Nightmare in Arkham
Chapter 23: "Fall of an Empire"
-Three crows stood in the street pecking over the remains of another crow that wasn't quick enough to get out of the way in time. The dead crow may very well have come from the same family as the ones eating it but this didn't matter in the least to the three scavengers; meat was meat.
-Suddenly a car came bounding down the street. The birds scattered just as Leslie Thompkins roared past them carrying the badly injured Selina Kyle. Selina laid in the back seat with a thick linen sheet wrapped around her body that was covered in red stains. As the car raced down the street toward Gotham's Medical Center the three crows took off into the sky.
MEANWHILE…
-Within the dream world, the Bridesmaid emerged from the dumpster she was left inside. She groaned as if waking up with a hangover. Everything around her was silent, save for the sound of the wind as it blew past her.
-"Puddin?" The monster called. There was no reply. "Puddin are you still here?" Silence. "Is anyone here? Hello?" The Bridesmaid proceeded to climb out of the dumpster. "Hel-LO" The Bridesmaid lost her balance as she was climbing out and tumbled out of the dumpster, landing face first on the concrete. She lay still for a short time until she felt something tugging on her hair.
-"Puddin? Puddin is that you?" The Bridesmaid reached a hand behind her head only to have it bitten by the crow that was pecking over her seemingly dead body. It didn't hurt the Bridesmaid, even as the blood seeped out of her finger, but it did startle her. She jerked her hand back as she rose to her feet and the crow flew off into the night with a loud "CAW! CAW!"
-When the crow was out of hearing range, there was complete silence again. The Bridesmaid slowly wrapped her arms around herself, a feeling of melancholy starting to pass over her. She dreaded being alone.
-She blindly walked away as the crow flew across the city and took rest the roof of a white-painted building.
-The building, though in a state of decay, still retained an extravagantly fancy appearance as its icy blue lighting shone like an iceberg in the beams of the full moon, especially in the glass done which gave off a blinding, crystalized illumination that could be seen from miles away.
In the real world Alice rushed to the storage room where all of the medication was housed. Dr. Leland was trailing behind her.
-"Alice! Wait! What the hell is going on?! You need to tell me now!" She pleaded still in shock from what she had just witnessed. Alice was silent. She didn't even seen to be aware of Dr. Leland's presence.
-When Alice reached the door to the medication room, she slammed the door and locked it as Dr. Leland screamed and banged on the door demanding Alice to come out. Wasting no time, Alice gathered as many sleeping pills as she could find and swallowed them without thought or fear of an overdose. She then grabbed an adrenaline shot and placed in the pocket of her lab coat before injecting herself with a sedation. By the time Dr. Leland finally got the door open, Alice was out cold on the floor.
In the dream world Alice awoke in the same place she had passed out, only now all the medicine containers and storage boxes had been replaced with buckets of blood and formaldehyde jars containing severed limbs. She rose to her feet with her hand on her Bug Zapper.
-Alice exited the room and found herself standing in the center of a massive hallway with a red carpet that seemed to stretch on for miles. The ceiling was lined with rotating fans that looked like plane propellers and there were old desks stacked with mountains of papers on top. The roof was so impaired that rainwater practically spilled into the hallway and whenever a bolt of lightening would sound, it would fill the room with its constant flashing. As Alice made her way down the fall, the desks would abruptly move away from the wall as she passed and the papers would fly down the hall carried by an invisible gust of wind.
Freddy watched her from his monitors. "Boys," he said to the Headless Horseman and the Mad Hatter. His minions looked up at him, "Get ready to send out Gourmand." Then he turned to his minions with a wicked smirk, "There's a doctor in the house."
MEANWHILE…
-Penguin had awoken at a table inside of the Iceberg Lounge. He was absolutely astonished to find himself inside of his most prized investment that he had made his kingdom for his empire in Gotham. Oh how he had missed the sight of the white-blue shade that bedazzled the interior, the crystal polished floors, the chandlers that hung like ice-cycles, the mural of the beautiful frozen mountain landscape under the night sky that was painted all around the central dining area, and especially the mountainous iceberg pilings that stood in the center of the ocean-blue pool where a band would always be playing sweet music to the patrons and himself. The Penguin found himself shedding tears of deep joy.
