Thanks for the GREAT reviews!
I'm really enjoying writing this and for once I'm not totally bogged down with school work, so I decided to post another chapter, in which we see a little more Riddler (Yay? Nay?).
Okay, here we go!
Chapter Two: The Prince of Riddles
When quitting time finally came at 7:00, I was fried. A thin layer of sweat coated my skin. The thread had gotten tangled five times, I had been disturbed by Mr. Peabody asking about how to properly measure customers twice and my hands were numb, but I had finished the lining and was done with the left sleeve of the jacket. I stretched my fingers, sighing with relief as I did so. "Goodnight Sarah" said Mr. Peabody as I left, "and good work." I flashed him a brief smile before leaving the building. I wrapped my jacket tightly around myself; snow was beginning to fall on the city. I casually waited outside of "Leon's Grocery Store" for my bus, shivering. I heard the crunch, crunch of footsteps on new snow and I turned to see a red-haired man in a black jacket and khakis walking towards me. He casually glanced at the route number, nodded and stood next to me in silence. "Good evening" he finally muttered,
"hello" I replied.
The screech of tires rang out across the street, "huh?" We both muttered. We walked to the edge of the sidewalk to take a look. A car barreled down the street, the occasional piece of green paper flew out of the back of the car, shrieking, unhinged laughter followed. "Whoa!" I shouted. The two of us jumped three feet in the air and in a split second I found myself on my rear end with my back against the front wall of the grocery store. A black, or perhaps purple car screeched by, knocking over the route sign and clipping the bumper of a red minivan before speeding away. I looked to my left to see the redhead splayed out next to me in a similar state, "Joker…" he growled.
"Well, that's Gotham city for you." I said, observing the gash that had formed on my knee.
"Are you alright?" The man exclaimed, getting to his feet,
"I'm fine, it's just a scratch" I said, he offered me his hand and helped me to my feet. "Thanks" I said as the bus pulled up to the stop. It was ironic; after all that mayhem the bus arrived as if nothing had happened.
"I'm Sarah, by the way" I said,
"It's a pleasure" he replied, we shook hands, "ladies first." He gestured to the open door of the bus.
"Evenin'" grunted the bus driver as I paid my fare.
I sat down in a seat at the back of the bus and stared out the window onto Gotham's streets. I had always liked snow, not heavy blizzards, but light flakes of snow; they were beautiful against the night sky. Fifteen minutes later the bus pulled up at my stop outside the small apartment building where I lived. As I got up from my seat I realized that even though the bus hadn't made any stops until now, I was the only passenger on the bus, the man in the black jacket was nowhere to be seen. Huh I thought, that's right, he never told me his name... "Weird" I muttered, stepping off the bus into the cold night air.
I walked in through the double doors of the small apartment building, waved at the receptionist and climbed the many flights of stairs to my apartment on the 10th floor; technically our building had an elevator, but it hadn't worked in weeks, leaving all of the occupants to use one of the three sets of stairs. I finally reached my apartment, room 1035, and unlocked the door. "Hello?" I called as I entered; a thin blonde head peered out from the kitchen. "Hi, Sarah! How was your day?"
"Almost got run over by the Joker, how was yours?" I sniffed the air, the smell of boiling water hung heavy in the room, "Vikki, are you cooking?"
"I'm just making us some pasta; it'll be ready in a second!"
Oh no I thought, Vikki was a good person, but she couldn't cook for shit, the last time she had tried to cook anything, we had to buy a new stove afterwards! I rushed into the kitchen and observed Vikki's handiwork, the lid was on the pot and water bubbled over the sides as Vikki pressed the lid down with two gloved hands, there was so much moisture in the air that mascara dribbled down the sides of her square jaw. "Vikki… just how long have those noodles been in the water?" I asked, not sure I wanted to know the answer, "umm…I don't know, about half an hour?"
"Vikki! You're only supposed to keep the noodles in the water for ten minutes!" I groaned, "Come on; let's get this thing off the stove!" Vikki quickly grabbed the colander as I carried the dripping pot over to the sink. She placed the colander in the sink and I dumped the whole mess into it, the two of us hacked and coughed as the smoke rose up from the sink. Many of the noodles slid through the holes in the colander, the noodles were mushy, practically dissolved, and totally inedible. My stomach rolled, "let's… just order some Chinese, shall we?"
