Arkham Asylum had gone through many changes over the years. There used to be doctors, orderlies, and guards but thanks to Roman Sionis and an anonymous buyer, the Asylum was bought and given to the Rogues. There were still guards but they kind of came with the property more or less and Arkham became the headquarters of all the supervillains in Gotham. As long as the Rogues stayed within its boundaries, the police and Batman weren't allowed to arrest them. The minute they left, however, it was pretty much open season.
Some guards had pledged allegiance to some of the villains, their Arkham outfits now also dawned the symbol of their following. Others remained neutral and just carried out their duties of watching the premises. They nevertheless didn't argue much with the Rogues though they found themselves often treated a little less than the common mook unless they had worked their way up the ranks depending on their leader.
Firefly had a few on his side, McKenna and Tony were his trusted guards. McKenna was a brute and Tony was all bark but no bite. He liked their personalities more so than their skills. McKenna also stopped by every now and then to help him around the house. It wasn't romantic as she did have a partner but he appreciated her commitment.
"McKenna!" Garfield shouted.
"Yeah Boss?"
"Do you know where my skateboard is? The one with the gold dragon on it? I promised Ash I would let him borrow it until he got enough allowance money to buy his own."
The guard searched his housing area, through the makeshift kitchen and his exercise room but she shrugged, "I'm not seeing it anywhere."
He sighed heavily. He still wasn't entirely used to having an apartment as he spent years in an out of his cell. When the villains took over the island, the Penitentiary became the housing unit for all Rogues since the other non-important patients were moved to another location in New Jersey. The spaces the plethora of cells took up that were no longer used were torn down and instead bundled up to make small living quarters for each Rogue. The mostly-if-not-entirely human villains had the second and third levels of the first half of the Penitentiary. The ground level was recreation, courtyard area, etcetera depending on the section in the building you were located.
The animal-based Rogues or abnormal human ones had the second half which was connected via a bridge and resided next to Arkham Lagoon. The lagoon was new too. After the Teen Titans battled Terra or whatever her name was, part of the island hidden below the waves had rose when she tried to use that portion to kill the Titans. It didn't work but they got a nice almost enclosed watering hole out of it. Thanks to Ivy, it now had an abundance of plant life too. The second half of the Penitentiary was added to attach to the newly built underwater catacombs Killer Croc controlled. It was essentially a sanctuary.
Firefly frowned, "Well, I guess he's going to have to borrow someone else's for the time being."
Shaking his head, Garfield peered at himself in the mirror. He gave a slight huff as he ran his hand over the burn scar on the left side of his face. He remembered well how it happened, how careless he had become that night. Thankfully, the scar only covered half his neck and a stripe of it curled onto his cheek. It wasn't that bad. The hidden portion below his neck ended also as a streak over his breast. There was a secondary scar that was on his left hip and came down his thigh but that one wasn't as big.
He had been in a rush to cover his tracks and take Ash, his biological son, away from the hell he was previously stuck in. What many didn't except those closest to him was that he was a victim of domestic abuse and Ash was technically the product of rape. He, of course, had been pitted as the abuser when in fact, it was his girlfriend, the late singer Cassidy. Everyone thought he was obsessed so he killed her so she wouldn't leave him but would someone believe otherwise?
He loved her but as all relationships do, the real Cassidy became known and he couldn't take much more of it. He let her abuse him because at the time, he found it unethical to hurt a woman. When he tried to leave, she managed to force him to have sex with her and that lead to her pregnancy with Ash, tying him to her. She was no mother. She barely paid attention to the kid but he did because he loved both of them. He feared one day she would began going after his son so he finally snapped. Being a special effects director for movies and sets paid off. He rearranged the flamethrowers on set so one sat directly under her and when she hit the finale note of her hit song, she was on fire…literally. She fried in under one minute and he was gone by the time she hit the stage floor dead.
