Nightmare in Arkham
Chapter 32: "Open Season"
-Alice didn't know how much longer she could last. The smoke was suffocating her lungs like a thousand cigarettes, her mind was slowly numbing from the poisonous fumes she was inhaling, and the strain from trying to support, not only her own weight, but also the weight of Pamela Isley each with just one arm made her entire body feel like it was ready fall apart. The opening to the hole they were trapped in wasn't far out of reach and Alice may have been able to climb out had her other hand not been gripping onto Pamela's. But for the time being they were both stuck in the hole as the funnel of smog devoured them.
-Despite being stuck farther down in the pit, Pamela was miraculously unaffected by the toxins in the smoke thanks to her body's natural immunity to poison. The smoke still caused her to cough and her eyes still burned from the heat, but her body hadn't grown too fatigued. But she knew Alice had only minutes, if not seconds, before she would succumb and then they would both be in trouble. Tears began falling from Pamela's eyes, not because of the smoke, but because of the decision she had finally come to: the most difficult decision she had ever made in her entire life.
-"Alice," Pamela said with a slightly shaken voice.
-Alice didn't look down because she knew the smoke rising upward would make it impossible to keep her eyes open. Instead, she gave a slight moan to signal that she was listening.
-"Alice…I'm not taking you with me," Pamela said bluntly but with clear despair.
-"Wha…" Alice slowly breathed as if she were in a trance. But the true meaning of Pamela's statement clicked in her head and Alice's eyes shot open and her mind sobered a bit.
-"No!" Alice exclaimed, albeit weakly due to her shortened breath. When Alice shouted, she involuntarily turned her face into the blackening haze. She was instantly blinded by the smoke and she squeezed her eyes shut and let out a heavy cough. "Don't you dare give up on me, Pamela. I would never give up on you."
-"Alice, please don't be stupid," Pamela begged, "Listen to yourself. You and I both know you're not gonna last much longer. Now let go of my hand and get the hell out of here."
-"This isn't how Harley would have wanted you to die!" Alice said with a husky, yet stern voice.
-Pamela was silenced by this statement. She felt a slight feeling of anger that Alice had played that card but she felt more frustrated that she knew Alice was right. But the feeling quickly melted away as Pamela realized Alice was trying to save her. She gave a long sigh and looked up at Alice. With tears running down her cheeks Pamela replied, "This isn't how she'd have wanted you to die either."
-There was a long silence as Alice contemplated Pamela's words. She knew Pamela was right: eventually she would lose her grip and the rational choice would have been to take Pamela's advice. But that just wasn't who she was. Alice had always refused, even in her younger years, to ever put her life before anyone else's. So it came as a surprise to Pamela when, instead of releasing her hand, Alice actually tightened her grip with every ounce of strength that she still had in her arm and screamed as loudly as her hindered breath would allow her, "Someone, anyone, help us!"
-Pamela smiled and started weeping tears of gratitude. Never had she ever thought anyone would see any worth within her and yet, even after she had tried to kill Alice, here she was risking her own life to give Pamela a chance at survival. Pamela knew it was a slim chance, but if she was to die she would have been honored to do so alongside Alice Johnson. Pamela tightened her grip on Alice's arm.
-Alice tried desperately to clear her mind, which was still numb from the smoke fumes. She tried to take her mind off the burning sensation spreading throughout her body and focus on something wet; something that would allow her to conjure up a rainstorm that would fall from the heavens and extinguish the fire beneath them. She felt tears running down her face. That seemed like a good starting point. She imagined the tears and little rain-droplets, small at first (maybe from a light drizzle). Then she tried to expand it, she tried to imagine heavy drops falling onto her face, then maybe a flooding of water from the grass seeping into the hole, then a flash flood, then…then…Alice lost her grip. Just when the two women began to fall to their final resting place a hand grabbed Alice's arm and held fast.
-"I got her!" Shouted a female voice that Alice vaguely recognized. Then she felt herself slowly but surely being pulled upward.
-"Alice, who is that? What's going on up there?"
-"Don't talk," instructed the voice, "Save your breath for now."
-Then it hit Pamela and she asked surprisingly, "Batgirl? Is that you?"
-Batgirl was about five feet inside the hole while Robin gripped her by the ankles. Holding on with every ounce of strength and will power he could muster, Robin strained with all his might to drag the three women out of the deadly rabbit hole but despite his lean, athletic build this was still proving to be quite a challenge, mostly because half of the weight was being held off balance with Pamela and Alice supporting theirs with only one hand each.
