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whatam_iNo one knew why Hugo Strange had such a fascination with creating monsters, no one really knew much of the man in general. He was something of a mystery, the only man who truly knew him was dead and Hugo was certainly not one to share details of his life or past.
But one thing people did know was that he was ruthless in his pursuits, which is why it was probably not going to shock anyone to know that while Gotham slowly got back on her feet he seized the opportunity to start back up his own ventures. Backed by someone who had seen how much potential the manipulation of Eduardo Dorrance had, Hugo Strange suddenly found himself with the three best things for his next phase of work.
Opportunity.
Money.
Easy Test Subjects.
Because Gotham was still slowly being put back together now was the best time for Hugo to gather as many subjects as possible, after all it was going to take a long time to sort through who had made it and who had not during the black out and war.
"No no no." Hugo says evenly to the men who are hauling in the huge crates, each one holding a new subject. "These ones I want put in the Dark wing."
"You sure?"
A faint smile tugs at the corners of Hugo's mouth and he nods, "Oh yes.....I asked for these ones....specifically."
But one thing people did know was that he was ruthless in his pursuits, which is why it was probably not going to shock anyone to know that while Gotham slowly got back on her feet he seized the opportunity to start back up his own ventures. Backed by someone who had seen how much potential the manipulation of Eduardo Dorrance had, Hugo Strange suddenly found himself with the three best things for his next phase of work.
Opportunity.
Money.
Easy Test Subjects.
Because Gotham was still slowly being put back together now was the best time for Hugo to gather as many subjects as possible, after all it was going to take a long time to sort through who had made it and who had not during the black out and war.
"No no no." Hugo says evenly to the men who are hauling in the huge crates, each one holding a new subject. "These ones I want put in the Dark wing."
"You sure?"
A faint smile tugs at the corners of Hugo's mouth and he nods, "Oh yes.....I asked for these ones....specifically."
no subject
Date: 2025-04-30 10:18 pm (UTC)...one another.
[He croaks and reaches an arm out towards his friend. Extending his hand and long, graceful fingers as far as he can.]
We can....help...one another.
[It takes forever for him to get it out, his heart beating hard in his chest from exhaustion and he lifts his head slightly to try and see Oswald's face.]
no subject
Date: 2025-05-02 05:55 am (UTC)Ed's hand is empty. No bobby pin or bent paper clip reveals itself. No clever escape plan tucked in his palm. This is all there is.
One day, they'd look back on this nightmare of Strange’s making with grim smiles, knowing nothing could destroy them - nothing. Not after surviving the worst Strange has put them through, and the ugliest of ways they have hurt each other in the name of revenge. But the misery in Ed's haggard, sweaty face tells him: not today. Not in three days, or a week.
They're small and scared, becoming shells of the names they’ve made for themselves. With every passing hour, Oswald feels his sense of what life beyond these walls had been like slipping further away from him. This is his world now - and what matters most is what’s in front of him, what little is still familiar and safe: Ed's hand straining for his. Ed needing him more than Oswald has ever been needed in his life.
Sinking his teeth into his lip, he fights every sluggish muscle in his own body to drag himself over to the bars, the concrete rasping the skin of his forearm, his hip. He stretches his arm past the iron, slowly. Reaching for his best friend. The last man alive he can count on.
Their fingers never touch.
But he tries anyway.
As if the love swelling inside him really can conquer all.]
Some time later....
Date: 2025-05-25 11:59 pm (UTC)[He has no idea what time it is, let alone what DAY it is at this point. He was able to keep count before but now, with all the injections and black outs he's lost track and that irritates him.]
...making love was just for fun...those days are gone...
[Although not as much as that song is irritating him right now and Ed groans and rolls over onto his other side, yanking his dirty, sweat stained shirt up and over his head in an attempt to block out the sad wailing that is coming from the cell next to Oswald's. The man in that cell arrived a few days after them and at first he just cried quietly, much like all of them have, but now he seems to have resorted to singing in order to work through his pain and fear which wouldn't be so bad IF the man could carry a tune and IF Ed's hearing hadn't gotten so sensitive.
It's strangely fascinating how much MORE he can hear these days; the steady drip drip of water hitting the hallway floors, the hum of distant machinery, the soft murmur of guards and nurses talking to one another, the wet slapping of one of the other prisoners jerking off.
He hears all of it now.]
ENOUGH!! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!!!
[Ed roars and the man falls silent, Ed sighs in relief as stillness falls over the dark halls once more.]
All byyyyyyyyyyyyy myyyyyyyyyseeeeeelf......don't wanna be.....All byyyyyyyy myseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelf....
[The man warbles at top volume and Ed snaps to his feet, grabbing the bars to his cell and shaking them roughly.]
SHUT YOUR MOUTH OR I'LL TEAR IT OFF!!
[He growls savagely at the man who is sitting cross-legged in the middle of his cell, swaying back and forth as he sings.]
Don't wanna be Aaaaaaaall byyyyyyyy myseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelf....Anymooooooooorrr-ghghlkghhggggggg!!
[The man's singing suddenly cuts off as his head jerks violently up, his eyes bulging out from his sockets and his jaw slamming shut with a hard clunk. He strains his head back even further and Ed can see his neck cords standing out like hard wires through his skin, pulsing as blood and spit start to seep out from the corner of his mouth.]
....oh...oh dear...
[Ed breathes softly, watching as the man starts to shake. Ed has had his fair share of tremors while he's been here thanks to whatever drug Strange has been pumping into him but this is something more, something so much more violent and when he hears the man's bones begin to break he gasps.]
Grgaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!
[The man screams through clenched teeth, blood dribbling through the gaps as his body goes from shaking to snapping back and forth in place. Limbs shooting and flailing out wildly as if he were being controlled by some malicious puppeteer. Urine flows down the man's leg and pools onto the floor only a moment before he collapses into it, face first. Blood, piss and spit all mixing together and still the man screams.
And that's when Ed hears something else.
It's soft at first, especially compared to the screams and breaking bones, almost a whispering, purring sound and Ed tries not to throw up when he realizes it's the sound of the man literally tearing out of his own skin.]