Shadow's Story

Shadow reached the wardens office and turned around to face the guard escorting her. It was the one with all the "we're watching you" crap and it seemed like he was planning to stay by her side the whole session.

"Go stalk someone else now!" she said, or rather shouted to the guard before marching into the office. He seemed very surprised at first, but then the guard sighed and gave Ghost a look only the warden would know what to think of, before he wandered off again.

Shadow was surprised to see who was already there. She hadn't payed attention to the other names that had been said on the intercom when she was in her cell. She was glad to see that Brandon was there and she gave him a little nod before she walked over and sat down next to John Black. She didn't want to give Brandon too much attention, as it seemed like Ghost was already suspicious enough. Black and the guy with the black hair was conversating. Shadow caught herself staring at the guy. He was extremely hot considering he was an anti-social serial killer. She quickly looked away and then noticed Ghost and "The Nazi" standing at the other side of the room. She gave the warden a sickenly cute smile just to agonize him. "Hey Ghost."

Black chuckled and shrugged his shoulders,

"Aye apparently so, although it turns out if yer punch Superman yer also 'Punching the American Dream' or something like that... So god knows what it means that Louis who follows him everywhere bird is doing to 'The American Dream' when their alone..."

The Barbarian glanced up as two more patients entered, one after the other, the first a man he did not recognise, the second was Shadow, the girl he had spoken to during Rec time the previous day.

"Morning Lass."

Black grunted as she sat down beside him, noticing her stare as he did so.

"Have ye met Alexei? Shadow, Alexei, Alexei, Shadow, dinnae let the lads name fool ye... Apparently he is male..!"

"You don't say?" Shadow chuckled and glanced once more at Alexei. Yes, they had met. Apparently she'd been sitting on "his spot".

"Let me guess... Serial killer? Schizophrenic? Canniba - " Shadow immediately stopped herself when she realised that the real Cannibal was sitting some chairs away. She'd never actually meet him, but she'd heard alot about him and he freaked her out. Creep... she thought as she quickly glanced at the Cannibal and then back at Alexei. "Something along those lines, am I right?"

Ghost and Hans had been secretly taking down notes the entire time they were talking. It seemed like they were shuffling around folders, but they'd disguised it quite nicely. They figured if it were obvious it would hinder the interactions between patients. They noted Alexei's aggression which was not as much when Hans evaluated him in their first session. John Black seemed to have the most social skills out of all of them. Depravity kept to himself and also kept quiet,no sign of Brandon after two days. The Cannibal was also silent, besides a simple nod to Alexei and Black who were the only ones in the room at the time. Shadow was her usual self. It was obvious to Hans that she was scheming and he underlined it in her profile for Ghost to see.

"I was considering John Black for release from the asylum. He has no violent tendencies, his social skills are more than adequate, besides having a previous addiction to venom he's much more saner than everyone here. The only reason I think he's here is because the last warden granted no releases." Hans wrote down and passed to Ghost. "Yes I can see that now. It seems like the appropriate thing to do, but who's to say he won't get back on venom as soon as we release him. I think we're going to have to test how strong his resiliency is before I grant his release." Ghost wrote back to Hans. Hans gave Ghost a nod.

Ghost: When asked his name, Ghost paused for a moment and looked The Cannibal. "I tell you what. The day you're released from this asylum is the day I'll tell you my name." Ghost said to The Cannibal.

"Good morning Shadow" Ghost said without turning around to her, in reply to her greeting.

"The food on the table over there is for you guys, I know you haven't eaten breakfast yet. Leonard I ordered in something called "blood sausage" for you, tell me what you think of it?" Ghost said as he pointed over to the tray of it. Blood sausage was meat that had been soaked in blood and when cooked it evaporates out of the meat, giving it a distinct taste. Ghost was hoping this would ween Leonard off of his cravings if he enjoyed it. The table was set up kind of like a buffet and was exceptionally better compared to the cafeteria since they limited serving size.

"When everyone has finished eating we'll start. It seems the other patients have decided not to join us here." Ghost said. He wondered where Doppleganger and Juggernaut were.

