Dwelling in an eternity of darkness, madness takes ahold and would not let go, without a fight. After all the years of infliction that was caused in the pursuit of rewriting a wrong, and making a dream come true.
To take back the castle that bears his name but all that had, turned to ashes yet again. All he had ever wanted was to make, all, who had casted out The Arkham's like; they were unwanted guests at a dinner party, too pay dearly.
For the ruling families of Gotham, should have never whittled, The Arkham's down to size in a blood bath that left him, all alone with a broken outlook. Deep in his heart, Dr. Jeremiah Arkham never saw himself as mad like, the rest of his forsaken family but a godsend.
For as long, as he could remember, his dream was to help, the unbalanced. For a time he had thought that he could help but that was just a lie, he had told himself, like it was the cold hard truth and he was more trouble, than good.
For a brief moment, he felt grim but that gave way to aimless survival that asked of him, everything. In those moments, before he had drifted away, Jeremiah grabbed the dust of his soul and he sought, direction, even if it was yet another of his lies.
All his life, Jeremiah had wanted to runaway from the truth and hide in dreams and fantasy, for reality was just a disappointment and a distant place to him. In the end, Dr. Jeremiah Arkham was no different, than the rest of his family tree.
Never did he understand, what his family had stumbled on and used, unwisely. This hollow ground, which came to house Arkham Asylum. A most ghastly place and where the unthinkable of horrors, took root, like that of a parasite.
Such a place is like, a haunted house and has taken the home's heart that is but a fading memory in a dark hole. Lost, in the subconscious, the eeriness of space that is hauntingly beautiful yet somehow, tauntingly ugly.
Unrecognizable, the innocence's of that heart, which is fixated on the concave mask, like they were looking at a mirror on the wall. Such illusion of dimensions that echoes with a familiar dance that pulls at the fabric of reality which puts the fear of god, upon you like, a smile upon your face. True madness, the melting of flesh and there is no escaping such a cage, except beyond the pages of destiny.
The notion is beyond, simply gravity and brush strokes yet it is a cruel reminder that what, holds you together is nothing more then a lie that bleeds into a collected dream that is up for sale. The dreadfulness and loneliness of such a place, hopelessly mislaid and neglected, except for currency.
The mislaid can never be, just reimagined, such as a soul stuck in a coma, lost to sightlessness of worlds colliding and reshaping them, too tell a different fate in a dream within a nightmare.
The Arkham family soured, the land with their depraved experiments that had caused so much bloodshed and decay, which had brought about their ill, sureness. True power, belonged to them alone, for they took it, and so began, the beginning of their end.
During the time, when Gotham was but a distant thought, The Arkham's had cleared the land of the old and for this, they believed that they earned, a spot at the table. The Arkham's crimes hid their growing knowledge of war, as they had found unimaginable power and it plugged them further into malady.
The Court of Owls never saw past, what they had seen with their own eyes, and they believed The Arkham's were nothing more than implements to be used. Untill their truth was revealed and they were casted out like, a rotten apple, so they believed.
The Arkham's desired to sit atop a throne like a king, for the one that they served was unworthy in their eyes. So began, their plot and they held a sinister power that loved to whisper in their ears. Which told them, all they needed to hear and it said many times too one another.
"There could only be one king, so kill and leave but one in your stead." What a wonderful song of lies that they heard like, it was a war cry of the unjust."
The Arkham's had brought destruction, so that they may usher, anew era into fruition. An era that would place them front and centre, but little did they know that they were already a centrepiece much like a decapitated beast, whose head was mounted on a wall.
Ra's al Ghul already knew of their plans, and was simply, playing them like, an adored instrument. In order to have the advantage, by gaining him more clarity, of the flames and darkness that he envisioned would come to be.
The Arkham's had a very important role in all this, as they had unleashed a great evil on to this world, by cutting down a mighty tree. Such a tree, a nation had guarded in the hopes that what many generations ago had buried, wouldn't invade our reality, like it did, so many other dimensions of existence but there was no stopping it.
For such an evil would one day, manifest into a time of great depression and it would take everything, near and dear. This emptiness lays dormant, hidden in the dirt, the roots and the dark.
It would bring falsehood, in the form of a seed, a poison that would change the tides of the heart to damnation and bewilderment. Unearthed, was the spirit of all the weapons of mankind, metal, small and worthless to look at?
