Disclaimer: I do not own Batman.
Feeling air rush back into her, Bonnie's vision changed from black into a swirl of colors. The swirl of colors became more fleshed out and real after several moments, and it finally stopped and stiffened into the solid objects around her.
Bonnie finally stirred. Everything around her became less hazy, but she was still disorientated by the bright lights and the pounding in her head, with her barely open eyes misty and confused.
She lay limply on a small bed in a pale purple room. Her fingers were entwined with her hair, which almost seemed submerged in her unconsciousness. Her other hand hung off the bed, for it clutched the air as if her life were on the line. Bonnie groaned at the pain in her forehead and in her hand.
Regaining awareness throughout her body, Bonnie craned her neck as her eyes met with the closed door. The door somehow looked more surreal than the garish colors around her, having a cracked and slanted look. It almost didn't seem like Bonnie was in her bedroom at all...
Out of nowhere, memories came to Bonnie in a flash, and she jolted up from her position. Her head leaked them out with ruthlessness. The fight with the henchmen...the laughter from the other kids downstairs...that other laughter from above her...
It was the Joker. The Joker was the one that orchestrated everything. He was the one that broke into the building; he was...the one that took her.
Bonnie paled. It was then that she realized that she should have regretted waking up.
She could never go back on the mistakes she made for the last few days. She could have never confronted the gang when she was out, and she could have escaped the orphanage when she could have. But she didn't. And now, all of those consequences were going to pile upon her until she suffocated for hope. The worst case scenario was going to happen.
Bonnie was going to die, and the Joker was going to be the one to kill her.
Or worse, she was going to be locked up in whatever room she was in forever, not even knowing what was on the other side of the door!
And what was going to happen to her was all her fault.
For a moment, she thought like an average person would in a situation like this. She wanted to scream, to escape, and cry that she would die in vain. It was only for a moment, but the despair crippled her.
Taking steady breaths, Bonnie finally pulled her thoughts together. She needed to think through her options.
Okay, she knew that she couldn't (and wouldn't) break out. Since it was the Joker holding her captive, he probably came up with a number of death traps that would kill her if she tried to escape, or he came with a plan to torture her himself.
Bonnie shuddered. Now that she thought about it, she didn't really have any other options at this point. All he could do was ride out everything he would put her through...and stay put here, in this new room.
Bonnie examined her surroundings. The colorful dresser mirror on the far left of her looked surprisingly normal, and there were also a few knick-knacks on the dresser that Bonnie didn't take the time to completely look at.
Next to Bonnie, the yellow lamp on the circular lime table had a smile shaped light bulb inside of it, and the window made of probably unbreakable glass was on her right. A tiny orange closet was across from her, with her top hat upside down on the wooden floor. Her chest box was there, too.
Bonnie's chest seized. It was then when her nightmares poured back into her.
No, Bonnie thought. I don't want to die like this. I don't want to look like my chest box.
She was shaking again, feeling so much more vulnerable than she ever was. Her weakness only made her feel more crazy, and she felt this incredibly strong need to get rid of it. She had to make herself feel strong again, like she needed to stab something.
And coincidentally, the only thing her eyes were drawing towards was a pink teddy bear, with a gleaming, flat object in front of it on the white dresser. Bonnie squinted her eyes to get a closer look, and she finally made it out to be a knife.
As a moment past, the pain with Bonnie's head was replaced with desperation, and she shakily stood up and walked over to the dresser. Moving a chair out of the way, she stopped when the silver and red knife was inches away from her, and she picked it up by the hilt.
Bonnie looked at the smiling bear. She hated how happy it was.
The young girl pointed the knife at the bear as the door creaked, and she began to pierce it into the stubbed animal, repeatedly. Even though she had never done anything like that before—to a person or a building—emotions that she had never felt before were released from her. They felt wonderful and terrible.
Feeling a pang of guilt, Bonnie took a break, yet the reflective weapon was still pointed at that stupid, happy bear.
She heard a chuckle. Bonnie's head turned to her left until the rest of her body stiffened.
The Joker. The towering man was grinning slyly as he leaned beside the wall, and he clasped his hands like a villain from a old serial. His head lowered—still having that expression on his face—and he wore crazed eyes that Bonnie did not want to look at for too long.
"Hey there, kid!" His voice was that of a long-lost friend, even though Bonnie did not know what a long lost friend sounded like. She lay the knife down on the dresser, staring vacantly.
"Come here, sit down...stay a while!" the Joker exclaimed, pulling up the dainty chair that Bonnie moved. Scared out of her mind, Bonnie walked timidly towards the seat. She sat down, looking up at the man. He was tapping a finger on his chin now, and Bonnie couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking about.
Unfortunately, if she knew what he was thinking about, she would contemplate running away.
Which route should I go with? the Joker pondered. There are so many possibilities! Should I create obvious manipulation tactics that would make the girl least expect the subtle ones? Should he make her as uncomfortable as possible? Or both?
Hmmm...let's go with both!
"I say, you are too compliant for your own good!" the Joker said. Bonnie leaned back in her chair and gazed away. As she did, the man crouched down and examined her (like some kind of lab rat, thought the girl).
The Joker raised an eyebrow amusingly, like she was the question to a joke.
"Really, why couldn't you be this nice a few days ago?" The casualness in his voice made goose bumps spread up her arms. She didn't look at him, in shyness and in fear.
The Joker slightly raised his voice. "Hmm?"