Hans: Hans picked up a phone and dialed a number. It rang a couple times before going to an answering machine. "Good morning Dr. Calhoun. There's a group psychiatric evaluation going on at the asylum. I know you might be shaken up from your last time here, but it would be nice if you dropped by. You're a fine doctor and we could use an extra hand." Hans said as he left a message. Hans had not seen Milo since he left after being placed in a cell with Juggernaut overnight by Warden Ghost. This was the only decision Hans secretly disagreed with since Ghost's term as warden

Alexei scowled at John's next play on his name. It wasn't his fault it was a sensetive topic. He'd noticed Shadow's stare before and he'd chosen to ignore it for a reason. Uncomfortable as he was around people in general, the prospect of... relations with the opposite gender always had him feeling... weird. The relationship of his own parents had ended in a traumatizing murder-suicide. Who was to say his own future wouldn't come to such a thing? But he begrudgingly looked at Shadow once more, remembering their first encounter. It almost had him smiling. But he refrained.

Let me guess... Serial killer? Schizophrenic? Canniba - " Alexei's gaze turned sharp as she cut herself off. Another sensitive topic. At least she'd gotten the first two right. He unconsciously wrung his hands together. Maybe socializing wasn't the best idea. "Something along those lines, am I right?"

"Ah... Yeah," he answered, eyes locked on his hands as though they'd piqued his interest. What he wouldn't give to be back in his cell. At least he was alone there.

Ghost
"Shame, but this cake isn't given, it's earned." Ghost said as he walked to a waste bin by his desk. He casually dumped the cake into the trash. For the second time in a row a patient denied Ghost's reward. The first being Shadow when she accused it of having poison and tossing it to a wall. Ghost walked to the door and opened it to let Milo in. Without saying a word to him he headed back to the circle of chairs and took a seat. "Time is a precious thing to waste, so shall we begin this first group session?" Ghost asked the people around him.

Shadow laughed when Ghost tossed the piece of cake in the bin. "Maybe you should just ditch the cake?" She then looked back at Alexei, who was squirming and blushing. He really seemed to lack any social abilities. Being "socially awkward" just got a whole new meaning.... she though to herself.

"Time is a precious thing to waste, so shall we begin this first group session?"

"Whatever you say, Ghost." Shadow gave the warden another one of her innocent smiles.

The Cannibal
Leonard frowned at the response he got after all every body knew that Cannibal had a sentence for live without parole. Cannibal sighed at the sight of more attempts to get him of the delicious treat. Cannibal grabbed a plate and a plastic knife testing the sharpness of the device before grabbing a plastic fork and sitting down again “I have no objections to starting this group session.” Cannibal put a piece of the Blood sausage in his mouth and he began to comment on it so that the warden would hear his opinion “I prefer my meat raw and alive but this sausage is delicious sadly it’s also spiced that ruins the pure taste of the meat.” Cannibal was honest the first living thing he had eat had been a bird not a human so he could enjoy animals but the empty taste was nothing compared to the pure pleasure of screams and the taste of moving and breathing flesh that was able to understand more than the basic principles of live.

Cannibal glanced at Shadow as she had done to him “I don’t appreciate a glance of that nature and I suggest you two leave Alexei alone, it’s obvious that the conversation is making him uncomfortable.” Cannibal observed the plastic knife, the small things was meant to be harmless but Cannibal knew where and how to kill somebody with a small and blunt weapon so he calmly decided to hide maybe Ghost would make a mistake after all the man seemed to have a habit of turning his back to insane people.

“I don’t appreciate a glance of that nature and I suggest you two leave Alexei alone, it’s obvious that the conversation is making him uncomfortable.”

Shadow stared at Alexei for some seconds while thinking and then she turned her chair so she could face The Cannibal. He scared her, but that didn't keep her from provocing him. It actually made her want to do it even more.
"We're all just crazies, you know. Every single one of us." Shadows face was dead serious, but something in her voice made it difficult to know if she was actually serious or if she was just fooling around with him. "I can't help it." She looked at him for some seconds and then turned her seat back to it's former position and started speaking in a less dramatic tone.
"I wasn't bothering Alexei at all. We were just conversating. You know, the usual stuff. Killing people, seeing people, eating people..."

