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Robbing a museum typically wasn’t Edward’s thing. But there was an old puzzle box on display that no one had managed to get open yet. Many people had been speculating on what was inside it, but honestly he didn’t care. He just wanted to take a crack at solving it. He wanted to prove that he could solve it.
Robbing a museum in broad daylight might sound difficult, but it was actually proving to be pretty easy. He just waltzed in and almost everyone ran away as fast as they could. Those who stayed he knocked out with the gas in his cane. His only real concern was police or superhero interference, but he should be able to get out before the police or any bats could arrive, especially since the Signal wouldn’t—
A voice came from behind him. “Robbing a museum? Aren’t you usually more creative than that?”
Edward sighed as he turned around to face the vigilante. Speak of the devil. “Signal,” he greeted. “I didn’t think you’d be out today with all the allegations going around. It seems I was mistaken.”
For you see, the Signal was facing some controversy lately, if you could call it that. He had been seen robbing banks, attacking civilians for seemingly no reason, and generally causing chaos. There was even video evidence of every crime he committed, as though he was intentionally committing crimes when he knew he would be filmed.
Edward wasn’t an idiot. The Signal was obviously being framed. If a bat was going to commit a crime, they’d do a better job than that pretender. He did wonder who it was framing Signal and why. Signal wasn’t a very well known bat. Why would anyone bother with the effort of framing him?
Anyways, Edward thought Signal would stay home until his innocence was proven. But apparently that wasn’t the case.
Huh. He had only fought the Signal a couple times, so maybe he was mistaken, but…
“You look different. Did you get a haircut?” he asked, smiling.
“Haha, very funny,” Signal said dryly.
It wasn’t his helmet, it wasn’t the symbol, it wasn’t the color… AHA! “Where’s your utility belt?”
The Signal didn’t answer. It was strange. Edward had half been expecting some snarky response, but no. Nothing.
Edward had heard from other villains in Arkham that Signal could be snarky and have a sense of humor. Yet he never seemed to show that side around him. Whenever Edward saw him, he always acted somewhat reserved and calculated. Maybe even a bit angry.
Could it be that Signal just didn’t like him? But why? What had Edward done to earn his hate? They’d only fought a handful of times, and it was never anything personal!
Signal lunged at Edward.
There’s a common misconception among the Gotham citizens that Edward can’t fight. That isn’t true. You don’t make it so long as rogue, hell, you don’t make it so long living in Gotham, if you don’t have some combat skills.
But could he win against Signal in combat? Not unless Signal was having a very bad day, or Edward got very lucky. So Edward would rather avoid fighting him if he could.
That’s why he immediately tried to use the remaining knockout gas from his cane. Unfortunately, Signal hit it out of his hands before he could press the button. It slid across the floor to the other side of the room.
Then the fight started properly. Signal attacked with conviction and skill, while Edward dodged and blocked, trying to move towards his cane and actually use it. Unfortunately, Signal was good at keeping Edward away from it. Edward really hoped Signal would wear himself out soon.
The fight went on for a few minutes, and Edward was starting to get tired, when suddenly they both heard, “FREEZE!” and turned around.
The police were there, with guns pointed at the two of them. “Put your hands up,” they said. Edward wasn’t in the mood to get shot so he complied. Signal did as well.
Edward watched as one officer went over and picked up his cane. He huffed. They better be careful with that. It was expensive, custom made, and important to him.
Another officer walked up to him and Signal, who were standing side by side now. They put one side of the handcuffs on him, and he prepared for his hands to be pulled behind him, but instead the officer put the second half of the cuffs on Signal’s hand.
Signal looked as surprised and confused as Edward felt.
“What is this?” Edward asked.
“Just a precaution,” the officer replied. “We find it’s harder for certain criminals to get away when they’re attached to each other.”
Maybe that was the case for most people they arrested, but Edward thought this would actually be good for him. Signal needed to get out of this or his identity would be revealed. And with a talented vigilante on his side for once, Edward had better chances of getting away.
He looked at Signal. The guard with his staff was standing rather close to the vigilante. Signal subtly nodded, seemingly understanding what Edward was thinking.
