Phantom of the Elementary 11
6 AM
J.D. woke from his slumber, minutes before his alarm clock would have buzzed, waking him up for work anyways. Except, there was no alarm clock sitting next to his bed, and there was no work for him to go to. In fact, as he looked around at his bed, he realized it wasn't the same bed he thought he had fallen asleep in the night before. Instead, he was looking down at a hospital bed. He then tried to roll out of the bed, but he soon realized his hands and feet were restrained with handcuffs, which were connected to the metal bed rails. He started pulling his arms and feet back and forth, trying to get the restraints loose. The clinking noise of the cuffs woke J.D.'s wifey, who had been sleeping peacefully in a chair next to his bed.
"Just give me ten more minutes," she said softly, just before rolling back over to try and get a little more shut-eye.
"Vicky! Vicky! Where am I!?" He bellowed.
His wifey popped her head up, and her facial expression looked very perturbed. "My name isn't Vicky… It's Selina! We just went over all this yesterday."
"Yesterday? What day is this!?" J.D. continued bellowing.
"It is August 12th." Selina answered.
J.D.'s face grew a joyful smile. "I finally made it to August 12th!" He celebrated. "I told that little bastard, Joseph Kerrington, that I would figure out how to finally make it to this day! And here I am! Finally… August 12th, 2022."
Selina threw her hands up in the air. "Oh boy! Here we go again!"
J.D. wasn't sure why she said that. "Where am I? Why am I handcuffed to this bed rail…?" he eagerly wanted to know, still confused by the situation. He then paused for a moment. "And why did you say your name is Selina?"
"We went over all this yesterday, Bruce… after you finally woke up from your coma."
"Why did you call me Bruce? My name is Jason Durnell. I have been reliving the same day over and over again for nearly a year. It was my 46th birthday to be more precise. You are my wife, Victoria Durnell."
"I am your wife, but like I said before, my name is Selina Kyle-Wayne. You were in a coma for exactly a year. Your birthday was yesterday. But... you are now 47 years old. It is the year 2023. While in your coma, you had been having a nightmare about reliving the same day over and over again in your sleep. But I assure you, it was all just a dream though. I have been by your side the entire time."
Bruce sat and thought for a second. He then shook his head in disbelief. "That's impossible!" He exclaimed. "I know who I am. My name is Jason Durnell; you are my wife, Victoria; I'm a fifth grade teacher at the elementary school; and our dog's name is Pepper."
"Wrong again!" Selina strongly retorted. "Our dog's name isn't Pepper... although that is a cute name, but our dog's actual name is ACE! I should know this! He used to wake me up every morning by jumping off the bed when he heard you coming home from… 'work.' His feet make quite a loud thump when they hit the floor, you know?"
Bruce was completely befuddled. In his mind, he truly was a fifth grade teacher named J.D. Nothing from his previous life as a billionaire playboy during the day, and a vigilante crime fighter during the night seemed to be coming back to him. This is because he had developed a split personality, and Bruce was no longer a part of him.
Just then, the door opened up, and in walked Doctor Hugo Strange.
"Ah, I see you have awoken once again. I hadn't the opportunity to chat with you yesterday because you fell back under so quickly after coming out of your coma. I must say, you have been quite an interesting study over the past year. The several personalities you have displayed are quite rare and fascinating to learn about. Most of the time our patients here at Arkham display two or three personalities, but you've displayed many more than that."
"Arkham? As in… Arkham Asylum?… From the Batman comic books?" J.D. asked, his eyes rolling in the back of his head. "Is this some sort of a prank!?"
"I'm afraid it isn't, Bruce." Another man's voice announced from behind Hugo's back.
When Hugo stepped aside, there stood Commissioner Gordon.
"We have some questions for you regarding the explosion at the elementary school."
"Wow! This is quite an elaborate prank! You both very much look like your comic book characters; Hugo Strange with your circular-shaded glasses; and Commissioner Gordon with your tan trench-coat! The explosion was caused by Joseph Kerrington!" Bruce proclaimed. "He's a student in fourth grade at my workplace. I locked him in the detention room right before the school blew up. Then I used the Flux Capacitor to finally stop reliving the same day over and over again. The next thing I remember is waking up here… in handcuffs!"
"Oh really? And what was the name of the elementary school you worked at again?" Gordon calmly asked.
J.D. sat and thought for a moment, but he had somehow forgotten the name of the school. "I… I… I can't remember," he stuttered. "All I can remember is that me and Joseph were constantly reliving the same day. I had been stuck in the loop for nearly a year, and Joseph claimed he had been stuck in the loop for more than a decade."
"Bruce, listen to yourself! None of that makes any sense. People can't just relive the exact same day over and over again. That is scientifically impossible." Hugo declared. "You have clearly been in a state of complete paranoia, schizophrenia, acute multiple personality disorder."
"It is POSSIBLE! The Flux Capacitor is proof of that!" J.D. snapped back.
"Your wife, Selina, explained to me yesterday that you made claims of a 'Flux Capacitor' after you had awakened. The same Flux Capacitor from the movie 'Back to the Future.' Is that correct?" Hugo inquired.
"Yes! It was very much similar to that!" J.D. answered.
Hugo turned to look back at Commissioner Gordon. "As you can see, he is completely deranged. I believe he will have to stay at the Asylum for a bit longer. Perhaps with enough therapy, we will get to the root cause of why he decided to blow up the elementary school in the first place."
"I DIDN'T BLOW UP THE DAMN SCHOOL!" J.D. blurted. Then he thought back to yesterday. "Well… technically, I did allow the school to be blown up, but only because Joseph was still trapped inside the detention room. Everyone else was outside...and safe! I might add."
