Friendship Is Funny

As he made his way towards her at the back of the room, she struggled with herself to relax. Her body was still but her fingers twitched at her sides in anticipation. Now she could just barely make out his eyes through the shadowed holes in his mask. He finished closing the gap between them. She held her breath.

He stood less than half a foot in front of her, cocking his head from side to side. She gazed up at him through her coppery eyelashes as he slowly removed his mask. Her eyes widened, anxious to see his true face, but -- she paused. It was nothing like she had expected. He was wearing a mask underneath a mask? While squinting her eyes in confusion, she let out the air she had been holding in. She examined his painted complexion. White paint covered his face and black consumed his eyes. His lips were painted red, but the color extended past the corners of his mouth and resembled an exaggerated smile. The paint job was carelessly done and it was beginning rub off with sweat. As she took notice of how the red paint attempted to either conceal -- or accentuate? -- a Glasgow smile, she struggled to discern his intentions.
He stared intensely into her lavender lace-framed eyes, gauging her reaction to his frightening appearance. She smiled slyly.

"And to think I was worried you were a guard. What a relief!" She wiped her forehead dramatically with the back of her hand.

The eyes of the entire room were glued to the unfamiliar pair with bated breath. He cracked his neck.
"Oh, you have a sense of humor." The clown noted gleefully, "That's always fun!" In a flash, his disposition changed; he grabbed her roughly by her chin, pressing a thin switchblade against her face. His voice lowered drastically, "But it's not going to save you."

"Shit! He has a weapon!" Hope exclaimed in thought as she impulsively pushed away from him.
She mentally cursed herself. "Shoulduh guessed that."

He bared his yellow teeth as he leaned over her; the flat side of the knife resting against her cheek. "You know," he began, "I knew a guy that was a lot like you." Hope, oddly calm despite the 'situation', returned his gaze as she contemplated a plan -- only one, unfortunately. "Well, let's just say" he lingered in thought, momentarily shifting his eyes toward the ceiling, "He died with a smile on his face!" Grinning enthusiastically, he turned his head to show off his scars.

"For a second there, I was worried this story wouldn't have a happy ending. Tragedies aren't my favorite." Hope commented with a look of relief across her face.

He burst into a loud cackling laugh; his body shaking all over. Strands of dark, green-tinted hair fell in his face. Due to the grip he had on the girl, she shook with him, wobbling for a moment, and then regaining her balance. The crowd winced away from the scene in fear, desperately wanting to run. The insane-looking clown stopped abruptly. "You're gonna help me get what I want." His voice was low again. He yanked her by the arm, turning her so that her back was to him and positioning her body in front of his. After passing a hand through his unkempt hair, he pressed the knife against her neck and looked up at the rest of the room.

"I'm looking for a friend of mine: Harvey." He looked over the crowd impatiently. "Does anyone know where Mr. Dent is?" Silence. The gunmen glanced around the room at the wide-eyed faces. "I'm kinda on a schedule here." He added as he brought his hand up to check the time on his watch-less wrist. "So here's what I'm going to do:" He took in a long breath, "the longer it takes for Harvey Dent to get here, the more pieces this fiery young woman is going to be in."
Soft gasps escaped the quivering assembly.

"Pfft!" Hope blurted and then more quietly, "They don't care about me."

He waited a moment, looking expectantly at the high-class crowd, then, brought his attention back to Hope. "All right!" He proclaimed, "Let's start with the ears." More gasps and whimpers sounded as the nameless man pushed aside her messy orange hair to reveal her right ear. He placed the edge of his blade at the front of her ear intending to use his index finger and thumb to slice backwards toward himself as if peeling a potato. "This'll hurt."

She smirked at the ground, "So will this."

Immediately she grasped her left fist with her right hand and drove her elbow into his crotch. He staggered backwards, doubling over as the room erupted into chaos. Without hesitation she spun around, utilizing her momentum to land a solid punch across his jaw. Screams echoed through the large room as it became more and more vacant. He stumbled a couple more steps back. Hope turned to survey the commotion behind her.

"What the hell?"