A Slow Riddle:

"He's back in action," Commissioner Gordon said. He offered up a piece of paper from his desk and pinched the bridge of his nose as he sighed.

Batman grunted as he took the paper. Over the past month the Riddler had been seen around town with a new girl who seemed genuinely attached to him and vice versa. The equivalent of her coming out party at the Iceberg Lounge had not gone unnoticed. Rumor had it the girl could shape shift into a feline. Though he didn't dismiss it, he found the idea a ridiculous one.

"He has a new girl working for him," Batman said feeling the need to pass the information on. "I suppose we should clean out another cell in Women's Blackgate."

"Any woman who would hangout with his kind should be sent to Arkham," grumbled the man.

"Not all of them are mentally unstable though, Jim," reminded the Dark Knight.

"You have a point. But they are all dangerous." He scrubbed a hand through his hair. "I'll let the boys downstairs know. Any idea on that riddle?"

"Is this all of it?"

The Commissioner nodded.

Another grunt. He hated the Riddler. Out of all the top-level rogues, why did one of them have to pull this crap with riddles? The paper that Commissioner James Gordon had handed over contained two riddles. Batman looked them over carefully.

Who is he that runs without a leg and his house on his back?
1-21

Batman frowned at the riddles. "A snail runs without a leg and has a house on his back. The second could be map coordinates. I'll look into it and get back to you as soon as I can."

"It's appreciated. I'll make certain I have men ready to go if you need them," Gordon said. The words fell on deaf ears as the Dark Knight had already slipped out of the office. "It'd be nice if you could say 'goodbye' once in a while."

~ ~ ~

"Oracle, I need you to run map coordinates '1-21' and tell me the results."

There was a brief pause before he got a response. "No good. It's just water," Oracle replied. "You said it was Nigma?"

"Yes."

"Let me check something." A flurry of typing could be heard. "Ah! I thought so. He's so fond of that trick. It's letters, Batman. 1 is 'a'..."

"21 is 'u'. Gold. Know anything about snails and gold?" he asked.

"Checking."

Batman settled himself in the cockpit of the Batmobile as he awaited the response.

"Ok, strange as it sounds, I have a couple of hits for that. There's the Golden Snail, an Indonesian restaurant, or the most likely culprit, a display of solid gold snail shells, from none other than Indonesia. Apparently they were made for one of the ruling families, the Sambas, to honor the legend of Keong Mas, or the Golden Snail. From a quick glance, it looks like the legends differ a bit, but the main idea is that a princess is cursed and transformed into a snail with a golden shell before being tossed into a body of water."

"Where's the exhibit?" interrupted the gruff voice.

"Where else, but the Museum of Indonesian Heritage?" came the cheery reply.

"I'll let you know if I need anymore info. Batman out," he said, closing the connection. Barbara enjoyed her job a little too much at times with the way she spewed out more information than he needed on occasion. Still, he wasn't certain what he would do without her.

~ ~ ~

"Alarms are off, Mr. Nigma," Trigger said.

"Excellent. Let's get in and out as quick as we can. Query, you go ahead and do a sweep."

She nodded and hurried into the darkened halls of the small museum. The Riddler watched her go, smiling at the sight of her bottom wrapped in the form fitting pants. As she passed the first doorway, she shifted into a panther to take advantage of the dim lighting. What they were aiming for was in the third room. Before he got to it, Dee leaned out of the room back in human form, and gave them a thumbs up. As she moved out of the room to continue her search, the Riddler and Trigger entered and found the case they were looking for.

The snail shells were the size of his palm and intricately detailed. It was said that the Sambas had used the shells to serve chilled fruits or confections in at meals. In no time he disabled the case alarm and picked the lock. Trigger stood ready with the bag as the Riddler lifted each heavy shell from the case, settling it with care in the sack. There were an even dozen in all.

"Boss, cape coming your way," crackled the comm-unit in his pocket.

"We're done here. Be ready to go," he replied to Benny who was waiting down the street with the car. Nestling the last shell into the bag, the Riddler handed the heavy pack to Trigger. A black object whizzed by, thunking into the soft wooden frame of the case. Calmly acting like this were an everyday occurrence, the Riddler turned, beaming.

"Put them back, Nigma."

"Batman. Lovely night, isn't it?"

"Put the shells back, Nigma. I won't tell you again," growled the Dark Knight.

"I'd love to, but I have someone waiting for them," he replied.