-As he got up and walked over to the pool and starred out at the clear, blue water, he heard a noise that sounded like the flapping of wings. When he looked up he saw a pair of crows soaring in the air. The two birds hovered above Penguin for a short time before coming to rest on the railing that lined the pool beside him.
-The crows seemed to study Penguin as he looked at them curiously.
-"Now how in the world did you two lovelies find your way into my humble abode?" He asked the birds as he leaned in closer, taking in the beautiful elegance of his feathered friends. One of the crows cocked its head as it starred at Penguin with its beady black eyes before the two birds flew from the railing and came to rest on the surface of the still water. Then something amazing happened that caused Penguin's eyes and mouth to widen to their fullest extent.
-A pocket of water bellow the crows' feet froze into a block of ice and the birds transformed into a human couple dressed completely in black. Their clothes were decorated in black feathers and they wore masks resembling crows. And then Penguin looked up to see another pair of birds, this time a pair of white doves, repeat the same process. And then a pair of humming birds, then a pair of blue jays, a pair of macaws, a pair of toucans, a pair of pheasants, a pair of rainbow lorikees until the entire pool was frozen over with dozens of beautifully colored dresses and happy couples on top. Then two mockingbirds gracefully swooped down onto the ice stones that roses out of the pool and transformed into a pair of beautiful women. And then, like duo of sirens from Greek mythology, the women began singing a soft, melodious tune as the couples on the ice began to dance.
-Penguin stood by the railing and watched the beautiful spectacle with pure bliss, slowly swaying his head to and fro with the rhythm of the music. Before long, the water was nearly completely frozen, save for one straight, red carpet shaped path that ran vertically down the center from the bank of the pool to the iceberg. And then as Penguin looked on, a section of the railing disappeared and staircase appeared that lead down to the unfrozen path on the water. As Penguin gazed at the staircase with confusion, his peripheral vision caught a glance of something moving toward it.
-He turned his head to see a peacock slowly walking toward the stairs with wide, elegant steps. Its blue head hung low to the ground and its massive tail feathers stayed down as it strode past the flabbergast Penguin without even noticing him. As the peacock began to descend onto the icy pool, Penguin waddled over to the staircase and watched with wide-eyed enchantment as the elegant phasianidae stepped onto the liquid surface of the pool to join its feathered friends in the aviary dance. With each step the peacock took, the water beneath its feet froze over until it reached the end of the path that lay at the foot of the iceberg.
-The peacock turned and starred at the Penguin with what appeared to be eyes of sadness. It was then that Penguin realized the most beautiful bird on the dance floor was the only one without a mate. And then the peacock changed.
-In a Swan Princess transformation fashion, the Peacock turned into a beautiful woman revealing it to be, not a peacock, but a peahen. The woman's dress was a heavy ocean blue in the front like the peacock's neck and chest. Her mask was a mixture of blue, green, and yellow that covered, not only her face, but also a portion of her head. On the head, a pair of crested feathers stood tall like a crown on the head of a queen. And on the back of the dress, a pair of long, train feathers hung down, each one adorned with countless ocelli (eyespots).
-The Penguin was so taken by the beauty of the woman that he took a few steps down the stairs but stopped when the woman took off her mask.
-The woman had long, orange hair, a dark red lips, a pair of grape green eyes, a pair of gold earrings, and a look of deep loneliness as she sadly kept her eyes to the ground.
-"Veronica," Penguin muttered to himself under his breathe.
-Penguin stood frozen in place as he looked upon the temptress that seduced him long ago. His heart still ached from the blow she dealt him. How could he have been so stupid? A woman like her, actually taking an interest in someone like him? It was all wishful nonsense. And now here she stood, alone, the most exotic bird in the room with no wings to lift her from her lonely sorrows. It was too good for her.
