Riddle 011: Emphasis on CROSS in "Crossword"

[questionauthority]

[Edward's busily attending to a crossword puzzle in the kitchen. He muses over it before groaning in frustration and grabbing the phone.]

Has anyone else found the Daily Crosswords in Mayfield far too simple? Literally, for the last three days in a row, I've been finding them incredibly underwhelming. Come on now, Mayfield. Yesterday was Saturday, and what did we get? Tuesday quality. Garbage. Even the Gotham Gazette's Mondays could be considered more of a challenge than this!

Does anyone happen to know who even runs the paper? [He groans.]

[Filter to Joker, Harley, and Pam:]

I'm still in need of some assistance, old friends. Joker? Pam? Have you changed your minds?

[Also, action, to Susan:]

Susan! Might I have a word with you?

Comments

[puzzlerprince.livejournal.com]

[Edward glances up, briefly distracted. After a moment's pause, he returns to his work. Seven-letter word for Dr. Frankenstein's ghastly creation. "M-O-N-S-T-E-R."]

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

[Little by little, he leans forward. His gaze dips momentarily to peer at the paper, then returns back to Edward.

The tapping gets slightly faster but remains quiet.]

...Have you met one before?

[puzzlerprince.livejournal.com]

[At this point, Eddie's already on 16, down: Six-letter word for a pain in the neck. "B-O-T-H-E---"

He stops before he finishes his answer, glancing up at Slugger.]

Come again?

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

Monsters. Do you know any?

[puzzlerprince.livejournal.com]

[He sits back in his chair, a thoughtful look on his face.]

Yes. Yes, I suppose I do.

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

[The tapping ceases.]

Who?

[puzzlerprince.livejournal.com]

[He takes a long breath.]

I suppose I've never told you this before, but the town I come from is full of monsters.

[He thinks back to all the men and women he knows from Gotham. From his countless sentences in Arkham Asylum.]

For example, a man named Waylon Jones. Cursed with a horrible condition that made him a monster. His skin was almost reptilian. His teeth sharp like razors. By all means, the man was a freak of nature. Soon enough, he began to call himself "Killer Croc." Do you know what he does now?

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

Takes people apart. [Just a guess~]

[puzzlerprince.livejournal.com]

He eats them.

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

[Disgusting. He loves it.]

How did you meet him?

[puzzlerprince.livejournal.com]

Let's just say there's a place back home filled to the brim with strange men like him. I've had the misfortune of being cast into that same location with these men. If you could call them "men." But the Killer Croc? He isn't the greatest monster I've ever met. I know plenty more.

Like Victor Szasz, a nihilist who believes it is his sole mission to exterminate everyone. He carves a tally into his body after every act of murder he commits. Disgusting. Crude. But I suppose you'd condone something like that, wouldn't you?

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

[This warrants a shrug. To paraphrase a statement made by his "great-grandfather"--] I reserve judgment.

[There is something else that has captured his attention, something having to do with Eddie himself. Slugger folds his arms upon the tabletop and watches the man, eyes shaded beneath the bill of his cap.]

Why were you cast into "that place" with them?

[puzzlerprince.livejournal.com]

[...he doubts he'd be able to hide it from Slugger much longer.]

Fine. I suppose I'll be honest with you. I'd done some terrible things back then. They saw fit to lock me in there with them.

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

[Imprisonment. For the first time, Slugger's interest in Eddie has gone beyond its usual scope of intimidation and torment. Vestiges of a grin are beginning to form as he presses his luck just a bit further.]

What kinds of terrible things?

[puzzlerprince.livejournal.com]

[Oh, why does he get the feeling he's going to regret this forever?]

Nothing on par with eating people or murdering them viciously.

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

[Slugger considers this.]

Murdering them peacefully, then?

[puzzlerprince.livejournal.com]

[Damn that compulsive honesty of his. It pops up at literally the worst times.]

I'm no murderer, Slugger. I was never about murder.

[At least, not an outright murderer.]

Needless to say... I was quite the criminal mastermind back home. I would commit any sort of daring crime, leaving my enemies nothing but clues. Riddles. A means for them to try and anticipate my next move. A test, really.

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

[It's that compulsive honesty that's making this such an interesting conversation. Slugger is almost surprised at how much he's learned in a single sitting, though it helps that the genius-types (at least the ones he's met so far) seem to have a weakness for gloating. Either that or they're highly skilled at lying; sometimes he can't tell.]

So. You're about instigating.

[The leaf-green suit should've been a dead giveaway...]

[puzzlerprince.livejournal.com]

[Sob.]

You could say that. All I wanted was to prove myself smarter than those other dullards back home. Yet I wanted to find someone able to keep up with me.

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

[Making the tests and leaving the clues is one thing but...]

How good are you at solving problems?

[Crossword puzzles don't count.]

[puzzlerprince.livejournal.com]

Well, I'll have you know that during my rehabilitation, I was considered to be "cured." Shortly after, I became a private investigator. So you could say I'm just as good at solving problems as I was at creating them.

[That's not to say he's still cured, though...]

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

[It would turn out that Slugger's worst enemy back home was an investigator. Ex-investigator, actually, thanks to him.]

Was there ever a case you couldn't solve?

[puzzlerprince.livejournal.com]

[Oh goodie. Something they can bond over, I'm sure.]

Well... there were plenty I solved, though someone else maintains that they solved them first. ...a thorn in my side, no matter what side of the law I'm on.

[strike-you-out.livejournal.com]

[They can also discuss Radar Man and Batman and who is more annoying of the two.]

...What about Mayfield. Think you can solve it?

[puzzlerprince.livejournal.com]

[Sounds excellent!]

I know I can solve it.