Failures of CVS [Open]

[Deleted]

Edward pulled the black beanie lower on his head. His appearance hardly looked as classy compared to his usual style. He wore a black peacoat that was tightly buttoned to cover the plain green tee shirt. He also wore jeans and tennis shoes! He probably looked like a Gotham City bum. The only thing that might tip off his identity was his cane, but he wasn't the only person in Gotham to have a cane. He walked into the CVS Pharmacy leaving Allen outside who wore his heavy coat to hide his multiple guns. To think this is what the FBI had led him to do. He couldn't risk his appearance being caught on camera and with how intense they had become, he would not be surprised if they were watching every security camera in the city.

The door beeped as he entered. He saw a few other people inside loading up on the little items on the shelves. He ignored them all. They all were acting too much like scared panic mice. He walked straight to the back of the store where the Pharmacy was located. He noticed that almost every shelf was empty. Damn FBI, they really were letting little to nothing ship through the border. Edward was already on the verge of running out of food. Thankfully he would be out of this city soon enough. Goodbye Gotham, Hello Hong Kong. He just needed Nina to heal.

He walked right up to the older woman behind the pharmacist desk. Luckily, there was not a line. "Hello," he began immediately, "I need this prescription." He placed the prescription down on the counter. Doctor Leam had told him that the drug would help her deal with the pain and hopefully help her heal. When Edward had asked him if he had the Doctor had informed him that his shipment of medicines had been stopped. Edward would have to go to a pharmacist with a forged Doctor's Prescription. The prescription would not be from Leam, but a Dr. Condinghill.

The old woman picked up the prescription tiredly. She glanced at it, looked back at her shelves behind her, glanced back at the prescription, and finally brought her eyes to his. "Sir, unfortunately we are sold out," she informed.

"What do you mean you're sold out?" he snapped, leaning over the desk in a threatening manner.

"I am sorry, sir, but with the recent FBI deal we haven't had a shipment in weeks. I am sorry, but there is nothing we can do," she sad not very apologetically. She must have been yelled at quite often.

Edward hand gripped into his cane as he smiled at the woman. "I have heard such trivial nonsense from three other stores. I do say this is quite a disappointment. Do you enjoy other's dying so that you don't even try to solve the problem? A simple letter to a higher government official like FDA might provide you the adequate resources. Or are you too lazy to even use your brain?" Dramatic? Yes, but Edward was too pissed to care.

"Sir, I am-"

"People say the criminals of Gotham kill heartlessly, but you actually provide people with hope of a cure only to pull it away. Did you always plan to be so cruel?" he continued on his angry rant, not noticing the glances from the few other's in the CVS.

[jimmyg]

It wasn't very often that Barbara sent her son out for chores on her behalf. Even less often that she made him travel more than a few blocks to go get something. Occasionally he would be sent down to the corner store for some soda or something simple like that, but today he was sent clear to another side of the city. Not very far yet, but about a ten minute train ride. Considering the FBI lockdown on the city and knowing that Jim's department were out in force protecting the streets, she felt somewhat safer sending the boy out. Plus, it was good for him not to be cooped up in his room all day after school, reading and whatever else it was he did up there. Never one to really complain about being out of the house and feeling a small sense of relief at the fact that mom still trusted him enough to be able to actually go and get something, Jimmy obliged without any arguments.

The destination was a CVS on the west side of town. The closest one to the Gordon household and luckily, the train led practically right to it. A short walk was in store but with his hands in his pocket, he reached for the little scrap piece of paper that his mother handed to him on his way out and read over the things that he'd need to get. Some Barbasol brand shaving cream for dad as well as a couple new razors, as apparently his had gotten dull. Some sort of shampoo and conditioner for mom under the John Frieda brand that was apparently for red hair, as the word 'red' was underlined so that he wouldn't forget. Finally, some kind of nasal strips that helped to relieve snoring in the night, which Jimmy could fully understand. There were times where he could hear dad's snoring from all the way down the hall.

