231-235

Chapter 231: The Psycho Cyclist Who's Cool for Less Than Thirty Seconds 

When Thor finally showed up on his bike, the fight outside the theater was still in a deadlock. 

"Fries, couldn't you make less ice? It's bad enough it messes up movement, but now my plants are all tied up too." 

Mr. Freeze didn't have a good answer for Poison Ivy's complaint. "What can I do? My weapon is ice. Besides, Batman's just as restricted." 

"Tell that to his ice skates." 

"..." 

Mr. Freeze looked at Batman, who had seamlessly switched to ice skates and was zipping around the ice. He felt a bit frustrated – this was clearly one of Batman's counter-measures against him. 

"Pamela, how much longer until your pollen wears off?" 

"Twenty-four minutes." 

"Huh. Thor's pretty fast then." 

Poison Ivy was startled. She turned to look behind her, and sure enough, a bike was speeding down the road like the wind, racing towards the center of the battlefield. 

"He's finally here..." 

"No! Fries!" 

Mid-charge, Thor suddenly let out a startled cry. Poison Ivy turned back with a jolt and saw a Batarang stuck right in Mr. Freeze's helmet, which he had been distracted. 

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! 

Cracks started spreading across the helmet. Mr. Freeze immediately panicked. He could only survive in zero-degree environments. If his helmet cracked now, he'd quickly die from overheating. 

Pamela turned her head to look at Mad Hatter, who was still unconscious nearby. The flowers on her body, still releasing their scent, instantly closed up. Another batch of light purple flowers opened instead, and a different scent began to spread on the wind. 

"I'm coming to help!" 

Thor entered the scene on his bike. The moment his wheels hit the ice, he instantly started accelerating and slipping, but after just a slight wobble, he stabilized the bike again using his master-level cycling skills. He rode across the ice as if on flat ground, even picking up speed. 

Bang! Bang! Bang! 

He pulled out the twin pistols from his waistband, and a barrage of metal bullets sprayed out like rain. Batman deployed his bulletproof cape to block some of the bullets, his figure quickly darting into the nearest cover. A few Batarangs drew arcs, likewise shooting rapidly towards Thor – but not a single one hit. 

"With my speed, you can't hit me!" 

The Psycho Cyclist's wild laughter echoed through the scene. Penguin, who was still listening remotely, let out a breath. He said to the Joker, "Boss, looks like he's not completely useless after all." 

The Joker shrugged noncommittally. 

Meanwhile, the fight on the other end of the comms continued. 

"I don't need to hit you," Batman's voice carried an undeniable conviction. "From the moment you entered the battle, you were already finished." 

"What the heck are you talking about? I don't get it at all..." 

CRASH! 

The sound of a bike slipping and falling rang out. Thor, who was mocking him the second before, was sent flying the next second. 

"Holy crap! What did you do to me?! Why can't my hands grip the handlebars... Holy crap, such big ice... mountains? Why are there icebergs on land?" 

"Poison Ivy's hallucinatory flower scent," Batman said flatly. "Though the concentration is decreasing, it hasn't dissipated completely, and you've inhaled enough to hallucinate." 

Thor looked back at Poison Ivy in disbelief. "Pamela, you!?" 

"What's it got to do with me?" Poison Ivy sneered. "I'm fine, Mr. Freeze is fine, Batman's fine, even Mad Hatter's fine. Isn't this just your own problem?" 

However, by this point, Thor could barely hear her reply. 

Groggy, he climbed to his feet from the ground and walked over to Mr. Freeze, who had fallen and was gasping for breath. He pulled out a roll of yellow tape and began taping up the gap in Mr. Freeze's mask layer by layer. 

"Huff! Huff! Huff!" 

As his helmet was sealed up again, Mr. Freeze's breathing finally calmed down, but Thor didn't stop, still wrapping tape around the helmet. 

"Thor, that's enough! Enough! Stop!" 

