Chapter 8
By the time classes end I'm exhausted. With the gym closed for final preparations, my homework out of the way, I find a quiet side staircase to sit down and rest. I place my chunky backpack against the wall, lean against it like the back of a chair, and begin to doze off…
"Hey, Kat?"
I flash awake, stumbling up on my feet, before realizing that its just Martin, "Oh...hey Martin."
Martin waves at me, "Hey. You mind if I sit down with you?"
"Sure. I was just trying to get some sleep before the game, but...sure."
We awkwardly shuffle around so that the both of us can fit in the tight hallway space, but somehow we manage to work around Martin's long spider-like legs and torso.
"So...you know." I mumble.
He nods, "Its, kind of hard to believe actually. I always expected him to be, well, a him."
I grunt, "Yeah, I guess that would make sense."
"So, like, you need help with this whole crime fighting thing? I mean, I'd make a great Robin…"
I chuckle, "I don't think so. Can you even fight?"
Martin opens his mouth, about to say something, but pauses, "Wel...uhm...actually...not really. But you know, I could build some new tech. That communicator for example, you still have it?"
I reach into my pocket, and pull it out, "Yep."
He nods, "Good, and I've got mine. Since I'll be attending the game, we can watch out for the Riddler together."
"Just...promise me something."
"What? I'll stay out of trouble, don't worry about me. And I've got my handy-dandy laptop, which may or may not allow me access to the school security system."
I look up at him from my slumped state, "Seriously?"
"Uhuh, if I can do it from the mainframe, why not remotely? Now, get some sleep, you're gonna need it, Riddler or no Riddler."
I nod, and rest my head upon what feels like the outline of my history textbook.
"That looks...really uncomfortable." Martin comments. He scoots closer to me, gently moves his hand onto my shoulder, and pushes my head onto his shoulder. His soft sweatshirt was much more comfortable than my backpack, although I could feel his shoulder bone protruding out slightly. I nuzzle in a little,
"Thanks, man." before falling asleep.
I can feel the excitement in the air as we wait behind the gymnasium doors for our cue. All of the other girls are putting on the final touches of their makeup, or are quietly chatting and giggling. I go over the cheers in my head, but that's not what I'm nervous about. What does the Riddler have in store? I tell myself that everything will be fine, but at the same time, I can never be quite too sure. I pull my hair back into a ponytail, concealing my earpiece that Martin gave me with a couple loose hairs.
The buzzer sounds and all of the girls and I run out into the bright lights. The gym itself is lit as brightly as possible, with two separate search lights reflecting towards the middle of the gymnasium floor. We wave at the crowd before beginning our cheers. As we perform, I catch glimpses of the crowd, looking for anything even remotely green, but it doesn't help that Disco Tech's colors are green and blue. I easily spot Martin, for out of all the black and grey of the Gotham High Bats, he's sporting a white dress shirt with rolled up sleeves, sleek black vest and yellow tie. We finish up and run off as the basketball players take the floor. At the blow of the whistle, the game begins. Gotham High gets the ball...oh, but Disco Tech steals it right from them! Its gettin over to the Gotham High side and...oh Disco Tech scores, and in just the first few minutes!
"That doesn't look good." Sydney comments.
"Oh, it'll be fine." Tara replies, "Its just the first few minutes."
Fifty minutes, two twelve minute quarters and three more points later, Disco Tech is still in the lead, with the score 1-3.
"Ugh, this sucks." Tara growls, covering her face with her pom poms.
The two teams clear the field, leaving it empty. We pick up our pom poms for the mid-game cheer off with Disco Tech's cheerleading team, but just then the lights all go out completely. There's screams and chaos. I find myself a wall to cling to for support as my eyes adjust to the darkness. I notice that the forklift is moving to the center of the gym, seemingly on its own. Except...there's someone standing on top of the forklift. Suddenly, the two search lights flash on, practically blinding me and everyone else. But on top of that forklift I can see...green.
"Ladies, and gentlemen!" his voice, loud and clear, seems to be coming from the school PA system, "Welcome to your halftime show. I am your host, the Riddler!"
As my eyes readjust to the light, I see that the other students are crowding around the doors, trying to get out, but the doors aren't opening.
"Now, don't even try to think of leaving. I've locked the doors using the electronic school security system. So much for state of the art technology."
Apparently, the crowd either didn't hear him, or that his information made them even more hysterical, because they continue to pound and slam onto the reinforced doors.
"...Kat, can you hear me?" I can hear Martin ask from my earpiece.
I adjust it a bit, "Yeah, I can hear you. Where are you?"
"Under the bleachers." I look over and see a glimpse of his yellow tie from under one of the benches, "I'm trying to decode the encryption that the Riddler placed on the security system. It should take a couple minutes, and I can only keep the doors open for so long, so get ready to go when I say so." he orders.
"Alright." I reply.
"Now, riddle me this! What can fly at night, but can't see? That's right, a bat, and nobody is leaving until the 'Batman' comes out and reveals himself. Oh yeah, and a date to the Valentine Day dance wouldn't be bad either, ladies?" he extends a green gloved hand to the cheerleaders.
Ignoring the Riddler I cautiously begin weaving my way through the other girls to the side door leading to the locker rooms.
