In the Mind of Madness

Having decided that no matter what The Joker said to her she would stay, Kenna marched into the windowless room and looked around. It was a few days since she had been gone, but she remembered how much irritation had come her way in there. She looked down at The Joker and sighed, he was already grinning wolfishly at her.

“What did you do to her?” asked Kenna, sitting down like it was just a normal session.

The Joker looked at her gravely. “That depends which ‘her’ you’re talking about.”

“Dr. Young. She came in here yesterday, and when I talked to her she was ready to sell her soul to get rid of you.”

“Oh, that ‘her’. She was so boring I actually wished you were here. Couldn’t get an interesting reaction out of her no matter what I did. Guess it broke her up later, though. That’s fun, too.”

Kenna shook her head, clasping her hands on the table. “You’re impossible. But I’ve decided that I will not let you win. I’d rather die first. You wanted me to run and quit, and it took me a little while to realize it, but now I see your angle. You’re just a sad little man with nothing left but rage and the games you play with peoples heads, and you pride yourself on always winning. Well, not this time.”

The Joker didn’t miss a beat before replying : “Funny, I thought I was supposed to be crazy one here, and the shrink goes on about non-existent games and shows how paranoid she really is.”

“I am not paranoid.” Kenna snapped. “And I won’t let you convince me that I am. That’s been the problem; I allow you to get under my skin. No more, this is the bottom line. Either you start talking, or I take your precious makeup away and stick you back in a straight jacket.”

The Joker rolled his eyes at her. “Don’t try and be intimidating, it just makes you look constipated.”

“You can only avoid it for so long.” shrugged Kenna, keeping her eyes locked on The Joker’s.

“I do not avoid things, princess.” The Joker growled.

Kenna quickly thought up a topic while she had him provoked. “I want to talk about Harvey Dent and Rachel Dawes. That seems easy enough to me.”

The Joker grinned sadistically. “Harvey Dent…Gotham’s White Knight.”

“You killed an innocent man and woman. Why?” asked Kenna, honestly wondering.

“No, Kenna.” purred The Joker. “ Batman killed Harvey Dent. Ol’ Two-Face Harvey!”

Kenna frowned as The Joker burst into fits of giggles. “That doesn’t make any sense. Well, I know that Batman fled the scene of Dent’s murder…but I don’t think he did it. From what I know of him Batman seems like he’s really out to do the right thing.”

“Oh, the Bat. I think he’s what I miss most about being out there. Justice is a frivolous figment of the supposed ‘good people‘s imagination, and poor little Batman is just one of its many victims. There is no true justice, toots. You’re one of the idiots that thinks there is, even in a town like Gotham. I on the other hand…am a realist.”

“So you’re saying…Batman thinks he’s doing the right thing…but he’s just…delusional?” guessed Kenna, giving herself a headache.

The Joker snorted. “You’re putting too much thought into it, toots. I’m saying he’s an idiot! Just like Dent was, only Dent figured it out before the end.”

Kenna mulled that over for a minute. “I think you’re telling me that Dent discovered there was no true justice, which would make him like you, but I don’t understand. He was portrayed as a hero at his service.”

“Of course he was. That commissioner may be a goody-two-shoes, but he understands the people of Gotham. If they knew what Dent became before he died, they all would have lost their little minds. So of course he would be showed off as a hero, and Batman would take the fall, being the god damn martyr that he is.”

“You turned Dent into a monster.”

“ Nope. I showed him the truth…” The Joker made a face like he was thinking, then cackled. “Oh, yep…I guess that monster part is right, too.”

Kenna couldn’t help but feel a little sickened. Maybe there was no humanity left in The Joker. She remembered seeing Dent on TV, hearing him speak and thinking maybe there was some hope for Gotham. When he died she hadn’t cried, but she had felt horrible knowing that the man who had given Gotham optimism without wearing a mask was gone. Now she knew who to blame.

“That isn’t the truth! There’s good everywhere, even here. Why have you taken it upon yourself to crush what’s left of the souls of Gotham? Dent was fixing it.” Kenna leaned across the table a bit, having to know all of it now.

“Dent was Santa Claus, and I showed Gotham that he was never real in the first place. Their parents lied to them. Everybody breaks, doll.”

Kenna stood up, ready to get away from him. “Do not call me doll.”

“Whatever you say…doll.”

Kenna growled and mumbled something about ‘immature freak’ as she shut the door, trying to tune out The Joker’s laughter. Denying to herself that it would haunt her dreams, because it would.

He was undeniably a monster.