As he entered the store, he took note of the general layout of things. Beauty products on one side, snacks, drinks, those sort of things behind the beauty products. In the back there was a pharmacy, and in front of it were aisles of off the counter medications. In the middle, random seasonal decorations, a couple toys, and a bunch of cards for various occasions. Seeing that he had to get items from two parts of the store, he took a basket from near the front desk and quietly made his way back to the beauty section. The shaving cream for dad was easy to find, as were the razors that were right next to it. Taking the list out of his pocket he made sure that he got the right package; the right brand with the right amount of razors in it, folded it back up and put it back in his pocket. Next was the shampoo and conditioner for mom. A few aisles down, but needless to say it was completely filled with other brands. He searched for it for a good five minutes or so, before he finally found the right ones, and put them in the basket as well.

Last on the list were the snoring nasal strips, which he figured would be over by the pharmacy also. He made his way over there, holding the basket in front of him with both hands just to balance the items inside it better, so they weren't fumbling around and whatnot as he walked. When he arrived, he saw a man at the counter of the pharmacy, but basically just ignored him for the time being.

His search for the strips began. At the end of the aisle first before making his way to the other end, closer to the pharmacy. Though of course, he couldn't seem to find what he was looking for. There were stock fulls of PM pills that people could take, countless amounts of differently branded supplements of melatonin, but not what he was looking for. With a quiet sigh, he glanced over at the cashiers; all busy with customers. Then, back over at the pharmacist. Only busy with one customer. Quietly still, he walked up to the pharmacy counter and stood behind the man, giving him ample space. Good thing too, since about the moment his feet planted themselves in the 'next in line' spot, the man seemed to have a temper tantrum.

It wasn't the first time Jimmy had seen someone get uppity over a store not having something that they needed, but in his experience this guy was probably being the biggest baby about it. There was a small feeling of wanting to get out of there before the guy pulled out a gun; as it was still Gotham and things like that happened on a daily basis, but at the same time, the man didn't really seem.. violent. Just, very angry.

He kept his eyes on the products in his basket, occasionally looking up at the lady behind the counter with almost a sympathetic sort of look and rolled his eyes at the man, but waited patiently for someone to either calm the man down or escort him out of the store. Jimmy wasn't really in a hurry anyway. So long as he was out of the store and at least on the train by 4:00pm, he wouldn't be in any trouble.

[Deleted]

The woman looked offended by his comment even though Edward was merely stating the truth. If this had been his first rejection of prescription he would have simply nodded and been on his way, but this was his third encounter with the ridiculous statement of being sold out. Every time he was rejected of what he wanted was more time wasted, and time was very precious to Edward. It was time he could be hacking into important stock exchange or time he could be plotting his escape.

"As I said sir, it is not in my control," the woman repeated. She seemed to be glancing behind him, and her agitated features became more relaxed with each look. What was behind him? He turned to his head to see nothing, then lowered it to see a small boy. He rolled his eyes. Women and children.

He turned back to the woman with a glare. Part of him wanted to rant on saying, 'Do you know who I am?' but he stopped himself. Of course the idiotic woman had no clue who he was. He was just a disgruntle customer in her mind. "If you cannot provide the simple task of filling prescriptions then why exactly are you paid to be here? If pharmacy can not hold their products then there shouldn't be pharmacist, correct? I should make a call to CVS cooperate to inform them of such a wasted cost," he said causally, as he reached into his pocket for his phone.

The woman gave him a doubtful look. "Sir, cooperate understands the situation, but you are welcome to call their customer service line," she stated, the agitation still in her voice.

He smirked. "Customer service? Why would I call customer service when I can call Larry Merlo directly? If you don't know who that is, it's your CEO," he said innocently as he looked through his contacts. Edward was an intelligent man, meaning he knew the importance behind networking. In criminal terms, he understood the importance of having blackmail on business men.

