literature

Insanity is Subjective ch 2

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       Morning came, grey and weak as it peeked nervously through the windows of Arkham Asylum. Most inmates were asleep however, locked in windowless rooms, and did not notice the intrusion.
       Jervis Tetch, however, did.
       He sat, his back against the wall of the dark room, eyeing the dust dance on the creeping fingers of morning that flashed around the bottom of the door. Jervis felt calm, content, at ease, rare emotions for someone in a place like Arkham. As Jervis watched the waltzing dust, he let his mind wander, aimless on the roads lit by sleepy half-dreams and figments of imagination.
       He smiled.
       'Hello fairies,'
       He saw the fay, dressed in their downy grey finery, bright, young, and alive, dancing and giggling on silky grey strings of morning stars and spiders' webs, nestling their existence between the twilight and dawn. They were sleepy though, so sleepy, stretching and yawning in-between dances, reveling in their last waking hours, unwilling to turn in for the break of day. Oh, he knew they needed their rest, but he did not wish for them to leave.
       'Stay? Please?'
       They could not. The fairies yawned as they waved, retreating to their tiny hidey holes and miniscule tears in reality, disappearing like stars before the sun.
       And soon, the dusty bits were only dusty bits.
      Jervis sighed, letting his head rest against the soft walls as he closed his eyes.
       'Could not, would not, could not, would not...-!'
       'NO!'

       Jervis jarred himself awake, flinging off the covers of sleep as he jumped to his feet, shaking. He tried to sweep the drowsiness from his mind, as well as the image of blue, misty eyes.
       'No. No. NonononoNO!'
       He began to pace, hands behind his back, head bent. He had been doing well, he thought (as well as he could manage), but now his goal had been ruined, his attempt at withdraw abandoned.
       'Half a day. Half a day, all of it down the drain.'
       '...drain rain pain stain maim fame obtain…obtain...'
       'Ah-ah-ah! No!'
       'I had her for a moment-'
       'By twisted means, you wretched monster!'
       '-I held her hand in mine,-'
       'Stop!'
       '-but it was not HER! It was a SHELL!-'
       'You knew that would happen! You knew-!'
       'But so long as I could keep her safe-'
       'But you were her threat!'
       'But I didn't want to be...'

       Jervis sighed, pausing his pacing to pinch the bridge of his nose, eyes screwed shut This did not help however, for behind his eyelids, her eyes stared back at him.
       '...I really am going mad...'
       He clenched his teeth, opening his eyes to stare at the ceiling. The white tiling with its dark florescent lights gave no comfort to the suffering man, however, and thus he turned back to the dim but growing light coming from the crack at the bottom of the door.
       That was much more comforting. Yes, much more. It had muchness.
       'And all other manners of things which start with 'M',' Jervis thought, sitting in front of the door, cross-legged, 'such as molten and moody and musical, for anything can be musical if you take the time to truly hear it.'
       'Like her?'

       Jervis growled, running his hands over his face, tugging at his hair.
       "C-c-curse th-is b-rain of mmmine. C-urse it t-to Hell a-nd b-back...and b-back a-gain!"
       "Talkin' to yourself, Hatter?"
       Jervis looked up. He had not realized that someone was at the door, or that they had opened it, or that the person who was at the door who had opened it was one of the more unpleasant guards of Arkham.
       'Most unpleasant, unlike Pleasance, now she's a pleasance to me.'
       'Not the time.'