The Cannibal
Leonard answered Shadow calmly he appreciated the answer “Then you’re excused.” Then the Barbarian began to talk obviously he was busy provoking Cannibal and honestly he liked his kind of man as far as he can like anything, the none super but still a mighty opponent fighting with something more than just powers but then again the barbarian had used Venom just to get to the same level as the big guys “I would be pleased to measure myself with a man such as you yet both you and I know that this is not the place to face each other so we should avoid a conflict.” Leonard wasn’t overconfident in a fair fight Barbarian would rip him to pieces but size and strength don’t stop a bullet so there wasn’t a real reason to fear someone because of his muscles.

Shadow was extremely surprised when The Cannibal calmly answered her with "then you're excused." She normally didn't try to irritate other inmates - usually she was the one who got irritated. But for some reason, this crazy man really angered her. He reminded her of someone, she couldn't figure out who though.

"How long have you been in here, Leonard?" She knew his name from earlier when she'd looked at Ghost's folder. If only she could remember what the 'personality' section had said. "When was the last time you had some human flesh? Besides your own, that is." She got this disgusting taste in her mouth just from thinking of him eating some of his hand. She then held out her own hand towards The Cannibal with a calm facial expression. Inside she was cringing. "Why don't you take a bite? I bet some young fresh meat taste better than you do."

Milo calmly stepped inside the office as Ghost let him. Milo looked at the group of inmates apparently quarreling amongst themselves. He could see the clear discomfort on Alexei's face as he rubbed his temples. He didn't know much about the Russian serial killer except for the fact the man possesses inhuman agility. Such a skill really takes his namesake of "Shark" as a literal predator. Other than that Alexei is one of the maximum security patients here but even through out his time in Arkham he really isn't as aggressive as one might think, but then again Sharks aren't exactly aggressive unless there is blood in the water. It seems to him that this session may be that blood. Milo closed the door behind him as he thought of blood immediately looking over at The Cannibal.

Leonard Beington, he studied his file over his day off since he is now assigned as his psychiatric evaluator, thanks to the Warden. Even now all Milo heard from him was about flesh, human flesh from his implications. Even when he ate the sausage he criticized the spices detracting from the actual flavor. Has he been eating raw meat for so long like a wild animal? Milo hates his meat raw and prefers it well-done when he orders steak or burgers. No sense in eating something while it's still moving he would always think to himself over raw meat. What was interesting was that he stood up for Alexei earlier and ended up taking the brunt of attention from the large, muscle-bound man and a woman. Milo didn't really appreciated the woman provoking Leonard like that, there was no need to start an episode.Milo made a interjecting cough as he cleared his throat and turned towards the doctor and the Warden.

"Dr. Klarheit," "Warden, sir." Milo addressed the two. "So what is the nature of this session?" Milo asked curiously. He wondered what they were set out to accomplish and thus far he has seen nothing but displeasure and tension. Such emotions were not welcomed in group therapy as it may hinder any goals that have been placed. Unless the goal was to see how long they could tolerate each other it would seem they are becoming restless, and immediate action should help lighten the situation.

Depravity was pleased to see Shadow. Her nod to him indicated that she was still his ally. She proceeded to use her wit and assets to manipulate and antagonize those around her; particularly Warden Ghost. Though Depravity wanted to focus on her, he had to divert his attention from Shadow as to not draw suspiscion. He decided to concentrate on the activities of the remaining people in the room.

Depravity was thoroughly enjoying the back-and-forths between the other prisoners. He was beginning to like John Black; he was funny and he was also quite a physical specimen. He could most likely tear Depravity apart in a one-on-one confrontation. The man looked to have seen combat before. His threat to Cannibal surprised Depravity. Depravity was unsure of the reason to why Cannibal was imprisoned, but from what he saw from the others in the room, he was most likely very dangerous. Depravity saw more than violence in Cannibal's eyes. Cannibal seemed driven by animlistic instincts... hunger. Depravity calmly interrupted the conversation.

"It would not be wise to be so eager to fight this one," Depravity mentioned to John Black with a smile on his face, "there's more to him than meets the eye. Brute strength would not guarantee you victory... But watching you two rip each other to shreds would be quite the spectacle." Depravity relaxed into his chair. He was enjoying these "group sessions".