He remodeled his flameproof outfit and used his welding helmet with flames decorated on it as a cover of his identity as he escaped with Ash on the prototype jetpack he was originally planning to use for a stage gag for Cassidy. No later did he return after Ash was relocated and decided to burn the suite Cassidy owned to the ground. Unfortunately, his suit took damage from the Batman's rough handling of him and when he tried to burn the Bat too, a batarang blew up the gun and caused his exposed skin to sizzle. He was arrested, declared insane, and his baby was put into a foster home.
Ironically, the child at seven years old figured out he was the father and he barely interacted with Ash prior. Smart kid. He had found his son through Riddler and Freeze and monitored him until Ash made the discovery. Ash has since visited him almost every day if not text him and he couldn't have been prouder. He was still limited on the role he had in his son's life since legally he wasn't allowed to see him but when did he follow the rules?
"You okay, Boss?"
Garfield snapped out of his trace and gave the officer a small smile as she fed his extremely fat cream colored cat, Pork Chop or Porky Pig as he also liked to call him. "Yeah, I'm just rethinking a few things."
"Freeze was wondering if you were going to come down to the rec room before you decide to go hit the city. He wants to give you something."
Nodding, he changed into his signature black and yellow fit fireproof suit and shaved his jaw. He made sure his blonde hair was short and perfect for his yellow horned helmet to slip on easily as long hair would just create massive hassle before heading out with his winged jetpack on and his helmet by his side. He jumped over the side of the railing of the second floor housing and immediately headed deeper into the Penitentiary where the rec room lied.
"Aw crap! I'm stuck! Bane! Bane! I'm on my back between the two couches! I can't turn over! Bane!"
As Firefly entered, the cry for help from Waylon who was panicking, tail whipping madly down, made him smirk at the sight. Sure enough, the luchador-themed man lumbered over with his arms outward in utter disbelief at Croc's situation.
"How do you miss both couches, lagartija tonta? That doesn't seem plausible, even for your size and weight," Bane scowled.
"Fuck off! If I can't twist around to where my feet and or my hands can touch the ground, I'm indelibly screwed. Not my fault, it's my body structure."
The venom-enhanced villain sinisterly smiled, "Thanks for telling me that. I'll be sure to use that data the next time we fight."
Freeze was speaking to Scarecrow who was tinkering with a few of the vials strapped to his belt, probably about chemistry or science in general. Garfield wasn't much of a science nut but he knew about fire mechanics and combustion which was enough to get him by.
"Ring, ring, you called?" He sang, much to Jonathan's amusement and Victor's side glance.
The cold-hearted man simply sneered, "I expected you here two hours ago. Did you lose your way, little firebug?"
"Can it, ice cream, I've just been thinking about…it, and the fact that its anniversary is in two weeks. You know what it's like, feeling your past so don't patronize me please," Firefly growled.
Freeze's computerized red optics glitched a little through his iceberg-shaped helmet in realization before they turned into crescent moons facing away from each other to mimic the expression of sadness. Scarecrow's articulated burlap mask did the same, his stringed mouth frowning and pointing the gas filters attached below his cheeks downward.
"Forgive me, I failed to consider that. Anyways, I took the liberty in finding a new power amplifier for your wrist gauntlets so your weaponized beams and the flamethrower attached to your jetpack can work ten times better with a stabilized concentrated force of 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit while keeping your arrays from overheating. I gave it to Drury to hold on to as I thought you had other things that required you attention."
Scarecrow nodded and put a rusted metal clawed hand with the injecting needles on his hip sassily as his breechcloth covering his stitched, ragged pants swayed from the gesture. "I was just about to say that Victor and I thought you deserved it. You've been working hard and your efforts haven't gone unnoticed. Bruce might not approve much because of your obvious intent but it'll level the battlefield up a bit when you have to face the Big Bad Bat himself."
"Thanks guys," Firefly smiled sweetly.
He heard a sudden thud and directed his attention to Croc who was finally pulled from in between the couches. The crocodile hybrid rocked his feet a little to the side as his hands were placed between his legs almost in a dog-like manner while his tail sheepishly flickered. Kirk Langstrom had his arms crossed and brow raised at the mutated man but Bane simply shook his head in disappointment.
"Don't laugh, bitch. I'll tell the story of the time you got your head stuck in the wall," Croc snarled, directing his embarrassment at Bane.
