Gotham's Apocalypse (A Joke Story [Sequel to Cruel])

16: Arkham Asylum

(Author's Note: Okay, so this dramatized description of an asylum is based off of the actual Arkham Asylum. Things I've gathered off of The Animated Series, the video game, and the comic books on the Asylum. Not all Asylums are "bad" per se, or not the ones in the US, at least.) 

Day one was the hardest. It started out with massive regret for allowing myself to be admitted to the looney house. Of course, the action had instant perks on the outside. Surprisingly, Batman didn't bruise my arm dragging me into the institution, and once he did, The Justice League all collectively backed off of me. 

Inside of the Asylum was a different story.

I was greeted with the sound of shrieks as they brought me into one of the craziest wards in the place, with people in straitjackets, slamming their heads against the white doors that sealed them in a cushiony room. The doors weren't soundproof at all, or if they were, they were no match for the straining, dry vocal cords of the delirious souls trapped behind them. 

I whipped my head to look at the woman with brown hair in a tight bun, eclipsing me in weight and height three times over, who held me by the back of the neck. Her grin was sickening as she took out her keys and unlocked the last door to the left of a long hallway, shoving me into my white, cushiony room. She pressed a button on her walkie on the pocket of her blouse, and almost immediately, a few people in the same pure white uniform came in. Two were large men, one physically fit and the other was a little chubby. The other one was a short woman with eyes so harsh they could make the hardest criminal pale under its stare. They grabbed me around the arms harder than a blood pressure test and threw me onto the single white bed. They constrained me around the chest with a long, brown leather strap along with my feet as one of the nurses took out a pair of scissors. 

They watched as my eyes became the size of dinner plates, which caused a sickening grin to play on all of their faces as I felt my ponytail pull harshly as they cut the ponytail behind the hair tie, keeping it all together as they lifted it up in front of my face, dangling it in front of me teasingly.

I felt the nape of my neck become cooler and the weight of my head shift almost immediately, and I felt my heart break as I was robbed of my long, beautiful hair. I watched the white hair get tossed to the side, and all I could think of was how lopsided the cut must have been, and how awful it'd feel to not be able to put my hair up as uneven strands tickled my cheeks and jaw.

The woman who originally dragged me in here placed a hard punch against my jaw. I gasped in pain before glaring up at her, throwing my body up to smash her nose in. Blood burst from her nose and stained the blank, fluffy floor and our white clothing. 

"That's it, she goes where all the rest of Gotham's villains go. Why'd you think this room was a good idea? Have you seen what she did to Gotham?" One of the nurses spoke.

"I'll do a hell of a lot more to you if you touch me one more fucking time," I growled. I was gently taken this time to a larger facility, as I turned to look at the thick glass walls that displayed some of Gotham's worst criminals, I passed some empty cells I knew belonged to some dear friends. The cell with the abundant, vibrant plants belonged to Ivy, who seemed to have not gotten locked up again. The cell with green question marks on the walls, floor, ceiling, obviously the Riddler's. The very cozy themed cell with scratched walls and mesh ceilings was obviously Catwoman's. 

And the one they brought me to caused me to smirk. They didn't bring me to the empty one down the hall. They brought me to Joker's. 

The red HA HA HA's littered the walls in red paint. The furniture looked a bit aged and overused, and I knew it was from all the "vacations" Joker took when he wanted to clear his head. The cell had a good collection of books ranging from fiction to non-fiction, some famous novels about serial killers, some about basic chemistry, some about psychology. Enough to clue me in on Joker's mental maturity. Surprisingly vast. 

I felt myself being shoved into the room, landing face first on the floor as I turned to look at the cruel faces behind the glass. I felt like a gorilla in a zoo. I snarled at them, baring my teeth as they  taunted me. 

"The minute I get out, I'm coming after you all. Overpaid bullies." 

The group just laughed as if they just heard some hilarious joke, and left me to my own devices. No criminals in this giant ward but me. I was all by myself.