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Post by jimmyg on Nov 7, 2011 17:28:51 GMT -5
Jimmy continued to study the cube, as it was appealing to his eye simply by it being a puzzle, let alone the extra weight the thing had to it and it's rather unique little designs on the faces of the squares. Still though, he didn't begin to try to solve it just yet. The man said there was a trick to it and while he believed him, he couldn't seem to figure what exactly the trick was with simply the naked eye. All in all, it looked pretty average, unique weight and the question marks aside.
Nodding at the man's response to his question of when he would be allowed to call, he continued to turn the cube around in his hands over and over, making sure he wasn't missing anything. After a few more glances over it, he held it in one hand and set the basket down on the ground, allowing for a firmer grip on it that'd help when he actually began to turn the blocks in the patterns that he'd learned for the other so called "normal" cubes that this one, he'd been told, was not.
Unfortunately for Edward, Jimmy had no intention of bringing the mysterious cube home. Not only would that delay the surprise and the phone call, but his mother certainly wouldn't approve of him taking strange things from strange people. He wasn't expecting a phone call, and that again, made him grin. Of course not, because Jimmy was going to solve it right there.
The riddle that was asked made Jimmy look back up at Edward, and then away as his thought process took over. What does a popular girl and peanut butter in chocolate have in common?' Popular girls got attention. They were in cliques. They were in the center of attention. Peanut butter in chocolate most often was contained in the middle of whatever treat it was. "They're in the center." He muttered to himself, and looked back at the cube. Thinking about it again for a minute, it finally clicked. A specific pattern was needed. The centers of the sides needed to differ from the borders.
Jimmy didn't even respond to the comment about his father. Instead, he began to work on the puzzle. Turning each side around to the left and to the right in the memorized pattern of regular rubiks cubes that he'd been solving for years. He was familiar with the center pattern, as well. To accomplish it though, he was aware that it was easiest to achieve solid colors on all sides, and then gather one different color from others. So, that was exactly what he did.
As he began to work though, he felt different. Lightheaded in a way, and at the moment all it did was make him blink drowsily a couple times, but he was intent on solving the puzzle. Something seemed to scratch at his throat and he lifted his arm, coughing lightly into his sleeve but still turning the puzzle around every which way with the goal already formed in his mind. In only about a minute and a half, he'd gotten all sides to be solid colors. Dizziness started to set in, but he ignored the feeling, furrowed his brows and stubbornly turned the cube a couple more times until reaching probably somewhere along the lines of ten seconds until the poison would've killed him, but he completed the puzzle, and tiredly held it out for the man to take back. It was done, and he didn't want it anymore.
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Last Edit: Nov 7, 2011 19:46:53 GMT -5 by Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2011 19:13:32 GMT -5
When the boy grabbed the puzzle with both hands, Edward's eye shot open. Shit. He was going to do it here. He was about to protest, but the boy had already started to move the first puzzle. Edward took a deep clean breath holding it into his lungs. The damn boy was going to poison him. Luckily he was close enough to grab it and solve it himself if the boy fainted. Edward took a step back away as his eyebrows furrowed in an annoyed look. He didn't have his small gas mask on him. Why would he? He had only planned on going to CVS to find a bottle of drugs, not to meet an odd strange boy that would catch his attention. His hand pushed itself into his jacket pocket as he continued to hold his breath. His finger dipped through the pile of lollipops in search of what he needed. For the first time, he was irritated with the amount of tootsie pops he kept on his person. His finger grazed against something soft. He reached deeper and gripped tighter onto the object.
He pulled out a green cloth with a small embodied question mark on the corner. He brought the cloth up to his noise and mouth and covered it immediately. He could hold his breath for a long period of time, but you could never be too careful. He noticed the few customers that were close to the area they were at sway side to side. The poison acted quick. A logical thing would be to leave the store immediately, but his eyes went down to the small boy. He had answered his riddle correctly. His brow lift as he noticed the boy cough. He was quickly getting to the solid colors. Did he know the true position the cube had to be in? With the answer and the look in his eyes, it appeared that he did.
Edward tilted his head to the side as if study an experiment. How old was this child? Could he really be far more intelligent then the average citizen? He was related to Gordon? It made no logical sense. Gordon was an idiot by his standards. Then again, Edward's father was an idiotic drunk, and he had turned out to be a genius. He smirked under the cloth, still holding his breath. Let's see if the child can solve it before Edward had to breath. If he could, then maybe the boy had more value to him then he first thought.
He watched as the boy managed to gain the solid colors, and instead of stopping like Edward partially expected, he kept going. His hands moving quickly. Edward removed his cloth, now knowing it was safe to breath as he watched the boy continue. He seemed to be getting to his last breath. He would faint soon. Then...then the image of center color question marks surrounded by a different color appeared on each side.
