(Edited with Grammarly on 5/21/2026)
(A/N: Oops, realized I've been using Aidan and Adrian interchangeably, so for going forward Aidan has been changed to Adrian.)
Gotham had always been a dark and dreary place. With it's near constant downpour of cold rain that was more akin to daggers of ice falling from the sky, the heavy curtain of smog and just how washed out everything looked. From the decrepit buildings, to the old beat-up cars on their last legs and even the people.
And for once, Albert truly felt included in that monochrome screen. His movements were slowed as he stirred his spoon, eyes looking off into the same wet stain on his ceiling. Had it grown larger? Maybe by around half a centimeter or more but he really couldn't force himself to care too much about it.
Taking a sip, not a single expression crossed his face as he took in the lukewarm water. He already knew it was already as hot as it was going to get unless he could muster up the care with all to actually use the kettle not too far away.
'It's fine.'
He told himself, sipping again at the failed beverage. His eyes lazily locked onto the two small tea packets just out of reach. He'd wanted some tea when first coming down here, but just some water would more than do. Besides, they could be saved for later.
Mixing with the obnoxious slurping, a wet growling could be heard. A few meows of contentment and even a few purrs. Down below, the sleek black cat ate without a care in the world. Her tail wagging back and forth as she quickly devoured the concoction of disgusting smelling wet food and kibble.
'Lucky cat.'
He couldn't help the wistful sigh that escaped from his lips. It was another stall tactic, that he knew. There was still something he needed to do before he could finally close the door on this case. Before he FELT that he'd gone down everything he needed to go down.
It didn't matter how terrible went last night, didn't matter how his fragile hopes had been stomped into the ground...It really shouldn't have affected him as much as it did. He was being immature, that he knew. And if he could take a step back away from his own feelings, just look at things from an outside perspective, even he would admit to understanding.
A sigh escaped his lips, shoulders slumping down as he finally picked up the phone. Tapping away at the tiny buttons before holding it up to his ear. Clouds of apprehension curled up from within his chest, threatening to build up enough pressure to make a bloody mess of his chest.
One ring sounded off and it took all of his self-control not to hang up immediately, an excuse already at the forefront of his mind.
"Hello?" A familiar voice robbed him of his window and from the way they sounded, it was likely that he too had stolen that last half an hour of sleep they so desperately needed. Their voice sounding hoarse and even squeaked a bit as they coughed loudly off in the distance. "...Albert? Is that you? What's wrong? Do you know how early it is? I don't even think...yeah the sun isn't even up yet, this better be good or I'm letting you cover Marcy's bill next time."
"Hey!"
It was a muffled, drowsy echo. Barely loud enough to be heard but frankly, the voice didn't even feel fully aware. Before some loud snoring could be heard in the background.
"Hey, Angeline." Albert tried to smile through the phone, as to somehow hide the weights digging deep into his shoulders. "Good morning, I hope I didn't wak-I'm sorry, I can call back later."
"No-no-no." She let out a yawn, a groan leaving her lips as she presumably stretched. Before her own foot steps could be heard, of slippers scrapping against the hardwood floor. "It's fine, what's up?….Man, what the hell happened?! I got like forty texts?!"
"I can tell you guys later," He had some ideas what was circulating on that particular gossip train and it was even likely that it would surely become an urban legend twisted out of the proportions for years to come. "But first listen, do you have any way to contact either Adrian or Sienna? It's pretty dire, I didn't have the chance to talk to them after the party last night."
That was an understatement if there ever was one. The entire second floor had been completely abandoned when he'd finally been able to slip into a corner somewhere to finish demolishing his mask and the first floor had been heavily congested with frantic teens all trying to talk over each other. At least, those that still remained as he joined the steady stream of party-goers fleeing from the party like it was being haunted by a demonic entity.
And with the mix of his own melancholia, and the sheer volume of people, it had been impossible to even begin trying to look for the dynamic duo.
"I don't have Sienna's number, stuck up bitch." Despite her words, she had a slightly wistful tone. Almost longing, in fact. "But yeah, I got Adrian's numbers. Why do you want it? Did something happen?"
"Something almost did, someone a girl by the name of Chelsea was plotting to slipping a mix of sleeping pills and that new Sap of the Bodhi...and well, taking advantage of him. I wanted to make sure that at least he knew to be incredibly wary around her."
