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?]

Phone

[identity profile] brotherseyes.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:03 am (UTC)(link)
NO. It's not real! None of it is!

[He's wavering, though. Nina doesn't want to see anyone lost to Mayfield's delusions. She has to think. Has to communicate with him on his level, if he's going to believe her.

Edward communicates in riddles, right?]


Edward. What's the biggest riddle of all? The most important--the biggest--the most unpredictable riddle?

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:07 am (UTC)(link)
[It sounds like Anna seems to be having some difficulties as well. Before he can question her further, though, she asks him a question.]

The biggest riddle of all...? The answer is life itself, clearly. Simple.

[And yet not simple at the same time.]

Phone, 100% droning (troll)

[identity profile] glowing-science.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:10 am (UTC)(link)
...of course it's real.

Why wouldn't it be? We grew up here. Are... are you feeling okay?

B; 50%, derp.

[identity profile] riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:13 am (UTC)(link)
I'm...remembering things too. Or I'm forgetting them. At this rate I don't know which is exactly the case.

It's like there's two answers to every question. Where I grew up, who I lived with, who my friends are...I don't know which answers are the right ones.

Something's wrong. Something I don't even understand yet.
Edited 2011-07-04 07:16 (UTC)
worstvikingever: (ohgodsnowhatisthat)

Phone - also at 50

[personal profile] worstvikingever 2011-07-04 07:13 am (UTC)(link)
Actually I've been wondering that too, Mr. Nash... no. Is that right? It's not right. It's... It's not right.

What's going on?

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:16 am (UTC)(link)
[No. No, not Ema, too. And from the sound of it, she's in an even worse state than he is.]

...I could ask you the same thing.

[He'll---he'll test her. She's got to remember.]

Look. I need you to tell me about something. And I want you to think carefully before you answer. Can you do that for me?

Phone

[identity profile] poisonivyforyou.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:16 am (UTC)(link)
[That's... Ed's voice. Her friend. They went to high school together they- she always said she hated him because he was one of the few able to outsmart her in most classes. Not in Botany, of course, but who could outsmart Pamela Isley in that field?

She cared about him a great deal.]

...Eddie? Is something wrong?

[Yet she felt... uneasy about this. Like there was something else, something... more she was forgetting.]

[identity profile] glowing-science.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:21 am (UTC)(link)
... is this really necessary?

[She sounds dubious. If she hadn't just insisted that they'd grown up in Mayfield, there'd be no indication that anything was amiss at all.]

But okay. If you insist. Although if this is going to be a riddle, I'm going to hang up on you.

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:21 am (UTC)(link)
There can only be one answer to this question. Is it real? Or isn't it? There can't possibly be more than one answer. It has to be another trick.

C - 100% Droning

[identity profile] thinkwportals.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:21 am (UTC)(link)


Afternoon, Eddie!



Thinking in riddles again, are we? It's home, right?

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:24 am (UTC)(link)
I wish I knew. You... you were about to call me something, weren't you?

[identity profile] riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:26 am (UTC)(link)
How are we supposed to know which one's the truth? Logically one of them has to be, I sure as hell didn't spend the same lifetime in two places at the same time.

But I know I've always lived here, and I also know that I lived somewhere else. They both feel like indisputable fact, but there's no way one's possible if the other's true.

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:27 am (UTC)(link)
It isn't. I'll need you to...

[Oh, god, is he really about to ask her this? Deep breaths, Ed.]

I want you to tell me about the first time I ever kissed you. Understand?
notasidedick: (after workout)

[C-Action] [@75%Droning] Screw you LJ.

[personal profile] notasidedick 2011-07-04 07:28 am (UTC)(link)
Nashton! [He's running up towards the other. He usually calls everyone by their first name, but this is different. Edward was his upperclassman. Someone he looked up to and respected wholeheartedly. But that isn't right is it...]

Nashton you aren't looking too good. [This conversation doesn't feel right.]