"We all already have dates." Sydney pouts, folding her arms.
The other cheerleaders murmur in agreement, while I begin hearing static from my earpiece,
"Okay Kat. Get ready." Martin warns.
"Hey, Kathy doesn't have a date!" one of the cheerleaders blurts out, pointing a painted nail at me.
The Riddler swings around, and our eyes meet. His eyebrows raise, as if he's surprised to see me, but he suddenly gets a twisted smile on his face,
"Oh, how perfect." he reveals a small remote control, and with the push of the button, the forklift slowly rolls toward me.
As it approaches me, the spotlights follow him, showing that they're also controlled by the remote he's carrying. I begin stepping back as it draws closer, and the Riddler peers down from above, "Katherine Wells, will you be my date to the Valentine dance?" he reaches behind him and pulls out a green rose.
Unable to speak, I can only react when I hear Martin in my earpiece,
"NOW!"
The fire alarm blares throughout the halls, and all of the gymnasium doors fly open. I make a run for my destination.
"No, wait!" the Riddler cries, and I can hear him fumble with his remote.
Just as I reach the door, they rapidly begin closing in on me, I slip to the slippery gym floor and make a wilson slide through the doors just in time. As I run down the stairs, I can hear Martin from my earpiece,
"Woh, nice!"
"Thanks, but you need to get out of there. I'll handle it from here." I tell him.
"And let him get away while you're changing?" he counters, "I don't think so. I'll keep you posted, but I'm not going anywhere."
I told her I'm not going anywhere, and I intend to stick to that. From my safe spot behind the stands, I watch as the rest of the students escape from the main gym doors. With the side gym door Kat escaped out of now being locked, nobody will be able to follow her, but at the same time, how will she be able to get out of the gym? And that whole thing with the Riddler was freaking creepy. I mean, what if the Riddler turns out to be some teacher? Eww…
The last student files out, and the Riddler is left by himself. I adjust myself in my hiding spot as to not be seen. Using his remote control he lowers the forklift and steps off of it. I suddenly realize, he's a lot shorter than he looked up top that forklift. I'm at least twice his height, and while he looks a bit gangly maybe I can at least stall him before Kat gets here. I creep out from behind the bleachers just as the Riddler is about to leave the gym,
"Hey!" I shout, as loud as I can.
He turns around, and I prepare for a chase, but he...starts walking toward me?
"Hey, Martin!"
Is that...Joey?
"Martin! Its me!" Joey/the Riddler cries, briefly lifting his mask to reveal his youthful blue eyes.
"Why're you doing this Joey?" I ask furiously, not pleased with his jovial behavior.
"I just had to find out who Batman was, so I found this costume at a thrift store, spiffed up my voice a little bit, and voilà! The Riddler was born. And while revealing Batman's identity, if I can also spook those dumb jocks a little bit, all the better, don't you agree?"
Out of the corner of your eye you spot a security camera.
"But, this is insane. How did you crack the system?"
Joey blows a raspberry, "You don't think you're the only person in this school who has tech expertise? I'm on tech crew just like you, I'm just not the head. But hey, after this, maybe I'll be promoted, who knows."
I slowly begin to step away from him, "Joey...I don't know what prompted you to do this...but I'm going to get you help, okay?"
"Hey man, what's wrong with a little curiosity? And I didn't hurt anyone, did I?" he stops, chuckling a bit.
Is this what it was all about? Finding Batman's identity? No, it couldn't be that simple.
"Dude, what is your problem?"
I could see Joey's gloved fist tighten, and he grits his teeth, "What's my problem you say? My problem is that, nobody notices me. Who's ever congratulated me for my work? For once in my life, I just wanted to be noticed, for something, anything. I'm captain of the chess team, I've led them to nationals for two years now! And who gets noticed? The guy who dresses up in black and breaks into a convenience store."
I place my hand on his shoulder, "Dude, I know how you feel, really, I do…"
He pushes me away, "No, you don't! Everyone sees me as that quiet, awkward guy. Well, that's not me anymore."
I pause for a moment, "You asked Kat out to the dance?"
He sniffles, "Yeah, what about it?"
"What was it like?"
His back turned to me, he lifts his mask to wipe his eyes, "Well...you saw what happened. Do you...do you think she would've said yes?"
Just then, a dark figure appears, their shadow silhouetted by the bring gymnasium lights, "You're plan's been foiled Riddler."
"Batman!" Riddler/Joey shouts, his voice changing into that of an older, adult-like broadcast persona, "I see you've finally decided to join the party."
Batman dashes for Riddler, who presses something on his remote control, and all of a sudden every light in the gym turns up to an unbelievable brightness, blinding all of us in a flash of light. Its so bright, I can barely see anything, I can hear footsteps though, echoing through the gym. I fall to the floor, covering my eyes from the light. The lights themselves, already overheated from the game, being shattering around us, pieces of glass bulb falling from the ceiling. I feel a hand grab mine and forcefully pull me up.
"C'mon, we need to get out of here!" it was Kat, as she hoists up my thin frame and begins dashing for the front doors, both of us stepping on broken glass along the way, "These are mercury lights, they release toxic gas when broken!"
We burst out of the door, and I breath a sigh of relief, leaning against an outdoor railing, "Thanks Ka-" but she's already gone.