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There were moments when Oswald could almost forget the whole magical powers thing. Not that he didn’t utilise it just as soon as he realised it helped with branding and promoting his club. Which was partly why he tended to forget the whole superhero side of it since he used it so much in his everyday life. Almost inevitably though Batman would pop up to inform him of some impending threat that Penguin needed to deal with, if not for the city’s sake then for the sake of his own well-being. It made him quite detest the sight of the enthusiastic do-gooder. He was therefore weirdly cheerful to see not Batman but Riddler wandering into the Iceberg Lounge. At least he wouldn’t have to deal with a sanctimonious attitude and he could be as insulting as he wanted.“Riddler. Let me guess, you’ve locked the Iceberg Lounge with a riddle I have to answer correctly if I’m to go save the city.”The green clad figure planted his tall cane in front of Penguin’s table and glared past it to him.“No.”Oswald briefly noted the unusual stains on his bodysuit. Grease and general dirt stains were common, and Oswald occasionally fantasised about dunking Riddler in a bath like a recalcitrant sea bird, but these marks were something else.“You’re here to pre-emptively gloat about your side’s grand plan and hence give me the information I need to stop you.”“I don’t do that.” Riddler huffed. “Is it my fault that I’m habituated to having to explain the simplest of things before having any conversation?”“Well, why don’t you explain what you’re up to for me now? So I’ll fully appreciate your master plan.”Riddler turned his face away, seeming unusually reluctant to pontificate. It made a rare change for Oswald to see him almost reticent.“You talk to animals, don’t you?”Even when apparently asking a question, Riddler still managed to sound condescending. Oswald paused thoughtfully before offering an answer, curious despite himself.“Birds,” he confirmed.When Riddler looked back at him, he found himself being intently studied by bright green eyes and it occurred to him that this was the longest civil conversation they’d ever had.“Probably close enough,” he announced.Oswald’s patience ran out.“What’s this about, Riddler?”He watched with interest as Riddler’s jaw clenched, indicating that he very much didn’t want to explain himself. It was unusual to say the least. Eventually though he seemed to realise that it would look more idiotic to have walked in only to ask such a pointless question and he condescended to answer.“I… your help is required.”“My help? You want my help?”“Not me personally,” Riddler was quick to clarify. “But… yes.”“If not you then who?” Oswald demanded.Again there was a hesitation but less so before he got a response.“Scarecrow. And Mad Hatter.” His cane suddenly had his entire focus. “They went down under Arkham and there’s a… creature there.”“A creature?” he repeated dubiously.“A crocodile,” he was answered promptly. “A large one.”It sounded suspicious, even though rumours of crocs in the sewers had been around decades, but he knew Riddler couldn’t lie that well.“So you want me to rescue your friends? From a crocodile?”There was still a measure of disbelief in his tone and it produced a snappy reply.“Not friends. Co-workers at best.”“Yet you expect me to risk my life for them. Why?”“You’re a hero. Its your job.”“Yes but why come ask specifically? If they’re just co-workers.”“Because… they’re all I have.” His teeth grit as if wanting to bite back his words. “And I need them for my future plans,” he bluffed, grasping his cane hard. “If you won’t help, just say. I don’t exactly have time to waste.”“No, I’ll come,” Penguin rose and stepped around to join him, picking up his umbrella off the table.“I knew you would.”Riddler tilted his head up, exuding his usual pride again.“Of course you did,” he muttered sarcastically.It put him on edge to be walking alongside his nemesis, in part because he realised he actually had his gait memorised, but also as he recognised Riddler was adapting himself to suit his walk. He therefore took an unusual pleasure in wrong footing the taller man by heading into the subway right outside his club.“You think we can take a train?”His disdain was evident so Oswald made sure his reply emphasised how self-evident he thought his actions were.“No, but we can cut into the sewers here.”“You want to walk all the way through the sewers.”“Look, this is the quickest route. Its direct and we won’t get any awkward questions. You’ve already given the gossip columns enough material by walking in today.”“You read those?”Oswald actually rolled his eyes at that.“I run a popular nightclub fuelled by word of mouth recommendations. Of course I read those.”His rejoinder at least temporarily silenced Riddler and they splashed their way through the dirty water in relative quiet. That was until a screech rent the air.“What in hell was that?”