…
"So, what's this about a weird job?" asked Vikki, stabbing a steamed dumpling with one of her chop-sticks. "Hmm?" I asked, looking up from my lo mein.
"The weird job" she said, stuffing her face with the dumpling, "when I called today, you said you had a weird job to do."
"Oh that." I said with a roll of my eyes, "Yeah, the boss got a call today from a customer, asking for a green blazer and gray slacks."
"Green?" Vikki cocked her head to one side, "that's an interesting color scheme."
"Very" I said, nodding "and, Peabody says that this customer is a 'friend' of his, so if I don't do well, I'll probably be fired." Or get hurt, or worse if he's really crazy, I mentally added.
"Your boss has some weird friends, sister." Grunted Vikki, she gasped, "Sarah! I need some advice" and before I could reply she pushed in her chair and rushed to the closet.
"O…K" I chuckled, leaning back in my chair, what crazy mess has she gotten herself into this time? I thought, crossing my arms. Vikki rushed back in with a small black shopping bag, "I couldn't decide whether to give the new Black Keys CD or the new Green Day CD to Dylan for his birthday; what do you think?"
I sighed "Vikki, I've only met the guy twice, how do you expect me to be able to make a decision about his birthday gift?"
"Oh, you're no help." Groaned Vikki, "I'm going to go with the Green Day one." I nodded and picked up my plate from the table and placing it in the dishwasher. "You want to dial up a movie?" asked Vikki, putting her dish next to mine, "no thanks, I'm going to bed, I'm exhausted!" I yawned.
"'Suit' yourself!" she shouted, cackling at her own joke,
"Goodnight!" I called, walking into the bathroom. I quickly brushed my teeth, let down my hair for the night and stepped into my bedroom. My room was nothing to write home about, it was about as big as a good-sized walk in closet. It had a bed, a dresser, and a single window, all I needed. I changed into a white nightgown and hopped under the covers, snuggling in against the cold night air, and fell asleep.
…
The next day passed by in a blur, all I could remember was the dark room and stitches, stitches, stitches. By the end of the day I was finished with the rough edges of the outer layer of the jacket, all I needed to do was sew in the lining, sew on the button, and finish it off: and I still needed to do the slacks.
When I walked into work the next day I found Mr. Peabody standing outside, beads of sweat rolling down his fat cheeks. "Sarah…are you almost finished with that order?"
"I'm almost finished with the jacket but I still need to do the pants." I replied, he grabbed me by my wrist and dragged me into the shop, "hop in there right now! The client's picking up his order tonight!"
"You haven't even told me the client's name!" I pointed out in protest,
"Move it! And don't come out until you're done!" He pushed me inside and slammed the door shut. I sighed with annoyance and walked over to the sewing machine. I decided I'd start with the pants. I pulled the gray fabric, scissors, fabric marker, and pattern out of the bag. I pinned the pattern to the reverse side of the fabric and drew in an indicator so that I had a clear outline of the slacks. Once I had cut the fabric out I placed it under the needle and began to sew, diligently, but quickly as always.
I was not interrupted by a phone call from Vikki this time, and I honestly wished I had been. About four hours of the way through I was just about finished with the pants when Peabody slammed opened the door, causing me to jump with surprise. "Are you done?" He demanded, marching into the room.
"Almost, I just need to finish the right leg and…"
"How long will that take?!" He roared,
"…Less than two hours" I replied with a raised eyebrow.
His shoulders relaxed slightly, "good. The client says he'll be here at about nine o'clock to pick up his order, you'll be finished by then, right?"
"Of course" I said, nodding my head.
Peabody gestured to the door, "then go on and take a nice lunch break, I know it's a bit late but you've earned it!"
I raised an eyebrow slightly, "…alright" I muttered, going to get my coat from the front closet. The phone at the front desk rang; Mr. Peabody rushed to answer it. "Hello?" I could tell who it was immediately by the look on his face "yes…of course! Almost finished, she says." There was a brief pause "excellent, see you tonight!" He hung up the phone, "he's looking forward to meeting you."
