Will You Be My Daddy? ~Joker Fanfiction~

Twenty-Two

"Oh, you're back," Maddie grinned as Riddler reentered.

"Yes, and I have some much more difficult riddles here for you," Edward replied. And one in the oven...

"Fire away, chief," she smiled. "The score is four-to-one, if you think you can catch up."

"What creature has four legs in the morning, two at midday, and three in the evening?" Edward inquired with a smirk.

"Ooh, that is tough," Madeline frowned. "I don't think I know. A baby?"

"No!" Ed yelled gleefully. "But you are close, I suppose. Being a baby is just part of the life cycle of man. Man is the answer to the riddle."

"Oh, ok. Hit me with another one then!" Maddie moved on, eyes bright.

"At night they come without being fetched. And by day they are lost without being stolen," he replied.

"Um, well it's not dogs or some other animal. But they come out at night. And are completely gone by day. They. So not the moon, but the stars!" She figured out.

Edward gritted his teeth.

"Correct. Five-to-two. What's red and green and goes round and round and round?" He asked.

"Oh dear. I have absolutely no idea," Maddie sighed, only half-acting. She didn't know what the answer was, but she was definitely playing it up some.

"Frog in a blender. A point for me. When is a door not a door?" Eddy queried.

"Isn't a door always a door?" Maddie wondered.

"No. It's not a door when it's ajar, meaning open. Another point," he gloated. "What can you put in a barrel to make it lighter?"

"Helium," she answered, eyes and stance confident.

"Wrong. A hole," Edward corrected.

"Wait a second. If you put a bunch of helium in a barrel it will get lighter and float. You could also put in a lantern or some other form of light, making it lighter," Madeline argued.

"I don't think you get how this works. You have to give my answer," Riddler growled.

"But my answer was right, too!" Maddie yelled. "You're not being fair, Uncle Eddy!"

"Who ever told you that life was fair?" Edward frowned.

"Well who ever told you that you hold all the answers?" She snarked back.

They glared at each other, now in an angry standoff. Just as things started to look bad, a loud ding could be heard from beyond the door.

"That'll be for me," Riddler growled.

"Yeah. Okay," Maddie muttered back.

"This isn't over," Riddler asserted as he backed away and to the door.

"Yeah, whatever. You're just a sore loser. You're trying to cheat because you hate losing," she mumbled.

"No. I'm not. I don't cheat," he countered.

"Then prove it. Admit that I'm right too," Maddie tested.

"Fine. Your answer was also acceptable. We'll call that riddle a draw because it was so controversial," Edward admitted. "Now don't move. I'll be back after I get them out of the oven."

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Johnny was driving down the road frantically, the van swerving in and out of traffic as he struggled to get them to the old warehouse on the outskirts of Gotham. Of course it just so happened to be on the opposite side of the city from the river, just like the river was clear across Gotham from the post office. The riddles were all set up to make Joker lose time so he couldn't reach Madeline. They'd already used up an hour and a half of their time when they managed to all get back into the van at the river.