4nations | Enigmatic shadows [OPEN]

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Enigmatic shadows [OPEN]

Who: Enigma and OPEN
Where: somewhere on Dai Li, trying to find a replacement staff
When: Sunday afternoon

They had given him some tests. They said he could control fire. He wanted nothing of it. He had enough of magic already with the entire Trinity ordeal. He just wanted to resort to his technology and nothing more. To fix things. To finally be happy with his daughter.

And yet he was here somehow. They were telling him things he didn't believe. He'd been mistaken for other people before, often purposefully, but this time, it just felt weird. And so he did what he did best: slipped into the shadows and fled. He'd lost his shadow form. He didn't have his staff. He needed out.

Enigma stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the population. Long green jacket with white piping, green pants, and a metal plate covering the left side of his face. Totally sticking out. He just wanted to blend into the background, observing the people, seeing what they were like, how they ticked or act. He couldn't observe them when they kept looking at him.

So he walked. It was strange. Before he walked everywhere, but when he gained that other form, he simply whisked himself to where he wanted to go. Not the case, so he walked.

First order of business, before anything else, he needed a staff. It was part of him, an extension. Not having it felt strange and weird. The taller the staff the better. Preferably metal, but he would take what he could get.

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Enigma wasn't the only one who stuck out. Purple hair, white makeup and a green suit didn't make Jokester blend in very well. Unlike Enigma though he didn't feel the need to. On his way through the village, after checking out his new abode, he spotted a familiar crop of hair.

Half of his face covered or not Jokester could pick out his friend in moments. It was a sight he didn't think he would be seeing again considering the attack on their home not too long ago by the Crime Society. This only left him with one option.

He ran up behind the man and gave him a bone-crunching hug "Eddie! I should known you would be kicking around in this place."

Enigma had busied himself watching some man with a cart of cabbage. The man was seemingly going about his business like a medieval merchant. Perhaps that was a clue to what this place was like. Perhaps he time traveled. It was theoretical but possible.

He tensed up quickly by the hug, not to mention the grip was absolutely suffocating. Yet what caught his attention was the name - the nickname. Only his friends called him that and they were all dead.

"I think you have me mistaken for someone else."

He eventually let Enigma down, mostly at what he said. "What do you mean? I mean the face mask is new, but I know my friend Eddie Nigma when I see him."

It hadn't crossed his mind that this could of been another version of his friend. After all he hadn't had much time to absorb the idea of other Earths very much before he was nearly killed.

"This isn't some sort of riddle, is it?"

Enigma straightened his tunic, taking a moment to observe Jokester. This was strange. Enigma had taken time to study all everything Batman. He met the Joker, that strange chaos of a man who could bend his own reality.

But this guy. His mannerisms were different. Even just briefly he could see this. Not to mention his colors were different, almost inverse of the chaotic man he had the misfortune of working with. There was something different about him.

"It's not a riddle, no." He knew the name. That was the name of his positive-matter counterpart after he'd changed his name. Enigma had always kept his original name Nashton. "Interesting you would think that."

"You were always fond of those, even when someone thinks you're dead." He sighed deciding it really wasn't Eddie. At least not how he remembered him. He liked his riddles, but even The Riddler would let him know when it was a riddle.

"Well if it is a case of mistaken identity I guess I should introduce myself." He held out his hand with a big theatrical grin. "Nice to meet you, you can call me Jokester."

"Perhaps in another world, but I'm very much alive." Enigma, unlike most of his world, was well aware of other universes. He knew about alternates, and perhaps this one knew another form of himself.

"Enigma," he replied. Perhaps a little more information would be useful. He wanted more information on this Jokester person and what he thought he knew. "Perhaps you knew my other name, Quizmaster."

"Another?" And then it clicked. This was Eddie from another world. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he went with the default and cackled out a laugh.

"So that's the joke. You're from another world and you don't even know me."

He paused at the name "Isn't that kind of an unsubtle joke for you Eddie?"

"Riddler actually. That's what we were, The Riddler Family. Please tell me you're at least a hero or this joke is going to turn sour."

"Hardly a joke," Enigma frowned. Then again, accepting your friend was alternate from another universe probably wasn't easy. Especially when the world was as messed up as his.

"I am from the Antimatter Universe. No version of you existed in my world. At least not that I know." There was always the possibility that the Joker had been born on his own world. He'd considered it. He must've just never surfaced like the others had.

"I am." Hero was a rather loose word. He was a hero at heart, trying to save his own world. He'd just made a few bad decisions. "I do everything to fight the Crime Syndicate."

"Still E Nigma, hardly a pseudonym." Unless it wasn't supposed to be a joke? He shrugged it off.

"Antimatter? Huh never heard of a world like that. Then again I only went to a couple." It wasn't a big deal, but he wished someone had told him there was another world where people he knew were still good.