Thor stopped. He paused, looked down at Mr. Freeze, who was about to be wrapped up like a mummy, and gave an awkward laugh. "Sorry about that, didn't recognize you just now." 

"Okay, we don't have time to waste, Thor, we need your..." 

"Didn't recognize you! Great Granny, why are you here too? And why are you bald now...?" 

Mr. Freeze suddenly stopped wanting to talk. 

After shaking his head and swaying for a few seconds, Thor, who had just entered the battle and been effective for all of thirty seconds, once again collapsed onto the street and fell into a baby-like sleep. 

"...Can your flower scent hypnotize?" 

"No, it's unlikely for a normal person to fall asleep at a time like this..." 

"It's over, Fries, Pamela," Batman said. "Both of you are coming back to Arkham with me." 

"Don't speak too soon," Poison Ivy replied. "We're still two against one. You can't take us down." 

"But Mr. Freeze is finished." 

In the midst of their verbal sparring, Batman's figure, wearing ice skates, darted across the ice, heading straight for Mr. Freeze. Mr. Freeze raised the freeze gun in his hand but couldn't aim because his vision was severely obstructed. 

"Stay away from him!" 

Poison Ivy immediately whipped out vines, but Batman easily dodged them with a few directional changes. He weaved past Mr. Freeze's wildly inaccurate freeze beam and got in front of him. 

Mr. Freeze sensed Batman approaching based on the blurry light and shadows visible through the translucent tape. He directly swung the freeze gun in his hand, swinging a powerful, heavy blow with all his might at the dark figure in front of him. 

However, Mr. Freeze's blind attack posed no threat to Batman. He sidestepped the attack and threw a heavy punch to Mr. Freeze's chest. 

BANG! 

"Cough! Cough!" 

Mr. Freeze suddenly couldn't catch his breath. His armor seemed to withstand Batman's punch, but his chest couldn't. The punch knocked the wind out of him briefly. 

The hit was effective. Batman held two Batarangs in both hands and stabbed them into his legs like lightning, completely disabling his ability to fight back. 

"Better not move," Batman said. "Stay put, and I can still take you back. But if you pull out the Batarangs, the freezing gas will leak out rapidly, and you'll die from the heat." 

He pressed the control interface on the Bat-computer on his arm armor, then looked up at Poison Ivy. "You can't get away either. Give up resisting." 

"Why should I?" 

At that moment, the roar of engines suddenly sounded in the sky, and a black jet appeared overhead. 

"That plane is now carrying a ton of potent herbicide and is equipped with a spraying system. Your vines are useless now." 

"An unmanned jet..." 

Penguin, who was listening remotely, instantly understood everything. "There weren't two Batmen at all. He remotely controlled the jet to defeat the badly injured Man-Bat and Firefly, and came to Mad Hatter's location himself. That's how he could fight on two fronts simultaneously." 

"Quick! Move the team we sent to the Man-Bat scene to the theater!" 

Chapter 232: Riddler: Yeah, I Took a Gamble 

Penguin had just managed to calm down a little after giving his orders over here, but then he quickly got even worse news. 

Poison Ivy's communicator on her chest suddenly buzzed. On the other end, a half-dead, raspy voice gave her new information. 

"Pamela, it's Firefly. Batman used his unmanned jet to grab Man-Bat. Good thing it wasn't smart enough to grab two of us at once, so I got away... but watch out, it's headed your way!" 

Poison Ivy glanced at the Bat-jet overhead and couldn't help but let out a curse: "You're telling me now?!" 

"Well, then... good luck." 

The call cut off. Both Penguin and Poison Ivy's hearts sank. 

Penguin hadn't expected Man-Bat to get caught while Firefly didn't. As for Poison Ivy, she hadn't expected her teammate to be so unreliable, only sending the message now. 

Sure, maybe Firefly was badly injured and tending to wounds or maybe he passed out, but as far as she was concerned, none of those excuses helped her current predicament facing Batman. 

"Pamela, don't make me use the heavy-duty weed killer." 

