Crimson X

Chapter 1: The Beginning

(A/N: This is a really long chapter! 4,606 words total! Hope you like it! Took me about a day and a half to write.)

“Doctor Channing!” A voice echoed off of the walls in a dreary hallway.

A woman, of about the age of 25, turned around to see who was calling her name. Her golden hues resided on a man in a security outfit, but to be more exact on the name tag. In bold white letters it read Arthur Jones.

“How can I help you, Mister Jones?” She questioned as she pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose. “Is something wrong with one of the patients?”

Mister Jones scoffed slightly at the thought of there being something wrong with one of the patients. They were in an asylum; there was something wrong with all of the patients. Despite this string of thought, he shook his head before speaking.

“There’s a new, err, old patient that was put in here again,” He spoke slightly hesitantly and handed a file over to the doctor, “Strange ordered me to hand you the information on this patient and that you were to be his psychologist.”

“Professor Strange?” Channing questioned. “I thought Warden Sharp was in charge of this place.”

Mister Jones rolled his eyes, “You have a lot to learn about this place, Doctor Channing.”

“Hmm…Very well,” she spoke as she redirected her eyes to the folder.

Looking through her black framed glasses, Doctor Channing read aloud Edward Nigma. She then looked up at the security guard with scrutinizing eyes.

“Now, I only just got here, but I’m assuming that you had an encounter with this patient before, am I correct?”

“Yes, he’s one--.” Mister Jones was cut off by a wave of a hand from Doctor Channing.

“I don’t want to know,” she shook her head. “My method for treating the mentally ill is unconventional. I don’t read anything about the patient besides their name. I myself will make all notes on their mental state and then refer to what others have seen before.” She paused for a second. “It helps build a sort of trust between the patient and doctor.” Doctor Channing gave a small smile towards Mister Jones. “After all, if they want my help they’ll have to trust me. Now, would you please show me the way to Mister Nigma’s cell? I’m afraid that a week of working here hasn’t really made me all that familiar with all of the hallways.” She laughed nervously and scratched the bag of her head.

“Only if I can leave right afterward,” Mister Jones let a sigh of relief as Doctor Channing gave a subtle nod of her head. “Alright, follow me. Stay close, you never know if Scarecrow or Joker broke out.”

“Who?” She tilted her head curiously.

“You’re kidding right? You don’t know who either of those two bastards are?”

“No…” She shook her head, “I just moved to Gotham after I got the job here, so I don’t know too much about the crime here.”

Mister Jones grimaced at the thought of how careless it was of her to move to a city that she barely knew. He thought that she should at least know about some of the freaks here.

“Well, Scarecrow used to be a psychologist like you. Except he went insane making a fear toxin.”

“What’s fear toxin?” Even though Doctor Channing just moved here, she knew that it couldn’t be a good thing.

“Scarecrow can spray you with it then it’ll make your worst fears come to life,” he shuttered at an unfriendly memory. “If it’s a strong enough concentration you’ll go insane. Then there’s Joker. I’ll tell you he’s the nuttiest case we have. He just gets a kick of seeing people suffer. We honestly have no idea what’s wrong with him. There’s no hope.”