       He smiled nervously.
       "Get up."
       He stood, even more nervously.
       "Follow me."
       The nervousness could have killed him if he was in any position to have wished to be killed by it.
       Jervis followed, however, after grabbing his hat from the side table next to his bed, keeping a weathered eye on the guard, who jeered at him.
       "Rough night, freak?"
       'Don't respond chap, it does no good,'
       "Hey, I'm askin' you a question."
       'Brace youself,'
       TWACK!
       'Oh, like the Queen's ax, that hurt!'
       "Are ya gonna answer me now, freak?"
       Jervis snorted.
       "Don't give yourself airs."
       'Borogove.'
       TWACK!
        "Talk to me like that again," growled the guard through clenched teeth, "And it'll be the last time you talk, period, understand?"
       'Those go at the end of sentences, not before them. Simpleton.'
       The back of Tetch's head ached something awful, but he would not rub it to ease the pain. That would be giving in to this mome rath, this piggy man with no dignity of his own, thus stealing and feeding off the dignity of others.
       Jervis's silent rantings, however, were suddenly cut short, for as he was about to mentally call the guard a thieving knave, he was yanked back by his collar and thrust through a door.
       "Your patient, Doc."
       "Thank you Borus."
       'Borus, like a boar. Oh dear, I'm afraid that, contrary to what you may believe, your mother never did love you. She must have known what a monster you would become, or did she facilitate that herself?'
       'Don't say that aloud. Whatever you do, don't say that aloud.'