Hearing Batman's words, Poison Ivy's expression shifted several times. After a few seconds, however, she suddenly smiled. 

"You want me to come back to the police station with you? That's easy, Batman," she said. "Just as long as you can handle all these civilians who want to kill you first..." 

Batman's brow furrowed. He suddenly realized things weren't straightforward. 

Bang! 

With a gunshot, Batman felt the impact of a nine-millimeter pistol round on his back armor. After taking enough hits over the years, he could instinctively tell the bullet caliber. 

But what confused him was a different question. 

"Why?" He twisted his head around and saw a civilian had climbed back up from the ground and was aiming a handgun at him. 

"Only nine minutes have passed," he said. He suddenly turned back to face Poison Ivy: "You lied." 

"You can never completely trust information from your enemies. Isn't it kind of romantic how one floral scent can neutralize another?" Poison Ivy said, smiling. "The Mad Hatter is a lunatic, so he bought it. Batman, are you a lunatic too... or just a fool?" 

By now, more and more civilians were gathering around them. Each person wearing a hat stood up, dazed and half-awake, and raised their guns at Batman. And even more people were coming out of the surrounding buildings. When Cody had originally sneaked into the theater, he'd noticed the perimeter guards were thin. That wasn't because the remaining people were all inside the theater, but because they were hidden away in the nearby buildings. 

And now, this crowd surrounded Batman. 

"The Mad Hatter's last command before he passed out was to attack you, so right now, only you are getting mobbed." 

"If I were you, I'd start by checking the Mad Hatter for the control buttons for the people outside the theater." Poison Ivy's teasing voice was lost in the crowd. "After all, they're all holding guns. You probably wouldn't want to see them shooting each other—that'd be pretty bloody." 

Batman's brow furrowed deep. He first shot a grappling hook towards the sky, and the Bat-jet quickly descended and pulled him up. But when he looked back down at the ground, Poison Ivy and Cody were nowhere to be seen. Only the incapacitated Mr. Freeze and the unconscious Mad Hatter were left on the ground. 

"They're both pretty good actors," he thought to himself. "But if this had been a real fight today, I still would have misjudged the situation." 

"Another lesson learned..." 

He sighed and got into the Bat-jet's cockpit. The jet's tough shell blocked the handgun and rifle fire from the people on the ground. It shot out two grappling hooks directly, reeling in Mr. Freeze and the Mad Hatter one by one, and then quickly flew away from the scene. 

Of course, these controlled civilians couldn't chase the Bat-jet on foot. After Batman disappeared from their sight with the Mad Hatter, they all lost their target and returned to the theater area, looking confused. Some started patrolling again, while others hid back inside the buildings. 

"Boss, today's fight is over," Penguin reported to Joker, trying to hide his inner glee and keeping a serious face. "We took some losses... we need to plan our next move soon." 

"My three cards are gone," Joker grumbled, clearly unhappy. "The theater will be... ugh, probably already lost." 

"Boss, the team has reached the theater area," a report came over the communicator again while they were talking. "Everything around here is weird. It looks like everyone has been released from control. Some people have already taken off their hats on their own and thrown away their guns." 

"We haven't seen the Mad Hatter or Batman, but there are signs of vines and ice at the scene. Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze—" 

"Alright, alright," Joker interrupted impatiently. "Batman sure is fast. You guys pull back—honestly, I finally get why Riddler went through all the trouble to send Sol over here." 

"What rotten luck... for that guy..." 

Five minutes later, in the hall, the Riddler was calmly sitting in his seat, waiting for his subordinates' report. 

"Nygma, Poison Ivy is back." 

"Excellent," A smile spread across his face. He reached for his golden cane, walked down the steps, and said, "Let them in." 

"Uh... there's one more thing." 

"Hm? What is it?" 

"The results of today's fight are that the Joker's side—the Mad Hatter, Mr. Freeze, and Man-Bat—were all taken by Batman, while Poison Ivy and Firefly successfully escaped." 

