Harlequin

Revelation

"What the-" Crane looked behind him to find the Joker making an appearance. Great. Just what I needed, he thought. The Joker left Harley where she is and walked towards Crane slowly as he chuckled. The phone in the room was too far, and the tranquillisers were still inside the cabinets at the corners of the room, so he did the next best thing he thought he could. Crane quickly grabbed an aerosol can of fear toxin and sprayed it at Joker.

"Ahahaha... You're funny." Joker walked even closer. "Do that again, Doctor... That perfume smells delicious." said the crazy clown while keeping his smile as wide as ever. Crane grabbed anything he could find, and hit Joker with a beaker. It smashed and left a small cut at his cheek. He only laughed and said, "Where are your manners?" He wiped off the blood with his thumb and slowly licked it. "Well, two can play that game! HAHAHAHA"

Crane tried to rush towards the exit of the room, but The Joker grabbed him from the behind and slashed him with three syringes, cutting Crane's skin quite deeply. He tried to swing a punch at the Joker only to have his fist blocked and his body pushed to the floor. Crane tried to crawl away as his hand reached for the bottom of the exit door, but Joker stepped on his hand and kicked him on the abdomen. "You little peace of-" said Crane in pain, but he was cut off when Joker smashed his head on the wall, leaving him unconscious.

Meanwhile, all of this took place while Harley was still bound to the chair with a tube sticking out her throat, complete with the clamp that forced her mouth open. She couldn't look anywhere but up at the ceiling without hurting herself. She could feel herself weakening with every passing minute, so she focused on stabilising her breathing. She heard a ruckus and could only hope that it was Crane who collapsed to the ground. It's crazy how the bigger evils are the ones who aren't exposed to the world as such, huh?

"Sorry I left ya there, babydoll! Hold on!" she heard Joker's voice say. Thank goodness. It's funny how she sees a psychopathic mass murderer as the better man in this situation. She couldn't respond and just stayed still. The Joker showed his face right above her's, smiling and showing a thumbs up. Then he caressed her arm and said, "Okay, this is gonna hurt just a teensy bit! Trust me, baby." he smiled reassuringly.

Oh God is he serious? He's gonna pull this thing out of me?! I hope he doesn't kill me. And what's with the names?! She prayed to whoever's listening. She shut her eyes real tight, furrowing her brows. Little by little he pulled that tube out of her throat as she tried to gag and choke as little as possible. To her surprise, he knew how to be gentle. As soon as the tube left her throat, she felt a huge sigh of relief. Mr. J removed the clamp that kept her mouth open and he helped her head straighten up. He removed her restrains and searched for a glass of water for her to drink.

"Drink up!" He said.

"Hey... Thank you, Mr J." She said with a very hoarse voice. It hurt to speak, but she had to thank him.

"Aww, anything for my girl." he watched her intently as she drank her water. She kept her eyes to the ground.

Wow. 'My girl'...? She thought. Oh, that's right, he said somethin' about me being his squeeze.

"You know, if it were me, I'd just simply... Laugh it off. HAHAHAHA There is nothing constant in this world but chaos. It's like one big, cruel joke! HAHA! So you just gotta get the punchline. Ya feel me, toots? Well, I know that better than anyone else. I live in it! HAHAHA!! All you need is one bad day... Something to push ya off the edges of sanity and free-fall into... Madness..... HAHAHA..."

There is nothing constant in this world but chaos. She thought about that phrase repeatedly in her mind. Someone else said something like that to her. "This world is really just made up of chaos..." That's right, James said something like that when he had a really bad day. But he laughed it off with me at the end of it all. It was why he would easily brush things off when things didn't turn out as expected. That made him free from worries and doubts... Because of that he lived... vicariously. That's why he was always so self-assured and would take risks like tomorrow didn't exist. I didn't understand then, but I get it now. I get it now, James. I know why it is necessary. This understanding... This... revelation... We don't get a say in anything. We're just puppets in a play. Bits and pieces of a sick joke. This life we live filled with rules and whatnot... it's a mere distraction. But when we understand that, we'll be set free. Only then we'll really live. All this time we were alive but not living. Joker understood this better than anyone else. It's the killing joke.

"Heeey, look at me? Are ya there in the noggin' or has your brain left for lunch break? Yoo-hoo!" he said as he held her chin up slowly. She met his smiling face, and then he proceeded to do silly stunts with whatever he could find around him just to make her laugh, and she did. Despite the pain, she laughed. She laughed as much as she wanted to, until she coughed up a bit of blood. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and looked at the Joker with her new-found adoration and smiled.

"Whoa there, Harls. Are you flirting with me?" He grinned and winked at her. She blushed and giggled. "Why don't we uh, head to the kitchen and steal some ice cream? Whaddaya say, sweetheart?" He laughed again as he held out his hand, waiting for her to take it. Harley nods and smiles at him, then placed her hand gently on his, when to her surprise, he pulled her close and dipped her backwards like dancers did when they tango. "Wonderful" he said in a low voice, still grinning.

Long after the two exited the room, Crane woke up to find his lab in a mess. He recalled all the events that preceded his blackout. He was not happy. At that moment, it was the first time he completely let himself throw a fit of rage. Today, he cracked into pieces. He threw things around and made the room worse than it already looked. When he was done, he started thinking. He's gonna let her have it bad. No more toxins. Just him. Just her. Joker's gotta go.