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

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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?]

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You shouldn't have trusted him. Not for an instant.

[Yeah, Dist should have known that there would be an amount of this he'd have to get through. Still, he sinks down along the wall, taking another drink.]

How was I to know? He was kind to me. Helped me. ...Treated me better than anyone else. That is, until he betrayed me.

He played to your ego and you devoured his praise without hesitation.

[Edward's hand makes its way to his forehead as he lets out a sigh.]

He'd done the same to Luthor and I as well.

Then how can you blame me? I can't be sure that any of you wouldn't have disposed of me without a second thought; he was just nicer about it. You don't think any more highly of me than he does.

Nicer? Last I checked, I never put a bullet through your brain.

[Though... there's still the matter of what happened in the bunker after Dist's betrayal was revealed.]

...although I suppose I owe you an apology. For your... [He gestures to his own eye as an indicator.]

You're the first to apologize to me for anything.

[This is probably not true, but Dist is drunk and is really bad at remembering things while inebriated.]

Friends have done worse to me. He just succeeded in killing me. And, like I said, I don't have any value to anyone here. I have no reason to ally with anyone, not if they don't give a damn about me. It has to be mutual or it's just subservience. I thought I had equality there. It was a lie, but that didn't matter in the moment. I didn't know.

[There's a long moment of silence as Edward seems to contemplate something. Eventually, he makes his way over to the wall just next to Dist, sinking down next to him. It feels strange, really, bringing himself down to Dist's level. But at the same time... appropriate.]

Then perhaps I was wrong about you in the first place. The two of us aren't that different at all. Are we?

...I don't know. Are we?

[They really... don't know each other, do they? Dist offers the bottle again.]

Your friend Crane tried to break me.

[And probably succeeded.]

[Before he can take the bottle, Dist's words sink in.]

He did what? When?

He talked me into therapy, which I needed. He injected me with something that made me hallucinate, then locked me in a closet.

[Edward is the first person he's mentioned this to. Even talking about it makes him shrink down further.]

Fear Toxin. It's his specialty. [Edward wasn't even aware that the Scarecrow had any in his supply. Though it only makes sense that he'd brew up more.] What then?

What then? He left me there overnight, then let me go. Apparently I'm part of his study, but he doesn't need me any more.

[He mutters something under his breath. Likely akin to "Why am I not surprised?"]

Jonathan's... a very interesting sort of doctor. Certainly not the kind people enjoy visiting on a regular basis. [Hell, even dentists have better luck than him.]

I know that. Now I know that.

[Bitterness? Yeah.]

I thought I'd try opening up. Trusting. Coordinating, to better figure this place out.

You see how well that's turned out. I can't decide if I should go it alone or try and join back up with you, but I'm mostly sure you won't inject me with something.

Only "mostly?" [A mirthless chuckle. Yeah, bitterness on his end too.]

I'd originally intended to go about this alone. To solve this riddle on my own, to leave Mayfield with little concern as to whether or not the others were smart enough to figure it out as well. But it isn't that simple. Nothing is, really, in this place.

I think everyone did.

[DRINK.]

I'm working on a stabilizer for the eye so you can't damage it again.

[Once Dist has lowered the bottle again, Edward'll finally take it out of his hands and take a swig as well.]

Your efforts may be better spent elsewhere, considering that I don't intend to damage it again.

It doesn't matter if it's you. It's an easily exploited weakness, and I intend to correct it. You simply exposed it to me.

[Edward sharing his drink, as well as being willing to listen, is helping immensely.]

I figured you'd never want to speak to me again.

I'll admit I wasn't thrilled to know who you'd been cavorting about with. Yet you at least attempted to reverse the damage by warning me.

[Edward had spent so long attempting to repair bridges he'd thought to have been so thoroughly burnt. This must be what it's like to be on the other side, he supposes, listening to Dist talk.]

We're speaking now, aren't we?

I told you, I had no reason to doubt him. It had never hurt you before, and I was attempting to recover information that I was going to share.

[He sighs, grinding the heel of hand into his temple. Everything is fuzzy.]

We are... at my insistence. Crane did say you would never come to me.

After how I'd treated you, you had expected me to make the next move? [Reacting to Dist the way he had gotten him chewed out by Schuldig. Ema, too.]

But I suppose I could have just slammed the door in your face. If I really wanted to. [This isn't at Dist's insistence. Or at Edward's initiative. This is them just kind of... meeting somewhere around the middle.]

You could have come to apologize, you know. I'd say I deserve one, not just from you.

I almost expected to get a door slammed in my face.

And apologize I did, Dist. What more do you want from me?

After I demanded it. How much is a thought worth when it's requested? You never would have admitted you were wrong if I hadn't come here, even if you realized it on your own.

[The sad thing is? Dist is probably right. Even now, Edward's still got too much pride. He's grown more aware of his mistakes but by no means is he enthusiastic to accept them. Still, if he wants a real apology...]

Dist. [A pause, then...] Saphir.

I'm sorry.

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