A birthday gift to a friend of mine, Seven of Storms, and I hope she enjoys it as much as I did writing it. I don't own anything, but the inspiration that finally solved the question of "What would make a good present?" is the rhyme in this little fic, which I thought up of whilst watching The Dark Knight Rises in the cinema. So, if you haven't seen it, I can guess there are most definately spoilers here!
Nether the less, enjoy :)
A Trial of Sadism
BANG BANG BANG
Jonathan Crane sat high above the makeshift court at the judges desk, hammering for order in the crowd that lined the hall in front of him. All over the desk pieces of paper were strewn, infinate sheets everywhere, some long enough to be draping off of the desktop onto the marble floor below and a sea of which was below and around the desk, surrounding him. Stacks of books were also high and scattered, and overall Jonathan looked like an over-enthusiastic librarian, rather than a judge.
Well, technically, since there was no jury or witnesses or trial at all, he wasn't a judge, but a sentence dealer to Gotham's most oppressive to the people... Or so the saying went. At any rate, Jonathan only saw everyone as fear ridden scum of human beings whether they were rich, poor, innocent (not likely!) or guilty.
But in all honesty, he had felt flattered being appointed the job of sentencing. The recently emerged mercenary and super-criminal Bane had approached him with the honour, although it took hesitation before the Good Doctor considered the benefits of the job. He hadn't been out of Arkham for a while, a long time without being able to witness a slither of anxiety or fear, so you can imagine how refreshing it felt for him everytime he finished a sentence and the hope in every condemned man's eyes being drained and replaced with the fear of death.
In fact, he'd just recently sentenced a group of policemen to death by exile, but the fact that the group contained the well known Commissioner (or, more Ex-Commissioner now) Gordon would have excited any crowd of criminals with a vengence. And now that they had control over the city, it was their turn to deal their own judgement against those who imprisoned them.
After all, it didn't take a genius to realise exile was just death, sugar coated by those blinding themselves in hope that they'll be alright. In Gotham City now, no one was that foolish.
"Next!" He rose his voice over the crowd, a calm but equally chilling voice suited to the Master of Fear.
The crowd quietened down as the next unfortunate soul was brought in. Escorted with guns digging into the back of her spine, a girl who looked no older than mid-teens was shown to the chair, her head down the entire time Jonathan had his eyes on her. Long but raggedy and slightly matted black hair measured down to her mid back, some of it sweeping across her forehead and covering her eyes from full view. The sleeves of her GPD firemens jacket she wore and the bottoms of her orange trousers were binded with duct tape to her unusually thin limbs.
He watched her carefully as she sat, her legs apart with her elbows resting on her knees, hands dangling inbetween. Although he wasn't sure, being so high up and far from her, he thought he saw them covered in crimson.
Before he could start speaking, one of the men who brought her in steped forwards. "We found her standing over one of our guys on the floor. His throat got ripped out, and when we saw her hands covered in blood, we thought she needed to be punished."
Jonathan nodded, but kept his thoughts trained on her. Just the sight of her set off a spark in his brain, something told him that he'd seen this girl before. But he shook it off as nothing, ready to begin.
"I see. Well then," He spoke to the girl, who's ears pricked up when he rose his voice to address her. "You're obviously aware what you've done has landed you with your fate already decided. Now you have a choice between being sentenced to death, or sentenced to exile. What is your choice?"
It was clear that she was listening, yet she didn't make a sound. She sat there, staring at the ground, as if waiting for something.
Jonathan pressed her. "We don't have all day, Miss-" He paused, then turned to the man who spoke before. "Do we know her name?"
A low, dark chuckle echoed through the room, all mumbling from the crowd dwindling into silent and everyone turning to it's source. It almost sounded too psychotic to belong to anyone else, and Jonathan knew who he was dealing with as soon as he heard it, yet decided to let the events play out. The girl raised her head slightly, and began to chant a slow, haunting rhyme.
"Jonny Crane, Jonny Crane,
Bashed his head on a window pane,
Then he slid down off the sill
His breathing calm, his body still..."
She lifted her head high up now to face the judge, the ebony hair falling away from her face to reveal two wide yellow eyes that looked as if the were glowing, and the shadow on the bottom of her face was lifted to show a set of sharpened teeth grinning broadly up at Jonathan. "Hello Scary." She rasped teasingly.
"Why did you kill that man, Thalia?" Jonathan sighed indifferently, but inwardly enjoyed the snarl crossing over the girl's expression. He enjoyed that her real name irked her to no end, and often exploited that in conversation.
She went to get up, but eyed the men besides her spoting their firearms, so she stayed seated, sending death glares to Jonathan. "It's Sady!" She spat at him.