They both waited a moment, trying their bests to look like they would go quietly. Then Signal suddenly rammed his elbow into the stomach of the guard holding the cane. Edward was dragged along and stumbled a bit. But the guard had dropped the cane. Signal quickly picked it up and used to knockout gas on the cops surrounding them.
They both sprinted out of the building. There were backup police outside, which they managed to dodge easily, but the backup gave chase. They ran and ran for a while, zigzagging so they’d be harder to track. But it didn’t work. They were stumbling as they ran, still unused to being stuck together, and it was costing them precious seconds. The cops were gaining on them.
Signal suddenly turned into an alleyway and Edward was dragged in with him. It was a dead end.
“Oh, just great! You’ve led us into a dead end, you—“
Signal shushed him. “Trust me,” he whispered.
That was a big ask. Edward being expected to trust a vigilante, one who clearly didn’t like him. He was starting to question if he was sure Signal wouldn’t go to jail just to sabotage him. But surely he wouldn’t, right? He couldn’t put his identity, and possibly the identities of other bats, at risk. So Edward stayed quiet.
A cop peered into the alleyway, gun in hand. Edward braced for the gun to point towards him, but nothing happened. The cop quickly looked over the alley. “They aren’t here,” they said, and they left. All the cops continued running down the street.
Once he was sure the cops were gone, Edward asked, “What was that?”
Signal wiped sweat from his face. “I made us invisible.”
“You can do that!?” He knew Signal was a metahuman who could control light, but he didn’t know all the boy’s powers.
“Yes, but it takes a lot of concentration,” Signal answered.
Edward nodded. “I see.” He held up the hand with the handcuffs stuck to them, raising Signal’s hand too in the process. “Now that we’ve gotten away from those pesky police, how are we going to get out of this?”
Signal reached down and touched his hip, clearly reaching for something in his belt. The belt that wasn’t there. “Ah! Right. Dammit.”
“I’m sure you have extra lock picks in your hideout, don’t you?” Edward suggested.
“As if I’d take you there,” Signal said.
Well, it was worth a shot. “Just call for backup then.”
Signal looked sheepish. “I don’t exactly have my comms on me right now…”
“You don’t have comms or your utility belt? Why did you come out here so unprepared?”
Signal gulped. “Uhm…”
An idea struck Edward. “You weren’t supposed to go on patrol today, were you?”
“W-well, I—“
“The belt has a tracker in it, and you didn’t want to be tracked so you left it. And you didn’t take your comms so no one could tell you to come back! You’re actively ignoring the other bats instructions to stay put until they figure out how to clear your name from the framing!”
“That’s… well…” Signal sighed. “Fine, you caught me. I was told to stay home. Are you happy?” He sounded very annoyed. He often sounded that way talking to Edward. Edward still didn’t understand why.
Signal suddenly looked surprised. “Wait, you said ‘framing.’ You believe that I’m being framed?”
“Obviously. I’m sure almost everyone knows it. It’s not hard to tell.”
Signal barked a laugh. “I don’t know. You’d be surprised how many criminals today weren’t scared when they saw me, because I’m ‘one of them now.’”
The stupidity of humanity never ceased to amaze Edward. Then again, he supposed he should’ve expected this. It’s not like the police would just turn on a so called hero if they thought he was being framed, right? Then again, maybe they were just chasing him out of a sense of obligation. Who could say.
“Well, at least your little colony of bats believes you, don’t they?”
Signal frowned. “Yeah. Mostly, anyway.”
“Not all of them?”
“Well, I don’t think any of them think I’m actually guilty, but you know how paranoid some of them can be and—“ Signal looked at Edward and seemed to remember who he was talking to. “It’s doesn’t matter. The important thing is, I can’t call for backup right now.”
“Ok, then what can we do?” Edward asked.
Signal thought for a second. He looked like he was having an argument with himself in his head. Then he sighed. “I can’t take you to our hideout, but I think we have a safe house nearby. We keep extra essential tools, like lock picks, there.” He then mumbled to himself, “We’ll have to abandon it after this…”
“We need to avoid being seen on the way there,” Edward pointed out. “Can you make us invisible again?”
