Ch. Fish in the Mirror
AN: This one should at least push 7K. Let's see if I still have the spirit.
I finally got to play Arkham Origins again after a couple of years. Some things do get better with age and a new perspective. Knowing there will probably not be an Arkham game for the foreseeable future hurts. But you learn to appreciate what you have.
Plus I can finally fully map out Gotham to a degree. At least the bits where crime is most active. I don't know why this is important but it seems that I have an urge to worldbuild on the side in this fanfic. Gotham is such a large city in any media it's portrayed in. I feel obligated to flesh it out and have it make sense.
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June 2nd, Morning
Karlo's Palace
?
Futaba shrieked as she slipped into a swampy land. The door that she came through immediately disappeared. She was immediately covered in mud and groaned in disgust. She got up and looked around for anywhere to go. She immediately got into her persona Al Azif and took flight.
She immediately got to work on finding a safe room. The area was dark and she had to avoid the thick trees that overtook the entire area. She kept her composure in the eerie atmosphere, the sounds of the waters and animals creating an eerily deadly tone.
She tried to make some sense of the labyrinth that was Karlo's mind. Luckily for her, her skills for navigating palaces were top notch. In the middle of the swamp she found a dirty trailer.
Futaba smirked as the door simmered and distorted like any safe room door. She exited her persona and was about to open the door when…
"WAAAAAAAAAAA"
A fish monster jumped out of the swap waters and started rushing towards the girl. Futaba, having jumped quickly, was struggling to push against the safe room door. The monster was closing in on her and the door wouldn't budge.
She looked behind to see the monster was only a few yards away. She began to push her frail body against the door trying to get in desperately. The monster's claws were almost at her back when the door was knocked open.
Futaba was quick to get up and slam the door shut. The monster was at the window shrieking only for it to claw at the window of the door. Futaba huffed and quickly locked the door.
"YOU LITTLE BITCH!" The monster roared, before removing its face to reveal Karlos. The mangled face from the accident was revealed.
Futaba was confused, but still got as far away from the door as she could.
"SECURITY!? Anyone going to help me get this child out of my trailer?!" The man yelled as he struggled with the door.
Futaba was scared, no other safe room had this issue before. How is this happening? The room was supposed to be where the palace was the least distorted. Places the shadows couldn't reach!
Is Karlos' mind so melted that basic concepts in palaces didn't apply?!
Futaba was quick to pull out her laptop and get to work mapping out the palace and figuring out a way to up the security of the safe room.
She has hacked the metaverse before but not like this, it was always to help team members or navigate Mementos. Then an idea clicked inside her head.
She got to work on figuring out the parts of the palace, floors, rooms, ect. She couldn't get much done due to the anxiety of the banging. But it was enough to find a signal from some of the Phantom Thieves!
"AHHH! YOU LITTLE RUNT! Wait until I get cops to burst down this door and take you to custody! You better not touch a single thing in there, cause if you did I ain't afraid to sue a child!" Karlos yelled as he stomped away.
Futaba let out a sigh of relief before using her comm.
"Oracle here, I managed to find a safe room in some swamp land. Requesting immediate support. Safe rooms are unstable, and I have no sight or sense that the treasure is close. I will do my best to give alerts of any shortcuts or potential dangers." She put the message on repeat in case there was any interference with the comm system.
That was all she could do here. Oracle had no fighting abilities, but she could possibly hack the palace, and perhaps even stabilize it. It was a long shot but it was better than waiting for the fishy Karlos to come back .
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Crow was falling for what felt like an eternity. The palace is an endless void of blackness, the only light coming from the static filled televisions and monitors. Crow glared as he began to roll in the air to face the direction he was falling. He made sure to have his grappling hook ready for the slightest chance of a ledge or building.
The televisions all around him started to glitch and change channels. Every channel was filled with Karlo's face in different roles. Crow sighed at the current situation, only to look alert when gray clouds started to appear beneath him.
Crow was quick to put himself in a position that would gain the most acceleration. Below the clouds was a city landscape. Crow was quick to realize that the city was Gotham. Right above Grand Avenue in fact. He slowed his descent as much as possible and aimed his grappling hook towards a roof of a metal building.
He managed to hold on tight as he swung downwards to the concrete. He disengaged and did a roll as he landed on the asphalt road. Crow huffed as he brushed himself off only to have to dodge frantically as multiple televisions and monitors crashed into the ground.
