Post Diluvium

3

I sit at my breakfast table, eating a sandwich. My legs stretched out, dressed in my suit, minus the mask. I wipe my face with a napkin, just as a voice crackles through the police scanner. I turn the volume up.

"Officer Ledet. 10-18. Officers down. The intersection of Terrance and Nicholson. Send additional units and EMT. We have a group of Dropheads...I don't know what's going on with them, they're going crazy."

I take a final bite of my sandwich before pulling my mask down and heading out my window.

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I stand over the intersection, lit up by blue and red police lights. I turn my goggles on, using my thermal vision. The bright police lights make it hard to see with night vision. The Dropheads aren't acting like Dropheads. Drops are downers. This is something different. They are wailing, crying out for help. Swinging at things that aren't there. They are on some really, really bad trip.

Officer Ledet is crouched behind his car door, gun drawn, pointing it at the dropheads. The other two officers are down. One is knocked out, laying in the middle of the street. The other is sitting up against his police car, holding his arm.

I walk from out of the shadows.

Officer Ledet points his gun at me, "Don't move. Put your hands up."

I comply, raising my hands, as to not alarm the officer anymore. I understand. He is in a very stressful situation right now. No need to make it worse.

"I'm here to help," I said, as one of the crazies charged at me.

I easily block his swing, grabbing his arm, twisting it behind him, and pushing him into the wall. 3 left.

"Ah..." I whispered, grabbing my bum shoulder.

The officer starts to relax a bit, standing up, lowering his gun, watching.

Another one of the crazies runs towards me. I hit him with a straight jab and uppercut. 2 left.

I notice with my thermal vision that all of their extremities are hot. Hotter than their heads and chest, significantly. These are definitely not Dropheads. This is 100% something else.

The last two crazies charge at me, screaming at the top of their lungs. I high kick one in the head and he immediately drops. The other continues forward. I grab her arm and shoulder flip her onto the ground, punching her.

I stand up straight, not even out of breath.

Officer Ledet, keeps his gun in his hand as he walks from behind his door, radioing back to base, "Fugitives are apprehended. Officers are still down. EMTs needed"

I walk over to the officer sitting up against the police car. Office Ledet follows. I switch to x-ray vision to inspect his wounds.

The wounded officer asks, "Are you that new freak running around now?"

I scoff, "Freak?" I look at his arm, "Broken ulna and radius. You'll be out for a while. Other than that your fine."

Officer Ledet holsters his gun, "What's your name?"

I walk over to the officer on the ground, he lies in a puddle of blood.

"If I told you my name that defeats the purpose of a mask," I said kneeling down.

"No like your made-up name. Like Batman. You working with Batman." He asked, giddily

"I don't have a made-up name and I don't work with Batman. He has a depressed fracture and fragments are touching his brain. Do not touch his head. Make sure they get him to surgery fast." I said, standing up

EMTs and other cruisers, speed down the road. I turn looking down a dark alley seeing a tall, lanky figure. I switch to night vision, zooming in. I can't quite make it out, but once they notice me staring, they take off. The foot chase begins.

After rounding a few corners, crossing a few streets, I'm finally gaining on them. I quickly turn a corner. 

SURPRISE!

There he is. Face to face. He wears a hood, almost covering his eyes. A very poorly sewn-together gas mask on the bottom. He sprays some kind of dust into my face. I stumble backward, coughing, swatting the air.

The ground starts to feel like water underneath my feet. I look up trying to figure out what's happening. His face begins to morph. The stitches in his mask, turn into razor-sharp teeth with a smile reaching ear to ear. His face starts to glow orange from within. His eyes flaming up past the hood. I try swinging at him but he easily swats my hands away.

He wags his finger in front of me as it turns into a snake, "Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. I was hoping for the Batman, but I guess you'll do. Do me a favor and pass the message on, will you."

I take my goggles off, rubbing my eyes, holding my head. This can't be real. I stumble back a bit. A long alien tongue falls out of his mouth, drooling everywhere.

"What...What did you do to me." I cried, paralyzed with fear.

He walks up to me, grabbing my head and shoulders pulling me in for a hug, "Shhhh...It's ok to be afraid."

I stare down the empty street behind him, my eyes welling up with tears, watching spiders infest the streets like the flood once did. My heart is beating almost out of my chest.

"Beware The Court of Owls, that watches all the time, ruling Gotham from a shadow perch, behind granite and lime." The man whispered in my ear.

I look up seeing giant owls with razor talons and glowing eyes. Daggers for feathers. Swooping down from the sky. I tightly hold on to the man.

"They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed, speak not a whispered word of them or they'll send The Talon for your head." He finished

He pries me off of him, holding my face in his hand, "Don't fight it. Embrace it. Only he who has overcome his fears will truly be free." 

He places me down next to a pile of trash in the alleyway. He walks away, crackling. As he walks away his body elongates. Towering over the buildings as he walks down the street. I shiver not only from the cold but from the fear. I curl up, holding my legs to my chest. I take my mask off, grabbing at my face. I just want it to stop. Why won't it stop?

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"Hey...Hey"

I grunt, feeling someone poking me. I slowly open my eyes, seeing a strange man standing over me. I jump up, terrified.

"Are you alright?" He asked

"Yeah. Yeah..." I sit up trying to figure out what just happened.

I stand up walking down the street slowly picking up my pace until I'm running, crying, putting my mask back on. I just want to get home.