With every sentence he spoke, the smile on Riddler's face grew wider. Nothing could make him happier than the outcome of today's battle. 

A desperate, brilliant gambit, a last-ditch counterattack against superior numbers, a mastermind who planned strategically and won against the odds. 

"Exactly. You executed my plan faithfully," he said. "I admit, in this fight, I was definitely gambling a bit—letting Sol work for Joker, and then having Firefly and Poison Ivy face multiple enemies at the same time." 

"But I won the bet. Or rather, this outcome was already within my expectations—I know Batman likes balance, so naturally, I could turn him into one of my chess pieces." 

"Regardless, today is our victory! You can cheer for me—" 

"No, Nygma, I mean... someone else came back with Poison Ivy." 

"Who would... Wait!" 

Riddler's eyes snapped wide open, and he gripped his cane tightly. The relaxed smile on his face vanished instantly. 

In that moment, he finally realized the problem with today's battle report—someone hadn't been mentioned at all. 

He looked towards the doorway. That familiar figure in black robes was standing there, making him feel dizzy. 

"Boss, I'm back." 

"Who the hell told you to come back?!" 

Chapter 233: Why Aren't You Laughing? Is It Genetic? 

"A guy walks into a toy store and says he wants to buy a new boomerang. Then, he asks the clerk, 'How do I throw away the old one?'" 

The Joker told Penguin the old joke, then asked, "You think that's funny?" 

"To be honest, normally, not really," Penguin answered truthfully. "But considering how last night went down, it's kinda hard to say it's not funny." 

"Some not-so-great jokes just get hilarious in special circumstances," Joker shrugged. "Though I can't manage a laugh right now." 

Penguin understood how he felt. They'd taken a brutal hit last night. Their fighting force was pretty much wiped out – Mad Hatter, Mr. Freeze, and Man-Bat, all three were snagged by Batman. Those were their only super-criminals with real muscle for a stand-up fight. 

Plus, losing Mad Hatter meant they had nobody to boss around, leaving Joker practically a one-man band at this point. 

"Don't sweat it," Penguin offered some comfort. "Riddler's probably not laughing right about now either." 

And gotta say, Riddler wasn't laughing right now. 

"A guy walks into a toy store and says he wants to buy a new boomerang. Then, he asks the clerk, 'How do I throw away the old one?' Hahahaha!" 

In Riddler's hall, Cody was cracking wise with Mr. Zsasz. While Zsasz across from him was totally stone-faced, clearly not amused by the gag, Poison Ivy right beside him was practically vibrating with suppressed laughter. 

She turned her head to look at Riddler, who was sitting in the hall. He'd heard the joke too, and his face was even more sour than Zsasz's. His downturned mouth reminded you of a Joker who couldn't raise a smile. 

In a weird way, those two were really connecting in that moment. 

"Alright, that's enough with your rotten jokes," Riddler cut him off. Right now, Cody was seriously grating on him. The way he told the joke felt like he was being mocked, like he was the idiot in the toy store who couldn't get rid of the "Psycho Bike Guy" boomerang. 

"Yesterday's failure is gonna be the last straw that breaks the Joker's back. And now, we're about to win this war – it's time to get down to business. We need to reach out and grab the spoils of this victory." 

He glanced at Firefly, Zsasz, and Poison Ivy in the hall, adjusted his hat, and flashed a tempting smile. "After we deal with Joker, we can break everyone else out of Arkham. Gotham will be ours for the taking." 

The day of the big showdown came fast. Even though Batman had seen it coming, when the moment arrived, it still felt a little surreal. 

"Penguin bailed," Batman told Catwoman next to a tall building. "But he didn't flip on Joker. Riddler grabbed his crew though, and they sweated the intel on Joker's last hideout." 

"And you just happened to find out?" Catwoman grinned. "Since when are you so wired?" 

"His move was too big, there was no hiding it. Never mind that building's already surrounded, four super-criminals walking down the street is kinda hard to miss anyway." 

