"Without him opposing me, what fun is Gotham anymore? You ruined my fun! You ruined everything!"
"You're a useless piece of trash! You always screw things up for me, always act without asking! What the hell do I even keep you around for?"
"You think this will please me? You just make me sick! If all I wanted was to kill him, would I need you to do it?!"
"You ruined everything! All my plans!" Joker's face twisted hideously as he hammered the metal door with all his strength, his eyes full of murderous hatred and disgust. "I'll make you pay! A hundred times, a thousand times over! You goddamn, stupid lunatic!"
His face contorted, his eyes bloodshot, he radiated a vicious fury that threatened to destroy everything. Not a trace remained of the feigned tenderness he had once shown Harley.
If the door hadn't stood in his way, he would surely have lunged at her already and torn her to pieces.
Harley stood outside the door, watching Joker lose control completely and expose his true nature. The hurt vanished from her face in an instant, replaced by utterly clear-eyed, scornful laughter.
"This is what you call love?"
Harley laughed so hard she could barely stop, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"You were lying to me?"
Joker suddenly realized something. He stepped back and took another look at his surroundings.
"No! This isn't Arkham!"
Joker was insane, not stupid. Quite the opposite: having discarded human empathy, he was even more perceptive about many things.
It was just that something seemed to have clouded his thinking earlier, making him subconsciously overlook those details.
Besides, he had once spent several days alone in an illusion like this.
Joker surged forward, his soles scraping shrilly against the floor as he stared at Harley