-As Robin strained trying to lift the full weight from the hole, Batgirl, who was facing the oncoming smoke, tried desperately to hold her breath and keep her grip steady. All the while Alice and Pamela tried to do the same.
-Alice tried even harder to concentrate on the tears and sweat that were covering her face and hands but this still wasn't enough. She needed a clear, focused image of something wet in her mind in order to extinguish the fire and smoke below them. Then, almost spontaneously, Alice made a bold, yet strangely logical choice: she released her bladder.
-Just a Robin was starting to lose his grip, a massive geyser erupted out of the hole and knocked him backward. Then Batgirl, Alice, and Pamela came falling from the sky landing on the ground beside him. Alice slowly lifted herself up, coughing heavily to clear her lungs. Batgirl knelt down beside her and placed a soaked hand on her shoulder.
-"Are you alright?"
-Alice shot her head up and looked at the masked heroine in complete and utter surprise. So many questions were racing through her mind like, How did she escape from Freddy? How did she know where to find them? How is she able to walk? But these questions were quickly cast aside and replaced with a deep sense of joyful gratitude. Alice took Batgirl by surprise when she threw herself at her, wrapped her arms around her skinny frame, and tightly embraced her while thanking her profusely. Batgirl couldn't tell if Alice was crying, laughing, or both as she did this. But she only smiled at her and returned the embrace.
-Robin was lying on one elbow, shaking his head to clear away the water and figure out what had just happened when he noticed a green hand hovering just a foot away from his head. He looked up and saw Pamela standing over him with a friendly smile.
-"Need a hand?" she asked politely.
-Robin accepted the offer and Pamela pulled him to his feet.
-"It was nice of you to rescue me, Boy Wonder," she said with wink.
-Robin's face immediately flushed red. He started rubbing the back of his head as he stammered, "Um, well, ya know, it's um, I just a-," Pamela then blew a kiss toward Robin, cutting him off.
-"It's all in a day's work, ma'am," He said in a played up, manly tone.
-Pamela just a gave a cute giggle before patting Robin on the shoulder and saying, "Of course it is." Then, looking around, Pamela noticed something was off.
-"Where's Batman?"
-Batgirl heard this and she snapped to attention. Batgirl didn't say anything but looking in her eyes, Alice could tell what she was thinking.
-"Come on, we need to go find him, now," Batgirl said to Robin as she rose to her feet. Alice grabbed her by the arm.
-"Don't tell me you're going alone."
-"Dr. Johnson," Batgirl said with a sigh, "Please don't try and stop us. Batman needs us, now more than ever."
-"I'm sure he does," Alice replied, "But you don't know Freddy like I do. I've dealt with him more times than I'd like to remember. And I think I know a way to help you fight him."
-Batgirl turned and met Alice's eyes.
-"How?"
-Alice let go of Batgirl's arm, backed away a few steps, and focused her thoughts.
-Batgirl, Robin, and Pamela all watched with utter amazement as Alice seemed to magically bend all the water soaking her body off of her, collect it all in a single mass over her head, and then with complete concentration Alice changed the water into a swarm of butterflies, which flew off into the night.
-Alice studied the dumbfounded looks on her companions' faces before stating, "Mind over matter. In dreams, anything is possible."
-"How did you do that?" Batgirl asked gleaming with astonishment. Alice smiled at her.
-"I'll show you."
MEANWHILE…
-"So, you're Freddy Krueger," Batman said with no indication of surprise or fear.
-"My, my, someone has a brain under that mask. Why don't you show me what else you have under there?"
-"In your dreams!" Batman balled one of his hands into a fist.
-"Oh, I just love how you and your little family are always so quick to choose the hard way."
-Freddy vanished and reappeared behind Batman, who turned around the instant he heard him start to reemerge. Batman struck Freddy square in the face and sent him sliding across the floor.
-Batman took out two small pellet from his belt and tossed them onto Freddy's hands. Upon impact, the pellets turned into a sticky, glue like substance that quickly hardened into cemented clumps.
-Grabbing onto the collar of Freddy's sweater, Batman snarled, "Your game is over."
-Freddy chuckled. "As long as I'm still smiling, the game is never over."
-Both of the clumps exploded, blowing Freddy's hands to pieces. Batman grabbed Freddy by one foot and hurled him toward the cavernous pit in the center of the room. Before he had a chance to get up, Batman took him by the neck and dangled him over the bottomless pit of stairways and catwalks which, to Batman, closely resembled that of M. C. Escher's Relativity painting.
-"What are you gonna do? Drop me? I may not know you inside out, but I do know that you live by a "no-kill" policy."
-"That may be true, but you're overlooking two details."