Depravity was suddenly interrupted by a massive headache. He grimaced and shook it off. It's happening soon! Depravity thought. He attempted to fight off the hostile takeover of his mind. The headache seemed to be fading away slowly. He was strong-willed but did not know how much longer he could last. Ignoring the pain, Depravity turned to Warden Ghost.

"Your name is something to be curious about," Depravity remarked, "and your lack of name or unwillingness to relinquish it let's you maintain the illusion that you're an powerful phantom who knows all and sees all. It gives you power of us, doesn't it? You know our names yet we know not of yours. You cannot hide behind darkened eyes and hidden motives. You have your secrets. We all do. Ghost is an appropriate name for you..." Depravity regained his smile as he spoke to Warden Ghost. Depravity had grown to understand Warden Ghost slightly but had only grasped the basics. He was cold and cunning for certain, but Depravity wanted to know more, and was willing to say anything, being true or not, to gain as much information or insight on the warden as he could before his mind gave back in to Brandon Robertson.

Shadow sighed and let her arm drop. This man was not easy to provoke. "Go to hell," she whispered when The Cannibal got up from his chair and sat down next to Depravity. The Cannibal was obviously smart and the fact that he chose to sit next to the also very smart Depravity worried her. What if they made some kind of alliance? Did that mean she had to actually work together with the human eating freak? Or would Depravity dump her? Like that wasn't enough, The Cannibal also reminded her of her father, a man she'd forgotten all about until Ghost brought up her past. She noticed how Depravity or Brandon, she wasn't sure on what to call him, was in discomfort. She knew he was "Depravity" at the moment, hopefully he wasn't changing to the real Brandon. Then she would have to gain his trust all over again.

"Ghost, Klarheit and..." she glanced at Milo's nametag, "Calhoun, can we get the session started?" She had a feeling that this would end with a fight if the doctors didn't start the session soon. Even though she tried to provoke people and acted childish, she didn't want to actually fight any of them. She just wanted to see peoples reactions, that was the reason she actually showed up to this session in the first place. To get information.
She liked the act she had going on, though. The more stupid they thought she was, the better. Who cared about what they thought of her anyway? It was an asylum, she was allowed to act like she wanted to.

Ghost
Ghost turned around to Depravity when he mentioned his name. "There's nothing dark about my eyes" Ghost said as he revealed them to Depravity. He had already taken off his sunglasses and put them away. His eyes were a ghastly pale and it seemed like he had no irises. "As far as my name is concerned, I apologize if your lack of knowledge of it makes you feel weak." Ghost said to Depravity. The warden's name was the key to his identity and if any of the patients knew it, the asylum would go to hell, which is why Ghost would only reveal the name when a patient was released.

"Hans, you may begin the session" Ghost instructed.

Hans

Hans went over to Milo and handed him a paper with something written on it.

"The purpose of this evaluation is to see how patients react to certain stimuli. This is obviously a big group, so ask more general questions that can relate to everyone rather than focusing on a single patient."

"Okay settle down everyone, we're going to play a little game. I'm going to say a word or phrase and you guys will tell me the first thing that comes to mind. Afterwards Dr. Calhoun will put out a word, then Warden Ghost. After that you all can proceed to lunch and recreation" Hans said as he looked at everyone. "Here's the first one, Gotham City" Hans said as he awaited the patients response.

Depravity chuckled slightly to Warden Ghost's response; not out of disrespect or ridicule. Depravity was impressed. Warden Ghost's responses were always sharp as blade and cut to the point.

As Cannibal sat next to him, Depravity intriguingly observed the man; from his actions, Cannibal did not make himself out to be an enemy. His eating habits did not bother Depravity either. Perhaps he would be seen as a potential ally depending on what would happen with Shadow. She did not seem to be to fond of him and Shadow was Depravity's first ally and he did intend on betraying her. The betrayal would have to come from her, and if so, it would lead to her death.

"You're wise to use logic," Depravity whispered to Cannibal, "one must learn to pick and choose each individual battle before fighting." Depravity had learned that the hard way from his encounter with Warden Ghost. Normally he could have acted as recklessly as he saw fit and challenge any who opposed him, but the warden was a different type of enemy. Not only was he physically powerful from his looks, but he was a cunning man who challenged Depravity on all fields of battle; he was the ideal foe. Depravity turned to Dr. Klarheit who issued a word game to the prisoners in the room. Gotham City... The words brought a few memories to Depravity; fun, amusing memories.

