Young Justice: Final Exam

Chapter 7

The Riddler couldn't believe it.

Months of carefully procuring weapons and items attractive enough to catch the common criminals banal eye, weeks spent scouting out nearly every abandoned warehouse in the city, not to mention the quite substantial sum he had to pay that meathead Bane and his associates to distract Batman for the night and all that inexplicably gets undone in less than an hour by a trio of children who are at best novices who have no business doing what they did.

And yet, he watched as wave by wave his potential customers, the likes of whom include paid mercenaries and career criminal, would be systematically taken down and incapacitated by these abhorrent adolescents.

Of all the indignities that he's had to endure, both personal and professional, that Edward Nygma has had to endure since embarking on his quest to become the smartest man alive this was by far the most egregious.

And yet, though the Riddler continued to glower resentfully at the three supposed 'heroes' standing over Bruno Mannheim he was not wholly disheartened by this truly unfortunate series of events.

Even in the heart of darkness, the light will always see its way through after all.

Tracing the briefcase that he held tight to his chest containing the most valuable and integral items from the now botched auction, the Riddler continued to watch when Kid Flash suddenly raced away from them presumably to gloat to his master about how exemplary a job they had done.

Nevertheless, he bit his lip to vent vocally later to his partners and got up to initiate his strategic retreat that he had postponed from doing earlier out of some naive hope that those criminal miscreants were as good as they claimed.

And so he did, turning towards the exit door only for familiar lightning emblem to suddenly appear before him.

"Hey buddy, we almost missed ya," Kid Flash smiled heroically, startling the alleged criminal mastermind who nearly tripped over himself stumbling back.

Nygma fumbled for his briefcase for a contingency device only to realize that in his usual paranoid tendencies he had locked it.

"Yeah, tonight's really not your night, Nygma," Kid Flash chided sympathetically, crossing his arms as Nygma continued to back away.

"No! No! I will not go to Belle Reve!" he insisted vehemently, before somehow conjuring up the fortitude to jab his finger menacingly at the speedster. "I'm the Riddler, you red-and-yellow simpleton! And I will not be forced to inhabit the same facility as those rabid, slothering deviants! Do you hear me? I'm the Ri-uggh!"

Roy Harper's fist sailed unapologetically into the Riddler's screaming mouth, knocking him out instantly.

"He was done," Roy said to them as Edward Nygma slumped down to the ground, his briefcase spiraling out of his reach.

And as he sprawled out on the floor, Robin was nearly beside himself in laughter. Clutching his sides as he knelt down beside him, he examined Nygma's now drooling face for a moment before looking back up at Harper.

"Dude, I'm pretty sure you knocked out his front tooth!" Robin laughed, pointing at the now noticeable gap in Nygma's front row of teeth.

Picking up the briefcase dropped by the now unconscious Nygma, Kid Flash carefully tucked it underneath his armpit.

"Good thing you kept an eye on the little weasel the whole time, Rob. Bats would've had our heads if we let him go with all the intel he has," Kid Flash grinned sheepishly.

"Nah, he would've just made us search the city all night 'till we found him. Trust me, not the best way to spend your Friday night," Robin remarked, before getting up.