Gotham Arc #6.
Penguin's umbrella. He had to get it.
Riddler's cane too.
Only the cage stood between him and his goal.
Scale it? The top was sealed with chain-link. Tough but breakable.
His hand paused; inching away from the side mesh. His fingers twitched, spidersense buzzing.
Why the creeping fear? He had touched it before. He could tear it apart with his strength.
That was the problem. Too easy.
The Riddler wasn't that simple.
Mesh must be rigged to keep the players in and the crowd out.
How? Electricity? Controlled at the Riddler's command?
Was he overthinking this?
The cage rattled under the pressure of the crowd's thirst for blood, the wire pushing inward.
Dismissing his doubts, Jake mounted and started climbing.
Confused crowd murmurs distanced as Jake's confidence grew. He yanked himself higher with webs, prowling to break free of the confine.
"Spectacular!" Riddler's voice cheered over the speakers. "Oh, what will he do next? Escape?"
Jake felt Nigma's eyes on him -- glaring with delight like his damn Banger's font, his grin exaggerated and sardonic like a bad omen.
Would he fail? The thought gnawed at him.
He clenched his teeth. Didn't matter. He would try anyway.
Hands grabbed the top chain-link.
"Careful Spider," Riddler cautioned. "My webs sting harder."
Was he leaning closer with a gleeful smug?
Jake shook the image off his mind.
He pulled.
A tingling sensation started from his fingers. It rose through his arms and exploded in his chest.
His throat dried, body shaking like a leaf in the storm. Mind went blank as he plummeted.
A surge of white blinding light rippled across the entire structure, throwing dozens from the crowd back with a powerful pulse.
Some fell -- stunned. Others flinched as the cage sparked chaotically.
Jake crashed on the ground. Hard. Dust swirled around him.
He groaned, vision blurry.
Why were the lights blinking?
He pushed his hands against the ground, trying to rise. Arms buckled. He collapsed back on the floor.
Right. He had just been electrocuted. Felt more like a lightning blast.
He lay still, heartbeat slow and weak. Breath straining.
The ground moved. Sliding apart as if trying to swallow him whole.
What the--?
Adrenaline jolted his heart back to life. Jake jumped out of the way. Body forgot the pain.
He clung to the side of the cage, staring at the heavy darkness in the gaping floor. SLAM--! It snapped shut.
"Impressive." Riddler's voice boomed. "20 KiloVolts of electricity and you are still moving, let alone alive?"
Jake's hands felt weird -- numbing, tingling. Was he gripping the mesh?
He let go quickly and crouched on the floor.
"Quite the competitor we have got." Riddler acknowledged.
"The Spider, everybody!" he applauded, calling for praise.
The crowd didn't disappoint. Their shocked silence turned into abrupt cheers and chants.
"Spider! Spider! Spider!"
Jake looked around, head blaring.
He searched the ring. Where was it? His webs weren't something you just got out from.
What had happened to King Snake's body?
He lowered his head and knocked the floor. Twice.
Thick steel. Hollow bottom.
"I have no knob, yet yield a place--"
Riddler interrupted. Jake didn't think it through, but he was close to figuring it out. He knew it.
He just knew it.
"And for his next opponent. A man in love with the sport above all else." He announced, the red cage sliding open.
A muscular man in a white hockey mask stepped out, white baseball bat hanging at his side.
"Sportsmaster!" Riddler's voice reverberated.
The brute grunted, resting the bat on his elbow.
"You're not a cricket, but I bet you squash the same, Spider." Sportsmaster said, voice deep and measured. The crowd clapped the mesh in approval.
Jake rolled his shoulder blades. Stiffened bones cracked. His resolve didn't.
This was a survival tournament. His specialty.
"Takes more than two brain cells to crack that joke," Jake mocked. "Don't get a concussion before you taste my knuckles."
The air thickened with anticipation, crowd eager for entertainment.
Sportsmaster's grip tightened around his bat. He snorted, jaw clenching.
"And for the twist." Riddler continued amid the tension and excitement. "Two to replace each fallen contestant."
The blue cage creaked open.
"A daughter eager to prove herself." Riddler paused.
She walked out of the cage, each step gentle and fragile. She flapped her fan over her face, partially covering her white mask.
Jake only needed to see the two pointy ears above her head.
"Cheshire," he breathed her name as Riddler announced it.
She closed the fan, revealing her grinning Cheshire mask.
Sportsmaster's free hand folded into a tight fist.
Cheshire's eyes narrowed in the slits of her mask. Her body leaned.
Sportsmaster's knees bent.
Neither waited for the bell.
Cheshire scurried. Fast. Precise. Agile.
Sportsmaster charged, heavy steps vibrating the floor.
Fan unfurled. Bat swung.
Dodge. Slash. Twist. Throw. Grab.
Crowd held its breath.
Jake took to the sidelines. Funny how their unresolved issues could turn into hatred against him. He knew better than to get involved in a family feud.
Better if they took care of each other for him.
Bat rammed the floor, missing Cheshire by a whisk. She somersaulted above him, fan aiming at his neck. One graze, and the poison would do the rest.
Sportsmaster pivoted his bulky frame, throwing an elbow back. Cheshire's eyes widened in horror.
"She won't make the dodge in time," Jake whispered and held his breath.
She didn't falter. She brought her fan to her abdomen just as the blow connected. The blow sent her flying, the fan spinning through the air.
Jake winced as she slammed into the cage, collapsing on the floor. It had to hurt.
"Still think yourself a worthy Croc?" Sportsmaster gloated, pacing towards her.
She tilted her mask, spitting blood from her insides and running nose.
"There there, daughter. I'll put you out of your misery now," Sportsmaster said, raising his bat.
Cheshire chuckled. "Yours is only beginning."
Jake's eyes fell on the fan fallen behind Sportsmaster. Blood was dripping from its sharp edges.
Sportsmaster's grip on his bat faltered. It fell. He placed his hand on his neck. It came away bloody.
He stumbled - one step back. Poisoned.
"What-t have you done?" He uttered, staggering backwards. Shocked. Afraid.
"What I should have done all those years back," Cheshire hissed with venom.
Before he could fall, Jake yanked Sportsmaster towards him. The brute threw wild punches that barely reached Jake. The poison had already sapped his strength.
"Fuck... off..." Sportsmaster slurred, barely able to stand.
Jake raised his fist. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
His knuckles cracked against the hockey mask's jaw.
Sportsmaster's head snapped back. His body went slack.
"Concussion, delivered."
Before he could lose the chance, Jake found Cheshire reaching for her fan.
"No hard feelings," he said, webbing her up.
The crowd's reaction was a mixture of jeers more than cheers.
Not unexpected: he had stolen the show. But he was only here to survive. That's the only thing that counted.
Not even having fans?
Instinctively stepping away from both Cheshire and Sportsmaster, the ground beneath them split open, swallowing them into darkness.
The fate of losers was theirs to riddle, Jake recalled Riddler saying.
King Snake, now Cheshire and Sportsmaster. Where did that passage lead to?
"I have no knob, yet yield a place. No mouth to speak, but show the space. Rushed past, I simply hold the wall. Sought with care, I answer the call. What am I?"
What connection did it have to the Riddler's final riddle?
"He has survived one. Even two." Riddler announced, distracting Jake's trail of thoughts. "Is The Spider the one to take the briefcase home?"
"Or is this where his luck runs out?" Riddler asked, tone level.
A pause.
"Crooks and outlaws," he raised his voice. "Are you ready for The Final Showdown of the Riddle Knight tournament?"
"YEAH!"
The red and blue cages lit up, doors snapping open.
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