Chapter Text
Edward didn't know why he had agreed to such ridiculous request, or rather he did but preferred not to acknowledge the thing that would put him at a great disadvantage.
He had entered the place many times, the archive room of the Gotham City Police Department was indeed better than the one they had in the city hall, mainly because they needed more things to "fight" the crime in the city, Metropolis may have all their important and historical documents in the Mayor's office but given that the rogues gallery in Gotham loved to have themed heists, shows and other felonies, the GCPD needed to know where the escape routes and secret entrances to the museums, labs, and abandoned houses were.
Being one for drama, the Riddler was one of the cases that required such information.
And now here he was, trying to find the blueprints to Gotham University for his mentee.
"Well, at least there's nothing of ours here."
Edward Nygma prided himself on his great accomplishments, he couldn't help but be on the lookout for any information regarding himself, loving to bask in the files that called him a genius, a fearsome mind; he didn't find much, most of his files were probably back in Arkham.
"Maybe they stored them somewhere else." A squeaky voice replied from one of the cabinets across the room. Edward, much like everything else in his life, remembered exactly the first time he met him, "Kwiz Kid". At first, he laughed, a name so ridiculous, the spelling, god, it reminded him of those juices from the nineties that tried to cater to "the youth".
He didn't think much of him at first, apparently, he had gotten in an argument with the boy Wonder all the way back in Jump City, a petty argument the kid insisted on calling a "battle of wits". He found out about the whole thing through Drury.
"He tried to date my Kate, Nygma." Walker said.
"And then he just ran! He was a hologram!"
Edward paid no mind to the story, seemed like a rip-off who wanted to feel like he was fighting Batman, as lucky as he had been, surely he wouldn't try it again.
He didn't, instead, he began following him. Edward had planned what could have been his greatest heist yet, everything was going according to plan but of course, The Bat waltzed in and beat him up, of course Edward managed to escape, having a hostage situation across the city "It's me or the bankers, Batman." The fact that there was no new songbird by his side yet made the choice easy (or so he thought). Cue a beaten-up Riddler making his exit through the museum when he saw a figure lurking in the shadows; light red hair, a domino mask, and a green and black spandex with a singular orange question mark inside a black oval in his chest. It was an awful sight, the Riddler hadn't worn spandex in ages and seeing this nostalgia-filled kid trying so hard made his face twist in disgust, he was so thrown off he didn't realize the trigger of such reaction ran away at the sight of a yellow cape, it was certainly a Robin costume, but it was certainly NOT the Robin he was used to.
That had been an embarrassing event, of course, he cursed the kids responsible for his defeat on his way to Arkham.
A few days in he received mail, he opened the envelope the guard had so rudely thrown his way just to find it was blank, a citric smell plagued the paper, 'invisible ink' he thought. Of course, he needed fire, but with Firefly currently being held in, the asylum's personnel were a bit more careful than usual when using their lighters. Of course he could find a way to get his hands on a lighter to read the secret message left for him but he didn't feel like it, still thinking about the boy that had ensured his capture, he had to be the infamous Kwiz Kid.
A few weeks later, Dr. Isley escaped from Arkham using a strawberry seed, the rest of the inmates using the chaos to scatter away, alas the great Riddler was free again and as soon as he got to his lair he could see that something was wrong. His desk, his living room, his toilet, it was all clean. Needless to say, he was furious, how dare anyone touch his workstation? It was an organized mess! There was also the question of who had done it, a riddle that soon answered itself as the redheaded boy approached him from behind.
"It is an honor to finally meet you, sir, I am Kwiz Kid!"
Edward wanted to kill the boy.
"Did you get my letter?"
The kid was visibly shaking, of course, that should be the reaction of anyone who got to meet THE Riddler, Edward thought.
"Oh yeah! I specially enjoyed the part where you assumed I had any source of fire at my disposal."
The boy looked away in embarrassment.
"Maybe it's for the best, it was kinda silly anyways."
"Yeah, maybe it was for the best," Edward said in a stern tone, one he had heard Batman use on Robin.
"Anyways sir, my name is-"
"I really don't care."
"Well... I think I should cut to the chase."
"Yeah, maybe you should."