"…" The other end was silent, a pregnant pause that foretold the storm to come. More movement could be heard, this time more frantic before a door being closed joined in. Then and only then did she speak up once more, a very steady but sharp tone. "Tell me everything, don't leave even a single detail out."
And so he did. Usually, he would hold somethings back to hold to keep some of his client's privacy but this went beyond that. There was no way he was just to quietly sweep this under the rug, otherwise he simply wouldn't be able to sleep at night. It didn't matter that he stopped Chelsea. It didn't matter that she was clearly mentally ill. All that mattered was this: She'd plan this for awhile now, had been meticulous and even brought the drugs to the party in advance, as if she knew they were going to be 'needed' that night.
She'd gone to that party fully intending on taking what she thought she deserved and didn't give a single damn about the target of her affection.
'I hope I never, ever have someone that obsessed with me.'
There was a term back in his old world for someone like that. Someone so obsessed to the point of crossing multiple legal and ethical bounds all just to be with their 'love'. Whether that meant drugging them, kidnapping them or even killing those close to them just they had no one else to turn to. In the real world, the disorder had been called pathological obsession but with the rise of anime it had taken on a more widely recognized term. A yandere.
At it's forefront, a lone pink haired girl with similarly colored eyes stood as it's mascot.
He would admit that on some of his darkest days, the thought of having an obsessed girl clinging onto him sounded like the dream. A common thought onion by the lonely side of the internet he was apart of.
By itself, it was a harmless thought. They were just animated figures on a screen after all, but allot of the trouble came about when it started to bleed into reality. With a few notable cases that hit the mainstream media, there had been an entire brigade of people who would rally behind this person the moment their mugshots were dropped. Even he would admit to the inflammatory post every once and awhile but he still didn't quite get it.
At least until he got older and saw how quickly people flipped-flopped depending on how attractive the perpetrator was.
Pretty privilege was always going to be a thing, it wouldn't matter how humanity progressed. Even if they relocated to the stars or completely transcended the need for a physical body, that would always be a factor. And he was guilty of this too, even in this life. He'd decided to throw in his lot with two villainesses who were directly responsible for the death of many. Reforming or not, would he have still decided to do the same thing if they were ugly? Or if they were grizzled men?
No...no he wouldn't have
So with that in mind, could he honestly say he would have reacted any different with Chelsea if was more attractive? If she looked anywhere near as any of his female friends thus far, would he still react as strongly to the situation? Like brandishing his knife the way he did. Or would he have made up a litany of excuses to save her from blame?
...He didn't know and that fact ate at him more and more as he continued. The bile from within his gut bubbling back to life with every jab thrown at himself.
"-nd that's it."
Like a spell had been broken, Albert found himself sucked back into reality. His throat parched and the room silent with all but the constant buzzing coming from his hunk of junk fridge. Picking up his cup, he quickly downed it's contents. He hadn't spared even a single detail, putting all his cards on the table before the blonde.
Angeline was silent for a bit and it was just so easy to imagine her frowning or even scowling.
"Did you keep any proof? Record her plan to you? Text messages?"
"..No." He should have but hindsight was twenty-twenty.
"Damn, that would've helped a lot…Okay, yeah, I'll call Adrian after I'm done here. I would rather call the police on her but without any proof, it'll just be your word and against hers. And with you flushing those pills down the toilet, we can't even use them to collect finger prints...Fine, since she's going to get away legally, I'll handle things on my end.
In that moment, he couldn't help but overlap the image of her mother just then. Even though his time with the politician was short, he knew crossing her was at the very bottom of his bucket list. But he also knew bringing that up now wouldn't be the best idea. Especially not with an enhanced human.
"But before I go, Albert." She said suddenly, that edge slipping away and an awkward almost tentative manner took over. "I'm sorry that happened to you, like I really, really mean it.You didn't deserve that...but you did good. Thank you for stepping in when you did. If you want, we're going out for breakfast in about two hours, you should come. If you want, of course!"
"N-" The refusal was right at the tip of his tongue, before two separate things stopped him in his tracks. First, that silent echo of his own word coming back to haunt him. He wanted to stay inside, lounge around in the dark to brood but how in the world would that help him? This was Angeline of all people, inviting him out. She'd been trying and he needed to do the same. Secondly, a sudden but slight tugging at the hems of his pajama pants. Barely holding back the near instinctual instinct to kick out, he looked down. There she was, Sundae, in all her glory was gnawing and yanking on his pants leg wildly. Large yellow glaring up at him as though the black cat could also sense his rejection as well. Letting out a nonverbal sigh, he began to slide down the side of the cabinet, sitting hunched in that small kitchen as he silently scooped her up. "You know what, yeah that sounds great actually."