Hearing that, Catwoman naturally looked down. From their perch, you could definitely see four freaky-looking folks in bizarre getups leading a bunch of goons with guns surrounding the building. 

Batman wasn't wrong. Whether it was Firefly flying overhead in iron armor, puffing black smoke; or the Riddler, green from head to toe; or Zsasz, buck naked and covered in scars; or even the Psycho Bike Guy in his black robe and Poison Ivy in her leafy threads – pretty much any of them walking down the street was guaranteed to turn heads. 

"Alright, looks like they're chomping at the bit to make a move. So, what did you need me for?" 

"This building's a problem," Batman replied. "Joker rigged it up special. Except for the seventy-third floor, every other level is a death trap. The roof, the elevators, the stairwells... every single way in or out is booby-trapped. Going up from the bottom or down from the top, you're gonna get roughed up." 

Catwoman raised an eyebrow. "And?" 

"I gotta find a way in. Need you to take a look – you're the most flexible, you can probably weave through the traps." 

"Dangerous jobs get dumped on me?" Catwoman extended a claw and playfully scratched Batman under the chin. "Ruthless planning, Bats. Don't you have any backup who can help inside?" 

"Not backup... and they're not inside anyway." 

"So, someone can help." 

"But nobody's got your touch." 

"Yeah, okay." Catwoman answered nonchalantly. "You're really learning to butter people up lately. But you think saying that is gonna make me help you?" 

Batman stayed silent. 

"Question: On the floor of the building, there's a bomb. Two inches away from the bomb is a computer, three inches away is a can of gasoline, and four inches away is a barrel of nitroglycerin." 

Outside the building, Riddler was looking up at the glass walls, posing a riddle with relish. "If the bomb explodes, what gets destroyed first?" 

"The bomb itself gets destroyed first." 

Cody piped up from behind him. "Boss is seriously a genius! One day, I'm gonna put together a book of 'Brain-Buster King' riddles using the corny jokes Boss tells." 

Aha! There it is, that familiar feeling just whooshed back up. 

Riddler's smile instantly vanished. He felt that slightly accustomed discomfort – having a dummy guess his riddle and then compliment him like that made him feel a sense of humiliation, like he'd been dragged down to the same IQ level. It was agonizing, frustrating, and yet he was powerless. If anyone else had said that compliment, it would have just been mocking him, but Psycho Bike Guy was a genuine idiot, he'd only praise him with sincere earnestness – and that made Riddler feel even worse. 

He'd rather have Batman break his ribs or Joker shoot him through the gut than suffer this kind of indignity again. He decided he'd never tell riddles that even an idiot could figure out ever again. 

"Hold on," Firefly suddenly said. "Is there something climbing up the side of the building?" 

Riddler looked up, then suddenly sneered. "Catwoman's here too. Maybe she's Batman's new backup, or maybe she saw which way the wind was blowing and wants in with us. Either way, she won't stop today's showdown, and she won't escape the reckoning afterwards." 

"So what do we do?" 

"Let her go. We get ready to head upstairs." 

On the side of the building, Catwoman was already close to the seventy-third floor. The air was still high up today, which made her climb easier. 

She took a moment to glance down. The pedestrians on the ground were as tiny as ants, and the buildings below stretched and tilted in her vision. Right now, she was over two hundred meters in the air. 

Chapter 234: The War Nearing Its End 

"Night creatures' brains just aren't as good as a cat's, after all. Hiding from traps inside a building isn't nearly as safe or convenient as doing it from the outside." 

"Though, the height is a bit dicey. The odds of surviving a fall aren't exactly great." 

After getting a feel for her surroundings, Catwoman started climbing the exterior wall again, no longer looking down. 

She was used to the slightly dizzying feeling of being way up high. For a feline who spent all night climbing up and down buildings in Gotham, taking a tumble from a great height wasn't exactly rare. Right now, instead of worrying about potentially splattering on the ground, she focused on clinging tight to the building's exterior, doing everything she could to avoid that possibility. 