Crow ran until he made his way into a hotel. He glared outside as he took the distorted world in. Karlo's face was everywhere, billboards, posters, even the giant monitors in Maxwell Street.
He turned to the reception desk only for the smell of rotting flesh to make him gag. The shadows around him were a Frankenstein's monster like amalgamation of faces and body parts. The shadows covered in blood and spilling out gore.
Crow was no novice, he knew exactly where he was in the palace. The modus operandi was exactly the same as in the movie.
He was in the Terror remake set. Only distorted enough to the point where the killer was more obvious, probably due to the fact the clay made him undetectable.
"Detective Knox~! Welcome to hell." All the shadows gurgled and stared directly at Crow.
Crow wasn't impressed. He knew the script and saw how his ego was the Terror's downfall.
"Mr. William Baxter I presume? Looks like you've gotten sloppy in hiding the bodies. If this doesn't put you behind bars nothing will." Crow said the line perfectly.
A man like Karlos wants to dive deep into a role, no matter how stupid the part may be.
"Haha! You think the bodies matter now? You think the courts or police can do anything to stop me. Nooo…You may follow the script from the original movie…but you clearly haven't seen the rewrites!" Multiple shadows started to merge into one body.
Crow drew his sword and backed away.
"THERE IS NO ESCAPE FROM ME AND MY ROLE! I AM THE TERROR! All that time spent doing Dagget's and the Court of Owls' bidding! NO MORE! I WILL BE SEEN AS THE BEST HORROR ICON EVER PUT TO FILM! WHAT IS MORE TERRIFYING THAN BRINGING THE CHARACTER TO REAL LIFE!? I WILL PERFORM THE ROLE OF THE TERROR PERFECTLY AND BECOME KNOWN WORLD WIDE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Clayface showed his true form to Crow. An enormous blob of clay ran at him
"DIE DETECTIVE! FIRST YOU! THEN BATMAN! THEN THE PHANTOM THIEVES!" Clayface roared
Glaring, Crow rushed towards the monster in preparation for a fight. He knew it was probably for the best to get rid of such a twisted part of Karlos' mind. It just might make him docile enough to get a route to the treasure.
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June 2nd, Morning
Grand Avenue, Maxwell Street
Hot Sunny
Clayface roared and slammed through the giant intersection. Cars flew around and crashed into other cars. People were screaming and running away from the destruction, as GCPD police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances filled the perimeter.
Commissioner Gordon ducked as another car flew a little too close overhead.
"Dammit, where is he?!" he screamed.
Just as he finished his sentence the batwing flew through the clouds. Batman ejected himself out and began gliding fast towards the ground. He landed right by Gordon, causing the man to back up in fright.
"What the hell?!" the commissioner roared.
"What's the situation?" the dark knight asked.
Jim sighed, "No matter what we throw at him he spits it right back out. The only thing that even managed to scratch him are grenades from the SWAT team. It only made him more enraged though."
"WRAAAAAAAA" Clayface slammed the ground multiple times, then clutched his head in pain.
"Has he said anything?" Batman narrowed his eyes at the aimless creature before him.
"Not a word. At least nothing that would lead us to think he's in the right mind. I can already see the judge sending him to the asylum. As if that old place can even try to hold something like this." Jim lit a cigarette and took a long drag.
"No, I'm sending a JLA isolation chamber. Something like this needs more than iron bars." Batman typed on his wrist set. The batwing stopped flying in circles and flew off towards a nearby holding facility. That would take time though.
"I'll have to distract him away as police evacuate the area. Clearly thighs like bullets and physical beating won't work here. I could try to freeze him, but my freeze blast explosive ammo is limited in both amount and power. I'll have to save them for when the isolation chamber gets here. For now though, I'll have to stall with the explosive gel and pepper him with explosive batarangs" Batman planned as he slowly walked up to Clayface.
Batman threw an explosive batarang in order to make his introduction.
BOOM!
"AGHHHHH!" Clayface felt himself get torn apart by the explosive. But in mere seconds the hole in his shoulder reformed and he saw the man who hurt him.
Batman rolled his neck and shoulders as Clayface rushed towards him.
It was time to show Karlos what real horror was.
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Superman was quick to use his x-ray vision to find some sort of trace of the missing thieves. It wasn't going as well as he would have hoped.
"This place is an ever changing maze." He murmured.
"Yes, most unusual. To see a palace in this chaotic state, it speaks tragically of the ruler's mind." Lavenza added.
