The Moon is Made of Green Cheese

Chapter 10

I stepped in through the doors of the security check with the papers tucked into my bra. As I followed the officer I could hear the sounds of laughing and screaming like little kids were playing. Wasn't the Joker currently back in Arkham? It would explain the yelling of "No, I'm Batman!" Edward said it was a game they all played whenever the Joker returned.

"He's waiting in that room." The officer explained, headed down a different corridor and pointed to a door. "Yell if you need anything."

I give him a weird look but brush it off. Wasn't he worried of anything? Well if I didn't have to worry about someone watching me hand a known criminal papers than it just made my job easier. Swinging the door open I smile watching my cousin throw himself into the chair and off the top of the table. "What in the cheese are you doing?" I ask.

"Oh, it's only you." Edward sits up and rests his elbows on the table. "Well what can I do for you dear cousin?" He says it in a fake pleasant tone.

"Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" I pull out the other chair and study him, his face is paler than usual and he looks tired. Concern bubbles up but I push it to the side, I'd ask after.

"You could say that." He grumbles.

I produce the papers from my bra and place them on the table. "Do you think you could identify who this is for?" He picks it up and rests his feet on the table. "I don't recognize the handwriting, it doesn't look anything like Crane's formula or the Joker's laughing gas. It looks like it's supposed to kill people upon contact with the skin, and burn their skin off." He puts it down.

"Wow, doesn't that just sound lovely." I sigh. "Don't suppose I could talk to my happy cousin?" He looks up into my eyes, searching for something. He drops his head onto the table and groans.

"I just can't get anything past you." He picks himself up again and gives me a playful smirk. "I'll give you a hint. You're overdue."

I roll my eyes. "For my period?" I shake my head. Edward and his stupid riddles. "Can't I at least get another four lines like Batman would?"

Edward tilts his head and snatches up the papers again, looking at them more intently. "You're not Batman." This man, honestly. I never had been very good at solving his riddles when I was little why would I be any better now? Just because we shared a great grandma doesn't mean I inherited his genius.

"Will you tell me more if I figure it out?"

"Maybe." Comes the distracted reply. "Who gave these to you?"

"Give me another hint." He peers at me from over the top of the paper.

"Growth is harmful."

"Batman." My reply is immediate and Edward glares.

"Oh, so you're working with Batman now?" I shrug and Edward mumbles something under his breath I choose to ignore. He can be as childish as he wants, it wouldn't make a difference.

"Edward you make it sound like you're pregnant." He laughs and moves to another page.

"I'm a man Heather, really I thought you were smarter than this." There's something melancholic in his voice and I move my thoughts to trying to understand his riddle. I ruled out the possibility of him being a father and anything to do with pregnancy. Really Edward would never be that obvious about things.

"Edward." He set the papers down. He knew I'd figured it out. "Where exactly is the cancer?" He taps his head and then makes a throat cutting sign. So it was terminal.

"It's alright. I have a plan." He twirls his hat around on his finger, eyes gleaming.

"One I hope doesn't involve me breaking you out of Arkham." It certainly wouldn't be the first time he'd asked me to.

"Nope. But that would make it a lot easier for me." He says it like he's asking. He never stopped planning did he?

"Not happening. However I'm not opposed to contacting my mother if you need supplies." He stops twirling his hat and replaces it on his head.

"Already done." He smirks. "Your father was rather behind the idea." Oh no. Suddenly I know exactly what he's planning. If Ra's al Ghul found out Edward had snuck into the Lazarus Pits he'd kill him and then send his body parts to my father, which would start a war I really didn't want to get caught in the middle of, but would be anyhow.

"Please, please tell me you aren't messing with the league of assassins." He stays silent. "Good lord Edward you're going to get us all killed!" I glare at him but he's unfazed.

"Not if I don't get caught." He's entirely too smug but at this point there is nothing I can do to talk him out of it, and even if I should try to stop him I hardly wanted my cousin to die.

"Just tell me what you figured out." I say waving my hand. Really this was more information than I wanted to know in the first place. He turns around the papers and points to two specific chemicals.

"Now I don't know about you but if I was the Joker or Scarecrow I wouldn't be looking to burn people's skin off with my gas in addition to killing them. Joker looks for laughing and Scarecrow wants to reveal people's fear to them, get them to overcome their fears. If they die from their own fears than that's really just all for the better for them." Edward then turns my attention to a smaller note on the side.

"The handwriting isn't neat, but right here someone's written an a differently than all the rest. It suggests better comprehension and that they're trying to pass off the note's as a mad man's rambling so that whoever reads this won't tie it to them. They tried, but failed." I look up at Edward in shock, sometimes I forgot just how smart he was, he was supposed to rival Batman in intelect wasn't he.

"So they who could it be?"

"Oh dear cousin, you haven't figured it out yet?" I give him a no nonsense look. "Alright, pay attention to what some of the other notes point to. They want the poison to be more of a substance and less of a air toxin. Most likely they're using someone else's old formula and are trying to change it to fit their needs. It sounds like they want to be able to paint it onto a surface and then apply it to someone's skin and burn off their face, possibly even searing a 'mask like object' to their face." He pulls himself away from the table, leaning back in his seat and folding his arms. "Now who does that sound like to you?"

I sigh. I wasn't sure if I should be happy of not. At least it wasn't the Joker. "Black Mask."

Edward smiles at me. "Someone's back in town."