Commissioner Gordon stepped to the side of the bed. "Bruce. You and I have been friends for a long time. We have always supported each other's 'causes', but… the surveillance footage shows proof of you locking yourself inside the detention closet just before the school blew. Luckily, if it wasn't for you planting that fake bomb in little Jack's lunchbox, allowing the school to be cleared out, several people would have lost their lives when the real bomb blew up."
"There! You just admitted it! Jack Hailey is an actual student at the elementary school!" J.D. proclaimed.
"Yes. Jack Hailey is an actual student at the elementary school. Ms. Hailey, a teacher at the school, is his mother."
"Exactly! And Arthur Hailey is Jack's father!"
"Actually, there is no Arthur Hailey. Ms. Hailey is a widow. Her husband's name was Ted." Gordon corrected him. "Arthur is just the name of one of your multiple personalities."
J.D. was beginning to get very frustrated. He then gritted his teeth and began trying as hard as he could to break free from his restraints.
CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK! The handcuffs loudly clamored about, the metal of the bed rail bending.
"Calm down, Bruce." Selina urged, quickly rushing over to his side. But J.D. kept trying to get himself freed.
Dr. Hugo Strange pulled out a syringe, filled with a powerful sedative. He then proceeded to plunge the needle directly into J.D.'s neck.
J.D. struggled for a few seconds, but within a few more seconds after that, he was completely slumped over like a log, and fast asleep.
"I believe it is best for us to transfer him to a more secure unit." Hugo insisted. "It isn't safe here. You witnessed his uncanny strength. He nearly broke free of his restraints."
"Perhaps you're right." Gordon replied, his face saddened by his friend's erratic behavior. "Moving him to a safer unit is probably for the best."
Just before Hugo could touch the hospital bed, Selina tightly grabbed Hugo's arm, digging her fingernails into his lab coat. "You aren't placing my husband in a cell where you keep all those other looney's! I won't allow it!" she declared.
"Miss Wayne, I assure you, your husband will be safe. Please let me go." Hugo responded, attempting to pull his arm away. "OUCH!" he cried out, wincing in pain, Selina's nails now digging into the skin of his arm.
Commissioner Gordon walked over to Selina and put his hand on her shoulder. "Selina, everything is going to be okay. I won't let anything bad happen to him. I swear!"
Selina proceeded to slowly retract her sharp claws from out of Hugo's flesh, finally allowing him to roll the hospital bed out of the room.
As J.D. laid on the bed, fast asleep, he drifted back into his last repeated day, the day before he woke up in a hospital room. He remembered he was outside of the detention room. He also remembered snatching the Flux Capacitor out of Joseph Kerrington's hand, just before securely locking him inside the detention room, knowing the bomb would be going off in just a few seconds. However, he couldn't remember anything after that. He only remembered holding the Flux Capacitor for mere seconds just before he woke up chained to the hospital bed. He then began thinking about everything his wifey, Hugo, and Gordon just said to him about how the surveillance cameras showed him blowing up the school. That's when an image flashed across his mind. He was now back inside the detention room. However, he was no longer holding the Flux Capacitor. He was now holding a explosive detonator, his face completely shocked.
"Could I have actually done this? Am I Bruce Wayne? Was my mind trying to make me block out the terrible thing I had done?" he pondered, though he was still completely in a dream-state of mind. "Vicky… ahem… Selina mentioned that Joseph Kerrington was a moniker for Joker. But the Joker is a fictional character in the comic books. I've been reading those books for years. So, does that mean I was somehow dreaming about waking up in the hospital room? What actually is real?"
Just then, he found himself standing in front of his classroom. His view was quite hazy and a bit distorted, but he could hear his students giggling because of the outfit he was wearing. He looked down, noticing he was in his full Batman cosplay outfit. "Does anyone know why I'm wearing this outfit today?"
"Because you're GAY!" One of the students blurted out.
Despite everything still looking blurry, J.D. recognized that voice. "No Oswald, that's not the reason." J.D. retorted, looking in Oswald's direction.
J.D. was completely shocked when Oswald's face finally became more clear looking. "Penguin!?"
"In the flesh, BIRD-BRAIN! Squawk!" The actual Penguin replied.
"I know why you are wearing that shirt today, Mistah B." Harleen piped up. "It's because today is your birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MISTAH B!" She announced with an abundance of joy.
When J.D. focused in on Harleen's face, he realized she was the actual Harley Quinn. He couldn't believe his eyes. Was he actually somehow a patient at Arkham Asylum?
Just then, he noticed a woman's face staring into the window of the classroom door. He quickly ran over to see who it was, but the woman was no longer there. He then opened the door and proceeded to step out into the hall.
Suddenly a dark tunnel opened up right before his very eyes. He then found himself being swallowed inside of it. Images of all the other characters from all the days he kept reliving over and over began circling around in his brain. His wife; the family dog, Pepper; the Principle; Mrs. Hailey; the drug dealing janitor; Arthur Hailey; the police officer that shot him…twice; the school security guard; that damn red light he could never beat; and most of all… Joseph Kerrington. They all seemed much too real to him. "It couldn't have been a dream!"
Just after he said that, the entire dark tunnel became a bright white room, causing J.D. to cover his eyes because the light was so blinding. "Am I in heaven?" he thought to himself.
"NO!" A woman's voice announced, her echo repeating from all over the place.
"Who's there?" J.D. blurted, trying to squint his eyes, gazing into the brightness, hoping to get a better look.
As he pierced his sites as sharply as he could, he began to notice the shape of a woman walking towards him.
"Who are you?" he asked, squinting even more. "You seem very familiar to me." J.D. spoke, the woman now standing just in front of him.
"My name is Gabby Durnell. You are my father. Today is my 18th birthday, and I have been reliving this same day over and over again for quite some time now."