"Good! Good, let's just meet up at Coffee Stains and we'll go from there. There's this small dinner nearby that has these massive pancakes, you'll love them. Be there by let's say, nine?"
"Gotcha."
With that, they both hung up. Leaving him to gentle his fingers through sleek fur and it seemed she would allow this level of indignity as there were no ruthless claws used to slap him away but instead, a soft rumbling purr that ran through him.
In that moment, he knew there was more he needed to do. The gigantic elephant in the room being the most pertinent...but today wasn't that sort of day. It would still be there, silently nudging at his mind until he eventually saved.
Magic was a snare anyway, what kind of person would willingly dive headfirst into that clear and obvious death trap?
'A mad one, that's who.'
***
The gentle and subdued sound of metal scrapping against porcelain surfaces echoed out, mixing in the low chatter and the bubbling of pots. The smell of delicious goodness eked out from the surrounding, of fresh coffee, hot and ready eggs, mouth watering bacon, the gentle sear of sausages and even the occasional spike of steak sizzling by.
Albert sat, scrunched in between two teens around his own age. One tall and gangely, glasses sliding down his nose as he skimmed over the menu. Curly brown hair appearing more matted and wild that usual, with a few loose strands sticking up in the hair. Wearing a simple brown overcoat and wrinkled jeans, it was clear he'd just recently rolled out of bed not too long ago.
On his other side was a giant of a teen. Easily towering over everyone at the table even while sitting down and with an elbow jabbing into his side, it was quite clear that maybe it would been better to just sit at the bar. The giant had short cropped brown hair and wore a simple sweat shirt and baggy green sweatpants. He too looked down at his menu with scrunched eyes, sleep clear as he rubbed to rid himself of a few loose crumbs.
In stark comparison to their situation, the pair of girls across from them didn't even seem the least bit uncomfortable. In fact, they looked right as rain. The taller of them had long blonde hair wrapped up in a tight bun wearing a dark brown turtleneck and fitted jeans. Her blue eyes not looking at the menu but dancing from the trio to the surrounding customers.
And besides her, a shorter girl sat. Short black hair ending right at her chin, framing her round face. Wearing that same oversized leather jacket, it paired nicely with a set of black baggy jeans that had a few visible holes and patches. Her own brown orbs not even paying attention to the surrounding chaos, instead she was focused entirely on the bright yellow disposable camera clutched firmly in her grasp. Face nearly touching the back as she squinted one eye to get a better look.
"Awh man, Albert." Marceline started, clicking a button on it's side to flip through the photos. "I'm sorry that happen but….Dude, this is sick!"
Maybe he would've thought she was trying to comfort him, but from how excited she sounded he really didn't think so.
"Steve, look at this!" Without a care in the world, she handed it off across from her. After sending a half-way apologetic smile his way, the bespectacled teen took the camera and perused through the film. Before she turned back to face him fully. "Seriously man, that's literally the coolest things I've seen in awhile! We should totally make a movie! With what you got, it HAS to be horror! There's no other way!"
"...Yeah." Steve nodded almost reluctantly, that crooked smile on full display as he continued to flicker from photo to photo. "It s-sucks that t-this happened to you, t-those were some c-complete assholes...But t-this is some good w-work! I-I can make some p-props and put M-michael in a mask with y-your special effects...Y-yeah I can see it!"
"Why do I have to be the slasher?" Michael grumbled good-naturally, but if anything he actually looked the most excited out of the group. "Can I at least choose what the mask looks like? I don't want another hockey mask, those are a bit overdone."
"I should be the slasher!" Marceline proclaimed, dropping one arm out of her sleeve to flex a nonexistent bicep. "Just think of it! It's always the big guys, but I already got the creepy look about me! Give me a big'ol cleaver and I can promise I'll look way scarier than you!"
"Lady." The large teen looked down disdainfully at her, a small smile at the edge of his mouth as he did so. "If we go around asking people who looks scarier and a hundred percent of the time, it's going to be me...But if you want, you can be a sidekick. Like a traitor in the group trying to lure them into my territory, how does that sound?"
