Work Text
Monster
Jack-O-Lanterns, Ghosts, Ghouls, and Goblins filled the streets together with costumed kids and their bags filled with candy. Even in the filthy alleyways of the Narrows, some of the local children ventured out into the night. Trick-or-treating amongst a neighborhood of drug addicts, pimps, crooks, and worse - after all, they lived amongst them for the rest of the year as well. Unbeknownst to them, however, something even more dangerous stalked their neighborhood streets that night. Climbed up from his home in the tunnels below Gotham, a giant stalked the dark alleys of the Narrows. His head was stinging, and his vision got blurred. It was the all-too-familiar curse that plagued the undead giant. An affliction that could only be quenched with blood.Driven more by instinct than anything else, Solomon Grundy walked through one dark alleyway after another. The noise of the city was barely noticeable, and not even the city's brightest lights could be seen from here.One sound, however, echoed through the alleyways - footsteps. Someone came running in Grundy's direction, making the undead giant stop his slow, monotonous shuffle and wait. As he waited, his mind, or what was left of it, focused in on the footsteps. Like raindrops hitting against a car’s roof, the sound rang in Grundy's ears - souring his mood. Finally, the steps arrived, and running around the corner came a little girl dressed as a witch, tightly holding a bag filled with candy in her right hand. The moment she saw the undead giant standing in her way, she immediately froze in fear.But Solomon Grundy, unbeknownst to the girl, also froze. The pain in his head suddenly vanished, and out of the fog that was in his mind, images appeared. It was like he was dreaming, remembering feelings of joy and soft, childlike comfort -and, of course, the sweet taste of candy.Just as quick as the memory entered Grundy's head, it left again, leaving him with a feeling of blissful comfort. Slowly, he slumped over to the little girl, who was still frozen in fear.When he stood directly in front of her, she squeamishly closed her eyes and tensed up her entire body, hoping for the monster to just disappear. But Grundy paid the little girl no mind, simply reaching out for the bag of candies she held in her hand.Once the bag had left the tiny witch's hand, and she started to hear the chewing noises of the zombie in front of her, she dared to open her eyes again. The horror of seeing the undead giant rummage through her hard-earned Halloween candy, eating it by the fistful, and chewing through the plastic wrappers, was enough to make her shriek out loud. The realization that she had just alerted the seven-foot-tall zombie to her presence was enough to make her shriek again. Solomon Grundy interrupted his feast to look downward and inspect what was causing all the noise.“Why loud?” he eventually said in between chewing on some candy.The nonchalant question confused the girl, taking away a bit of the fear she felt.“Y-y-y-you a-a-are a m-m-monster”, but not enough to not make her stutter in sheer terror while she was speaking.“No,” Grundy said, shaking his head. “Me no monster - me Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday…” “Y-you are eating my candy,” The girl said, now more sad than afraid“Tasty” Grundy acknowledged. “Why don’t you get your own?” The girl was now more angry than anything else.“Grundy did” The Giant gently shook the bag as he continued eating.“That’s not fair!” the girl protested, “you have to go trick or treating for it!”For a moment, Grundy said nothing, just looking down at the girl in front of him. His jaw slowly opened up more and more as he tried to form a thought with his brain-dead mind.“Aaaaaaaa” Grundy's mouth was still ajar. “Trick or treat,” Grundy finally uttered.“Don’t say it to me!” the girl now shouted, desperate to at least save some of her candy, “you have to go from door to door and get your own candy!”For a moment, Grundy tried to form another thought before he gave up halfway through and simply dropped the bag at the girl's feet.Quickly, she grabbed her candy again, holding it close. Victoriously, she took out a chocolate bar, eating half of it in one bite, while Grundy shuffled away in search of some candy. Once the giant was out of sight, she inspected the remains of her candy. Joyfully, she realized that there was still enough in there for her to enjoy the rest of the night or even the day after. A luxury most of the people who opened their doors to Grundy knocking did not have.