“Scarecrow.” Riddler spoke less in answer and more in quiet supplication to his friend-not-friend. “Damnit! He’s fighting Croc. Come on!”The idea that that had come from a human seemed ludicrous but Oswald had never heard a crocodile, or any reptile, make such a noise either. Regardless, he hurried after Riddler towards the source of the commotion. Which grew louder and more confused with every step they took, until he was faced with the scene of a truly monstrous confrontation.Two huge figures were locked together so that initially he could hardly tell where one began and the other ended. Then his eyes registered the green scales as belonging to a gigantic humanoid crocodilian, complete with big jaws filled with sharp teeth. Which left a dark shape grappling with it that he could not identify. It appeared to have long, clawed hands scratching the crocodile creature but he couldn’t recognise a face, despite catching plenty of glimpses of eyes.“Jonathan!”The anxious voice drew Oswald’s attention and he saw the Mad Hatter pressed against a wall, eyes locked on the fight before him. Riddler had said Scarecrow was fighting a crocodile so that meant…“That’s Scarecrow?”“Scarebeast,” Riddler corrected distractedly, obviously anxious.Oswald stared back in time to see fast claws swipe and jaws latch down hard on them, making the beast screech again and sending a shiver down his spine.“Do something!”He’d never heard Riddler sound scared and it shook him momentarily. Yet already he was analysing the situation. There was a control card caught in the teeth of the crocodile creature indicating the Mad Hatter had tried his hand at subduing it.“What about your riddle lock thingy?”“That’d trap them both!”Despite his question, Oswald was still planning his own approach and was now focusing on changing his umbrella. He quickly raised it and tried to aim at just the green scaled monster. Which was difficult as it currently had the Scarebeast’s head clutched between its claws in order to apparently bite it off. Without much time to think about it therefore, Oswald let out the deepest rumbling growl he could. It was both a relief and a concern when that brought the creature’s growling maw swinging round towards him instead. Still, he held his umbrella steady and kept his gaze locked on it.“Hatter. Riddler. Cover your eyes.”He saw the beast tense to launch towards him and pulled the trigger. A blinding flash exploded and the two creatures roared in pain. He felt rather than saw Riddler move forward, his own eyes partially blinded by the strong light, and trusted he was removing his friends from the danger zone. He kept his attention on his own problem which was the disorientated but very angry creature now stomping his way with an unhappy roar. Blinking rapidly to clear his vision, he contemplated firing again but it seemed that the croc would reach him by literal blind luck either way. So he could try running, thereby making a noise for it to follow, or holding very still and hoping another plan occurred to him.“Hey! Lizard brain!” The voice drew both their attention. “Puzzle your way out of this!”Oswald had never seen Riddler’s riddle trap from the outside and he found himself admiring the elegance of it. Certainly that was easier than recognising Riddler had essentially saved him rather than run off to save his own skin.“That should keep him trapped a while.” Riddler spun his cane. “Probably until I lose concentration later.”“Best get some distance though, eh?”He started walking back towards his club and was mildly surprised that Riddler fell into step beside him again. Still, it was an opportunity to acknowledge the unexpected support.“I appreciate the assist.”He kept his tone casual although he had to wipe at his uncovered eye that was watering now it had readjusted to the dimness.“I just don’t want to be in your debt.”“How’s your… Scarecrow?” he corrected quickly.There was what might have been a grimace on Riddler’s face.“He’ll live. Mad Hatter will take care of him now.”“They’re…” Oswald waved vaguely.“Yeah.”It was clear that Riddler was as uncomfortable with that topic as Oswald was.“Well. I helped you. You helped me. Now we can go back to our normal animosity.”“Yeah.” Riddler was fiddling with his cane. “You know… Hatter says some odd things about our past.”“What past?”“Past lives.”Oswald couldn’t help but snort.“Ha! He’s called the Mad Hatter for a reason.”“Yeah, I guess so.”There was a definite sense that he’d messed up somehow and disappointed the other man. He wasn’t sure why he felt that suddenly mattered.“I better go make sure Scarecrow’s not dead. Mad Hatter will be impossible if he is.”He’d hopped onto a nearby ladder to the surface as he spoke and Oswald turned to say something only to find himself drawing a blank. Riddler still paused though and looked down as if to speak himself. For a moment therefore they both just waited in silence before Riddler sighed.“Until next time, Penguin.”“Yeah. Next time,” he echoed, watching his nemesis disappear.They’d meet in conflict soon enough, he was sure. Yet strangely, he found himself hoping their next time might be something less combative and more bantering. Then maybe he’d be able to find out what it was the Mad Hatter had said about them. But first he wanted to prioritise getting into clean clothes. There were very few people he could endure seeing him in this state and he deliberately didn’t think about what it meant that his enemy was in that elite group.