*J* (the continuation)

Part Forty: Chapter 299: In Too Deep

"I'm sure you thought it was impenetrable, but as you can clearly see, it could use some work."

The Riddler's eyes narrow in anger, "Is there a good reason for you breaking into my home.? For the second time?"

"As a matter of fact, there is. I require a lab. You just so happen to have one. Therefore, I need to use it," Jason tells him.

"No," Edward shakes his head.

"Come again?" Jason rasps.

"We had a deal. I agreed to help you in exchange for more territory, to which you agreed upon. I have fulfilled my end. You haven't. I'd be a fool to just keep helping you with nothing in return. So, in short, the day you deliver, well that's the day I might rethink working with you," the Riddler folds his arms across his chest.

Jason's head slightly tilted. Obviously it was time to give Nygma an incitive to do as he says. "Working with me? No, no. Make no mistake about it, you're working for me. You can either comply and give me what I ask for, or suffer the concenquences."

"Are you actually threatening me in my own house?!" Edward yells, quickly growing tired of this Red Hood character.

Jason sits back in the chair, a smirk comes to his lips beneath the mask. He wasn't afraid of the Riddler. He already knew that Edward wasn't much of a fighter. He fought with his mind, not with muscle. "Threatening you? No, not at all." He reaches his hand into the inner pocket of his coat. The Riddler tenses, expecting it to be a gun. Jason pulls out something, and it wasn't a gun. He tosses what's in his hand onto the desks surface. "I'm blackmailing you."

Edward's eyes fall to the desk top. It was about a dozen pictures. But on closer inspection he saw what was on those pictures. His jaw drops. He rushes forward and grabs the pictures in both fists. "Where the fuck did you get these!? He demanded as he shook the crumpled pictures.

"Where isn't important," Jason tells him. "What is important is the fact that they exist, and that I have them. Just a little bit of insurance that will see to it that I get what I want. Obviously, should you decline, these pictures are going to fall into the hands of someone you don't want seeing them. Can you imagine how people might react to knowing that you and Penguin are lovers?" Jason taunts him.

Edward's heart pounded. That kind of information could ruin he and Oswald. It was not only a hazzard to their very characters, but to their business dealings as well. Criminals would come at their organizations, because they would see them as less than men. Edward wanted to kill Jason. He had to kill him, right? It was the only way to protect himself and Oswald.

"I should kill you," Edward says lowly as he stares at Jason with murderous eyes.

Jason shrugs, "You can try. Just know this, there's lots of copies of your romantic preferences. I'm the only one who knows where they are. Also, should I suddenly fall dead, the copies will make it into hands. Those hands will most positively make those pictures go viral. So I suggest Nygma, you think really hard about your next move."

But the man who was so obsessed with his own intellect, does anything but think. Within seconds he is flying through the air. He doesn't even brush the desk that sat between them. His hands latch on to Jason's neck as he topples the chair. Jason's back hits the floor with the Riddler landing on top of him. The Riddler squeezes his hands as tightly as he can around Jason's neck. The sound of laughter fills the room. "Haha hahaha hahahaha!!!"

The Riddler looks at Jason with a befuddled look. How the hell did he have the air to laugh at him? Only then does Edward notice that his fingers were squeezing something that had no give. Panting, Edward sits up a bit. He slowly releases Jason's throat.