A small apartment on the corner of Gotham. That was where Mary Louise Dahl currently resided. She lay on the sofa with a bored expression, continuously flicking through TV channels. Her lip curled as she came to a re-run of the television show that had destroyed her life, and she turned the TV off before throwing the remote away with distaste.
Just once, she would have liked for someone to take her seriously. Someone, anyone really.
She sat up properly on the sofa, propping up her chin with her hand as she frowned.
She needed to think of what she was going to have for dinner.
As she was considering it, something suddenly clamped over her mouth. Mary let out a muffled cry as she struggled against whatever was holding her, instantly thrashing helplessly like the child she appeared to be. She bit down on the thing, a hand, before darting off the sofa frantically. When she saw what it was, her eyes widened.
A doll. A giant doll, like the one she had carried that had a gun inside. Only a blank white mask covered the face of it.
"Who are you?" She asked, "What do you want?" She backed away as the Doll moved around the sofa, shaking her head and causing her blonde curls to bounce against her face.
"What do you want?!" She shouted. Once again, there was no reply, and Mary bolted towards her bedroom.
Slamming the door behind her, Mary panted as she looked around for a place to hide. For possibly the only time in her life, she was glad to be the size of a toddler as she scrambled under the bed.
Who could possibly have been after her? Batman? No, it couldn't have been. He wouldn't have done this, frightened her like this. As dark and as brooding as he was, he wasn't a complete monster. So who was this?!
Feet pressing against the wall behind her, she held a hand over her mouth to stop any sound escaping as the door creaked open slowly, spilling light into the room. She trembled as the blue-covered feet moved from the doorway to the side of the bed, stopping suddenly and causing her to shrink back.
If she could just stay silent, maybe whoever it was wouldn't find her…
The feet moved away from the bed, and she bit back a breath of relief. She moved forward ever so slightly to see if it had left…
…And then let out a cry as a fistful of her hair was grabbed roughly.
The Doll yanked her roughly out from under the bed, and she felt tears run down her face as her head was turned to the inhuman creature.
"Please…" She begged. The Doll remained silent, and then she felt something pierce her skin and slowly, everything blacked out.