Ra's al Ghul had seen such things with the use of The Demon's Head and he knew, his place and what was needed of him and so. He hid away deep in the shadows, to stage a ruse, one that The Court of Owls would believe, profoundly.
It was not hard to do, all that was needed was a tick of the hand and one was simply reminded of the fear that once set root in their hearts. The Arkham's are monstrous and sharp; they cut down anything in their path like, a crazed beast that could eat you alive like, the serpent.
Ra's al Ghul placed The Shaman to secured, his rule and control, over the flames that he had envisioned so very long ago. Out of that fire, a dagger forged, that would secure his triumph, in conquering death, itself.
In that instant, Ra's al Ghul was transported to a battlefield that was nothing like, he had known yet felt as if, he had known all his life. Surrounded by darkness and in the distance; he could hears an echo of a voice, which would stop you dead in your tracks, chilling you to your core with fear swiping you from the history pages.
The sound of rushing of wind and water that smelled, as metal does and could only mean one thing, blood. In that intense moment a crippling presence made itself known. It was heavy and decrepit with every kind of fright, imaginable.
Such presence, would take his youth, if he had such a thing but all he had was his memories of such a long and forgotten time. Ra's al Ghul had endured such a presence once before and doomed him to walk amongst the living and cursed to use the Lazarus Pit, while never being whole.
The darkness was overwhelming and he could feel the pull and push of a whirlwind that trapped him in his place. Suddenly a chilling screech took him by surprise and he opened his blood shot eyes.
It was clear, the cave, the walls of flowing blood and to his horror, above. The God of Death, Sacrifice and The Night, such a glorifying and fearful deity known as, The Death Bat. The Death Bat spoke in a seemingly dead language yet some how he still understood such a heart-shattering echo of a voice that told him.
" The end of days is near, broken are time and space and so is this world, this universe and the next shall witness doom and despair thus, this is their warning. So watch closely and be amazed, horrified and perplexed that you were able to see, what was once just a thought of fantasy echoing a similar song and dance."
"The wave of death will take the creatures of the water and wash them a shore. The second wave of death will be of unheard sound but not to the creature of the sky and land, both shall fall like, stones of marble. The awful sound will continue and awaken; the artificial and the dead and they will attack and bring madness and death to all of humanity."
"The fluidity of all existence will shatter and bleed into one another, till there is only one. The end is near and will come down like, crushing waves of death, in a sea of sorrow and bitterness."
"This is a warning call, five eyes is the sign of the beginning of the end, of our book and the world that houses such tales of old and new alike. To you, Ra's al Ghul, this is your key, five's eye, the only chance for eternal life, so heed my call, nine lives are better than one."
"After all this is just a dance, so bear witness to the struggle that is tied to the sacred, the omniverse and the tree. Something wicked comes dancing this way, thus marking the end of the one that suffers in the elements from hunger and thirst, for he was hung out to dry in the heat of the sun."
"This wickedness comes dressed like an eyesore, ugly beyond your wildest dreams and scary as hell, such a wicked creature of winter yet a gift. For this gift brings joy and laughter to the one that hangs in agony and despair, as a hidden message that warms the heart."
"For these two were willing to participate in this dance that is about harmony, such is the force and the way of all things. The end is near, so beware the..."
Without warning the monstrous creature erupted into flames and laughter, which echoed in the dark. Ra's al Ghul did not understand death and his dagger, such a weapon had taken life but could also heal, any wound for such a blade had pierced, the enteral flame.
Ra's al Ghul, frozen in place, hears the breaking of glass from above like thunder; light bleeds into the darkness that surrounds him and he watches lighting streak across the night sky like a blood vein or the gold of a stone cup.
Overhead the bleeding light was like that of blooming roses unfolding in spring's morning dew. Yet was very much like, a spider dying at the end of its web in the dead of winter's night.
This blaze, echoed in his mind, such as daybreak and nightfall and autumn's watch. The pieces of obsidian glass falls like, ambers, meteorites and the end of an age. The glass surrounds him like, a thousand bats flying about in a bell tower.
The thought of it all would have blinded him into madness, if it were not for. The great pull of a river rapid much like, the blackhole at the centre of the Milky Way and he feels incomplete and unrested.