Bonnie flinched. She then realized that she had to say something.
"I..." she murmured. "I...there's no excuse for my actions, sir."
Bonnie shut her mouth after that, and she looked at the Joker again. He was staring at her like she did something wrong, but his smile widened once again.
"Well, of course there isn't!" the Joker said. "No one would be crazy enough to take on me or my gang! There's got to be nuts in your head!"
The man poked Bonnie's forehead three times, making the girl nearly stumble backward in shock.
"But hey, at least I've found the one that's done it!" He squeezed her arm tightly as he beamed broadly. When she shifted slightly, he squeezed it tighter. She didn't wince at that, even though she was panicking on the inside.
He was definitely going to kill her, Bonnie thought. She wasn't aware about what was in store ahead, but she wanted to know how she would end. Would he give her a fake $500 bill, and then she would realize the...shocking truth? Or would she have the BANG! flag gun trick done to her? The room got a whole lot colder as she thought of the possibilities.
As Bonnie panicked, the Joker carefully read the curious, but worried expression on her face, and he was quick to make an evaluation.
Oh, she thinks she's going to be knocking on Death's doorstep any minute now, isn't she? he thought. HA! When she finds out that I'm taking her in, she'll think that I'm a saint! Isn't that just ironic?
There was a moment of silence.
"You know, you're an awfully quiet kid, for a costumed delinquent that throws exploding marbles at people," he noted. The Joker stood right back up and tilted the small girl's head up with his finger. "But please, you don't have to be like that! I don't bite!"
Bonnie just swallowed in response.
"Oh, fine, be like that," said the Joker, crossing his arms, "but you could at least give me a name."
Bonnie noticed that the man's voice seemed more playful when he said that, but she did not know whether he did that to coax some words out of her or not. Regardless of whatever the Joker was trying to do, she still answered.
"...Bonnie," she said. The Joker let out a short-lived laugh.
"Bonnie?" he laughed, for he clasped his hands cheerfully. "Like Bonnie Parker? How fitting for someone like you, hm?"
She didn't even blink at that one, thought the Joker. Smart kid.
"But what I'd like to know is this: what do they call you? Or what do you call yourself?"
For the first few seconds, it looked like she didn't know what to say.
"...They...called—call me the...Ringmaster..." Bonnie stuttered, and she immediately regretted the lie. The public doesn't even know who she was, and she didn't want them to, either!
The Joker laughed again, but he went along with the fib.
"You know, we might need to change that around," the Joker said. "I'm quite the ringmaster myself sometimes, and everyone else in Gotham knows it. I'd rather call you the Ring of Fire or change your costume around, but that'll do, for now."
He patted her on the shoulder like she was an old buddy of his, but it only made Bonnie look away and hunch her shoulders.
The Joker had a hard time laughing at her expression. Everything that she did was extremely amusing.
"Of course, I don't need to introduce myself," the Joker said, sticking his chin up. "You already know who I am. Everybody does."
As Bonnie sank lower into herself, the Joker crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.
"You know, you should really smile, kid," he continued. "It's like you've never done that before! You might make me upset, if you don't!"
Bonnie froze. That earned her another chuckle.
"Kidding, Bonnie; I'm kidding!" He patted her head. The girl stayed in that same, frozen position. Now, the Joker was pouting.
"Come on, do you really that I'm going to KILL you? I'm shocked that you would even THINK in such a way!" he said, noticing the stubborn skepticism in her eyes. "Oh, don't be like that again! My little girl shouldn't be afraid!"
Bonnie's eyebrow quirked up, looking at the Joker almost questioningly.
"Yes, Bonnie." the Joker said. "You heard me correctly."
Bonnie's eyes widened as an eruption of giggles burst out of the Joker's mouth, and an imaginary spotlight went on her. The girl shriveled up at the attention pressed into her.
What does he mean? Bonnie thought. What did he just say?
As Bonnie tried to say something, a microphone shot out of the Joker's pocket. His voice suddenly changed into one of an announcer's, and he put the microphone to his mouth.
"So, Bonnie—insert last name here—you've got the grand prize of...being illegally adopted by one of the most illustrious individuals in the world!" the Joker laughed. "What are you going to do now?"
The girl looked at him as he tipped the microphone near her mouth.
"I-I...I..." Bonnie's heart went up her throat after what she previously heard. What was he talking about? Surely he couldn't mean—?
"Oh, I know that you'll just love it here!" the Joker said, interrupting her thoughts. "We'll have some laughs, beat up the henchmen, gas the city...all the fun stuff!"
The Joker pushed her out of the chair, and Bonnie collapsed like one of those rag-dolls on the dresser. She didn't make a noise, yet on the inside, she couldn't breathe at all.
Just get it over with… Bonnie thought, too tired to think about anything else. Her blank eyes stared at the ground.
I'll be so proud of myself once I remodel her into another me! the Joker thought proudly. It will be like Harley all over again...I'll just make sure she isn't so clingy and annoying!
His mind took a dive into a future, where she would have a body count number almost as high as her creator's, and how she would bring smiles to everyone's faces! He thought of her blowing up the Bat-mobile, and OH! He almost forgot! She'd make sure the Joker legacy would be on print forever!
The Joker's red lips curved up into a toothy, psychotic smile, and he whispered in the dazed girl's ear, "See you in the morning, Ringmaster."
Before she could hear the storm of laughter, Bonnie's world went black.