-Penguin shook his head and began to make his leave. But then Veronica lifted her head and Penguin saw the deep, remorseful melancholy on her face. Veronica's eyes were riddled with, not only sadness, but with regret as well. She opened her mouth as if about to speak, but stopped short and closed her mouth as tears began to form on the sides of her eyes. Penguin turned his full attention to her, expecting her to try and talk again, but Veronica turned her head to the floor unable to look him in the eyes.
-Penguin scoffed. That's what I thought. I may have been a fool once but I am never a fool twice.
-With a disappointed glare, Penguin turned around, walked back up the stairs, and started for the exit. Then, out of nowhere, Veronica appeared before him. Her olive green eyes burying themselves into Penguin's arbor brown eyes.
-"If you have something to say then say it," Penguin irritably told her with a scowl.
-Veronica looked wounded. She opened her mouth to speak but had trouble finding the right words. As Penguin looked up at her with his arms folded and his patience thinning, Veronica's faced tensed and she slowly broke down in tears. She gently wrapped her arms around Penguin as she wept on his shoulder.
-At first Penguin didn't move or change his expression. But as Veronica's cries became heavier and her embrace tightened, Penguin's heart seemed to gradually melt as he softened his glare and accepted his former "lover's" embrace.
-After Veronica let go of the Penguin, she stared into his eyes with red streak marks running down her face and Penguin could see that she truly was sorry for what she did.
-With a small nod Penguin replied, "I forgive you."
-Veronica's frown instantly grew into a wide smile. The feathers that adorned the rear of her dress stood up like a massive fan in an elongated display of what looked like dozens of blue and green eyes looking back at the Penguin.
-As the Penguin gazed in utter amazement at the train of color, Veronica took him by the hand.
-In that moment, Penguin felt as if he had grown to twice his original size. For he was no longer just a penguin, he was the Emperor Penguin with his queen at his side.
-"Come my love," he said triumphantly, "Birds of a feather must flock together."
-The two lovebirds marched back onto the ice as the mockingbirds finished their song and Penguin and his lover were met with tremendous praise from their feathery subjects. And then the two mockingbird women gracefully descended onto the ice and each took the Penguin and Veronica by a hand and they levitated back up, taking the two royal birds with them. They stood them face to face on the highest peak of the iceberg and then stepped off, hovering in the air as they began their sweet song again
MEANWHILE…
-Alice now found herself inside of what appeared to be a Natural History Museum.
-As Penguin was enjoying the music on the ice, Alice also began to here a song start playing from an intercom system. It sounded like an eighties song with guitars, drums, and a very ominous tune. A woman's voice breathed heavily as the song began.
-Alice froze and looked around for the noise, aiming her Bug Zapper outward ready to fire. A female voice began singing:
Darkness strikes once again,
I'm all alone, it feels like the end
He walks with me, while I sleep,
It's like a heart attack on a one-way street
*As Penguin danced with his beloved, the iceberg under his feet began lifting itself higher into the air as the mockingbirds continued to sing their song.
I can't sleep tonight
'cause I gotta run, gotta hide
*The head of a massive Tyrannosaurs Rex appeared in front of Alice letting out a bone-chilling roar as its red eye starred straight at her.
-Alice screamed in shock and began…
Running from this nightmare
Running...
Running from this nightmare
-Not thinking clearly, Alice ran down a staircase right beside the colossal carnivore but when she turned toward it she saw that it was animatronic. The mechanical monster slowly reset itself to a frozen standing position, its eye darkening.
-Alice scoffed and shook her head as she continued onward.
-The song continued:
No way out, not this time,
I've seen you before, inside my mind
My heart beats faster with every step,
I'm not afraid of you, you haven't gotten me yet
*Penguin's iceberg thrown had reached the highest point of its empire. Had there been a sun, he would have surely been fried. Veronica took her left hand and she gently ran her index and middle fingers on either side of Penguin's "Fine Roman Nose".