The woman raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "How would you know him?" she asked with some doubt, but a tinge of fear.

He ignored her. He pressed the number in his contact list and brought the phone to his ear. It rang and rang until eventually their was a disgruntle, "Hello?"

"Ah hello Larry, this is an old friend," he said causally into the phone.

As expected the response he gained was just silence until the man muttered, "Sorry, don't recognize the voice. I don't really have time at the moment. Just contact my secretary she can set you up with a meeting."

"Yes. Yes," Edward stated, "But if you transfer me to a secretary I will certainly be having a nice long talk with SEC."

The man paused on the other end. "Who are you?" he asked in a more attentive voice.

"An old friend who did business and with your stock trade a few years back. I took about 33% of the profits if I remember," he mentioned nonchalantly.

"Nigma," the man growled, "You ended up crashing our profits once you took your part! Why in the world would I have anything to do with you?! I am calling the cops!"

"Tsk. tsk. I gave you a fair warning," he said in reference to the riddle, "Again though, I must remind you of how much information I can give the Attorney General and SEC, especially since you are under investigation."

The man let out an annoyed noise of frustration, "What do you want?"

"Well you see I came for a prescription and as expected of your failed company, you do not seem to have it? I either want the prescription or for the adequate staff to be terminated out of failure to perform their duties, particularly the pharmicists" he stated.

"I am assuming this is in Gotham. You do realize that city is a war zone at the moment. We can't get shipments in," he stated the same nonsense.

"I have heard, but those are my terms, prescription or every pharmacist," he said simply.

"Fine. Fine. Just stay out of my life," the CEO muttered before clicking off the phone.

"Goodbye to you as well," he said to the hung up phone. The rude manner couldn't even bother him because he was getting what he wanted.

He looked back at the woman whose eyes had widened. "You are pulling a prank," the woman stated as the only explanation. Edward merely smirked. In a few seconds the phone to the pharmacy started ringing. The lady's eyes jumped to the phone then back to Edward then back to the phone. She then picked it up. "CVS Pharmacy, Mrs. Kinley speaking," she said politely.

Edward enjoyed as her eyes widened in shock and her features went tense. "Uh hello sir. Yes, he is.....no, but...sir he's asking for Winston 893. We haven't had that in months. But sir. No, I mean. You have seen the news, correct? .....No, I am not trying to be snippy. I just....But...It's not my fault," the woman started to tear up, "If I don't have a job, I won't be able to pay for rent. We have curfew sirs. I have a son. We can't go out on the street. Sir......but....please don't do that. Sir. Sir! Sir!" the woman shouted into the phone. Tears were streaming down her cheek as she pulled the phone away from her face. He must have hung up on her as well. She looked at Edward with sadness, fear, and disgust, before running from the counter and heading somewhere in the back. He assumed to the bathroom to cry.

Edward smiled happily. It was about time something went his way. He looked at the now empty pharmacy. He would have to get back there and see if he could find another type of prescription that could better suit Nina's needs then. A quick plan, and he could probably accomplish the task without anyone noticing. He turned and glanced about the CVS as a strategy started to form in his head.

(OOC: Not a real prescription, just made it up. Also the CVS things were stretched by my imagination. Since I def have never met the CEO ^^)

[jimmyg]

Living in any big, heavily populated city was enough for anyone to get used to dealing with irate customers who were in a hurry to get somewhere. Especially in Gotham. Jimmy'd been out with either mom, dad, or Babs countless times and had to overhear snarky customers cracking insults at the employees of various establishments, but when the man threatened to make a phone call to corporate on the woman behind the counter, Jimmy let the basket sink a little as he slumped his shoulders, and cast a rather pathetic look back at the cash registers. Only one was open, and about five people were lined up at it. Stocking up, maybe. It wasn't a bad idea, he thought to himself.

