#If riddler and music meister say anything about me it’s that I like my boys flamboyant and ginger

[theselfshippingrose]

THE MUSIC MEISTER SINGS A SONG THAT THE WORLD WANTS TO HEARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

[perles-infinite-fictional-love]

The quieter side of Arkham City (Short 7: It’ll drive you Bats) ((FIXED))

Finally, everything was going well. With the rumors, our violin, and our dancing, this small part of the town belonged to us- the only sound to be heard was our strange violin and our own footsteps. Other than that, the place was as quiet as it could be. We broke into several buildings, finding more and more food, until we were practically celebrating our success on the top of a building. I guess you could say the Music Meister was a fun guy… as long as things worked his way.

“Maybe you could even take this paint and decorate the whole street with music notes. You know? Like the Riddler did with all these question marks. You did say you were a painter, didn’t you?” He suggested, as we were sipping from fake wine we had just found.

I cracked a smile of pride. “Yeah, I did say that…”

My attitude made him grin. “Now be a dear and go fetch the bottle, pretty please.” He demanded, holding up his empty glass. Usually, I’d be offended to be treated like this, but hey, things were going well for us in this hell hole, so… I couldn’t really complain.

I got up and turned for the table. I was holding the bottle and staring at it blankly when I heard a strange whoosh behind me, and the sound of the Maestro’s glass shattering onto the floor. I quickly turned around in surprise, and dropped the bottle in shock at what I saw.

A scary, dark, caped figure, was pinning the Music Meister to the ground. Those pointy ears stretched up, and as usual; who knows how he managed to sneak up on us so silently… I knew who it was, but oh how I wish it wasn’t him.

“Stay where you are.” He ordered, before I could do anything.

Screw this, fuck everything, I never wanted to end up like this. I repeated it to myself a hundred times; I’m not a criminal, I was just trying to survive, I never wanted to get in Batman’s way, I never wanted to be on the Bat’s naughty list. I didn’t deserve this! “I- I’m- I’m not from Arkham! I’m just a street artist! I shouldn’t even be here- I swear!” God I felt so pathetic.

The Dark Knight didn’t respond; he was staring at the horrified Music Meister he was holding down. He reached for the scarf, and pulled it down, revealing the muting collar. His head perked up slightly. “You can’t sing.” he concluded, and stood up. “The rumors were fake.”

My partner grabbed the opportunity to drag himself away from the big bad bat, not looking away from it. “Batman please, please don’t tell anyone!…” He begged desperately, whispering it as loudly as possible.

“Your little number is not my problem.” Batman replied coldly, then turned to me- sending a shiver down my spine. “A Medical Protection Team is currently located in the nearby church. Doctors, armed guards… They will help you.”

They really sent people in this hell hole for us? “The church- okay, got it… Thank you!” I smiled at the Music Meister, hoping he’d be glad to hear the news, but he just glared at me. “…What?”

“Really?” He whispered, frowning more. “We’re not going anywhere.”

…Oh, what was wrong with him now? I stared at him in disbelief. “What? What are you talking about? Music Meister! These people are here to help!”

“We don’t need help, we already have everything we need. And I’m not taking advice from him.” He pointed in the Dark Knight’s direction and… we realized he was gone.

“…Look, Music Meister, Sir.” I hissed. His stubbornness was about to get on my nerves. “I know you reaally care about your reputation, and you reaally hate the Bat, but do you really think we can carry on with our little act and rumors? What’s gonna happen if someone finds out the truth, huh? If you think we’re one hundred percent safe, you’re lying to yourself.”

He continued to glare at me.

I sighed impatiently. “…They have an organ at the church, you know?” I added with a smirk, he wouldn’t resist to that, would he? “I’m sure they’ll let you play if you behave.”

I could almost feel his hesitation as he narrowed his eyes. “Now you’re using my hobby to control me, Maxime Blackwood?” Oh boy, he rarely used my full name. “You’re despicable… I will not behave for a single doctor, unless I’m actually sick.”

“…So what if I just go there alone, hm? If you’re not going, I’ll just go without you.” His eyes widened; I saw a little bit of fear. Yeah, he knew he couldn’t keep up the act and rumors without my help.

He slowly frowned and leaned closer above me, trying to hide his fear with an intimidating attitude. “You wouldn’t dare going out there on your own; you’re  too scared of all the freaks out there.” He grinned, probably thinking he won.

“Are you sure?” I said, grabbing my bag and heading for the stairs. I did my best not to look at him, even though I really wanted to see his reaction.

Of course I was scared, and I surely didn’t want to go alone, I wanted him to follow me. If I convince him that I can leave without him, he’d be forced to follow me, right…? So I took my time, to pack up, to figure out what I needed to bring with me, to walk outside, and head out of the street… And still, no Music Meister came to stop me, or join me. It’s okay, it just needed some time. Besides, I couldn’t just go back to him after the number did, it’d be way too embarrassing… so I carried on. I sort of knew where the church was, I saw the tower from the top of the building earlier.

I heard voices ahead, around a corner, and I thought the smartest thing to do was to sit down and wait for them to walk away… I was wrong. The longer I waited, the closer the voices got, they were coming my way. I made a huge mistake, I could see it now, so I turned to run away.

“Did you hear that?” I heard one of them say, before I heard their footsteps pounding the ground behind me. They were heavy- there was no way I could defend myself if they caught me. My only hope was to be faster than them. “What’s that miss? We’re good guys! c���mon!” One called, the other laughed. Yeah right.

And yet, I could hear them getting closer, and closer… I let out a desperate whimper under my panting as I kept running towards an alley, and then… the Music Meister. The Maestro of villainy emerged from the alley, holding his violin and glaring menacingly at all the people in front of me- we all stopped in terror, and I almost tripped.

The Music Meister started playing, looking deep into my eyes with his impish smile like he really was trying to hypnotize me… So I did the most logical thing to do; I started dancing along his music, and gave a blank puppet stare at the two men across the street, just like we practiced together so many times.

“H-… Holy shit- It’s him! Shit!” They stumbled backwards, turned around and ran away like their lives depended on it.

Once they were gone, we stopped our little act. He quickly glared at me to let me know he did not want to be here, but me? I smiled. I couldn’t help it, I was so relieved- I almost died! I took a deep breath to get myself together. I knew he’d come; this moron needs me. But I never expected such a perfect timing!

“So, y-you decided t-to come along, huh…?” Apparently my voice was still not over the scare I got.

He rolled his eyes and shrugged. “Don’t get too cocky about this… If anything happens to us, it’s entirely your fault.”

“Uhh-huh.” I nodded and led the way. God, my hands were shaking too.

“You’re welcome, by the way…” He added in a whisper, bitterly.

“What? Oh! Y-yeah- thanks”

(I RE-WROTE THE ENDING A LITTLE BECAUSE I HATED HOW CLICHE IT WAS)