Chapter Twenty Two

Robin's POV (continued):


The Commissioner was working on quarantining the people affecting by the toxin that Riddler had used. All the entrances had been demolished except for the front door.


“This is clearly a trap” I said as Batman and I walked in the front door.


It was completely dark and extremely quiet. It was like walking in a horror movie, when you know something is about to happen to you but there’s nothing you can do about it.


I took a few stealthy steps, hearing the glass crunch under my boots with every step I took. There were muffled noises, sounding off near us. I struggled to make out what it was.


“help…Help me…please”


Batman and I followed the cries. We entered what looked like the ruins of an office. A desk was toppled on top of a figure. I helped Batman lift up the desk that was pinning a doctor to the floor.


“What happened?” Batman asked, the hospital looked like a war zone.


“It was that crazy guy with the question marks! He came in here, guns blazing, setting different areas of the hospital on fire, rambling on about having something to prove to someone.”


Batman nodded in understanding and told the Doctor to find the Commissioner.


The hallways were dark and the only light was provided by the various small fires that were scattered throughout the hospital hallways. The farther away we got from the entrance, the louder and louder shrieks, screams and moans got. I just tried to drown them out and stay alert as I followed Batman.


Hospitals had always creeped me out and now we were in an abandoned one that reminded me of a labyrinth, attempting to track down a genius psychopath that had just gotten more psychotic...things were going great.


“No!” Batman hollered at me as he smashed his arm against my chest.


Ooof.


What was that for?!” I questioned irritated. He pointed down to the white tiled floor. I didn’t see anything. Then I looked closer and something caught the reflection of the moon coming in the window.


I squinted harder and realized that if I had taken another step, I would have been decapitated. It was a trip wire, set up to an axe, hidden in the darkness, hanging from the ceiling.


Fantastic.


Finally, we reached our destination. The psychiatric ward.


“Should we use the vents to go in? I’m guessing he’s expecting us” I suggested.


“There’s probably no— ”


He was cut off by the door opening.


“point.” He finished his sentence.


We stepped in the doorway and analyzed the situation.


Six hostages. Two suspended in the air and hanging by straitjackets. One strapped onto a stretcher with several IV’s being poked into her skin. Two trapped in the decontamination center and the final hostage sat on the arm of the chair that Riddler was sitting in, he held a pistol to her temple.


Six Hostages. Two Nurses, Three Doctors and One Patient. Time to go to work.


“Well, well, well, look who decided to come to the party. Welcome, Dark Knight. Are you ready for the party games?” His eyes were bloodshot and his voice had its usual cryptic sense but this time it had a darker, grittier tone.


“Stop this Nigma, let these people go. It’s not them you want.” Batman reasoned.


“Oh, on the contrary, they’re exactly who I want. He told me that I wasn’t gruesome enough, that I needed to be more evil, and that I wasn’t in the same league as them. I’ll show them who’s evil. It’s me, I’m the best, I’m always the best.” Riddler replied, rambling on like the madman that he was.


“Who?” I asked curiously, I could never bite my tongue.


“You dimwit! The one who took your precious little female! The Joker!”


I tried not to get angry, I needed to be calm if I was going to figure this all out and save Annie from Joker and her alter-ego. I was slowly trying to make sense of it all. Joker had goaded Riddler into going on a killing spree by calling him a pathetic criminal which was simply…pathetic. For a mastermind, Riddler got played like a chump. Joker probably needed a distraction so he started pushing Riddler’s buttons, but the only question was, what did he need a distraction from?


“I think we have a problem” I whispered to Batman, hoping he had worked out everything that I had, which knowing the Dark Knight he probably had.


“Alright, Bitches” Riddler insulted, I was taken aback by the totally out of character insult. Riddler seemed to be a little confused by himself too as he made a bizarre face.


“I was implying that you are both female dogs” He tried to justify.


I just shook my head and tried not to laugh.


 He pointed to the two people hanging from the ceiling. They were both male doctors. They were hanging by a chains that were strung up from the rafters and attached to the straitjackets that handicapped them.


“The Rules are that you have sixty seconds to save them, but you aren’t allowed to use any weird bat toys from your belt or your intellectually impaired sidekick.”


I tried not to look offended but truth be told, I was nervous. Riddler was a freak but now he was a freak that had just been pushed over the edge.


“Oh and here’s a twist. You can only touch one of them”


I looked at Batman and hoped to God that he knew he was doing.


“Your time starts now, Dark Knight”


Batman sprang into action and shimmied up the support beams, making it to the first hostage. I had never seen him climb that fast, which meant he knew that Riddler would not hesitate to kill any of these hostages if not all of them.


I watched as Batman kept climbing until he made it to the top beam, the one that each chain hung off of. All he had to do now was lower each chain so the doctors could reach the ground safely.


I heard a loud bang and looked around to see what had happened. Riddler started firing shots off at Batman with his pistol. I watched helplessly as Batman tried to successfully evade Riddler’s bullets and safe the hostages.


“Time’s up, Batman” Riddler shouted. I looked up and held back a grin as both hostages were safely on the ground.


“Time for Round Two” Riddler said smugly, but I could see how angry he was that Batman had won.


He pointed to one of the nurses, the one that was strapped onto the stretcher and attached to an IV.


“Now the rules for this are simple. I’ll ask you a set of 4 riddles and all you have to do is answer them but for everyone you get wrong, I’ll take out a pint of her blood. And you only have 10 seconds for each answer.”


Batman stared sympathetically at the nurse and then glared at the Riddler. Riddler just shook his head and then said “Oh no, no, Dark Knight, this challenge is for your young companion”


I took a deep breath and tried not to shake, I hated riddles.


“First Question: A group of ten people are going out for pizza but only two of them have an umbrella to keep them dry. But they manage to walk all the way to the pizza place without getting wet. How is this possible?”


Thoughts raced through my head as I searched for an answer. Then it came to me, thankfully.


“It wasn’t raining outside”


Riddler glared at me and then announced “correct”.


“Question 2:  Whoever makes it, tells it not. Whoever takes it, knows it not. Whoever knows it, wants it not. What is it?”


I actually knew this one as I answered “Counterfeit Money”


Riddler just laughed and remarked “That one was Child’s Play”


I looked at the nurse and hoped I could save her. She looked like she was hanging in there.


“Question Three: What is at the beginning of eternity, the end of time and the end of every race?”


WHAT? How am I supposed to figure that out?


The Riddler began to taunt “tick, tick, tick”


I tried to answer “uh…it’s…I…But”


Riddler then rang out in happiness “WRONG!”


I watched in horror as the red liquid came out of the nurse’s arm and followed its way through through the IV to the fluids bag.


“The correct answer was the letter e” he scolded


“Question Four: Who is Batman?”

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