My SpaceHey Kitten: A Riddlebat Story

Chapter 10: (WAKE ME UP) WAKE ME UP INSIDE

I slammed my bedroom door and collapsed on my bed. I turned on some music on full volume, ignoring all of Alfredo's rules. I didn't care anymore. In a span of two minutes, I had realized that the Riddler was (possibly) in love with me, and that I was apparently gay from Mobster Mario.

Evanescence blasted from the speakers. I stained my pillow with eyeliner tears. I couldn't bring myself to turn him in. I had all of the information for the GCPD; the Riddler had literally sent me his face. But I couldn't just leave my feelings unresolved like that. On the other hand, he had killed people, performed acts of domestic terrorism and other atrocities, and was probably obsessed with me...

I could fix him.

Couldn't I just... talk him out of everything? It would be a... slow process, but it would be better than whatever Arkham had to offer. I had to convince him that stopping everything and going off the grid was the best option. Though I figured it wouldn't be the one to give up easily. He was like... Light Yagami.

He was the Light to my L.

Things were starting to make more sense now. He was the one I was searching for, but I didn't see it until now. I flipped open my laptop as Teenagers by MCR echoed throughout my band poster- clad room. Laying down and kicking my feet, I opened my instant messages on SpaceHey. I needed to be cautious in approaching him to talk him down.

"hey i think if you really want your movement to grow you should like maybe not kill people and blow stuff up"

"Why?"

He had a point. What could I possibly tell him so he would listen?

"because i don't want you to be locked away"

It was true.

"You care what happens to me?"

I spent some time trying to decide if I should be honest with him. Then it hit me. I was so caught up in myself and my feelings that I forgot the most important part. He only knew me as xXDark_Knight_Emo_Lord_69Xx, but I loved him as Bruce Wayne. I couldn't have him fall in love with Batman or my undercover persona. He needed to know ME, but I could never tell him who I was.

"I just think it would be better for you to go off the grid to stay under gcpd's radar"

"You don't know my plan."

"whatever. i'm sure the police will send you to arkham for what you've already done anyways"

"You're right, those bastards can't see what I'm trying to accomplish."

For the first time, the Riddler was the one to leave in the middle of our conversation. And for the first time, I wanted to tell him everything. The truth. But if he knew that Bruce Wayne was Batman, he would never love me. And it didn't look too good for Emo Lord anymore.

I closed the SpaceHey tab and started watching some CrankThatFrank to calm down until I received a message from Gordon.

"There's something we missed. Meet me at GCPD"

Sighing, I put on my Batsuit and got on my motorcycle. As I weaved through the cars, all I could think about was my dilemma with the Riddler. I had ruined everything, and I never got the chance to tell him how I felt, as wrong and twisted as it was. Gordon could never know either, but I was forced to play along in the hunt for the Riddler.

Gordon snuck me into the basement of the station where evidence was stored. A rat maze laid on a table, clearly the work of the Riddler.

"I had a whole team check this piece of junk for evidence. Then all of a sudden, another letter appears right on top of it!", he waved the letter in my face.

To the Batman.

"Have you read it?", I asked.

Gordon shook his head. "You're good with riddles".

I gingerly opened the envelope as if not to rip it. I slowly slid the card out, holding it up so Gordon couldn't read it.

I only have eyes for you.

The cover read, with a heart filled with googly eyes. Underneath the title, in the Riddler's handwriting, was:

For the Batman's eyes only

The back of my neck felt overwhelmingly hot. My hands trembled as I opened the card.

Despised am I by knave and liar. After me, the wise inquire. I rise above all death and fire. What am I?

"Truth," I blurted without even reading the riddle aloud. "The answer to the riddle."

Gordon made a move to grab the card to take a look, but I took a step back after noticing another handwritten passage underneath.

I know who you are. I know all of you. Batman, Bruce Wayne, it's all the same. Despite this knowledge, I still want you. Check your messages, xXDark_Knight_Emo_Lord_69Xx. XOXO.

I had to read it twice to process it all. My heart beat out of my chest; my face felt flushed.

"Well? Do you know his next move? His next target?", Gordon pressed.

I could barely form words. The Riddler knew who I was, but he didn't care. He still... loved me.

"H- He wants Gotham... to know the truth about uh, Thomas Wayne".

Why would I say my dead dad?! He was dead if you didn't realize, which made me an orphan because my mom was dead too. Being an orphan meant that both of your parents were dead, which mine were. I was an orphan. It was too late now; I had just made my deceased father one of the Riddler's targets to expose. I didn't even know of any scandals he could have had when he was alive (he was dead now).

"I have to go," I started, holding the card to my chest.

"We need that card for evidence".

"I- I'll give it back!"

I ran out of the GCPD before Gordon could respond. This card was clearly not an instrument in his plan; it was for me.