Batman was not something I had anticipated writing for. But RobinRocks yet again twisted my arm and this is the result.
An entirely non-canon (any canon) based character study of Two-Face. However, if you've read Arkham Asylum you may find the last part makes a little more sense.
Beta'ed by RobinRocks: dear RR, you never did guess how this got it's title!
Remembrance Day
A figure sits hunched between two dripping, rusty pipes and an empty dumpster, something gleaming in his eyes, his hands.
Fingers scrabble like spider legs, flipping a coin along perfect knuckles. A zombie grin and flash of teeth. At least one side of this creature, this man, has been stripped to essentials, so why not make the other side follow suit?
Down to the essentials. Beautiful or ugly. The law or a life of crime? Good or evil. Heads or... heads? That won't do.
The glint of metal in a streetlight, and this victim, this villain in the making, picks up a nail and gouges a cross into one side of a two-headed coin.
After all, Harvey Dent has two faces, not two heads.
He flipped a coin, you know. It came up heads.
How inconvenient.
Of course, the whole thing will have been pointless if Batman doesn't turn up. Maybe he won't, now that he thinks about it. Perhaps Gotham police force will try to apprehend him themselves.
And now there's nothing for it but to sit here on the roof of the National Bank. Honestly, he wants to fight. To finish the damn job he started. It was already decided he'd do it. Then a bank teller with more balls than sense had yelled,
"Is this what you really want? Arkham lunatic!"
Stupid little hothead. Trying to provoke him with spitting and cursing.
Usually, Two-Face pays no heed to words. He lets the coin decide ("Tails" and the jolt of a handgun). Besides, knows his own mind, even if it's not what it once was. He knows that.
But the more he thinks about it, the more it bothers him. Has he thought about the bigger picture lately? And there's a horrible thought – what about deciding whether or not to use the coin?
It's ridiculous. Ridiculous.
Is this what he wants? And what of Arkham?
When the Batman finally arrives, Two-Face doesn't even turn around.
"About time you got here."
The coin drops, face over disfigurement, to land in his fist. He looks at it and says,
"Heads."
Hours after the Batman leaves, Two-Face sits in a pile of dice and bent tarot cards.
Confused and contemplating.
It hadn't been heads. It was April Fool's. He'd chosen to mark the occasion.
He had flipped for that.
Hadn't he?
The coin drops, face over disfigurement, to land in the dust.
Harvey Dent's fingers shake.
As always, comments and criticisms are welcomed in equal measure and gratefully recieved!