AN: Ok, this is a dream I had sometime in early January. Yes, my dreams are this warped. And no, I have no idea where it came from. I haven't even watched Dark Knight. However, enjoy. Or endure. Floating boats, yesss my precioussss. Heheheh
Warnings: yaoi, murder, warped mind games, loss, sorrow (not all in the first chapter) OCs because Plod and Todd are sort of integral. AU, probable OOCness because I am strictly following the structure of the dream... nightmare? No, dream cos it's got Axel in... heheheheheh
Disclaimer: Don't own nothin'.
I strode along quickly, trying not to dwell on what that guy had said. Well, that and the gun in my pocket. I made a vague attempt at concentrating on the frozen quality of my fingers and the way my breath clouded in the chill night air, but the cold was too painfully biting. I sighed and glanced around, at the dark, empty windows of the buildings surrounding me. I might not like it, but this was my home. This wretched city, with all its rats and human delinquents. It's the kind of place Batman would live, some outsiders believed when they came. Nearly all of them were disillusioned when they left. A superhero, imaginary and gothic or not, would never choose to live in Akra Star.
With a jolt, I returned to the present and reality, finding myself tripping over a brick someone had left carelessly on the pavement. I reached out and slammed my hands into the ground to prevent my face from hitting it and giving me a permanently bad nose job. Dammit. I rolled onto my back and leaned against a car tyre to examine the damage to my hands. As I'd suspected, they hadn't been skinned as I hadn't slid forwards on them, but here and there bits of grit had punctured the skin. I winced as I picked these out, specks of blood clinging to them as I chucked them over my shoulder. "They follow your scent." That man's words ghosted through my mind. Dammit, and I'd just spread blood on the pavement like a signal flare.
"Dammit!" I cursed under my breath. "Shit. Shit, shit, shit." I scrambled to get up but I heard a scuttling noise along one of the metal drainage pipes that run beside the pavement. I listened numbly for a moment or two, before fumbling to pull out the gun that he had given me. "Harmless to humans, but deadly to those little buggers. One of the only things that can kill them." And these things were after me why? Because I had what? That idiot of a silverette had refused to tell me. And since when did I know how to use a gun? Sure, any idiot, me included, knows how to pull a trigger, but there was no way in hell I'd be able to figure out a safety catch or anything like that. I held it in both hands, noticing they were shaking a little. God, I'd never even held a gun before, let alone needed one to save my bloody life from a bunch of supernatural things without hearts. As something shot out of the end of the drain, I tensed and aimed the gun. Then whatever it was stopped dead and promptly revealed itself to be nothing more than a harmless little brown mouse with only a stump for a tail. I chuckled softly with relief and lowered the gun. Looked like I wouldn't need it yet, after all. The mouse stared at me for a moment, its black eyes unreadable, before winking and disappearing down the other end of the drain. As I tried to shove the gun back into my coat pocket, there was another scuttling sound, this time louder than the first. My heart lurched suddenly with an inexplicable fear. I realised dimly that on the ground was probably not the best place to be if one of those heartless things came at me, but I'd frozen to the spot. Abruptly, a large black scorpion shot out of the hole, pincers and sting at the ready. With a loud curse, I leaped upwards and backwards, half-sprawling on the Audi parked beside me. I quickly slammed the gun handle down on it twice, crushing it. I exhaled all the pent-up tension inside me and began to laugh weakly. I knew I was high on adrenaline and this was probably going to turn into hysterics, but I was unable to care.
"I'd be laughing too." A man stepped out of the shadows, cutting off my laughter. "Can't stand those things. Dirty little nutcases, make my blood run cold." I stared dumbly at the man before me. He wore a purple crushed-velvet tailcoat and dark blue slacks with a green waistcoat and had wavy blonde hair. And he looked like someone coming home from a party. He had this white facepaint on with black eyes and a huge, sloppy red smile from ear to ear, covering hideous scars. "So, feeling lucky?" he continued, lowering his head slightly and gazing maliciously up at me with a sinister smile under the paint. I could have sworn my heart stopped right then. If looks could kill, his would have had me on a mortuary slab before anyone could say 'Dusk'. Only then did I notice he was holding a scalpel in his right hand. Only then did my legs move. I ran desperately away from him, as fast as I could go, hearing his evil chuckle behind me. "You can run but you can't hide, Roxas Flare."
