Insanity

Chapter 24

   When I finally come to, I'm on a hard metal chair with restraints on my wrists and ankles. "What?" i ask the air. Then I hear someone chuckle. "Wh-who's there!?" i shout, terrified. "Riddle me this, who is red, wears black, and will never make it back home?" the man asks. "Riddler!?" i gasp out. "Hmm..no I'm afraid that answer is wrong." he chuckles. "Why did you do this?" i ask, pulling on the restraints. "Well, you see, Joker destroyed something of mine, so I'm gonna destroy something of his." he states, anger seeping into his voice. I sigh, "Is there any way i can survive this?" i ask, struggling against my restraints even more. "Hmm...well, if you can get out of that chair and find your way out, while solving my riddles, then I'll let you go." he says, coming to stand in front of me. "Is that the only way?" i ask, glaring at him. "Yes. If you can do so, you are free to leave." he says. I nod. "Okay. Seems fair. Is there a time limit?" i ask, tilting my head. "You've got two hours." he says, turning to walk away. I nod my head, using my powers to take the key to my restraints silently out of his pocket. In a matter of seconds I have freed myself and started walking quietly behind Riddler. I decide to take a peek into his mind, finding out the riddles he has in place for me and how to solve them. I find a diagram of his hideout that he has memorized. I chuckle and he whips around, staring at me with a shocked expression. "How did you get free so quickly!?" he growls. I smirk, "I guess you could say I'm...talented." I look at the diagram in his memory and map out a route to the exit closest to where I'm at. I smirk, "I'll be going now, toodles." I skip out the door to the room I'm in and turn left. As I'm walking down the hall, an overhead speaker crackles to life. "Listen up, boys. My latest captive is walking free in the building. I have given her one chance to escape and she has two hours, do not get in her way or try to slow her down. The riddles should be enough." Riddler announces. I smile, I'll be outta here in no time. I turn right down the next hallway when I come across my first riddle. 'What is the beginning of the end and the ending of all that begins?' I chuckle, "You make this too easy Edward. The answer is death." i say, looking into a camera. "That is correct, but they only get harder." he snarls. I chuckle, "Show me your worst." 45 minutes and about a hundred riddles later i find the exit. I smile as I walk up to the door. The speaker crackles to life once again. "How could you have possibly solved all those riddles and found a way out in only 45 minutes!?" Riddler roars into the speaker. "Well," i begin, pulling his key ring from my pocket and unlocking the door, "You see, I have these powers that you obviously knew nothing about, which helped me quite a bit." i say, opening the door. "How did you get those keys!?" he asks. "Powers." i respond simply enough. He snarls in response. "It's been fun, Riddler, but I'm afraid i must be going now. Goodbye!" i say, waving at the camera. "Maybe we can work together some day, but until then, toodles." i say, walking out the door. I pull my phone from my shoe where i had kept it at the party and dial Jonathan's number. "Hello?" i hear him say. I sigh in relief, "Hey, Jonathan. It's Emily. Can you come get me. I'm standing outside Riddler's hideout." i explain, walking out to the road. "So that's where you've been. Why on earth would you go there?" he asks. "I didn't come here...look, I'll explain when you get here, just hurry." i say, tapping my foot. "Okay, I'll be there soon." he says, i can hear the concern in his tone. "Thanks, Jonathan. I appreciate it." i mutter into the phone. "No problem, just stay right there." he says, before hanging up. I sigh and sit on the sidewalk. When i see Jonathan's car come around the corner, I stand up and walk forward a little. He pulls up and i climb in. "So what happened? Why are you here?" he asks, pulling away from the curb. "Well, after Joker crashed Bruce Wayne's party, we went home. I was in my room and I heard soemthing in my closet. I got up and opened it and he lunged out and pressed what i assume was a chloroform rag over my mouth. I passed out and when I woke up I was handcuffed to a chair. He said that if i could get free from the chair and find my way out, while solving his riddles along the way, he would let me go. He gave me two hours." i explain, running my fingers through my hair. "How long did it take you to get out?" he asks, his grip on the steering wheel turning his knuckles white. "Forty-five minutes." i mumble. He doesn't respond. "Umm...Jonathan, are you okay?" i ask, seeing his expression. "Yeah I'm fine. I little angry, but fine." he mutters. "Why are you angry?" i ask, he snarls. "Because puzzle boy thought it would just be okay to kidnap you." My mouth