In that moment he remembers his heart, ripped from his flesh and the fear of his last breath and the haunting image of an heir to come. The agony and everything in between makes him feel how dead he truly was.
Yet he inhales the metal taste of his surroundings once more, as he goes under the sands of time and beyond the source, there he sees, even more like, a dream he could not out shoot or comprehend.
The flames, the despair that engulfed and drove many to the dark side of madness, bridges falling, the waters poison and forsaken like, a forlorn child much like, a redheaded stepchild.
In that instant, he recalls his deaths and his unseen opponent that lurks just beyond the surface of all things and his one shot to end him. So that he may take his prize of war, to drink of the cup of youth and eternal life.
Ra's al Ghul understood that such a battle would take place where the mighty tree once stood. Arkham Asylum a place with many secrets, including Dr. Jeremiah Arkham, the gatekeeper to what lies beneath.
Ra's al Ghul knew that he was much a spectator in the wings and the time has come, just as he learnt. Dr. Jeremiah Arkham was just as corruptible, just as impressionable, as the next helpless soul on the chopping block.
The Court of Owls took every opportunity; he had and twisted them in favour of their unseen master, Ra's al Ghul. After all, The Arkham's were seen as betrayers, they'd stab you in the back, if you were not watching and they'd take, the palms of victory.
The Court of Owls manipulated Dr. Jeremiah Arkham, as it was their duty to do so, like it was, a gesture of mercy, to spare one's enemy. After all he was but a child that didn't know any better that is till he grew up to know that his family were crazed murderers in a long line of killers.
Which lead him to his misguided dream, leaving everything upside down and him cursed to watch the madness unfold like it was, an ill-fated program. Fate was so unkind and so was he, for he made his choices and he pushed a deranged man in a liquor store to pull the trigger.
Looking back, Dr. Jeremiah Arkham would fear that day, haunting him much like, the thought that he had more in common with the deranged then he cared to admit. Doubt and fear twisted, his every movement, his every thought but his dream still remains and so did his lie, the lie he told himself each and everyday.
"I could and I can help, the illness that plagued the minds of the hopeless, the lonely and the forgotten."
Dr. Jeremiah Arkham believed that his method could indeed help, a method that was very much like, phage therapy in the sense that he'd treat madness with madness. After all, he had thought that he knew madness very well, like the back of his hand that is till he met Jerome Valeska.
Jerome Valeska was like any child upon first glance but he was truly a piece of work and there was just no fixing or controlling him. There was no amount of shock therapy or isolation that could hold him for Jerome, embraced the insanity like, an artistic genius.
Dr. Jeremiah Arkham watched the unfolding moments and the souls that surrounded him and he remembers it all, as if it was just yesterday. Jeremiah held on to the obsidian mirror with such anxiety and elation, knowing that such a mirror once belonged to Paul Cicero.
The Blind Fortuneteller came into Dr. Jeremiah Arkham's miserable life like, a lucky break and it came at a cost. What Jeremiah saw that day, he'd wish to forget but hate too all the same for his life was like, a tennis match that ended in love, nothing.
Until Paul Cicero had unfolded the obsidian mirror that Dr. Jeremiah Arkham now holds and he recalls the fright of such an artifact. The unearthly Paul Cicero had asked of him, his skills, to help what should be deemed broken, such as his son.
If and only if, Dr. Jeremiah Arkham helped his son then he'd give him, all his treasures of wonder, so he may restore The Arkham name to its rightful glory. Paul Cicero told Dr. Jeremiah Arkham that his son would test him and all alike and his son would push him and anyone else to the breaking point and to the edge.
Only then would they see, what they truly were, by facing the mirror and the echo of infinity. What Paul Cicero's son set into motion was something else, something horrifying, much like being stuck in a dream within a nightmare.
Dr. Jeremiah Arkham was irritated by Captain James Gordon's attention and he couldn't help himself but to flicker light onto the captain's tired face and he told James in the bleakest of tune. "There is nothing anymore, so why...does it matter, what happens now?"
Captain James Gordon musters the will to speak and plead with Dr. Jeremiah Arkham and he said. "Don't harm him, you've done enough." Dr.. Jeremiah Arkham smile's which spoke of resentfulness and he said.