I turned off to the right, cursing when I saw a few empty police cars. Why couldn't they have been occupied? I kept running, feeling my legs giving up until I caught sight of another, this time lit up and occupied, patrol car. I put on an extra burst of speed and tapped on the window. Oh no. Oh, no, no, no, dammit! My mind shrieked. It was Plod and Todd, but they'd been trussed up like turkeys and had that man's make up spread over their faces, only with mouths turned down rather tan up and leaking black below the eyes, like tears. They had some kind of tape over their mouths so they couldn't speak and I was torn between wanting to help them and escaping, hopping from one foot to the other as I tried to decide. Then that white face swept into view around the corner and I ran around the car, tugging open the door and slipping inside, trying to start the engine despite being squeezed between Plod and the steering wheel. There wasn't any time to move him or for him to slide away so I was stuck. And the engine wouldn't start. I turned the key again and there was still no life. Only then did I realise he'd cut the wires.
"Looking for these?" his face appeared at the window, holding up a set of wires and I jerked away violently. "Now, now, that's no way to behave." He said reproachfully. Then he straightened. "Now. Get out of the car." As the car was quickly surrounded by men slipping out of the shadows, I had no choice. I sighed and opened the door, getting out as my heart thumped wildly against my ribcage. "You two," he addressed a pair of his men, "get the officers out and we'll get a move on." Someone grabbed my arms from behind and handcuffed my wrists together, Plod and Todd each getting the same treatment as the duct tape over their mouths was ripped off. "And wipe those smiles off their faces." He added. "They should be recognisable when we get back." He leered evilly and the horrible paint on their faces was wiped off, revealing Plod to be almost as pale as it had been. Poor guy must have been terrified. "Now march." The man ordered.
After we'd been striding along for nearly half an hour, always heading towards the beach, I asked,
"So, how much longer?"
"It will take as long as it takes." He replied indifferently.
"Ok, next question, why us, out of all the thousands of people in this city?" he looked at me strangely.
"Alright, I'll do a weird one and actually tell you. Well, Toddy there doesn't actually have to be here, and you're just an added bonus; it's interesting, the way the Heartless follow you around, I want to find out why, and Plod, well; you'll just have to find out when we get there." I sighed, supposing I was lucky to have even got an answer at all.
We trudged on until we reached the beach, the silvery sand glittering in the moonlight. It would have been beautiful if not for the silent men surrounding us. Further up the beach were a mass of black shapes. As we drew closer, they turned out to be men, all wearing dark clothes to blend into the night. Some of them stared at us, others joked with our 'guards' and still more completely ignored us. However, they all trailed along after our little group, as though expecting some spectacle. That, needless to say, didn't really help to ease my nerves. I noticed a tall, skinny man with dark marks under his venom-green eyes glance at us indifferently, before his eyes widened slightly with fear as they slid over Plod and Todd. I must admit, I was rather taken with his mint-green spiky hair.
"Alright, this is far enough." The man held up a hand. I glanced around and noted that we were at the far end of the beach, just before the promontory. "Now, I'm sure Roxas here has been wondering who I am, so, Plod, Todd, care to enlighten him?" Todd sighed and stepped forward.
"This is the Joker. He's been stirring up trouble in town recently and his warped mind means we have no way of telling where he'll be next."
"Warped mind… I like it." the Joker leaned closer to him. "Maybe yours will be quicker than Plod's, after all. Speaking of which, Plod, step forwards. Tell us why you are here." Plod shook his head violently, his lips pressed together hard. The Joker sighed.
"Alright, shall I tell them? What you and a certain treacherous man here have been doing every night? How after work each night, you drive straight to a hotel and moan his name as he-"
"Stop it." I murmured quietly. The Joker glanced surprisedly in my direction. "Can't you see he's in enough pain already, stop it!" I shouted. I had a pretty good idea of which 'treacherous man here' it was they were discussing.
"Well, as you wish, Roxie." He purred, making me shiver. "Axel! Stand by your boyfriend, why don't you? Speak up in his defence." A few disbelieving gasps and chuckles went around the circle as the same green-haired man from before took a deep breath and strode forwards to wrap his arms around Plod. I couldn't help thinking they made a pitiful sight, both resigned to death. "Well, then Axel. Have you anything to say for this man?" he asked in a stage whisper.
"Nothing of any value to you, you psychopath." He said venomously over his shoulder. The Joker grinned malevolently.
"Very well. As it's already six, you and him can spend today together in the cellar until nightfall, when it's execution time!" there were some enthusiastic shouts and I felt sickened. Disguising torture as mercy was a trick as old as time. Being together might give them some comfort, but prolonging the dread was worse. And if the blindfolds and tied hands were any indication, they wouldn't be able to see or touch each other. That man is evil.
I suppose it was lucky, really, that Todd and I were shut in a cell together. At least he wouldn't be alone before he was 'executed'.
