A happy day at Arkham
By Trick Steven
Chapter 1: Riddler
Edward Nigma woke up from his puzzle-riddled slumber and groggily glanced out the window of his cell. It was still dark outside of his barred window, but he was almost sure it was early morning, by the calculations he made. He knew it was best to continue sleeping as there was nothing else to do at this early hour. Edward then pulled up his thin sterile-white blankets to his shoulders and closed his eyes in an attempt to get some shut-eye before the orderlies come to announce breakfast. Try as he might though, the king of puzzles could not go to sleep. After an hour of tossing and turning he got up and walked to his depleted bookshelf, which was standing next to the door of the bathroom. It was hard to see in the dark but Edward managed to make out the right crossword booklet that he wanted. It was surrounded by other booklets of its kind. There was also a thick book of riddles, a suduko booklet, and a rubix cube. Edward's goal, (Other then figure out a way to escape.) was to finish one booklet a day.
Since it was already morning, he thought, 'Why not get a head start on it?'
He grabbed the booklet, but then hesitated when his hand was near the light switch. One of the big rules at Arkham was to never turn on the lights after 10 pm or before 6 am, since it "disturbed" the other patients. Some of the doctors were quick to punish at even minor infractions of the rules.
'To hell with it,' thought Edward, who was eager to start the crossword puzzle.
He flicked on the light switch and the cell was enveloped in a warm glow. Edward picked up a freshly sharpened pencil from a mug on his dresser and sat on his bed. He turned the title page of the booklet until he was at the first page of the crossword puzzle. It read:
Across
A dangerous bird from northern Australia.
Edward squinted his eyes in concentration as he tried to figure out the answer. Although he was a genius, he wasn't particularly knowledgeable when it came to animals.
'It's a pity the Penguin is housed up at Stonegate penitentiary.' Thought Edward.
'He probably would know the answer to this one.'
The only clues were the one that was given to him and that it was a nine lettered word. He racked up his brain to try to figure out the answer. It couldn't be an emu or cockatoo…then quite suddenly the answer came to him.
"Of course!" he exclaimed aloud. "The answer is a cassow-"
A loud tap made Edward lose his train of thought. He looked up angrily, upset that some one broke his concentration. Of course, to no great surprise, it was an orderly who smiled mockingly sweet at Edward through the glass walled cell.
"Couldn't go to sleep?" asked the orderly, who leered in a threatening manner.
Edwardmustered up his most polite tone of voice and answered, "Could you go away?"
He then added as an extra precaution, "Please."
"Now, now," Began the orderly, waggling his meaty finger at Edward like if he was a misbehaving child. "You broke a rule. I'm willing to let it slide, but you still need to go to sleep."
The orderly then took out a syringe from the pockets of his white uniform. Edward turned pale but then composed himself and glared at the orderly.
"I will not be given sedatives." Said Edward in an angry tone of voice.
He absolutely loathed sedatives. They made his mind work at a sloth's pace, even hours after he woke up. Not only that but they also gave him a tremendous headache.
"That's not for you to decide is it?" smirked the orderly triumphantly as he got out the keys for Edward's cell.