questionauthority: (Ruh-roh)
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?]
gotmorbucks: (why are you such a skeeze?)

[personal profile] gotmorbucks 2011-07-05 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
It's really annoying. Every so often, I imagine being just like everyone else, just as normal and powerless as everyone else and...

Well. You and I both know they're not real. Right?

[identity profile] deaths-heritor.livejournal.com 2011-07-05 03:26 am (UTC)(link)
I said, the last time we had any time off was when we went to Westport for the summer BBQ. I'm sure you remember - You sang the national anthem quite well after downing those six-packs.

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-05 06:00 am (UTC)(link)
[It's not exactly easy for Edward, either. It's bad enough with only one voice in the back of his head constantly asking him questions. It's another thing entirely to have two. Two separate lives, two separate voices, all asking the same questions. What's real? What isn't? No question can remain unanswered---it's against his nature. If it's bad enough dealing with only two voices, he muses, he can hardly imagine what Schuldig must be going through right now---though he gets a bit of a better idea when he enters the classroom and catches sight of the telepath behind the desk.]

You're in my seat.

[It is indeed a reversal of the last time they'd met here. Hard to believe that only years ago, Keane had been one of his cleverest students and a romantic rival---of course it's hard to believe, you idiot, it didn't happen. He taunted you, toyed with you, and you'd put a bullet in his brain. Focus, Edward.]

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-05 06:07 am (UTC)(link)
I... [He shakes his head to clear it.] They'd given me everything I'd wanted on Christmas, hadn't they? [No. No, they hadn't---]

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-05 06:22 am (UTC)(link)
[Sister. Right, Edward has met his sister. Maybe Ema's right. Maybe he did hit his head. Like Slugger's bat connecting with the back of his skull once again---Don't be ridiculous, Eddie, your son admires you. He'd never do a thing to hurt you.]

I...

[identity profile] brotherseyes.livejournal.com 2011-07-05 10:14 am (UTC)(link)
No! They twisted your desires. They turned you into someone you didn't want to be. They destroyed your real memories. They turned you into someone else. Now they're trying to turn you into someone else again! Remember?

Remember?

[Her voice is pleading. She doesn't want to see anyone lost to this. Not one person.]
Edited 2011-07-05 10:18 (UTC)

[identity profile] demonoaths.livejournal.com 2011-07-05 11:00 am (UTC)(link)
[He recognizes that voice. Momentarily, the memory is forgotten in favor of him pointing at the poor guy.]

You're the ethics teacher at the local high school, aren't you?!

[A small part of him, the one that's trying to remember, wonders just how he knows this. Or perhaps he's heard him telling riddles over the phones--rather easy ones, really, which is an insult to his 1.8 million IQ. And again he wonders where that one came from.

Aloud, he says...]


1.8 million?
notasidedick: (holy hell)

[personal profile] notasidedick 2011-07-05 04:01 pm (UTC)(link)
[It feels like there's more to today then they know yet.]

A city and an entire lifestyle. It's pretty vivid for just a dream though. [Maybe it isn't a dream.] I was thinking of buying sparklers for the children then seeing if the neighbors wanted to join in a small get together. This holiday is a good day for getting to know each other. [But he already knows his neighbors doesn't he? But why does he feel like he barely knows them.]
Edited 2011-07-05 16:02 (UTC)

[identity profile] greatestmanll40.livejournal.com 2011-07-05 06:40 pm (UTC)(link)
By no means I am.

But I find your philisophical positing on this wonderful holiday to be a bit... off.

phone; 25% sorry I am a snail aflsdj.

[identity profile] godmodcomplex.livejournal.com 2011-07-06 02:20 am (UTC)(link)
It's an interesting little hitch to have... isn't it.

[identity profile] glowing-science.livejournal.com 2011-07-06 03:16 am (UTC)(link)
...

Edward?

Do I need to come over there? Or send Keane?

[Because she'd refer to him by his given name, not his self-proclaimed one. IGNORE THE GOOF EARLIER IN THIS THREAD, I'M AN IDIOT.]

[identity profile] uranophobe.livejournal.com 2011-07-06 12:35 pm (UTC)(link)
If that's true, I'm rather glad I missed it. [but oh it must've been hilarious]

[identity profile] have-your-lives.livejournal.com 2011-07-06 11:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[This prompts Schuldig (or Keane, or whoever the hell he thinks he is right now and even he's not entirely clear on this point) to look up. The look in his eyes is not a pleasant one - though, for once, it's not due to any trace of menace or malice. It's unpleasant in the way that watching a bomb timer tick down is unpleasant. Something very destructive is going to happen very soon, and at uncomfortable proximity.