“I already told you, it takes a lot of concentration, especially if I’m making both of us invisible. I don’t think I can manage it all the way there.”
“What are we supposed to do then? Blend into the crowd with our inconspicuous outfits?”
“We stick to the alleys and secluded streets. Places where we aren’t likely to be seen. We’ll be stealthy and quiet. If we have to go somewhere where we’re more likely to be seen, I can turn us invisible for a short bit of time. Alright?”
Stealth wasn’t really Edward’s thing, and he wasn’t sure it was Signal’s either. Most of the bats were stealth experts, but most of the didn’t go out in all yellow in broad daylight. Even so it’s not like they had another choice.
“Alright,” Edward agreed. “Lead the way then.”
They started heading to the safe house. Signal ended up being stealthier than Edward had given him credit for. Maybe he wasn’t quite as stealthy as some of his friends (family?) but that was a very high bar. Compared to your average person, he might as well have been invisible even without his powers.
Edward, on the other hand, was struggling. It’s not like he’d never had to be sneaky before but his stealth suddenly seemed woefully inadequate next to Signal. The vigilante had to keep giving him tips on how to stay extra quiet and remain unseen on the way there. It was a bit embarrassing, to be honest.
They managed to get to the safe house without anyone seeing them and calling the cops. As far as they knew, anyway.
The safe house ended up just being an old warehouse. Edward didn’t know what he was expecting. Maybe something a bit more high tech. But if they were trying to remain unnoticed, of course they wouldn’t have decked it out with gadgetry.
They entered. Someone was already there. Based on the way he stiffened up, Signal hadn’t been expecting that. It took Edward a second to figure out who it was but it was Red Hood, just without his signature helmet. He still had the rest of his costume and a domino mask on though. Signal probably thought that was a relief. To Edward, it was a pity.
Red Hood looked a bit younger than Edward had expected. His hair was black with an unnatural streak of white. It was an odd sight.
Red Hood looked at Signal. “Oh, hey Du-“ He looked at Edward. “-de.”
There was an awkward pause between the sounds that made Edward think that “dude” might not have been what he was going to say originally, but he kept quiet about it.
Red Hood looked very confused, and maybe a bit concerned. “Why is the Riddler here? Why are you handcuffed to him? And aren’t you benched?”
“Just… please don’t ask,” Signal said tiredly.
“A bit too late for that,” Red Hood pointed out.
Signal glared at him.
Red Hood dramatically threw his hands up in surrender. “Alright, fine, fine. You don’t wanna talk about it. I get it. Excuse me for being curious. Just let me finish grabbing a backup helmet and leave you alone with a guy you hate like any good friend would.”
“AHA!” went Edward. “So you do hate me.”
Signal sighed. “Thanks a lot, Hood.”
Red Hood found a spare helmet from a cabinet at the back of the room. “You’re welcome.” He put the helmet on and sauntered out of the room.
“So, where are the lock picks?” Edward asked.
“I’m not totally sure,” Signal admitted. “I’ve never had to get backups of them before.”
They looked around for a bit. They found extra batarrangs, escrima sticks, even extra explosives, before they finally found the lock picks.
“I’m not sure I can pick a lock one handed,” Signal said.
“Here, give me one of the picks. We can unlock it together,” Edward offered.
So they did. The handcuffs fell to the ground and they both immediately walked away from each other.
They stood in silent relief for a second, then they stood there in silent awkwardness for a minute.
“So,” Signal eventually said, “isn’t it time for you to leave?”
Edward pretended to think about it. “Hm… no, no I don’t think it is.”
“What?”
“For you see, my dear Signal, there are still riddles here to be solved.”
“What are you talking about?”
Edward held up his pointer finger. “Riddle number one. Who is framing you and, more interestingly, why?”
“How about I visit you and tell you the answer later. You know, when you’re in Arkham?”
“You turn me in, I turn you in. Once the police know you can turn invisible you won’t get away with your little trick so easily again,” Edward threatened. “I can’t believe you threatened to have me arrested before I could even get to riddle number two!”