"Mister Riddler, sir. Edward if I may-"
"You may not."
"Of course."
The boy looked at his feet for a moment trying to look away from the man in front of him.
"I am possibly your biggest admirer and I would like to work with you."
Edward let out a laugh, 'with'?
"Let me stop you there..."
"Kwiz Kid."
"Let me stop you there, Kwiz Kid. You are not even sure if you're my biggest admirer and you want to work WITH me?"
"I was trying to be humble."
"And yet you say 'with', not 'under', with."
The boy started poking at his suit, anxious about the harsh words he was receiving.
"You come here and you make a mess out of my lair and ask me to give you a job? You're gonna need more than just scented applications."
"It was invisible ink!"
"Well yes, I thought we had already established that. Just goes to show that you can't even keep up with me in a simple conversation."
"But I have been keeping up with you, I've been following you."
"I noticed, you meddled in a very important operation."
"Are you saying I distracted you?"
"Please, I only got caught because Batman cheated, he got himself a new Robin."
"Which is exactly why you need me!"
"Need you!? I have faced Batman and Robin before."
"Well wouldn't it be far more convenient if someone else took care of Robin while you focus on Batman?"
Edward stopped, pondering on the kid's offer.
"You see, I have fought against the original Robin before." The kid beamed.
"I know, heard it from Walker."
"Who?"
"Killer Moth."
"Oh, right!"
"Don't look so proud, if Kate had been in any real danger you would be dead by now, besides, it's not like he is a real threat."
"But you just said I could have died."
"Would have died, and that's because I'm sure of your incompetence. You may go now, I need to fix this place."
Edward turned around, the boy refused to let him have the final word and decided to make the most desperate thing he could think of to get his attention back.
"Whatever, I could defeat you any day."
Edward faced him again, if this kid wanted to be treated like an adult, he was going to treat him like one, if he ended up crying that would be entirely on him.
"Is that so? What are you gonna do? Quiz me? Please, only a twat with no brain could fathom the idea of even aspiring to be in the same range of intellect as myself, you are nothing more than a little fanboy, hell, you should be thankful that the Boy Wonder even bothered to entertain your delusional game of pretend."
The boy was shocked, he expected him to answer back, but he had not thought how to respond.
"But please, be my guest, rack me with your riddles, befuddle me with you intellect, are you going to test me with a preschool puzzle perhaps?"
The boy took a deep breath, there was no going back now. "Ermm yes; what's evil and no good and- and a Bully? YOU!"
The Riddler let out a big laugh, was that all he had? "Oh! The pain! The agony, never have I been more wounded than now. How DARE you waste my time with such weak and pitiful ATTEMPT at an insult!? I suggest you start begging for mercy before I say something that will make you cry in your room for a week."
The kid began to feel a knot in his throat, he was starting to think maybe this hadn't been a good idea after all.
"Did you really think I wouldn't see through the façade? That silly little metaphorical cloth you put on your head and decided to call a disguise, fooling no one else but yourself, acting like you're more than just a crybaby."
"BLASPHEMY" The boy screamed, "I would- Kwiz Kid would never-"
"This is getting embarrassing for you, child." Edward began walking towards the child, making his back hit the wall. "Why don't you get out of here and leave the REAL riddles to the REAL geniuses such as myself."
Edward turned around once again backing off from the kid, as he did, the boy's legs gave up and he fell to the floor, his eyes teary and with shaky voice he spoke again, "I just want to be cool, and smart, and special, like the Riddler..."
Edward stopped on his tracks and saw the kid's pathetic form, if he were truly a sentimental man he would have thought he reminded him of his younger self. He couldn't have that.
"Hmmm, well, Kwiz Kid, if you truly are as interested as you claim in an assistan position, I suppose I might consider taking you under my... 'wing'. However, it will be a demanding job and I expect nothing if not the best. Do you accept this terms?"
Kwiz Kid wiped his nose and stood up. "Yes sir."
"Good, you start tomorrow, six A.M. sharp, one minute later and you're out."
"Of course, Mister Nygma, sir."
"What were you saying your name is?"
"Samson, Sherman Samson."
"Oh, how unfortunate."