Dynasty: A Batman Tale - Part 8

NOW

“Riddle me this!” Edward Nigma said with a chuckle. “What happens when you mix one thousand pounds of c-4 explosives and the most sinister mind of the present era?” Edward Nigma couldn’t resist throwing in an appropriate riddle if the situation called for one. The years had been kind to his mind. No longer was every thought scrambled, though he visualized the mystery in everything, at least now he was able to communicate without speaking in riddles. Nicknamed ‘The Riddler’ by the Gotham Gazette, Edward Nigma captured the headlines after committing a series of murders in which his victims were unable to answer his riddles.

Graduated at the top of his class with a degree in bio-genetics and recruited by Wayne Enterprise subsidiary SMARtech, Edward was given a lab along with his very own team, and then he was instructed to create human enhancements that would eliminate Dementia and Alzheimer’s and enhance the known capabilities of the human brain. Without any true limits, Edward let his mind explore the unknown always thinking outside the proverbial box.

Edward’s goal was to increase the power and the percentage use of the human brain. Edward, a natural chemist mixed many formulas to no avail. Every test failed, Edward on the cusp of madness and desperate experimented on himself. The results were unexpected, the formula he injected caused a chemical synapse that scrambled his neurons and affected his thought process causing him to think in riddle like questions.

“Well, any takers?” Edward asked no one in particular. A dozen hired henchmen surrounded him one hundred feet below Gotham; he had been tasked with a very important part of the boss’s plan. This City is gonna burn and be our playground!

“The Riddler!” answered the man closest to Edward. He was recruited with the rest of the hired guns through an underground network of criminal contacts.

“Is that your final answer, MR. um…, I didn’t catch your name?”

“Porter!” The young man replied.

Before Porter could continue, his face was replaced by a blood filled crater. Underground the blast from the sawed off shotgun was deafening and the resulting echo traveled through-out the spider-web network of tunnels. The other men working in the tunnel stopped and dropped to the ground thinking their mission had failed and the explosives had detonated prematurely. Realizing they were still alive, the workers watched as the faceless body that was Porter dropped lifelessly to the dirt.

Standing over the corpse, Edward looked down at Porter. “I’m sorry that is incorrect, I could never take credit for Joker’s work. He wouldn’t appreciate that and besides…” He took note that all the men were staring at him. “I hate the name Riddler!”

THEN

“The company has spent a small fortune on you Dr. Nigma,” Said Sterling Sullivan, CFO for SMARtech. Sullivan sat at his desk, a half empty cup of watered down Kentucky whiskey was crying next to a stack of files. The top of the pile was a folder with Edward’s name on it. The contents of the folder were in Sullivan’s hands. Edward sat quietly listening keeping his focus on the embroidered SS stitched into his supervisor’s cuffs. “However, Edward, this is a business and a business must eventually turn a profit. The series of break-throughs you made in neural regeneration is astonishing, your thesis on the possibilities to reverse dementia and rejuvenate brain stimuli is what led this company to recruit you, but if you can’t put your money where your mouth is… What’s the point? It seems this company will sooner go bankrupt before you’re able to put your research into practical application.”

“What are telling me?” Edward asked. He was fidgeting in his chair. Something he did when stressed.

“The Board members have concluded that the funding you’ve been receiving immediately be redirected…”

“Wait! Mr. Sullivan, you can’t do this. I need that funding, you don’t understand, I’m so close!”

“No, I’m afraid, you don’t understand! You have by this time tomorrow to clear out your office.”

Edward had fought against this for months, he’d been able to get an extension from the board after convincing them he was close to something tangible, but the desired results had yet to come to fruition. He felt exhausted. Nigma no longer had the strength to fight. Mentally he felt broken, Edward knew he was close to a major breakthrough yet every time success eluded him.

Edward Nigma stood up and walked out of Sullivan’s office without muttering a word. The long walk back to his laboratory gave him time to think about where he went wrong. Somewhere in his research was the answer. He just knew it. Edward’s pace quickened, he arrived back at his lab, just in time to catch the last members of his team wrapping up for the night.

“Hey Dr. Nigma, I’m glad we caught you.” Stephanie Livingston said focusing Edwards’s attention towards her. He had been lost in thought watching his feet take step after step in the direction of his office. “Monica and I were going to catch up with Kelly and Ruben, you weren’t here but believe it or not. They got engaged.” Stephanie and Monica were two interns assigned to Doctors Kelly Burton and Ruben Santiago, whom in turn were assigned to assist Edward in his work.

