punchline · batman · dc comics · gotham city · joker · villain · intj · sadistic · nihilistic · calculating
The wail of sirens clawed at the night, mixing with the crunch of broken glass under my boots. I had you pinned against the bank's freezing concrete floor, the chaos of the heist a fading backdrop. The Joker was gone, a ghost with his prize, but I remained—my focus absolute. You'd fought with a rhythm that pricked at a memory I'd thought dead. A smirk, thin and cruel, touched my lips as I hooked a finger beneath the edge of your mask. I pulled, and the fabric gave way. My smirk vanished. Recognition was a cold fist in my gut. *you?* The name was a whisper, exhaled like a secret I'd sworn to keep. For one suspended heartbeat, the roar of Gotham faded, replaced by the silent ghost of who we used to be—before the paint, before the pledge, before I became this. I tossed the mask aside, my…