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Edward Nigma | The Riddler ([personal profile] questionauthority) wrote2011-07-03 11:56 pm

Riddle 030: Half-Life (50% Droning)

[A - ACTION: The Kitchen of 726 Anderson Lane.

Eddie's in the middle of preparing a nice, hearty breakfast for his family. Question: How best to spend this Fourth of July? Take his beautiful wife and kids out for a picnic in John Doe Park? Maybe see if Jonathan and his family want to come along? Honestly? It's days like this that it feels pretty damn good to be Edward Nashton.

Wait. That... isn't right. It's Nigma. Edward Nigma. He'd taken that name to get as far away from that miserable childhood as possible. ...hadn't he? No, all Eddie can think about now is a childhood here in Mayfield. His old man teaching him how to ride a bike. Playing catch with him in the backyard while Mrs. Nashton made her world-famous lemonade. The day he'd come racing home to tell his father he'd won a contest at school. And his father had been proud of him...

No. Stop it, Edward. You'd cheated that day, remember? Your father was never proud of you. That's why you strove to prove yourself better than everyone else, because you are better than everyone else. You're a genius. Cleverer than Crane. More intelligent than Lex Luthor. You've got bigger brains than Batman.

...and it's here that Edward Nashton---Nigma, dammit---comes to a haunting conclusion. There never was a Batman here in Mayfield, was there? There was never a reason for one. There was never a reason for the Riddler, either. All of a sudden, Eddie's feeling much less enthused about today.]


[B - PHONE: Shortly after breakfast.]

"Bury deep,
Pile on stones,
Yet I will
Dig up the bones."

Memories. Something... something isn't right. I'm starting to remember things that didn't happen. Things that should never have happened.

[Or should they have? What's wrong with the life Edward's leading here in Mayfield? For once in his pathetic life, he has the chance to be happy. Yet again, the Riddler is beginning to question himself.]

None of this is real. ...is it?

[C - ACTION: That afternoon, various places around town.

The Riddler needs to clear his head. Perhaps some of that fresh Mayfield air will do him some good. Those who bump into him may hear him reciting a little riddle to himself. Something to keep him anchored in all of this confusion.]


"Up a hill,
Down a hill,
Over them I may roam,
But after all my walking,
There's no place like my own."

[This neighborhood, these streets, this perfect little slice of American suburbia. This place is a far cry from Gotham. This place isn't truly home.

...right?]

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Schuldig.

[There's the usual sense of dread that comes with the idea of yet another discussion with the telepath. Yet there's a sense of warmth and fondness as well. What does Edward Nashton have to fear from one of his closest friends?]

Would you prefer we speak in person? [Surprisingly, Edward would. He'd prefer this over the phones, and he'd definitely prefer it over hearing Schuldig's voice inside his head again.]

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:29 pm (UTC)(link)
A riddle. To remind me of home.

[His real home. Mayf---Gotham. GOTHAM.]

[identity profile] un-beau-coquin.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:34 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't see why you'd need to remember home if you're already--

Non, non, tell me, monsieur-- where is your 'ome? Tell me about it, I am terribly curious.

[identity profile] have-your-lives.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:41 pm (UTC)(link)
[Keane feels confusion at that name, while Schuldig feels an odd degree of relief. Yes. Edward knows who he is. Who he's supposed to be. That's something to cling to, even if the notion of relying on Edward in any sense is distasteful to at least half of him.

It's vastly preferable to insanity.]


Yes. Your classroom. [School is out, but there's probably summer school or rec classes or something going on there, so they can probably get in. And if not...well, they're both more than capable of breaking in, right?

Part of him shies away from this criminal thought in shock, which sufficiently alarms the rest of him because is the goddamn Mastermind really cringing at something as harmless as a little breaking and entering?

The classroom. He fights to focus on that. It's important to go there. He died there. That isn't something he'll forget easily, and having Edward there as well will reinforce it. As good a grounding place as any.]
The sooner, the better.

C

[identity profile] flameyedhunter.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 08:50 pm (UTC)(link)
What are you talking about, mr Nigma?

[ Asks a girl who looks familiar, though her tone of voice is far sweeter as she approaches him from her porch. ]

[identity profile] deaths-heritor.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 09:03 pm (UTC)(link)
...Now, Edward. You should at least pretend to take a bite before you make that face.

[For a moment, her normal sarcastic expression flickers across her face.]

You aren't feeling ill, are you? We have such a busy day of fun ahead of us.

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 09:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[Fun? Since when did Susan know the first thing about fun?]

I'm not sick. I just feel... odd.

[identity profile] deaths-heritor.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 09:27 pm (UTC)(link)
It's because you stayed out so late last night, isn't it?

[She chides gently.]

I told you not to [try to avoid me anymore] -- ... to celebrate... too hard before the actual holiday...

[She looks vaguely confused for a moment before shaking her head.]

I'll find you some aspirin.

[identity profile] brotherseyes.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 09:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Don't you remember the last time this town made you think you were someone you weren't? It's done this to you before. Remember Christmas Day? Remember being Batman? Remember shooting my brother?

[Is it wrong, to force someone to relive painful and frightening memories? It probably is. But the alternative is to keep meaninglessly insisting it's not real without proof, or to simply let their memories disappear. And Nina won't do that.]

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 09:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[She remembers his real name.]

