Lies Lies Lies

Preparation and Departure

John's POV

BOOM

POW

POW

My fists slammed into the punching bag. One after the other, left and right, uppercut and left hooks, each made their way to the leather casing.

One for-- ASSLO

Another for-- THE STUPID HIERARCHY

ANOTHER FOR----

I stepped back. No. She wasn't the cause of my problems. I brought this upon myself ever since I donned the mask and the paper bag. I...hate to have to admit this kind of thing to myself, but I knew I needed to step back and get my logic right. Asslo though? Yeah, he deserved one.

PAH

The hierarchy that causes me to get beat to hell when I am not Joker? Double dosage. That all hurt.

BOOM POW

But...Seraphina...

Was her name going to be a cause for me to jab the punching bag again? Would I snap again? Let it out? She never asked to be friends with a liar. Who does? And yet, I was the liar she ended up getting attached to.

But the slap?

And the tears?

POW

Seraphina's POV

I walked into Doc's office later that day. He didn't seem particularly occupied, which I was grateful for since we were about to discuss some sensitive topics. He did, however, not even bother to look up when I entered the room. His eyes were still glued to the computer screen.

"Hey...Doc?"

He jumped, which was unlike him altogether. But I continued with my question.

"About the stuff you forwarded to me...I--"

"No need to inform me Seraphina. I already know you filled out the form."

What? How could he already know? I hadn't done anything to let him know, so was this all based on intuition?

"I....How? I haven't emailed you saying I did it? What makes you think you know me so well?"

"Well you filled out the form didn't you?"

I stood there with my arms crossed. I did. I didn't want to admit it, but I did. "...Yes..."

He smirked for a brief second before he spoke. "Look, I know this is a dire situation. And to actually be a cripple? For who knows how long? That's going to hurt big time. I have already expressed to you about how this situation is beyond my own abilities. It's time to hand the work over to someone with a better chance of fixing the problem."

I was silent. Actually a cripple? "Doc...What do you mean by actually a cripple?"

"I--" This time it was he who was dumbfounded. "Slip of my words?"

I stared him down once again. "Do you mean to say...Perhaps, you had a student who played the part of a cripple? His name..." I was filled with bitterness ever since I found out about John. Doc knew already? Has the entire staff been lying to us this whole time? "His name...it didn't happen to be JOHN, right?" I spit his name with venom and hatred. Even thinking about the hypocrite made me want to break something.

His eyes widened. So he did know. All the faculty probably knew too.

"How..."

"I saw him at his last fight. Brutally beat up all the royals. I... recognized his fighting stance," I falter for a moment. And all along, you knew? All along, you and the other faculty members have been letting him run around free of responsibility?" This sad excuse for an administration wasn't even doing their job.