"This boy is just a clone, a bad memory and the cause to our situation, really..so why, go to such lengths for him, a natural born killer, a monster...no...The Fallen such is The Devil."
James shouts with such despairing rage. "No, you're wrong!" The doctor seized this moment to glimpse the con that was lurking about in Captain James Gordon and he said with eeriness about him.
"It's true, this young man is a cold hearted killer...just as Jeremiah Valeska is and Jerome was. It's too bad that you see, him as a son and if, you had a son Captain James Gordon...I'd imagine that he'd be far worse?"
James looks at Bruce Wayne and he sees, the broken and shattered body of his friend that came so far with him, especially during Gotham's darkest hour. Such a young soul had witnessed such death, such war and such tragedy.
Being a good solider, trained in combat by the very streets that took his family and friends that he made along the way. Bruce Wayne just wanted to help, even if, it was small, he believed that it was more then enough to set the remedy into motion.
The thing was that Bruce, didn't see that he took the heavy burden and suffered carrying that great weight up a steep hill, all the while, so little saw his pain. All because, he cared for Gotham and her people that called her, home, though the rest of the world would come to fear stepping foot in such a place.
For the world had sooner; wish to kill us all by shutting us out and by cutting us out like a cancer, either way dooming us to harsh judgement. The nation's capital would indeed tell the country and the world that our city never existed like it was a false memory.
Just so that the suits that run the big picture and the machine could feel save in their system that they put into place. James's mind wondered in fury at such a thought that many believed truth. As if, Gotham was just set pieces that can be destroyed like, some play and if, he believed such a thing, he'd be truly mad?
Dr. Jeremiah then said in great annoyance." James, wake up, don't leave just yet... Look at your handy work..but don't take all the credit, his guardian and this poor bastard, helped too forge him!"
"So, tell me... how many do you think that Bruce Wayne Killed? And did you do as this bastard's father did, you remember him, Paul Cicero?" James did not acknowledged the questions asked of him, till Dr. Jeremiah Arkham flickered the light of the obsidian mirror onto him and he spoke with a trembling voice.
"Bruce Wayne never killed...it was Barbara Keen, she put Bruce's hands upon the dagger and drove it threw Ra's al Ghul, who erupted into flame and ash...Yes. I remember
Paul Cicero, The Blind Fortuneteller; he was Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska's father."
Dr. Jeremiah Arkham then laughed and James knew that he exposed his secret, of Five being Bruce Wayne and Arkham was most pleased, as he gladly told James.
"No, that was the second time...think James, was there a time that he told you that he killed Ra's al Ghul and let me guess... you did not believe him, right?" Arkham felt, dead on the money and James's face spoke volumes and Arkham painted a clear picture and told him with such fulfillment.
"Bruce Wayne asked, if you came to arrest him for murdering Ra's al Ghul and you did not believe him nor did you look into the boy's confession. Because all hell broke loose and there was no time as everyone was scrambling."
"Just to survive that night that endless nightmare that became our fate. The nightmare only got worse, as the army came not to help but to dispose of Gotham, like we were all soulless creatures of the night."
"James, your hopeless, because you thought the worst had come and gone but Ra's al Ghul had risen from out of the ashes like, a mythical creature of legend. For Ra's al Ghul was the true cause of this hellish fate that trapped us under his rule and casted as out of the collective of society."
"I wonder, if there are other cities that meet such a fate as ours, oh the humanity. Thus we knew, what it met to be truly lost and Ra's al Ghul turned Gotham against one other, once more but this time it was beyond repair."
"Ra's al Ghul got a hold of Bruce Wayne but you told your men that it was Five and he was Ra's al Ghul's heir, his dagger and he was the devil that keeps out of sight. James... what an awful liar, but you saw Bruce Wayne fight and struggle to gain control of his body, mind and soul."
"The pain Bruce must have felt, as he watched himself do the things he did. Not to mention Alfred Pennyworth and Selina Kyle's suffering at the sight of him. First with his struggle in dealing with Ra's death and how he coped, partying and the devastation of Grit/Valour and I do believe that was Ra's al Ghoul's doing."
"Bruce Wayne pulled himself from the brink, only to leave once more like a runaway. The torture that Ra's al Ghul put Bruce Wayne must have been heart breaking and soul crushing, right?"