The boy hadn't seen the man look back at him, but all the same he narrowed his eyes and glared at the back of the man's head. Really, random tantrum throwing man? Couldn't he at least have moved out of the way as he had his conversation? All Jimmy wanted was to ask the woman a question. A quick, simple question as to where a certain item was located. It wouldn't have taken long. It would've been courteous too, but obviously this man wasn't the courteous type. Sighing audibly, Jimmy reached up to nudge his glasses back up the bridge of his nose and looked down at the items in his basket again, then back over at the registers, and then awkwardly stood there quietly throughout the conversation the man held with someone over the phone, not trying to actively listen but being able to hear everything just out of being within ten feet.

He wasn't even really paying attention, to be honest. Jimmy played the waiting game patiently until the phone conversation was over, looking back up at the man and the woman behind the counter as they had even more of a dispute involving customer service or the "CEO" as he'd mentioned briefly before and as Jimmy assumed he was on the phone with that entire time only briefly before muttering something to himself along the lines of 'any day now' quietly, to at least confirm with himself that even he; a Gordon who was born with the inherited trait of near saintly patience with the tempers of others, was getting slightly upset. Not only with the man causing all this nonsense but with the staff of the store as well.

Even after the call, there was still only one register open and four more people still in line. There were no other clerks available as far as he could see and he wasn't going to leave his spot in case someone else wandered in to take it. Though it was still some time away, the boy did have a curfew that he had to meet. Even if he had a note signed by his mother for that 'just in case' situation. Even if he could use his last name as a probable way out of trouble if trouble was presented by the FBI in the off chance he was late. He didn't want to be late to begin with.

Keeping his eyes narrowed on the man, he blinked and his attention was once again drawn to the woman as her tone of voice changed from angry-upset to hysterical-upset. His head tilted to one side briefly as the woman fled from behind the counter, leaving no one there to help him. Again, he blinked. ..Well, great. Now what was he going to do? He supposed just look for the product himself, but he'd scoured the lanes and hadn't been able to find the nasal strips. What if they were in another section of the store? Maybe they didn't carry it at all? Unlikely, but maybe they were out? Now, he'd be forced to wait again if he wanted to know for sure. He didn't so much care about the woman as much as just finding this one last item on mom's list.

"..Really?" Is all he could say afterward, albeit in a hushed tone only just loud enough so the man could at least hear. Rolling his eyes and staying in his place for one last minute, he cast a dirty look in the direction of the man in front of him before he rolled his eyes one last time and turned back to look through the aisle closest to him one more time.

[Deleted]

He noticed that the one other employee in the store had quite a line. Edward could easily walk right into the Pharmacy without even being noticed. The cameras would catch him, but he hardly looked like himself in these rags he wore. His eyes fell to the small boy who seemed to be giving him a distasteful look. The boy had no reason to take his anger out on him. Edward had just done this store a favor. He cut the inadequate out of their staff. He didn't ponder the thought long though because the boy was the only thing standing in his way from getting exactly what he wanted.

"Kid, I realize the US education system has been drastically declining through the years, but even you should know that to purchase drugs from the Pharmacy you must be eighteen years or older. You should run along now to your mother. I am certain she has you binky waiting for you," he muttered with the wave of the hand. He never liked children. They were naive and unintelligent. He could never see the cuteness behind their simplicity. They drooled and made loud noises. If he wanted to put up with such nonsense he would have purchased a dog. Hopefully the kid would get his message through his small brain and leave to the other side of the store with the others.

[jimmyg]

Another thing about being a Gordon was that each member of the family seemed to have the ability to tell when someone was up to something. He'd heard the conversation the man had with the woman and had a feeling that with no one supervising him here, he would help himself to whatever it was he wanted in the pharmacy. Where said inherited trait differed from the other three members of his family however, was that Jimmy lacked the physical ability at the moment, not to mention the mentality to stop said things from taking place. So what if the man took something? It wasn't his store

Jimmy would've been content to search for the strips again quietly until the line died down and then he would've asked someone else if he needed to, but then all the sudden the man started speaking to him. No, not to him. Down at him. At only fourteen; freshly turned fourteen at that, he could understand that people would assume he wasn't as smart as he was. Maybe he wasn't a prodigy but in a way that was simply due to being undiscovered as of yet. Though even geniuses don't have to know where certain sleeping aids were kept.

