Title: Rorschach's Ice Cream Adventure
Characters/Pairings: Rorschach/ a Pedophile
Summary: Rorschach buys ice cream for children and goes skipping in the park.
Rating/Warnings: R for general graphicness of Rorschach's ramblings.
Disclaimer: Watchmen belongs to Alan Moore. I'm so sorry, man.
Notes: After my last fic, was challenged by a friend with this prompt. I said I would do it and make it completely in character and fully justified within those parameters. Here is the result.
Edit: Additionally, if I were to pick a whistle for the end, I'd choose "In the Hall of the Mountain King"- see
M.
Excerpts from Rorschach's Journal: August, 1979
Would have slept through hottest part of day but more stifling indoors than out. Left coat from suit behind while making morning rounds. Sweated through shirt within two blocks. Kept tie in place to stay presentable.
Central park was full of slowly cooking bodies trying to distract themselves from slow suffocation.
Large percentage, children. Without school to keep them maintained, reports of disappearances in the park not unbelievable. Men in uniforms shout at two black children swimming in fountain. Reminded briefly of personal childhood battles against the heat.
While loitering during surveillance, located stray five dollar note in grass. Impossible to determine owner. Handed it to knot of children approaching the luring jingle of ice cream truck with orders to buy something cold. Resumed walking. A blue uniform shouts for me to stay put. Found my act of kindness suspicious. Didn't like my answers to his questions. Ice cream vendor has audacity to point accusatory finger in my direction. Ultimately had to abandon the route early. Uniforms did not follow.
_
Newspapers cite four occasions of disappearances in park in the last week and a half. Two, witnesses say, happened near dusk. One in the morning, and one unknown. Will keep vigilant until pervert is found.
_
In retrospect, Ice Cream vendor's adamant accusations against me suspicious. Watched for him again today, but was difficult avoiding security. Too many so called “police” looking for the wrong people.
_
It's still hot at dusk. Pavement and concrete slowly cook all day long, sucking in the sun to save it for this time of day. It radiates up from the feet. Walking on a giant oven. Temperature drops in a few hours but that might be too late. I endure. Coat provides certain amounts of protection, but one layer less is most practical.
Not as crowded as day hours. 8:00pm. Some local children have finished dinner and the sound of ice cream truck is ominous. Might be biased. Careful to stay out of sight while keeping track of potential targets. Ten year old brunette leaves with Popsicle. Two twelve year old siblings accompanied by parents leave with ice cream sandwiches. A mouse-haired seven year old out of sight for one moment, and is gone as truck pulls to end of park. Suspicions confirmed.
_
Followed truck to condemned deli. Owners did not pass health code and had to shut down. Lights on inside, truck parked in the back. Windows blacked out with brown paper. Small tears prove useless as peep holes. Door locked. Discretion seems necessary. Took a moment with a piece of bent wire before investigation possible.
Stank of old meat and poor refrigeration. No sign of target, but there is no doubt he's in there somewhere. Make my way to back room of store. Note signs someone has been squatting here- pile of blankets on make-shift cot, food wrappers and boxes. Small bottles and used syringes. Ketamine. Obtained illegally, no doubt. Kids call it 'Special K'. Dissociative anesthetic. Possible the pedophile harbors guilt about what he does. Doesn't want them to remember. Does it anyway.
Located the ice cream vendor in the walk-in freezer. Has been using the freezer to store wares. Peddled ice cream to lure in targets. Surprised to see me. Noted six captives, all blue-lipped and wide-eyed. Drugged and bound with wire. I react first, arming self with cone-shaped frozen novelty. Design and weight of the ice inside sinks surprisingly well into soft spot just under the chin and above the jugular when enough force is applied. After a second blow to make sure it's in deep enough, left pervert to drown on strawberry flavored blood.
Made mistake of not making sure he was down.
Rest of evening foggy at best. Remember sharp prick through shirt of forearm. I remember him getting to his knees. The rest I'm only able to piece together by later reports in the papers.
Gazette reads Six Children Found on doorstep of Police Station with a note pinned to one of their shirts and the mutilated corpse of the previously at-large pedophile from Central Park. Witness says they “spotted the vigilante light-footed en route with corpse over his shoulders leading the children like ducklings.” Cannot recall this event. Probable embellishment. Slightly more favorable than other possible suspicions against character.