Crimson X

Chapter 22: Nightmare

A bottle shook some substance onto a rag. The person who held the bottle carefully put it back into a pouch that was attached to their belt, as well as the rag. They looked up from what they were doing and down at the streets of Gotham City. They bit their lip as skeletons among skeletons were in their own houses or walking among the streets. None of them looked particularly suspicious.

The girl realized that if she wanted to find someone, she’d have to find them without their skeleton. The odds of finding a person without a skeleton – Clayface –would be highly unlikely. The girl raised her goggles up as she remained kneeling down on the roof.

Her eye landed on a person looking back and forth, as if they didn’t want to be followed. It was too dark to figure out who it was, but not dark enough to tell that they didn’t look suspicious. Shar placed her goggles back on so she could get a better look at them. Their pulse was slightly accelerated according to the small box that popped up showing their pulse.

The man turned into an alleyway below the building that Shar was stalking on. He walked up to a solid wall and knocked on it for a little bit before he opened it. He then walked into the hidden entrance. Once the door closed it blocked any of Shar’s goggle vision. It must be made out of some sort of special material.

Shar climbed down the fire escape and walked to the hidden wall. She held her ear against it and knocked. It would most definitely open. She felt around the bricks until a handle grabbed her attention. She pulled it open and glanced forward. There was another door there, one that wasn’t hidden. Taking a deep breath she walked to the door and opened it a crack. She peered inside to see where the man went. From the little space there was, she couldn’t see him.

She then opened the door completely and took a step in. She glanced around and there was one skeleton insight. Shar carefully walked towards the figure and took out a rag. The man had his back to her as he was looking up at computer screens. Shar couldn’t see what was on them, as her goggles made them white out. She shook her head; she needed to concentrate on the man. In a blink of an eye she leapt towards the man with rag in hand.

The man turned around and grabbed a hold of her arm while glaring down at her. He took a hold of her goggles and threw them off violently. Shar struggled to get lose, but his grip was too tight. Her eyes darted to the man, but her vision was getting blurry. The rag was being held to her mouth. Then, there was nothing.

---Time Skip---

Screams of terror filled the air. People were running around in panic. Some began to attack other people. Men were driving their teeth into the skull of children and were piercing into their brains. A woman screamed as a gang of men walked up to their, lust filled eyes. In her arms was a limp toddler with blood running out of his stomach.

None of this compared to the heat that was touching her skin. Building surrounding her were on fire. Large chunks of debris fell down that threatened to crush her tiny frame. She jumped out of the way just in time. A gun fire went off next to her. The girl turned around seeing The Joker howling as Harley Quinn clung onto his arm. The girl’s eyes widened, he was supposed to be dead, but he looked as healthy as ever.

Run! That’s the only thing her mind told her to do. And so she did. She ran away from this mad place. Though, something tripped her. The girl slammed into a muddy puddle on the ground. Gasping for air, the girl turned around. Tears began to fall from her eyes as she crawled to the thing on the ground. She stroked its fur and burst into sobs.

“No,” she choked. “This can’t be happening.” She shook the body, “Riolu…Move! Please!”

There was no response from the dog that lied deceased on the ground. Shar tried to wipe away the tears, but they kept on coming. Footsteps sounded towards her. She weakly stood up and looked at her fallen friend. She muttered a good bye and kept on running. Though, it was hard as her vision was blurry from the salty liquid that kept on coming forth.