5. The Joker

Toji looks at the man bow before giving his imaginary audience a wave. The clown then turns to Toji and then frowns at the merc.

"Hey, you're not Batman", says the maniacal clown. "This was supposed to be surprise for him. But that's alright. He can join in later. We can just treat this as the rehearsal. What do you think of the kids? You think they're ready for the presentation?"

The merc studies the stage again, his eyes widening at the realization. What he had thought to be mannequins are actually the children, or rather, their corpses attached to a set of strings like they were marionettes. Each of them wore an unnatural smile while their eyelids were stapled to their eyebrows, making their lifeless eyes express their continued agony at the merc. 

"They're perfect, right? Some of them were very naughty so I had to teach them how to behave. Now look at them all good boys and girls, ready to start the performance", says the clown with glee. "And here's the best part".

The Joker takes out a controller and presses a button. Suddenly, the lifeless children begin to move, their limbs controlled by the strings that connected them to the ceiling. Toji watches with disgust as they dance, their stiffened corpses forced to move in unison to a sickening orchestra. A playful music plays ,mixing in with an audio recording of the children begging and screaming which eventually turned to pained maniacal laughter. At the end of the performance, the children hold hands and give a wide bow to their audience. 

Joker cheers as his applause echo throughout the empty theatre. "What do you think? And be honest. I doubt the children would mind a harsh critique. Don't hold back now".

Toji's eyes darken. For the first time in a while, he pulls out a weapon from his cursed spirit. He reaches in and grabs a slim rusty katana. The merc holds it with the blade pointing to the wooden floor. Then, sobs seem to echo through the room as blood begins to flow from the blade and drip on the floor. Rivers of Blood. The perfect weapon for someone like him.

Toji darts towards the clown, his sword aiming for the other man's throat. At the very last moment, the mark on his arm begins to burn. The merc hesitates, giving the Joker time to duck down as the katana cuts down only a few strands of his green hair.

"Someone's mad", says the clown with a giggle. He boops Toji's nose and jumps back, barely able to get away from another sword swing.

The Joker pulls out a toy gun and fires. A gloved hand flies out but Toji cuts it mid-air before running after the clown. However, the Joker has tricks of his own. As the merc catches up to him, the Joker jumps down a trap door only to suddenly appear on the other end of the large room. 

"Can't get me", says the man, making funny faces at Toji as if this is all a game.

Annoyed, Toji pulls out a gun and starts shooting. The Joker laughs as he jumps around to dodge the bullets, his shoes now suddenly having springs attached to its soles.

"You're much more fun compared to Batsy", he shouts with glee.

The Joker jumps towards the stage and the merc continues to shoot him, accidently hitting one of the dead children. Toji grits his teeth as the mark reminds him of Batman's rules but continues his assault on the clown who happily jumps around the place with his springy boots.

He manages to grab the clown by the neck. But as he was about to knock him out, the Joker squeezes the flower on his and green goo squirts out and splashing on Toji's face. The merc growls in pain as his parts of his face begin to melt. The clown jeers so Toji swings at him again but the agile maniac leaps away to avoid being cut down. "Now I know not to put you on the spotlight. You'll just melt under pressure", says the Joker before laughing maniacally. 

The two of them continue a deadly dance, Toji swinging his blade and the Joker jumping around and hiding beneath the floor and walls. The merc eventually manages to corner him. He swings his blade down but the Joker manages to disappear once again, leaving behind a broken trap door.

"Pee-ka-boo", roars the Joker.

Toji turns and is hit by a crowbar to the face. The merc stumbles back, wiping the blood dripping from his mouth. Seeing the man glare at him, the Joker giggles. "Oops", says the clown. "Please don't tell dadd-"

Toji stabs the Joker with his blade and the weapon begins to echo laughter. The clown, however, falls on the ground as he clutches the wound on his belly. Toji's weapon glow as the Joker's greenish blood seeps into it. 

"Don't you think we should stop it here?" says the Joker, his voice a mix of pained groans and jeering laughter. "We don't wanna set a bad example for the kids".

Toji looks towards the theatre stage, seeing the children's anguished glassy eyes as they wore those unnatural smiles. The merc growls at the clown and his restraints begin to burn again but at this point, he didn't care. He raise his weapon for one final strike but as the blade was about to land, the Joker is suddenly shielded by a glowing ankh. 

"I'm afraid I can't allow you to continue", says a man wearing a golden helmet. "Fate still has plans for him".

---

A.N.

How was it? Too graphic? Not graphic enough? Is the fight scene any good?

Either way, I don't think I wanna write something like this again. Not enough to give me nightmares but just enough to make me do a double take when looking at a mirror.

Again, if you enjoy my work, feel free to leave a review. Tell me how you feel. What can I improve and what am I doing great?

(Again, please be gentle with me. I actually get a mini heart attack every time I see a notification saying I got a new comment)

Thanks for all the support you've given so far. 

Cheers!!!