Contrast [a Victor Zsasz x Reader short story]

chapter i + author's note

this idea was originally requested by xXxWeepingWeirdoxXx, but I loved it so much that I decided to make it a short story! I hope you enjoy it! I'll be posting five chapters at a time, five this week and five next week, and this will carry on until I finish it around fifteen chapters or so.

//

Victor Zsasz rounded the corner of the gritty apartment building. The smell of mold was prominent in his nose, as was the scent of blood and fear. His target limped away as quickly as he could. He whimpered and cried as he moved.

Victor laughed and slowly approached him. There was a trail of blood leading all of the way to the man. Victor had barely grazed him with a bullet. It was just to made hide and seek a little more interesting. Penguin said he could have a little fun with him, anyway.

The sound of a cry echoed through the hall. Victor chuckled darkly and shook his head.

"Should I read you the rules of hide and seek again, sir?" he called out. "One, you're supposed to hide before I start looking. Two, you're supposed to be quiet. And three, you're supposed to make it difficult."

He approached the door the man was hiding behind. Victor stood there, soaking up every bit of this. All of the whimpers, the screams of pain, the smell of fresh blood and gunpowder. His target was sobbing in the closet.

Victor threw open the door and pointed his gun at the man. He flashed a grin at his pale, sweaty face. "Oh... I found you!"

"Please," the man sobbed, rocking back and forth and folding his hands into fists at his chest. "Please, don't kill me!"

Victor sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "It would be fun to play again, but Penguin really wants you dead. You threaten his campaign." He shrugged.

"I'll leave Gotham!" he said.

Victor held up a finger. "I wasn't finished. And you lost the game. I won! So..."

He pointed the gun at the man's head and fired. The man's cries were cut short as his brains splattered against the peeling floral wallpaper. Victor tilted his head to observe it for a moment. It was an improvement to the apartment, at least.

He whistled a tune to himself as he tucked his gun into his belt and took out his favorite knife. He rolled his sleeve up to the elbow and looked for room to start a new row of tick marks on his skin. He found one just below the inside of his arm.

He started with the tip of the blade and dragged the knife down in a straight line. His song ended as he wiped the blood off on the sleeve of the dead man's shirt and put the knife away. Victor chuckled as he grabbed the man's face, squeezing his cheeks between his fingers.

"I can't believe you lost a game of hide and go seek," he said to the corpse. "It is disappointing. I really was hoping for a challenge there."

He pulled back and wiped the blood off on the wallpaper. His phone rang, the familiar ring tone of Funkytown filling the now silent room. He dug for his phone and pulled it out, not bothering to glance at the caller ID on the screen.

"Yeah, boss?" he said into the receiver.

"Victor!" Penguin greeted. "How is my fellow competition?"

"Dead," he replied bluntly.

"Excellent, old friend," he said with a chuckle. "Excellent! I have one more job for you today, Victor."

Victor smirked. "Who do you want me to kill now, boss?"

"Oh, no one," Penguin said. Victor's smile faltered. The only kind of jobs he liked were ones that involved his gun and a target or more. "No one yet, of course. It's a different kind of job, my friend."

"What is it?" he growled.

"I need you to pick up something for me."