Chapter 7 - Nightmare

After pillaging every valuable and resource he could find inside Yoshihiro's apartment, Jason grappled away from the balcony, making sure there were no traces of his stay before leaving.

He landed on the sidewalk of the street silently before storing the grapple gun. He looked up to the night sky, the clouds a blanket of darkness, blocking out the moonlight.

[What are your plans now, Jason?]

"For now, I need to find a place to sleep. I'm really fucking tired. It's li—" A loud yawn escaped his mouth. "—like I could close my eyes and immediately fall asleep right now."

He could normally go for days without sleep with almost no problems, so it was strange to feel like just wanting to get knocked out for a day or two, even though he's only been awake for a few hours at most.

Wheatley hummed inquisitively.

[Joe told me this would happen eventually. It's a side-effect of your body adapting and improving because of your now more powerful soul. The process itself requires your soul to reconstruct and improve your body gradually so that it wouldn't crumble like paper under the power of the soul inhabiting it.

Jason suppressed another yawn that threatened to come out. "That soul stuff Joe did, huh? Come to think of it, you didn't have a soul since you were a robot, so how did Joe alter you and take you with him?"

Wheatley tilted his spherical body to the side and looked at him with uncertainty in his eye. […I don't really know. When he placed his hand on me, I felt a rush of energy surge through me, and I was suddenly within your mind with a new form and capabilities that were designed to help you with your missions. Along with that were a new set of memories and directives in my mainframe.]

"I see…" Jason wondered if Joe just yanked other beings and tossed them somewhere else as a hobby.

[For now, I suggest letting your body rest since forcing yourself to stay awake will only further prolong the process.]

Jason agreed. He already felt like passing out without caring if he slept on a random building's roof, but he preferred a place with a better environment.

For now, he needed to find a place to stay. Preferably a pleasant apartment with enough room for him, but that seemed unlikely at the moment. And his new body's size would make things inconvenient. It turns out, there was no need to find a ruler to measure himself because Wheatley was connected to him and knew the state of his body down to the subatomic level.

Jas told him he was now approximately six feet and six inches tall. A whole six inches taller than his previous height, and he was now even taller than Bruce by about four inches. That meant small apartments were excluded from his criteria since his larger than normal body wouldn't fit. He'd rather sleep in one of the nice-looking parks Tokyo had than stay in a cramped apartment where he'd always have to duck when going through doorways.

With his destination in mind, he hacked into someone's Wi-Fi, which was named "Oppai" for some reason, and searched for the nearest park.

Wheatley saw the Wi-Fi name and narrowed his eyes speculatively. [Huh. I don't know much about you humans, but I think that the man who owns that Wi-Fi *desperately* needs the touch of a female.]

Jason had no issues agreeing with that statement.

'Boobs… Really dude?'

With the path to the park laid out in his mind, Jason started free-running at his max speed, avoiding obstacles in his path, and becoming a dark blur moving across the rooftops.

Moments later, he reached one of Tokyo's western-style parks, Hibiya Park. From his view on top of a building, blooming trees and flowers filled his vision, which was complimented by the moon's soft glow casting a soft blanket of moonlight. The pleasant and relaxing scent of the flowers and nature pervaded his sense of smell.

Jason jumped down the alley next to the building and strolled towards the park. He immersed himself in the park's calm atmosphere during his stroll. The sound of crickets and swaying tree branches allowed him to take his mind off of things for a moment.

When he arrived near the lake, the image of the moon's reflection along with the falling leaves created a picturesque scene that made his hand twitch. The urge to draw or paint such a sight sparked despite never having such an urge before. He ignored it, making a mental note to investigate it later.

Despite it being late into the night, quite a few people were in the area as well. Couples walked hand-in-hand or holding each other's arms, and some were merely doing the same thing as him and were taking a stroll through the park.

Sighing, Jason sat down, resting his back on a tree's trunk nearby the lake.

"This spot is nice. I have a beautiful view of the lake, a refreshing, cool breeze," Jason groaned, stretching his arms and placing them behind his head, "And I even have this perfect angle to sleep on."

[I agree. It is *quite* a view…] Wheatley stared, entranced by the sight. [Jason?]

The stillness of the air was only broken by the sound of crickets and the rustle of leaves.

Jason was already asleep. Eyes shut, his stomach rose and fell steadily.

[Goodnight and sweet dreams, Jason.]

Unfortunately, his sleep would not be ones filled with pleasant dreams, but horrid nightmares.

-===-

3rd Person POV:

In a sealed-off and isolated room in Arkham Asylum, the bloody and bruised figure of Jason in his Robin suit hung, his arms tied with a rope hanging from a hook, and his mouth covered by a piece of cloth.

Sensing the Joker nearby, he woke up, startled and immediately trying to unbind the rope, but to no avail. His body was too *tired* and too *bruised* to where he could only manage to move in short bursts.

It's been a year since he had been captured by the Joker. A year of *constant* physical and mental torture only the bastard could think of.

In the end, as it had always been for god knows how long, there was nothing he could do, so he gave up.

With a lifeless look in his eyes, Jason's head dangled as if he was asleep.

The Joker stepped in from the side, the bright purple of his suit contrasting with the darkness of the room. As he looked at Jason with a maniacal grin, he ran his fingers along the metal rod, its end shaped into a J. The letter glowed a soft orange in the dim room.

"Wakey, wakey~."

Jason kept his head down. He just wanted this to be over…

"What's wrong? Do you think I'm going to hurt you?" The Joker asked, brandishing the metal rod in his hand and tapping the heated end with his gloved hand. It sizzled with every tap. "Why? I'm not the bad one here. Oh, no, no, no, no…"

Turning around, he pointed at Jason. "It's *Batman*. He's abandoned you… like an unwanted *puppy*."

Jason's jaw clenched.

Spotting the clenched jaw, the Joker's grin widened. 'Oh, how *lovely*.'

The Joker crouched and looked up as if a taller person stood in front of him, and spoke while imitating a child's voice. "Can I have him, daddy? Oh please, please, please, please, I'll take real good care of him."

Jason still refused to look at the Joker. He didn't know what the hell the Joker planned on doing, but his sense of foreboding grew.

The Joker stepped forward and turned around, standing at his full height. He looked down at his previous position, as if taking the role of the parent, and spoke gently in his normal rough and raspy voice. "Anything to make you happy, princess. Just make sure people know he's yours."

The Joker abruptly snapped his fingers, and Jason fell to the ground in a heap, the rope that tied him to the hook having been cut.

"We don't want him to end up back here, do we?" The Joker stepped closer, the look he gave Jason and his grin becoming more sadistic with each step.

Jason flinched when he spotted the glowing end of the metal rod. Fearfully, he crawled away from the Joker as quickly as he could, even though every movement he made produced great gasps of pain.

The Joker playfully leaned down at Jason, speaking in a poor imitation of a child's voice. "No, we don't, daddy. I want to keep him *forever*!"

"No! No please! Please, no! No!" Jason begged with fear and desperation in his voice.

But the Joker ignored it. 'This… this made life worth living! Oh, how I wish to see the look on Batman's face when he sees this!'

With a gleeful cackle, the Joker lunged towards Jason.

"NOOOOOO!"

That night, Jason's cries of despair filled Arkham's dreary halls.

-===-

Author's Note:

In this chapter, I wanted to depict the depths of pain Jason suffered as well as I could. The Arkham Knight game helped in this case since it has a lot of material for me to use. I'm pretty sure I nailed it, but if you think it can be improved, put your suggestion in the comments.

Thank you for reading!