Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Coming to Terms with Killers

I dodged a flying projectile and rolled away from it as it exploded. 'Exploding Batarangs? Batsy's getting tricky.' I thought as I continued to run. I slipped around a corner and pulled out a vile labeled "I-NO-C" on the label along with two syringes. I filled the syringes with the clear liquid and stashed the vile.

The Boy Wonder came around the corner and held me to the wall by my neck. I stabbed his arm with one of the syringes. He dropped me rubbing his eyes and calling for his boyfriend, Batman.

I rolled my eyes and ran down the corridor, making shadow take the light as I advanced. I tripped on something and fell to the ground, the glass syringe nearly breaking in my hand with the sudden impact. I felt the vile break inside my jacket and start to leak into my shirt. I twisted around on my back and tried to kick off the stupid bat themed rope around my ankles. Almost as suddenly as I fell, the Bat had pinned me to the ground.

"If you vanted a kiss," I smirked, my heavy German accent weighting down on my words. "oll you had to do vas ask."

"What did you do to Robin, Shadow?" Batman growled.

"Sis," I said with a ghostly smile on my lips and jammed the needle at his bicep. Sadly, he stopped my hand and pushed it back to the ground. "Do you insist on killing mein fun, Batman?"

"What is in that syringe?" Batman demanded.

"You'll have to take me out to dinner first." I smirked.

"Tell me now!"

I sighed, disgusted. "Mein new blind serum. Don't vorry, your little bird vill see again. It is only temporary. So far."

"You're going back to Arkham, Shadow." Batman stated, tugging me to my feet roughly.

"Tell me somesing I don't know." I muttered as I was handcuffed with, you guessed it, bat themed handcuffs.

<•>

I rolled my eyes as the catcalls streamed out from the glass cells. Batman had his vice-like hand around my right bicep and I was being dragged on the floor, occasionally trying to wrench myself out from his circulation-halting grip.

He stopped at a cell and opened the door, still dragging me, he dropped me before a set of manacles with a long chain that seemed welded to the floor. He took the bat-cuffs off my wrists and slammed the heavy iron clamps where the new bruises had formed on the way here. He then turned around on the spot and left the room. He said something to a guard and vanished. The guard typed in a password on a panel next to the now locked door and my cell was filled with a heavy light, no shadows. I squeezed my eyes shut and tensed violently. When the initial shock of light became normal to me, I opened my eyes a bit and surveyed my surroundings. To my immediate right, there was a man sitting at a desk facing my cell, looking at me with the utmost curiosity. The cell in front of me held a woman who stalked up to the glass like a cat. When I turned my head to the left, I jumped slightly.

"Was ist das?" I asked to no one in particular.

The man was pasty white with a red smear across his mouth akin to a smile. His ratty green hair fell to the side when he tilted his head at me, smiling a yellow toothed smile. "Pardon me?" It--well quite honestly I'm not sure it was--asked confused.

"Sprechen Sie Deutsch?" I asked, swiveling my head to the rest of the onlooking inmates.

"I know what you said, but I'm afraid I cannot reply," The man in the cell to my right started, making me turn to glance at him. "I don't believe that anyone here can speak German, do you speak English?"

"Ja." I answered shortly. I then furrowed my brow. "Vhat se hell is sat sing?" I asked, poking a thumb in the direction of the thing in the left cell.

"Oh, well, that just the Joker." The man smiled, chuckling softly at my naivety.

"Just the Joker?" the inmate to my left inquired, gaining my attention. He let loose a horrific cackle. "My dear, do I frighten you?"

"Nein, you confuse me, sat's oll." I stated flatly, then turned back to the right cell. "Mein name is Valencia Noir."

"Doctor Jonathan Crane." He stood and mock bowed, returning to his desk.

"Selina Kyle." The woman in the cell across grinned.

The people down a few cells answered with their names. I heard an Oswald Copplepot, a Voctor Fries, Pamela Isley, Harley Quinn, Jervis Tetch, Harvey Dent, and an Edward Nygma.

"Hallo to oll." I called out and shifted the chain on the iron loop connected to the floor examining every detail of it.

"What'd you do to get here?" Joker asked, sitting cross-legged near the glass that faced my cell.

I sighed, "I've been here numerous times, same cell even. Never saw you people sough. I vas mearly intentionally scrooing vis se Batman, I vanted answers and knew he coud give sem. He vouldn't listen to me."

I don't think anyone knew how to answer that, so they just continued about their business. I looked at the chain connecting my wrists to the floor again, having no more important distractions, and weighed it by shifting my hands. "Eisen." I muttered. "Sie haben Taktik geändert, nicht wahr?"

"What?" Jonathan asked, leaning over his desk slightly.

I looked up at him and dropped the chain, "Last time sey used titanium. Now sey use iron. Vy se change?"

"Maybe they thought that the titanium was weaker and- no that's not right, titanium is the strongest metal on earth. That is a peculiar change. If anything, they'd keep the titanium and forget the prospect of iron all together." Jonathan answered.

"All se easier to break out." I added coyly, playing with a single link.

*Revised 20 Jan, 2016*