-"And what would those be?"
-Batman tightened his grip on Freddy's throat, "Because of you, I was forced to break that code."
-He tightened his grip again and brought Freddy in closer to his face. Then he said bluntly and sternly, "Second, your life ended a long time ago. And whatever mistake, whatever un-Godly flaw in the system of nature freed you from Hell, I plan to rectify here and now."
-Freddy snickered at the Dark Knight. Then he thrust his head forward and Batman was knocked backward by an invisible force that felt like he had been punched in the face. He dropped Freddy as he staggered a few steps backward.
-When Batman looked back up, Freddy crossed his arms out in front of him and cast them to the sides. His hands were instantly restored.
-"You and what army?"
-A great mass of flames rose out of the pit behind Freddy and descended to the floor just a few feet behind Batman, creating a wall of searing light that cast a menacing glow over the surroundings.
-One by one, each of Freddy's nightmarish minions emerged from the flames. The last two to emerge were his newest recruits. Bane was now a hulking mass of muscle whose face was covered by a black mask torn at the mouth and whose body looked as if it were made from various execution methods:
*It had a circular device on its back that fed a series of tentacle-like tubes in the brute's arms that pumped green Venom
*In one hand, it carried the same scimitar Bane had used earlier
*It had two electric bolts in each shoulder that hooked up to a collar that closely resembled a noose
-Leading this monster by the end of the noose leash was the most unique nightmare reflection of all. This one was created, not from one being, but from the combined reflections of Harvey Dent and Edward Nygma. Once Two-Face's duality-warped mind was fused with the cold, calculating essence of the Riddler, it created a being that, while living by a code of duality, exercised that code through ruthless planning and calculated decisions. This being was the Judge, and Bane was his Executioner.
-Now the horror started to show on Batman's face. He didn't want to believe what he was seeing and started saying to himself, "This can't be real."
-"Oh, they're real," Freddy said, "And I'm a bit surprised you're denying their existence. After all…" he leaned in closer to Batman and said, "you're the one who created them."
-"What the hell is that supposed to mean," Batman said turning around and snarling in Freddy's face.
-"It's true," said one of the nightmare reflections. Batman and Freddy turned toward them.
-The Judge stepped forward and said, "We were all created by our soul-bearing hosts so that they could match themselves on your level of insanity."
-"That's right," said the Mad Hatter, "Jervis Tech knew he could never find happiness so long as you stood in his way. So he brought me to the surface in order to give himself a fighting chance."
-The rest of the reflections concurred the same thing on their own part.
-The Headless Horseman spoke, "None of our hosts wanted to be evil, to be cast aside by society like trash blowing in the wind, but you left them with no choice. They knew the only way to counter your self-righteous hypocrisy was to do the same thing you did: cross the line and live by their darker side."
-"Enough!" Batman shouted, "That trick isn't going to work on me anymore. I didn't create any of these abominations. Everyone has a dark side. And everyone also has free will to choose which side they want to dominate the other."
-"And so which side have you chosen?" Asked the Judge. "You can deny it as long as you wish, but we all know the truth: you're just as dark and twisted and guilty as the rest of us. All that separated you from our us was your moral code that forbade you to kill. And you just confessed it yourself: that distinction has become null and void. So tell us, did you choose to break your own code? In fact, did you choose this?"
-The Judge motioned Batman toward the mirror and Batman was left shocked and disturbed to see that the events of his mental collapse were playing within it. Batman had no memory of his psychotic episode and to see every horrendous affront that he had committed against his pledge to humanity left him at a complete loss for words and even caused a moment of self-doubt. However, Batman quickly shook his head and turned away from his passed misdeeds.
-Freddy started to grow agitated and was about to rush in and attack the Dark Knight when he was halted by the sound of a sharp, metallic noise, one that didn't come from his own gloves.
-"If he won't listen to reality, then maybe I can purrrsuade him." Freddy smiled gleefully at the sound of this female voice. Then his eyes shifted toward Batman, as he didn't want to miss a second of his reaction.
-Sure enough, Sekhmet gracefully walked through the flames. The fire cast her body in a radiant glow that made her appear as if she truly were the Egyptian war goddess by which she was named after.
-Freddy was thrilled to see Batman's mouth drop and his body grow stiff as a statue but disappointed to see that this was the full extent of the impact.
-Batman was feeling the strangest emotion he had ever felt. It was a mixture of disgust (because Selina's form had been perverted just like the rest), relief (because in spite of this, her corruption was the least disturbing), and admiration (because she truly was a beautiful sight to behold).
