"Hello-hello! Uh-mhm! Mic test, mic test! 1 joke, 2 jokes, 3 jokes! Hello dwellers. Welcome to my show, my dear!"
"Hey, look that way, up! On that building."
"Is that a Joker? Some joking show?"
"Looks fun, let's go."
"Come here, come here. Before beginning, these two will be our guests for today. So, cheer them up a little, my dear."
"Yaayyy!" "Whoo-ho!" The crowd cheered.
"Please, help us. Someone, please! Please, save my girl," the lady screamed.
"Mom, am I going to die?" the child sobbed, looking at her.
"No, Nana, someone will surely save you. Everything will be alright. I'll do anything to save you," the lady told her child.
"As you can see... This is a red balloon. And when I throw this in the air and say a word 'burst!'"
BOOOOM!
"It burst. And this balloon that this girl has is also red. So what will we have if I say the word, my dear?"
"It'll burst," the crowd screamed.
Some in the crowd clapped, but others looked uneasy. A child clung to her mother, whispering, "Mommy, I don't like this show..."
"Hey, is that even safe? That's a little girl." "Yeah, if that accidentally burst for real--"
[THEATER OF PAIN—ACT I: SET-UP]
"Jester's Command: Circus Domain!" As he said that and snapped, a big top wrapped the area... The tent didn't appear—it unfolded from the sky like a red velvet flower, swallowing the square in silence before the crowd roared. "Okay, then, let us play a game, you there!" he called, pointing his fingers at someone in the crowd, "come on the stage." As he asked, he went to the stage. "Thanks for coming, my dear. Now he will tell some jokes, and the lady here will laugh as hard as she can. If she stops laughing, that balloon there will 'BOOOM', my dear! Ahuhuhuhuhu~."
"Mom? Am I going to die? Mom?" the girl cried.
"I won't stop laughing, you will be alright, Nana," the lady said.
"Now, let's begin!"
Snap!!
The stage started to divide into three parts. The first part took the girl in the middle of the crowd. The second part took the person he chose, a bit higher and a little farther away from the Joker and the lady. The third part took the joker and the lady to the parson's level.
"Jokes, jokes, jokes!" The crowd got hotter.
"Jokes, um... uhh, yeah... Do you know why eggs never tell jokes?"
"Why?" the crowd asked.
"Because it'll crack."
Some people from the crowd laughed. And the girl there was standing with the red balloon, scared, not knowing what would happen to them.
The Joker came close to the Lady and whispered, "You can start laughing, well, I won't insist, my dear."
"Hahahahahhahahahahahahaha....." The lady started laughing.
"Okay... the next one... umm, why do crabs never volunteer?"
The crowd was silent. But- "Hahahahahahhahh." The lady was still laughing for her child's sake.
"Because they're shell-fish, hahah." The crowd was still silent.
[THEATER OF PAIN—ACT II: THE-LAUGHING-GAME]
"Okay then, my dear. Jester's Command: Obey the Laugh!" he snapped. "Now, laugh as much as you want, my dear."
The whole crowd started laughing. The lady was still laughing without stopping.
"In this tent, emotions obey command. Laughter becomes law."
"Okay, let's make the show more interesting, shall we?" he said, snapping, and a small blade appeared in his hand from nowhere. "I'll cut the lady here with this cute little blade, and if she stops laughing, the balloon there will...?"
"Booooom!" The crowd screamed with laughter and cheering, "Whooo! Boom! Boom! Booom! Booom!"
"Yes, yes! That's the spirit, my dear! Anything funny will get more funnier in this big top! Now, laugh as much as you want, Ahuhuhu-huhu~."
"Okay, then the next joke... um... Why do melons have weddings?"
"Why?! Hahahahah." This time, the crowd burst forth.
"Because they cant-elope."
The crowd laughed. And the Joker took the Blade and- Cut! He softly ran that blade in her cheeks, then he glared at the lady with a weird, scary smirk and said, "Don't stop laughing for that little cutie, my dear."
The lady's eyes started to water, her face tinged a little, but she didn't stop laughing, "Hahahahah!"
[I've to keep laughing, don't stop laughing, stop crying, or Nana... Nana will die.]
The lady didn't stop laughing, and then the joker took the blade, "Tell me, my dears... should this blade dance on her cheek again? Or shall it taste her eyes next? Perhaps her hands would sing better?"
"Other cheek!" The crowd burst into laughter.
"Ok-kay! My dears."
Again, he took the blade and cut her other cheek. Blood welling from her cheeks, eyes watering, her chest heaving, her smile strained, but her laughter never stopped.
"Now, now... if your laughter stops... so does your daughter's heartbeat."
Snap.
"Now sing, darling."
