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.
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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.
43 Owls of the MountainAN: Getting closer and closer to the end of this arc. Can't wait for what lies beyond it.
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June 2nd, Late Morning
Karlos' Palace
?
Mona walked with the detective, staring as Mickey pulled out a tube of some sort of cream. He rubbed it on the burnt and disfigured side of his face.
"Pick a sucker on the street." Mickey told Mona.
The cat was confused but obliged, pointing at a brown haired man with round glasses.
"He'll do." Karlos began to rub the cream on his face, twisting, pulling, and pushing with haste.
Mona saw the slow transformation first hand. Mickey managed to completely change his face into an exact replica of the man Mona pointed at. The cat couldn't get a word in though as Mickey kicked open the door to a bank and pulled out a gun.
"EVERYONE HANDS UP THIS IS A ROBBERY!"
Mona was taken off guard. It all happened so fast. People ran to cover with their hands up.
Mickey was quick to move it to the bank teller and had them open their cash registers.
"Quick catch!" Mickey threw a bag of cash towards the cat.
Mona caught it with no trouble, he opened the bag to see what was at least a ten grand.
"COME ON LET'S GO!" Mickey shouted as he raced past through the exit. Mona was quick to obey.
Sirens blared as Mickey led Mona though back alleys and roars. The two only stopped when the sirens became distant.
"Ok we're clear." Mickey let his face return to normal.
"Why did we do that?! Aren't you supposed to be a good guy?!" Mona hissed.
"I need the money…for more of the cream." Mickey said disappointed in himself.
The cream…Mona looked at the container as the pieces all formed together.
"It hurts when I go without it too long." Mickey sighed.
"Hurts how?" Mona pressed.
"Like a thousand knives are stabbing my face."
Mona hummed as he tried to think. This is obviously taking place before Karlos was losing his mind. It was also before he gained the power to completely morph his body.
"I'm fine. Just gotta find the killer. I've got a hunch for who did it." Mickey said as he hid the container of Renuyu in his jacket.
"Who?" Mona asked.
"The only person who could push this stuff to the public. Dagget." Mickey hissed.
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Noir was nearing her wits end with the shadows that surrounded her.
So far all she's gotten in terms of intel were the little snippets that Karlos slipped.
Mr. Dagget was the lead producer of this film and Mr. Karlos seemed to only have memories of his life up to this point.
That and Mr. Karlos was a huge annoyance to work with.
Noir had the patience of a saint, but even she couldn't put up with him much longer.
It seems his first outing as a main villain stroked his ego. He demanded retakes, argued with the director endlessly, and treated the rest of the shadows like trash.
She was disgusted and wanted this whole ordeal to be over.
Which led to her to try something different.
"Enough! Mr. Karlos I cannot continue to sit idle as you treat everyone around you so poorly. I will make you see the errors of your ways." Noir yelled as she casted heat riser on herself.
"The hell are you babbling about Pete? And for the last time it's Espinoza!" Karlos roared and shadows appeared all around Noir ready for her next move.
She immediately dashed towards Espinoza, using her ax to plow through the lesser shadows. It did nothing but stall as the shadows immediately rebuilt themselves from the clay all around the area.
Noir didn't care as she jumped high from the docks and onto the pirate ship. Espinoza didn't even have time to block as she casted a psiodyne. The heavy psychic blast hit the man point blank.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Espinoza and the shadows around him screamed in unison. The set began to quake as Noir's power upset the delicate state of Karlos' inner cognition.
Espinoza turned to ash, leaving only a fragmented piece of a will seed. Noir heard it drop from his head and quickly picked it up.
All the lesser shadows disintegrated as the will seed shined.
Immediately it played back a memory with shadows playing the parts of Karlos and Dagget.
"Trust me kid, with me at your side we can go places" Dagget said with a slimy grin.
Karlos shook his hand.
"You better keep your promises, I'm tired of not finding a way into the horror genre."
"You'll get there. The steps are already laid out. You just gotta keep your eye on the ball. Let your money be made and don't make it difficult with a scandal."
Karlos simply nodded at the producer.
The memory collapsed and immediately after the ground followed. Noir gasped as she recognized the signs of a palace collapse. She began running as fast as she could as the ground beneath her started to crack open, waves became bigger in size.
She jumped off the ship just as the ground started to swallow it whole, the waves fiercely attacking it with shear force.
Noir was in a full sprint as the land beneath her began to crumble. But she couldn't make it even with her going at full speed.
A chunk of debris forming from the collapse caused her to trip, leaving her to shriek in terror.