"They're not all like this?" Superman was quick to question.
"No, a palace is more solidly formed than this. More focused on the distorted desire, but most of all formed to convey how a person views the world. This man's brain can be described as unstable at best, and near death at worst. Time is of the essence here. If the palace were to collapse without taking his distorted desire…This man's mind will crumble and anyone currently inside it will die in the debris." Lavenza explained.
"I don't like the sound of that. Can you fly, Lavenza?" Superman asked.
"No." the girl bluntly stated.
"Climb on and we should be able to make more ground." Superman was quick to pick Lavenza up and she was quick to wrap her arms around his neck.
"Hold on tight." He said before blasting off at the speed of sound. The hero made impossibly tight turns as he tried to map out anything of interest.
He slowed when he finally heard a sound with his super hearing.
"Oracle here, managed to find a safe room in some swamp land. Requesting immediate support. Safe rooms are unstable, and I have no sight or sense that the treasure is close. I will do my best to give alerts of any shortcuts or potential dangers."
He immediately corrected course towards the girl's plea. Using his strength to burst through walls, leaving Lavenza surprised.
"How are you able to break through palace walls? The walls and doors are as strong as the ruler believes them to be." Lavenza watched in awe.
"Then he must know about me, right? A normal human like him even now must know they are weaker than me." He pondered.
"That must be what it is. But it is still rather unfathomable," Lavenza blinked.
Superman didn't have much to say to that. Anything more would sound like a braggart, and he wasn't raised to be one of those.
Though he did do something he was raised to do.
Find and help people in danger.
He busted through the final wall and what lied beyond was a swamp landscape. The splintered wood landed in the mud and water.
"How the-" Superman did a lookback at the way they came. The wall was still there, he could press his hand on the surrounding edges of his break in but beyond that miles of swampland could be seen.
"No time to question how the metaverse works, Man of Steel. Come, let us find Oracle." Lavenza said.
"Right." Superman flew towards the distress signal. Hoping he wasn't too late.
He came across a trailer slowly sinking into the water.
"Alibaba! Are you still in there?!" Superman shouted.
"Oracle, we've come to save you." Lavenza calmly added.
Inside the trailer Futaba heard the call, recognizing Lavenza's voice she slowly opened the door.
"Lavenza? Thank god. Karlos hasn't come back in a while, but he said something about getting security." Oracle huffed in relief.
"We'll take him on then. That's how you fix the palace right?" Superman asked.
Oracle blinked, "Uh Lavenza, am I seeing things or is Superman standing right there?"
"He offered his assistance, we would be fools not to say yes." Lavenza blinked back.
"Whatever, welcome to the team." Oracle sighed.
"Thank you? Where is Karlos?" Superman politely responded.
"I don't know. But we shouldn't be messing with the ruler anyway. Just basic attacks make the palace go haywire." Oracle explain,
"I do not think we have an option. I sense multiple rulers all around the palace." Lavenza shook her head.
"What do you mean?" Superman asked.
"I sense something important in each of them. I sense a fraction of a will seed in the one nearby. Perhaps gathering them could help with the instability of the palace." Lavenza proposed.
"And if it doesn't?" Oracle asked cautiously.
"Then there is a greater risk of the palace collapsing with us inside." Lavenza frowns.
"That sounds risky. But I don't know how exactly this dimension works." Superman put his palm to his chin in thought.
"THERE THEY ARE! GET THEM!" Karlos, still in his fish costume shouted.
Immediately shadows spawned all around the three, blocking any exit. Karlos transformed into a giant fish monster prepared for battle.
"We're surrounded! Superman, Lavenza, quickly make an escape route so we can find the others and get us out of here!" Oracle pleaded.
Dozens of shadows rushed at them. Lavenza shouted at Superman, "Remember! Fire and physical attacks are not effective!"
"Right." Superman took a deep inhale and blasted out a massive wave of arctic breath, immediately freezing every shadow in his line of sight.
Lavenza immediately followed up with gigantomachia, destroying all the frozen enemies with the technical damage. She made sure to attack the rest of the shadows with Ice Age. The skill freezes them all, leaving Superman to physically destroy them.
With the security gone, Karlos was in a panic. He roared at the team and swung his giant fish tail at the three. Superman was quick to catch it and grabbed on tightly, swinging the monster into the ground. Mud, water, and clay splashed high as the monster yelled in pain.