goes dry, that's not Jonathan, that's Scarecrow. "S-scarecrow?" I stutter. "Yes?" he growls. I flinch away from his tone. He looks at me and his expression softens."Sorry. Sometimes if I get too mad, Scarecrow takes over. Sometimes it's a good thing other times, not so much." he explains. "How long was I gone?" i ask. "A few days, a week maybe." he says, glancing at me. I smile, "You were worried about me." I state. He looks at me then back at the road. "No I wasn't." he grumbles. I giggle, "Yes you were. I can tell by the way you're acting, the look in your eyes, and I heard it in your mind the second i got in the car." He blushes a little. "I think it's sweet. And adorable. It feels nice to have someone who cares about again. My father killed everyone else who ever did." i say, glancing at my arms, then looking back at Jonathan. "Who did he kill?" Jonathan asks, casting a look my way. "My mother and my brothers. My mom didn't bother me as much as my brothers did. She called me a freak too, but never hit me. My brothers were the only people in my family who accepted what i could do and still loved me." I explain, looking at him. "He killed your mother and your brothers!?" Scarecrow snarls. I nod my head. He looks at me and i see a crazed look in his eyes. "Jonathan, calm down. Everything is okay, you can't do anything to him anyways." i say, reaching my hand over and stroking his cheek with the back of my hand. He gives me a weird look. "Are you comforting me!?" he growls. I nod my head, continuing to stroke his cheek. "Shouldn't I be the one comforting you? I mean, you're the one who had her brothers killed by her father and was kidnapped by Riddler." he mutters. I smile, "I'm just trying to calm you down. You don't have to worry about my father." i say. "Well, i am. He needs to pay!" he growls. I shake my head. "There's nothing anyone could do." i mumble. "I could spray him with my toxin. Make him taste fear." he snarls. I shake my head, "No you can't. Because he's dead. I killed him." i whisper. He looks at me and the crazed look is gone. "You killed him?" he asks, i nod. "After he killed my brother i took the knife and killed him. I hates his guts." i growl. He stares at the road, "I'm sorry these things happened to you." he says, i can hear the sincerity in his voice. I smile, "It's not your fault. Plus I'm fine now. I've got at least one person who cares about me." i say, leaning over to him and kissing his cheek. Giggling at the blush that covers his cheeks. "You know, you're really adorable when you blush." i say, smiling at him. He looks at me and returns ny smile. "So are you." he says, making me blush. I smile at him and we spend the rest of the ride to my house in a comfortable silence. When we pull up to my house, I un-buckle my seat belt. I shoot Jonathan a nervous smile and he sighs, un-buckling his seat belt to come inside with me. "Thanks for coming in with me..." I mumbles. He looks at me and chuckles, "I understand why you're nervous about seeing Joker, he's extremely upset. He thinks you ran away." he says, leading me up to the door. I smile, "Well, at least you can tell him I didn't, you know what happened. You picked me up from Riddler's hideout." I reply, following close behind him. He opens the door and calls for Joker. I kind of hide behind him, not knowing what Joker might do when he sees me. "What do you want, Crane!?" Joker growls, stomping down the stairs. "Don't over-react and don't say anything until she explains what happened, understand?" Jonathan says calmly, reaching behind his back and grabbing my hand. "Okay, fine. Hurry it up!" Joker snaps, causing me to flinch. Jonathan pulls me around in front of him and puts his hands on my shoulders. Joker snarls, "Was she with you this whole time?" he asks, walking closer. I shake my head. "No, Joker I was with Riddler. He kidnapped me to get revenge on you for destroying something. He gave me a chance to escape and gave me two hours. I was out of his hideout in 45 minutes. Then i called Jonathan and he came to get me. Now we're here." i explain, leaning against Jonathan for support as i become slightly dizzy. "Are you okay?" Jonathan whispers in my ear.  I shake my head. "I'm dizzy, i haven't eaten since I was kidnapped." i mutter, leaning against him even more. "You're dehydrated. You've had no water in about a week. You need to sit down. I'll get you some water and...i suppose I'll make you something to eat." Jonathan says, leading me to the couch. I smile and kiss his cheek. "Aww, you do care about me!" i squeal as he blushes. I chuckle leaning back on the couch and watching as he goes to the kitchen to get me food. A huge grin covers my face, Someone cares...

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In my opinion, this is a terrible chapter, but y'all may think differently. Idk. Anyways, I love you guys!