And sure enough, after climbing to the seventy-third floor, she spotted the Joker. 

"I see the Joker," she reported to Batman. "Seventy-third floor office, just like you said. The guy actually looks... kinda okay?" 

The Joker still had his usual droopy smile, sitting quietly at a desk. Catwoman could only see his profile. It felt weird; the always-crazy, chaotic Joker having such a quiet side. If anything, it was even more unsettling, like the calm before a storm. 

Or maybe he just thought of something funny right then? 

"That's not very polite." 

While Catwoman was still lost in thought, the Joker suddenly whipped his head around. He casually picked up the revolver from his desk, his movements smooth as silk and lightning-fast. 

It wasn't until the dark muzzle was pointed right at her that Catwoman finally reacted. Every hair on her body stood on end, her pupils shrunk. She didn't even have time to think about dodging, relying purely on instinct to twist her body to the right. 

Bang! 

The shot rang out. The revolver bullet pierced the building's glass curtain wall and flew towards the ground below. 

Good news: Catwoman's instincts kicked in, and she dodged the bullet. Bad news: The glass curtain wall she was using for support shattered. 

"Ahh—!" 

Even though a cat's body is light, a broken piece of glass wasn't enough to support her full weight. In just a second, the glass with the hole ripped apart under Catwoman's weight. With nothing left to cling to, she yelped and plummeted hundreds of feet towards the street. 

"Catwoman!" 

Batman's urgent shout blared in her comms, and Catwoman's yelp cut off at the same time. 

"Hold on! Give me a sec!" she shot back, annoyed. Meanwhile, the lithe figure in mid-air quickly adjusted her posture, scanning the building's exterior below her for a place to grab onto. As a top-tier cat burglar, she'd trained for this kind of thing. Like the old saying goes: A cat doesn't die from falling off a building. 

Thwack, thwack went her hands as she grabbed onto a protruding windowsill. Her high heels also found purchase on a pipe, which significantly slowed her fall. But the force of the drop was too much, almost tearing her arms off, so she let go immediately and braced herself for a rolling landing to absorb the impact. She'd already calculated it; she'd land on a rooftop this way, and she wouldn't die. 

Still, it was gonna be a nasty fall. How annoying to look like a total klutz in front of Batman, Catwoman thought to herself as the ground rushed up to meet her. 

"Kite Man, quick!" 

"Here!" 

"Huh?" 

The wind howled in Catwoman's ears. She looked up, surprised, and saw a huge green kite jetting towards her. Kite Man had arrived. 

"Grab on!" 

Kite Man pulled out a rope and threw it hard towards her. The agile Cat instantly grabbed the rope tight and slowly descended to the rooftop along with the kite. 

"If you could have Kite Man waiting on standby, why didn't you just have him scout?" 

"His kite is too big and way too easy to spot. I was worried the Joker might have a sniper rifle. You're different; you're a pro, you know how to stay hidden." 

Catwoman scoffed. Yeah, didn't exactly hide so well this time, did I? 

"Bad news, Kite Man and Catwoman have teamed up. Of course, you can't rule out that he was just saving her." 

The Riddler shrugged. "But I'm leaning towards the other possibility, that someone else has teamed up with both of them. Even though Batman hasn't shown up yet, everybody should be careful." 

"So how do we get in?" 

"Now here's the good news – the Joker just told us with a bullet that there are no traps on the building's exterior glass walls." 

"We gotta climb up?" Marzoedi swallowed hard. "Boss, I'm kinda scared of heights." 

"Fly up! You idiot! Fly up!" the Riddler yelled back, losing patience. "Now get your butt over to Firefly and grab those backup flying rigs he's got! Move it! And tell everyone else not to go inside the building! We don't have enough flying gear for them!" 

"Oh..." 

Twenty minutes later, the Joker in the building was getting restless. 

