Animal ||Edward Nygma|| [3]

Chapter Twenty-Five || Dark island

"This land gets under your skin

It breathes with you, infects your heart

And then of course, it poisons everything else

Until you're the only thing left.

This land heaves

Great gasping sobs right into your chest

It's cpr, it's mouth to mouth

It's dancing with death, gracelessly."

- 'This land is cursed', R.C.

Charlotte walked into the factory where the Riddler had once made his show. She was confused as to why he had called her there, but he didn't want to tell her over the phone. However, he sounded greatly amused.

"Why did you call me..." Charlotte stopped at the doorway, "...here?" The blonde saw Ed standing by a trapped Jim Gordon. He had strapped the Detective to a machine and was on the process of crushing him to death. "What are you doing?"

"I'm torturing Jim Gordon," Ed told her and let out a laugh.

"I can see that, but why now?" Charlotte asked as she glanced at Jim and then looked back to Ed.

"Isn't it obvious?" The Riddler asked in return. "Once he's gone, Lee will finally be free to be the person she was meant to be, the person we want her to be".

Charlotte raised her eyebrows as she walked farther into the room. Jim was not her favorite person in the world, but torturing him when there was still the threat of bombs in the city seemed kind of pointless to her. Much less because of Jim and Lee's affections for each other. Ed, however, was having the time of his life. He clicked on the button of the remote control he had in his hand and the weight pressed even more against Jim's chest.

"One fifty," Ed told after he released the button. "You see, I saw you together. I saw the way she looked at you. So for her sake, you're gonna die. And for mine and Charlotte's sake, you're gonna suffer. Oh, this is gonna be so much fun".

"Lee's gonna have your head for this," Charlotte said, but Ed wanted to torture the Captain of the GCPD and nothing would stop him from doing so.

"She's gonna thank me for it," Ed contradicted confidently.

"No, she won't," Charlotte stated. "She's gonna be mad at you for thinking someone is holding her back from who we wish she could be".

Ed reflected on my words as he looked at Jim, who grunted due to the heavy weight over his ribs. The Riddler snapped out of his thoughts and pressed the red button again, making Jim groan in pain. "Three hundred and fifty pounds of pressure. Getting hard to breathe?" He pointed the remote at Jim as if it was a microphone, but Jim just grunted in reply. "I'll take that as a yes. You know, if we listen carefully, we can hear some ribs cracking soon". That made him laugh in amusement.