Signal sighed. “What’s riddle number two?” he asked reluctantly.
“Why do you hate me so much?”
“You’re a terrorist!”
“So are most of my friends in Arkham,” Edward pointed out. “But they all say Signal always stays cool, is a bit snarky, has a bit of a sense of humor. But you don’t act that way around me. You might hate all of us ‘villains,’ but the fact is, there’s something different about the way you hate me. Something more personal. But for the life of me, I can’t figure out what I ever did to you.”
Signal didn’t have a rebuttal this time.
“So, I have a proposal for you. I think I know where your impersonator will strike next, and even though their crimes tend to be quick, if we get there before them, I bet we catch them in the act.”
This seeemed to surprise Signal. “But there hasn’t been a pattern to their attacks, other than the fact that they’re avoiding my typical routes.”
“There’s always a pattern. You just haven’t been in this business long enough to think like a criminal. But I’m only going to tell you where they’ll be if you agree to let me tag along. Deal?” Edward held his hand out for a shake.
Signal looked hesitant. “The other bats are more experienced than me. Some of them might connect the dots and end up being there. What do we do when they see us working together?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
“And if the reports are right, the impersonator is a meta like me. But do we know all their powers? What if—“
Edward groaned. “You sound like Batman! Why are you suddenly acting so careful? You recklessly disobeyed instructions to save civilians today, didn’t you? Well, it’s time to be reckless to save yourself! You can clear your name! Even if you don’t catch them, just fighting the fake in public should be enough. Hurry up and shake on it, my arm’s getting tired!”
Signal sighed. He tentatively shook Edward’s hand. “Fine. Deal.”
Edward grinned. “Wonderful!” He pulled his hand away. “Now, here’s what I’m thinking. There’s three requirements for every place the imposter strikes. It has to be a very public area, and there has to be someway for it to be recorded. That way their’s witnesses and evidence for ‘your’ crimes. Now admittedly I wasn’t aware of the third requirement until you said it, so I don’t know if where I’m thinking meets it, but you can tell me. It has to be somewhere off of your patrol routes, so they can get away before you arrive.”
“By the way, it’s weird that they know your patrol routes,” Edward added. “Have they been stalking you or something? Or is it possible this is someone you’ve told your routes to?”
“There’s no way it’s anyone I’ve told,” Signal said confidently. “I think they must’ve been trailing me. I’m surprised none of us noticed.”
That was odd. Sneaking up on any bat was tricky. This also only added to the question of why this impersonator cared so much about Signal out of all the bats.
Edward shrugged. “Well, that doesn’t matter now. What does matter is that an important gala is being hosted here in Gotham today. It’s this huge fashion event with celebrities in fancy, and frankly ridiculous, costumes. Paparazzi and reporters will be there so there’s plenty of cameras, and there will be witnesses too. Not to mention, hurting celebrities will cause quite the fuss. I’m willing to bet this copycat will show up to terrorize the people there.”
“Right, I think I’ve heard about that!” Signal said. “It’s at the Gotham Museum of Art, right? Do you know when it starts?”
“I think about five o’clock or so.”
“I’m usually not in that area at that time,” Signal said, and Edward made a mental note of that. “I think you might be on to something.”
“Of course I am. Now, is there any sort of clock in here? I’m not exactly sure what time it is.”
Signal pointed to an analog clock on the wall. According to said clock, it was currently 4:30.
“Oh! We better get going!” Edward said. “Come on!”
And they headed out of the safe house and towards the museum. They had to sneak again, but Edward thought he was getting better at it with all this practice and observing a master at work.
While they walked Signal asked, “Hey, you don’t think any of the Waynes will be there, right?”
“Who cares what the Waynes are wearing?” Edward said dismissively.
Signal smiled. “Good.”
Edward raised an eyebrow. “Good? What, you have something against them too?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Edward wouldn’t say he was worried, just intrigued. But he had other, more intriguing things to think about, so he let it go for the time being.