Lavenza showed no mercy as she concentrated and used Ice Age on the swamp monster.
"Finish it!" Lavenza ordered Superman.
Superman nodded and swung Karlos above and smashed him into the ground.
"AGGGGGGHHHHH!" The shadow shouted, the shadow shrinking and becoming nothing but a man in a fish suit again.
He couldn't get up due to fatigue, but he tried to slowly back away from the three, clearly afraid.
"H-hey, listen if you want the trailer fine. Take it!"
Lavenza walked up to him and gave him a cold stare.
"Give us what you hold." Lavenza demanded.
"Wh-what are you talking about I-"
"Perhaps acquiring the will seed requires me to defeat you in a more physical manner." Lavenza quickly froze the fish man and quickly attacked him with her chainsaw.
"AAAAAAHHHH!" The shadow screamed.
"LAVENZA NOO!" Oracle screamed. The area quickly started to rumble, like an earthquake had hit the swampy lands. Superman quickly picked Oracle up in the bridal position. The swamps started to crumble and fall into an abyss.
"LAVENZA QUICKLY LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" Superman yelled.
"I know you hold something within you. Give it to me. Confess your sins and make yourself whole." Lavenza commanded the shadow.
"Ok…ok I'll do as you say." Karlos began to shine bright yellow, disappearing into nothing. Leaving behind a fractioned piece of a will seed. Lavenza was quick to pick it up just as Superman grabbed her.
Superman rushed back to the opening he made with two girls in tow. One in each hand, grasping tightly around his neck. As the entire section of Karlo's mind was crumbling, Superman finally reached the self made entrance. The crumbling swamp instantly turned back to red and black wallpapered hallways. Superman did not slow down as the collapsing landscape followed them for what seemed like miles.
It finally calmed down, eventually coming to a stop. Superman took a sigh of relief before testing the ground with him slowly touching his feet down. Satisfied it wouldn't crumble under him and the girls, he released them from his hold.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT LAVENZA?! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US?!" Oracle screamed.
Lavenza shook her head and pulled out a part of a will seed. A fractured piece that only showed a third of the usual skull.
"I have proven my theory. We must defeat each ruler and piece him back together. Just like how we need to put the seeds back into their regular appearance." Lavenza explained.
"YOU ALMOST KILLED US OVER A THEORY?!" Oracle furiously replied.
"Now, now Alibaba. I'm sure Lavenza has her reasons to prove this theory." Superman tried to calm the girl down.
Another set of rumbling started. Superman was quick to pick up both of the girls as he ascended off the floor. Just in case this event would be as catastrophic as the last.
Lavenza was quick to take note that the will seed they possessed started to glow.
The entire area that used to be a swampy landscape, turned into an outside space. The red skies with giant lights flashing into the air began to show itself. Buildings formed and bricks and asphalt appeared out of nowhere to make roads and walkways
But the most distinct park was the water tower, displaying the Gotham Filming logo on it.
A shadow appeared in the middle of the lot, sitting in a chair with a small drawer beside him that held a phone. It was a shadow version of Karlos, holding its face in his hands.
"They will never accept me back. Owls of the Mountain was a total flop. I did everything they asked me to do, but the Court was not satisfied. No one's going to hire me with a face like this." Karlos voice echoed throughout the space. The trio looked around for its source, only to find it was from the piece of will seed.
It picked up a revolver and spun the barrel. The shadow held the gun to its head.
*RING RING RING*
The phone rang, the shadow sighed as it put down the gun and picked up the phone.
"What do you want now Dagget?" The shadow hissed.
"Now, now, listen kid. I know things have been rough. But I got a gig for you. It's even horror, just like you've always wanted." Dagget answered.
"Thought the court didn't like me anymore."
"If they didn't like you anymore, you'd be dead." Dagget coldly answered.
"So I'm back in?"
"If you do exactly as I say. There's a new makeup product, Renuyu. The boys I have at Ace were very proud of this one. They say it could even make you pretty again, ha!"
"Really?"
"Cross my heart. Though it will come with some…payment for my services."
Karlos narrowed his eyes, "Like what?"
"Oh we'll cross that bridge when we get there. So what do you say Karlos? Ready to be a star again?"
The echos stopped and the shadow vanished.
"I…I'm not getting readings of any more shadow presence. I even found a safe room nearby. What is with this place?" Oracle huffed.
"We now know how to heal the brain. I wonder how the palace will react to putting the will seeds back together. Theoretically, it should restore the mind and palace into a more healthy condition" Lavenza said.