She climbed frantically, digging her nails deep into the dirt as she tried to get back on ground.
It was no use. Soon her hands slipped and she started to scream in fright as she descended into the dark abyss below.
She closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to face the height of the large and dark pit.
If she didn't she would have seen a streak of red and blue rushing towards her.
It was only the sudden feeling of being suddenly held did she open them.
"That was too close, sorry for not being able to go faster." Superman sighed in relief as he held Noir bridal style.
"Noir! Are you alright?!" Oracle yelled as she flew her persona along with Superman.
"This area is reforming, did you manage to get a will seed fragment?
On the other side of Superman's head was Lavenza.
Noir took a deep breath and let herself calm down.
"Thank you. I'm not a fan of heights."
"No problem. Did you hear Lavenza? She has a theory about bringing all these 'will seeds' together." Superman smiled as he looked down at her.
"OH! Yes, I managed to grab it before the area collapsed." Noir pulled it out and the red will seed fragment shone.
"Hm, ours is blue. It also seems like it wouldn't fit." Lavenza hummed.
"We just gotta find more then. Hopefully the others will find out what to do. I still can't get any signals nearby." Futaba frowned.
Superman landed by a safe room and the two got off him.
"Then I think it's best to find some of the rescue team. At least then we-"
"Wait. Hold on…I got someone close with a comm. Come on…come on." Oracle typed as fast as she could.
"I'M IN!" Futaba cheered.
"Quick tell them about the will seeds." Noir shouted.
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Diana and Zuariel were walking together in an endless hallway, checking every door. When the doors refused to open, the two used more physical alternatives.
Diana kicked down another door only for the same thing to happen over and over again.
The shattered door shot back into a dark abyss.
Diana sighed in annoyance.
"Are all palaces this tedious? I feel like I'm going insane. Have you found Joker yet?"
"He is far from us. Safe and unharmed. He has requested to find his teammates first." Zauriel calmly answered.
"Well that's a relief." Diana crossed her arms and went over to the next door.
When the knob turned and opened the door she was immediately on guard.
"Zauriel." She simply called.
The angel looked her way and saw light coming from behind the door.
He quickly stepped towards her, drawing out his magical sword infused with holy light. Diana did the same, drawing out a magical sword of her own.
They opened the door to find an enormous medieval landscape, with a tall castle in the distance.
"I sense one of the Trickster's allies in the castle. She is nearing death." Zauriel stoically said.
Immediately Diana blasted off towards the castle, ready to take down whatever enemy lies in front of her. Zauriel was quick to follow, the wings on his back able to make him almost as fast as Wonder Woman.
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Panther was on her last leg, barely able to stand. She panted in exertion as the knight Brynn Frost kicked her back, making her land roughly on her behind.
Panther tried to get up only to be met with a sword to her neck.
"That's enough out of you witch. If a fire won't cast you out of this world, a beheading certainly will." Frost gritted out.
Panther tried to turn into smoke, fire, anything that would help her escape. But she was on the brink of collapse as is.
She began to tear up, but glared back at the corrupt knight before her. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of hearing her beg.
And she wouldn't have to worry about these being her last moments.
Wonder Woman slammed down on Frost, his sword dropped from the surprise attack. The slam sent a shockwave of wind to attack all the enemies. Zuariel was quick to pick up Panther and flew to a safe vantage point.
"Surrender now, Karlos!" Wonder Woman roared down at the man. Her sword at the exact same place as Panther's moments ago.
"You get in the way of retribution! I will show you DIVINE PUNISHMENT!" Frost spat.
The area around the castle began to rumble. All the faceless shadows around her melted and shot towards Frost. Wonder Woman had to step back as clay molded and hardened before her.
Back up with Zauriel, Panther was completely unconscious. But a thing in her ear started to make noise.
"Pant- *static* Panther!" It called.
Zauriel picked it up and put it in his ear.
"Panther is incapacitated. This is Zauriel." The angel answered.
"Zauriel!" Oracle shouted in relief. She was quick to give the angel the new intel her team found.
"Understood. Wonder Woman." Zauriel took out the comm and threw it towards her.
Diana flew to catch it and put it in her ear. She answered it while carefully watching the clay monster before her grow in strength and size.
"Wonder Woman here." She answered.
"Wonder Woman, Zauriel will have to take Panther back to reality for her own safety. But you will have to stay back and defeat the clone of Karlos. Make sure to pick up something that looks like a skull fragment from the ashes of its defeat." Superman was quick to explain the why and how to her as well.
