Arkham City #0
====Arkham City====
*Cages. They're keeping us in cages. God, it's like the Asylum. But it's worse than that. Me and Len were separated from Blake. They put him somewhere secure, Julian too. Us? We were put in with Condiment King. Len isn't too pleased about that. They've been releasing people in groups of ten or so. I suppose it's to avoid huge riots. Most of the A-List are in there somewhere. Scarecrow. The Penguin. The Joker too undoubtedly, but no one's seen him. Sometimes Lock-Up and the guards take one of us out the cells. They arm us. Then they beat us. They give us guns and they don't even see us as a threat. The conditions... Mitch has thrown up twice already. It must be weeks since Day. Longer maybe, I don't know. I'm starving. All we get is a couple of cereal bars and a bottle of water a day. The door opens. There's six guards and-*
Len- You pricks! You fucking-!
Guard- Shut it inmate. You got yourselves a new bunkmate.
Chuck- Please, we've barely got enough water for the three of us-
Guard- It's a good job you won't be here for long then. Insertion is in two hours. Don't kill each other before then.
*Oh hell... It's Ten. Drury's Blackgate cellmate*
Ten- Where... where am I?
Chuck- Ten! It's Chuck! I... how did they get you?
Ten- Said they.... said they just needed to talk. Didn't think much of it. Then they threw a bag over my head. I didn't fight in Iraq for this. I didn't lose my sight or my hands for this.
Len- Nazis. The lot of them.
Chuck- Can we blame them? They're scared.
Mayo- I'm scared.
Chuck- They thought they were safe, that we were safe. Then Jules attacked the city. If The Calendar Man can do that, who else can?
Len- They're waiting on us. Outside. Every single villain in Gotham just waiting for a chance to kill and rape the weak.
*Mayo vomits again*
Len- Get a grip of yourself Mayo. Fuck it all. Who's supposed to pay for my bar? Is it just going to shut down?
Ten- There are worse things to worry about.
Len- For you maybe. But that bar was everything to me.
====Butchinsky's====
*Len may be gone, but we've kept the bar running in honour of him. Miranda's in and out due to work, and Gar often brings Josie with him. We've left Cammy with Simon tonight. It needs to be just the three of us tonight. I pour out the glasses and lie them out on the counter. We wear our costumes in his honour. The door rings, and Chancer enters*
Drury- Chancer-?
Chancer- Hey Drury.
*He takes one of the glasses and gulps it down in seconds, then he wipes his mouth*
Chancer- Sorry, you expecting someone?
Drury- Yeah. Sorry. It's just something we've been doing lately. Me, Gar and Miranda that is.
Chancer- Ah, like a memorial service?
Drury- Yeah. Kinda I guess.
Chancer- Well I won't be staying.
Drury- Chancer- Monty. Do you *want* to stay?
*He smiles. Then sits back down*
Chancer- I could do with another drink, sure.
*I nod, and pour him one*
Drury- That one's for when the others get here, ok?
Chancer- Course. Of course.
*Monty and I sit together in silence for a bit. It hasn't just been the two of us in years, not since he, y'know, tried killing me*
Drury- How are you?
Chancer- Fine. Fine. I found a dollar outside.
Drury- Hmm.
*After a while Miranda comes in. She's tired. We both are. We hug, and sit together*
Miranda- What's he doing here?
Drury- He's lonely. All his friends are locked up.
Miranda- All our friends are too. ... They got Meghan.
*I hold her hand*
Drury- Dragonfly? Aw no.
Miranda- Yeah... One of these days it's going to be us, and I think that maybe it'll be better, because we'll have them.
Drury- Yeah. Yeah maybe. Did... Did you get the promotion?
*She shakes her head*
Miranda- No. No, they didn't want the attention, promoting a C-Lister after all... this
Drury- That's... that's too bad. Who needs them anyway. Besides, you're not a C-Lister. You're at the very least a B-Lister
Miranda- Drury...
Drury- No, no, to me you're an A-Lister, who cares what they say. You're great!
*She smiles. It always gets me when she smiles. Monty sighs as we hug again. Then the door opens*
Gar- Rigger's gone.
...
*We all look at him, giving silent condolences. I get up from the booth and distribute the drinks. Gar is the first to speak, clutching the glass in his hand*
Gar- To everyone who ain't here.
*We all nod*
Drury- To Ten.
Gar- To Rigger.
Miranda- To Meghan.
Chancer- To Chuck.
*We all drink, and I turn to Miranda*
Drury- To Len. Who, without him, and without his dreams we would never have met.
====
*It's like a walk of shame. There's a mile walk from the cells, and as we move, other prisoners scream at us. Above, I catch a glance at the warden- Lock-Up. Like a principal or something watching naughty kids. The guards continue to ruffle us up. Then we're thrown in another small space, the doors close behind us. There's a few other people in here with us. Dragonfly, Firebug, Two-Face even it looks like, and another guy I didn't know, but he's quick to introduce himself as Aaron Black. This is it*
Mayo- No more small spaces, no more small spaces
Len- Keep your pants on for crying out loud.
*The doors begin to whir. Lights flash on and off as the gears grind and we're welcomed into a world of death and chaos. Len is grabbed almost instantly by people in penguin suits. Ten stumbles his way through the welcoming committee, while Mayo scales a nearby fire escape. I'm not going down like this. I'm not going to die here for crimes I didn't commit. For once in my life, I'm going to fight. I'm going to fight for my friends, and I'm going to fight for Charlie. Bring it on*
Inmate- You're dead Brown!
Inmate 2- I've been waiting for this!
Chuck- Kite-Man. Hell Yeah.