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:29 am (UTC)(link)
[Eddie whips around, caught off-guard. Someone else knows his name. And more importantly, Edward knows this voice. This is the man who dared to think he could replace Bruce. But instead of letting loose some snarky comment about the former Boy Wonder, he instead finds himself replying:]

I've felt better, Grayson.

[identity profile] glowing-science.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:33 am (UTC)(link)
W-what kind of a question is that?! It's been years and we're both married to other people. Why does it suddenly matter now?

What's gotten into you?

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:33 am (UTC)(link)
[Pam. If there's one rogue he knows with a level head, it's got to be her.]

Pam, you remember Gotham, don't you? You remember life outside of this town.

[Tell him he isn't crazy.]
notasidedick: (I've missed you)

[personal profile] notasidedick 2011-07-04 07:34 am (UTC)(link)
Really? [He laughs nervously.] I guess I could say the same thing.

[It's like a flash. He almost didn't realize it, but he remembers just briefly a dark city. A man in green. They look like Edward...but Edward was his upperclassmen.] What's on your mind?

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:35 am (UTC)(link)
[Wait. Years?!]

J-just answer the question.

A and 75%

[identity profile] tapshoetomove.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:35 am (UTC)(link)
[Luke wakes up and makes his way towards the kitchen for his usual routine of breakfast and the early morning crossword puzzle (strangely enough, solving crossword puzzles these days was a breeze for him, almost like he's solved them before or something).

But ever since he woke up there's something on his mind, strange dreams of London, a man in a top hat, people he thinks he should know but doesn't. Heck, he's never even been to London before, so he can't figure out the reason behind the dreams and why it feels so vivid to him.

He slides into the nearest chair, yawning and looking drowsy.]


Morning, papa.

[identity profile] poisonivyforyou.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:38 am (UTC)(link)
Gotham...

[The name fills her mouth, makes her feel... calm, and at home. That nagging feeling on the back of her head disappears, then it's back with more insistence, more urgency.

Like the confirmation something isn't... right. But the memories. They are real, they are there so it's. Better to just latch onto them for now.]

I don't understand- I never left this city. I was born in here...

...wasn't I?

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:41 am (UTC)(link)
[I's... the first time Edward's ever heard Chell speak.

No, it isn't. They've been friends since high school, you could never get her to shut up about anything, Ed---]


Wh-what did you just say...?

[identity profile] glowing-science.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:47 am (UTC)(link)
Okay, okay, fine.

[It's obvious that Ema's uncomfortable with the topic, but she huffs and answers it anyway.]

It wasn't long after I'd graduated high school. I'd just started nursing school and had come back to visit a few teachers back at the high school--including you. Especially you. You'd always been my favorite teacher and I had a bit of a crush on you. As it turned out, it wasn't one-sided like I'd thought; after telling me how proud of me you were for doing something better with myself and applying my knowledge where it was needed, you kissed me. It was really brief and chaste and you backpedaled immediately afterward, since you're the ethics teacher and it was pretty inapprorpriate.

I wouldn't let you take it back. We dated for a bit after that until my parents insisted I break it off because of your age. I found Schuldig not long after that and you found Susan.

I thought we were over this, Edward. We're both happy, probably happier than we would have been if we'd ended up marrying each other. Why are you suddenly bringing this back up?

[She sounds irritated and more than a little defensive. Apparently, the break up isn't exactly a pleasant memory.]

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:51 am (UTC)(link)
[Papa?! The tiny little voice instantly snags Edward's attention. Who else should it be but Luke? Already preparing himself for the early morning crossword, a prodigy and a genius-in-the-making, just like his old man.]

Morning, son. [Immediately, his mouth snaps shut. The word had slipped out before he could really stop himself. Luke isn't really his son. He can't be. Yet he still remembers teaching the boy how to play chess. The day he'd passed down the book of riddles that he'd received when he was Luke's age. These memories feel so vivid. What the hell is going on here?]
Edited 2011-07-04 07:52 (UTC)

[identity profile] thinkwportals.livejournal.com 2011-07-04 07:54 am (UTC)(link)


What's wrong Eddie, beeswax building up in your ears?



I answered your riddle, mister. Home.

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