*After about three more twists and turns Alice found herself standing in a rounded room with a double staircase. There were three sealed off tunnels beneath the stairs. In the center of the room was an old eighties record player where the song was being played. There was a sign written in red spray paint above the three tunnels that said Gladiator Pit.
*As the mockingbirds' song climaxed, Penguin looked deeply into his lover's eyes and asked, "My love, shall we be this happy for the rest of eternity?"
*Alice began to walk casually toward the record player.
*Veronica slowly lowered her head closer to Penguin's face just as her fingers reached the tips of his Fine Roman Nose. After an intense pause, the song of the mockingbirds ended and Veronica responded…"Nevermore."
*Alice slammed her foot down on the record player and smashed it to pieces.
*With a wicked laugh, Veronica began to transform before Penguin's stunned eyes into a morbid, satanic harpy. Her smooth, white skin became dark and wrinkled and covered in warts. The beautiful peacock feathers instantly burned away to be replaced by a pair of giant red leathery devil wings that sprang up out of her back and tore off her dress. Under her dress, Veronica's body became so frail that Penguin could see her skeleton under her flesh. Her feet burst through her shoes having turned into a pair of razor sharp eagle talons and as she held up her hands, they too transformed into pair of massive bird-like claws. And finally, her beautiful bright orange hair turned blood red and became shaggy and stringy and her delicate green eyes burned with an orange glow that was as bright as the sun, causing Penguin to shield his eyes in both pain and horror.
-As Penguin's eyes recovered from the blinding flash, the harpy took flight and shot into the air like a rocket, smashing through the glass ceiling with an ear splitting shriek. All of the other dancers turned back into their bird forms and escaped out of the hole in the ceiling leaving the flightless Penguin alone atop his tower.
-When the Penguin's vision returned, he saw the two mockingbirds swooping down at him. As they neared their target, they changed into the Headless Horseman and Mad Hatter.
*Alice's eyes followed the staircase in front of her and as they wandered farther upward she saw that she was standing at the bottom of a deep chasm inside of a tower with over a dozen stairways and catwalks stretching across the narrow void above her head.
-I knew you'd find your way back to Wonderland, Alice.
-Alice gasped and shot her head forward. Freddy was standing right in the center of the platform where the double stairs met.
-"Sorry it took so long for me to get back to you. I've been redecorating, as you can see."
-"You're finished, Krueger!" Alice shouted as she fired a bolt from her Bug Zapper at him.
-Freddy leaped out of the shockwave's path and landed in the pit about ten feet in front of Alice
-"Why Alice," Freddy said starring at Alice's cast, "You seem a bit one-sided tonight."
-Alice took another shot at Freddy but, with a burst of speed, he whizzed past her and snipped off a piece of her lab coat before disappearing. Before Alice could react, Freddy reappeared on the platform above the tunnels.
-"Hate to leave you so soon," Freddy said holding up the torn piece of fabric from Alice's coat in between his claws, "But I have patients to see." Freddy motioned toward a TV monitor and it showed nearly all of Alice's patients waking up somewhere within Freddy's domain.
-On Penguin's screen, he was desperately trying to fend of Freddy's minions with his umbrella.
-"You leave them out of this! This is between you and me Freddy!" Alice screamed with rage.
-"Sorry to tell ya sweetie, but you're just not as fun as you used to be. But don't worry, I've had a little something brought in to keep you company."
-With a thunderous roar, a monstrous, reptilian creature burst through the bars that sealed off the middle tunnel. It stood nearly 12 feet tall and had teeth that were at least six inches long. It had skin similar to a crocodilian with a dark green armored hide on the back. But the most disturbing feature was the giant, gaping hole inside the stomach that seemed like an empty, black vortex that could never be filled.
-Alice backed away as her eyes and mouth slowly opened in absolute shock.
-"Say hello to my new pet," Freddy said with smile. Then he turned to the hulking beast.
-"Gourmand, come!" Freddy ordered. The creature growled softly as it moved closer toward its master. As it lifted its head up, Freddy held out the piece of fabric like biscuit for a dog.
