Probably the only upside to cancelled shows is that fanfiction attempts to fill in the holes they leave behind, and Young Justice had a lot of holes in it. Very obviously the show was designed to run for a least a few more seasons to explain everything and justify the numerous characters it introduced.
Also, his sideburns bother me.
One such character was the Riddler; I was never sure how I felt about his introduction into the series. We first meet him while as an inmate at Belle Reeve, not Arkham, and instead of working on his own personal goals—like proving himself smarter than Batman—he’s an agent for the Light. I was a little underwhelmed by his character, and I felt as if the show should have done more with him, instead of having him be a random adversary for our heroes, especially since working with the Light never seemed to line up with his original goals in the comics. I just wanted something to justify his alliance with them.
Enough by FelineOverlord doesn’t set out to do that specifically, but it does give me some closure with his character, though admittedly not as much as I’d like.
The Riddler has enough, but breaking ties with the Light is nothing he can do on his own. YJ verse, based on a prompt fill by Higgystar on tumblr.
Enough is a oneshot and less than three thousand words. The story begins with the Riddler betraying the Light and knowing that either his former employers or the Justice League is about to catch him, but not knowing which side will reach him first. By betraying the Light, the Riddler has put a target on himself and he’ll probably be murdered for it. Unfortunately, he is not on the best terms with the Justice League, either, and if they find him first and put him in Belle Reeve or Arkham, the Light will still be able to kill him. But as staying with the Light would certainly result in his death, he has to take the chance regardless.
Luckily for the Riddler, Nightwing gets there before the Light’s henchmen. Not so luckily, Nightwing chooses to attack first and ask questions later, so the two of them get into a bit of a scuffle, with the Riddler not doing so well. After their brief fight, they eventually get to what I suppose can pass as a civil conversation, and the Riddler promises to help Nightwing by providing information on the Light and their plans.
That’s pretty much it for this fic. As I said, it doesn’t really expand on the character in a way that I would have liked, but it is still a good read nonetheless. The author carefully set up the situation and built tension—making us wonder who would get to the Riddler first and making us nervous for his safety. I only wish that it had ended up as a multi-chaptered story and not a oneshot, since it seems like there are a lot of places FelineOverlord could have taken the narrative. So a big downside to this fic is that it seems a little incomplete. Despite that, I have to say that I think FelineOverlord is a very talented writer, and this is not the only oneshot about the Riddler she’s written. She has another one called Blood On My Hands which is about Batman bringing the Riddler back to Arkham after the Riddler’s first murder.
FelineOverlord states that Blood On My Hands is not the best work she’s done and that she’s not too happy with it, but I really disagree with her in this regard. I think Blood On My Hands shows a lot of talent, and unlike Enough, it feels like a completed story. If you are a DC fan, or just a Batman fan in general, I would give both these stories a read through.
Both are on AO3. You can find Enough here and Blood On My Hands here.
Lady Geek Girl and Friends 