Um, yes, hello, Sorry for the wait. But I'm here now! Please read, I worked really hard on this to get this short chap.
Nauru
The Next morning
Owl told me she was bringing me to stay with her friend. But her friend is where the old fat man is and I don't like him. No one insults Owl, except Alice sometimes, but those are jokes. I think at least Owl says their jokes.
Owls friend seems nice, I think he's a nicer version of Mr. Bird. And he doesn't talk to me like I'm stupid. Even Alice sometimes forgets sometimes. Owl's excuse is that her brain isn't all there, and sometimes it isn't but most of the time it is. She just covers up pain with a farce of insanity.
I don't really remember what 'farce' is, I've only heard the Librarian use it once.
False, fake, a disguise.
Oh, that makes sense.
The building that Owl says is a po-lice station is nearly as dark and creepy looking as Arkham is; or more. I jump up five of the tall steps before Grex frowns at me and picks me to land on her shoulders. Grex is weird, she is no nonsense but loves to be mischievous. I think she would have more of the painful mischief if Owl let her. She's rather violent, I know what Grex does to those people's faces even if she tells me not to pay attention or to go home. It's still fun to be with both of them. None of them are ever home.
The doors to the Creep open when Grex slams through after giving up on Owl pushing on the stuckness of it. Warm air is in the Creep. Lots of loud people, but not as many as the last time we were here. Kathy, the woman on the phones, nods at my Owl, but points up. Owl knows what this means and walks fastly up the stairs that lead to the floor above the busy people.
I see Owls' friend standing in a glass box. He looks disappointed and sad. Why does he sigh like Alice does when I talk to the people in her book Library.
Owl finishes the stairs and we both grimace when we see Bollock, but he is FatMan. At least until I meet someone bigger. Though with all the running Blondy makes him do, he might slim down.
Owl walks to stand outside the glass box, bouncing slightly on her toes. We watch her friend move out of the door with blinders hanging on it. When he sees us the small frown rises into an excited grin. "Ah Ibis, here already! Actually," he looks at his wrist, "You're late!" I am dropped quickly to the tile. Owl begins, what Alice says is, her ramble, "O-m-gosh, what time is it?" she holds up her wrist and releases a squeak. Like that video of the tiny rats Alice showed me once. Grex doesn't like rats, she thinks they're abnormal. "Rats shouldn't be this big." she complained, and then kicks one down an alley.
Owl leans down and hugs me, and Grex tells me to have fun. Whatever she thinks is fun. But all the things Grex thinks is fun, Owl says are bad. They confuse me sometimes. One of them likes getting hugged around her leg and the other will just put up with it. Owl likes action movies, Grex likes suspense. I love them both anyway, like Alice says to, and so I wave at Owl as she flies down the stairs and out the door.
The tall friend looks down at me with the small confused frown. His hazely-green eyes are cocked to the side the same way Crane does when he wants to know what crazy Alice is talking about.
"Not crazy." I mutter just as the smart man looks away. He doesn't hear, too distracted by… something. Adults are weird staring off into space when there's nothing there to- Oh he's looking at Fatman walking towards us. Smart man picks me up under my arms and places me behind a tall plant with leaves that stretch all around me.
He must not want Fatman to see me. Why?
Well Fatman obviously doesn't like him, and he really doesn't like me, I did bite him after all.
Edward
Naurus' eyes blaze from behind the foliage, but I can't stop and admire them. Because one, she would most likely be creeped out and run away and the second is one of my least favorite favorite coworkers. He seems to be in a remarkably bad mood today, perhaps Gordon did something to cause trouble again.
But luck is on my side for the time, and he continues on his path. Only snorting as he passes me.
A small voice comes from the plant, "Mister Nygma, c'n I come out?"
Looking over at the child I see her standing in a layer of dusty dirt. I feel myself blush, "Oh, o-of course child."
Surprisingly she glares at me with Greek fire blazing in her eyes, "Not Child, Nauru. My name's Nauru. Call me what you like, not child."
Ah, so Crane calls her that. Hopefully she lasts longer than his last batch of 'children'. Of course Ibis would kill him before he got the chance to do anything too nasty.
"Sorry Nuru, I didn't mean anything by it." I stare at the short dark haired child standing defiantly in the dirt. I smile more when it says, "Not Nuru! What's a Nuru?" She looks at me curiously before glancing down the hall (assuredly to look if anyone was listening) and asking in a whispery conpirital voice, "Are you deaf? Because Alice told me not to be rude to deaf people cause they won't hear all my awesomeness." The dark head of hair nods smartly as if what she said was the wisest piece of advice ever given to her.
Crane
Thick clouds of oxygen thin air hovers in front of my nose and mouth. It drifts forward without weight before the harsh wind I have anticipated snatches it away toward the village. My second to last destination before I can go home, hopefully with a deal in hand.
Date
Leather crunching on hard rock and ice is pattern I thought could never surpass, in levels of annoyance, the jabbering of children before a class. Not that people normally talked once entering my room to begin with, but the annoyance stands firm. My feet are numb and somehow sore before they ever hit the granite. I am beginning to wish my throbbing legs were numb as well. I had better be close or I will have to use my toxin for merely an adrenaline factor, and that would waste at least three months of work beside all the other complications that would arise.
I pulled off frost coated goggles earlier and visited the village looking like a raccoon. Perhaps I should use more vaseline.
For the most part locals are more trusting (which equals forthcoming) if they can see your eyes. Superstition in this part of the world is that demons take out the color and hide it away when they possess you. This unfortunate belief combined with my eye coloring, makes the more superstitious wives very uneasy around my presence. Their fear, coupled with my, as Ibis liked to say, "Wonderfully abrasive almost anti-socialness," well let us just leave it to say 'I have been slapped, punched, and one over-zealous woman threw a pan at me when I asked her for directions. She rather reminded me of Alice when I came (was abducted) for her quesh.
But if what 'Ra's' had told/threaten me was true, then I will live to see all of them again. If not then no-one will read this and Gotham will have fallen before anyone knows I'm gone.
Sorry, I'm so sorry but I'm done. With school and everything else, I don't have time to listen to this many people yelling in my head.
It's possible that I might (maybe) write a sequel. But this is where I've been planing to stop for a while.
Talk to me about what it is that made you need this many chapters, it'd be much appreciated.
This has been Grex, by Grex, toodles.