"Well that's a relief. Considering how some people were treating me I had a distinct feeling I was a villain in a couple worlds. Didn't want you to be in on the shtick too."

"I never changed my name," Enigma replied. Though that wasn't the reason why he called him that. Morgaine said he was an enigma. The name stuck.

"The Antimatter Universe is considered the opposite of all other universes," he explained. Few seemed to truly understood his world, though that was for the better. Visitors were hardly needed and outsiders were hardly welcome. Insiders weren't exactly welcome either. "I am surprised, however, to find another universe where those considered villains are actually the heroes."

"So what? You put your pants on before your underwear?" It was a bad joke, but it was helping him relax in this situation and take it easy.

"So I'm guessing that means you have to deal with some version of Owlsie?" He glanced around "Hey why don't we find a place to sit and we can trade stories?"

"Not in that sense, no." Well that would be interesting, but not the case. There was a lot more to it, generally leading back to a galactic scientist dicking around with the big bang, but that was a secret only the scientist seemed to know.

"Let's sit," Enigma agreed. No point in standing around and looking out of place. "Owlman? Yes, he was out for my blood for years."

Jokester scouted out a place to sit, away from the hustle and bustle of the town, but close enough to people watch as they spoke. It gave them something to look at. He plopped down into the grass without a worry.

"I'll start since it was my idea." He took out a handkerchief and wiped away his makeup. It was weird to take it off, but he knew he couldn't leave it on long enough to get a resupply anyway. It was meant to show the scars on either side of his face.

"So I'll tell you a story. I'll skip ahead a bit to get to the action scenes. Once upon a time there was a comedian named Jackie. He was pretty bad at his job, but he kept at it because the woman he fell in love with a long time ago said he should go on stage. What he lacked was a shtick, something to make him different from other comedians. Well one psychopath in an owl costume bursting through the window to the club and killing his boss gave him his answer. He started telling jokes about Owlman and his little tag-along Talon. His popularity went through the roof and he got a spiffy manager. Harleen Quinzel."

Jokester couldn't help but frown a little at the part about Harleen.

"Well Owlman didn't like the comedy act so he decided to let Jackie know exactly how he felt. He killed Jackie's manager and cut him a nice big smile. After that Jackie became a little obsessed with Owlman. Used his big bankroll on some new weapons, vehicles and a damn good tailor." He paused as if deciding if he should go on or not, but decided to end it. "And they all lived happily ever after."

Enigma took his seat, crossing one leg over the other and leaning forward, knitting his fingers together almost like a mastermind in contemplative thought. Despite being one of the good guys, Enigma had a bad tendency to look like a supervillain.

He listened carefully to the story, watching him take off the makeup. It seemed strange he was simply spilling his history to someone who didn't know him; yet it made sense. If he were part of the Riddler family, he no doubt had an inherent trust for Enigma, who really could use a good ally. His past alliances weren't exactly great.

He didn't recognize some of the names, but it was hardly difficult to infer who each person was. Jackie had to be the Jokester himself. Joker's origin was always a mystery. Not even with Enigma's investigative skills had he discovered the chatoic clown's origins. Perhaps the Jokester was less so. Harleen, however, sounded like Harley Quin, the positive-matter Joker's accomplice and companion.

Enigma flinched at the mention of what Owlman had done. He could relate, even though in the end it was Ultraman who had done him in. "No matter the universe, Olwman's sadistic bloodthirst seems to always stay the same. Though somehow I doubt the happily ever after happened. The Syndicate, or Society in your world, doesn't seem fond of those happy stories."

"It's how they end fairy tales and you know how white-washed those are." It was his excuse for not wanting to talk about the death of his friends. Still he supposed he owed Enigma the explanation for how The Riddler family came together.

"I guess I'll stop telling a fairy tale. Eventually things started to get boring for me. Even the best joke in the world gets old and what brought big laughs became a chuckler at best. I was ready to close the curtain.

Then The Riddler family showed up. Yourself, The woman who started my comedy career Evelyn Dent or Three Face as you would call her now. And you brought the one person who gave me a reason to keep going and spruce up my act. You brought the teenaged daughter I never knew I had. Duela Dent."

Then came the part he couldn't stop himself from frowning at "Considering you're not my Eddie, I have to assume all three of them are gone now. All of them closed the curtains on their act. I couldn't even kill the guy who killed Duela. I was the universe's joke until the end."

It was strange, really, to hear how much of an impression his counterpart had on the Jokester. He'd almost forgotten what it felt like to be part of a hero team. It felt as if an eternity had passed since the Syndicate had slaughtered his team. He had a daughter too, one that was killed.

