"Finally... it's finally over."
Looking around the tiny holding cell, Riddler gently braced his trembling hands against the wall. Only after feeling its rough texture and cold surface did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.
He couldn't spare a thought for maintaining his usual gentlemanly image. He simply leaned in the corner, clutching his pounding heart and feeling the proof that he still existed in this world.
Today had definitely been the unluckiest day of his life.
That morning, after foolishly provoking that devil, Riddler had thought his little tricks would fool him. Instead, he'd miscalculated once again.
On his way back, he considered how little he'd been active lately and how his funds were running low.
So when he passed a bank, he decided to rob it while he was there to make up for his recent shortfall.
But just as he'd had that thought and was about to act, he suddenly felt dizzy, his consciousness growing hazy.
Then he found himself in a dark space. Before he could figure out what had happened, excruciating pain erupted throughout his body.
The pain was so far beyond what he could endure that he didn't even know how to describe it.
Under that torment, he passed out almost instantly, with only one phrase lingering faintly in his mind: "First time."
Since his enormous riddle had once thrown all of Gotham into an uproar, many people feared that his unconscious state was another elaborate stunt. No one touched him, and they simply waited for the police to take him back to the Police Station.
He'd only woken up again an hour ago.
"Huh? What's this?"
After taking some time to recover, Riddler discovered a slip of paper in the jacket pocket where he normally kept his pen.
"Everyone hates me, and