Edward smirked again, knowing that the antidote was now escaping the puzzle. "Interesting," he smirked. He stuffed his cloth back into his pocket. "I am a man who keeps his promises. I never quite liked lying, so you have a job if you want one," he stated as he causally put his weight onto his cane. He never expected this to occur, but in all honesty, his curiosity had peaked. The child was too similar to him and held quite potential. He also was Gordon's son, so it made everything a bit more interesting. "But before we shake on it, I have one more question," he paused as he looked over the blond in glasses, "What is my name?"
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Post by jimmyg on Nov 7, 2011 20:01:37 GMT -5
Jimmy knew who the man was from the time he'd looked over the cube. He might've been young, but being the son of the police commissioner and being a citizen in Gotham with a television, the question marks were a dead giveaway that he was, in fact, the criminal known as the Riddler. Inwardly he felt threatened and a bit scared, but his confidence in his ability to solve the puzzle kept his drive going to solve the puzzle, which he did. However, when Edward didn't take the cube from his hand, he took in a refreshing breath of the clean air around him and blinked a few times, the effects of the poison wearing off after the antidote had been released.
There was the urge to sit down, because his little heart was beating quickly. Not only had he narrowly escaped death by mere seconds; which he wasn't even all that aware of, just suspicious, but all the sudden feeling as if you're going to faint is quite the feeling to have so suddenly and also get over so quickly. His eyes were a bit wider than before as he caught his breath, and looked back up at Edward as he began to talk again.
The proposal of a job was interesting in itself. A job, at fourteen. Working for The Riddler; one of Gotham's most notorious criminals. In his own opinion not the most dangerous, but definitely the smartest. On the one hand he felt good to have the offer on the table in the first place; he was intelligent enough to work for the man. Though on the other hand, he had a loyalty to his family. What would his father think? His mother, or even his sister? Jimmy had always been the black sheep of the Gordon family, but he never considered himself 'bad,' and neither did his mother, father, or sister, as far as he was aware. At least, not of the criminal sort. Mom thought he had problems, but that was different, somehow.
With one final sharp intake of breath and still thinking the proposition over in his head, he thought over the list of criminals that made his father's life a living hell on nearly a daily basis. "Edward Nigma." He recalled quickly, and tilted his head. "What kind of job?" He asked, wanting to know just exactly what it'd entail before he rejected or accepted the offer.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2011 20:22:40 GMT -5
Compared to the riddle he had just given the boy, asking for his name could hardly be considered a challenge. How many clues had he given to his identity? So he was hardly surprised by hearing his name off the boy's lips, but the fact that the boy knew who he was and still continued with the puzzle was something to be proud of.
He smirked, "Good." He rolled his lollipop into his other cheek. "Well recently my last employee took a bullet from Lex Luthor, so I am hiring. The job is quite simple. You do what I ask you to do. Even a monkey could handle such a simple job, yet, as you may know, many do not even have the intelligence to compete with that simple mammal," he paused and studied the boy. The boy was similar to him, but he still had the stench of the law upon him. "What puzzles me is why would the Commissioner's son even be considering this offer?"
(sorry short, I have class in five.)
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Post by jimmyg on Nov 7, 2011 21:04:05 GMT -5
Considering was the key word there. Interesting job opportunity or not, he had so many things to consider. Working in the employ of a known felon, and a certifiably insane one at that would not bode very well for his future careers. Though he was sure his own mother would suspect no less of her son, no matter how nice she acted toward him. She didn't trust him, and the constant suggestions of therapy at Arkham convinced him that she wanted the boy gone. His father seemed to care more about the city than his own family. Between the long hours and the lack of real conversation he had with the man, Jimmy felt detached from his childhood hero more than ever with the FBI present. He wondered if Jim would even notice him being gone. Lastly, his sister. The one real 'friend' he had, if one could even count a sibling as a friend to begin with. Constantly hanging around with her boyfriend and only visiting the house when it was convenient for her.
The more he thought about it, the more emotionless his face appeared, and he answered with a simple shrug. "I'm not my dad." He answered flatly, having no real reason to consider the offer aside from the fact that it was an offer.
Besides, any attention was good attention, wasn't it? Maybe a job with the Riddler would gain him some notoriety within his family, prove to them that he really was smart and capable. And next to Edward, he was about as sane as they come. Maybe his mother would finally see that nothing was wrong with him? Thinking it over a bit more, he let out a nearly silent sigh and picked up his basket again, though looked up to Edward afterward once more. "I don't want to get shot though." He mused quietly, and thought over the possible dangers he'd have to endure. Surely there'd be some amount of espionage on his part. Unless Edward wanted to have one of his henchman be blatantly underage. Maybe just information gathering? 'Do what I tell you to do' was so vague, and it made him start to rethink things.