       The door shut in a manner of a quiet slam. The weedy-looking doctor, who's name tag read 'Edwin Dolittle', glanced up from his papers, eyeing Jervis. He gestured to the plastic chair across the table.
       "Mr. Tetch, if you would please sit down."
       Jervis sat.
       'Plastic. Everything is plastic, and uncomfortable, and ugly. Such ugly color. Everywhere. I never thought there was such a thing as an ugly color until I learned of the color 'asylum white'.'
       "Mr. Tetch," the man said, leaning across his desk, "I am Dr.Dolittle. Because of your more recent, quote unquote, 'recoveries', Dr.Laland, your previous health advisor, has suggested that you see me for three days a week, fifteen minutes every session. Now,-" here he shuffled the papers in front of him,- "I have just read your file, and it says, and I quote-," and here he gave a very small, very important sounding cough before continuing, "- 'Mr. Jervis Tetch, also known as 'the Mad Hatter', is a man of thirty five years, has a height of five feet and five and a quarter inches (metric don't care), and a weight of 150 pounds (don't care metric). He is from Elishaw, England, and came over into the United States when he was twenty for his education, receiving a PhD in both micro-circuitry and human cognition. His most recent field of employment was with Wayn Enterprises, developing a way to increase cognition and other mental attributes, leading to his mind control inventions. Mentally, he suffers from delusional states (though with moments of impressive clarity), obsessive-compulsive behavior, and manic-depression.'"
      He placed the paper down, eyeing Jervis.
       "Is there anything you would wish to correct, add, or deny?"
       Tetch did not reply. He stared at the floor.
       "…Are you going to say anything?"
       He swallowed nervously, then mumbled in reply, "T-there is nnnoth-ing I w-wish to c-c-cor-rect, a-add, or d-deny, b-but I w-w-would im-plore y-you to, p-p-perhaps, t-ake up t-the nnno-tion t-hat w-we are mmmore th-an wwwe ap-pear or t-that w-we w-ill lllet on, f-for I f-ear, and k-know, th-at a p-person n-never sssees t-them-selves or o-others as t-rue and c-c-clear as t-they may b-be."
       'Oh dear, that sounded insulting, didn't it.'
       Apparently, the doctor thought likewise, for Jervis could see him grinding his teeth from where he sat.
       "Mmmmoving on,-"
       'I'm sorry to say, but we have yet to even step in a direction,'
       "-I am going to show you some ink blots-"
       'Rorscharch again? Please, don't. Jokes are not half as funny the second time around.'
       "-and I would like for you to tell me what you see. Alright?"
       Jervis nodded, though it was all he could do to stop from rolling his eyes.
       "Alright, here is the first picture."
       The man held up a card.
       "What do you see?"
       Jervis looked from the ground to the picture.
       "A w-witch sssummoning t-two pigs."
       The doctor raised an eyebrow.
       Tetch shrugged.
       The doctor closed his eyes momentarily, shaking his head, but continued to the next card all the same.
       "Dan-cing r-rhinoceroses."
       Flip
       "T-two in-di-v-viduals on f-fire c-carrying a b-b-bucket of w-water."
       Flip
       "T-the c-cross be-tween a f-frog and a f-floun-der."
       Flip
       And on and on it went. A slug with wings, and anteater, a top, a horseshoe crab with no tail, moose standing atop hippos standing atop upturned pigs, and finally, a bouquet of tropical flowers (which Jervis thought would make a very nice gift to Alice if he had any money with him at all and was allowed to leave Arkham (a thought that he mentally slapped himself for)).
       "Your playing with me, aren't you."
       'You seem to have said that as a statement, not a question.'
       "N-not I, sssir, b-but beware sssome of t-the others, f-for t-they play w-with what t-they are a-about t-to eat."
       "You don't say?"
       'I do say, your ninny. Button your head on, why don't you!'
       The corner of Jervis's mouth betrayed him, but other than that, the mental ramblings stayed silent, unseen, mental ramblings.
       The doctor sighed, glancing at the clock.
       "The fifteen minutes are up. Borus will take you to meet with the rest of your fellow inmates for breakfast."
       'Borus the boar is at the door.'
       The doctor stood, as did Jervis.
       "It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr.Tetch,"
       "Dit-to."
       The doctor shot him a look, not quite a glare, not quite a grin.
       "Your mocking me, aren't you."
       Jervis smiled.
       "Dit-to."
       Borus came in, latching a beefy hand around Tetches arm as he led him out the door, shutting it behind them.
       "Have fun with the shrink, pinky?"
       'Oodles.'
       Borus did not press him to talk this time. Instead, he kept up the one sided, condescending banter.
       "Dolittle break through that thick skull of yours with is dirty little ink spots? See any pretty little girls that catch your fancy?"
       'I am not a looking glass, you know. If you wish to talk to yourself, find one.'
       The guard snorted.
       "Freaks," he growled, "the lot of you, but you,-" he turned Jervis roughly before they reached the cafeteria doors, his face filled with malice, "-you are nothing but a disgusting perverted old man."
       He spat in his face.
       'OFF WITH HIS HEAD!'
       "Maybe the guys here will teach you some manners, or perhaps, if we're all lucky, maybe they'll just off ya!"
       Borus laughed as he shoved him through the double doors, doubling over as Jervis tripped and fell back, smacking his head off of the tile flooring. He groaned, wincing and rubbing the back of his skull as he made to sit up, watching the doors swing shut and the two cafeteria guards move back into place.
       "Need a hand?"
       Jervis looked up. The lanky figure of Jonathan Crane loomed above him, hand extended downwards.
       "I h-have t-two g-good ones of my own, t-thank y-you, but if I may b-borrow a t-third, I p-promise to r-return it in g-good c-condition."
       He took Cranes hand and hoisted himself up, putting his hat back on as he did so.
       "Borus?"
       "B-Borus."
       "I can't stand that guy."
       "I d-d-no not t-think many c-can."
       Jonathan snorted, then gestured to the food line.
       "Breakfast?"
       "Breakfast. By the w-way, w-what is it t-today?"
       "Meat. They say it's bacon, I say it's gotta be something else though, because that does not look like bacon to me."
       "Perhaps it is C-Can-nadian?"
       "More like Korean. Meow."
       "T-that b-ad?"
       "Just wait 'till you see it."
