Edwald Nygmobblepot One-Shots

The Haunted Mansion

It was almost three in the morning when Ed awoke, though he couldn't pinpoint why at first. Everything around him seemed still and quiet and even the roar of GothamCity couldn't reach the mansion from their distance. He couldn't hear a single sound from the house as many long moments passed by.

Edward was just starting to fall back asleep when he heard something.

It must have been the sound that had woken him up; the distant sound of screaming. And he was certain he heard it, even if it sounded like little more than a whisper through the walls. Even so, in this empty, silent world even the slightest noise would keep him awake if his ever-curious mind didn't find out what it was, and soon.

Suddenly determined to find the source of the noise, Ed drew himself out of bed and lit a lantern. Its sudden light penetrated deep into the surrounding gloom and made his eyes water at first. Once he was used to the light he stood and left the room, painfully aware of even the tiniest squeak the floorboards made as he stepped on them. The house was large and so empty-looking at first glance from just outside his room.

He started when he heard an abrupt whining sound coming from the end of the hall. There was a long moment of confusion as he tried to figure out exactly where it was coming from, and why. But it was obvious that there was only one way to find out, so he crept down the hall, hearing a long, drawn-out whine several more times along the way.

Finally Ed reached the end of the hallway, with a large door on either side of him leading to two nearly identical bedrooms. But the house had gone silent again, leaving him to wonder which room it could be. He waited several long, steadily more worrying moments before he heard a shout from the room on the left. Oswald's room.

"Mr. Penguin?" He asked at once, running to the door as he listened for a response. He would have shouted, but it was difficult to force himself to disrupt the silence he found himself in. "Penguin, is everything all right?"

When there was no response he opened the door and peered inside. Oswald was laying in bed, whimpering quietly in his sleep. The noise had been just a bit too soft to hear through the door.

Having satisfied his curiosity, Ed was ready enough to leave. And yet some part of him wouldn't let him move, wouldn't let him just walk back to his room and ignore the sounds of Oswald's cries. So he stood there for a minute in silence, watching. When the Penguin shouted suddenly and tossed around briefly under the sheets, Ed found himself bolting inside. He shut the door behind him and stepped forward quietly, approaching the edge of the bed.

"Oswald?" He asked softly when he was only a foot away from the bed.

The Penguin's brow furrowed and he shook his head roughly, fingers clutching the sheets on either side as he started panicking. "No...no, no, no...NO!"

He yelled again, much more loudly. Ed reacted by placing a firm hand on his shoulder and calling, "Oswald, wake up! It's only a dream!"

The smaller man gasped and bolted up into a sitting position, eyes panicked and fearful as he only slowly started to come back to reality. He took several long, gasping breaths while his eyes gradually absorbed the scene around him and he began to realize where he was. Then his eyes settled on Edward, and his face turned into a sudden stone-like mask. The scared little man of only a few seconds ago had disappeared entirely.

"What are you doing, Ed?" Oswald asked. He put as much venom into the words as he could, but his voice was still very shaky and fearful, telling Ed he was still terrified.

Ed only shook his head and answered softly, "I could hear you yelling while I was in my room, and I was concerned."

There was a brief shuffling sound and suddenly Oswald had a knife pressed to Edward's throat with a look of hatred on his face. He must have had a knife stored in the drawer of his nightstand...which would have been a good thing for Ed to be careful of. He somehow hadn't thought that he would be armed. He didn't have much time to berate himself for his stupidity when Oswald started talking.