When they got there they decided to head to the roof of the museum. There was a skylight up there that they could watch the gala through without having to sneak around inside. They could enter through the skylight when the impersonator showed up. Edward didn’t know why the bats seemed so fond of entering buildings through skylights, but who was he to judge someone for theatrics?
It probably would’ve been easiest to get up there if Signal had his grappling hook. But unfortunately, he didn’t. Luckily, Edward happened to know that there was ladder at the back of a building a couple buildings away from the museum.
They climbed up the ladder and hopped from roof to roof until they got to the museum.
But, when they got to the museum roof, they found two people were already there.
Nightwing and Red Robin.
Nightwing saw Signal and didn’t notice Edward at first. “Signal! There you are! B was worried sick when you left, especially without your equipment. He’s been brooding about it for hours.”
“Why is the Riddler here?” Red Robin asked, getting ready to fight.
Nightwing noticed him now, and squared up immediately.
“Relax,” Signal told them both. “He’s with me.”
“What!?” they both exclaimed in unison.
“I thought you hated him?” Nightwing said, confused.
“Is that a well known fact to all of you? I thought I was being subtle about it!” Signal said, exasperated.
“You really weren’t,” Red Robin told him.
“Even I figured it out,” Edward agreed.
“But never mind that, why are you working with a villain at all?” Red Robin asked.
Signal sighed. “Long story, but we escaped the police together, and now he won’t leave until we catch the person who’s framing me.”
“And I find out why he hates me so much,” Edward added.
“And now you’re here because you think the person framing you is going to attack here,” Red Robin accurately guessed.
Signal nodded. “Is that why you’re here too?”
“Kind of,” Red Robin said. “There’s a few places we think they could strike next. Some of the others are stationed at different places we think they might show up. But we think this is one of the places they might show up at, yes.”
“Hey, if the reason you’re working with Riddler is just that he won’t leave, I’m sure I could take him to Arkham for you,” Nightwing offered with a smile. He was smiling about taking Edward to that awful place. This sort of thing was exactly why Edward didn’t like him. “Red Robin can probably handle the copycat fine on his own, if they do show up.”
“Hey now, wait just a minute—“ Edward tried to say, but he was ignored.
“Take Signal home while you’re at it,” Red Robin said.
That seemed to upset Signal. “But I can help!”
Red Robin shook his head. “You weren’t supposed to be out today and you don’t have any of your equipment. You need to go back to the base at least.”
“But this is my chance to prove my innocence! If people see me fighting the fake—“
“We can prove your innocence when we catch them,” Nightwing said. “Now, are you two going to come quietly or no?”
Edward looked down at Nightwing’s utility belt and had an idea. It wasn’t a particularly good idea, but the more he thought about it the more he thought it might work. And he didn’t have time to think of a better idea.
Edward whispered to Signal, “Get me one of their utility belts. I have a plan.”
Signal nodded once in understanding.
Edward tried to punch Nightwing to get a fight started and distract him. Fighting Nightwing was even harder than fighting Signal, but the good news was that Edward didn’t have to win. He just had to keep Nightwing occupied long enough for Signal to take his belt.
And it worked! After about a minute of them fighting, Signal swooped in and managed to steal Nightwing’s utility belt.
“What the— HEY!” Nightwing cried out as Signal tossed the belt to Edward.
Edward quickly ran over to Signal. He took out the bat-handcuffs, or whatever they were called, and handcuffed the two of them back together.
Everyone stared at him, their expressions a mix of shock and confusion, and in Signal’s case, and bit of annoyance too.
Edward smiled proudly. He was aware this was likely unexpected, and maybe not his best idea, but he was confident it would work. He just had to explain why.
“Now that I’m handcuffed to your… friend? Brother? Whatever. Now that I’m handcuffed to Signal, you can’t take me to jail without taking him to jail too. And you can’t take him home or to your base, because then you’d have to take me along too. In other words, you can’t get rid of us!”
“This was your plan!?” Signal said.
“Yes.”
“This is ridiculous! I thought you were going to use knock out gas on them or something!”
