Jim Gordon sighed in relief, the sound rattling in his lungs like dry leaves against a gravestone. As he slumped against the cold, moisture-beaded concrete wall, his knees finally gave out, and he slid down until his backside hit the grimy floor. The stress was really getting to him.
'I'm getting too old for all this shit'.
After decades of serving as Gotham's police commissioner, he had thought he'd seen every shade of madness the human and superhuman soul could manifest. He had survived Joker's toxins, Bane's crusades, and the Court of Owls. But the last five months had rewritten his definition of insanity.
Vampires. Not the gothic, romanticized legends that sparkled or brooded in teenage novels, but a viral, predatory extinction event. One day, the world made sense, the next, the Justice League had fallen, and the sky had turned into a permanent shroud of ash. Heroes and villains alike were running wild, but no longer for ideals or greed. Now, it was all for the red hunger. Hell on Earth didn't even begin to cover the systematic slaughter he had witnessed.
In his trembling, soot-stained hand, he clutched a small reinforced glass vial. It contained a Crimson liquid so dark it was almost black, Lex Luthor's blood.
The genius billionaire had always been a paranoid, meticulous bastard, and it seemed that in his final hours, he had altered his own biology to be toxic to the undead.
It was a final, spiteful middle finger to the Vampire King from the smartest man in the world. This vial was their best, and perhaps final, gamble at winning a war that already looked lost.
And he had almost lost it.
When he had ventured into the tunnels to find Harley Quinn, a desperate move that spoke volumes of how far the city had fallen, he was fully prepared to die when the vampires caught up with him.
He had expected to be torn apart by fangs in the dark tunnels below the city he had spent his life fighting for, without anyone even being aware he was gone.
Instead, fate had sent strangers. Armed, terrifying, and absurdly capable strangers who had handled his vampire pursuers like it was nothing.
"I don't know who you people are," Jim said, his voice raspy as he extended a hand toward Kenji, "but... thank you. Truly."
Kenji accepted the handshake firmly. His hand was warm, real, living warmth, hw rare those were these days. Which was a comfort in a world of cold corpses. "Don't mention it. We were just passing by," he replied casually, as if he hadn't just turned a vampire into a marble of flesh.
Jim squinted at him, his detective's mind cataloging Kenji. "Not to be rude, but who are you? And you as well," he nodded toward Erza, whose crimson hair was the only bright thing in the dingy tunnel. "I get the feeling you're not from around here. You don't have that... 'Gotham, look.' That look of someone waiting for the sky to fall."
Kenji didn't bother lying. In a universe where aliens, magic, and multiversal crises were practically local news, secrecy felt like a wasted effort. "My name is Kenji Takahashi. This is Erza Scarlet. We're travelers, of a sort."
Erza gave a small, respectful bow, her silver armor gleaming faintly under the flickering emergency lights. "A pleasure to meet you. We have heard of your city's plight."
Kenji reached into his space, prying the unconscious Sora out of his inventory and laying him gently against a crate. The boy looked exhausted, his face pale. "This is Sora. He's... having a rough day. And that over there," he pointed to the small, ghost-pale child being poked incessantly by Harley, "is Van."
Harley froze, her finger still buried in Van's cheek. "Wait—this is a PERSON?" she yelped, leaping back with a theatrical somersault.
Vandalieu didn't flinch. He slowly turned his head with a mechanical, eerie smoothness that made the hairs on Gordon's neck stand up. He looked like a possessed porcelain doll, his eyes void of the usual spark of childhood.
"Greetings. I am Vandalieu," the boy said, his voice a flat, polite monotone.
Jim would deny it to his grave, but he had honestly thought Van was some kind of life-sized child doll Kenji had been carrying around for unknown reasons.
The skin was the color of fresh bone, and the lack of blinking was deeply unsettling. 'He's alive?', Jim told himself, though his gut wasn't entirely convinced. He hid his shock with a practiced mask of professionalism. "A pleasure to meet you all. Though I have to ask... why are you here? Most people with a lick of sense don't go exploring the underground at night these days."
