PUSHBACK BOOK 1
The Riddler crashes backwards through the glass dome roof of a reception hall during a society party. He lands on a table, his limbs at odd angles. What looks like a billowing cloak appears above. One week previous: An injured man cuts down a tree near a wooden hut in a swamp. He has nowhere else to go, and he is dead, for now. He is forming a plan to kill his nemesis. Bruce Wayne is at a party, and Oracle is giving him dating advice via earpiece. Bruce is distracted by the appearance of the dead Vesper Fairchild. Bruce changes to Batman and follows her car until she falls out and a truck nearly hits her. He rescues her, only to realize she isn't Vesper. He leaves, and "Vesper" phones to ask for money for playing the part. Elsewhere: Three men in a boat are crossing a swamp and discussing how they'd like to die. They see a light on in an abandoned hut. Investigating, they find diagrams and photos for a raid of some sort. The resident arrives and kills all three men. Two days later: Something has broken down in the hospital, but the repairman has left an extra behind. In the prison: The Riddler gets a visitor who has been paid by someone to tell him that he has three days to live. The next day, a bus with new prisoners arrives. On the side is a warning that Riddler only has two days left. He asks around, to get a message to the Joker that he has something the Joker wants: a name. A guard offers to smuggle the message out for five grand. The Joker is looking through an album of photos of Jeannie. One of his thugs announces the arrival of the Riddler's messenger. The messenger asks for his payment. The Joker doesn't pay him until he's read the letter. The Riddler asks for a transfer out of Blackgate prison. Elsewhere: Fire tears through the hut on the swamp. Inside, three bodies burn.