He can practically be seen clinging to sanity by his fingertips.]


...that's what you're worried about right now? [Easier to ask a question that both halves of his mind agree on, for the moment. He makes no move to get up.]

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-11 03:59 am (UTC)(link)
[He takes the cane in hand, very vaguely remembering the instructions he'd given Hiccup. Make sure it includes a---]

When did I order this?

I am the snailiest of the snails.

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-11 04:03 am (UTC)(link)
Then you're remembering things as well.
worstvikingever: (yummy feesh?)

[personal profile] worstvikingever 2011-07-11 04:05 am (UTC)(link)
[Hiccup hesitates, fighting through memories to find the right one.]

It was... before... before the week when everyone got letters to kill each other. I think. I'm... pretty sure...

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-11 07:44 am (UTC)(link)
[It only figures that Schuldig would give him attitude right now. The drone half of Edward seems so hurt to see Keane suffering like this... With another shake of his head, Edward pulls up a seat opposite the desk.]

You said you wanted to talk? Well, then. Start talking.

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-11 07:51 am (UTC)(link)
1.8 million... EQ. Not IQ. EQ. That was what you had said before, wasn't it?

What else do you remember?

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-11 08:03 am (UTC)(link)
[That's right. It adds up. He gives Hiccup a curt nod.]

...my thanks.

[identity profile] demonoaths.livejournal.com 2011-07-11 10:13 am (UTC)(link)
['Scuse him, he'll just breathe deeply before replying with a snappy:]

It's none of your business.
worstvikingever: (well that's majorly unfortunate)

[personal profile] worstvikingever 2011-07-11 05:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[Hiccup shifts his weight between his good leg and his prosthetic nervously, distractedly.]

You're welcome. If there's anything that needs fixing or just isn't the way you want it let me know and I'll try to fix it.

we can be snail-bros.

[identity profile] godmodcomplex.livejournal.com 2011-07-12 09:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Of the more foolish variety. My memories are something I created a lifestyle around. [ A short pause, then a wry tone. ] If I remember correctly.

[identity profile] have-your-lives.livejournal.com 2011-07-23 08:20 pm (UTC)(link)
[This prompts a short, sharp laugh.] For once, I don't know what to say.

There are two halves of me, Edward. Two people, two different names. And they're both equally convinced they're insane. [He meets Edward's gaze, holding it with almost feverish intensity.] But one half thinks you'll pull me back from the edge, while the other thinks you'd be more than happy to shove me off. I almost don't care which.

I...used to have Crawford for this. [Schuldig has come decidedly to the fore, at least for the moment. And, in that moment, his hand moves to Edward's desk drawer - to where the gun had been last time. It's not there now, to his disappointment, but - yes, he has his own. Keane wouldn't own a gun but Schuldig always carries one. He reaches into his coat and pulls it out, setting it on the desk an equal distance between them - an open, wordless invitation.]

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-29 11:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[Edward's eyes flicker down to the gun, a feeling of dread creeping down his spine. It doesn't take a genius or even the World's Greatest Detective to understand what Schuldig is asking of him. After taking a measured breath, he fixes Schuldig with a stern look.]

So that's why you've called me here, then? [To either pull Schuldig back from the edge or to shove him off... After a beat.] I'm not going to kill you.

[identity profile] have-your-lives.livejournal.com 2011-07-31 07:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[Schuldig's gaze snaps up to Edward's face, eyes narrowing as he misinterprets the reasons for the man's hesitation. His telepathy would normally prevent him from such missteps, but with both his and Edward's minds in such complete turmoil, it's hard for him to get any accurate reading.] Don't tell me you've forgotten who I am, Riddler. [His voice is harsher than usual; he clearly assumes Edward is holding back due to the mundane half of his memories, for Keane's sake, and is trying to push through those to Edward's real self and the hate he knows is there. He may...also be reminding himself, by speaking his thoughts aloud.] I am Schuldig. A telepath of Schwarz. A monster even by a criminal's standards, remember? A man who's threatened you, and Ema, and more people than you've ever met. Someone you've already killed. Why would you hesitate now?

[And then a dark thought occurs, which says a lot about Schuldig's mind and how it works, to say nothing of what he expects from the world.] ...unless you want to see me suffer.

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