"If anyone should be the slasher, it has to be me." Angeline butted in, her head snapping to attention at the new discussion. "I'm already partially there, I can easily bench press you and probably toss Marcy here. Besides, if it's me, we can use heavier props! Like swinging down a giant cleaver and going back to edit in the special effects, I can actually make the cement crack and everything."
The four of them looked at each other, a dawning sense of horror as she spewed out her mad idea. Before they shook their heads as one.
"No!" They all said in unison, after all no matter how careful she might be, the blonde would still be swinging a heavy blunted blade around at them. Especially hard enough to crack concrete? Yeah, no. That sounded like the worst possible idea.
"Fine." She crossed her arms with a small smirk, making in clear she knew exactly how that little suggestion would go. "But if we're going to do this, we're going to need some more people. A lot more. There's only five of us now, meaning unless we want to do a sort of found footage kind of thing, we'll only have three people as the cast….But I do know at least one person who would be down though and unlike us, he knows how to act."
"B-before we start p-planning anything, Albert h-hasn't actually agree to a-anything yet. W-what do you think?"
Albert did appreciate the teen speaking up in his defense, he probably would've just went along with it but either way he would've agreed. It did sound like fun, especially when his friends were involved.
"I wouldn't be opposed," They almost immediately began cheering before he could even get more out. It took him speaking an octave louder to be heard over the hoopla. "But I do have to keep working though, there will probably be times where I will need to take at least a week off to focus on other things. And we should also specify a scope. There's no way we could make a two-hour movie but maybe a shorter film? Like ten-twenty minutes?"
"Let's make it thirty." Marceline countered. "While I agree with the two-hour bit, I'm not going to aim for something like that but we should try to hit the half an hour mark-"
"Damn man!" Michael interrupted suddenly, his own face pressed up close to the camera. "Who the hell did this to you again?"
"It was just punch," Albert shrugged, trying to downplay the rather ghastly image. "Most of that was just the gelatin and glue coming undone."
"I-it did look blood a-at first though."
Steve added.
'Did it?'
The teen couldn't see it and so snatching his stolen camera back, he looked through the small glass hole. He'd seen the photo plenty of times, far too many to be healthy honestly. And even bringing up the image in his third eye was easy enough for him to do. But that still didn't stop his chest tightening as he saw himself from a third person point of view.
The image was slightly grainy, bright near center but everything around the edges quickly began to fade into darkness. And at it's center, stood a figure that he couldn't quite connect with. Standing shorter than average with a noticeable hunch and wearing bright white gloves, it's whole front of it's shirt was just covered in dark crimson liquid. But it was the face that really triggered something odd and unnerving. It's face appeared to droop and fall, like they visibly melting in that photo. One side of it's cheek had a whole piece of it's flesh missing. And their jaw...their jaw looked to be frozen mid motion, forever stuck in that freefall state as it's skin stretched and looked ready to snap at any given moment. Combine that with the sickly pale complexion underneath, it was like some ghoul from beneath the earth had been wandering about wearing the skin of a some unlucky schmuck. Also, with the brunette hanging off his arms with that concerned and shocked look, it only made the picture worse. Like the creature was using this false skin to lure the girl somewhere and devour her likeness as well.
It was a horrific image, one that if seen on a poster would surely draw the eye...but this had actually happened. And that fact, and that fact alone made it even more terrifying for anyone who actually saw it happen.
'If it were me, I would've forced them make a SAN roll.'
"Excuse me, ladies," The voice was familiar enough to draw him out of his reverie, and dropping the camera low he locked gazes with a steady pair of dark eyes. Unlike last night, they weren't outline heavily with eyeliner. Standing easily taller than him, her raven black hair rolling down her shoulder in waves. She only stared at him hard, as though trying to stamp his appearance in her memory. But other than that, she didn't speak and instead allowed her companion to speak for both of them. "Do you think I could borrow 'Toby' here?"
The speaker, a familiar teen wearing a dark blue bonnet with a few loose strands of blonde hair poking out from beneath the seal, his skin was lightly tanned and eyes were akin to sparkling jade. At this, the group looked around in confusion, only two of them fully knowing what was going on.
"Here let me get past you, Michael." Albert shoved the teen in the side with no reason affect, but the lug still grumbled before getting up and allowing him to crawl out of the booth. Standing to this full attention, he tried to ignore how focused the pair were on his face. "Do you want to talk here, or…?"
