Me? Insane? Never!

Leaving Metropolis

"Catch me if you can!" I yelled while running across the flat rooftop of a tall office building. I made a leap over the gap separating this building from the one next to it, making it across with room to spare.

I spotted a fire escape on this building and made a B line toward it, not pausing to look behind me.

"Think fast, Vi, think fast." I muttered to myself while rushing down the steps. "Come on, come on. Ah!" I slammed to a stop and turned, smashing in the window of the landing I was on. No alarm sounded, which I was usually grateful for, but not tonight. It made no difference tonight.

Climbing through the window I noted there were toys littered across the floor and a mess was in the kitchen. "Children live here. Shit."

"Mommy?" A small voice called out. "What was that?"

"Shit. Oh well. Too late now." I grabbed a chair on my way down the hall and shoved it up under the door where the child's voice came from. "Quiet, kid, Superman is on his way." I said through the door in as calm a voice as I could muster.

I moved on to the next door and slammed it open.

I scanned the room but could see nothing. "Come out, come out wherever you are." I sang. Popping my switchblade I made my way towards the closet.

"Closets are a very typical place to hide, you know. I mean, really, you certainly could have come up with a better spot, couldn't you? This is your life on the line, here." I said.

The woman was, in fact, not in the closet. She was behind me, making her way through the window where she had climbed out of and hid on the ledge as soon as the glass broke. She didn't know that I knew that though.

"No hard feelings, right? It's just I've got to make a getaway and you're going to be my bargaining chip." I said while opening the closet doors.

I heard the distinctive sound of a baseball bat swinging through the air and ducked, just in the nick of time. Bolting upright, I shot out my hand a ripped the bat from her grasp.

"That wasn't very nice." I chastised, throwing the bat across the room.

"Oh god, oh god! Leave me alone, please! You can have anything you want, anything at all!" The woman cried, backing away from me.

"Lady, didn't you hear me? I said, you're going to be my bargaining chip." I reminded her. I grabbed her wrist with my free hand and yanked her towards me. I pulled her up against my chest and placed the blade on her throat.

"You know, people really don't think of switchblades as being very threatening. I'm a fan of the switchblade though. It's compact, super easy to carry around, and it gets the job done. I mean, I like guns too, don't get me wrong, I use guns all the time, but a blade is the way to go in some situations. Like this one."

"Let me go! I have a son!" She pleaded.

"Oh god. Lady if this is all you're going to contribute to the conversation, then keep your trap shut." I ordered.

"Please!" She begged.

"Shut up!" I screamed, pressing the blade harder against her throat to make a point. "And yes, I know you have a son. I'm surprised you know you have a son. If I heard the sound of glass breaking at two in the morning, you can bet your ass I'd be in my kid's room in a heartbeat. But not you. No, you hid out the window. Cowardly. I hate cowards."

I pressed the blade into her throat hard enough to draw blood. Her breathing increased tenfold. "Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you. At least not yet anyways. Good god where is that man. He's very late."

At that moment Superman decided to make his appearance.

"Speak of the devil!" I grinned, throwing a wink his way. "You're a little late Supes. Did the boys give you trouble?" I asked.

"Let her go, Viola." Superman ordered.

"Oh, come on Supes. I'm in costume. You don't call other criminals by their first names. Just because you know my real name doesn't mean that's what you get to call me." I whined.

"Let her go." He enunciated every word.

"You really are such a killjoy, you know that?" I asked.

He gave me a piercing stare that would have had others shaking in their boots.

"Okay, fine, fine. Down to business then." I said, my tone getting more serious. "So, here's what we're going to do. You are going to let me go, and I am not going to kill this lady. Sound good?"

"No. You are going to let this woman go and I am not going to let you get away."

"Well, jeez, Supes. That wasn't my option! But here's another. Maybe you'll like this one better." In a lightning fast motion I moved the blade from her throat to her gut and stabbed it in.

The woman fell to the ground with an agonizing scream.

"Now, that's not fatal for the time being. But if someone doesn't stay here and keep pressure on it, it will be." I said, grinning.

I made my way to the window and stopped when one leg was out. "I'll catch ya later, Supes."

I dropped from the window and ran out to the deserted street, making sure to stay in the shadows as I made my way to the old warehouse I called home.

The streets were mostly deserted at this time of night. There was a stray homeless person or a scrawny cat here or there but otherwise no one was out. It was actually boring. This time of night about year ago in this part of town you'd see all kinds of people. Prostitutes, drug dealers, thieves, whatever, it was all here.

The sound of sirens ripped me from my thoughts.

"Well, shit." I said to myself, breaking into a sprint. "They were fast tonight."

I knew it was only a matter of minutes before the ambulance and the police arrived at the apartment, which would mean only a matter of minutes before the big strong Superman would be hot on my trail.

"Come on, bitch, move like you mean it." I coached myself.

I hadn't even been running for five minutes before I was lifted into the air. I decided not to fight. There wouldn't be any point, it's not like he wouldn't get me sooner or later tonight.

"Supes, I gotta tell you, this is getting old. I mean, come on, it's the same thing every week, isn't it? I do something you don't like, you catch me, I go to Stryker's Island, I break out of Stryker's Island, and then it repeats." I explained, hanging limply by my arms.

"I know. That's why you're not going to Stryker's." He replied.

"What." It came out as a harsh statement and not a question.

My mind was reeling. Where am I supposed to go if not Stryker's? Is he going to let me go? Is he going to finally kill me? Is he going to take me to his secret base?

"You're not going to Stryker's. Not tonight. And hopefully never again. I'm taking you to Arkham Asylum in Gotham, Viola. You can be Batman's problem now." There was a hint of relief in his voice.

"Oh my god. I can't believe it. You're breakin' up with me, Supes. Why, I'm heartbroken!" I cried, plastering a look of shock across my face. "I really thought we had something, and now you're just letting me go like I'm nothing! Did all these years mean nothing to you?"

"Viola. Stop." He said with a certain hardness to his voice.

"Okay, well listen up Supes. I've spent the last, I don't know, eight years maybe? Nine? That's not important. What is important is that I've spent a lot of goddamn time wreaking havoc on this city. You can't just drop me off somewhere else! This is my life's work!" I proclaimed, flailing my arms around.

"I can, and I will." He said, and I knew that was the last thing he was going to say to me until we got to Arkham.

"God. This fucking blows. I hate you, Supes."