-Sekhmet walked up to Batman, licking her chops as she did so. When she came close enough to where she could feel the heat from Batman's body, her eyes lowered and she smiled lustfully.
-"Is that a new gadget on your belt or are you really that pleased to see me?"
-Batman immediately grabbed his cape, growling with anger and embarrassment, and covered his body while turning away from the feline-fatale.
-Sekhmet gently placed her normal hand on Batman's shoulder and said with sudden sincerity in her voice.
- "Hey, hey, don't look away. It's me." Then Sekhmet's voice changed to one of hurt.
-"You…you still love me, don't you."
- "God-damnit, you look at her NOW!" The Bridesmaid shouted with tears in her eyes. A few of the reflections and even Freddy jumped with a start at the Bridesmaid's sharp, piercing voice. But the command did the trick and Batman turned to face what was left of the woman taken from him.
-"I still love you. And I want more than anything to be with you again. Wouldn't you like that? All you have to do is give yourself over to Freddy, and you'll be set free."
-Batman stared at her for a long moment without speaking.
-"Think about it. You can finally live forever with me, without Gotham, without the freaks, and especially without a mask."
-When Sekhmet said these last lines, she did so using Selina Kyle's voice and in that moment whatever trance her words had placed on Batman's mind evaporated. Hearing the voice of Seline Kyle through the teeth of a true monster instantly restored the Dark Knight's rage.
-Sekhmet was in the process of moving her hand toward Batman's head when he grabbed her hand in a vice grip.
-"Take your paws off of me you filthy animal!" He roared.
-Then Batman hurled Sekhmet through the air and into the crowd of languished abominations where she belonged. Then he turned his sights on Freddy.
-Just as Batman was in the process of sprinting toward the scourge of Elm Street, a phantasmal orb of blue light intercepted his path and in an explosion of light and color Robin, Batgirl, Alice, and Pamela were standing right in front of him.
-"See, I knew you could do it," Alice said to Batgirl with a friendly hand on her shoulder.
-"Um, guys…" Robin's voice was extremely uneasy.
-Alice and Batgirl looked up and found themselves surrounded in a semi-circle by the monsters created by Freddy.
-"What the are you all doing here?!" Batman asked with complete astonishment.
-"Batman!" Robin exclaimed, happy to see his mentor seemingly in a healthy state of mind.
-"Well, looks like the gang's all here," Freddy said rubbing his blades together, "Been quite a while since I've had the privilege of facing off against a such a motley cure. You know who I'm talking about, don't you Alice?"
-"You are done!" Alice barked.
-"We know your weakness," Batgirl chimed in, "And we know how to fight you. You don't stand a chance in Hell this time you son-of-a-bitch." Freddy just laughed and his minions joined him.
-"Does masochism run in your family?" He asked Batman.
-Batman ran over to Batgirl, placed his hands on her shoulders, and spun her around to face him.
-"You all need to leave, now."
-"You're out of your mind," Batgirl responded matter-of-factly.
-Batman grew agitated. "Listen to me-"
-"No, you listen to me," Batgirl interrupted with a harsher voice which she quelled as she continued to speak, "Remember what you told me about underestimating an opponent? About acting alone on blind impulse? I'm not going to let you make the same mistake I did with this one."
-Freddy and his minions watched the argument with utter amusement.
-"I don't want to see you get killed!" Batman exclaimed.
-"And you think we want to see it happen to you?" Robin responded.
-"Listen to them," Alice chimed in, "They've already fought against this enemy. We all have. You're just beginning."
-"Not to mention, we're all fighting for the same cause," Pamela concluded, "And if we all fight together, then we should all be willing to die together. And I can think of no one else whom I would be more honored to die alongside of than Gotham's four most noble souls." Alice smiled at Pamela and placed an arm over her shoulder.
-Batman looked at them silently for a moment before finally letting out a sigh.
-"You're right."
- He turned to Batgirl and Robin and said proudly with a genuine smile.
-"You two have come such a long way, you've grown up so fast it almost breaks my heart." Then the sound of Freddy's knives echoed in the air.
-"Oh, you're about to find out the true meaning of heart-break. Every fucking definition!"
-Freddy extended his arms in Richard Nixon's "V Pose" with his claws pointing straight out.
-"OPEN SEASON BITCHES!"
-And with that the reflections all charged at the Bat-Family in what would soon turn into a free-for-all death match. But in the arbitrary mess of allies and foes rushing to meet each other in a chaotic frenzy, Batman and Freddy pinpointed each other like heat-seeking missiles. They both lunged for each other ready to kill.
- At long last the two titans of terror clashed.