#maybe he's on a little 'field trip' of sorts but. oh woes of a pretty himbo-twink

[fairymint]

@starfoam

"Art is really hard, how do people do it?" Gently petting the big red beast that is Koraidon, who'd been chuffing happily in the season's coming warmth.

[storygirl000]

Hey, Brother

A/N: Inspired by the Maribat AU made by @ozmav and this post I made about it. Hope you like it!

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It was little-known fact in Gotham that the Riddler had a son. Even fewer people knew that he had two.

The older one was Elliot, better known to the public as Kwiz Kid. He’d popped up a few times to antagonize Nightwing back when he was still Robin, but wasn’t seen much after that. The younger one was Edwin, better known as the Puzzler, who enjoyed antagonizing the current Robin.

While they still had their sibling fights, for the most part, the two brothers looked out for each other. Elliot in particular was quite protective of his younger brother, and willing to help him out with whatever he needed.

That’s how the trouble started.

00000

Elliot got home from work that day to find his younger brother lying on the couch, looking at his phone longingly. He seemed pretty upset over something, and so Elliot voiced his concerns.

“Man, you look like shit.”

Edwin snorted. “Nice to see you too, asshole.”

Elliot frowned. “Seriously, what’s up?”

“None of your business.”

“Ed, I’m your brother. I’m gonna find out eventually.”

Edwin grumbled for a few seconds before relenting.

“There’s this girl...”

Oh.

Oh.

Elliot’s eyes immediately lit up in delight. “You finally found a girl you love! What’s she like?”

Edwin sighed. “She’s a French kid on a field trip here in Gotham. She’s kind, she’s sweet, she can kick some serious ass, and she has one of the sharpest minds I’ve ever known.”

“The perfect package!” Elliot squealed. “So what’s stopping you from dating her?”

“She’s already with Robin.”

And just like that, Elliot’s train of thought crashed at the station.

“Wait, seriously?” he asked.

Edwin gave a sullen nod. “Yep.”

Elliot thought for a second, then chuckled. “Geez, talk about history repeating itself.”

“What are you talking about?” Edwin asked.

“Remember when I had a crush on Killer Moth’s daughter?”

“Oh God, yes. I still have no idea what you saw in that bitch.”

“Shut up, I learned. Anyways, part of the reason my pursuit of her failed was because she already had a crush on someone else...namely, on Robin. Y’know, back before he became Nightwing.”

“...you’re joking.”

“Nope!”

Edwin groaned and flopped back on the couch. “Is this some sort of Nygma family curse? Are all of the girls we’re interested in going to fall for one of the Bat’s brats?”

Elliot put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Relax, bro! I'll see if I can convince this girl to change her mind!”

Edwin looked up at him. “Really? You’d do that?”

“Yep! But first...what’s her name?”

00000

Marinette walked through the streets of Gotham, lost in thought.

Last week, the Puzzler had tried to ask her out again, after she’d told him no God knows how many times. He’d left muttering something about Robin “stealing” his girl, and she hadn’t seen him since.

She hoped that this meant he’d finally given up on trying to woo her, but she was also worried. What if he was planning something else?

Damian had told her not to worry (after he was reminded for the umpteenth time that no, the Batfamily doesn’t kill criminals), but that hadn’t stopped her from doing so.

“Excuse me? Are you Marinette Dupain-Cheng?”

Marinette turned to face the unfamiliar voice...and her eyes widened.

In front of her was a young man with spiky brown hair and a mask covering his eyes. He wore a green-and-black spandex suit with an all-too-familiar yellow question mark on the chest.

Marinette gulped. “Um...yes?”

The man grinned. “Perfect! I’m Kwiz Kid – Puzzler’s older brother – and I was hoping I could talk to you.”

Before she could react, Kwiz Kid had scooped her up in his arms and started running down the street with her, carrying her bridal-style.

“Hey-!” she started to shout, before Kwiz Kid put a finger over her mouth.

“Relax, I won’t hurt you! I just wanted to show you something real quick!” He grinned. “Trust me, you’re going to love it.”

00000

The two arrived at a warehouse, where a folding chair, a projector, and a screen were set up. Marinette was gently placed in the chair by Kwiz Kid, who went to man the projector.

The screen lit up, displaying the opening slide of a PowerPoint presentation. Written in bright green comic sans font was the title:

REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD DATE MY BROTHER

Marinette promptly replied in the best way she could.

“What.”

Kwiz Kid grinned. “Puzzler told me about all his love woes with you, so I decided to help him out! By the time this slideshow is done, you’ll love him just as much as I do!” He paused. “But, y’know, in a romantic sense, not a brotherly sense. Anyways, next slide!”

Part of Marinette wanted to get out of the chair and kick his ass. The other wanted to continue to watch this trainwreck of a slideshow, because come one, he’d opened with bright green comic sans font. She wanted to see if the rest of it was just as bad.

Kwiz Kid moved on to the next slide, which consisted mainly of various pictures of Puzzler, with the title “Best Younger Brother in the World!”

“Now, I know the title is completely subjective,” he continued, “but-”

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!”

Marinette and Kwiz Kid turned to find Puzzler, who had begun freaking out.

“Showing this lovely lady why she should date you, duh,” Kwiz Kid replied.

“YOU KIDNAPPED HER!”

“Look, if that’s what you’re worried about, I didn’t hurt her at all-”

“NO! NO ONE KIDNAPS MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG AND LIVES TO TELL THE TALE!”

Kwiz Kid frowned. “What are you-”

The sound of someone crashing through the ceiling pulled the attention of all three occupants away from the argument.

Standing there was Robin, and he looked pissed.

“Which one of you did this?” he asked quietly.

Puzzler immediately pointed at his brother. “I had nothing to do with this!”

Kwiz Kid barely had time to say “Traitor!” before Robin tackled him to the ground.

Nightwing landed in the room and surveyed his surroundings before going to Marinette. “You hurt, Mari?” he asked.

Marinette shook her head. “Aside from having to look at bright green comic sans font, I’m good.”

“That’s good. Maybe Robin won’t kill anyone, then.”

Puzzler sighed. “Darling, I’m truly sorry about this. My brother means well, but I don’t think anyone warned him about you or your violent protector yet.”

As he said that, a loud crack rang through the manor.

Puzzler winced. “And that was probably my brother’s arm.”

“Nightwing, let me kill him! Just this once!” Robin yelled.

Nightwing groaned. “NO, Robin.”

“You’re no fun.”