“It was so romantic!” added Monica. “They’re having a pseudo engagement party down at Murphy’s, we were just heading that way did you want to join us.”

“Oh how wonderful, thank you but you two go on and give them my regards, I have to catch up on some paperwork.” Edward responded deliberately omitting he had just been terminated and this project was getting shut down.

As he watched both interns exit, his thoughts quickly returned to his task at hand. Edward raced to his office to immediately reread all his notes. Frustrated he threw the file he was holding onto the table, it smashed into the rest of the folders stacked up causing them to pile over. A few fell off the table landing just below Edward, one caught his attention as he noticed a picture of Ruben looking back at him. Edward realized he had never once taken the time to read his team’s personal files. Thinking nothing of it, he picked up Ruben’s file giving it a casual glance. That’s when he saw it. Just under Ruben’s picture Edward read the words Espionage Specialist, but what disturbed him most was that half of the file’s information had been redacted. Thick black lines were scratched through most of the information. Edward had been solely occupied with his research that he never stopped to consider how his team had been recruited. It is conceivable if he had taken the time to read these files earlier, Nigma may not have paid them any mind or even cared, but now at this critical time it meant everything. He raced over towards Ruben’s desk, searched through all of Ruben’s reports, but nothing stood out.

Overstressed and mentally drained, Edward had convinced himself that his work was being manipulated by the spy Ruben. Shuffling through reports and files he started correlating information that was not evident. That son of a bitch, he’s been sabotaging all the tests. Assuming that every test thus far had been a deliberate failure, Edward’s confidence began to return. I can fix this, my mixture WILL work! Edward walked into the lab. He grabbed a sample of his latest serum along with a syringe and without so much as a second thought injected himself.

Edward had no memory of passing out, nor did he know what time it was when he finally opened his eyes. At first everything was a blur, then shapes began to form. Edward realized it was Sterling Sullivan standing in front of two armed guards while a third was boxing up Nigma’s personal belongings.

“How splendid of you to awaken this fine morning Doctor. However, must I remind you that sleeping on the premises is prohibited, not that it matters much anymore for you!” Sullivan said, “You have a lot of nerve, I’ll give you that. Anything to say for yourself Dr. Nigma?”

Edward’s focus was taken from Sullivan as his eyes caught movement coming from the other side of the lab. Edwards’s team was just arriving for the day. Doctors Ruben Santiago and Kelly burton were walking hand in hand followed by their interns Stephanie and Monica, both grinning from ear to ear. Aware they had just walk in on a developing situation, the doctors and interns halted no longer smiling. Ruben took a step closer leaving the three ladies behind, “What is the meaning of this? Doctor Nigma, Are you all right?”

“Corned Beef on Rye, Swiss cheese oh my, sauerkraut to die, with dressing, what Am I?” Blurted Edward.

“What the hell are you saying?” yelled Sullivan.

The other members of Edward’s team had gathered around. Edward sprang up off the floor from where he’d been. He walked around Sullivan and halted in between the two guards. He was standing in front of Ruben and the other members of his former team. Edward’s eyes were locked on Ruben as he repeated, “Corned Beef on Rye, Swiss cheese oh my, sauerkraut to die, with dressing what Am I?”

Nervously Ruben stuttered, “What? Wha…What is this a riddle?”

Edward’s voice was beginning to rise, “Corned Beef on Rye, Swiss Cheese oh my, sauerkraut to die, with dressing what AM I?”

“Dr. Nigma?” Ruben said, “What are you talking ab…” Ruben never finished. He couldn’t. As Ruben said Nigma’s name, Edward with incredible speed unarmed both guards, aimed their guns at Ruben, and shot him in the face. Then just as quickly turned and killed both guards. Sullivan and the guard packing Edward’s belongings both dropped to their knees raising their arms in the air. Stephanie and Monica, both crying uncontrollably also crumpled to their knees. Kelly, having witnessed her fiancé murdered froze in place.

Again Nigma chanted, “Corned Beef on Rye, Swiss cheese oh my, sauerkraut to die, with dressing what Am I?” This time Edward was staring directly at Kelly. Her attention still focused on her dead lover sprawled out on the floor in a pool of blood racing towards her feet. He began to raise the gun to her face just as she moaned “Ruben!”