"Ra's pitted The Joker against Bruce Wayne, his instrument of death and he took his heart Selina, right? While a handful of allies and you, watched on in horror as the damage was done, such a wicked game?"
"The Joker made it so, by tricking Bruce Wayne into thinking that he was fighting Jerome Valeska. Yet in fact, it was Gotham, his heart, his home, his starlight and fairest moon, he fought tooth and nail."
"Bruce must have thought that he was fighting for Gotham but in fact was made to fight it instead just like, the army that came before. Ra's al Ghul made Bruce Wayne a weapon and Bruce took the life that meant more to him than all his wealth."
"The heartache was too great for Bruce and he slipped away into himself as he slowly began to die, piece by blood piece. All was lost yet that was the moment, Five came and he would try to plead just as you had and he'd knew, what you had to deal with, just as Bruce Wayne had seen the first time around."
"The Riddler had found a map of hidden tunnels shattered across Gotham but were damaged, except for the designers initials X.W. Jeremiah Valeska had the answers to our salvation, all this time but the army had found them and filled them up, so that we'd remain. All tunnels lead to Arkham Asylum but it was booby-trapped and now we are stuck deep in the mud, again."
Dr. Jeremiah Arkham smiles and pulls up the obsidian mirror closer to Captain James Gordon's hopeless face and he sees into the darkness but he looks away in fright. James sees the comatose body of Bruce Wayne and the sleeping Jeremiah Valeska. Suddenly Arkham flashes the light pulling James away to ask him these questions.
"Is that Bruce Wayne or is that Jeremiah Valeska or someone else?"
James first thought was madness and he then said in confusion and exhaustion. "Bruce Wayne." Arkham whispers too himself. "Perfect." He then said louder like, he had an audience. "Who do you see in the mirror?"
James looked at Bruce like, salt in an open wound and he feels like, he was on the other side of sanity. Regret was all; James felt now, that he knew that he gave Bruce up to this manic.
James watches the life support system that had a fading heartbeat and he felt hopeless and furious, which was caused by sorrow and regret. Then he looked at Jeremiah Valeska, who was tied down just as Bruce was, but he was sleeping peacefully like, there was nothing too worry about.
It was beyond words, how he felt, seeing chaos the unfolding tragedy that would make him question, everything. For such things like, the matter of the heart, could not be so simple but all consuming, nonetheless.
James struggled to stay awake but managed to say. "What trickery is this?"
Because James caught sight of the obsidian mirror and he seen into it, as if, he was watching a movie unfold and what he saw left him mystified. Jeremiah Valeska in bandages head to toe, laying in a coma and Bruce Wayne sitting at his side with a worried yet hateful expression.
In that moment James faded into rest or was it death, all he could tell was that there was a shadowy figure that he somehow knew. This figure had the fragrance and conduct of death and deep darkness.
James stood in the darkness and suddenly thunder rumbled and sends his heart beating and just like that he was back. To James's shock, he was welcomed back by none other than Jeremiah Valeska, who was freed from his bondages, no doubt it was Arkham's doing.
Jeremiah Valeska dances with his dagger in his hand but this dagger wasn't his makeshift blade from earlier. James thought of the dagger Barbara spoke of, which had killed Ra's al Ghul but it was not that dagger either.
This dagger was made of obsidian and imperial jade and the blade looked like a bat. Jeremiah raises such a blade above his head and he struck Bruce's heart, which set him a flame and his flesh melted and he turned to ashes.
Just as Barbara had seen of Ra's al Ghul and now James had seen of Bruce Wayne. Jeremiah Valeska erupted into laugher and fire, leaving nothing but an echo, smoke and mirror.
James's eyes cloud over with death as he journeys to edge and is plugged into dark waters. So cold there is no point in taking a breath, as he could not tell the difference between up and down.
Except that someone reached for him and pulls him up to the light and he sees the moon above. He coughs up blood, as hunger and thirst hits him like a wave of pain. He realizes that his face is pushed up against the iron bars as he gasps for air, as the icy waters pushed him into them.
This place he recognizes as the prison, Five described as hell on earth and a fabrication that his mind endured. When he was just a failed experiment of Indian Hill, which hide below Arkham Asylum out of sight.