"Got it. Zauriel go, I'll take care of this." Wonder Woman scowled at Karlos as he finished his transformation.
The sheer amount of clay had turned the shadow into a giant dragon. Its giant tail destroying the castle behind it, wings spread wide as it roared thunderously in Diana's direction.
Diana held her sword in both hands and bowed her head. She loudly let out a prayer for the goddesses that watched over her.
"May Hera give me strength, may Athena give me wisdom, and may Themis forever guide me to the path of true justice."
Her sword began to glow a bright white, the blessings of the Greek goddesses answered her prayer.
If she could not defeat this beast with mere fists, her holy sword would cut him down.
The dragon let out a massive roar of fire, which Wonder Woman charged into head on. She was quick to concentrate all of her holy power into her weapon. Flying fast towards the monster's torso she sliced upwards along its underbelly.
The dragon screamed in agony, the blessed magic allowing the physical strike to harm its target. Black blood poured down onto the rubble of the castle. The beast was quick to strike back with its enormous tail. The impact sent Wonder Woman flying backwards at breakneck speeds.
She tumbled on the dirt and grass multiple yards away from the castle. She pushed herself back into the air, as the dragon ascended high into the clouds.
"YOU'LL HAVE TO DO BETTER THAN THAT!" Wonder Woman shouted, soaring towards the beast.
"I'll make sure your last breath is as painful as possible." Frost hissed back. The dragon began to dive down towards her.
Wonder Woman was quick to draw her shield and slammed it across Frost's face. The impact made the clay dragon's head splatter in the direction of the hit. The rest of the body brutally landed on the ground, causing the clay body to ripple and scatter.
Wonder Woman flew down to see humanoid figures take form from the enormous mass of clay. All looked exactly like Frost, only now with a wicked grin and a crazed look in his eye.
"Must make…them all pay." The hundreds of the men echoed. They all charged at Wonder Woman, swords drawn.
The heroine immediately charged and sliced through five bodies with little effort. A chorus of screams rang out, as if each of them felt the other's pain. The clay disintegrated leaving the shadows unable to regenerate. Wonder Woman noticed this and began to truly let loose. Using her Amazonian fighting style to brutally take down dozens upon dozens of knights.
The only thing they had the advantage in was their numbers. But numbers didn't matter when it was clear Karlos only had a simple grasp on swordsmanship. The man clearly took novice classes just to look convincing for an audience. Slowly but surely the mass of clay knights lessened with each passing moment.
And slowly Diana noticed that the ones left were quickly deteriorating.
"Must get…Dagget."
"Must get…revenge"
Wonder Woman took notice how the bodies left were either starting to melt, merge, or both. Those that did had slightly more strength, but nothing she couldn't handle.
She was on the last few when she started seeing Frost reduced to mere puddles of giant masses all eradicated. Just a simple stab and the rest but one was all beaten and turned to ash.
Diana looked down coldly when she felt it grip her boot. It only had enough mass to form a mouth.
"Help…me" It pitifully said.
Diana responded by stabbing her sword right through it. Finally a green will seed fragment revealed itself, it was only the jaw. Superman did say it would only be part of a whole.
Immediately after she grabbed it, the whole area started to rumble.
Diana was about to take off when a massive shadow roared and stumbled in front of her.
"Must show…show people the truth. Dagget. Dagget! DAGGET! I'LL KILL HIM!" The shadow started beating the ground in anger. It shook its head, bashed it into the walls. Diana saw what happened the following months.
The slow mental and physical deterioration of a once renowned movie star. It happened so fast, the brutal murder of Dagget and any of his associates.
He slowly became more and more unstable, with the dissociation episodes starting. Each personality slowly takes memories or roles of his past. But one took the most control, wanting nothing but to cause more blood to flow on the streets…
The Terror.
Wonder Woman gasped as she witnessed it all. But she wouldn't have time to process it as the ground beneath her started to quake and crumble around her. She quickly took flight away from the ever expanding abyss.
"Alibaba! Can you read me?!" Wonder Woman yelled as she flew as fast as she could.
"Loud and clear!" The tiny girl answered.
"Karlos isn't just unstable. I have a hunch one personality is taking more control than the rest!"
"Which one?"
"The worst one imaginable."
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Fox sat patiently for the leader of the tiny group of people to start talking. Fox now longer struggled in his bondage, instead calmly sitting upright and trying to look interested in their words.
"Tell me Karlos, have you ever heard of the old nursery rhymes about us in your youth?" The man asked.
"I'm afraid I haven't." Fox truthfully replied.