"Swell," I winced, before rushing out.
…
8:50 PM
By 8:50 I was long since finished with the strange order, and I never wanted to wear anything green again. I was again in the back room, but this time I was working on letting the waist of Mrs. Merkle's dress, happy to be working on something different. I heard the front door creak open, and two voices began talking.
Curious, I turned off the sewing machine so I could listen.
"…Evening, sir!" That was Mr. Peabody, maybe this is the mysterious client he's been talking about. I checked the clock on the wall, he's early.
"The same to you, Roscoe," the other voice sounded familiar, but I wasn't sure where from. "Shut the door!" He barked, causing me to jump. The door slammed shut,
"Now then, where is my order?"
"It's ready Mr. Nigma, don't you worry about it!"
"Then where is it, Roscoe?"
There was a very long pause, "Sarah!" Called Mr. Peabody, "Come out here a moment."
I cautiously opened the door, turned and shut it behind me, "yes, Mr. Peabody?" I asked, looking up at the small group in front of the door. I gave a little shriek when I saw who the leader was. He was fairly tall and broad-shouldered with red hair, a green bowler hat, a black cane, purple gloves, purple domino mask and a white tie with a purple question mark to top it all off. Riddler… I thought.
"Mr. Nigma," said Mr. Peabody with a hint of nervousness in his voice, "this is Sarah Valens, my seamstress. Sarah, I'd like you to meet Edward Nigma, though you may know him as the Riddler." He looked over to his left at me, I shrunk with his gaze.
I took little consolation in the fact that the Riddler was generally thought of as a 'gentler' rogue, as when you said that, you were comparing him to the Joker, who would kill you in some slow, complicated, and painful fashion, laughing as he did it, the Scarecrow, who would rather drive you insane with his fear gas than kill you, and Killer Croc, who allegedly ate people and chewed on their bones. So saying the Riddler was 'gentle' was really saying nothing at all.
He ogled me for a few seconds, and soon a smug grin tugged at the sides of his lips, "I believe we've met." He said, taking two steps towards me, "hello Sarah, how's your knee?"
My knee? I thought, my eyes widened the man at the bus stop! "It's…better thanks," I said, trying to hide my discomfort.
"Good" he turned to Mr. Peabody, "now about my order?"
"Oh… yes! Sarah, would you go fetch it?" He pleaded.
I gave a quick nod and rushed into the back room, I grabbed the slacks and jacket, but just before I reached the door I gasped; the left cuff of the jacket was crooked. "Just a second!" I called out,
"I don't have all night!" Replied Nigma from outside the door, cursing myself, I pulled Mrs. Merkle's dress out from under the sewing machine and, after picking the stitches out of the cuff, placed the jacket underneath instead. I sewed the cuff in place as quickly as I could, nicking one of my fingers on the needle in the process. I stifled a cry of pain, wiped the blood on my cardigan and finished off the sleeve.
I dressed the cut with a spare piece of black fabric and placed the jacket in a suit bag along with the pants. "Here it is!" I shouted, bursting through the door and almost crashing into the Riddler as I rushed out of the room.
Chuckling, he plucked the hanger from my hands, unzipped the bag, and inspected the jacket. He nodded his head slightly in cool approval, "very nice." He muttered, putting the jacket on over his black dress shirt, completing his ensemble. He turned to one of his goons, "Lawrence" he said with a snap of his fingers. A bald, bulky man trudged towards him, fished around in his pockets, and handed him an envelope, he then proceeded to offer it to me. I hesitantly took a hold of one corner of the envelope and attempted to retrieve it from him, but he didn't let go.
"Riddle me this" he said, bending down to my level. "The man who carved me doesn't want me, the man who bought me doesn't need me, and the man who needs me doesn't know it. What am I?"
I thought about it for what felt like a very long time, worried what he might do to me if I got the answer wrong. Carved… I thought it's probably made of wood then, what's a wooden thing that people need but no one wants, and when they need it they won't know it…
"Uh…a coffin?" I squeaked.
