Chapter 2547: The Battle for the Cape (68)

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Some might ask, why does the Riddler have to leave his puzzles in graffiti? Can't he notify Superman in some other way that doesn't damage the city's appearance, like sending a letter?

In the original comics, the methods the Riddler uses to deliver his riddles to Batman are indeed varied, but that's Batman we're talking about.

First, Batman has a fixed address, at the very least a regular patrol route, and legitimate ways to be contacted, so whether the Riddler sends a letter, emails, or sets off fireworks, he can always find a fixed place to reach him.

However, Superman was too weak to hold down a steady job and was constantly wandering in the Dreamworld. At first, he could still visit shelters, but later, as the shelter inhabitants harassed him constantly because of his appearance, he stopped going altogether.

Since the Riddler can't use normal methods to send letters to a homeless man, he would have to ask someone to run the errand, which is just too much hassle. The errand runner might arrive only to find that Superman has moved on, or Superman might be there, but the errand runner takes off with the money without completing the task.

Speaking of money, the Riddler is even more upset. He's not a lawyer with a shining career like Harvey, nor is he a successful businessman like Penguin Man who can thrive anywhere, nor does he have the flexible mind of Harley Quinn. Yet in the Dreamworld, they still need to eat.

The Riddler's source of income in the real world is quite a mystery; the comics seldom sculpt his personal career history, with him only having worked as a courier and a consultant, and his TV show gig at the Gotham Police Department doesn't seem lucrative enough to support his various criminal activities.

In the Dreamworld, the Riddler earns his living mainly by contributing to major newspapers—Superman becomes a drifter while the Riddler turns into a journalist, a truly role-reversed world.

But because of his mental issues, he can't pass any formal job interviews, and few people approach him for his writing, making for a very meager income that barely covers his own food expenses.

So he can't afford any form of riddles other than street graffiti, and sometimes his financial situation is as tight as Superman's, who's roaming the streets.

Afterward, the situation worsens. Fast forward 20 years, and although Superman has become very weak, at least he doesn't age, but the Riddler can't say the same. In the Dreamworld, he's turned into an old man, and due to long-term exposure to spray paint, he's developed serious lung issues.

Now even less capable of earning money, he's left to wander the streets like Superman, until one day, he collapses while painting another riddle on the street, only for Superman to catch his falling, frail body, and take him to the hospital.

Superman has been taking care of him ever since.

The Riddler is actually very puzzled—why is Superman helping him? Even though the time they skipped wasn't really experienced by them, even before the jump, the Riddler had caused Superman plenty of trouble. Why would Superman save him?

Superman tells him that many people don't understand how society's perception of someone can shape that person. If people only say you commit crimes, you become a criminal, but if I see you as an artist, the world gains one more artist. Graffiti has been your passion for decades, and your persistence is part of the artistic creation, possessing social aesthetics of value. I think an artist deserves enough respect.

The Riddler is truly moved.

Even though he knows this isn't the time to be touched, please, Batman and everyone else think of him as just an insane person; none of them have ever complimented him as an artist.

Hit straight in the face by this revelation, for most of the remaining time, the Riddler lies in his hospital bed, pulling Superman into lengthy discussions about the thought process behind his riddles, easily talking non-stop for two hours.

In the end, the Joker orchestrates a terrorist attack, and Superman resolves to make one final effort. However, he realizes that the bombs the Joker has planted are more critical than the Joker himself; disarming the bombs is the only way to save so many lives.

At that moment, Superman had a premonition that he might overcome his Kryptonite limitation, but he knew that this lunatic wasn't easy to deal with. Even if he could fly up and destroy the bombs with his laser vision, he had to first identify their locations. Just the seconds lost searching for the bombs would be enough for the madman to detonate all of them.

And then the Riddler, now so weak that he had to rely on a breathing machine, still brought paper and pen, and based on the locations of the television and radio broadcasts where the Joker had appeared, he deduced the locations of the remaining five bombs.

"Now, who is the true master of riddles?"

The movie ends with these words, and the expression on the Riddler's face is one of sadness, fatigue, but also thoughtfulness, as if he had found a new way to demonstrate his genius and wisdom.

The audience breaks into applause, and the Riddler stands and takes off his hat, bowing to all sides like a big star, and the atmosphere in the room becomes lively again.

Shiller clears his throat and the room grows quiet again, signaling that it was time for the last character to make an appearance.

"Are you the Clawed Killer?" Laughing bat asked.