Shana. You were always good at answering my questions, weren't you?

[identity profile] tapshoetomove.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 09:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Right! Mom's cooking too, right? I can't wait!

[His eyes widen at the large stack of pancakes. For a brief second it reminds him of puzzle he once heard - no, that's silly. Why would he think that?]

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 09:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[He looks just as confused as she does.]

You don't have to go through any trouble for me, dear.

[No. No. Susan is not your wife. You're not even sure if she's your friend anymore, for that matter, given that you tried to---tried to---]

[identity profile] deaths-heritor.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 09:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Don't be silly; they're right in the cabinet... We've kept them here for years.

[She sounds slightly unsure of herself as she walks for the closet in the hallway just outside the dining room.]

Are Slugger and Luke still asleep?

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 09:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Mmhmm... They should be awake soon.

[Hopefully one of them will realize something's wrong since the usual voice of reason in the household doesn't seem to.]

[identity profile] poisonivyforyou.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 10:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Something you'd like to talk about?

[She could tell Ed was worse gone than she was. Or better, if something really was wrong about all this. About this city and the memories.]

You remember... right? Kindergarten. High school. You two beat my overgrown Dionaea muscipula at the science fair... didn't speak to you for a week.

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 10:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[He swallows a bit. It only makes sense why Schuldig would pick the classroom as a meeting place. After all, it was the place where he'd taught him---shot him.]

Be there in an hour.
notasidedick: (i'm thinkin so shut up)

[personal profile] notasidedick 2011-07-04 10:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Huh...well mayb- [He pauses. He remembers something familiar about this. But not in this setting. A dark city. What is that?] What...

Today is really weird...

We've always lived here haven't we? It was just a really weird dream. [Gotham. That couldn't be real. He shakes his head.] Are you doing anything with your family today? [Family. It sounds so wrong.]

[identity profile] flameyedhunter.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 10:46 pm (UTC)(link)
That's right! I've liked your class for the whole year thus far! I'm sorry it ended for the summer.

[ Wait a minute. Shana only showed up in January. Uh oh edward. ]

[identity profile] deaths-heritor.livejournal.com 2011-07-05 12:03 am (UTC)(link)
Wake them up if they're not down in a half hour, would you? I don't want them to miss even a moment of our family vacation.

[Susan will come up with the bottle of aspirin and hand it to her hubby before breezing back to the kitchen. She will pause for a moment before picking up a frying pan.]

After all, the last time we had any time off was back in Sto Helit.

[Wait. Where?]

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-05 12:40 am (UTC)(link)
"...the destruction of the dairy... all a joke..." [He reads over the words in his Case Log multiple times.] It had all been a joke, hadn't it?

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-05 12:44 am (UTC)(link)
It's in our minds. These memories are all in our minds whether they're real or not. Are they... are they going to stay there? What if these memories become the real ones? What happens to the old ones?

[identity profile] riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com 2011-07-05 12:44 am (UTC)(link)
I don't kn-... [His words were hesitant, something that very rarely if ever happened with Lancer.]

...yeah. We found everything we'd lost, I was back to full strength...and then it was just gone in a second.

Ah, what am I saying? Listen to me, I sound like I'm going crazy. Nothing like that ever happened--

[He cut himself off abruptly. No, he remembered--that was the same time he'd promised something to someone important. It had to have happened, otherwise he wouldn't have had that lingering sense of concern about her in the back of his mind.]

-Sorry about that. I can't seem to keep anything straight today; that crazy shit with the dairy, I know it must've happened.

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-05 12:45 am (UTC)(link)
[He nods in affirmation, muttering a soft "thanks" to Susan when she hands him off the bottle. Though the mention of Sto Helit definitely catches his attention.]

What was that?

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-05 12:48 am (UTC)(link)
[But it can't have been a---]

Dreams? [Yes, he'd been having strange dreams lately, hadn't he?] I was planning on taking Susan and the boys to see the fireworks tonight. You?

Switching to Action

[identity profile] have-your-lives.livejournal.com 2011-07-05 01:27 am (UTC)(link)
[Schuldig is there in half the time, and spends the rest waiting, mentally fighting with himself. It's not easy; a telepath's thoughts (and any others that might creep in unbidden) can be difficult to manage even at the best of times, and this is anything but. And right now, his mind is engaged in open war.

It would be so much easier to fight if the memories intruding upon what he's mostly certain is his reality weren't so...beguiling. Growing up happily, with no telepathy at all, and not a psychic boot camp in sight. Having a normal childhood, a normal education, normal relationships, normal friends, a normal girlfriend who had eventually become a normal wife. And, in practically every instance, 'normal' was synonymous with 'happy'. And that divides even the still-untouched parts of his mind - the Schuldig parts - further; part of him is disgusted by such suburban domesticity, such an ignorantly blissful and mundane life. But part of him...envies it. Wants to believe it. To take the memories so vastly superior to his own being offered.

But then he thinks of Schwarz. Of Rosenkrüs. Of everything he's endured, and oh isn't there a lot he's been put through. And the icy rage crystallizes his sanity for a few minutes longer.

When Edward finally shows up, Schuldig is sitting at his desk, head bowed, fingers tangled in wild red hair as he presses the heels of his hands to his temples. It's a reversal of the last time they'd met here.]

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