Edward held the utility belt up. “I don’t know where you keep the knock out gas in this thing. But I’ve seen you all use the handcuffs enough times I know where those are.”
“You know I still have a key to those, right?” Red Robin said. “I can just unlock the handcuffs.”
“Good luck with that when we’re actively evading you,” Edward replied. “It’s hard to unlock handcuffs when the people wearing them are moving around.” He looked at Signal. “You will evade any attempts to get rid of these handcuffs for now, won’t you?”
Signal sighed. “As much as I hate it, this plan does seem like it could work, so yes.”
“You’re really willing to put up with someone you hate for this? You really want to help that badly?” Nightwing asked.
“Of course! This person is destroying my reputation, and I’m sick of it. I’m sick of being treated like a criminal by everyone. I don’t like Riddler, but at least he believes in my innocence. Unlike you guys.”
That seemed to catch Nightwing and Red Robin off guard.
“Signal, we do think you’re innocent. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t,” Nightwing said.
“You have a weird way of showing it,” Signal grumbled. “You’ve all been acting weird around me. Especially Batman. And then you told me not to go on patrol.”
“To keep you from getting arrested or scaring anyone,” Red Robin chimed in.
“Was it? Or was it to make sure I didn’t commit any crimes while I was out there? I know I’m new, but I thought I had earned your trust by now.”
“You have,” Nightwing insisted.
It didn’t seem like a good time for Edward to say anything. This was clearly a very personal matter. That being said, he decided to say something anyways.
“If I may,” he began. He immediately got three bat-glares that said very strongly “you may not,” but like he was going to let that stop him. “It seems to me that all of you are being paranoid here. Even if all of you believe in Signal’s innocence, some small part of you is scared of being betrayed, and that’s causing you to act a bit strangely. And Signal, you already feel like they don’t trust you enough, so you’re taking that small amount of nervousness and blowing it out of proportion. That’s what’s causing the issue.”
All three of them looked like they wanted to deny it on principle, but the more they thought about it the more they all paused. Because he was right, obviously. He always was.
“Sorry, Signal. It’s nothing personal, I promise,” Nightwing said eventually.
Signal nodded. “I know. I shouldn’t act like it is. It’s just… hard sometimes, y’know?”
“Yeah,” Red Robin replied.
Everyone stopped as they heard a strange sound. It was a sound they all recognized. The sound of a grappling hook. They all turned to the spot on the roof where the hook had landed, and in a few seconds, a person was on the roof in that same spot.
They were wearing Signal’s costume.
Well, something resembling his costume, that is. Looking at it this close up with the real thing for reference nearby, Edward could spot quite a few differences. The shade of yellow was completely off, the bat symbol didn’t look quite right, and the helmet was a slightly different shape. But if you’d never seen the Signal before, or had only seen him from a distance, it would be close enough to trick you.
The person who had just joined them on the rooftop was the impersonator.
As soon as the impersonator saw the four of them, they turned around and started running across rooftops. Naturally, all four of them gave chase. Edward and Signal already had practice running while handcuffed so they did it without too much trouble.
Once there were no more roofs to jump across, the impersonator used their grappling hook to lower themself to the ground. Paying more attention now, Edward noticed the grappling hook wasn’t very high quality. It was definitely homemade.
Red Robin used his grappling hook to do the same. Nightwing also did so, but first he grabbed Edward and Signal.
The impersonator began weaving through alleyways in an attempt to lose them, but it didn’t work. Eventually, the impersonator ran straight into a dead end.
“There’s no where left to run,” Signal said. “So tell us why you’re doing this and—“
To everyone’s shock and wonder, the shadows in the alley suddenly converged into one spot behind the impersonator. They stepped back into the shadows and disappeared. Then everything went back to normal.
They all stood there, dumbfounded.
Edward broke the silence by saying, “Well. Now what?”
“Now we take those handcuffs off of you and, send you to Arkham, and send Signal back home,” Red Robin said.
“Absolutely not!” Edward refused.
“That faker probably isn’t going to go anywhere else again today,” Nightwing said. “What else are you going to do? You can’t just keep waiting for them.”
