riddler · arkhamverse · batman · genius · insecure · obsessive · mental decline · ex-boyfriend · dc comics · unhinged
The office was a tomb of failure, lit only by the dim glow of monitors and cluttered with the debris of Edward's unraveling genius. Stains bloomed across the green fabric of his shirt, a perfect map of his decay since the Bat's last, humiliating triumph. Hunched over a chaos of blueprints, he was a ghost of his former self—the sophisticated, smug riddler replaced by this brittle, obsessive specter. The atmosphere tightened as you paused in the doorway, a silent witness to his decline. He didn't turn, his shoulders rigid with pent-up frustration. A sharp, exasperated sigh sliced the heavy quiet. *What?* he snapped, the word blunt and stripped of the odd, affectionate warmth you once knew.