-Dressed To Kill-

As the annual GCPD Fundraiser Ball draws closer, the mayor chooses Bruce Wayne as the host for this year’s celebration. It has become a tradition for the most important people of the police force along with other influential people to gather at a place each year, and the size of Wayne Manor is perfectly suited for a celebration this big. Although Bruce sees this as a great opportunity to retain his relationships with Gotham’s elite, something doesn’t sit right with him; the amount of messages he has been getting from an anonymous source all containing riddles has been getting worse, leading to his rising paranoia that someone figured out his secret identity. Unable to let his guard down for a single night during the party but not willing to put on the mask for the entire night either, he asks Lucius Fox for a solution. As a precaution, he also informs Barbara of his suspicions and asks her to keep an eye out while he remains vigilant at the party while having Duke present at the party too.

 

On the night of the party, Lucius drops off a package on the front door of Wayne Manor. As Bruce opens it he finds a specifically made suit that can function as both a regular outfit and a batsuit. The note attached informs him that as long as he doesn’t change from one version to the other within the plain sight of others, he made sure the two are distinct enough so that it's not obvious it's still Bruce in the suit. Before he is able to try out how the suit transforms after putting it on the first guests arrive at the manor, giving him no choice but to figure it out later.

 

Not long after the mayor, commissioner Gordon and officer Montoya along with most of the other guests have arrived at the manor, Bruce spots Vicki Vale in the crowd. The playboy and the news reporter share a long history together, and have recently started dating again. Being around his romantic partner distracts Bruce for long enough that he doesn't notice some men dressed in dark green suits slipping past the security along with the mayor and her husband suddenly disappearing from the party. It is not until Duke disappears too that Bruce starts suspecting something is going on behind the scenes. Before he can excuse himself from Vicki to go investigate, all of the lights switch out causing a moment of panic in the crowd. He tries to get in contact with Barbara to see if she has spotted anything out of the ordinary, but there is only radio silence on the other side. Along with that, he finds that all doors leading out of the room have been locked making it impossible to leave. Sensing something dangerous is about to happen, Bruce makes use of the darkness and quickly runs to another room to change into his batsuit. Although it takes him a bit of time to figure out how to change the suit from one mode to another, eventually he figures it out. As he takes a quick look in the mirror before heading out again to investigate the disturbance, he notices how with a couple of simple tricks Lucius succeeded in differentiating the two suits and notes how well the dark blue works.

 

Now fully suited up, Bruce runs to the main hall again and uses his grapple gun to get to the roof, only to find that the lights are still out and that Vicki is nowhere to be seen too now. The sound of a marble statue crashing on the ground and a couple of spotlights going on directs the crowd’s attention to the middle of the room, where a strange figure has climbed on the pedestal. The man is dressed in a dark green suit, is wearing a black helmet with a dark green question mark painted on it and seems to need a cane to walk properly. He introduces himself as the Riddler, and asks if Batman is somewhere in the crowd. He drops down from the ceiling and makes use of his cape to slow down his fall, making sure he doesn't land on any of the guests. Delighted, the Riddler asks him if he wants to play a game with him and answer some riddles. Batman accepts, and suddenly a spotlight pointed at where Riddler is standing gets turned on revealing two figures at the bottom of the pedestal. Upon closer inspection he notices that the two are actually the mayor and her husband, both with dark green helmets with question marks on their heads and with improvised explosive devices strapped to them.

 

Riddler explains the rules and stakes of his game; Batman simply has to answer three riddles in order to free the two hostages. However, if he does not answer all the questions within three minutes, the bombs will detonate. And to spice things up, he bought one of his friends along; Scarecrow, infamous for his powerful fear toxins. If Batman happens to answer one of the riddles incorrectly or tries to save the hostages before the game is over, he will release enough gas to kill everyone in the room. In order to demonstrate the power of his toxin, he has put Vicki Vale and Robin under the influence of the gas.

 

As Batman accepts the rules of the game, Riddler starts the countdown and gives him the first riddle he has to solve.

 

‘’What is something nobody ever wants to have, but nobody ever wants to lose either?’’

 

While Batman struggles to solve the riddle, he feels a light tap on his shoulder. He looks behind him and sees commissioner Gordon and officer Montoya standing there, wanting to aid him in finding the solution. He whispers to him that he thinks the solution has something to do with a lawsuit. As it's his best bet, he cautiously asks if a lawsuit is the answer to the riddle. It turns out to be the correct answer, and he tells how a lawsuit from Wayne Enterprises led to the bankruptcy of his company. Bruce figures he must be referring to the recent case from his company against NygmaTech, where a former Wayne ENT employer sold some of their confidential prototypes to NygmaTech. When they started producing products made based on the stolen prototypes, his company filed a lawsuit against them for intellectual property infringement. Wayne ENT won the lawsuit, which led to the bankruptcy of NygmaTech and company CEO Edward Nygma disappearing from the public eye.

 

Seeing how the clock is still ticking, Riddler moves on to the next riddle.

 

‘’I'm something only used by those too scared to show their real faces to the world. What am i?’’

 

Another riddle that Batman has trouble solving at first. It isn’t until he remembers what he wears to avoid people finding out his real identity; a mask. He gives that as his answer, and it turns out to be right once more. Riddler starts ranting about how much he despises vigilantes like Batman hiding their true identity to the world so they can't be held responsible for the damage they cause. Batman points out the fact Riddler is wearing a mask as well, but to prove he isn’t afraid to hide his identity he takes it off, showing he is actually Edward Nygma himself.

 

With 30 seconds left on the counter, Nygma moves on to the next and final riddle Batman has to solve.

 

“During the day, I pretend to be a regular millionaire in Gotham. But during the night, I show my true colors as a gritty and merciless vigilante. What is my real name?”

 

The only riddle Batman knows the answer to right away, but answering it might ruin him forever. Nygma sees how he is hesitant to answer, and begins to pressure him by saying he knows about his actual identity and by counting down the seconds left before the bombs explode. Seeing how the lives of everyone in this room depend on how he’ll answer this question, he decides to answer truthfully.

 

‘’My name is Bru-’’

 

Just as he is about to answer, he notices something on the window behind the Riddler; Batwoman. Before he can react, she bursts through the window and knocks him off the pedestal. Before she makes sure to defuse the bombs, she throws a respirator mask to Batman so he can face the Scarecrow without succumbing to the gas. Now that Scarecrow’s only real weapon doesn't have an effect on Bruce anymore, he is able to take him out and seal the container with the toxin with ease. Seeing how Batwoman succeeded in taking out the Riddler as well, Bruce throws a small bomb against the blocked off door so the people in the room can leave and call for help. Batman quickly changes back to his regular outfit and comes up with the story that Riddler’s henchmen knocked him out during the event when the authorities arrive. Commissioner Gordon and officer Montoya stay for a short while to gather some evidence before leaving to make sure the two villains arrive at Arkham without any problems.

 

A couple of days have passed since the events at the GCPD Fundraiser Ball, and Duke is still recovering from being exposed to so much of Scarecrow’s toxins. While Bruce and Barbara try to get some rest after last night’s patrol back in the Batcave, they suddenly find that the hidden entrance back to Wayne Manor is locked. As Bruce runs to the Batcomputer to get access to the security monitors of the Manor, he sees The Riddler still in an Arkham prisoner outfit walking through the halls with Harley Quinn. After switching over to another monitor he sees something even more shocking however: The Joker, having reappeared after months of not committing any crimes, is now standing in the hallway of Wayne Manor.

 

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The next chapter in my Batman storyline. Enjoy!

Done