Edward's POV.
I was in pain.
Sheer bloody pain.
I had a gash in my side that wouldn't stop bleeding. The running I was doing wasn't helping.
Rain came down hard tonight in Gotham, which isn't a surprise considering I haven't seen the sun once in this hell of a city.
I stopped running and leaned against a building to catch my breath. I was gasping; my lungs feeling like someone poured gasoline and set them on fire.
My attempt to breathe again was cut short as the all too familiar sound of a police car echoed from somewhere nearby.
'How can this happen!? I was so close from defeating Batman! He cheated, he must have! There's no other way!' I thought as I started running again. 'This isn't fair! I'm running away from the police, my clothes ruined, my plan failed, and I'm injured! All I did was set a trap for Batman; I didn't even put anyone else in danger!'
My glasses were cracked and shattered, beyond repair without a doubt. My suit was wet and dirty from the rain and filth covering the city. Everything was torn and bloody from meeting Batman and my cane was lost somewhere in said battle.
I had a bruised cheek, cuts everywhere and a horribly bruised shoulder. My worst injury, however, was the large gash on my side that was currently gushing blood.
I didn't know where I was going, or how much longer I was going to last. But I was not going back that damn asylum.
I came to an erupt stop as I heard a police siren somewhere in front of me. I quickly turned into an alleyway. However, I realized the more I ran, how much I got dizzy and how blurry the world was becoming.
"Please don't faint..." I prayed to myself. I ran faster in to the ally, which was a mistake because I just got dizzier.
I was slowing down, my mind and body going numb, except for my side which felt like it was on fire. My breathing was turning into rugged gasps. It didn't take me long to realize I was coughing up my own blood.
I eventually forced myself to at least a limping walk instead of fainting.
I came to a dead end in the maze of the buildings surrounding me. It was small and tight, the worst place to be if were claustrophobic.
Eventually I couldn't take it anymore. I leaned against the wall and slid down, curling up like a ball in the corner of the brick walls.
The same thoughts of dying kept rushing in through my mind.
I didn't want to die. Not now or anytime soon! But the more I tried to hold on, the darker my vision became.
I was beyond panic. I was terrified.
My body was shaking; I couldn't hear or see anything right. I closed my eyes, too afraid to look.
But somewhere amidst all the buzzing and world spinning around me, I heard footsteps. I didn't open my eyes, too afraid it might be Death, or worse, Batman himself.
I suddenly felt a hand grab my jaw and lift my head up. I heard mumbling but I was too dazed to translate. I forced my eyes open and saw what looked like the shadow of a man crouching in front of me. I couldn't tell who he was, but praying it wasn't Batman.
I inched away from him, trying to tilt my head away from where said man was touching me. My consciousness was disappearing every moment until I couldn't take it anymore. I blacked out; the last thing I remember was a hand touching my cheek.
Jonathan's pov.
I was walking back to my current residence, a gun loaded with gas pellets full of toxin in one hand and a cage of street rats in the other; the rats test subjects for more toxin. As I did, I noticed more sounds of police cars than usual.
'Perhaps Joker planted bombs over the city again. Or maybe Miss Kyle stole some priceless artifact from some museum.' I shrugged off the thought, not caring unless I was concerned.
As I reached my current location for a home, I saw a flash of color out of the corner of my eye. Curious, I went to investigate what it was. Slightly amazed, it turned out to be a human being.
He was curled up as much as he could go. I didn't know him, but he looked familiar. He was bleeding badly, coughing up his own blood. He looked like someone used him for a punching bag. I set down the cage, walking towards him.
From what I could tell, he was wearing a green suit jacket and purple pants that was torn around the cuffs near his green shoes. His white dress shirt looked torn and dirty. He wore a purple tie that was hanging loose around his neck. Green wired glasses with purple shades covered his eyes, even if though were cracked.
Purple fingerless-gloves gripped his sleeves tightly, like he was in pain. When he wasn't coughing up blood, he was gasping for breath, like he had been running for a long time. I reached down, gripping his jaw and tilting his head towards me.
"Who are you? I've seen you before..." I talked to myself more than him.
He slowly opened his eyes and I felt a shiver up down my spine. He had striking green eyes, but the fear that was consuming them is what got my attention.
His pulps were dilated, his body was shaking as much as it could in his situation; he looked like his greatest fear was right in front of him.
This is beautiful.
The other part of me, the Scarecrow part, begged for this. Watching someone's fear unravel in front of me was making him desperate to come out. Just watching fear in a human being was just thrilling.
However, he closed his eyes again, blocking me from seeing that fear. He tilted his head, pulling away from my hand.
'Confusion is covering his fear at this point. He looks like he's going to faint.'
And we care how?
Ignoring Scarecrow, I reached over and touched his cheek again, noticing how his body went completely slack when I did.
Pity. He fainted before we could play~.
'Will you shut up!?'
Turning my attention back to the person in front of me, my curiosity got the better of ne and I studied him more closely. Only then did I notice the question marks on his jacket.
Edward Nygma.
"I believe I am in the presence of the Riddler." I sighed.
Of course I've seen him before, being taken to his cell, at the cafeteria at lunch at Arkham, once saw him hiding his trophies for Batman when the Joker turned it into his very own funhouse once.
I ignored him though. I thought the idea was stupid, along with the Riddles. Although the death traps I heard he made for Batman were amazing and almost impossible. They almost worked too if it wasn't for the fact that; the damn rodent wouldn't die, the Bat couldn't have even gotten any of the riddles done if it weren't for his gadgets, but mostly, Edward was just too full of himself.
I looked at him more and also noticed the deep scarlet stain on his left side. He without a doubt ran into Batman.
'I should leave him here. He has nothing I want and is no use to me. Batman is trying to find him as we speak. If I take him in, Batman could find a way to find where I live, not only arresting him, but me as well...' I looked at Edward's bruised state. A drop of blood slowly slid down the corner of his mouth, leaving a scarlet red line behind it as it dropped on the floor.
'But we do need to find a human test subject soon. Rats aren't going to stabilize our fear toxin forever.'
I glanced over at the cage, the rats scurrying around. For once, I actually agreed with him. I turned my gaze back to the younger man in front of me.
"Besides, you have a brilliant mind, without a doubt. But still…"
I reached down and slowly picked his smaller and lighter body up, careful not to touch his injuries.
"Your mind can break just as easily."