"We arrived in this world just a few hours ago," Kenji said, dropping the casual act for a moment. "Do you mind explaining the situation? We need to know the scale of the rot."
Jim sighed, the weight of the world returning to his shoulders. He explained the collapse, how Nightwing had betrayed the League and was the vampire king, how the sun had been blotted out by artificial clouds, and how the resistance was clinging to life by its fingernails. He spoke of the lost heroes, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Superman, and the terrifying efficiency of the vampire army that had all but conquered the world.
By the time he finished, Kenji understood the stakes perfectly. It was different reading it in a comic and hearing it from someone who had lived through the pain. He saw the pain in Gordon's eyes as he spoke, the grief of a man who had lost his friends, his coworkers, and very nearly his daughter, Barbara, many times since the attacks started.
"I see," Kenji said, rubbing his temples. "Right. We need a place to stay. Somewhere to rest and to plan our next move."
"You're going to help us?" Jim asked, genuinely stunned. Most people in this world were busy looking for a way out, not a way in.
"Should I not?" Kenji joked lightly, earning a weak, surprised laugh from the Commissioner. Then, his voice turned sharp. "Yeah. We'll help. But first, we need to leave here now. These tunnels are not safe, and we don't know who else might find us."
"Where do we go?" Erza asked, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword.
"Not my home, and the precinct's long gone," Jim muttered.
"OO! OO! OO! OO!" Harley Quinn practically vibrated with excitement, raising her hand like a schoolgirl while clutching Van to her body like a disgruntled cat plushie. "I have a place! It's got big walls, lots of rooms, and very colorful neighbors!"
Kenji and Jim exchanged a long, weary look.
Jim sighed. "…Sure. Lead the way, Harley."
Solomon Grundy and Clayface elected to stay behind in the deeper tunnels, their forms were too conspicuous for a stealthy trek through the city ruins, and they also seemed to have no desire to put themselves out there.
Kenji hoisted Sora over his shoulder, and the group followed Harley through a series of reinforced maintenance shafts and forgotten subway lines that bypassed the vampire patrols.
Finally, they emerged at a massive, iron-wrought gate. The sign above was rusted and hanging by a single chain, but the name was unmistakable, Arkham Asylum.
Harley kicked the reinforced steel doors open with a flourish. The interior was pitch dark, it looked like what Kenji had seen and imagined it would be like, except for one thing, where one would assume this place would be filled with the haunting screams and yells of mad men and women, now it was silent as a graveyard.
They made their way into the asylum, moving through the corridors till they made it to what he assumed was once a room for those who had been in charge of looking after the prisoners of this place.
They didn't waste time entering. The place was pitch black before the light lit up instantly, and there, standing, looking ready for a fight, was Selina Kyle—Catwoman.
She looked ready to strike, her whip uncoiling with a soft shlick against the tile. She gave them a one over before her gaze settled on the jester. "Harley. Explain. Now. And tell me why you brought company to our front door."
"Hey Selina! Look at this little guy!" Harley chirped, thrusting Van up toward Selina's face. "I found a snow-goblin kid! And he's got friends!"
"Harley..." Selina growled, her eyes narrowing as they landed on Kenji and Erza. She already knew Jim Gordon, but not these people.
Jim stepped forward, raising both palms in a gesture of peace. "Sorry for the intrusion, Selina. We ran into a bit of a situation in the sewers. Harley offered her... unique hospitality."
Kenji added smoothly, "We got caught up in a little accident, and your friend here decided to play host. I hope you don't mind the extra company for a little while."
Selina glared at Harley, who squeaked and hid behind Van dramatically, putting him up to block her face. After a tense, agonizing silence, the cat thief exhaled and lowered her whip. "Fine. Come in. But if anyone tries to re-arrest me, I'm feeding you to the plants Ivy left in the basement."
"Thank you," Erza said with a nod of gratitude.
Kenji moved into the living room and laid Sora gently on a tattered but clean couch. As the others began to settle in, Kenji sat in a corner and finally took a moment to look at his System notifications.
