#Riddlesmcdiddles

[constant-mason24]

Video Killed the Radio Star- Chapter Five

Riddler x F!reader

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“Uh-” (Y/n) can barely get a word out, mind blank with fear. The man towering over her smirks. He tilts his head at her, though not far enough to knock the green bowler from his head. (Y/n) moves slowly at first, leaning back on her forearms as she scoots away. The rough carpet beneath her scratches in the worst way as Riddler takes a step closer. (Y/n) moves again, faster this time, crawling away from the man closing in. She doesn’t get very far before backing into something. Impossible; the hallway was completely empty-

She bends her neck back to look upwards. It was another man. He must have been in another room when (Y/n) came in. He’s tall, almost twice as tall as she is judging by this angle, and he’s dressed in dark, unidentifiable clothing. She gawks blankly at him too before he picks her up by the underarms and lifts her to her feet. She would’ve collapsed back to the floor if not for the heavy hands holding her by the shoulders now. She was certain the man holding her up could feel her shaking. She hoped the Riddler couldn’t see it.

“Ahh, yes. I know who you are. You were the one who so graciously helped me with the second part of my plan, weren’t you?” He smiled at her, a beautiful grin she couldn’t deny. “You and your cohort. You must be (Y/n), I presume?”

“Y-yes, sir.” She looked into the Riddler’s eyes with her own, much wider ones. They really were an exquisite shade of blue. Or were they slightly green? The suit made it a little hard to tell.

The Riddler laughs out gently, “There’s no need to call me ‘Sir,’ my dear. I am the Riddler! And besides, I’m only teasing. Of course, I know who you are.” 

“Right. Y-you left those notes.”

“That I did.” He turns to walk back into the room his men were searching, motioning for them to follow. (Y/n) took a step after him only to be pushed by the thug behind her. She nearly faceplants right into the Riddler’s back, tripping through the doorway as she stumbles forward. Riddler whips around, fixing a nasty look on the man. “There’s no need to manhandle the poor girl. Let her go; she can move of her own free will.”

The man just nods at that, backing away into the doorway. (Y/n) turns her attention to the rest of the room. The other men working for Riddler have stopped what they’re doing, choosing instead to stare at their uninvited guest. It only takes one accusatory glance from the boss for them to return to their work, however, still stopping every so often to glace in (Y/n)’s direction. 

“You know, there are cops gathering outside.” (Y/n) muttered, looking briefly at riddler before returning to watching his goons work. The masked man seems amused by her input.

“Is that why you came here? To warn me?”

“Uhm… no.” She frowns.

“Well then, what is your reasoning? Was it because of the notes I left on your door?” He leans back against the wall, a gold cane with a question mark adorning the top propped up on his shoulder. 

“I guess so, yeah.” She looks down at her own shoes now, staring deeply at the scuffs of dirt and use. What the actual hell was wrong with her? Riddler opened his mouth to say something else when one of his men interrupted him. 

“Boss, it ain’t here.”

“What do you mean?” Riddler sounded frustrated, getting up off the wall as (Y/n) shrunk back into it. 

“I mean, it ain’t here!” The grunt spoke up again, a deep gray-blue balaclava covering his face. He held up a folder in his hand that was only a few shades lighter in color. “It should be in this folder here, but it’s empty.”

“You’re joking-” The Riddler takes the folder from the man, flipping it open with a growl. He stares at the empty paper with a grimace for a while before a loud thud sounds from the other room. Everyone in the room stops and stares out the open doorway. The thug in the dark clothes who had grabbed (Y/n) earlier left to go investigate. It was silent for a moment, maybe two, before more thudding echoed through the building. This time, it’s accompanied by the man yelling out a warning.

“It’s the Bat!”

This set everyone into a frenzy. Riddler’s men shove right past (Y/n) to get through the door. One of them bumps into her a little too hard, and she stumbles back into the Riddler himself. Now his hands are the ones clasping her shoulders as he steadies her. He’s dropped the grey folder, which falls open on top of (Y/n)’s foot. On the inside of the folder, a stopwatch is crudely drawn in either paint or blood. She really doesn’t want to know which it is. 

“Why don’t you get out of here, now?” Riddler mutters, pushing (Y/n) back through the doorway and into the hall as he made his way out as well. “However the hell you got in here, go back the way you came.”

“W-wait, you’re letting me go?” She asks, surprised she isn’t being killed or taken hostage.

“I’m afraid I’ve got bigger fish to fry, right now. Have a good night, (Y/n).” And he takes off towards all the noise. 

(Y/n) only takes a moment to process what’s happening before dashing to the window she had climbed in through. As she passes by, she glances down into the room all the noise is coming from and sees one of the goons being tossed into a wall.

Yep. it’s time to go now.

Unfortunately, (Y/n) realizes she’s too short to reach the window sill from the inside without standing on something. Behind her, she glances at an “L” shaped desk cluttered with books and pens- and a rolling office chair. She grabs the chair, pulling it up against the wall beneath the window sill. She climbs up onto it, praying it doesn’t roll out from under her. Thankfully it doesn’t and she’s able to pull herself up and through the opening, landing facefirst in the dumpster awaiting her on the other side. If it weren’t for the panic flooding her veins, she’d blanch at the smell.

(Y/n) picked herself up from the garbage, kicking a bag to the side and grabbing her purse out of the corner of her eye as she scanned the alleyway around her. It was empty, as was much of the surrounding area now. The police must have forced entry on both sides.

(Y/n) hopes he made it out.

Throwing her purse over her shoulder, she throws herself over the edge of the dumpster one last time, hitting the ground and running off into the darkness at full speed. 

She doesn’t stop until she gets home.