Superman couldn't say if it is healthy for the brain or not. But he had faith and hoped Lavenza was right.
"Worth a shot." he nodded.
"No one has responded to my call except you too. But I can still see some of them on my computer." Oracle checked.
"Just point in the direction of the closest one. Hopefully they aren't in too much danger." Superman replied.
"The closest one seems to be Noir. That way." Oracle pointed.
Superman nodded and picked the two girls up and flew with the directions Oracle provided.
Oracle let a cautious sigh of relief, at least with Superman and Lavenza here, they could get out of this palace quickly.
She just hoped that none of her fellow thieves were in danger.
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Panther woke up with a major headache. The world around her was a blur as she slowly gained consciousness. Only to be fully awakened by the impact of a rotten tomato to the face.
"Waa? Hey! Knock that off!" She yelled and tried to move only to find her hands and feet had been tied up to a wooden stake. Her feet were surrounded by twigs and hay.
"BURN THE WITCH!" The shadows all called in unison.
"HUH?! FOR REAL?!" Ann tried to summon her persona to burn through the ropes. It was no good she was completely out of stamina and had no means to regain even a little.
As she struggled a knight in shining armor walked through the crowd with a torch in hand.
"MY PEOPLE! IT IS TIME TO PUNISH THE MONSTERS AND DEMONS THAT PUT US IN THIS STATE" The knight removed his helmet to show a melting face with no nose and completely yellow eyes.
"GAZE UPON MY FACE AND SHRIEK IN HORROR! FOR THE DEMON KNOWN AS DAGGET HAS CURSED US ALL. AND NOW ONCE WE GOT RID OF THEM THESE INTRUDERS COME AND TRY TO TAKE OUR DESIRE TO CLEANSE THE EARTH OF DAGGET AND THE COURT OF OWLS! THIS SO CALL 'PHANTOM THIEF' HERE IS TRYING TO STOP US FROM BRINGING JUSTICE AND AN END OF CORRUPTION. I SIR BRYNN FROST WILL PUT AN END TO THIS WITCH'S LIFE!" Frost shouted.
Panther watched as the knight lit the twigs and hay, the fire quickly spread upwards towards her feet. Panther didn't scream as the fire reached her feet. In fact she stayed silent as she absorbed the fire and prepared to strike back.
"Why is she not screaming?" a shadow asked.
Sir Frost narrowed his eyes as the woman slowly burned from head to toe. He put his hand to his sword, ready to fight this demon head on.
Panther struggled against the ropes, they weakened significantly from the flames.
Perfect.
Panther broke through her bondage and flew as quick as she could away from the shadows that surrounded her.
"AFTER HER! THE WITCH IS FRIENDS WITH FIRE. GATHER ALL THE WATER YOU CAN MUSTER AS I GIVE CHASE TO THIS DEMON!" Sir Frost ordered
Panther was flying as fast as she could and gaining as much height as possible. The walls of the castle's guarding wall were as tall as a thirty story building. That as the gates to the castle were slowly closing.
Panther panted in exertion and her ignited body was slowly turning into nothing but ash covered skin.
She pulled out her whip as the last of the fire left her. She was quickly surrounded. She'll have to take most of these shadows down to have any chance of fleeing.
She knew that there was no help coming any time soon. But she'll be damned before she was caught off guard by enemies again.
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Raven was never one for horror films. Her heritage made it next to impossible to be scared of anything the movies had to offer.
But she will admit this palace gave her the creeps.
Queen took the lead of the two of them without any complaint. Raven felt comfortable with her, she reminded her of Donna. The older sister type, the kind that scolded you for not doing your homework.
"So you guys usually just enter these things blind?" Raven asked, looking around.
"Before I joined they did. The usual strategy now is map out each area as we go. The first entry is always the most dangerous though, since we have nothing to work off of. It's even worse with this palace. With entire hallways appearing and disappearing seemingly at random." Queen sighed.
Just as she finished she made them both take cover behind a corner. A rumbling sound made itself more and more known.
"Brace yourself!" Someone shouted.
The end of the hallway broke violently as wooden debris scattered everywhere. Shadow horses stampeded through the hallway in the dozens destroying everything in their path.
In front was the unmistakable face of a young Karlos wearing a cowboy hat. But what caught Queen's eye was the girl hanging on to him for dear life.
"SOPHIE?!" Queen shrieked in surprise.