"Feh. That only speaks of how low class you were as a child. Only the lowest of peasant in Gotham has not heard the rhyme that brings terror to anyone who gets in our way."
"Perhaps you could recite it for me. You all gathered here to convince me of joining your group, yes?" Fox knew he stepped on an eggshell and led to the man not liking him. He had to turn this conversation to his favor fast.
"Hmph. I suppose you are right. The poem is as stated :
Beware The Court of Owls, that watches all the time, ruling Gotham from a shadow perch, behind granite and lime. They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed, speak not a whispered word of them or they'll send The Talon for your head."
The room of elites clicked their wine glasses together in honor of the reciting of the poem.
"I see. Thank you for teaching me such a poem. However I must apologize in advance and ask to share a bit more detail. Is it alright to ask a few questions about this group?" Fox asked as politely as he could.
The group behind the main man gathered together and murmured amongst themselves.
The man crossed his arms and answered. "Fine. However there are some things we cannot go into detail over. Watch yourself Karlos."
Fox made sure to choose his questions carefully.
"What exactly does your group do?"
"Ah, simple enough to answer. The Court controls such things as the architecture and politics to guide Gotham towards prosperity. How we achieve those means is a long held secret that I won't bother telling you. Especially if there is a chance you'll deny our offer."
"If I do deny this opportunity, won't you simply kill me?" Fox flatly asked.
"Yes"
"Then I join."
"It takes more than that to join Karlos. We all must go through an initiation process. One that proves without a doubt you want to be a part of this group." The man said darkly.
"I should have expected as much. But I have more questions. First, is Bruce Wayne part of this group?" Fox had a good hunch that it'd be a no but he had to be sure. If Wayne was a part of a group like this everything he says and does would be a lie.
"HA! Wayne… The Waynes have been thornes in our side for centuries. We thought we were finally rid of them from that random mugging in Crime Alley. Of course pitiful Bruce had to live instead of dying. All his plans to "save Gotham" goes against everything we stand for. Soon we will show him the power of our court. We just need the word from a higher position."
"And what of Batman?"
"Batman is an enemy. But an enemy we believe we can control. He is not an issue."
"How can you be so sure?"
"We have ways to get rid of him, Wayne, and if necessary you. This is the last question I will answer. Are you prepared to prove your worth to the court?"
"I think I have a good understanding. What would this initiation entail?" Fox asked as he began to freeze his bindings. He had a feeling he wouldn't like any 'initiation' this group had.
"You shall star in a movie paying tribute to our group." The man continued to explain but Fox already figured it out.
Owls of the Mountain wasn't some mediocre horror film. It was a tribute to a secret organization. All the symbols in it were messages to the group. The plot was some telling of a man who refused to take part in their plans.
"I see. Then I must decline." Fox broke through the frozen rope with his pure strength. He immediately grabbed his chair, swung it over his body and slammed it down on the man/
"AAAGH!" Immediately after he screamed at him and the other three members shrieked and turned into owl/shadow humanoids.
"RAAAA!" They all screamed, but Fox had the upper hand against them all. His ice abilities still were their weakness as they were still made of clay.
It was mere minutes until Fox froze them all and critically attacked them with a Vorpal Blade. The severe physical to the whole group had them shattered into a million pieces.
With them all disappearing Fox noticed something on the floor. A broken piece of a blue will seed. He quickly picked it up and shadows immediately appeared all around him.
He drew his sword in preparation of a fight only to see them reenact the meeting Fox just had, only with Karlos actually sitting in the seat.
The meeting had no new information Fox could use. Right after the memories finished the room started to rumble. Fox looked around for an exit somewhere but he couldn't find one. He was trapped in a small room that was beginning to disintegrate.
He tore the room apart for any possible way out. His luck came in handy as he found a grate behind a red curtain. He quickly busted the grate door open and crawled as fast as he could. The grate led to another endless red hallway.
The rumbling and collapsing continued on as Fox ran as fast as he could. He panted as he pushed himself to his limit.
But soon the rumbling stopped and Fox was safe. He looked back to see nothing but a dark abyss. There was only one way to go so he went forward. He hoped he'd find some of his teammates soon. Who knows what obstacles they were facing without him.
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The girl Joker found himself following was very strange. It seemed all she could remember was nearly every horror movie ever made. As the two made their way through the labyrinth that was the dungeon Joker learned quickly about her all time favorite movie.
"So due to censors back then, The Terror couldn't show most of violence and gore portrayed in the book. But at least they kept the plot mostly the same with Annie being the kill that started the investigation off."
"Interesting." Joker replied.