Looking back up at the man, his eyes narrowed again. "I know that. I was going to ask her a question until you ran her off." He said with the least little bit of annoyance in his voice. "If you're going to steal something you might as well do it now before management sends someone else to the counter." No, Jimmy didn't care what the man did. So what if the pharmacy lost some supplies and some profit?

[Deleted]

Edward looked down at the kid with little interest. His mind was focusing on the security cameras. He had counted six when he walked in. With such a small amount, he could hardly consider it a challenge. It wasn't until the kid responded did he reveal a small frown. He said it so bluntly that it made the action sound thugish. Edward was no thug. He was a trained strategist. He did not merely 'steal' as the kid put it. The comment was quite degrading. However, a small prick of interest shot up. How did the kid come to the conclusion that stealing had even been on his mind? He had merely been standing there. Then again, it was a simple riddle to solve. After the woman had left, most would turn and leave immediately in their own frustration. Edward had stood gloating. Standing a longer time then normal did make him seem suspicious.

What was happening to him? He was dressed like a homeless man. (The homeless are the only ones who would lower themselves to wearing jeans. His peacoat was from J.Crew! The brand was completely beneath him.) He was acting suspicious, and the basic act of stealing lacked any creativity at all. He needed to add his flare. His eyes glanced over the boy who possessed minimum intelligence. Now that he had a better look at the kid, he seemed oddly familiar. The features were something he had seen quite often, but they were not as defined. He pondered the thought longer. It reminded him of Arkham. He inwardly cringed.

"Stealing is illegal, is it not?" he asked with a sly smile as he pondered over the kid. He could use the child to add to his plan. He needed to get rid of the kid anyways. He couldn't have the child watching him as he plucked through the Pharmacy like a boy in a candy store. "If you have a question though, I am certain I can help you. I have always been quite good at ri-questions," he said sweetly. Edward knew he had never met the kid before. He never particularly liked children so he never went out of his way to communicate with them. His features though seemed to familiar. Edward must have met one of his parents. Did he kill one? No, he wouldn't have associated it with Arkham. Was one of his parent's locked up there? The thought didn't sit right in his gut. The features reminded him more of metal bars and handcuffs then cards games in the lounge.

The answer hit him. His eyes widening ever so slightly. Ah the Commissioner's son. The man had dragged him to Arkham too many times to count. Actually, Batman dragged him. The Commissioner followed. Well this could be interesting.

[jimmyg]

Something about the man made Jimmy even more uncomfortable than he was even around the majority of other people. He didn't hold any eye contact whatsoever, looking away just as soon as Edward spared the boy a glance. Whoever he was, Jimmy felt like he's seen him before too. Then again, he met a lot of people and was probably just imagining things. A child his age did have a vivid imagination anyway, so it was completely understandable. Either way he passed off the thought, and shrugged at the man's first question.

"Only if you're caught." He replied quietly, looking back over at the counter and up at the ceiling to look for cameras, though he didn't add anything further to that particular statement. Instead he kept his eyes on the ceiling, looking around of out sheer curiosity just to see how many cameras he could count.

He had counted about four in the area before Edward spoke up again, offering to assist him in helping find the last item on his list. For one time only, he made brief eye contact and shrugged his shoulders once again. "I just couldn't find something." He said, and again looked back at the line of customers at the front cashier's station. Still, too many people for him to really want to wait around. Though he was wary to do so given the man's irritation just a moment ago, Jimmy felt like it was his last option before ditching the store and just telling mom they didn't have the strips.

