The Joker's New Toy { Wattys 2016}

Misery Does Love Companionship

***

Stacey had to wonder when the Joker found time to design these themed rooms of his. She wondered if he designed them especially for other girls he may have kidnapped in the past, or prostitutes he may have rented. If he designed this one specifically for her, it was without her knowledge.

No matter the reason why, the Joker just happened to have an entire room recreated to look like an old fashioned classroom. The mansion was incredibly large, and Stacey hadn't been given a chance to wander around much. She wondered how many other themed rooms he had, and part of her still feared he had a hidden torture chamber somewhere, and that he was biding his time before he developed the urge to really torture her.

Stacey was forced to sit at the lone desk in the middle of the room as the Joker paced back and forth before her. He was twitching more than usual, and Stacey was worried he would snap again at any second. She had no clue what went through that squirming psychotic brain of his. Right now, he almost looked as though he was on the verge of having a panic attack. Either that, or punch his fist through a wall. Well, as long as it was a wall and not her head.

Stacey was exhausted. She was so exhausted that she almost didn't care if the Joker got a sudden urge to punch her lights out. At least then she'd be knocked out cold and able to get some sleep. At that moment, she almost felt like she was back in high school, waiting for her weird nervous wreck of a teacher to begin his long boring lecture. The Joker's mind seemed to be running a mile a minute and he grumbled to himself crabbily, muttering things that made no sense to Stacey.

Stacey found herself involuntarily nodding off in her chair. The Joker stopped pacing instantly, and he slapped his hand on her desk hard, causing her eyes to flutter open. "Wake up!" he snarled. She abruptly repositioned herself so that she was sitting up straight.

The Joker stomped to her side then grabbed the back of her neck. She flinched as he kneeled down and pulled her head close to his lips so that he could whisper in her ear. "You know something darling? I can sense that you're still not happy here. I sure do spoil you. I feed you. I give you nice clothes and toys to play with. I let you sleep in my bed with me. I protect you from my gorillas. And yet I can still sense resistance from you whenever I try to touch you. You're a bad actress baby doll. I can tell when you're only trying to please me so that I don't wallop that little tush of yours. I can sense an ungrateful little brat," The Joker growled.

"A little Gordon brat who shows no signs of gratitude for me having spared her life, and spoiling her rotten. Treated her ions better than I treat any of my disposable apes. Treated her like my prized possession, my sacred little jewel. And yet she still resists her master and shows signs of disrespect. She's still waiting for that flying rat to show up and rescue her from the evil Joker's clutches. The dark knight rescuing the spoiled little princess so that she can go back to her cookie cutter existence and proceed to live in her little bubble," The Joker licked his lips. "I guess I haven't quite broken you in yet. You're a stubborn little girl ain'tchya? Just like a cop's daughter. Well we're just gonna have to have a reeducation aren't we?"

After a hard shove, he let go of her neck. Stacey rubbed her nape and glared at him wearily, physically and emotionally exhausted and partially wishing she could throw a dagger into his back. The Joker casually sauntered over to the chalkboard at the front of the room and began writing on it. He drew a comical stick figure looking Batman character, and then wrote 'Bats are bad' in big capital letters and drew an arrow pointing to his funny drawing.