"Um.. I need to go home. There's that curfew now." He said, and looked out the front doors somewhat awkwardly.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2011 22:58:52 GMT -5
He studied the boy as he thought it over. The answer to his question came off the boy's expression. Based off of how quiet and withdrawn the boy was, he obviously had some family issues. He couldn't find that fact very surprising. He probably hardly ever saw his father. When people thought of the Commissioner's children, they naturally thought of the daughter. The boy was forgotten and outshine by her. He knew little about his mother, but he could only assume it wasn't much better.
So when he received the response about not being his father, he nodded. He had repeated those same messages to teachers who had attempted to help him during school. He did not like his mind being pulled back to his own past, so he was luckily distracted by his next comment. Edward's smirk returned, "Ah, but you are only shot if you are not intelligent to prevent it. Are you admitting to me that you are not smart enough to outwit a predator? It is understandable if you are."
He saw the boy's glances to the door, and his urge to leave. Was it fear? He hadn't notice that before. He put his cane out across the small space, blocking off his possible exit. "Yes, I have heard," he said with slight disgust, "But petty rules of a lowly government agency is not something to deter me. You limit your life through trying to constrain yourself to societies standards. Society wants everyone to be equal, but it does not realize that through its pathetic want it has chained the creative, intelligent, and strong to the ground. If you want to go live your life constantly being pushed down by the weak idiotic majority, you may. I won't stop you, but I do not wait. Time is quite important to me, so I need your answer now." If the boy decided not to work with him, it did not hinder him in anyway. If anything it gave him the connection to better understand the Commissioner. If he did decide to work with him...well Edward liked playing with new puzzles.
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Post by jimmyg on Nov 8, 2011 0:30:27 GMT -5
"No.." Jimmy said, after having been stopped by the cane blocking his path. It was fear that was stopping him from openly accepting the offer. For every thought he'd had about considering the amount of attention he'd receive from his family if he happened to be caught in whatever escapades Riddler would have planned, there was also the whole family honor thing to uphold. His dad's reputation that he seemed to work so hard for would be tarnished, most importantly. But the more that particular thought burned in his mind, the more resentful he felt towards his father. He wasn't just an extention of Jim; he was his own person. He could make his own choices.
His own inward monologue about how he was in fact his own person was repeated, albeit in different terms by Edward. He was right. The majority of society was, at large, a cancerous sort of stupidity. He would disagree with Edward that his father was one of those morons, but he felt the man's idealism was. Sacrificing time with his family for a city that simply couldn't be saved had always bothered him since he was able to understand just how screwed over Gotham really was. Dad spent more time with the Batman than with his own son. It seemed to be a more personal thing for Jimmy rather than wanting to escape the oppression of society. He wanted to make a statement to his family. For better or worse, he wasn't going to be ignored any longer.
Again, there was a hesitation. A kernal of his own brand of annoyance and anger had started to form, but this time it didn't show. The boy looked completely emotionless once again, but nodded, and turned toward Edward. "..Fine. I'll do it.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2011 10:07:20 GMT -5
Oh goodie. He could put his investment into this boy today for a wonderful future plan. He did so enjoy planning a strategic game of chess and when the pieces all landed on your lap ready to be placed, he got quite excited. Of course, that game was for another day. He had his current scheme at the moment.
He looked down at the boy with a arrogant smirk before moving his cane out of the way. He never believed in fate, but he did enjoy how life could just fit together like a perfect puzzle. "Okay then," he said looking at his youngest employee ever to hire. Robby had been in his late teens and this kid looked like he was ten. But from his own personal research on the Gordons, he knew the boy was fourteen. Only a few years younger then Robby, the boy could handle it.
He leaned a bit lower so he could stare the boy down. "You will be leaving Gotham with me. I am not going to tell you when. I am not going to tell you where. Just know it will be occurring in the future and be prepared," he then grinned and straightened his posture, "On that note, I bid you farewell. As you mentioned before, I would quite like to get that prescription." He then pushed his cane hard against shelve set up, causing the weak screws to undo and the angle to tip. Metal never did too well against that poisonous gas. The person on the other side hadn't notice until the shelves were falling on top of her and she let out a surprised squeak.
Edward then looked back at the cashiers and said, "Someone, this lady needs your help."
He then walked passed the kid, as if there long conversation had never occurred. With everyone panic over the lady, it was the perfect time to see what the Pharmacy had to offer. Not his better plan, but plan A was to put an explosive on the kid's back.
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