"QUEEN!" Sophie shouted back.
"Quick Raven! After them!" Queen ordered. Raven quickly picked Queen up and started to chase after the cowboy and…whatever this Sophie girl was supposed to be.
"Am I supposed to know who we are rescuing?" Raven asked, confused.
"Sophie is our newest member. A prize our captor gave for entertaining him during the Watchtower infiltration. It's complicated, but she is one of us." Queen explained.
"Everything about you guys is complicated." Raven huffed.
The two girls rocketed towards their ally, staying above the horses.
Darrel White looked back and saw the two girls rushing after him and looked back to the maiden he was supposed to protect.
"Looks like we've got trouble, darling. Couple of bandits wishing to steal ya away." The cowboy made his horse go faster.
"What? Nono! I know them, they are my friends!" Sophie loudly said, the noise of the stampede causing her to raise her voice.
"Don't look friendly to me. But don't worry, Miss. I'll make them cry all the way home." White pulled out a revolver and shot at the girls.
Raven was quick to dodge each bullet. But the noise only startled the numerous horses further.
The entire hallway shook from the massive force of animals. The length of the hallway again seemingly becomes infinite. The shadow horses started to run even faster, some even turning into the very walls and ceilings.
"Faster Raven! Take out as many shadows as you can." Queen ordered, as she called her persona and dropped down on it. She revved up the engine, and delivered a Mafreidyne, the blast sending several shadows to be knocked back in pain. It even led to some falling on the floor ahead, leaving obstacles for Queen to charge past.
"Right." Raven was quick to offer support by using her telekinesis to throw back horses behind her and Queen. She picked up herspeed and caught up with Sophie and White.
"Come on!" Raven yelled.
Sophie let go of White only for him to grab her by the arm.
"I won't let go, darling. Don't even think about it." His hand turned into a clay tentacle and wrapped around Sophie's waist.
"LET GO OF HER CREEP!" Queen shouted.
The rumbling of the hallway grew stronger, White was getting pissed off with these two scummy bandits. But he didn't have a chance to shoot back, as Raven kept a hold on Sophie with one hand and let out a curse spell right on White's torso with the other.
"AGGGGGHHHHH!" White lost his grip on Sophie and the horse. He fell to the ground only to be trampled by the remainder of the horses.
Raven picked Sophie up and landed them both in front of White's trampled body. Queen was quick to catch up as the remainder of the horses galloped away.
"Sophie, are you ok? What happened to you and everyone else?" Queen asked.
"The team got separated by a trapped hallway. I fell in a desert with Karlos playing Darrel White. He thought I was the girl lead Susie Valentine." Sophie explained.
"Why were you riding with him then? Why didn't you take him out yourself?" Raven asked.
"His mind is very unstable, I can sense it now. I didn't want to cause any more damage than we already did."
"You'd better get back over here, Valentine. Don't make me do it by force." White growled, interrupting the girl's conversation as they watched him separate into ten perfect copies of the cowboy.
"Damn. We should have made distance between us and the ruler" Queen
"My scanners tell me that this is only part of the ruler. If we defeat it would theoretically just merge with the other fractured pieces." Sophie said.
"We don't have much of a choice." Raven shook her head.
White didn't wait for any more chatter. He pulled out his gun and fired at Raven. She was quick to reflect it back with her telekinesis.
The gun shot hit White square in the chest, blowing him back a couple feet. He laid there still with a hole in the chest.
"That…All you got." White picked himself up slowly.
The trio looked in shock as the hole in his chest started to close. Clay coming from the floor to aid it''s master.
"Guns don't work. Add that with physical and electric." Queen advised.
"Right, so magic only. Azarath metrion zinthos!" Raven let off a heavy curse spell with her dark power.
White resisted the blow, only gritting his teeth as the spell hit him.
"No use, Sophie!" Queen called.
"Right!" Sophie ran towards White and dealt a Makougaon, throwing a heavy bless attack.
"AAAAAAAGH!" White was downed.
"ALL IN!" Queen roared.
The trio dealt an All Out attack, causing White to lose more than half of his remaining health.
"Dammit. I am the hero. ME! NOT YOU! How are you beating me…it doesn't make sense!"
Rumbling started up again, the shelves filled with trophies and monitors on the walls started to fall on the ground.
"We need to get out of here soon. Out of our way!" Queen revved Agnes and ran over White with an Atomic Flare. The severe nuclear skill left White screaming in pain.
