The pain from Lucan's arm was numbing, like electricity was running through it; though, considering the way he fell, maybe he should be happy he could even feel the arm at all.
The dark knight's tackle had knocked the air out of his lungs. He felt his brain jingle in his skull, but after the light's descent that feeling had vanished, replaced by fear and a sudden shiver. The light was so bright that even the cape couldn't block it all; no doubt facing it directly would be a death sentence to your sight.
But more than that, more than anything, was the heat; his skin stung, and he was finding it hard to breathe. He briefly wondered if he would actually suffocate if this continued. Luckily, just as suddenly as it had come down, the light dissipated, and the heat subsided to the point it didn't feel like the air was being cooked.
Lucan was immediately released from the dark knight's grasp; the man lifted him from his crouching position and turned around. His eyes widened when he saw the damage. The area he had been standing in had been completely eviscerated.
A large hole had formed from the top of the building heading downwards. "Damn". Lucan gulped; had he not been saved, he doubted anyone would have been able to find his body even if they tried. He shifted his gaze to the silent man dressed in black, who felt like he had crawled out of a bad dream.
'I suppose Gothamites have a good reason not to want this guy to be real,' he thought as he tried to push himself to his feet, but the pain he felt called him back to reality, as he winced
"Are you alright?" He asked; his deep voice sounded eerily calm, like he had not just been no more than a few feet away from being reduced to ash by a Lazer beam.
Lucan gritted his teeth, bearing the pain "My leg" He looked at the boy for a few seconds and back at the massive hole that had been left in place of what used to be the lower floor. Lucan couldn't tell what expression he was making, but he doubted he would like what Gotham City's dark knight was thinking.
The dark knight soon bent down on one knee, pulling out a small golden capsule from his belt and spraying it on his leg; the relief was instant. " How's that? Can you at least walk?"
Wriggling his foot for a moment in amazement, he quickly nodded; whatever he had doused him with had fixed him up pretty good, but before he could celebrate further, the Dark Knight poured cold water on his head with his next words.
"Be careful; your leg is still injured; you just can't feel it". He said as he walked away from the gaping hole and towards the reception where the stairs to the lower floors were.
"Do you think another one of those beams will come down anytime soon?" Lucan asked curiously, a hint of anxiety in his tone. The caped crusader looked back for a moment, then shook his head lightly.
"I doubt she would be able to fire another high-concentration beam so quickly". Hearing that, Lucan tilted his head to the side slightly.
"She?" Lucan asked in surprise as his brain tied the information together. Asion together. As far as he knew, there was only one meta human in this orphanage, one who controlled light; however, he also felt confused. There was no way Polly could be that powerful.
The memory of the scalding heat and the image of the massive charred hole made him shiver; it was impossible; she had never shown signs of such destructive capabilities. Even if she had recently shown him how deep her mental manipulative abilities were, even her most solid light constructs were still relatively brittle, after all; even he could crush them if he really put his mind to it.
Something was missing from all this, something he didn't know, but it didn't matter.
"You spaced out; are you sure you're alright?" The Dark Knight asked with his head leaned in closely to his face, which had caused him to flinch and stagger backwards 'Ugh, he's actually scary.
Despite being well aware of his morality, Lucan couldn't help but call his intentions into question every time he so much as breathed. He didn't make noise when he moved, and his presence felt more akin to a shadow than a living being.
"No, I mean I'm fine; it's just made me remember something, is all". He looked at the dark knight; his expression was practically impossible to properly make out in that mask. It reminded him of someone else.
"Care to share?" Lucan hesitated for a moment but then looked behind them, a complicated expression on his face.
"Yeah…" Lucan then went into details about her appearance while he wordlessly listened to his description. Short, thin, with short red hair, emerald green eyes, and pale skin, along with what he knew of her powers, which seemed a bit obsolete at the moment. "Well?"
Batman tilted his head in a certain direction as though listening to something before ushering both of them under the large reception desk and bringing his index fingers to his lips
A small light appeared from down the hall, along with clumsy, heavy footsteps, ones that he had grown to recognize over the past few months. The watchman, he was patrolling the halls, holding a strange lantern that pulsed every time he moved.
He passed them by, only briefly looking over at the desk before turning his attention away. He stood facing the destroyed room, rolling his head in a circle as he held up the lantern, whispering something incomprehensible to himself.
The lantern's light grew brighter, spectral tendrils extending into the room briefly before retracting back into the lantern.
'What the fuck is that?' Lucan was stunned, his heart banging against his chest; he had even held his breath in fear he may be breathing too loudly.