"So… That bastard's the Joker?" I asked tentatively. Todd nodded curtly. I sighed. I wouldn't ask what was wrong, because everything was. "So, what's right, then?" I murmured.
"Huh?" Todd glanced at me as though I was insane.
"Well," I smiled weakly. "Everything's gone wrong, so I can't ask what's up. So what's right? Anything good happened recently. Haven't talked to you in ages." Todd sniffed and laughed suddenly.
"Why not? The world's gone to pot so we might as well talk. Well, Greta's passed her exams for high school, and the missus is all excited about her new foot spa, says I should try it; does wonders for her back. I never quite grasped how that works. Guess I never will, now, neither." We descended back into silence until I heard a quiet mumbling from through the wall. I turned and pressed my ear to it, able to make out Plod's voice and one other that I guessed to be Axel's. I couldn't quite catch the words, but the tone was comforting and oddly cheerful. I turned back to Todd, not wanting to eavesdrop. He looked so helplessly lost, as I suppose he would, that I couldn't help remembering a song I'd once heard in a film.
"When you're down and low,
Lower than the floor,
And you feel like you don't have a chance…" I muttered, causing Todd to stare at me. I couldn't help smiling and continued, a little louder, "Don't make a move til you're in the groove,
And do the Peter Panda dance,
Just hop three times like a kangaroo,
Sidestep twice just like the crabs do,
Three steps forward,
One step back,
Quick like a turtle,
Lie on your back.
Roll on the floor,
Til you can't roll no more,
Better jump up quick,
Like there ain't no floor,
Hold your breath,
Jump to the left,
And that's the Peter Panda dance." When I finished, Todd burst into laughter and I could hear muffled chuckles from the other cell, too.
After a drawn-out silence, I called through the wall,
"How ya doing in there?"
"Oh, fine. Just peachy." Axel's voice replied sarcastically.
"Aw, be nice, or Peter Panda will be sad." I heard a bark of laughter, followed by murmuring.
"Todd?" Plod called through the wall.
"Yes, Harry. Was ist das?" he enquired, shuffling around so he was next to me with his back pressed against the separating wall.
"I'm… real sorry. It-it's my fault you were dragged into all this and now-"
"Hey, Harry!" Todd cut him off sharply. " It's not your fault, ok? Wrong place, wrong time, that's all. Sure, I'm gonna miss out my daughter's graduation and marriage and never see my grandchildren, but there's nothing we can do about it now, so there's no point in apologising. We can just hope that something happens to Mr Psycho between now and this evening." There was a short bark of bitter laughter from the other room.
"Hell yeah, and I'm gonna start believing in the afterlife after finding out that pink elephants do exist." Axel snorted.
"Hey, if he's so untouchable, how'd he get those scars, then?" I challenged. There were a few moments of silence. "Hey, you still alive in there?" I rapped on the wall with my knuckles.
"No one knows." Came the muttered reply. "He tells everyone a different story before killing them. If I were you, kid, I wouldn't stick around to find out what he's got in store for you. My advice to you is to find something sharp and slit your own throat – it's better than what he'd do to you."
"Well whatever you might think, I'd rather hang around and try to find a weakness, even if it is painful. Who knows, maybe if he does weird experiments on me, he'll get eaten by Heartless."
"Being what?"
"Huh?" I stared at the blank wall uncomprehendingly.
"Heartless being what? Some kind of mutation? Don't bet on it. That guy has no weakness."
"Everyone has a weakness." I rolled my eyes. "Well, everyone has two weaknesses, one of them being Heartless."
"Rox, none of us knows what Heartless is." Plod's soft voice came through the wall.
"Care to enlighten us, Blondie?" Axel snickered. I sighed. They'd never believe me.
"They're creatures without hearts that steal hearts from other beings, if they can. Not everyone can see them, but they're there. And for some reason they're following me around. And the Joker wants to know why." There was silence for a while, surprisingly not followed by the 'what a load of bullshit' I'd been expecting. There was a weak laugh from the other cell.
"Why not? I'm ready to believe anything now. You're probably crazy but we're all going to hell anyway."
"So let's take the highroad." I murmured, finishing the line. I leaned my head back against the cool concrete. Guess this is the last day of the rest of our lives.
AN: So, whaddayathink? I'm probably gonna continue it, cos I still haven't finished writing it out (I sometimes have incredibly long dreams). ^^ Don't worry about Axel's minty hair cos it won't last, mkay? Personally I think it's cute, but the red is definitely the best colour. Flames are, of course, accepted, as I don't really mind if you hate my 'work'; it wasn't me, it was the Sandydreamman who did it!