Putting his hand in his pocket, he reached for the scrap of paper that held all the scribbled out items on it and took a step hesitantly toward the man. "'Snoring strips.' I don't know the brand and I don't think that's the real name of them. But.. I can't find them."

[Deleted]

Did those words just leave the Commissioner's sons mouth? Interesting. The law must not be as black and white with the rest of his family. He even caught the boys glances to the cameras. The way he noted them and gave off a calm indifference made him look like a miniature criminal in the making. In some ways, he reminded him of Crane. He smirked at the idea of Gordon raising a child Crane. Gordon chasing the dangly kid around the house as the kid chased after mice to scare. He would have never wanted to meet Crane when he was younger.

The boys voice broke his thoughts. Nasal strips. "Snoring in your future. I'm afraid you will be single for most of your life unless you give out earplugs as anniversary present," he remarked. He then walked passed the boy towards the cold congestion aisle. It was an interesting fact to know. The Commissioner snored. He could have fun waving that information out there. He walked into the aisle. The shelves weren't empty, but they weren't full either. His eyes quickly glanced along the shelves until finding it at the bottom. He pointed his cane at the boxes. "It's called breathe right any intelligent person knows that the strip was created for colds, helping with snoring was a side benefit of the product. Therefore, it is located in the cold section," he remarked as he looked down at the boy. "Should I show you to the check out as well or can you locate that on your own?" he asked with a taunting smirk. The kid might have been interesting, but he was still an idiot.

OOC: sry this is short. Wrote it on my phone.

[jimmyg]

It wasn't so much that the law wasn't black and white to Jimmy as it was that he didn't care about it at all. The law was his dad's field, and aside from his at times deductive reasoning, DNA links, and poor vision, Jimmy wasn't all that much like his father. Jim cared too much, and Jimmy didn't care about most things.

'Snoring in your future' caught Jimmy's attention. Again, he glanced up and furrowed his brows. "They're for my dad." He said, but followed him over to the cold congestion aisle, looking across the merchandise until Edward pointed down at a box at the bottom with his cane, and nodded. So, he'd been looking in the wrong section. He wasn't embarrassed though. They were in essence a sleeping aid as well, and he didn't know the origins of the product as the man seemed to. "Thanks." He said quietly, kneeling down to grab a box and put it in his basket, thereby completing his chore for the evening.

Then came the last taunt, which irritated Jimmy more than it probably should've. He cast the man another rude sort of look, and eyed the cane that he apparently needed. He wondered what would happen if someone took it. Maybe he'd hobble around and try to steal another one, in another aisle that Jimmy could point out for him if he needed it. Or maybe he'd just collapse and be helpless. Either way, he wished someone else would knock the cane from under him. "No." He answered, in a sour tone of voice. "Weren't you in a hurry to get some kind of medication that other stores will probably be out of too?"

[Deleted]

He frowned at the snippy remark. He wasn't the most polite boy was he? Since this was the third pharmacy he had decided to venture to, he had no plans to search for another. And while he considered the idea of using the child in his plan to get his medicine a much more entertaining idea came to his mind. If the kid wanted to challenge him with his witty responses, Edward had no problem stepping up to the plate. He hadn't said hello to Gordon in some time either. He wouldn't want the poor senile Commissioner to forget about him. Alzheimer was just a breath away for the man.

He reached into his pocket of his jacket and pulled out a tootsie pop. "Ah, but if they are out of it as well, then I have nothing to hurry to," he noted as he unwrapped to candy. He placed the treat in his mouth as he looked at the boy. "An intelligent man knows how to solve problems with the pieces that are in front of him." The boy would probably be going to see his parents after this. Edward wondered if they were right outside waiting in a car. It would seem to fit the paranoia attitude of almost of every Gotham parent. No, Gordon was certainly still at the GCPD.

"Are you certain you do not need my help to the cashier?" he smirked, "I am going in that direction anyways, and with your short I height I doubt you can even see over the shelves." He leaned on his cane as he rolled the candy into his cheek. Yes, the Commissioner would be up for a quite a surprise when he came home. It could be considered Edward's going away present.