Arkham City #0
====Arkham City====
*Cages. They're keeping us in cages. God, it's like the Asylum. But it's worse than that. Me and Len were separated from Blake. They put him somewhere secure, Julian too. Us? We were put in with Condiment King. Len isn't too pleased about that. They've been releasing people in groups of ten or so. I suppose it's to avoid huge riots. Most of the A-List are in there somewhere. Scarecrow. The Penguin. The Joker too undoubtedly, but no one's seen him. Sometimes Lock-Up and the guards take one of us out the cells. They arm us. Then they beat us. They give us guns and they don't even see us as a threat. The conditions... Mitch has thrown up twice already. It must be weeks since Day. Longer maybe, I don't know. I'm starving. All we get is a couple of cereal bars and a bottle of water a day. The door opens. There's six guards and-*
Len- You pricks! You fucking-!
Guard- Shut it inmate. You got yourselves a new bunkmate.
Chuck- Please, we've barely got enough water for the three of us-
Guard- It's a good job you won't be here for long then. Insertion is in two hours. Don't kill each other before then.
*Oh hell... It's Ten. Drury's Blackgate cellmate*
Ten- Where... where am I?
Chuck- Ten! It's Chuck! I... how did they get you?
Ten- Said they.... said they just needed to talk. Didn't think much of it. Then they threw a bag over my head. I didn't fight in Iraq for this. I didn't lose my sight or my hands for this.
Len- Nazis. The lot of them.
Chuck- Can we blame them? They're scared.
Mayo- I'm scared.
Chuck- They thought they were safe, that we were safe. Then Jules attacked the city. If The Calendar Man can do that, who else can?
Len- They're waiting on us. Outside. Every single villain in Gotham just waiting for a chance to kill and rape the weak.
*Mayo vomits again*
Len- Get a grip of yourself Mayo. Fuck it all. Who's supposed to pay for my bar? Is it just going to shut down?
Ten- There are worse things to worry about.
Len- For you maybe. But that bar was everything to me.
====Butchinsky's====
*Len may be gone, but we've kept the bar running in honour of him. Miranda's in and out due to work, and Gar often brings Josie with him. We've left Cammy with Simon tonight. It needs to be just the three of us tonight. I pour out the glasses and lie them out on the counter. We wear our costumes in his honour. The door rings, and Chancer enters*
Drury- Chancer-?
Chancer- Hey Drury.
*He takes one of the glasses and gulps it down in seconds, then he wipes his mouth*
Chancer- Sorry, you expecting someone?
Drury- Yeah. Sorry. It's just something we've been doing lately. Me, Gar and Miranda that is.
Chancer- Ah, like a memorial service?
Drury- Yeah. Kinda I guess.
Chancer- Well I won't be staying.
Drury- Chancer- Monty. Do you *want* to stay?
*He smiles. Then sits back down*
Chancer- I could do with another drink, sure.
*I nod, and pour him one*
Drury- That one's for when the others get here, ok?
Chancer- Course. Of course.
*Monty and I sit together in silence for a bit. It hasn't just been the two of us in years, not since he, y'know, tried killing me*
Drury- How are you?
Chancer- Fine. Fine. I found a dollar outside.
Drury- Hmm.
*After a while Miranda comes in. She's tired. We both are. We hug, and sit together*
Miranda- What's he doing here?
Drury- He's lonely. All his friends are locked up.
Miranda- All our friends are too. ... They got Meghan.
*I hold her hand*
Drury- Dragonfly? Aw no.
Miranda- Yeah... One of these days it's going to be us, and I think that maybe it'll be better, because we'll have them.
Drury- Yeah. Yeah maybe. Did... Did you get the promotion?
*She shakes her head*
Miranda- No. No, they didn't want the attention, promoting a C-Lister after all... this
Drury- That's... that's too bad. Who needs them anyway. Besides, you're not a C-Lister. You're at the very least a B-Lister
Miranda- Drury...
Drury- No, no, to me you're an A-Lister, who cares what they say. You're great!
*She smiles. It always gets me when she smiles. Monty sighs as we hug again. Then the door opens*
Gar- Rigger's gone.
...
*We all look at him, giving silent condolences. I get up from the booth and distribute the drinks. Gar is the first to speak, clutching the glass in his hand*
Gar- To everyone who ain't here.
*We all nod*
Drury- To Ten.
Gar- To Rigger.
Miranda- To Meghan.
Chancer- To Chuck.
*We all drink, and I turn to Miranda*
Drury- To Len. Who, without him, and without his dreams we would never have met.
====
*It's like a walk of shame. There's a mile walk from the cells, and as we move, other prisoners scream at us. Above, I catch a glance at the warden- Lock-Up. Like a principal or something watching naughty kids. The guards continue to ruffle us up. Then we're thrown in another small space, the doors close behind us. There's a few other people in here with us. Dragonfly, Firebug, Two-Face even it looks like, and another guy I didn't know, but he's quick to introduce himself as Aaron Black. This is it*
Mayo- No more small spaces, no more small spaces
Len- Keep your pants on for crying out loud.
*The doors begin to whir. Lights flash on and off as the gears grind and we're welcomed into a world of death and chaos. Len is grabbed almost instantly by people in penguin suits. Ten stumbles his way through the welcoming committee, while Mayo scales a nearby fire escape. I'm not going down like this. I'm not going to die here for crimes I didn't commit. For once in my life, I'm going to fight. I'm going to fight for my friends, and I'm going to fight for Charlie. Bring it on*
Inmate- You're dead Brown!
Inmate 2- I've been waiting for this!
Chuck- Kite-Man. Hell Yeah.