The story affected him, and it was beginning to become obvious, as his expression, even as hard as he could be to read sometimes, was beginning to soften to almost a sympathetic look. It was strange to have someone understand what he'd suffered, what he went through that drove him to do what he did. In a way, he wondered if there was an understanding between him and Batman that drove the bat to save his life.

Enigma wasn't necessarily one to speak about himself, preferring to be simply that shadow no one really knew was there. He'd been hiding for so long, it was almost second nature at times. "It seems your Riddler and I aren't all that different, save that I lived through an attack by the syndicate. "He tapped the masked side of his face, "though without half my face. They left me alive to watch me suffer as they slaughtered my team and my family." His daughter had survived, but only barely, as he was able to grasp her soul and bind her to technology so she would continue to live.

Jokester was surprised to find out that this version of his friend had gone through something so similar. It was an odd twist of fate really. They both lost people they loved and cared for.

"The only reason I survived was due to some well placed Deus Ex Machina." He gave a shrug.

"So what're your plans from here Eddie?"

It was, in a way, good to see his new companion had survived an attack by the Syndicate as well, even if his counterpart had died. It was also an odd twist of fate the two were so similar.

"Plans?" He hadn't thought much past the idea that he needed to get home. He wasn't entirely fond of being thrown into a new world against his will. And he wasn't entirely fond of being separated from Stephie. She had the Void Hound to protect her, but he still wanted to be there for her.

"I need to find a tall staff. No one can tell me where mine went." He liked that staff.

"Yeah, I planned on finding some quick work to make money. Maybe farming? It's not exactly what I want to do with my life, but it is a way get supplies." He figured it was the best thing he could do right now.

"They wouldn't even tell me where they found me at. I was hoping to get some answers from looking around the area." He stood up and brushed himself off.

"Alright let's go find a big tree. I'm sure if we put our heads together we can make you a staff."

"I know little of farming," Enigma noted. He knew about technology and sciences. He was an inventor and scholar. But if it came down to it, he'd simply have to get his hands dirty.

"These people tell you little that's actually useful," Enigma added, observing a couple who walked past them. "Observations will tell us more."

Judging by their garb and their hair, they seemed Chinese. Now that he was observing it more, the buildings seemed traditional Chinese, or at least what he'd studied of positive-matter Earth's history. Briefly so, but it was enough to recognize it. "Hm."

He stood up as well, straightening out his tunic. "That will do," he agreed. For now, at least. He'd build himself a new crooked staff. With this weird fire ability, chances were he'd accidentally light the staff on fire, but he'd see how long it took before that happened. Hopefully never, but as he'd never had magic, only utilized it in technology, it was still a rather foreign experience.

"Neither do I, but you just do whatever the farmer tells you and it will work out."

He nodded "I am under the impression they really do think we're amnesiacs though. Maybe only the grand poobah of this place knows what's really going on."

"Alright since it's your staff you can pick our direction and the particular limb."

Well that seemed easy enough. "Simple. Perhaps that is a temporary option." Something to make money. Surely his fast pool of resources wouldn't reach here, so he'd have to improvise. It would be the only way to amass a collection whatever primitive technology the place had to offer.

"That seems to be the case," Enigma agreed, observing the surroundings for any sign of a large enough tree. The staff had to be close to his height, maybe 5-6' tall, and strong enough to lean on and carry about. "They are thoroughly convinced I had some sort of bad dream." Though at times, it did seem like a bad dream. The bad decisions he's made, the destruction he caused. It corrected itself, perhaps made things a little better on both sides, but it was still something that haunted him.

"I know nothing of this land," he shrugged. "But it looks like there's a large tree in that direction." He pointed off down the street. Something definitely peeked out from behind the buildings, though how strong the branches were in such a tree was still unknown.

"I just hope the guard I talked to takes my warning to heart. I warned him about Owlman on the off chance he shows up." It was the only kindness he could give to the guard.

"Alright lead the way." He would followed beside Enigma. He figured between the two of them they could get a staff made. Jokester at least knew if a branch soaked in water you could strip off the bark

Enigma narrowed his eyes at the mention. If that monster showed up, this place might be flattened. His bloodlust knew no bounds. Yet there would be people to oppose him. Enigma was done hiding. "Let's hope that won't happen."

He shook the thought from his mind before continuing on, taking off in one direction, observing the people as they passed them. More ancient Chinese garb and hair styles. Surely this wasn't a coincidence. "I wonder, have we traveled through time to get here?"

"Yeah, but we'll be more ready than him this time at least." He figured he had to be the optimistic one in this situation.

"I think we just traveled over Earths. I did some Earth hopping myself. It's that Deus ex machina I mentioned. A few oddly dressed people showed up and I was able to hitch a ride through one of their portals."

"Why we're suddenly able to move these four elements though I've got no clue."

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Enigmatic shadows [OPEN]

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