"When are these morons finally gonna get here?" He threw his gun back on the desk, annoyed, and stood up. "Can't we just finish this boring farce already!" 

Crash! 

Just then, the glass curtain wall behind him was suddenly smashed through. The howling wind from high above, along with flying glass shards, blew into the office, making him stumble. 

"Knock, knock." 

"Who's there?" 

After finishing their little call-and-response like a password, the Joker regained his balance. He straightened his suit, brushed off the glass bits, and looked towards the window. 

The Riddler, Poison Ivy, Mr. Zsasz, Firefly, Crazy Quilt (or whoever that "Perverted Bicycle Man" is supposed to be, maybe he means Crazy Quilt?), five supervillains stood in a line. And across from them, the Joker stood alone. 

"Hmph," the Joker sneered, still looking utterly displeased. He glanced at the long table; the revolver was only a few steps away, but the Riddler would never give him a chance to grab it. 

"What, not funny?" the Riddler taunted with a victor's smirk. "Shouldn't you be laughing?" 

"Get lost!" 

The Joker roared, throwing a punch at Nygma's face. But the next second, his right arm was grabbed. As the Riddler applied more pressure, intense pain shot up his arm. 

"Sorry, maybe I didn't tell it right. See, telling jokes isn't my strong suit. How about a riddle instead?" 

While spouting off trash talk, Nygma punched the Joker in the face, knocking him to the ground. Right now, he had the complete upper hand. 

Marzoedi on the side immediately piped up, "Great! I wanna guess too!" 

The Riddler: "...On second thought, maybe not." 

He followed up, kicking the Joker hard twice. "The war's over, Joker. You're a loser." 

"Oh yeah? I don't think so," the Joker scoffed. "How about taking a look outside?" 

The five villains immediately turned back, alert. Just then, a Bat, a Cat, and a Kite Man, each carrying a kite on their back, flew straight into the building together. 

The third force had arrived at the battlefield. 

Chapter 235: Is This How It Ends? 

"It's over, Riddler." Batman's declaration was firm. "This city's been through enough. This war ends today." 

"Why chase impossible dreams when you could try a riddle instead?" Riddler sneered. "Little Tommy's dead, some food scraps on his lips, and his spine's snapped in two – what happened?" 

Batman didn't answer, just stood there, watching Riddler. 

"The answer is, Little Tommy was a mouse, a little mouse caught in a trap." 

As Riddler finished, several figures suddenly flew in through the window, landing behind Batman and his companions. 

Solomon Grundy, Mr. Freeze, Killer Croc, Two-Face, Deadshot, Deathstroke, Man-Bat... 

A group of prisoners who were supposed to be locked up at the Gotham City Police Department, waiting to be transferred to Arkham Asylum, suddenly appeared. Clearly, Riddler's inside man at the GCPD had made their move. 

"I lost a few contacts, Batman, but it was all worth it." Riddler smiled, bowing theatrically towards Batman. "Did you really think I'd come after the Joker completely unprepared? That I'd ignore the annoying bat who keeps buzzing around Gotham's skies? No, no, no... I have the utmost respect for you. I know exactly what you're capable of – so I'll use every trick in the book to hit you with everything I've got. And these folks? They're the special present I wrapped just for you." 

"If you're so great, why didn't you bring everyone back?" Joker, sprawled on the ground, mercilessly poked at Riddler's sore spots. "I bet a few guys weren't willing to show up for you, were they? They know you can't win this war." 

"Idiot." Riddler shot Joker a look of contempt. "Some of them were taken care of by Batman himself. If you could find them, you wouldn't be lying there yapping like a trapped animal. As for me, the hand I'm holding right now is more than enough to take you both down." 

"You're right, it is time to finish this, Batman." He smirked. "Today, there's only going to be one winner in this war. The Riddler will claim Gotham City! The Riddler will have the honor of killing the Batman!" 

He looked behind him. Killer Croc bared his claws, Mr. Freeze raised his freeze gun, Deathstroke drew his twin blades... 