       The bacon was bad ( "W-who has ever heard of t-triangular b-bacon?" "I told you, it's got to be Korean. See? It even looks like the cross section of a cat."), but the fruit and milk were actually cold that day, so that made breakfast, on the whole, bearable.
       They talked and ate in turns, Jervis retelling his meeting with Dr.Dolittle (complete with mental commentary and a display of frustration for the doctors blatant lack of respect towards the metric system, which made Jonathan snicker), and Jonathan telling Jervis that he had missed an excellent battle between Pamela Isley and a frisky prison guard, which left Pamela in a straight jacket and solitary confinement and the guard in the hospital with several broken bones and suspected internal bleeding.
       Jervis laughed as they walked into the wreck-room, "I w-wish I had b-een t-there, I w-would have c-cheered the g-ood g-girl on!"
       "Most of us did. I swear that Paul must have had a death wish, and if it wasn't for his friend, it would have come true."
       "T-to be s-sure! C-chess?"
       "Actually, I saw yesterday that there was suppose to be an interesting program on about the brain and how the fluids around it can cause inverse reactions to its function. It sounds- ah damn. Scratch that. Harley's got her Tom and Jerry on."
       "W-we w-would never ssstand a c-chance."
       "Nope. Chess it is then."  
       They sat at the small chess table, Jonathan taking the black, Jervis taking the white. This went on for a time, then Tetch suggested they try to play checkers instead. When Crane pointed out that there hadn't been any checkers about since that incident with the Joker mimicking Harvy Dent, Jervis merely shrugged, moved his rook sideways one to reach enemy lines, and said "K-king me."
     "How?"
       "M-make a p-paper hat f-for it."
       "There IS no paper."
       "W-what a-about t-the news p-p-paper, over-oh. D-dent h-has it."
       "As I said, there IS no paper."
       Jervis laughed.
       "W-well t-then, a-all are k-kings, a-all are q-q-queens, a-and a-all must h-have p-prizes."
       "Only you would-"
       "HELLOOOOO GOTHAM!!!!"
       This screeching came from the television, which had, only moments before, been showing Jerry beating Tom over the head with a mallet (to which Harley had been commenting that she would like to try). Now, instead, it showed a live feed to a camera, filming from who knew were, showing on its grainy screen-.
       "PUDDIN'!!"
       Harley jumped up and down on the beaten love seat, clapping her hands in delight.
       "Oh no." muttered Jonathan.
       "Oh n-no in-deed."
       "Who do you think it is this time?"
       "I bet t-that c-charac-terless w-isp of a girl the ding-b-bat c-continues to put into d-danger. Y-you?"
       "Mmmm. Tough. That was going to be my guess, but I think since you have it, I'll just go with the mayor."
       "Oh c-come n-now, t-that is n-not c-creative at a-all."
       "Eh, it would be the most lucrative if he got away with it."
       "T-true..."
       "Good of you guys to let me hijack your tubes again!" crowed the Joker, his Glasgow grin splitting his face from ear to ear, showing every yellowed tooth to the camera, "You know, I was missin' you guys,-" (Oh Mr.J!!!), "-and I just wanted to say hi!!!!"
       He waved.
       "I also found myself a little present while I was out and about. It really doesn't suit me though. Not my taste. I don't know why I got it in the first place."
       "I t-told you, t-the epitome of ssstupidity of h-humanity. You owe me."
       "Owe you what?"
       "A p-p-paper h-hat."
       "I didn't feel like taking it back. No fun in that. So instead, I'm putting it up for auction!"
       He laughed.
       "Starting bid of 100,000 American dollars for- drum roll please!-" Harley beat her hands against her knees to mimic the sound, "ONE…MISS…PLEASANCE!"
       On the screen showed a woman, her blond hair covering her face, tied to a chair.
       The quality of the film was too poor to see if she was breathing or not.
       "Aww..ain't she sweet," crooned the Joker, making a pout into the recorder, "but she's quite a feisty one, lemme tell you. Watch!"
       He crept on tip toe, exaggerating every movement, until he was standing next to her. Then, he put a finger to his lips, gave a quiet giggle, and poked her.
       She threw her head back and screamed. She lashed against her restraints. She strained to bit him, to wound him. Her eyes were wide, mouth stretched, hair wiping across her face; she looked possessed.
       In the end, all she managed to do was upset the chair, causing it to crash to the floor, making the camera jump.
       "See what I mean?"
       The Joker grinned as he righted the woman in the chair, pinching her cheek as he did so, causing her to screech in protest once more.
       "As I said before, the little doll right here can be yours for as low as 100,000 U.S. dollars, and this beauty is worth every penny, I can guarantee it! If ya want me, find me! Cash, no checks!"
       He laughed.
       "HAPPY BIDDING!!!!"
       The screen went dark, there was not a sound in the room, then the closing credits for Tom and Jerry came back on, merrily playing its tune as it scrolled down through names of people nobody ever read anyway, as if nothing had ever happened.
       "...Jervis?"
       Jervis did not move. He was standing, the chess table at his feet from the force he had used to propel himself out of his chair. His eyes were wide, furious, mad.
       "Jervis?"
       His teeth were grinding, fists clenching so hard that his nails had cut through the skin of his palms.
       "Jervis!"
       His fury poured out of him, shaking as it went, corroding the very air.
       It was the force of the guards that brought him half way to his senses, shoving him into a straight jacket before he caused any harm. Jonathan was watching, wide eyed, as was everyone else in the room. This type of behavior was not normal for the Englishman, and it startled them.
       Jervis Tetch turned to Harley as he was being dragged from the room, staring into her wide, horrified eyes.
       "You t-tell him," he hissed through clenched teeth, "t-that I am g-going to k-kill him,"
       Harley began to shake, clenching the top of the sofa, her eyes widening.
       "I a-am g-going t-to t-tear him lllimb f-rom lllimb, I a-am g-going t-t-to rrrip h-his h-hear-t out, I a-am g-g-going t-to b-b-burn h-h-im a-t t-the ssst-ake. DO YOU HEAR ME!?"
       He struggled against the guards pulling him, straining, the vein in his neck threatening to blow loose.
       "I WILL KILL HIM!"
       One of the guards pulled his billy club from his belt, smashing it into the back of Tetchs head, causing him to black out.
       Under the watchful, silent stares of the criminals, the guards dragged him from the room.
Well, since DA deleated the this chapter, let me try to uploaded it again and see if it sticks.

