questionauthority: (Tip my hat to you)
Edward Nigma | The Riddler ([personal profile] questionauthority) wrote2011-11-04 06:11 pm

Riddle 036: What is it that nobody wants to have, yet nobody wants to lose?

[A - ACTION - Hospital.

On an ordinary day, during an ordinary visit to the hospital (perhaps to see Ema), the Riddler winds up running into another familiar face. But there's something quite different about him today. He's got that cheery look in his eyes, a dopey smile that's been plastered onto his face. But unlike his ordinary childish facade, the look on Bruce Wayne's face is eerily... vacant. Empty.

Question: What happens when you discover that the man who's outwitted you, outmatched you, and beaten you to an absolute pulp more times than you can count has been turned into nothing more than a brainless automaton with no mind or free will to call his own?

Answer: Grin like a madman and gloat when nobody else is around.]


So you've failed at last. Disappointing, but not entirely unexpected. After all, who can truly hold a candle to my genius? Not you, Dark Knight. [He laughs.]

If only you could see yourself now. The World's Greatest Detective? Hardly.

Question:

"What is greater than God? More evil than the Devil himself?
The rich need it, the poor have it, and if you eat it you'll die?"

Answer: Nothing. You're nothing now. You've lost. And I, Edward Nigma, have finally---

[Won? ...no. No, he hasn't. Mayfield did this to him. Mayfield took the Batman and broke him down into nothing. Not the Riddler. This... isn't his victory. This was never a victory at all. And as soon as he realizes that, Edward's wide smirk fades into a venomous glare. Shoving the husk he once called his archnemesis out of his way, he moves to depart the hospital and put as much distance between himself and that... thing as he possibly can.]

[B - PHONE - Unfiltered. The winning edge is completely gone from his voice now. He sounds strangely empty.]

Riddle me this. What is the one thing we have all seen and will never see again?

[C - ACTION - 726 Anderson Lane / The Hall of Doom.

Whether he's sitting in the kitchen tinkering around with a strange contraption he's received in the mail or in the empty conference room of the Hall of Doom, the Riddler is uncharacteristically quiet this evening. Bother him?]

[identity profile] greatestmanll40.livejournal.com 2011-11-06 06:50 pm (UTC)(link)
I suppose.

And how am I and the rest of the Legion supposed to bypass them?

I could solve them quite easily I'm sure, but I'd rather have a shortcut for convinience sake.
kinship: (Abel y u so dumb)

B

[personal profile] kinship 2011-11-06 07:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[Cain thinks about this for a moment before replying.]

There are two possible answers I can see - yesterday, or our mother's womb.

[identity profile] geassedmassacre.livejournal.com 2011-11-06 09:46 pm (UTC)(link)
What does it do?

[identity profile] strayprincess.livejournal.com 2011-11-06 10:08 pm (UTC)(link)
[She's both relieved and irritated that he called her stupid.]

Then what were you suggesting?

B

[identity profile] have-your-lives.livejournal.com 2011-11-07 09:46 am (UTC)(link)
An existence comfortably not punctuated with your riddles? [The words are vitriolic, but Schuldig's tone is, if anything, tired. He honestly doesn't even sound like he's really trying.] Is this even related to him, or is it just meant as some sort of poor conversation starter? [Because, of course, Schuldig knows what's eating Edward already. He hasn't been keeping track as closely recently, but he did at least check in long enough to get the answer to the riddle, and wound up with a little extra into the bargain.]

Would you actually have been that pleased if you were responsible? If you had driven your favorite challenge straight out of Mayfield?

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-11-10 12:02 am (UTC)(link)
If I were responsible...?

It was never my intention to drive him out. You should know that. In fact, when he first arrived, I had issued him a challenge. He's always had an irritating knack for puzzle-solving, but I wagered he wouldn't be able to solve Mayfield. Not before I could.

Though it hardly matters, now that they've taken him out before I could---

[Before he could beat him.]

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-11-10 01:35 am (UTC)(link)
[True. Edward himself had been droned as well, and he'd returned.]

Perhaps.

[Filtered] Haters to the left

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-11-10 01:38 am (UTC)(link)
...

[Judging from the silence, it's safe to say that yes, he is still feeling pretty numb.]

b

[identity profile] lunawolves10th.livejournal.com 2011-11-10 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
I can't say. But I'm not in the mood for that sort of question at the moment. Rather... I just wanted to know you were alive and still keeping your mind. It would appear you are.

Good.

C

[identity profile] hintcoinplz.livejournal.com 2011-11-10 07:04 am (UTC)(link)
[Surprisingly Luke isn't working on any puzzles at the moment. His last conversation with Papa Nigma got him started on a brand new project, a project in the shape of a box tucked under his arm.

But the contraption catches his attention, and he walks over to see what the Riddler is working on.]


What's that?

[identity profile] have-your-lives.livejournal.com 2011-11-11 02:22 am (UTC)(link)
I know. I'm just wondering why you were ever elated by his being gone in the first place. Even if you'd been the one to win over him, to beat him, what good does it do you having him gone?

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-11-12 09:46 pm (UTC)(link)
You truly are quite the prodigy.

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-11-12 09:47 pm (UTC)(link)
And spoil the mystery? Life, I'm afraid, doesn't give us hints. And neither do I.

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-11-12 09:49 pm (UTC)(link)
This town doesn't do many wonders to one's optimism.

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-11-12 09:53 pm (UTC)(link)
So it would seem. Assuming, of course, we give in to their agenda and become what they might consider "fine, upstanding citizens."

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-11-12 09:55 pm (UTC)(link)
That's assuming you're all stupid enough to do anything to set them off. [Grumbling, he returns to the Enigma Machine.] Trust me, Lex. The only way they'll be activated is if there's any unwanted intruders in our Hall.

[identity profile] jaws5sonofjaws.livejournal.com 2011-11-12 09:55 pm (UTC)(link)
[Mart groans, loudly.]

Okay something trippy that I won't think about... like, time?

[identity profile] godisachild.livejournal.com 2011-11-12 09:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Or just living here.

What have we actually done? We haven't taken any steps. To getting out of here. To fighting back.

When are we?

[He doesn't mean for it to sound angry. Really, the desperation is far more obvious in his voice.]

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-11-12 09:58 pm (UTC)(link)
They're meant to be used as a means to relay encrypted messages to others. Certainly a useful little item to regain, given that the phone lines aren't always the most secure.

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-11-12 10:01 pm (UTC)(link)
[He stops working on the machine, staring at nothing in particular.]

I do. Believe me, I do. But this isn't how it was supposed to happen. I was supposed to find a way out before he could. I was supposed to beat him.

...but they've gone and ruined that now. Haven't they?

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-11-12 10:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Come now. It's a rather simple riddle, wouldn't you say? The answer should be obvious.

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-11-12 10:07 pm (UTC)(link)
You're getting closer.

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-11-12 10:12 pm (UTC)(link)
You wouldn't be the first to ask.

It's an Enigma Machine. They were adopted by most governments and militaries during World War II for relaying codes in secret. Given the name, I couldn't resist giving it my own personal take.

[identity profile] greatestmanll40.livejournal.com 2011-11-12 10:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Such as our old friend The Major I would imagine...

[identity profile] puzzlerprince.livejournal.com 2011-11-12 10:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Only if we allow it.

[And thus far, Edward's dealt with a lot. But they haven't beaten him yet.]

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