This girl obviously was a stand-in for a younger Karlos. The man must have been a fanatic fan of horror movies his entire life.
"If you don't mind me asking, who introduced you to horror movies?" Joker asked politely.
"Oh…Um I don't remember." The girl stuttered and immediately looked depressed.
"Hey hey it's ok. Don't worry about it." Joker tried to comfort the girl but it was no use.
Joker, despite knowing this was a shadow, felt bad for the nameless girl. But just then it came to him how to cheer her up.
"You know what we can call you? Annie." Joker offered.
The girl was shocked at the offer, but smiled in agreement.
"Yeah…Yeah!" She cheered. The clay that was drawn back by the girl receded even more. Joker saw this and sighed, he had a feeling something bad was going to happen with this girl on his side. But for now all he could do was follow her and hope for the best.
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AN: Wonder Woman was my mom's favorite hero back in the day. Had to write at least one awesome battle scene with her kicking ass. She was a big fan of the 60s TV show growing up.
Also shoutout to whoever got the obscure reference in Annie. That episode in the animated series seriously got me good with body horror and psychological trauma.
Good stuff.
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BONUS:
Starfire and Violet rushed through infinite hallways and doors that led to nowhere. They seemed to have the least amount of luck finding a teammate.
"There must be a way to get through." Violet huffed.
"This place is most strange. You said most palaces are not like this, yes?" Starfire asked.
"No, most have a structural layout. Karlos must be suffering greatly for the palace to become this confused."
BANG BANG!
Just then a door to their right started banging loudly. The two girls immediately got into battle positions as the door slammed down,
"Skull?!" Violet shouted shocked.
Skull groaned as he dusted himself off. Violet rushed over to check her teammate.
"Ugh, this place is so effing confusing." Skull grumbled.
"Skull! Are you ok?!" Violet put a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just lost." Skull got up and dusted himself off.
"Friend Skull, correct? We were sent to find you and the others. Have you perhaps seen anyone else?" Starfire floated towards him.
"Nah. We got separated a while ago. The whole place went crazy, I think the palace almost collapsed. I'm lucky to be alive right now." Skull answered.
"That's horrible, but at least we found you! Come on, we have to rescue everyone!" Violet and Starfire began to run off.
"I'll lead the way!" Skull proclaimed.
Immediately he ran past the girls and broke into a sprint. Violet nodded and let him pass. It was a long run in a seemingly endless hall. It all blurred together after a while and Violet started to take note of her teammate. Things that Starfire would never notice. Due to the fact she didn't know Skull that well.
He was covered in clay, which made sense Violet supposed the stuff was covering her boots as well. But Skull was covered head to toe in it.
"Skull, what happened to you? You're covered in clay." Violet asked.
Skull shrugged and answered, "Hard not to be when fighting the monsters here. Surprised you guys ain't."
Monsters? Not shadows? Violet narrowed her eyes and took a closer look at her friend.
"We haven't spotted any shadows yet. So you have?"
Skull didn't catch on at the emphasis of the word 'shadows'.
"Uh, yeah duh. Bastards spray the shit all over the place."
Violet stopped in her tracks as she noticed a glaring problem she couldn't ignore. She drew her sword out as she glared at her 'friend'.
Starfire was confused at the discussion but stopped when Violet did.
Skull noticed and looked back at the two.
"Uh, is there a problem?" He asked.
"Skull, why aren't you limping?" Violet asked coldly.
"What do you mean?" He tried to deny it.
"Skull has a bad leg. He can walk and even run. But not without a slight limp. So why aren't you limping?" Violet glared.
Skull stood still for a second and then glared back at Violet.
"Touche."
Skull immediately started to transform into a clay monster. It roared and rushed the two girls.
Violet immediately casted a Brave Step to increase her and Starfire's critical rate.
During the battle Violet began to feel a sense of unease. If they can't trust her friends to be real, how were they going to rescue them?
The battle was short lived. The combination of bless attacks and starbolts burned the clay into a crisp. The enemy turned to ash and the two girls went on to explore the inner depths of the seemingly endless labyrinth.
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AN: Yeah I'm alive. Chapter 43 has been sitting almost finished for about a year now. Honestly there's no real excuse other than a loss of passion on my part. I've seen it happen with plenty of other fics and it's a disappointing thing. Not just to lose interest in this fic but writing as a whole. Where did the passion go? I honestly have no idea. But I'm here now and that's what matters. I've spent too much time and effort to just drop this monster of a fic in the trash. So I pushed through this year of apathy to return to finish this thing. Sorry for keeping you guys waiting.