"And I'm sure they would love to hear the story of how you got your hips stuck in several doors and had to damn near break them to pass through. Let's face it, you've been gaining a little weight since last year, letting Ivy feed you her enemies. It's adding a lot, especially in the thighs," Bane retorted, a cheeky grin appearing.
Waylon muttered, "So? I like my size. Most women would be jealous of my form. I still have a great masculine figure, just with wider hips. Nothing to be ashamed about. It helps maintain balance of my tail anyways so I hardly find that a downside."
"Yeah, until you can't leave the room anymore," Firefly quipped.
The crocodile shot him a glare and a growl as he stood up. "Keep pressing me, we'll see how that ends up."
Ivy immediately shouted from across the room, surprising everybody. "Garfield, don't taunt him! You aren't helping. Challenging him only makes him angrier. Just leave him be."
The arsonist raised his hands in an oblivious manner, "Me? Bane was just giving him crap about a minute ago. Why fucking yell at me?"
"Because Bane is his own island and I can't take him on. Only Croc can so whatever happens between the two of them isn't my concern. You and the other Rogues on the other hand are my problem because I get in trouble for Waylon's behavior towards you since I'm his wife. Plus, I kind of don't want to see you ripped to pieces so there's that," Pamela scolded.
"Yeah, hot head!" Harley screeched, jumping up from her chair.
Her girlfriend rolled her eyes, "Harley, no."
Garfield moaned, "Alright fine, I'm sorry. Hey Kirk, can you see if we have any ibuprofen left. I think I'm starting to get a headache."
Langstrom sighed and went to the cabinets over the study table where he found what he was looking for…just too high for him to reach it. "Who the hell used the ibuprofen last? Why would you put it on the top shelf?"
"Sorry," Waylon said.
Trying to jump to reach the bottle, Kirk barely touched it but no cigar. Firefly laughed, "Do you need a little help or…?"
"No, no, I have my pride, bug."
A few more failed attempts made the doctor scowl impatiently, tapping his hand against his thigh. Peering up at the bottle then back at his feet, he thought about his options and started to smirk.
"Are you sure, Langstrom?" Bane pressed.
The whitish grey haired man chuckled to himself when his eyes dilated and his pupils were virtually nonexistent. The dark pink of his irises overlapped the remaining colors until they were the only pigmentation seen. Teeth grew sharp as his semi-formal suit ripped at the sleeves, prompting wing membranes to expand outward. Thankfully, he wore one of his flexible sleeveless outfits designed to stretch and mold to his large form. The attachable sleeves weren't much of a loss and his blue pants adjusted fine. He laughed until his voice could no longer sound human.
Two clawed fingers and a thumb snatched the ibuprofen from the shelf before his brute figure stomped towards Firefly who just stared at him in amazement as well as sheer excitement. Handing him the pills, Langstrom gave a loud screech.
"Damn dude, overkill much? I doubt you needed to go full bat for that." Garfield teased.
Man-Bat darkly huffed in multiple breathes mimicking the chuckle he was doing a second ago though it was much darker and coarse. He then gave a chirp of approval and licked the human, the long tongue dragging heavily on the nose and leaving a trail of murky saliva.
"Oh my God! That is so gross!"
He wiped some of the substance off with his lightly armored glove and flicked it away, pulling a disgusted face as Man-Bat continued to laugh. "Alright, I think I've spent enough time among you bozos. I'm going to collect my upgrade and split for the city. See ya!"
Bane frowned, "Be careful, Batman is patrolling near the Bowery. He's apparently trying to go after Joker so he's on high alert. I recommend keeping away from the districts and hitting Founders Island or Bleake Island."
"Duly noted," Garfield winked and saluted.
To the side, he heard a grunt of discomfort and the brief creaking of the door frame on the other side of the room.
"Son of a bitch!" Croc whined.
"Stuck in the doorway? Really?" The brute sighed.
Waylon's top half made through the door fine but his hips prevented quick movement through. After pulling with several marks on the floor from anxious claws, he finally squeezed through and his tail jumped up a little from the force.