“Signal and I can sleep in the safe house and wait for tomorrow.”
“I guess that’s better than being taken out of the fight,” Signal said. “Marginally.”
Red Robin opened his mouth to say something more, but before the argument could continue, the shadows started to converge again. This time, beneath Edward and Signal’s feet. The shadows became a portal and they both fell through it. Red Robin and Nightwing both moved to catch them, but they were too slow.
Edward and Signal fell into an empty room. It looked old. Part of the ceiling was missing, the paint on the walls was chipped in several places, and it didn’t seem well insulated based on the fact that it was the same temperature as outside.
Signal immediately tugged Edward along as he rushed to try the door. The door handle turned, but the door didn’t open. Signal tried to push against it but it didn’t budge.
“The door must be blocked with something heavy,” Signal said. “Or it’s chained up or something.”
The shadows made another portal and the impersonator stepped through it.
“Signal,” they said. Edward immediately noticed how different their voice was to Signal’s. It was far higher in pitch and was much more feminine. “I was wondering how long it would take you to try to stop me.”
“Who are you? Why are you doing this?” Signal asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” they said. “All you need to know is that I hate you!”
“Why?”
They didn’t answer. “I had a death trap all prepared for you, actually, but it was designed for only one person. And since you’re currently stuck to that annoying rogue, it isn’t going to work. So you’re going to stay here while I figure something else out.”
They created another portal.
“WAIT! I still don’t understand—“ Signal cried, but it was too late. The impersonator stepped through the portal and closed it.
Signal stood there for a while, not doing or saying anything.
“Are you alright?” Edward asked. He didn’t particularly care about the wellbeing of Signal, but the silence was getting boring.
“I just don’t get it,” he said. “Why do they hate me so much they want to destroy my reputation? What did I do to deserve it?”
Edward barked a laugh. “Yeah, it sucks when someone hates you and you don’t know why, doesn’t it? Feels weird, huh?”
Signal sighed. “You really want to know why I hate you?”
“Obviously!”
“You took over the city!”
Edward paused. He hadn’t been expecting that answer. “That’s it?” he said after a minute. “I’m not the only villain that’s done that you know.”
“Of course I know that, it’s just…” he made a noise of frustration. “I was a kid. And everyday I heard about people getting hurt, people dying, and there was nothing I could do about it! I did everything I could. I practiced solving puzzles and riddles. But at the end of the day, I was powerless to actually make a difference. Because I was a kid. And feeling powerless like that, realizing for the first time in your life how little you can do to help anyone, is one of the worst feelings in the world.”
“I never realized how something like that would affect someone young,” Edward admitted.
“Of course you didn’t!” Signal snapped. “Of course you’re constantly hurting people in ways you don’t even have the decency to realize! That’s why I hate you! I hate you for hurting people, I hate you for making me feel powerless, and I hate you for not even noticing the damage you cause! Mystery solved. Are you happy?”
Edward should’ve been. He should’ve been happy that he found out why Signal didn’t like him. But it wasn’t a satisfying answer. He had been expecting something more personal. He had been expecting to be told that he had unknowingly killed Signal’s father or something. But no. He wasn’t even truly a victim of his crimes. Just collateral damage.
Edward felt something strange at that. Something perhaps akin to remorse.
He wasn’t about to admit how he was feeling though. Instead, he said, “I won’t be happy until we figure out why that impersonator is doing this too.”
“That’s one thing we can agree on. But how are we supposed to get out of here when I don’t have any of my equipment? And how will we defeat them when they can just portal away once they’re at a disadvantage?”
“I might have an idea. How long do you think you can concentrate?”
Edward explained his plan to Signal. Signal agreed to it, though he didn’t promise he could manage it. He made them both invisible and they waited.
After a little bit, the impersonator returned through a portal with a knife. They didn’t have their helmet on anymore. “Alright, it’s time to die.”
They looked around and saw no one. “What?” they said to themself. “There’s no way they could have gotten away!”
Because they didn’t think anyone was there, they didn’t bother to close the portal right away. Edward and Signal ran through it.