"Question for you, do you enjoy puzzles?" he asked with a suspicious glint in his eye. The boy's withdrawn attitude told him he probably buried himself in books. He also didn't appear to have many friends, and as much as Edward hated to admit, people who usually had little to no friends enjoyed puzzles. Who needed friends though? People, in general, could barely converse one well thought out sentence. Puzzles were challenging and fun. He never needed friends when he was younger. The only time he associated with the other children was to manipulate them into getting him something he wanted.

[jimmyg]

It wasn't so much that Jimmy was actually trying not to be polite, but rather that he wasn't trying to be polite that must've shown in his responses and in his tone. This man was weird. From one minute he was yelling at the clerk behind the counter and now he seemed to calm down with a bit of candy, and probably was enjoying himself as he belittled Jimmy for his age as so many other adults did. In that respect he wasn't unique at all. Clearly, being fourteen automatically meant that you were intellectually inept.

"Even though you can't be sure unless you check." Jimmy retorted, looking back to the items in his basket. "That's the way it always works. The moment you give up on something is when you're most likely to find it." Not that he had any sympathy for the man. He didn't. In his head he was playing out the scenario of him being a sickly aging man with a desperate need for the medication that he was so frustrated with not receiving. Maybe he'd die from a lack of it. Maybe not. Jimmy didn't seem to care, since he was almost certain he'd never see the man again.

Again though, a quip at his age. Or this time, his height, though of course that too was associated with his age. "Would you like a wheelchair on your way over? I'm sure your bad leg must get pretty tired, and your stress probably doesn't help it." Two could play the insulting game.

At the last question, Jimmy made brief eye contact again and rose a brow, because the question was rather sudden, and random as well. "Um. Yeah? I guess." He muttered, and tilted his head. "Why?"

[Deleted]

With his most recent plan coming up, he had no time to waste by searching through the thirty plus Pharmacies in Gotham. He had to call Zhi Peng to be certain his meetings would be occurring as plan. He had to create explosives with the limited supply he had. He still had yet to deduce exactly what the Joker planned to do with the millions he had given him. It wasn't a necessary requirement for his plan, but he preferred to have all the information at hand before going through with something. No, he had far little time to venture to every Pharmacy in search of the medicine. He would merely make do with what he had here.

He was distracted from his mental ranting when the boy mentioned a wheelchair. His eyes narrowed at the child. Every time he went to Arkham, he was forced to a wheel chair. The Arkham staff did not trust him with a cane, though occasionally he was allowed to use a plastic one. "Ah but I don't believe you would be strong enough to push me," he responded snidely, "Those frail little arms appear to having difficulties holding up a mere basket." He rolled his lollipop into his other cheek. Had he mentioned his distaste for children? They were quite rude creatures. They stated whatever was on the top of their mind because they saw no consequences from it. Parents should train their children better.

His irritation calmed though at the mention of enjoying puzzle. Good, the annoying child possessed some limited knowledge of a brain. It also meant his farewell present would be happily received. "Strangely, even with your quite rude attitude you remind me somewhat of myself," he commented, "I was far more charismatic, but I assume that trait will grow with age." He paused reaching into his pocket. To some it would be quite surprising all the little trinkets he kept on his person. Puzzle books, crossword explosives, throwing question marks, lollipop, and of course, his favorite pistol. He pulled out a rubik cube with different color question marks.

"I can solve this in less than a minute," he said putting it in the boy's basket, "It's not like an ordinary Rubik cube. There's a trick. If you can figure it out," he said with a creepy smile as he reached out and pulled out a card with the name Arthur Wynne on it. "Give me a call and there might be a job in your future," he said holding out the card to the slightly annoying boy. With Robby gone, he could use another henchmen. Though, he highly doubted he would figure it out. He would most likely kill himself as with his entire family. Either way, Edward won.