From Croc's angry shout, Firefly burst out giggling as he exited the room from the opposite side. He took the elevator in the far corridor down to the second part of the Penitentiary where the lagoon rippled against its outer wall peacefully. Inside, larger rooms fit for the animal-based were present. Some had greenhouse glass beside the door for those who loved to live in more humid, plant-covered environments while others like Man-Bat and Orca had sound-proof cave and water based homes instead.
Drury had his greenhouse nest a bit drier as his wings didn't react well to long term moisture. He was grateful however for the glass roof to bask in the sunlight's warmth for energy as most large-winged insects preferred. Entering inside, Firefly heard the familiar song of "I'm the Only One" by Melissa Etheridge, one of Drury's favorite artists, but the vocals he was hearing weren't exactly matching Melissa's so he could guess that the monster's music station was on karaoke mode.
"Please Baby, can't you see I'm trying to explain? I've been here before and I'm locking the door and I'm not going back again. Her eyes and arms and skin won't make it go away. You'll wake up tomorrow and wrestle the sorrow that holds you down today."
The echoing voice made Firefly shiver with a strange feeling. Drury was not a bad singer though he did sound a bit more like an alto than a tenor which made most people who heard him but not met him think it was a woman singing. He highly doubted the moth man cared.
Walking down the steps to an open grass and vine infested spacious room that was the equivalent of a living room for Drury, he saw several guards whom of which chose to join Drury's team either next to the large TV that held a computer system, music player, and other items attached on the wall or holding plates of fruit and meat while smirking at the sight of their leader. Many people would have believed someone joining Killer Moth's crew was extremely stupid but now and days, it was hardly a mistake though some didn't know of Drury's…condition that made him feared so they laughed at the notion still. Boy, would they have a wakeup call if they ever pissed off the insect-based villain.
An insect carnivorous tibia mandible hovered over one of the plates the guards held and sank the sharp tip into a pile of grapes and slowly lifted it up to predatory fangs on the outside of his mouth that opened to reveal more hidden within the walls of his cheeks. The other mandible tapped to the beat on the slab of metal that served as his bed that hung down from the ceiling by chains. His head was tilted back while his chest was puffed up and his beastly legs were crossed with one swaying in the air.
"Go on and hold her till the screaming is gone. Go on believe her when she tells you nothing's wrong!"
Drury ate the fruit quickly and disregarded the skeleton as he rolled to the side in a feminine pose tauntingly and peered with a deadly smile at his guards.
"But I'm the only one who'll walk across a fire for you!"
He then jumped up and twirled, flashing the underside of his beautiful wings out for his audience to behold as they chuckled at how over the top their leader was being.
"I'm the only one who'll drown in my desire for you!"
He placed one of his two-clawed feet to straddle the left chain before using his strength to climb them by securing his other foot on the right chain and balancing his way up. He wrapped his tibia around both chains twisted them around the appendages to keep his height. Since the light was coming down from above, he was shadowed to appear like a demonic entity from a guard's perspective which was cool but scary at the same time.
"It's only fear that makes you run, the demons that you're hiding from when all your promises are gone! I'm the only one!"
As the instrumental part played, Drury sank a little to lean to the side and strike a pose. Firefly and the guards were cracking up.
"Go on and hold her till the screaming is gone. Go on believe when she tells you nothing's wro-ong! But I'm the only one who'll walk across a fire for you! I'm the only one who'll drown in my desire for you! It's only fear that makes you run, the demons that you're hiding from when all your promises are gone! I'm the only one!"
Killer Moth seemed to be on the verge of laughing to as he hit the transitioning "yeah, yeah" back to the chorus again.
"And I'm the only one who'll down in my desire for you? It's only fear that makes you run, the demons that you're hiding from when all your promises are gone! I'm the only o-one!"
The song faded and Killer Moth leapt off his chains to slam down onto his metal slab which caused the grass to ripple from the shock wave and he slid back down to lie on it with a victorious smile. The guards whooped and roared at the rock star performance as he made a little curtsy with his tibia. "Now that, boys, is how you do that song."
Garfield clapped, "Encore! Encore! How you've been, old friend?"
