Goddess: Descention

Chapter 1: Ashes

Goddess:

Volume 1 - Descention

Book 2 - Combustion

Part 1 - Ashes

Fire And Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

Robert Frost (1874-1963)

Ashes

Arkham Island

Scarred and wounded by the earthquake that ravaged Gotham only a handful of years ago, The Broken City was what they called the island now. No building or structure was left unscathed, many tilted dangerously, as if a brisk wind could topple them. Others leaned against one another, their roofs meeting in a collection of buckling timber, cement and crumbling brick; transforming the dark alleys beneath them into perilous tunnels. During the quake entire streets sunk into the ground and buildings fell over them covering the monstrous gap, creating an under-city that would never again see the light of day.

Arkham Island had been a city within a city before and it remained so; people lived there still. They were not all criminals or escaped Arkham inmates, some were just incredibly unlucky, and others simply had no desire to live under anyone else’s rules. They were the forgotten citizens, the homeless, the hopeless addicts, the people that for whatever reason could not survive within society: They came to the Broken City and thrived there, outside of it. Even the gangs and the other more organized criminal elements of Gotham shunned the island, there was little money to be made in the desolate ruins, but it was a great place to hide.

The people of the Broken City lived in fear. They isolated themselves because they feared each other, they hid because they feared authority but they survived because ultimately, they feared death. They huddled in the ruins as far from the prison as possible because they feared Arkham Asylum more than the rest of Gotham City, with good reason: Since they lived outside of society they also lived outside it’s protection. They didn’t want the authorities meddling in their underground community any more than they wanted an insane inmate threatening their lives, so when they had found the escaped madman in their midst, they were on their own.

Just days after the escape Batman began seeing the signs: On the east-side docks, in the Bowery, Old Town and Crime Alley. Graffiti across the city was prevalent, even his own symbol was used and abused by many artists; usually as a challenge or to show contempt but sometimes it was used as a symbol of deference or as a message. Like hieroglyphics or pictograms, graffiti meant something to the artist and their affiliations and if one paid attention one could see or read it’s hidden message.

They were everywhere, these small stylized bats, and as far as graffiti art goes they were not well done and always painted over a crack or a flaw; in a wall, on a sidewalk. That could mean someone was out to ‘break the bat’. He’d seen it before, and it usually meant there was a new price on his head or they upped the reward of an old one. That only happened when he had taken out someone important, or did some major damage to one of the street gangs, the mob or anyone with the money to contract a hit. But Batman didn’t think that was the case this time, he believed it meant someone in Broken City desperately wanted to talk to him. Each symbol had a tag; a signature, barely recognizable squiggles that resembled an ‘SQ’: And Batman knew who that was.

He was known as Squirrel and as far as anyone knew he didn’t have a name or an identity beyond that. He was a scavenger. He had a knack for finding things and holing them away until they could be used or traded. He had caches all over Broken City that contained everything from cash and jewellery to food and batteries. By the standards on the island, he was wealthy. If anyone in the Broken City needed something bad enough Squirrel could find it, if he didn’t already have it stashed away somewhere.