Copycat |Edward Nygma|

Chapter Four; Tanked

Jeremiah told me about the horrible things Jerome did to him as a child, and the things he tried to do and all of the animals Jerome use to kill. My hand trembled on top of his. Everything was horrifying. I see why he hid himself down here, in the comfort of mazes and codes. Sanctuary away from the cruel possibilities of the monstrosities that our brother is capable of. I don't know what frightens me more, the life I can have possibly left behind or the monster of the family.

"Nights before you left, Jerome threaten to kill you. He said he was going to feed you to mothers snake in chunks. I always thought that was your reason for going..." he said trailing off.

I took a deep breath, it was one horrible thing after another one. There wasn't any running I had to face everything.

"Did I do anything bad as a kid?" I asked.

"No" Jeremiah said quickly.

To quickly.

"Are you sure?" I asked again.

"Yes".

I didn't push him further, I didn't know what he was capable of being down here in his domain. If one was crazy who knew about the other one, then again who knew about me? I had to have a little hope... Ironic. My hand held Jeremiah's tighter. His phone starting going off and it was several 'Uh-huh' and 'Okays', until he handed the phone to me.

"Juliet?" I heard Jim ask.

"Right here" I said.

"There's someone else you need to met, there not the best people but I think they could do you some good. We're out front, ask Ecco to guide you."

"Copy that," I said standing up.

Jeremiah whispered something to Ecco, but she smiled and showed me out. Instead of one car, there was now two. I guess Jeremiah had instructed her to follow me in case anything happened. Protective? I climbed into the car with Jim and Bullock, who sat there like a pig downing a burger.

"We're gonna go see a guy I use to work with and his acquittance".

"You mean his girlfriend", Bullock said bitterly.

"Not now Bullock-" Jim said.

"We're gonna go met Edward and Madeline," Bullock said cutting the detective off.

"How would he be able to help?" I asked.

"He's good with worming into people's head" Bullock snipped.

"It was her choice Harvey"

"Like hell it was."

They bickered for a while and I drowned it out by focusing on the car wheels hitting pavement beneath. It was soothing amongst the chaos. My face rested in my palm, and I felt myself getting tired. I drifted in and out of sleep as my eyes grew heavy. It was peaceful, finally some restful sleep that was until we hit a bump that sent me flying two or three inches up.

"My bad," Jim called over his shoulder.

"It's alright."

"We should be pulling up soon anyway", he said, right as a lunch abandoned library came into view.

The building was small with busted out windows, and moss growing halfway up the building. Stones were piled around the ground in groups, and a camera turned and watched us as we drove in. My gut was telling me something was wrong but I kept quiet. Spikes shot up from the guard in front of us and Jim hit the breaks. We lurched forward but the car crept forward slowly. Bullock uttered some cuss words under his breath and Jim fumbled for his phone that had begun ringing. I heard some heat words get exchanged and the spiked bars slowly detract. The car started forward slowly as it was probably waiting for another one of the boobytraps that were probably all along the road. We arrived at the library without further incident. Two figures stepped out of the building and looked at us. I looked towards Bullock as his eyes fell on her, I saw them die a little but he tried to keep his composure. The man's face contorted into a creepy smile, and the girl gave a faint smile.

"Juliet, Edward, and Madeline" Jim said breaking the silence.

"Riddler," he smiled walking towards us.

"Query" the girl said following him. 

Edward walked up to me and eyed me down an up, "Definitely a Valeska." 

"What do you want to do?" Query asked, "Eels?" 

"Let's try the tank first," he said motioning for me to follow him.

Jim reached out and gripped my shoulder, "Tank? Eels?" he said at them.

"It's supposed to help restart the old wagon, or eels to electrify it, special eels".

"Electricity doesn't work," I mumbled. 

"Fascinating. Well hopefully we don't have to hurt you too bad to get it working again" Edward said, "He's teasing," Madeline said quickly. 

Something about that wasn't helpful. They lead us into their hideout and told us only one detective could go in. Surprisingly, Bullock volunteered before Jim could. Jim gave him an anxious expression, but all Bullock muttered was "I need to do this." He didn't try to stop his partner as we descended into the lion's den. The building looked brand new on the inside. everything looked clean and beautiful. There was a grand staircase that ran somewhere downstairs and another one going up, books lined shelves and machines around the walls. Bullock's eyes were focused on her, while I kept glancing everywhere. They lead up down the stairs to a room with a metal door. 

"The girls will go prepare, and we can... talk?" Ed said turning to Bullock. 

Before anything else could be said, Madeline grabbed my arm and tugged me into the room. It was vast and empty except for one seat in the middle. She explained to me how it would go, and then everything that could go wrong from deafness to insanity, she even had me sign a paper saying I wouldn't file criminal action. Which got a laugh out of me, their criminals and having me sign a waiver, Gotham was so upside down. The glass switched from black to see through, I looked into it. Bullock stood on one side of the room and Ed on the other. They each looked a little scrambled, probably got into a small brawl. Madeline rolled her eyes after she saw. She helped me into the seat and buckled me in. 

"I'm sorry," she mumbled. 

"About what?" 

"Finding out you have a brother that terrorizes Gotham, that everyone is corrupt, that your saving grace may be a couple of killers. It probably sucks". 

"Something tells me I wasn't perfect it my last life anyway."

"Then why not just start over?"

"Who knows what I left behind?" I said. 

She nodded, and headed for the door, "I wish you luck," she mumbled before stepping out the room.

The room went black and silent.