-Freddy looked back at Alice, who was still starring in horror at her former patient.
-"Let me tell ya, the biggest hassle with owning this pet: he's always hungry but never full," Then Freddy gave an evil smile, "And when he gets that first taste…" Freddy dropped the fabric and it slowly glided into the massive jaws of Gourmand, who snapped it up without hesitation. Seconds later, the torn fabric slid out of the hole in the creature's stomach, coated in blood, "…he always wants the rest of it."
-Gourmand shot his head toward Alice. Thick strands of saliva oozed off of his massive teeth and out of his open maw as he slowly approached her.
-"Be sure to save room for desert," Freddy said with loud laughter. He then vanished in a mass of fire.
-Alice slowly backed away as Gourmand drew nearer. Her eyes stayed glued to the ravenous monster.
-"W-Waylon?" Alice said with a shaky voice. The only response that came from her former patient was a loud, feral roar that shook the entire room.
MEANWHILE…
-Penguin was still trying to fight off his aggressors. He was using his umbrella as a shield and the gun within the tip as and offensive weapon. But the Mad Hatter's quick agility made it difficult for Penguin to fight him on equal terms.
-Just as Penguin was able to trap the Hatter on the edge of the iceberg with his umbrella, there was a loud slashing noise and the iceberg began to sway from side to side.
-The Headless Horseman had sliced clean through the base of the iceberg with his scythe.
-"There's always more than one way to break the ice," he said to himself humorously as he pushed against the iceberg causing it to topple over.
-The Mad Hatter gracefully jumped from the iceberg and landed beside his partner on the frozen lake while the Penguin began to fall.
-Thinking quickly, the Penguin activated the helicopter blades in his umbrella and stopped his fall. He then proceeded to airlift himself out of the ceiling as he threw a victorious laugh at his attackers.
-Penguin soared out his lounge and continued to ascend higher and higher into the dark night as the cryptic city became completely visible to him. He had reached an altitude of 1500 feet in the air when he heard the resonant screeching that sounded through the air.
-Penguin turned his head around and saw all of his feathered brothers and sisters that he had just shared the greatest dance of his life with all darting for in one giant mass of beaks and talons.
-Once they were on him, the all pecked and clawed relentlessly at Penguin's body. Each blow felt like a dagger shredding his clothes and penetrating his flesh. With only one free hand, the Penguin was helpless as the pointed tips poked and tore at him just as the beaks of the three crows had done to their own sibling. Then suddenly, all the birds scattered leaving a dazed and battered Penguin shaking with fear and agony as the rain drizzled down on Arkham City.
-Suddenly, Freddy popped down from the top of Penguin's umbrella and hung suspended in the air beside him while his left hand clutched the outer edge of the umbrella.
-"Hey Oswald!" He shouted catching Penguin by surprise. The moment Penguin turned his head toward Freddy, he inserted the tips of his middle and index blades into Penguin's nostrils, "How are you like the Roman Empire?"
-Penguin's voice was caught in his throat as he stared in wide-eyed terror at the dream demon. After five seconds without an answer, Freddy shouted, "Time's up!"
-Freddy yanked his blades forward and tore Penguin's nose completely off at the base. Penguin let out a tortured scream as Freddy laughed sinisterly.
-Then Freddy abruptly shot himself upward and out of sight exposing a figure that was tearing through the sky at break neck speed right toward Penguin.
-Penguin watched with his eyes and mouth agape with terror and doom as the blazing glow from the harpy's eyes raced toward him like an oncoming freight train.
-The harpy took a devastating swipe with her claws as Penguin's world went up in a blinding orange flash. However, the blow was not dealt to him, but to his umbrella. Penguin's flying instrument was smashed to pieces and rained down toward the earth. Now that the Penguin's wings had been clipped, he fell.
-Directly bellow Penguin was a statue that depicted Julius Caesar on the back of a horse with his sword raised high in the air as his horse reared up triumphantly on its hind legs in a glorious warrior pose.
