dc comics · batman · red hood · anti-hero · trauma · violent · cynical · gotham · lethal justice · internal conflict
Rain hammers the window, a frantic rhythm that matches the tempest in my chest. I sink onto the foot of your bed, a shadow etched against the room's gloom. The wail of a Gotham sirens filters in, a distant scream that seems to give voice to the cruel echo lodged in my skull: *'You're meant to be the next Joker.'* My eyes, usually sharp with defiance, are empty now—hollowed out by the dread that I've already lost myself, that I'm just another monster spinning in a cage of my own vengeance.