He seemed to have leveled up. That was good, he had been leveling up slowly these days. As he got stronger, he needed more Exp to level up, and killing fooder didn't do much these days, and he hadn't really entered his ID in a while, except for when he was training the kids and Ana.
He dismissed the system as he started thinking about what they should do as Harley was pulled into another room by Selina to talk.
He could guess she was not at all happy that her roommate had gone and invited people just like that, in an apocalypse, in fact. Had it been him, he too would not have taken it well.
That left the remaining 5 in the living room, Sora unconscious, Van not much of a talker, erza was not one to talk needless talk, and he and Jim, who didn't know what to say, leaving them in an awkward silence.
"So I want to ask, what is the plan?" he asked Jim. "Right now, I don't really know how to start planning around, but you seemed to have one already.
Jim sighed before he decided to let Kenji in the in, at this point, if he could take the risk with him knowing of the blood, it could cost them more. He didn't see the need to not tell him when it was clear the vamps already knew he had it and were after him for it.
"I was able to get my hands on the blood of Lex Luthor, which seemed to have something that works against the vampires. " If we can get it to someone who can work it out, we may be able to turn the tide and defeat the vampires," he told Kenji.
"But who are you going to?" Kenji asked, "From everything you told me, the world isn't really safe right now, and trusting the wrong person can end the chances of winning. Imagine giving the person you thought would help, only for them to have already been turned, that would not be good."
Right now, that was a good point, they didn't really know who was a vampire and who wasn't. The sun was blocked out, and that helped hide those whom they didn't know were vampires.
Though the sun situation was nothing, if he used his gravity powers at full force, he should have enough power to blow a hole in the atmosphere and clear the fog blocking the sun.
Jim seemed to have taken his words hard as the man slumped into the chair, looking like he hadn't considered that his help could have already been vamped. The awkward silence returned.
Luckily, it wasn't long before Selina and Harley came back out, and Harley started making noise again, asking different things. She talked for a while before surprisingly offering them some remaining food that they had. Selina seemed to excuse herself as she stepped out of the home, going out somewhere.
"Harley," Jim called out to her. "Do you still have the blood?" he asked her. He had given it to her when he thought he was going to be killed in the tunnels before Kenji came and saved them.
"Yep," she said, bringing it out from her pocket, making Jim sigh in relief.
He turned to Kenji, "For now, we just have to take the chance and see if the person we can get is not a vamp," he told him, "it's the only thing we can do. Hope. Hope we succeed."
The man's voice was so low and held so much pain that no one seemed to want to speak out, just to allow the man to keep believing.
They stayed like that for a while, with everyone seeming to take this chance to relax. It was about an hour later that Harley started making noise again, but that cleared away the previous atmosphere.
"I contacted Barbara, she should be heading here soon," Jim blurted out. Kenji stared and then blinked. "Contacted?" he said, confused. When did the man even call her?
As if realizing what Kenji was thinking, he raised a slick black pad that showed only a button, "This sends her my location when I hit it, so she should be on her way soon."
"Ah, I see," Kenji said and nodded. Just then, Catwoman seemed to return.
She called Harley over to talk again, but this time Kenji couldn't help but feel on edge, something had changed. From her feel, her movement, and even the look in her eyes.
Something was different, he used observation on her and immediately shot up from his seat. Before anybody could react, he appeared in front of the woman and grabbed her by the neck, slamming her into the wall.
"wha-what..." Harley stuttered out, "She's a vampire." Kenji said out to everyone in the room, putting them on edge.
Selina let out a raspy laugh, fangs baring. "You're very sharp, but it's too late now.
He immediately felt his danger sense flare, and before he could react, he was smashed through the window. Twisting himself and righting himself before he landed.
He really hated this universe, problem after problem without rest. Was this place cursed.
Standing, or rather floating in front of him, were not just one but two of the league's stronger hitters. Captain Marvel and Superman.
'fuck me sideways'. One of these guys was a problem, two at once, yeah, he didn't think he was going to walk away from this alive.
———————————————————
If you want to read ahead and access 40 advanced chapters, check the patreon. $4 Dollars
Link:patreon/Phantomking785