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valeskakingdom · 2 years ago

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We are Jerome (part41)

Time went by again, and Gotham was predicted to end up in chaos.

Ever since Scarlet met the cult leader Dwight Pollard, her wish of leading a team that followed her visions became true. For sure, she knew she couldn't ask them for favors directly, even as their portrayed goddess or messiah, she needed to gain their trust. She needed to make them believe she cared about her comrade-in-arms, she needed to indoctrinate them on what was right and was wrong, and she needed to reveal her point of view of Gotham and the world. Scarlet also knew not everyone would agree with this, especially since she had different views than Jerome in some way. She for example was a fan of professionalism and organized chaos. Jerome was a fan of spreading chaos wherever he could, he wasn't thinking about several plans. All he did was hope to see dead people as much as possible. Indeed, she enjoyed spreading death over Gotham, it made her feel free, it satisfied her, and it even aroused her - but killing wasn't her main point in good work. So she needed to her new cult clear that just killing people wasn't the completion. She needed to commutate their mindsets somehow. She needed them to get away from Jerome's crazy head.

And she knew how.

Over the days, maybe even weeks, Scarlet managed to have good contact with Dwight to be best informed about their current plans. She wanted to know where, when, and what they did. If she didn't agree with Dwight's decisions, she suggested him something better - most of all, he agreed with her plans immediately, he wouldn't dare to deny anything Scarlet said. Plus, she managed to organize enunciations where she would be speeches about her point of view and next plans. She enlightened them that just killing people wasn't the completion that Scarlet was talking about. She talked about this feeling when everything worked out perfectly when you knew you did great work whether it was the long planning or the mass killing. She also talked about this certain kind of perfectionism when you can already predict what happens next when you're precisely planning, she told them this would spare them much worry and distrust in the next decisions. She also told them, it was better to plan mistakes and troubles or to make several different plans. The advantage of this would be that if you can't exert the main plan you have recourse to the other plans and eventually, mix them to achieve your goal.

And they agreed on this, they hailed her for this. Even Dwight, who was secretly more obsessed with Jerome than with Scarlet, agreed with her terms. He admitted that just going Jerome's way wasn't always the best option, sometimes it was good to listen to someone else - especially when it was the precious little girl his idol admired.

But what Scarlet didn't know was Dwight was planning something big behind her back. Having Scarlet in his cult was amazing, but having Jerome and Scarlet was much better. Well, the problem here was obvious: Jerome was dead. So how would he bring him back into this world? He couldn't simply revive him... Could he? He had access to Jerome's corpse - he just needed to go to Indian Hill and steal the corpse. The ways how to revive somebody were learned from Hugo Strange when he did his experiments with other criminals. The equipment he needed was also no problem for Dwight to get since he got a job at a morgue. It was the perfect place to revive someone!

And he tried that - several times, but sadly he had bad luck. Jerome didn't wake up, no matter how hard Dwight was trying it, no matter how many times he sent electroshock through his body. Even worse was the GCPD became aware of his actions through James Gordon and they would go check on the morgue, so one of his helpers said - and this meant he needed to flee. He couldn't take Jerome's corpse with him, the cops would immediately get him and he had not enough helpers to hide the corpse otherwise. He needed to leave the corpse in the morgue, there was no time to hide it anyway.

And this meant it was time for plan B.

***

Dwight called them all back to the theater, also Scarlet. The reason why Dwight didn't say. He just mentioned a big was coming, their dream came true! It was something your eyes couldn't believe, something where the cat got your tongue, something that was jaw-dropping! No one had a clue or an idea what it could be, and neither did Scarlet. She wouldn't know what's jaw-dropping to her considering Dwight. Maybe he became prettier over the days, which she didn't believe. It would be a long surgery with many complications, that she could tell without being a doctor. Otherwise, there was nothing. When she looked at all the other cult members, she was their irritated and clueless faces. She saw they had no idea either, they were confused by Dwight's telling before. What did he mean? What was he talking about?

"I promised you Jerome would return and today your faith is rewarded," You heard Dwight say, he was nowhere to be seen though, he was hiding upstairs. Scarlet frowned even more in confusion now. Jerome's return? That's bullshit! He's dead, he can't return - she wasn't the only one who thought that way. Almost every of the cult members thought the same as Scarlet. But some dared to question: could he return? Did Dwight achieve this?

