Note: not affiliated with the DC character The Riddler, think of this story and all chapters after it as it’s own entity (my own variation of the Joker you could say)

The Riddler

Segment I: Where, Why?

As ordinary a day could be at the Rockridge Mental Institution, long time patient Randy Dunston paced seemingly aimlessly through the many corridors of the large, cavernous building. Cameras littered the place in its entirety, two for each hallway and four for each room.


It was 2:35 P.M. Central Standard Time, the half dozen patients still housed at the RMI were given free reign of the building from 2-3, a welcome change of scenery from their jail-cell like accommodations.


A looming, barbed wire fence surrounded the RMI, standing 12-foot high, it truly reinforced the iron clad grip placed around the poor souls who found themselves admitted here. No had ever broke in, and no one had ever escaped, even during the heyday of operation when mental asylums dotted America as though they were fast food restaurants.


Most of the folks who found themselves here were elderly and riddled with hallucinations or memory loss from dementia, but not Randy. No, Randy had been admitted by his mother at the ripe age of 11, after coming home to her son standing over the viciously mangled corpse of the family dog, hedge clippers in hand.


Randy’s life had been that of a normal boy, he had many friends, enjoyed after-school activities with his peers, and was, by all accounts, perfectly normal. But that all changed around the time he was 9 years old. You see, Randy’s parents had separated several years prior due to his fathers mild schizophrenia which proved to be winning the battle as he aged. Even so, the court had recognized Mr. Mark Dunston as a fit parent and was allowed visitation for every other weekend.


It was Sunday, October 3rd at around 6 P.M.. Janet Dunston-Murphy pulled up to the single story home where her former partner lived. Like any other given Sunday she was there, always 6 sharp, to pick up her little boy. She walked slowly up to the door, bracing against the brisk October wind. *tap, tap, tap* She knocked gingerly and waited, no answer. *Tap, Tap, Tap* A little harder now, and waited. No answer. *BOOM, BOOM, BOOM* She had grown very impatient and worried. “Mark! It’s Jan, I’m here to pick up Randy!”, she called out, but nobody would reply.


She knew better than to enter without being let in, but a sick feeling swept over Janet. She pushed the door open and scanned the living room, to her relief she saw Randy wrapped in a blanket on the couch. “Mark, I’m here! Sorry to barge in, it’s just so cold!” She called out again, her words falling on deaf ears.


The room felt absolutely still, like the calm before a great storm. She walked closer to Randy now, his back to her, when he let out a raspy groan, almost as though it were not human. She rushed over to him and pulled back the thick, wool blanket that seemed to have a near slimy texture to it.


Janet Dunston-Murphy would never forget that horrible mess that laid before her eyes.

Warning: This was formatted on mobile, might look like garbage on your computer


The Prelude
Basically, this is a bit of a tell all about my time I spent here when I was younger, most of y’all probably know me as Sheep, some of y’all know me as Scooby from waaaaay back.


The Waaaay Way Back
I actually found this game, one of the original versions of OldCP after I was curious and wanted to see what the old versions of club penguin looked like, and to my surprise there was an entire game dedicated to it. Truthfully, I don’t remember a whole lot from this time other than the fact (also this was probably sometime around early to mid 2013) that the game was very glitchy and could barely be played. But that was okay! It was okay because I would go on to meet people who I really spent a large chunk of my childhood with, even if we never did meet face to face I will remember them all the same.



The Way Back, Snailschat
Snailschat is probably my most fond memory of this community as it was the game I spent the most time on. I would go under the name of Scooby Doo and actually ran a relatively popular blog showing cheats and tricks of the game (Scooby Doo in SC) was the name. During my time on SC I met some of the coolest people, like Pepeto50 who ran a competing blog and someone who I remember was very intelligent and a helpful member of the community, MyPetTux who was one of my closest friends on there and we would spend hours just chatting about whatever random stuff a 12 year old would converse about, and ILoveBacon1 (known, fittingly, as Little now) who was another one of my closest friends on there and we eventually helped push each other to both become Moderators. Truly, those were my favorite times in this community, slithering around in my lil gold shell and being able to show new users my blog! Snaildom just didn’t do it for me haha


OldCP But Again
OldCP, in its heyday, was probably the best game I ever played sheerly because of our tight knit community and the larger audience it held at that time. I remember I used to have a Sheep Club (The Order of the Fluffy Sheep) and hand out sheep follower numbers to club members (over 100 at one point!) and even was the leader of a few GOM and GOK groups known as the Greek Sheep. I met a ton of awesome people throughout my time in OldCP, like my good friend Chopper. Really there are dozens of people I could list off but it’s been so long and I don’t wanna leave anyone important out (so I’ll just leave everyone out lol). I remember being promoted to moderator and cementing my place amongst the top of the community, even if it was only for a short while.


The End
Really, I wanted this post to have way more to it and really convey how much this community has meant to me and how I haven’t forgotten it for years since I was really a part of it. I’d love if any of y’all who might have played the game while I did to share your favorite memory of something we might’ve done together. But anyways, I’m gonna try and stay on the forums and post and be active cuz it just seems like fun while we’re stuck in quarantine. SAFE TRAVELS, LIVE PEACEFULLY, LOVE LIKE THERES NO TOMORROW