Batman, Catwoman, and Kite Man were instantly surrounded, trapped. Two-Face drew his gun and held Joker down, keeping him from moving. 

"As for you, Kite Man." He sneered. "A nobody, a bug I could crush with my boot. I have no idea what the point of you even showing up here is. Did you ever consider that Batman just called you in to be cannon fodder?" 

Kite Man clenched his fists. 

"You went after my kid," he said. "That's why I came for you." 

"I'm gonna beat you so bad your mother won't recognize you." 

Nice, Cody thought to himself. I crawled out of the gunfire and chaos of Gotham's battlefield. Can't lose face now, gotta stay sharp! 

"Fool." Riddler handed his hat and cane to Poison Ivy, who was standing nearby, then strolled calmly over to Kite Man. "Forget that I've got the numbers advantage. Even if it was just you and me, you'd end up meeting poor little Charlie, who's already dead." 

"Or maybe... is that what you want me to do?" 

"Bastard!" Kite Man charged at Riddler in a rage, but at that moment, Grundy, standing next to them, reached out with his massive hands and simply lifted Chuck into the air. No matter how much he struggled, it was useless. But Riddler waved a hand, signaling Grundy to put him down. "Let him come meet his son," he said. "What kind of threat could the fist of a nobody like him possibly pose?" 

By now, Batman and Catwoman were tense, ready to spring into action, but they were completely surrounded by Deathstroke, Deadshot, Killer Croc, and the others. They couldn't make a move without being swarmed, let alone help Kite Man. 

When Grundy actually put Kite Man down as instructed, Riddler saw the fury in his eyes, but he didn't care. This guy was supposed to be an important piece of his original plan, but now? He was completely irrelevant. His only value now was to get away from Batman and Catwoman, then get knocked down by Riddler, serving as leverage against the other two. Maybe Catwoman wouldn't care if he lived or died, who knew? Either way, it would definitely tie up Batman. 

So, as the enraged Kite Man swung his fists at Nygma, he chuckled dismissively. Just as he'd expected, this guy was clearly an inexperienced rookie. His punches were completely amateurish, his footwork and balance strictly beginner level. Still, as far as he knew, Charles Brown was just a simple aerodynamicist. From that perspective, he seemed to have picked up a little more fighting knowledge than before. Had he gotten trained by Batman? Ha! That would be truly embarrassing for the Caped Crusader. 

With a cold laugh, he sidestepped easily, dodging the slow, telegraphed punch. Putting his body into it, he whipped out a hook that slammed hard into Kite Man's cheek. Kite Man had his helmet on, but the lower half of his face was exposed. Hitting him there? That was a real punch. 

Wham! 

A dull thud echoed, and Kite Man went down. In Cody's eyes, the Riddler in this world, at this moment, was a master of advanced hand-to-hand combat. His heavy punches were enough to knock out a normal person in one hit, and at this moment, Kite Man was definitely just a normal guy. 

"You're wearing armor, aren't you?" Riddler looked down at Kite Man, who'd hit the ground hard, and casually pulled off his helmet, tossing it aside. "Your confidence came from the new suit Batman made you, right? You were hoping I'd treat it like your old rags and break my fingers? Look at this new material – lightweight, flexible, and tough – but what good did it do you?" 

"You're too weak, Chuck. Taken down in one punch, and you won't be getting up." Riddler bent down, grabbed his hair, and grinned savagely at him. "I didn't even need to dodge your punch. It was too pathetic, too weak." 

Thud! 

Riddler slammed Chuck's head hard against the ground. Blood trickled from his nose and mouth. Moments later, he slumped completely, seemingly unconscious. 

Bang! 

At the same time, Batman and Catwoman, their patience snapped, moved simultaneously. They tried to get towards Chuck, but they were immediately cut off by layers of super-villains and fell into a fierce fight. 

"So, this is it?" Riddler shrugged. "Guess I shouldn't have expected more."