#laughcrime

It has always been her sacred duty to protect the world.

But at some point, the definition of what that world encompassed shifted. Her heart grew larger, but her world smaller. It became about him, her Bruce, and returning to his arms. All the while, Diana let Chaos run wild in this new universe that would never be her home, hiding away in the cave with technology and hoping for a miracle that, honestly, might never come to be. She became complicit. Perhaps something worse than that. So lost in her own suffering, she forgot that this, too, is a world worthy of protection.

Because what is her prison is this Bruce's home.

And she had allowed it to be defiled in the worst of ways.

She once promised herself she would never return to the shadows. Yet she had done just that, hadn't she? Sulking in the dark while this Bruce was forced to make a cruel, impossible decision. Harvey or Rachel?

If Diana had been there, if she had paid attention, perhaps they would both still have breath. But she hadn't been there. She hadn't paid attention. She had let him fight his enemies and face his battles like they were nothing more than storylines in a fictional movie. Because this world hadn't been real to her.

She's been wrong. Worse. She's been selfish. No more inaction. No more.

She faces the clown, and soon finds her powers to be faulty. Her patrons have never existed in this world, and as such their gifts struggle to flow through her. But Diana has never been defined by the blessings of others. And she knows this clown. Has met him in another lifetime. His brand of hatred is the same. Nothing special.

She matches his wicked grin with one of her own.

Then choose death, Joker.

If he fell onto her blade, the world would be a brighter, kinder place. But perhaps his madness would not end. Perhaps it would linger like a ghost who haunts a home, who terrorizes a soul. He has caused such damage that not even his death could remedy, not truly. He has left behind imprints of fear that will never fade. She cannot give him the satisfaction of saying this, but she knows that he knows. He has changed them; Diana, too. She's worse just for being in his presence.

But she won't let him have anymore pieces of her soul.

She towers over him, every inch the Amazon princess she was molded to be. But then something strange happens. Her face softness in the same gentle way it would look upon a child or an animal or someone genuinely in need of goodness. Her posture is ever-so elegant as she crouches to his level, reaching to hold his painted face in her hands. Does he expect her to snap his neck? Does she expect herself to? Perhaps.

Perhaps.

❛ I could give you pity. I could give you kindness. I could give you death, too. ❜ Gentle fingers splay across his cheeks, tracing over the bone and noting every little curve. It makes him less terrifying, truly, to touch him and feel the blood beneath his skin. Just a pitiful, sad clown. She wonders again if she'll kill him.

HE CAPTURES HER IN HIS CLAWS, dread filling the entirety of her being. Long ago, the Amazon believed she would end war and bring peace to Mankind. Long ago, she believed there was no enemy too great, no threat too dire, to overpower her or the sacredness of her mission. But that was a long, long time ago. Diana now understands how naive she was, how innocent her thinking had been. How many things in this world does she love? Everything, the answer is everything and everyone. Even Joker, she cannot bring herself to hate, for doing so would be swallowing poison. She won't sacrifice herself to conform to the fear that runs through her veins. Perhaps that is the true price of love. You cannot be fearless when you have love in your heart, when you have so much to lose.

However, it is not fear displayed on her face, but rather the deepest form of sorrow she has ever felt. Why? She desires to ask. Why will you not stop? The lasso burns at her hip, aching to release a verdict of its own. Yet, she does not reach for it. To do so would be to lay bare the depths of his mind, to feel all the hatred and horror that makes him who he is. And the truth is she's not so sure she would survive it.

❛ I used to think it was madness that plagued you. ❜ Will her naivety ever end? Before, when he was a myth and not a reality, she thought that perhaps she could help him. But there are some people too evil for even Diana to save. ❛ But I see it now for what it is. You are not mad, you are cruel. There is nothing but hatred in your bones. ❜

THE SWORD SHE GRIPS COULD END THIS MADNESS. A swift stroke to divorce his head from his shoulders, and so much pain, so much misery could be prevented. Sickness clutches at her stomach at how coolly he mentions Selina K.yle, treating her as nothing more than a doll whose life was his to manipulate. How much has Joker taken from Bruce? A lover, a son, a home. And he desires to claim even more, to take and take until nothing is left of Bruce but the bones beneath his skin. Perhaps, even then, it would not be enough. Perhaps it will never be enough until Joker can sink into Bruce's soul and corrupt him from the inside out.

❛ It destroys you, doesn't it? ❜ She asks this suddenly. She could kill him, could end his life, yet she decides to deliver blows of a different variety. Sheathing her sword behind her back, she steps towards him, not scared to be close, not scared that his horror could bleed into her. She's tasted poison far worse than his. ❛ How his life is so much bigger than your existence. ❜ Hers is a voice that could command the skies to drop from the heavens. The world seems to quiet, holding its breath as though not to offend the Amazon who could bring even nature to its knees.

     “When I said I’d sell me soul f’a bloody drink, y’weren’t exactly the devil I had in mind,” John drawled, still unconvinced that The soddin’ Joker was entirely human but it was more an ephemeral notion. He was probably a bit less human in the way John was. “Y’know — ye’d think that maybe this is a worse punishment than incarceration.” He gestured to the darkened street. Many shops and even some bars didn’t stay open for long after nightfall.

@laughcrime​ joked: “ you want to hear a story ? oh uh … well … uh … l — let me tell you all about how this boy’s life got flipped turned upside down— His parents got murdered in crime alley in Gotham's Downtown!"

It ain’t even matter that PUDDIN is repeating the same ole story he’s been peddling since she met him. Harls remains the best little listener there could be. There’s the doe eyes that basically bulge from their sockets to show just how much of her attention that he’s got. There’s the thigh sliding across her other thigh, and then there’s the hiked skirt she hopes he notices. And like any good jester, she’s got a PEARLY, BRIGHT SMILE smacked onto her lips. Perfect for laughing at her honey boo’s jokes!

                                   HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!

     “   so   i   hadda’   go   to   the   regular   store   ‘cause   ‘smile   ‘n   bang’   is   still   pretty   much   still   closed ,   ‘n   this   is   all   i   could   get .   i   saw   a   few   ideas   on   pinterest   a   few   days   ago   ‘n   i   think   i   could   make   it   work !   ”