Chapter 58: Dunk Tank
Gotham, the catacombs.
The environment was dark and damp, filled with a deathly, grim atmosphere. Faint lights cast dim and blurry shadows, illuminating the moss-covered walls.
A light mist permeated the catacombs. The Riddler stood at the end of a passageway. Batman was on the other side of the mist, facing neatly paved floor tiles. Green bricks formed a giant "?" on the ground.
Batman had found him. But the Riddler said this was just the beginning of the game.
The facility here had already been modified by the Riddler and connected to Gotham's power grid. Batman had to follow his rules, advancing along the bricks that formed the question mark, one step at a time.
Each brick was connected to a death trap. To advance safely without triggering a trap, he could only play by the rules of the game. The Riddler would ask him questions. For every riddle Batman answered correctly, he could take one step forward.
Answer all the questions correctly, and he would successfully disable all the death traps. The Riddler, in turn, would willingly give up resistance and surrender.
But if he broke the rules, all the death traps would activate instantly. Simultaneously, the entire Gotham power grid would also shut down without warning. The damage to the city would be incalculable.
"Ha, correct again. You may take another step forward," the Riddler said smugly, waving his cane.
"You've already answered the third question correctly. You really are smart, Batman. I'm starting to wish this game would never end..."
"Shut up and ask the next one, Riddler."
Batman took a step forward, and a green square tile sank beneath his boot.
"Alright, alright, as you command. Let's have some fun."
The Riddler took off his top hat, which was adorned with a question mark, hung it on his cane, and sent it spinning.
"Next question... 'My greatest strength is knowing my own worth. I embrace myself tightly every time I am born.' So, Batman, what am I?"
Batman stared at him, his face expressionless.
"A sword," he said coldly.
A look of delight appeared on the Riddler's face.
"Wrong, wrong, wrong! Ha, you're finally wrong." The Riddler threw his hands up, as happy as a two-hundred-pound child. "The answer is 'a knot'—the famous unsolvable 'Gordian Knot' from history!"
"It's a rope that no one could untie, not even Alexander the Great could—Hey, wait, what are you doing!?"
He watched, stunned, as Batman ignored his traps and strode forward with great strides. The bricks sank one after another under his feet.
The Riddler's eyes widened. "You... my traps... how?"
He had clearly won; Batman was supposed to be wrong. The death traps should have activated by now, and Batman should have died on the spot.
But there he was, walking right up to him, as if the Riddler's traps didn't even exist... No, it was more like they truly didn't exist. Not a single one of his meticulously designed traps had activated.
"Like I said, the answer is 'a sword.' Ten seconds ago, I hacked your system. All your little gadgets are useless now."
Batman walked straight up to him, grabbed him by the collar, and lifted him up.
"You were right, not even Alexander could untie the Gordian Knot. So the great emperor drew his sword..."
Batman's powerful hook punch smashed into the Riddler's face, splitting his cheek and making him spit blood.
"...and cut the knot in one stroke."
The Riddler slammed onto the ground, his mouth full of blood and his head ringing. But he still roared with laughter. "So you did figure out the riddle after all. Impressive, Batman."
"I'm impressed, but you still cheated. You broke the rules, so you must be punished."
"We've been fighting for so long, I know you pretty well. I guessed you probably wouldn't play by the rules. So I kept an ace up my sleeve this time."
He sat slumped on the ground and leisurely snapped his fingers.
"Come out, my friends of the darkness, and punish this cheater!"
Batman's nerves tensed.
He had already encountered supernatural events in previous operations and knew that Gotham had evil fiends that could possess criminals. The current situation felt eerily familiar.
He held his breath and prepared himself, on full alert for any ghostly figures that might leap out from the surrounding darkness...
And then... nothing happened.
The Riddler held his finger-snapping pose for a long moment. The atmosphere grew a bit awkward.
The Riddler pondered for a moment.
*I must be doing it wrong.*
So he switched his stance, changed hands, and snapped his fingers again. He felt the last snap wasn't good enough, so he did it again.
"Appear, demon spirits of the darkness!"
Silence.
A cold wind blew into the catacombs from somewhere, bringing a bone-chilling cold and a hint of subtle awkwardness.
The demon spirits you've called are not in the service area.
The look Batman gave the Riddler became even stranger.
It was as if he were considering adding a note to the Riddler's file: *Subject's mental issues appear to be trending towards delusion...*
The Riddler let out a faint sigh. "Hmph. See? I knew it. You can only rely on yourself. Devils are so unreliable, no integrity at all..."
Batman stepped forward and threw another punch, this time breaking his nose. Blood streamed from the Riddler's nostrils.
But he was still grinning, seemingly not at all angered by the beating. Pinned to the ground by Batman, he laughed and said, "Forget it. I wasn't counting on those supernatural freaks anyway."
"Good thing I still have one more trick. A final move, a trump card to turn the tables."
BOOM!!!
The sound of an explosion.
It roared like thunder from above the enclosed space, and the entire underground area began to shake violently. Cracks started to spread across the boulders on the ceiling, and the catacombs seemed on the verge of collapse.
"What did you do!?"
Batman hauled the Riddler up and slammed him against the wall.
"I knew you would cheat, so I made backup preparations." The Riddler smiled. "And the punishment for cheating is that Gotham is about to play 'Dunk Tank'."
Batman's pupils contracted.
He knew what a 'Dunk Tank' was—a mini-game. A person sits on a seat above a tank of water. The seat has a switch connected directly to a nearby target. When a player hits the target, the person on the seat falls into the water and gets soaked.
And the player in the Riddler's 'Dunk Tank' was Gotham City.
The Riddler grinned, revealing a blood-soaked smile.
"I just blew up Gotham's most critical seawall. Now, this city is about to become part of the Atlantic Ocean."
(end of chapter)