Penguin fan fiction

Penguin

CHAPTER 1- ALEX TOWNSLEY

On the surface, the Cobblepots were a respectable family. The father, who was mayor of the city after giving up his job at Wayne Enterprises, was known as a man of principal. Arthur Cobblepot was always trying to bridge the divide between the rich and the poor and clean up the criminal underworld, quite a force to be reckoned with in a city such as Gotham.

The Cobblepots had three children. Reginald, the oldest, might be described as quite average, (if ever there was such a thing) both in appearance and personality. Then there was Edwina, the middle child. Edwina was nothing like her older brother. She was, in fact, quite the opposite of typical, physically and mentally. She was a shockingly overweight child, yet very pasty in skin complexion. She had a long, pointy shaped nose and long slimy black hair, which she refused to wash because she had a fear of getting water in her ears. She hated people's company and mostly ignored everyone. During her first year at High school, people tried to bully her. One boy got a very unfortunate reaction on one occasion, when he grabbed her by her hair. Edwina naturally retaliated by sinking her teeth into his ear. She was so vicious that she actually managed to bite half of his ear off! The Cobblepots paid the boy's family off and no more was said about the matter. Needless to say, nobody ever tried to bully Edwina ever again.

Finally, there was Oswald, the youngest. Physically speaking, he was very similar to his older sister. He was short and fat, had the same nose, the same hair, with regards to length, but cleaner. He was unusually flatfooted in the way he walked and waddled because of his weight. The other children would bully him about his walk, saying that he walked like a penguin. That became his nickname all the way through high school, "Penguin." However, unlike his sister, Oswald was not in any way aggressive or intimidating, which is why the bullying prevailed with him more than it did with Edwina. Oswald was kind and gentle by nature, possibly the worst things to be, growing up in Gotham. He was, perhaps a bit odd, but had good intentions.

Given the fact that the family lived in a mansion outside the city centre, and that Oswald was not so popular at school, he was socially isolated growing up. His father, as loving and caring as he was, seemed to have very little time to spend with his family, due to his role as mayor. The mother, on the other hand, spent most of her time being ill with pneumonia. Reginald was always busy spending time with his friends or a girlfriend. Edwina stayed in her room most days, talking to herself. Oswald spent a majority of his youth outside in nature, enjoying the company of birds. There was a blackbird that would perch on a tree every day, not far from Cobblepot Manor. Oswald used to go and visit the bird at least once a day, for quite a long period of time. He remembered sharing a stronger relationship with the blackbird than any other human. The bird would not belittle him about his walk or have any ill feelings towards him. The bird would be there for him, should he choose to visit. They would look into each other's eyes, and he would feel at peace.

When Oswald was fourteen years old, his mother died. It was a sad day for all of the family, but particularly for Oswald, who could feel his world closing in. Edwina was socially detached from everyone, so the death of her mother didn't seem to affect her at all. Reginald was understandably sad, but he appeared to take everything in his stride. He had a strong circle of friends to lean on, which certainly helped. The father had his job to keep him occupied, so it wasn't as if he had much time to wallow. It was during this time, Oswald started becoming less polite around people. If someone were to bully him at school, he would learn to fight back. He wasn't as ruthless as his sister, biting a boys ear off, but he was learning to be more assertive in his own way. Not long before his mother's death, she had bought him an umbrella as a birthday gift. Since her death, he carried the umbrella everywhere he went as a mark of respect to her. One boy was teasing him outside school on one occasion, so Oswald jabbed him with the umbrella and then beat him with it. He received a week of detention, but it was worth it, in his eyes.