Edward looked around. They seemed to be in the main room of an old apartment. Presumably the apartment the impersonator lived in. The new surroundings must’ve broken Signal’s concentration, because they became visible again.
Once the impersonator gave up searching that room for them, they came back through the portal. They looked shocked and angry to see them both standing there.
“How did you escape?” they asked through gritted teeth.
“Trade secret,” Edward said. There was no reason to out the extent of Signal’s abilities right now.
That seemed to make them angrier. They lunged towards Signal with the knife.
Signal dodged, although only barely. It was immediately clear that fighting while they were handcuffed together was going to be difficult. But slowly they figured it out and fell into a rhythm. It became apparent throughout the fight that the impersonator was outmatched.
The impersonator must’ve realized that too, because the shadows in the room started to converge.
“Oh no you don’t! Riddler, close your eyes!” Signal instructed.
Edward closed his eyes, but even through his eyelids, he could see it. A bright, white light filled the room. It didn’t seem to come from any one spot. It came from everywhere around them. There must not have been any shadows being cast.
The impersonator cried out in pain. The light fizzled out. Edward opened his eyes and saw the imposter was covering theirs.
The impersonator opened their eyes again after about a minute. They looked around desperately. They must’ve realized that if they tried to make a portal to get away Signal would just use his powers again, and there was no way they could beat him.
“You’re going to jail, and you’re going to confess to framing me,” Signal said.
“No NO NO!” they whined. “It’s not fair! IT’S NOT FAIR!”
The shadows in the room pulsed like the fast beating of a distressed heart.
“What isn’t fair?” Signal asked.
“HOW COME YOU’RE A META AND EVERYONE LOVES YOU!? Everyone treats me like a supervillain waiting to happen! And yet they think you’re a hero! You get to be loved and admired AND IT’S NOT FAIR!”
“So, because you thought it was unfair that you were treated like a supervillain, you decided to become a supervillain?” Edward summarized. “Interesting choice, but alright.”
Signal elbowed him in the arm.
“You’re right,” Signal said. “That isn’t fair. But trying to make everyone hate me isn’t the right way to deal with it. You should focus on finding people who see the good in you and like you, powers and all.”
“SHUT UP! Neither of you know what it’s like! Don’t pretend to know what you’d do in my place.”
They lunged again. This time, Signal barely fought back, mostly just moving backwards and dodging.
“Oh for Christ’s sake,” Edward muttered to himself. He hit the impersonator hard in the head at they fell to the floor, unconscious.
“Don’t go feeling bad for them, they framed you for all sorts of things!” Edward said.
Signal looked away from him and at the floor. “But they were right. It is unfair.”
“You aren’t to blame for that, you know.”
Signal sighed. “I know. I just wish there was something I could do about it.”
Frankly, Edward didn’t care about Signal’s weird guilt over this and unnecessary sympathy for someone who had hurt him. He had all the answers he wanted and that was all he cared about. But they weren’t going to get anything done as long as Signal was sulking, and they couldn’t stand around here forever.
“You’re a smart kid,” Edward said. “I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
Signal didn’t smile or say anything, but Edward had a feeling his words had helped. Or maybe that was just his pride talking. Who could say?
Signal looked up from the ground and towards Edward. “What now?”
“I don’t know, call the police?” Edward suggested. “I got all the answers I wanted, I’m fine with going back to Arkham now.”
“How are they going to find us?” Signal asked. “We don’t exactly know where we are.”
“Can’t they just track the phone we call them with or something?”
“That’s the other problem. We don’t have a phone.”
Edward looked around. He spotted a phone on the kitchen counter and pointed to it. “There. It probably belongs to the impersonator. We never caught their name, you know.”
“And how do we get out of these handcuffs?” Signal asked
“The police have keys to your bat-handcuffs.”
“They do?”
“Well, yeah. They have to get them off of us crooks somehow.”
Signal thought for a second. “Huh. I hadn’t thought about that.”
“So, should we call them now?”
Signal chuckled. “Two wanted criminals calling the police. This is gonna go well.”
“On the bright side, you won’t be wanted much longer.”