Edward lowered the gun, “Correct. Congratulations!” Monica and Stephanie grabbed Kelly’s hands trying to pull her down to the floor, but before they were successful, Edward had once again brought the gun back up aiming it at Kelly. “A butterfly flaps its wings, a tidal wave it shall bring, with every action, there’s a…?”

Kelly’s eyes were glossed with tears. Panic had finally taken hold of her as the shock of what was happening overwhelmed her. She didn’t realize Edward was speaking to her. So when she muttered Ruben’s name again instead of an answer, Edward pulled the trigger.

The interns cried and shrieked at the sound of the gunshot. Monica threw up her breakfast at the sight of Kelly’s faceless corpse.

It was Sullivan whose voice rang out next; he had stood up bravely and yelled at Edward. “Stop this Edward!” From behind Sullivan, the remaining guard motioned for his gun, Edward did not hesitate. He squeezed the trigger, the man dropped dead as his sidearm fell to the floor. Without hesitation Sterling Sullivan CFO, heroically dove for the gun. However, it was to no avail as the force of the bullet entering Sullivan’s chest forced his body back against the wall.

Edward stared at Sullivan’s slumped over body, when a voice broke through the silence on one of the dead guards’s radios. “S.G-alpha one, this is S.G Base, we’re getting reports of gunfire. Do you copy?” After not getting a response, the radio crackled again, “S.G-alpha one, this is S.G.Base, come in, Sir! Do you copy? The authorities have been notified and S.G Bravo team is in route and will be at your location in less than sixty-seconds. Do you copy?” Edward walked over and switched off the radio.

Stephanie and Monica were cuddled up holding each other tight. Edward could hear the sirens in the distance. Edward scratched his head with the muzzle of the gun, tapping his head in thought. What to do? What to do? He sighed heavily aiming the gun at Monica again saying, “A butterfly flaps its wings, a tidal wave it shall bring, with every action, there’s a…?”

Monica had started to say please, but Edward shot her. Stephanie cried out as Edward took aim and pulled the trigger. CLICK, not having kept count, Edward had run out of bullets. He looked at the gun with disgust and threw it down, he looked around, saw a scalpel and reached for it just as an army of armed guards raced in with their guns drawn.

Stephanie became the key witness at Nigma’s trial. Her testimony should have landed Edward multiple life sentences, however, after pleading insanity he was ordered to spend the rest of his life at Arkham.

It had been revealed during the trial that Ruben Santiago was a former intelligence operative with PhDs in Molecular Biology and Neuroscience. Upon retiring from the Central Intelligence Agency, Doctor Ruben Santiago followed his scientific passions into the private sector securing a position at Bio-Sphere Labs Inc., a subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises where the Doctor formulated a neural stabilizer. The stabilizer decreased advanced symptoms of Alzheimer’s patients by ninety-five percent. The success of the neural stabilizer led to Santiago’s recruitment onto Edward Nigma’s SMARtech team where he met and fell in love with Doctor Kelly Burton.

As it turned out Edward, after being fired and suffering from paranoid delusions, injected himself with an untested chemical compound that fractured his mind. The result, a psychotic break that led to the murder of seven people.

NOW

The henchmen continued in silence, they had made good progress and were ahead of schedule. More than a square mile of track beneath downtown Gotham including most of the financial district had been dug out and laced with explosives. A few more hours and everything should be ready to go.

“Hey somebody’s coming!” one of the men said. The workers halted digging holes and planting explosives and froze in place silently waiting. Edward aimed his gun in the direction of the footsteps, waiting to see what shape would form out of the shadows. When the workers saw who was approaching they immediately averted their gaze, not wanting to stare at the disfigured face coming their way.

“What molds and folds until baked super hot…” Edward began lowering his gun.

“No Nigma, No Riddles!” Said Clayface holding out a briefcase for Edward. “Here! These are the detonators.”

“You’re no fun Basil.”

“I’ve been told different, besides…” Clayface paused looking over at the headless corpse slowly getting buried by dug out Earth. “You appear to be having plenty of fun yourself, but Edward, it is rude to kill my recruits. There’s no time for me to round up any more.”

Edward looked over at Porter’s body half covered with dirt and then back at Basil, he gave a reluctant shrug agreeing with Basil’s point. “Riddle me this Clay…”

“No Nigma,” Clayface interrupted “No riddles!”