"Batman," John Black was the first one to answer. Depravity detested Batman and everything he stood for: order, honour, justice; false ideals as far as Depravity was concerned.

"Playground," Depravity chimed in.

"You're wise to use logic," Depravity whispered to Cannibal, "one must learn to pick and choose each individual battle before fighting." Great, sounded like they were already allies. Hopefully Depravity would stay loyal. She was his ticket out of here after all.

"Batman." John Black grunted.

"Playground," Depravity added. A lot of things came to Rosalie Abbot's mind when she heard "Gotham City." Money, blood, sex, drinking, cold, corruption, money money money, grime, crime, love, misery and of course all the good and bad "masks". Especially The Joker.

She said the first thing she thought of, which where the diamonds and gold she stole shortly before being dragged to the asylum. "Money."

"Gotham City."

"Batman," was John's gruff response. 

Next came, "Playground," another's answer; Alexei was unsure of his name.

Then there was Shadow's answer. "Money."

A moment later, Alexei had his. People. But as soon as he opened his mouth to speak, a completely different word came out. "Victims." He blinked a couple times after, taking a moment to register what he'd actually said. A frown tugged at the corners of his mouth. 

What the hell?!?

The response came, as expected:

Í̱rtha me to pró̱to. Parakaló̱.
I came up with it first. You're welcome.

He forced his face to remain as blank as he could manage, despite the fact that his mind was rife with exasperation.

Dr. Klarheit had smirked a bit at The Cannibal's comment. He thought it was a bit funny. He jotted down a couple of things on his notes before looking up to Dr. Calhoun. "Would you like to throw out the next word or shall I go?" Hans asked as the group awaited the next part of the evaluation.

Ghost took note of Alexei's answer. It was a less than pleasing answer, but Alexei seemed conflicted when he said it. John Black who sat across from the warden was a patient he'd never met personally. He was larger than the warden, but it was interesting that Black responded with Batman. Ghost wrote down that there might be some past history between the two, but there wasn't any note of it in his profile, so he would have to ask Hans to explore the subject. There was more to the patient than he had expected. He also noted that Depravity knew what Gotham City was. He hadn't known what Arkham Asylum was, but he did know Gotham. Either that or he was beginning to go back to his regular self as Brandon. Ghost could imagine the transition might be subtle, with a merging of memories towards the middle of that transition. Then Shadow's answer came, which was money. She seemed to be more criminal than insane. The warden could recommend her to transfer her to Blackgate, the though flew through his head for a moment.

(OOC: I know it's going a bit slow with this evaluation, but after three words are done. I have something planned, so hang on guys)

Milo sat at an empty chair and read the paper Hans had given him. This was an interesting set-up to explore more of the patients' mode of thought and not to mention it was in a group setting. Variables like peer pressure and social image comes into play and more times than not play a role on anybody's personality. Sometimes it's minor and sometimes it's large but this didn't stop them from answering. Each of their words revealed a little more of them, the large man may have some vendetta against Batman that wouldn't be out of the ordinary. The other man whom Milo wasn't familiar with said playground. Although Milo doesn't know the man his answer suggests though some sort of disregard for law and order. The woman said money, which if Milo thinks about it is pretty logical. Although Gotham is a crime ridden city it is an old city...filled with many wealthy establishments and families that come from old money. Not to mention clubs, casinos, and hotels, sure there is money in this city. Her answer may suggest something of a more simple nature, a simple motive for criminality. Then the Russian said victims, already he was intimidating by his profile and now his choice of words seem to further imply why he is here. Still he seemed a bit indecisive maybe conflicted?

Upon hearing the last words that came from the Cannibal, Milo was surprised. While he excepted was a similar answer to that of the Russian's but Cannibal's was more comedic? This gave Milo more interest in working with Cannibal, perhaps there is more to him than just eating people? Then Milo heard Hans called something out to him.

"Would you like to throw out the next word or shall I go?"

Milo thought about what word he should use to have these patients speak out more. Gotham was a great choice as he learned more than he thought he would but what else could garner such a reaction? Milo thought about then decided to throw out a word for consideration.

"Alright I shall, Humanity." Milo spoke as he wondered how they would respond.