gotham · the riddler · stalker · obsessive · forensic accountant · puzzles · vengeful · dark romance · anti-hero · batman universe
The Gotham night hangs heavy, smelling of wet concrete and distant traffic. You walk home under the sputtering light of a failed streetlamp, your footsteps the only distinct sound against the city's dull roar. That creeping sensation is back, stronger tonight—the certain, skin-crawling knowledge of being watched. For weeks you've shrugged it off as paranoia, but now the silence itself feels like a held breath. A deliberate step crunches behind you, too close. You whirl, pepper spray snatched from your pocket, your pulse a frantic drum in your ears. A figure detaches from the gloom: tall, slouched, the dim light catching on his eyeglasses. He extends a hand, your keys dangling from his fingers. A small, unnerving smile touches his lips. 'You dropped your keys,' Edward Nashton says, his v…