"IT BURNS!" The rumbling got exponentially worse. The entire area was starting to crumble.
"No! I didn't mean to make it worse." Queen said in a panic.
"We'll have to calm him down! It appears that the palace is more connected to the ruler than usual!" Sophie shouted.
"Hang on!" Raven rushed to White and put her hands on both sides of his head. She immediately used her psionic power to calm White's mind. It was hard to keep the psychic link as White struggled and shifted through multiple faces and body types.
Raven kept her focus, she started to sweat as the man finally calmed down and laid still. The rest of the hallway did the same.
"*pants* He's stabilized. For now…it's honestly a miracle he's still alive. The amount of brain damage alone." Raven sighed.
Queen was about to respond when White started to melt.
"What's happening to him?!" Queen yelled.
"I don't know. I calmed his brain activity to a deep sleep, nothing else!" Raven was quick to try to get back into the psychic link but it was no use.
Darrel White slowly melted, leaving the trio at a loss.
"Wait what's that in his chest?" Raven asked.
"It looks like, no it couldn't be." Queen stared.
"I'm sensing an item of utmost importance to Karlos. The treasure maybe?" Sophie said unsure.
"No, it's a will seed." Queen picked the seed up and noticed it was only a piece.
"Strange. Only the right eye." She noticed.
The whole area began to shift, much like Kamoshida's mind shifted from palace to reality. The hallway began to widen as the rooftop changed into concrete. The floors of wood also gained properties of concrete only with lines much like a parking garage.
The three girls looked in awe, only to see a shadow of Karlo's sit in the seat across a desk with two faceless shadows.
"Your agent spoke highly of you. And you're just the guy we were looking for." One of the faceless shadows said.
"Oh thank you! So I got the job?" Karlos asked, excited.
"Yes," The shadow said coldly.
Karlos was elated. He thanked them profusely and ran outside and called his mother.
"Hello? Mom? I got it! I got the part. Finally something other than working as an extra!"
"That's great news honey. If only your dad could see you now!"
That caused Karlos to frown a little. His dad was one of his only supporters. It was a shame he couldn't live to see his son achieve his dreams.
The shadows disappeared and the trio were left speechless.
"Um…does that usually happen?" Raven asked.
"No," Sophie and Queen said at the same time.
"At least not like this." Queen sighed.
"The area is clear of shadows. What should we do now?" Sophie asked, looking at Queen for answers.
"None of us are wounded or tired. We might as well press on and find the others." the leader of the trio said.
With that the girls went back inside to look for their other lost friends.
The day has just begun. There were plenty of other horrors that awaited them in this distorted mansion. But the most pressing concern for Queen was "can we make it before this place completely collapses?"
She couldn't be sure. None of them could be sure.
NANANANANANANA
June 2nd, Late Morning
Grand Avenue, Maxwell Street
Hot Sunny
Batman dodged a large razor sharp tentacle of clay as he played distraction for the isolation chamber.
He made a mental note that Karlos' attacks were getting more complex that blindly attacking. The monster roared as it tried again and again to kill its enemy.
"Get…out…of…my TRAILER!" Karlos roared.
Batman raised a brow at that. Has Karlos managed to gain control of himself?
"Karlos, can you hear me? Can you understand me?" Batman asked.
"*Growls* I am the hero…not you." A face that resembled a young Karlos appeared on the monster's stomach. It looked around for a few seconds before making eye contact with Batman.
"You have to fight it Karlos! Take control of yourself!" Batman practically commanded.
Clayface roared in response.
"Must get…Susie Valentine back. Give her BACK TO ME!" Clayface rushed for Batman. Batman was quick to dodge and plant three bits of explosive gel on the monster's back.
Batman rolled as he landed and pressed the detonator
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Clayface roared in pain as three holes were made.
"Alfred, what's the ETA on the isolation chamber?"
"I'd say thirty minutes sir." Alfred replied.
"Make a note to make more readily available chambers." Batman narrowed his eyes, angry at his own slipup.
"Already done sir." Alfred calmly said.
Batman sighed angrily, rolling his shoulders.
He has to be better prepared for occurrences like this.
But he can last thirty minutes easily against such an opponent.
He rolled away from another attack and countered with four explosive batarangs.
It was only a matter of time before Karlos was off the street and prepped for analysis.
Only a matter of time before he could get back to the main issues that plagued the city.
The clown and the trickster.