"Either way," He smiled, letting Sady know just how much it pleased him to see her frustrated. "It's funny how you still remember that rhyme, even after you were sedated and put into solitary for a week."
She laughed harshly. "It's also funny how you still remember that too, even after I bashed your pretty little face into the rec room window and knocked you out cold!" She retorted. "And I only killed that guy because I thought I'd pay you a visit, out of the kindness of my heart!" She mock pouted, placing her blood drenched hands over her heart (or where it would've been if she had one).
Jonathan just rose a skeptical eyebrow at her excuse. He could tell she was being truthful: somehow, she associated herself as a friend of his. But she wasn't telling the whole truth.
Unable to keep a straight face any longer, Sady burst out into hysterical laughter at her last statement, but everyone else except Jonathan (who just kept a straight face, unfased by her insane laughing) looked wary, unnerved by this maniac.
Sady wiped a tear from her eye. "Okay, that's some of it. I heard rumours going around that cops who were getting taken in were sent to you for getting their punishment served. On top of that, I hadn't had lunch yet," She brought one of her bloody fingers to her mouth and ran it across her lip, her tounge following the tip. "I figured two birds with one stone."
"Hmm," Jonathan didn't want to comment on the Sadyst's cannibalism. He'd seen enough when he watched her first walk into Arkham. After she got locked in her cell for her first night, she'd shot her hand out through the bars in her cell door window and slashed across the night guard's throat, ripping out whatever she could from his neck and pulling it back into her room. When the orderlies came to sedate her, Jonathan saw that her face and hands were covered in whatever she didn't have time to shove down her throat, as they dragged her out to fit her a straightjacket.
Focusing away from the memory, he pondered the thought of her sentence. Sure, he could have her gone now, over and done with, no more annoyance or intrusions from the animalistic child who took enjoyment in watching him sigh in frustration. But then again, he was intriegued by the young psychopath. He still hadn't been able to delve into her mind, whilst breaking her in the process to discover what her true demons consisted of. And it seemed like something he wanted to see more than he wanted to have her dead. Glancing around the crowd, he met eyes with Bane, who was leaning up against the far pillar, looking up at him. Although the masked monster of a man said nothing and gave no form of communication to Jonathan, it was easy to tell he had no care or concern about what happened to the cannibal.
"Sadyst," Jonathan put on his more professional tone again, loud and clear. Sady tilted her head to the side, her interest peaked. "Can you confirm that you have imprisoned by the law enforcers of society, opressed into confinement at Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane?"
She scoffed and threw her arms up in the air, "Sure, go ahead, tell all the loonies in the room where I live!"
He smirked at the irony of the use of the term 'loonies', but switched back to netrual a moment later. "I'll take that as a yes. Although you have done something worthy of sentencing, you are one of the oppressed yourself, and do not deserve any sentencing as of yet. You may leave the court."
At this, the crowd (except Bane, who continued to look disinterested) began to boo and moan that nothing was happening to the little freak who wandered in of her own will. But Sady simply stood from her chair and shouted (more growled) "OI!", which silenced everyone instantly. When she was happy that everyone had finally spoke up, she waltzed towards the doors leisurely as everyone watched her with a slight dread that she'd suddenly turn violent. She then halted, turned to the thug standing at the door and sneered, "What're you looking at, white meat?" He cowered, holding his gun closer to his chest as she bore teeth at him in a snarl and flexed a bloody claw inches from his face. Then she smiled cheerily in contrast to the death glare a moment before and waved back to Jonathan like she was leaving a parent for her first day at school.
"See you later Spooky!"
And with the slam of the door, she was gone. The room seemed somewhat more comfortable when she left, but Jonathan had kept his cool the entire time. Even though he was fully aware that no one in Gotham had much time left, he was sure that Sadyst would make sure that she met up with him again before the time Gotham would be destroyed. But there was no time to be dwelling on what the unpredictable young child had planned.
BANG BANG BANG "Next!"
Well, there you have it! I know Sadyst was in the Arkham Games universe, but I tried to put her into the Nolanverse as a surprise. Oh, I hope it's okay, and if it's OOC I'm so sorry! D: But even if this present does suck on toast, I'm sure you'll have a happy birthday anyway, and I wish you all the best for the next year! HERE'S TO SEVEN EVERYONE! :D *confetti and balloons evareewhar!*
Just so you guys know, Sadyst's first name is Thalia, but don't mistake her for Talia Al Ghul! It's Seven's OC :3 If you like the sound of her, I suggest reaing the fanfiction she's featured in: Sadistic and Insane. Ayla approved, I reccomend it ^_^
