After taking a mere TWO steps in to the isolation ward, the former district attorney has already ascertained the most likely reason for why Arkham’s doctors had deemed it medically necessary to keep Edward Nygma sequestered from the rest of the asylum’s residents: so as to spare them the pain of having to endure his incessant prattling. As he stared at the other man through his glass cell, the orderly that led him here — a woman who’d been assigned the unenviable task of bringing the Riddler his meals — tried to put some distance between herself and Two-Face, only to freeze and choke back a terrified sob as she felt the barrel of his gun press against her spine.
“Please,” she finally managed to say, not daring to turn around, “I did everything you wanted, so please, just let me go; I won’t say anything, I swear — ”
“Yes, you have been very cooperative,” Two-Face agreed, his voice even, retrieving the coin from his breast pocket. “But what happens next isn’t up to me.”
Knowing what that meant, the woman squeezed her eyes shut and cried as she heard the telltale ping! of Two-Face’s coin being launched into the air. The SECONDS it took for him to discern the coin’s judgment must have felt like an eternity, but its delivery was swift and unceremonious: “Congratulations, you live to fight another day.”
Before the woman had a chance to react, Two-Face hit her over the head with his gun and quickly caught her now unconscious body. He cradled her head as he carefully propped her up against the wall of Nygma’s cell, smearing the glass with a bit of blood from where she had been struck. After relieving the orderly of her ID badge and access card, Two-Face then turned his complete attention to the Riddler.
“Treatment? What treatment? You mean letting a man dressed up as a giant bat beat them senseless, only to then lock them up in a building that’s as old and outdated as its ‘methods’ for rehabilitation? It seems pretty obvious to me that the justice system and the health care system have BOTH failed Gotham’s most vulnerable.” It was uncanny, the way his demeanor suddenly shifted as if he were presenting to a crowd of potential constituents.
“Then again,” Two-Face interjected, turning his head to ‘look’ at the other man with his exposed eye, “studies have shown lobotomies to be rather effective in dealing with particularly difficult offenders…“ The former district attorney idly thumbed his coin. “But WE did not come here to discuss the political stances of a dead man with you.”
“That’s right,” Harvey agreed, his posture straightening. “Mr. Nygma. WE have several eyewitnesses who say they saw you with a member of the Maroni crime family shortly before Batman ‘detained’ you. Their testimonies were very… convincing. If you tell US about that alleged meeting, then perhaps WE could arrange for your sentence to be shortened.”
Two-Face waved the access card like it was a carrot on a stick. “Or would you rather WE subpoena you instead?”
his eyes fixate on the blood , viscous & decidedly crimson , gleaming in the hospital’s fluorescent lights . he takes slow , deliberate breaths , knowing how utterly isolated this wing is --- no one would pass through this hallway for another hour . eddie manages to turn his focus to two - face , trying his best to look unaffected .
the thing about a coin flip is the illusion of a pattern . even if it lands ‘ heads ‘ twenty times in a row , the risk of the next flip being ‘ tails ‘ is still only 50 / 50 . there’s no calculated move here . no grand puzzle for eddie to pour his intellect into . only a man , half - dead , & a game of chance .
‘ riddle me this : deftly glinting in the sun , i make two people out of one . what am i ? ‘ his voice does not waver , because he will not allow it to . he takes another controlled breath . ‘ answer : a reflection . ‘
eddie sighs , & shifts uncomfortably in his straitjacket .
‘ maroni wanted my consulting advice , ‘ he says . his eyes momentarily dart back to the blood --- eddie tries his best to ignore the image of his own brain smashed against that glass . ‘ not unlike falcone had , that long time ago . remember those days , mr . dent ? when gotham was first learning the steps of her tottering dance with the caped crusader ? ‘ he allows himself to trail off .
if he concentrates on the un - marred side of two - face , he can almost see how he earned the title apollo . what a twist of irony that he also bears the face of icarus - scorched flesh his sole reward for daring to try . of course , none of this matters . or perhaps it matters a great deal . eddie can feel his mind slipping the longer he stays in this asylum .
‘ something about a shipment , ‘ he answers at last , lulling himself out of his introspection . ‘ he wanted me to locate his markedly misplaced merchandise , yet declined to provide me any further information . i analyzed a few invoices --- though with insufficient particulars of what i was looking for , i was unable to return any new information . ‘