Killer Moth shot up with wide pupil-less bug eyes before a huge grin plastered onto his face and he turned his attention to the man entering his domain. "Firefly! Oh, it's so good to see you!"
He jumped off the slab and rattled to ground as he stomped happily over to his longtime friend and semi-danced around the human on all six limbs before grabbing the poor guy and swinging him clockwise. Firefly was almost two feet off the ground upon approach and he managed to catch him mid bounce from his strides much to the shock of the smaller of the two.
"O-okay! Drury! Put me down! It's nice to see you too!"
Placing the dizzy man on the ground, Garfield stumbled a little before regaining most of his composure and smiling back. "So I heard that you have a gift for me. Courtesy of Freeze and Scarecrow?"
Killer Moth clicked his tongue, "Ah yes, Freeze made a power amplifier for your jetpack so you could fly more efficiently and have a hotter heat radius that will leave your enemies friend in 3.5 seconds. I didn't know Scarecrow helped? Freeze's doctors said he built it by himself for you and since Valentine's Day is approaching, they figured as well as I that it was a gift for the holiday."
"Freeze built the amplifier for Valentine's?" Firefly spoke, intrigued for this new information.
"Well I assumed," Drury laughed. He reached behind a shelf near the music player and pulled out a small but recognizable jetpack power core that radiated light yellow compared to Firefly's normal gold coloring. "But regardless, he made it for you one way or another so that has to mean something, right?"
Killer Moth tossed it to Garfield who swiftly caught it took off his jetpack, unhooking the panels on the side and throwing away the old core. He replaced it and activated the aerial device once it was strapped back on his form. His bio lights were brighter and his suit was showing maximum efficiency as he hovered above the ground. The turbines used to keep him balanced had blue flames instead of orange yellow and when he fire his wrist beams, they were wider and burned a hole through the metal wall in a second where as a concentrated beam used to take five seconds to cut through steel. Activating his flamethrower, he spun in a circle to create a ring and the fire was blue at first then faded to its natural orange coloring meaning its first few seconds of combustion were hotter than ever.
"This is amazing! Oh my god, thank you Victor!"
Drury leaned against several vines, his wings fluttering pleased at Garfield's reaction. "I'm sure Freeze would appreciate the compliment but it would probably sound better coming from you than me."
Firefly donned his gold helmet and the look was now complete. With everything optimal, he blasted through the glass roof much to the surprise of Drury and the anger of the guards who knew they were more than likely the ones who would have to fix it.
He laughed as he soared at a higher speed than previously his jetpack could go. Twirling gracefully, he orbited the island, watching the waterfall below the top half of the Penitentiary empty into the lagoon below. When he spotted Freeze and Scarecrow walked side by side towards the Medical Facility, he decided to go greet them.
Diving down, he leveled himself at the last minute and slowed as he impacted with Freeze. The ice man was stunned at he was in a bear hug with Firefly's head resting on his chest, nuzzling it. Garfield didn't know what expression Freeze was making but it sounded funny as the other kind of groaned but seemingly chuckled at his embrace.
Scarecrow just raised a brow with a smirk and left them alone, meeting Penelope Young at the entrance to the Facility.
Firefly spoke softly, "Thank you for the Valentine's Day gift."
Victor's breathing halted and he stuttered, "Uh…you're…w-welcome?"
AN: Don't judge me, I'm clinically insane. About the origin of Firefly, I kind of went off of the TNBA Firefly origins and tweaked it slight because I noticed Cassidy was just as much of an asshole as Garfield was but behind the scenes so it brought a lot of questions up. I wanted to also raise awareness of abuse in men, not just women. Yes, this is a real thing and yes, good men suffer from it too. Abuse in general is a common theme in the Batman franchise so I decided to add a version less talked about. But out of the bad ordeals, sometimes a good thing may be born. Ash may have been a child of rape (and yes, men can be raped) but Firefly doesn't see less in him. He's his son and he's proud of it.
And then there's Drury who is a drama queen and a theater hog in my universe. Enjoy his over-the-top personality, you'll probably be seeing more of it.