He and the batman watched in silence as he slowly started to walk out of the hall. Lucan's shoulders dropped as he relaxed, smacking his arm slightly against the wall "Ah".
The watchman's steps stopped,
The lantern's light dimmed and began to flicker, the watchman's head beginning to vibrate violently before turning a complete one hundred and eighty degrees, his mouth opening wide, stretching beyond what any human could achieve, revealing nothing but swirling darkness.
As the lanterns' light dimmed, his face began to grow brighter; floating ghost-like flower petals floated around his head, his figure distorting as the lanterns' light dimmed and he began to resemble a flower, a screaming human-faced flower.
The hall began to twist and stretch, the walls melting like wax, reshaping themselves.
"I FoUnD YoU". He could hear the clumsy footsteps approaching, yet when he looked, all he could see was the grotesque glowing human flower extending its pale flesh colored roots and slamming them against the ground.
They broke into a sprint, with the dark knight carrying him.
"Oh God, oh God please please". The melting hall compressed inwards like a creature taking a breath, before lunging at them all at once and closing the distance instantly.
***
The scenery had just changed; the halls now looked pristine and well-maintained- well, that was if you ignored the glossy, smeared-glass-like appearance that everything seemed to have. The orphanage had been restored.
The dark knight put him down carefully and glanced around the place with curiosity "These paintings"
"This used to be Polly's art hall, but if I remember, they got rid of all her paintings". He said aloud while the caped crusader acknowledged him with a small nod.
"So it had sentimental value"
They walked along the hall of portraits, each featuring a young red-haired girl with her face darkened out of the canvas; various depictions also existed as well, ones of the girl in a long dress, in her pajamas laying outside with some people.
'Hold on, is that me and Blondie?' he thought but kept it to himself as he caught up with the passing vigilante.
As they walked, they would notice the paintings subtly shifting their focus, leaning their gaze towards them.
"Hmm"
The Dark Knight extended a hand towards a painting of the red-haired little girl hugging her knees in a dark kitchen background. He felt the texture of one of the picture frames. He observed it with curiosity as his eyes narrowed, "Is this how she sees herself? Or a mix of memories?" The painting suddenly lifted its head, staring at the two of them blankly for a few seconds, its hair turning blonde as a pair of hands extended from the painting and clasped around his neck.
He stumbled backwards, falling. He struggled with the blonde wraith for a bit before tossing it off him as it dived back into one of the paintings. The caped crusader looked around cautiously. The paintings had all changed, their hair becoming blonde as they turned their gazes towards him, each one extending its hands out of the frame and pointing its index finger in his direction.
The wraith had quickly appeared from the nearest frame, having grown in size as it attempted to latch onto him again. With every miss, one of the girls in the painting vanished, and the size of the wraith grew.
As they struggled, Lucan heard the sound of heavy footfalls and the dragging of feet; the watchman was catching up to them; with any luck, they might just fight each other.
Sadly, that did not happen.
His attention had been divided between the struggling dark knight and the impending arrival of the monstrous watchman, he wasn't sure what direction to run in, and unfortunately the choice was soon made for him.
He had only blinked, the dark knight had suddenly vanished leaving him alone in the endless corridor with nothing but the sound of his own raging heartbeat.
But naturally he was not actually alone.
One of the tentacles wrapped around his body, holding him in place; two more curled into a spiral in front of him, their bodies shimmered, producing a ripple effect as he looked at them.
He turned his head to the side only to have it held in place by the tentacles as they forced, his eyes open "Stop, stop, I don't want this". He struggled, but his strength was proving to be woefully insufficient as his mind started to fade.
Images started to appear in his mind, and he felt like his brain was itching; his own thoughts being buried under the mind control "It hurts, it hurts!" Lucan thrashed wildly, feeling like his limbs would be torn apart
And the pain only grew along with his resistance. It felt like his mind was being torn apart as his vision gradually grew blurry. A small streak of color appeared in his eyes as his struggles grew less frantic. The wraith was erasing his memory, replacing it, erasing him from this world, and yet he would live on, a fate stranger than death, yet all he could do was watch.
As his expression gradually grew blank and he felt his control over his muscles grow weaker, he still managed to let out a feeble complaint. It really hurts…Polly". The tentacles pushed briefly, their grip on him losing as his eyes closed and he lost consciousness before wrapping themselves around him and dragging him into the darkness of the orphanage.
Author's Note:
If you're enjoying the story and want to read ahead or support my work, you can check out my P@treon at [email protected]/LordCampione. But don't worry—all chapters will eventually be public. Just being here and reading means the world to me. Thank you for your time and support.