[jimmyg]

Just as Edward didn't plan on wasting more of his time in his fruitless effort to gather medicine for whatever it was he needed, neither did Jimmy wish to linger around for much longer when there was a curfew he was forced to meet, not to mention his mother would get all huffy if he came home too late. The woman knew just how long it took to do certain chores, even after accounting for things like transportation time and unplanned delays; his meeting Edward certainly was an unplanned delay.

"Who said anything about me pushing you?" He remarked in a mutter, and looked back down at his basket but made no sort of retort to the last insult. He wasn't having trouble with it at all, but the items inside it would only continue to fall over if he didn't hold it a certain way, and the constant rolling and clattering of plastic items against each other would just annoy the boy.

For as much as Edward disliked children, Jimmy seemed to dislike particular adults about the same. He was fourteen, not five. Granted Jimmy did still look a bit young even for his age, most people guessed him to be about ten or somewhere around that. Either way, those who considered him to be unintelligent or incapable of doing things just because of his age didn't make him very happy at all. Sometimes, even his own parents fell into this category; though admittedly it was rare.

Having averted his eyes from the man again, he was taken off guard by the comment that Jimmy reminded the man of himself, sort of. His brows furrowed and he shot the man a confused sort of look, but didn't respond to that either and watched quietly as he reached into his pocket, pulling out what looked to be like some sort of modified Rubiks cube. Blinking, he adjusted his arms to compensate the extra weight in the basket, shifting it over so it was held up with one arm as he picked the puzzle cube up and examined it carefully. He put it back very briefly to snatch the card from Edward, or in this case, "Arthur's" hand, putting it in his pocket and grabbing the puzzle cube again. It was certainly.. strange. But again, his eyes were pulled from the apparent 'toy' and his head tilted at the prospect of a job in the future. Jimmy had no doubts he could solve the puzzle. He was a very smart boy who, like a younger Edward, took to puzzles in his spare time when he wasn't in the mood for a book.

"Any time you prefer I call?" He asked, suffering from a slight boost of confidence. Puzzles, he could do. Books, he could do. Anything involving critical thinking, he enjoyed. In fact, he looked to be grinning now.

[Deleted]

Edward watched the boy study the puzzle. He had to admit, it was pleasant to see another human being actually take an interest in something as important as a puzzle, especially a puzzle that could hold your life in the balance. Most when faced with his puzzles gave him a dumbfounded look, followed by slight panic when they realized it could kill him. The boy actually appeared intelligent. Interesting. It was unfortunate that he probably wouldn't be able to solve it. If the puzzle was moved any way, it would begin to release a poisonous gas. The only way to stop the poisonous gas was to solve the Rubik Cube by getting each side to the full color, but even if the poison stops you would only have a few minutes to live with the amount already inhaled. It only took two breaths for the gas to be deadly. The only way to have the Rubik Cube release the antidote was to redo the puzzle to a particular image.

When the boy looked over the cube, he made sure to watch his fingers carefully. Edward had no intention of being in breathable distance if the boy decided to take his chance with the puzzle here. He would prefer if the boy waited until he was at home, so he would hopefully poison Gordon as well. Either way, the boy dying or Gordon joining him in his failure will be enough of an accomplishment for Edward.

He was surprised by the boy's response. The confidence just radiated off the small child. It truly was looking at a child photograph of himself. He couldn't help his response. He laughed.

"Well child, I am quite a busy man, but if you happen to solve the puzzle I will pick up no matter the time," he stated with a smirk. The snarky rude little boy seemed to be slightly entertaining. "Though I am not expecting a phone call," he finished, "But since you've shown such initiative I'll offer a riddle to help you along. Riddle me this, what does a popular girl and and peanut butter in chocolate have in common?"

The riddle would give him the answer to the image for the antidote. Let's see if the arrogant boy was smart enough for that. "I must admit, you are much more pleasant then your father," he commented.