-After more than 30 seconds of falling and screaming, the Penguin was suddenly silent and still. The back of Penguin's head struck the tip of the sword that the Caesar statue had raised to the heavens and the blade passed through Penguin's skull before the tip and part of the blade passed out of the base of what used to be Penguin's nose, giving him a "new Roman nose".
-Penguin's corpse hung impaled on the blade as a bolt of lightening clashed from above and his blood drained onto the statue's body, bathing it in fresh blood just as the man it was based on had been thousands of years ago.
-Freddy slowly walked around the statue admiring the new addition to the masterpiece.
-With Penguin's nose still clinging to the tips of his blades, Freddy raised his claw and positioned it so that the nose was directly aligned with his own.
-"Et tu Brute, bitch," He said before letting out roaring laughter.
MEANWHILE…
-Upon arrival at Gotham's Medical Center, Selina Kyle was rushed into the intensive care ward. It took the doctors nearly four hours to clean and sterilize her wounds before they applied the stitches. It took 180 stitches to completely close up the scars and Selina had been given five shots of morphine before her entire body was wrapped in thick sheets of bandages. She had been extremely insistent that the doctor's not use anything that would put her under for obvious reasons. And now she sat awake in a small hospital room; she could hear Leslie Thompkins outside the door speaking to a nurse.
-Then Selina heard another voice, a male's. When she realized who it was, she felt fear start to rise within her.
-"Oh dear God, please don't let him in. Don't let him see me like this," Selina whispered to herself.
-The door opened and Bruce Wayne slowly walked into the dimly lit room. His eyes were filled with worry. Selina turned to him and when she saw his eyes widen, her heart sank a bit.
-Bruce slowly walked over to Selina and gazed into her eyes. Selina gazed back through the white bandages wrapped around her head and face.
-Bruce was terrified. Since the only parts of Selina's body that were visible were her eyes and mouth, he had no idea of the severity of the state she was in. But Selina was worried for a different reason, and Bruce's silence was feeding into her fear.
-When she could no longer bear the silence, she spoke.
-"Bruce," she said with tears starting to fall from her eyes.
-A portion of Bruce's anxiety was relieved. Selina was at least still able to speak and she was even able to recognize him.
-"What is it, Selina?" He said leaning down on his knees to meet Selina's eyes. That's when he saw the tears in her eyes.
-"Do…do you still love me?" Bruce was puzzled by the question, "Now that you know I'm just as weak as everyone else, and I'm probably disfigured…do you still love me?"
-Bruce was shocked by this question. He placed a delicate hand on each side of Selina's face and moved himself so that he was looking her dead in the eyes.
-"How could you say that? How could you even think something like that?" He said as a tear began to fall from his own eye. "If anything, my love for you is stronger now. Nobody's invincible, Selina. I couldn't even begin to tell you how weak I felt when I lost my parents. And disfigured? Your physical beauty is only a mere fraction of why I've loved for so long. I've loved you for your compassion and free spirit and kindness. No physical change is ever going to make feel any different about you."
-Selina was overcome with joy and relief and her heart fluttered at Bruce's compassionate words. Now she was crying. She moved her hands up to bring Bruce's face closer but Bruce shot his head forward before her hand could touch his head and he deeply kissed his love.
-Selina returned the kiss and gently placed her hands on the back of Bruce's head and shoulders as the two survivors shared their love and tears.
As Selina was being embraced by passion, sitting alone in nearly complete darkness inside of the room right next to Selina's with her back separated from Selina only by the wall that divided the rooms, was Poison Ivy.
-She had awoken after passing out days ago. But since then she had not moved, had not spoken, had not eaten, it didn't even seem like she had blinked her eyes, and she certainly had not slept. She just stared out into an invisible void, completely catatonic.
-The only source of light inside of her room came from the full moon outside of the open window beside her bed. Outside the window was a dead, leafless tree. Perched on the branch of the lifeless timber, starring into the open window directly at Poison Ivy, were three crows.