Riddle Me This:

[Edward Nigma]

Dr. Templeton shook his head groggily and blinked several times, suddenly realizing that the room he was in was completely dark. He was slumped on the floor against a flat surface and blindly, the man inched forward and turned, concluding that he was against a wall.

A voice suddenly echoed through the room. "Don't bother to to go too far, Doctor."

Templeton blinked in the darkness, reaching out his hands as he searched for the source of the voice. "Where are you? What is this place? I can't... I can't see!"

In response, the voice chuckled softly and an almost blinding light suddenly pierced the inky blackness, emanating from the centre of the room. As the Doctor's eyes adjusted to the light, he could see a small point of light on the ground with a sharpening image of a man's face in the middle. It took Templeton a few moments to realize he was looking at a six-sided video device, about the size of a softball, but cube shaped.

Templeton scrambled along the floor on his hands and knees and scooped the small cube up in his hands. "Who are you? Help me!"

The image of the man now clearly seen, was dressed in a green suit jacket; his angular face framed with a narrow pair of purple tinted glasses and a green fedora with a black question mark in the middle of the hatband. "Now now, Doctor. I'll be asking the questions here." The man paused, grinning mischievously before continuing.

"What is it, that a person has, but others use more than they do?"

The Doctor shrugged, not understanding. "What? What is this? Who are you!?"

The man in the screen frowned. "That is not the correct answer. The correct answer is: Your Name and as you are the only one to know who I am... we're going to play a little game."

Templeton scowled as the LED screens of the device each turned green with a black question mark set in the middle. He let the device fall to the floor and looked around, now able to see the room for what it was, illuminated ominously by the electronic cube.

It was a small room, shaped like a cube with a door set into each of the four walls. Templeton scrambled over to the nearest one and felt around the smooth surface, but could find no way to open it. "I'm not playing any games! Let me out of here!"

The voice rang out again. "You are locked in a room with only one door. The key to it is in the middle of the room. You have but one hour to unlock the door, once you begin. Should you make too many mistakes, or should the time run out... then you will certainly die."

Templeton turned back to the device which still glowed with the green and black question mark screens. "Enough with the riddles! Let me out of here!"

More chuckling emerged from the glowing cube. "You have the rules of the game. Touch one of the screens to begin and if you are successful, freedom will be yours. Only you can let you out."

The Doctor bubbled with frustration and grasped at the device with a trembling hand. The moment his fingers touched the smooth device, the screens all changed, showing the six sides of a Rubix Cube; coloured squares all mixed up.

It took a moment, but he finally realized what the man meant. He had to solve the puzzle!

First, he looked it over and testing out the device he slid his finger along one row and watched as the image shifted, dragging all of the connected squares with it in a line. He let his finger release the squares before he reached the edge and all of the squares bounced back to their original place.

Sweat beaded on his brow and he wiped his forehead with his sleeve. He had never solved one before. He hadn't ever even tried! His mind wrapped itself around the concept, knew what it was that he had to do with it, but thought back to what the voice had told him... that too many mistakes would kill him.

He swallowed hard and exhaled deeply.

[Edward Nigma]

Dr. Templeton felt the minutes tick away while he sat, feverishly working on the demented puzzle. He had conquered two of the six sides and was well on his way to completing the third.

Absentmindedly he wondered what the man had meant with his warning, as he was certain that he had made mistakes along the way. He knew that it could be done faster and yet, there was no indication of anything strange amiss with the puzzle, or his predicament. Even still, he pushed on.

His fingers slid along the smooth surfaces of the puzzle and before long he had the third side completed. His attention systematically turned from colour to colour and after long arduous minutes he had finished yet another side.

Templeton felt pangs of familiarity wash over him and his mind stretched back years into the past. The image of a young boy came to mind, sitting in his office and playing with a Rubix Cube. Effortlessly the boy seemed to solve it during their hour long session.

His mind went back to the puzzle in his hand and he worked diligently to solve the next portion, before turning his attention to the next. Panel by panel seemed to fit into place and after more time had elapsed, Dr. Templeton had completed all but the last side.

Again he thought back to the boy in his office. He remembered him vaguely, that he had been responsible for the death of his own father during a domestic dispute.

Nashton. Edward Nashton.

He suddenly became aware of the time that was slipping away and worked as hard as he could, finally solving the last side of the puzzle box. All six sides began to blink and once again they each took on the green and black question marks screens.

The voice called out again. "Congratulations Doctor! You have solved the Rubix Cube to unlock your key!"

Dr. Templeton with a shaky voice, spoke into the device in his hands. "N...Nashton... for god's sake, let me out of here! I've played your game!"

The box flashed and the image once again took on the green-suited likeness of his captor. "Edward Nashton died, long ago Doctor. Only the Riddler remains; and you have the key in your hands."

The screen flickered once more and each side was now replaced with the green and black question mark screen. All but one. The last side was an alphabet keypad.

"Riddle me this, Doctor: It has eight sides, but only one way through it. What is it?"

Templeton sighed and let out a faint exhale as he spoke. "What?"

He thought long and hard on the riddle and again his mind fell back to the past. The image of young Nashton came back to him and he could hear the childish voice say the same words in one of their sessions together. He could remember that he thought about it, his mind going over everything he could think of with eight sides and only one way through and had finally shrugged. In the end he had said "I don't know, Edward. A Stop Sign?" but the boy only laughed.

"No Dr. Templeton. It's a Coffin!" he had said grimly in response.

It was a moment of understanding and the Doctor tapped the keys on the screen, spelling out the word coffin.

Once more the screen flashed and the Riddler's face again stared back at him. "I've solved your riddle. Now stop this at once!"

The Riddler chuckled in response. "I'm afraid you have made a mistake. I told you that only you could instruct me to stop and that too many mistakes would have a consequence."

Templeton became frantic and shouted back at the device that mocked him. "What do you mean!? I answered it just as you did! It's a coffin!"

The Riddler wagged a finger back and forth. "Indeed it is, now. Had you shown me a Stop Sign on the other hand, I would have desisted. Good bye, Dr. Templeton."

The device suddenly went black again and with it, all the light drained from the room. With the inky darkness once again thick around him, Dr. Templeton screamed as hard as he could, dropping the box to the floor. "EDWARD!" he sobbed, "Let me out!"

[Edward Nigma]

[Transcribed from a report on the News]

In a bizarre story, the body of Dr. Ronald Templeton was found today, ending a two-week long manhunt for the Gotham City resident who went missing under unknown circumstances.

Contacts within the Gotham City Police Department stated that his body had been found after a lengthy investigation, in the City's warehouse district in what they say was an inhuman example of bodily torture.

Ronald Templeton, 62; disappeared after leaving his office just over two weeks ago, preceding disastrous explosions at both his office and place of residence.

To date, there are no known suspects, but the explosions and his subsequent death are firmly believed to be linked.

The Gotham City Coroner, made a statement that due to the state of the body, an autopsy would determine if death was the result of either dehydration or asphyxia as the body was discovered early this morning in what appeared to be an old Panic Room or hidden vault, once used by the mob during the prohibition.

Not many other details have yet to emerge, but one source has stated that an electronic device was found on the scene. There are so far no clues, however; as to what this device was, or what it's connection was to Dr. Templeton's death.

Because of the nature of the crime scene, the Police are convinced that this was indeed a homicide and Gothamites with any information are urged to contact the Police Department immediately.