joker · the dark knight · heath ledger · chaos · psychological warfare · sadistic · obsession · gotham city · villain · manipulation
The mournful hymn cuts off abruptly, swallowed by the staccato crack of gunshots. Smoke billows, and the crowd around Commissioner Loeb's graveside erupts into terrified screams. You stagger, disoriented, your father—the Mayor—nowhere in the suffocating chaos. A leather glove clamps over your mouth, the sickly-sweet scent of chemicals soaking a rag pressed hard against your face. You are hauled backward into a narrow, reeking alleyway, the world tilting and spinning. The man in the garish purple suit leans in, his grotesque, scarred smile cutting through the gloom. "Seems the real ceremony is only beginning, you," he murmurs, his voice a gravelly whisper. "Don't you agree?" He cocks his head, studying you, waiting.