirt and blue shorts.
"This is the ideal world you have always dreamed of, Eddie!" the boy proclaimed cheerfully. "A world where everything from governance to people's lives are decided by games, Disboard!"
"T-Tet!?" Riddler exclaimed in disbelief.
"Yup, that's me! Sorry for not being totally honest with you. You see,…"
Tet spoke with cute innocence, closing his eyes and sticking an index finger against his cheek.
"I'm actually a god."
"A god?" Batman internally questioned.
"Oh! And that's my home over there!" Tet excitedly pointed towards the gigantic king chess piece.
"I don't care about where you live!" Riddler yelled in panic. "I need a parachute! Please!"
"In a minute." Tet held out his palms reassuringly. "Now, just like a game, there are rules here. Ten Covenants to be exact."
"FOR GOODNESS SAKE, CAN'T THAT WAIT!? I'M GONNA DIE!"
Ignoring Riddler's pleas, Tet listed them and closed each finger as he did so. Batman silently listened while maintaining a stoic expression and focusing his gaze on the boy.
"One: Murder, war, and stealing from others are strictly forbidden in this world. So no violence, okay?"
"Two: All conflicts, no matter how great or small, must be resolved through simple games."
"Three: Before beginning a game, each player must bet something that they agree is of equal value."
"Four: As long as it doesn't go against the third Covenant, anything can be bet and any game can be played."
"Five: The challenged party has the right to state the rules of the of the game."
"Six: Any bets made in accordance with the pledges must be upheld."
"Seven: Conflicts between groups will be conducted by appointed representatives with absolute authority."
"Eight: Being caught cheating during a game results in an instant loss."
"Nine: In the name of the One True God, that's me, the previous Covenants can never be changed."
"Finally, Ten: And this is the important one, Let's all have fun and play together! So good luck, you two. I'm expecting great things from you guys!"
And with those, Tet vanished as Riddler desperately called to him.
"TET! WAIT! Don't leave me here!"
As Nygma proceeded to scream again, Batman controlled his descent and positioned his body behind the green-clad villain.
Then, he took out a palm-sized device from his utility belt and held it over Riddler's back where it suddenly sprouted flat mechanical arms that fastened around his midsection. After he let go, the back of the gadget opened up and a white decompressed parachute shot out, causing the Riddler's body to lurch up and slowly descend.
Batman then expertly spread his cape and enabled its glide mode just a few feet from the ground, circling around the land before safely touching down on it.
The Dark Knight stood up, his cape billowing in the wind, and then swept his sights around the rocky landscape to get his bearings until he noticed Riddler's body drift and land behind him in a heap.
Soundlessly, Batman strode towards him as the man groaned and weakly pushed himself off the ground.
"Uuurgh, I feel ill. I think I'm going to toss my cookies…"
Riddler whined just before Batman roughly grabbed him by his suit's laple and yanked him up.
"What have you done, Nygma!?" Batman growled at him.
"I didn't do anything!"
"Don't play dumb! What is all this!? Some kind of virtual reality?"
Riddler struggled until he pulled out of Batman's grip with a huff.
"If I did something as obvious as that, you'd be the first to know. But I am honestly telling you that I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY OF THIS!" he screeched in aggravated frustration.
Batman looked around with scrutiny, taking note of the sun's heat on him, the bits of sand that shifted against his boots and the air that he was breathing.
"So then,…this is all real?" he asked.
"That's what I've been saying you long-eared dunderhead!"
Just as Riddler yelled, the cliff side next to them suddenly blew apart and caused Nygma to yelp in fright and fall on his rump, his hat being knocked back and his eyes behind his domino mask widening.
As Batman stood there with barely a reaction, a surge of red scales few up against the cliff side, scattering wind in the process, until the dragon undulated its serpentine body with a powerful roar and flew away like it was minding it own business.
"Hrm." was all that Batman said.
TBC