"Which is exactly where you will find yourself if anyone finds out about this, do you understand?"
"Yes sir." I squeaked,
He smirked and let go of the envelope; I stumbled slightly as he did so.
"Well!" He said, placing his cane on the floor with a loud crack! "It's been a pleasure doing business with you Roscoe, I hate to run, but I have work to do." He turned around and began to walk out of the store, one of his goons held the door open for him, "oh, and one more thing, catch!" He tossed a small object at Mr. Peabody, he quickly grabbed it; it was a Rubik's cube. "See if you can't solve that." He said before the door slammed shut.
A relieved smile spread across Mr. Peabody's face, "Sarah, you did it!" He said happily.
I walked over the counter, "now, let's see what's in this thing." He muttered greedily, I tore open the envelope and sheet upon sheet of green paper spilled out. I gasped; I had never seen so many dollar bills in my life! "There's got to be thousands here!" I exclaimed, my eyes widening.
"Well" said Mr. Peabody pulling out a calculator, "he offered us 6000, let's see if he kept his promise."
$6000, for a suit! I thought, placing a hand over my mouth, my best dress only cost me 65…
"6,500 dollars!" He shouted triumphantly, he took five bills out of the pile. "Here, this is for you." He said, grinning from ear to ear. "No, no I don't want it!" I pushed his hands away; truly I didn't want anything that had belonged to Edward Nigma. "Come on, I insist!" said Roscoe, forcing the no-doubt dirty money into my hands. "Now you go on home and rest, you've earned your day off!" The next day was Sunday, we didn't open on Sundays. Maybe I'll call in sick on Monday too. I thought, "Okay" I said, "goodnight, Mr. Peabody." I said hurriedly before sprinting out the door.
I stood at the bus stop shivering, whether from cold or alarm I still don't know for sure. The Riddler, I tailored a suit for the Riddler! I thought as I stepped onto the bus and sat down in my usual seat. Does that make me an aider and an abettor? I thought, well, Peabody knew who the client was and I didn't, but still…
"Miss!" Shouted the bus driver,
"Yes?" I asked, breaking from my trance.
"This is your stop, isn't it?" We had pulled up outside my apartment,
"Oh… thanks!" I called out; skittering off of the bus and thanking heaven I had such an observant bus driver. I walked into the building and climbed the stairs, trying to act as normal as possible. I opened the door to the apartment and stepped inside, "Vikki?" I asked cautiously, "hi Sarah!" she called out. I stepped into the living room and found her sitting in an armchair, sipping a cup of coffee. "How'd it go? How much did you get paid?"
"five hundred dollars" I replied, slinging my coat over one of the chairs,
"WHAT!?" Shouted Vikki, spilling some of her coffee, I nodded my head in reply. "How much did he pocket from the deal?!"
"six thousand."
"Old miser!" She threw her arms back in exasperation,
"It's still more than I make in a week." I muttered, remembering Nigma's cryptic comment about not telling anyone.
Vikki grunted, unconvinced. "By the way" she said, retrieving something from the table next to her, "I found this on the door step." She held a small, square object up for me to see. I gasped; it was a Rubik's cube. No… I thought, it can't be…
"It had a note attached to it, it says: S, Try your luck! Signed, R." She mockingly pouted, "I'm mad at you Sarah, why didn't you tell me you had a secret admirer?" She laughed, "A really weird secret admirer, but still."
The room began to spin; he knows where I live… I thought, oh God…
"Are you okay, Sarah?" Asked Vikki,
"No…no…" I whispered, backing away from her. The Riddler's smug chuckle replayed in my mind, the room began to fade to white, my knees buckled, and my head slammed into the nearest wall. As the world around me slowly faded into silence, purple and green question marks danced before my eyes.
I did a little research before writing this, and according to it, the price for a custom suit is at minimum 1,700 dollars or so (and that's assuming there is no shipping, processing, or handling cost involved); since he's a criminal I decided to place the price at 6000.
Please, feel free to review or PM me; I welcome constructive criticism, but please no flaming or trolling,( it doesn't help anyone). Thanks for reading!