"Jerome is here," You saw Dwight coming downstairs slowly, and everyone started cheering except Scarlet. She wasn't sure what to think about what was coming, as she wasn't sure whether she liked to see the result of all the mystery.

"Behold the Prophet!" When Scarlet saw Jerome's face pinned on Dwight's face, she felt something she hasn't felt in quite a while, but she couldn't describe it in words - the last time, she felt this was when she killed her brother. Was it the image of Jerome's corpse being faceless? Being mutilated? Being disgraced? Being damaged? Or the fact some stupid asshole did this on her Jerome? That Dwight used this moment to make use of Jerome? Or the disgust she felt with the thought Dwight tried to replace Jerome somehow with his acting? That someone like Dwight even dared to do this?

"The Prophet is here!" Dwight stuttered which he repeated over and over again, starting to breathe unsteadily when he saw all the disappointed and angry faces - especially Scarlet's look. Oh, he was scared of her as hell, her look said it all: he has made a huge mistake, something he will regret sooner or later.

"Where's Jerome?" People started to ask, making Dwight even more nervous. He had no real idea what to say to calm his folk or to get out of this bad situation he got himself into "Where the fuck is Jerome?!"

"Oh, he is there my folk," Scarlet chuckled bitterly as she slowly walked up to Dwight which such a devilish and evil smile on her face that it sent Dwight shivers down his spine "He was there all the time, my beloved, he never left this little filthy world. His body may lie dead anywhere in Dwight's little cellar, but his soul is alive. He lives here, he lives in all of us. Even in me"

"Look at him," Scarlet smirked, clasping her hand on Jerome's cold face "Look at Jerome, can you feel his energy? Can you hear his laugh in your ears? Can you hear his commands? Can you hear what he wants from us?" The cult members grumbled unclear words in response, probably because no one understood what Scarlet was doing - but she had a plan.

"Hm, I can hear him. He wants his face back," This was the moment when Scarlet grabbed Dwight by his throat and squeezed it so much he couldn't breathe "Jerome also wonders what idiot came to the idea and stole his face to embody him. And I wonder who dared to mutilate his body that much because he thought he would do all of us a favor? Or made us believe eventual dream came true? Who played a trick on all of us?" Scarlet turned her face to Dwight "It was you all the goddamn time. You made plans behind our backs on how to become a better leader than I am. You wanted to impress them and especially me, that you were special, that you were the one who'd get us what we all are longing for. You should be that one kid in class everyone was enjoying because he made Scarlet proud of him"

Dwight was formally shuddering, he was almost panicking that much he was scared of Scarlet. He couldn't even speak. If he tried no words would come out but whimpers and gasps for air. He knew the result of her actions, he knew he would die any second. It was Scarlet's show who just kept him alive at that moment and nothing else. He knew the cult members wouldn't help him either Scarlet choked him to death. She was the cult's real leader and not Dwight, he was just a means to an end.

"But you're nothing than a little stunted scallywag that's craving attention and fame. You always wished to become a big man like Jerome. You wished for many people adoring you, praising you, and loving you because you didn't get all this from your mommy and daddy," Scarlet squeezed his throat tighter "You exactly knew the cult longed for Jerome's presence. You knew you'd impress me if you brought back Jerome, and so you took your chance to reach your goal. But what you did was humiliating, you mutilated Jerome's corpse and with it a part of me! You dared to throw mud at Jerome, you dared to disfeature him! You can be happy I don't slit your throat right away and feed you to the rats!"

"Listen to me!" Dwight almost screamed after he tore Scarlet's hand away from his throat. He was mad you can tell. Thanks to Scarlet he remembered all the bad things that told people in the past, like his mother or father. He remembered the time when he was called a faggot, an asshole, or a scapegrace. He remembered the night when he was crying into his pillow, questioning himself what his sense of life was at all, or questioning whether to end his life - but this shouldn't happen today "Jerome is here! He never left us! Each of you kept him alive! Each of you is Jerome! I am Jerome! We are all Jerome!"

"Oh, yes we are," Scarlet smirked, she then leaned her forehead against his softly "And my Jerome will kill you so slowly, you wish you'd never met me. I will haunt you day and night, I will even haunt you in your dreams. Remember my brother's murder?" She then faced him with a devilish grin "This is just the peak of an iceberg I'll do to you" She left him all scared and anxious and turned back to the crowd "I am Jerome!"