"Let's go somewhere a bit more private, if you don't mind, of-course." Adrian peered at the all too eager and curious group at the teen's back. With that the trio separated from them, moving to the open bar stools and taking a seat. The brunette tried calm his nerves but being stared at so intensely by two separate people would put anyone on full alert. "First, I'm guessing Toby isn't your real name?"
"No, my name is Albert."
There really wasn't a reason to lie here, especially not with them now knowing who he's associated with. Showing a small olive branch was always a good step forward.
"Then, Albert, it's nice to meet you!" The blonde held out and hand shook his hand firmly. "And this here, is Si-Si, don't mind her. She's nice when she wants to be."
Sienna didn't verbally reply, only waved down a nearby waitress carrying a pot of fresh coffee.
"She's also not much of a morning person...or really an afternoon person...hell I know for damn sure she's a night person either! But really, she's fine...and single if you're-Nevermind." The blonde halted his teasing almost immediately as a piercing glare nearly lanced him from the side. Coughing, he turned back to face their third party. "Well, Albert. I know we kind of sprung this on you but Angeline wouldn't give us your number or anything so we compromised here...I want to thank you, man. For everything. I didn't...I didn't know there was someone out there that obsessed with me, you know? Especially not to that extent. Just knowing how close I was to being...Well, nothing occurred thanks to you and for that, you will have my eternal thanks."
"It's fi-no." There he went again. This wasn't just a thanks for taking out the trash or telling someone their shoe was untied. This was larger than that, larger than him in fact. It wouldn't be right to diminish the gravity of the situation. "Let me reword that: It was the right thing to do and I am glad that you are alright. I'm sorry I didn't tell you last night."
"Dude." He placed his hand on the other teen's shoulders, forcing them to lock gazes. "You have nothing to apologize for! I heard what happened from a few people but it was disjointed and Angeline there filled me in on everything else. That shouldn't have happened...And I'm sorry for that. But I didn't just come here to say that, I was always taught to never come empty handed."
With that, the blonde reached into his inner pocket before shoving a bulging envelope into the PI's hands. And by bulging, it was like the envelope was so jam-packed full of cash that it's green hue was visible through the surface. Filled with so much that even if every single one was just a dollar bill, it was still a very substantial amount of money.
"I can't take this." Albert tried to push the envelope back, almost panicking at the sheer weight of the gift. "It's too much!"
"No, I actually don't think it's enough." Adrian shoved the gift back sternly, easily overpowering him both with sheer strength and the conviction in his eyes. "I was almost violated last night, Albert. Someone took one look at me and decided that my consent, my own preferences meant nothing and was going to take what she wanted from me...And you stopped her. You're a hero and I don't have anything else I could ever do to repay for this, so please, even if this is such a poultry gift, accept it. Please."
"…" He wanted to refused, to shove the money back into the actor's hands but the earnestness in that gaze was too strong. To the point where he would be filled with shame by refusing further. So with a sigh, he shoved the envelope out sight. "Okay, I'll accept it...thank you."
"No-no-no." The blonde brought him into a deep hug, voice dropping low. And in that moment, fear leaked into his words. "Thank you...I don't know what I would've done if she'd succeeded, I just know I wouldn't be here now. If you need anything, absolute anything, you come to me first, you hear me?"
"I understand."
Albert said awkwardly, patting the shaken teen's back a few times. Allowing him the few extra moments he needed not to completely fall into shambles.
"Good." Nodding graciously, the blonde released his grip and stood up. Taking a few seconds to straighten his wrinkled clothes and 'stealthily' wipe the tears from his eyes. "I won't keep you and don't worry about your friend's bill here, I already got it covered. And my number's in that envelope too, so don't be a stranger!"
With that, he turned on his heel and strutted out farther away. Waving coolly at the table of teen's who tried and failed not to appear as if they weren't trying to eavesdrop.
"Aren-"
Just as he turned back to the raven haired girl, Albert could feel warmth flood his cheek. It was for just a moment, but it was almost impossible to miss. Whipping his head around in a blur, his heart began to beat rapidly as she retreated. Those beats growing louder as he looked at her with wide, owlish eyes.
"Thank you."
And that was all she said before standing and following after her friend. He wished he could've said he paid any further attention to his surroundings but that would've been a bold face lie. A lone gloved hand reached up to his cheeks, as though to somehow preserve that warmth or relive that sensation but like a leaf in the wind, it fluttered away quickly.