#echo scrambles

Harrow -> Alecto <- Gideon

I don't actually know enough about Batman lore to say, but I feel like the Riddler would be the one villain who is occasionally so strapped for cash that he'll perform at kids parties as a "Riddler impersonator". One year when Dick is still pretty young Bruce thus coincidentally hires the Riddler to perform at Dick's birthday party. Dick is obviously a smart kid, so while he initially thinks the whole thing is stupid and embarrassing he eventually catches on that that's the real Riddler. When he tries to tell Bruce this though, Bruce just goes: "Oh yes, a really good impersonation. Very impressive." Obviously this means Dick has to take matters into his own hands so the Riddler ends up playing cat and mouse with this overly invested pre-teen with far too much combat experience, just confused out of his mind. The kid thinks he's here as part of some elaborate scheme but he's literally just the entertainment. Through a long line of hilarious coincidences the Riddler ends up simply pretending to have had this whole wild plan that Dick managed to foil just in the nick of time. The Riddler doesn't even care about getting the rest of his payment anymore (Bruce Wayne's "half up-front" was really generous already anyway) because he's genuinely afraid of this child's determination, so he just absconds into the night.

Whelp. It happened.