"I am Jerome!" The crowd started to yell over and over again. It was like a motivation for them, they felt the energy that was given through the sentence and the thought Jerome was with them. It also gave them some motivation when Scarlet said that. The queen of Gotham went with the flow, she followed them. It was great!

"You are Jerome," Dwight faced one cult mate "You are Jerome, you are Jerome, and you, and you" He continued this over and over again with every cult member that was screaming this certain sentence. It was astonishing for him, almost breathtaking. So many followers, so many people who thought the same as him! It felt like the day when he started this cult.

And then it was clear, the new motto was:

We are Jerome.

So right after Dwight's succeeded meeting, he, and Scarlet, had the glorious idea of showing the world that the cult is a danger. The cult is capable of causing chaos, murder, and terrorizing the city on its worst. They would harm anybody who came across, they wouldn't have mercy like others - oh no. They'd shoot everybody who was in their way, everyone who tried to say a word, everyone who tried to defend themselves from them. They would try everything to topple the government and rebuild their own to rule Gotham in they own way and visions. Scarlet already imagined sitting there in the chair and changing almost every of the laws that existed in Gotham to recreate them in her own ways. She, especially, was a fan of a some sort of purge. On special days in the year certain people - more like she and her team - were allowed to kill people in the nights until the next morning. Already this thought made her smile, she got shivers down her spine when she thought of all the blood she’d see, or maybe even all the blood in her hands when she stabbed people or tortured them to death.

So how do you present yourself? How do you start your plan of toppling the government? How do you get all the certain respect you need that the people wouldn’t even dare to harm or dissent in any way? How do you make people clear that you are the new leader and nobody else has the chance to win any fight at all?

You do it through the news.

You've heard it right, their first target was the news studio in town. They wanted everyone to see what a mess they could make, they wanted to scare people, made them fear and maybe even suffer. They wanted to warn people that if they don't follow the cult, they'll die. They also hoped the GCPD would watch the news or even come over and try to fight them. Why? Because they should realize this cult didn't consist just of any amateurs. These members were real fighters, they were needed to be taken seriously, they wouldn't hesitate to kill someone when Scarlet said so.

And so it was.

"So guys, the moment we enter the studio, we shoot," Scarlet loaded her gun while walking through the floor, she was already prepared the GCPD would come sooner or later when they were doing they little act "Just try not to shoot at all the cameras, we all want Gotham to see what we're capable of, especially James Gordon, right?"

And they all agreed, loading their guns and mentally getting reading for the incoming massacre. Scarlet prepared them best for it. She told them there was no need to get nervous when Jim Gordon and his little boys would point their guns at their head and threaten them to shoot. Most of the time they wouldn’t shoot because they first would try to make them realize killing is bad, Scarlet was a bad person, and Jerome was a cold hearted and narcissistic maniac who loved to destroy and damage everything that came across. This wasn’t true of course. Killing was just an option to smooth away faults and problem. Scarlet wasn’t a bad person at all, she was just dominant, maybe a high degraded perfections who couldn’t take mistakes that well - but she was kind to her people. She helped them, she did them favors, she build them up even. And Jerome was the same. So where were they bad? They showed him the ultimate way of freedom, of using their powers, they released them from their prisons in their little heads, they offered them the opportunity to life a sorrowless life without any laws and rules, without anyone who told them what’s wrong or what’s right. So again: where were they bad?

"The GCPD has asked us to evacuate the building. They assure me everything is under control" you heard a man say to the others. He knew they all were scared of the new danger called Jerome's and Scarlet's cult. They knew since these people were praising maniacs, you needed to be careful outside. They could be anywhere and wait for you to fix their next target and shoot.

"I don't think so buddy," Scarlet cackled when she started shooting with Dwight at the people and the certain man who tried to assure them. The employees were screaming, panicking and trying to hide anywhere not to be shot "No one's going anywhere"

"We've got a show to do, people" Dwight claimed when all the cult members gathered around him and Scarlet "And as, you know, the show must go on!" He shot at the lights, some cameras, and the ceiling to scare the employees away, to show them he’s the authority in the room and he will tell what to do next.

“And we want you all to know,” Scarlet grinned at the folks “We are your biggest nightmare, and I guarantee you, you won’t come living out of it!”

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