Strolling forward, he made to step past the vigilante. Batman grabbed the man by the back of his jacket, tossing him against the cases. Trigger leapt forward throwing a right hook at the crime fighter. Catching the thug's fist, Batman responded with his own right hook, sending the man stumbling back a couple steps. As he stumbled back, Trigger swung his left arm up to catch his balance, inadvertently smacking the Dark Knight across the jaw with the edge of the heavy bag. Trigger's head smacked the hard edge of a display case as he crashed to the floor.

Laughing at the sight of Batman staggering and holding his jaw, the Riddler stood, dusting his suit off. "Not as fast as a dozen snails, are you, Batman?"

He grabbed a fistful of question-marked jacket and held on to the smiling man. Pulling his fist back, Batman smashed it into the Riddler's jaw. Raising his fist to deliver another punch, he was distracted by a tap on his shoulder. Batman quickly made certain he could see both men in the room. Throwing the Riddler roughly to the ground, he spun around, expecting to find Nigma's third man, Benny. Instead he was greeted with a smile and a finger wave from a girl dressed in tight dark green pants and a dark green shirt decorated with a large question mark. The shirt bared most of her midriff and the pants hung low on her hips.

"Hi," she said.

Batman stood and awaited her move. The thing was this girl just stood there casually, her arms crossed low behind her back, smiling at him.

"I don't have time to play," he finally said, turning back to where the Riddler lay slightly stunned along side Trigger. Batman lifted the villain by the lapels, dragging him to his feet. He was infuriated to find that the Riddler was still grinning. Looking behind him to where the girl was, he found the space she had stood empty.

"Slippery, that one. Like poodles when it's raining cats and dogs," snickered the Riddler.

Glaring at the man, Batman once more made to deliver another punch. The sudden weight of something landing on his shoulder and growing heavier by the second surprised him. Once more he dropped the man to the floor.

"That's not very nice," hissed a voice in his ear.

Dee had shifted into a small cat and hopped onto a low display case, waiting for the right moment to attack. When Batman readied to punch Eddie again, she leapt off, sinking her claws into the material of his cape. Immediately she began shifting back into human form, freeing her bo staff from the backpack she wore. Leaving it collapsed, she held it across Batman's throat, putting her weight on it as she wrapped her legs around his body to squeeze the breath out of him.

Whoever this girl was, it was clear she knew what she was doing. Trying to gasp for air only allowed her to tighten her legs around him as he exhaled, heels digging into his diaphragm. Batman watched as the Riddler stood up once more, slightly wobbly this time. Trigger was getting up slowly as well, shaking his head to clear it of the ringing. The edges of Batman's vision were turning fuzzy as his oxygen was cut off.

The Riddler and Trigger headed for the door, smiling as Batman worked to stay on his feet. Stumbling into the hall after the rogue, Batman took the only chance he had to free himself of the girl's fierce grip. Gasping in what breath he could, he held it as he slammed his back against the wall. Her hold loosened long enough for him to pull in another breath, but she was quickly tightening it again. Twice more he had to slam her against the wall before she dropped off, landing hard on the hallway floor.

"Trigger."

"My pleasure, Mr. Nigma," the man said, handing over the bag and cracking his knuckles. With the Bat sucking in breaths of air, Trigger took the opportunity and returned the vigilante's right hook, followed with a left to the gut.

Dee managed to stagger to her feet and quickly made her way over to the Riddler. A few more punches and Batman hit the ground. Turning, the trio ran as fast as they could out the door. Eddie grabbed Dee's hand and dragged her along, shoving her into the car first before climbing in himself. Before the door was shut, Benny peeled away from the museum.

"You ok?" he asked as she gasped for breath, sprawled in his lap and the seat.

She didn't answer in words, pointing to her back instead. He unclipped the backpack and eased it off her. Dee didn't protest when he lifted the back of her shirt enough to see that she had no injuries. At most she was going to be sore from having her breath knocked out of her.

"You'll be fine," he told her, discreetly rubbing her back. He was remembering his first fight with Batman and the broken nose he had suffered. Giving a sniff, he tipped his head back and sighed. "Good job tonight. I don't think we're being followed, so we can head straight back to the warehouse."

"Sure thing, Mr. Nigma," said Benny.

Eddie almost flinched when cool fingers reached up and touched his aching jaw. He took a hold of her hands and held them down. He was surprised when she kissed them and made herself more comfortable in his lap. By the time they reached the hideout, she had fallen asleep.
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