I hope it does. I'm getting tired of doing all that spacing and arrows and backslashes for the italics and bolds.

FRICK YES I GAVE JERVIS A STUDDER!
I know it's not 'real' per say (as in not part of the Bat verse), but I'm attempting to make him more Carroll like.

Carroll had a sever studder.
So....tadaaaaa.
I think he would have trouble with hard sounds (T-Q-G-V-Y-P-W-etc), moderate difficulty with more airy sounds (Ah-Bu-Uh-Mm-etc) and a small issue with s's, m's, and n's, resulting in not so much a studder, but a holding of the sound.

I think all of the studder issues would go away, though, when he goes 'mad' or when he's quoting his beloved Carroll.
I mean, (well, what do I mean. Hold on. Yes. There we go.) I think Jervis and the Mad Hatter are the same. No multi-persona disorder, no bi-polar whatever, nothing like that. I think that it's more of a defence mechanism; you get him upset, you piss him off, you scare him, the man goes bonkers. And then his mind goes, "Forget being little timid Tetch, I'm going Mad Hatter," boosts up the adrenalin, plus one hundred in courage, plus one hundred in insanity, drop studder to zero, and there you go.
It's like a power up!!
Perfict Wall of China for the brain and body.

Look, I like it, but if you don't, I would like to know why, just out of curiosity.


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Gothan City, Alice Pleasance, Jervis Tetch, Jonathan Crane, Harvy Dent, Harley Quin, Ivy, the Joker, and all other official batman characters belong to DC comics.

'Insanity is Subjective' and Georgina Pleasance belong to me.
© 2011 - 2024 MonkeysUndles
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RainyBaptasto's avatar
"And soon, the dusty bits were only dusty bits."- Favorite line :heart:

I really like Jervis, although I've always had a soft spot for nutjobs (hence, my friendship with you).

Your should be you're in two places, aaaannd.... erg. You forgot an apostrophe somewhere, but I forget exactly where. Which is kind of unhelpful. Oh well.

I like the stutter thing basically, but it gets a bit hard to read after awhile. Maybe he should have more mad moments?

Can't wait to read more. Love you!