Shiller shook his head, took out the last film strip, and put it in the projector. The opening of the movie was just a vast expanse of fog.

Fredy emerged from the thick fog and infiltrated a house; some flashback scenes started to flicker, but these weren't special editing techniques of the film; they were real illusions present in the fog at that time.

The illusion provided a brief background on Fredy, but it was clear to anyone that this wasn't the focus—the focus was on the powers Fredy possessed after his resurrection, namely, his claws full of daggers and his ability to teleport out of thin air.

Fredy appears in a bathroom.

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He slowly emerged from the water, comfortably resting his arms on either side of the bathtub. However, quickly, there was a noise from outside the tub.

"Okay, Auntie, I'll make it quick, won't soak for too long, and won't delay dinner, don't worry!"

Spider Man, wrapped in a towel, walked in.

By then, Fredy had already vanished, and Spider Man didn't notice the small duck floating in the tub, glowing with a red light from within.

Bang!

The bathtub duck exploded.

Truth be told, this opening was a bit too stream of consciousness. The previous films started off showcasing the protagonist's way of life, either buried in books, still buried in books, or yet again buried in books.

So why did this film start with bombing someone's bathtub toy?

Soon, Fredy committed a murder, but not of a real person; it was a doll.

The Doll Master made his appearance in this story, and the first victim, a little girl, was actually one of his manipulated dolls. Since it was a doll, it could be twisted into any shape, making the crime scene especially gruesome and naturally drawing attention from various quarters.

These cases quickly made the front page of many newspapers, and of course, one of these newspapers also landed in Bruce's hands.

But people still couldn't understand what this was all about. The stories of Two-Face, Harley Quinn, and Penguin Man mostly revolved around Bruce. The stories of academics like Scarecrow were about Arkham Batman and Arkham Knight Jason. Riddler's story revolved around Superman.

But Shiller, or rather The Clawed Killer that he controlled, didn't seem to plan his activities around any main character in the script. So what was his mission?

People could only continue reading.

The Clawed Killer kept on committing crimes, and the reports about him became increasingly numerous, from newspapers to radio, and finally to the TV stations, even interrupting regular broadcasts with breaking news.

The victims were mostly children, hence the public's concern was enormous, and the widespread discussion among people was heated, everyone cursed the deviant who killed children.

Everyone but Bruce.

The Clawed Killer was the only character Bruce felt was not part of his script.

Looking at the timeline, the first to enter, Two-Face, already had a stranglehold on the American legal system, an elite too far removed from the life of the city's underworld for Bruce to perceive him.

Officer Gail wasn't far off, but she was well disguised, with a background in psychology, making Bruce believe she was just a character from Dreamworld, and he had no curiosity about her past.

Penguin Man followed the path of a behind-the-scenes mob Boss, and Bruce knew there was a powerful mob leader, but he did not know it was Penguin Man and also thought he was just a character from the plot.

But The Clawed Killer was different. He used a shell that was completely different from all the plot characters in Dreamworld, flaunting his "I'm not simple" motto with his Teleport ability, committing crimes wildly and conspicuously; how could Bruce not see that he was there to disrupt the script?

Of course, this was all within the Laughing bat's calculations.

Any normal person would think setting up such a big operation without encountering any resistance was suspicious, and if everything went smoothly from start to finish, one might feel that there's a catch.

It's fair to say that The Clawed Killer's actions were a relief to Bruce, the disruption he had been expecting had finally arrived. Unfortunately, it was in such an overt and unsophisticated manner, he had hoped the other party would bring something different to the table.

At that time, this was what Bruce thought – The Clawed Killer's frenzy of crimes across the city was intended to prevent him from completing his script, and this logic was coherent.

But Bruce didn't think this deviant Killer could stir up much trouble or force him out of character.

At that moment, Bruce was proud of the identity he had designed for himself because now he was a penniless man with a bedridden burden to care for. You might have a Killer devil, or even hundreds roaming the city, but he wouldn't be able to handle it; he didn't have the capacity.

So he could completely ignore this murderer's continued crimes with complete indifference, because that was his persona; if he truly set himself as a Superhero, he would be playing right into the enemy's hands.

That's why he could boldly say "I have no power, so I bear no responsibility" after meeting Jason and the others. He needed to show off this aspect—if it weren't for his well-designed character, he might be frantically chasing after the troublemaker now, ruining the original script and losing control over the narrative, right?