Birds of a Feather (Oswald Cobblepot)

The Melted Man

My first instinct is to wrestle my way out of Oswald's grip, but he restrains me with both arms.

"Awe...so you were sweet on him after all?" he smiles, "I have to admit...that touches my heart. But now that sweetness is mine alone."

My eyes dart, first to the handgun in Gabe's pants, then to the control room Eel and I had passed earlier, then to the fire alarm just above us. Leaning against Oswald's chest, I run both of my hands up his suit.

"Hmph, I guess you're right. Although I never felt anything for Eel...either way, I'm yours now."

I reach up, and we kiss, Oswald's grip softening. At just the right moment, I jerk away, whipping around and snatching Gabe's handgun to shoot the alarm. It goes off, blaring and setting off the sprinklers. Oswald and Gabe cover themselves, but I immediately start running toward the control room. I shoot open the door, and find the emergency pump, brightly labelled in red. Twisting the valve, another alarm goes off in tandem to the fire alarm as the vats are drained of their contents.

I run out to find that Oswald and Gabe have disappeared, and as the last of the green fluid drains from the vats, I run to look over at the vat Eel was dropped into. Even though the drain is filtered, nothing remains of Eel. He must have been completely disintegrated by the liquid. Oh god...Eel...

I escape the factory through an open skylight accessible by a ladder. I wait for the police and the fire department to come and go before I drop down to ground level. Green chemicals are still oozing from the various outflow pipes, some simply pouring directly onto the streets. There's gotta be a law against that...

I pass a small drain pipe that's spewing green liquid when I hear a ghostly voice.

"Trixie...help...me..."

My heart racing, I turn around to find...Eel, but not quite. His form has been completely melted down, almost as if he were liquid. I gag in horror as what remains of him flows out of the drain pipe. His colors and image are all intact, his hands appearing right alongside his head.

"Oh my god...what happened to you?" I murmur, my hand pressed over my mouth.

"I-I don't know. I fell into the chemicals...and...and when the drain started, I just...flowed along with it. I...I'm not in pain but...I can't move," he explains.

I glance around until I spot an empty trash bag drifting in one of the corners of the narrow street. Picking up the bag, I shake it out before approaching Eel with it.

"Here, I'll use this to transport you to a hospital-"

"No hospitals! No white walls, or doctors, never-...never again. Just...just get me back to the motel room," he pleads.

With one hand, I begin scoping his form into the trash, his liquid skin having an oily texture on my fingers.

"Oh...that-...that's gross," my stomach lurches as Eel's head flops into the bag.

"You think that's gross? You're scoping what use to be my stomach into that garbage bag. Trust me, if anyone should be throwing up, it's me," he chuckles, thinly veiling his complaint.

Leaving the bag open, I glance down into it as I walk down the deserted street.

"What am I going to do with you? I can't just walk around with a body in a bag," I inform him, talking into the bag.

The bag starts to shift with Eel's weight. Despite his body being a mix between liquid oil and clay, he's light as air. What kind of chemicals were in that vat?

"Hey, I think I can move a bit," Eel realizes aloud, as his liquid body swishes around the bag.

I set the bag down, and Eel slowly starts to seep out of the bag like spreading water. His head begins to rise out of the puddle that is his body, stretching out like a string of gum. His arms come next, unnaturally long, clawing up and thin. From out of his head and neck, his chest and torso come winding up, bent and unstable. His legs are the last to appear, skinny and barely standing.

"Hey...hey...I'm alright! I'm okay! I-"

And with that, Eel's body collapses back into the trash bag, little bubbles forming and popping in his skin.

"Welp...I guess I've been resigned to life as a miniature 'The Blob'," Eel sighs.

I raise an eyebrow, "A what?"

As if he didn't hear me, he continues, "At least I didn't end up with white skin and green hair, that would be weird, right? Actually...it's...ha...it's quite funny...ha...ha ha...HA HA. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA. ...nah, I'm just joshing ya."

Considerably disturbed by Eel's sudden outburst of laughter, I close up his trash bag, "Alright, while I won't bring you to a doctor, you need help."

"Yeah, I don't know what's happening to me. It's like a whole new world of information has opened up. Did you know that the Comics Code Authority was founded in 1954 and that we couldn't say the word 'zombie'."

My expression turns from concern to confusion, "...what?"

The image of his head swims around in his liquid body, "Yeah, I didn't know that either!"

I get him to his motel room, where I lay out the trash bag on the bed to where it's nearly inside out. Eel slithers his body out of the bag and onto the bed. He spreads around the bedside and with some effort, is able to rise up and form his body into a sitting position, long exaggerated arms and legs dangling down.

"Whew, well, now I look somewhat normal. Proportions are still like taffy though," he comments, looking down at his stretched body.

"Well at least you have it under control," I reason, sitting down next to him.

Eel crosses his arms, and his flexible arms allow him to wrap them around themselves several times over, "And just when I thought I was gonna start a new life, this happens. How can I go to GothamU like this? I didn't fit in to start with, how am I supposed to fit in with the scholars and trust-fund sons now?"

He sighs, throwing himself onto the bed, flopping and spreading onto the bed like clay, "Who am I kidding, I never belonged in university in the first place. But...I don't belong in the mob either..."

I place my hand on his sludge-like shoulder, "You'll make the most of this, I know it. Think of it...as...like, a superpower. Like Green Lantern."

Eels eyes widen, "A...a superhero? Me?"

I nod, "Yeah, imagine if you had real control of your abilities, you could do so much."

He smiles, but his smile soon fades. and he turns away, "Thanks Trix, but realistically, if I had superpowers, I'd probably just...I don't know...rob a bank or something."

I place my hand on his waxy shoulder, "That's up to you."