"Popcorn! Get your popcorn!" someone yelled, as blood dripped down the lady's dress. Children giggled nearby. Everyone is enjoying the show, or should I say the bloodbath.
[What's happening? Why is everyone laughing so hard? And laughing at the lady, while she's being hurt so much?] The person telling the jokes sweated. "Hey, why are you hurting her? Even I can tell that this isn't safe. And is that a real bomb too, in that chald's hand?" He yielded.
"Oh, yes, my dear! Now that you are questioning...
[THEARTER OF PAIN—ACT III: THROWING HORROR]
Jester's Rite: Impalement Art!" As he snapped, the person suddenly got tied with ropes with a big wooden wall on his back.
[What's happening? How did I get tied? What's happening?] He thought. "Hey, what are you doing? Let me go. Someone, save us. Someone call the magical knights."
He screamed for help, but no one heard; everyone was still laughing and cheering. The lady was also laughing and crying. The child in the middle of the crowd... standing... she gripped the balloon string tighter, her knuckles white... her eyes, dry... Her face expressionless... pale... dark... Her eyes stopped blinking... she just stood and her eyes glanced... but, she couldn't see anymore... unconscious.
"Everyone, I just got an idea for another show, Ahuhuhuhuhuh~. That brother there... I will throw blades, aiming for him, and each time I fail to pierce the blade in his body, I will cut this lady, here! Are you ready, my dear~?"
"Hey, stop it, urghhhh." He was trying hard to untie himself, but the ropes were too strong.
"Throw! Throw! Throw!" The crowd raged.
[Hey, what's happening? This isn't good. Everyone's acting so strange. Someone save me.]
"Okay, here-- Thomp! Oh, I missed. Where shall I cut you, my dear~?" he smirked.
"Hahaha," she was still laughing and her face was filled with tears and blood, welling from her cheeks and going into her mouth, but she didn't stop.
[I've to keep laughing... Keep laughing... Keep laughing... Keep laughing... Stop crying, Nana will get more scared that way... Stop crying, you fool... Keep laughing. Someone will save you, Nana... Wait a little longer... Just a little longer, Nana.]
Then he took another Blade and ran it from her left shoulder to her fingertips. "Now, keep going, my dear!"
"Ahhahaha... ahhaaahha."
"Okay, again--Throw!"
"Uhh!"
The blade pierced his shoulder.
"Again!"
"Arghh. Ahhgggggghhhhh"
The blade pierced his eye.
[Keep piercing me, the way that lady laughing or crying... I don't think she can handle more...]
"Someone help us. Please, someone, please call the magical knight." He screamed again.
The crowd was still laughing.
[No one can hear me, here, the crowd is too loud.]
"Here, again--Thomp!" He missed. "Okay, this time--"
Cut!
He cut her nose. More blood welling from her body... Her body and the place where she was standing, filled and dark red with her blood. Her body was trembling. Her legs were somehow keeping her standing.
"Ughh-hahahaha-hhah Uhha ha ha uhha ha uhhaa ha ha uhah."
[Just a little longer... I can't hold anymore... The blood loss... I am losing my consciousness... Nana...]
Then the Joker, suddenly calm and went closer to the lady's ear, and with a scratchy voice, he whispered, "Now, now, don't stop, my dear. Look at the balloon~" Then again burst forth laughing, "Ahuhuhhuhuhuhuhuhu~."
"LAUGH! LET THE WORLD KNOW HOW FUNNY PAIN IS! Jokhakhakhakha."
[Oh, no, the balloon... it got bigger. Don't stop, keep laughing, keep laughing... Someone... isn't there someone... please... save my child.]
"Ahhhh.... beautiful... isn't it beautiful when everyone's laughing? Isn't it like a grand song... my dear?"
"What's happening here? Is everything here okay? What was all that ruckus? If there is no magical knight nearby, I can help!"
"Oh, thanks, boy, that guy took my purse and ran, that's why I asked for help. And the magical knight here caught him."
"Ohh, are you alright?"
"Yes, kid. Wow, that's a great dragon you have there... Oh, is that a true dragon?!"
"Yes, say hello, Nith."
"Now... It's time... my dear! Ahuhuhuhhuhuhu~"
[THEARTER OF PAIN—ACT IV: ELEGANCE-IN-RED]
"Jester's Rite: Blade Waltz!" He screamed.
In an instant, a halo of glinting blades materialized around him, floating like cursed petals caught in a storm.
He began to dance.
Each step, each spin, each flourish of his twisted ballet made the blades sway in perfect rhythm. They rose when he lifted his hands. They dove when he dropped them. The air shimmered with the hiss of metal.
The Joker twirled across the stage like a mad puppeteer — graceful, grotesque, divine in his cruelty.
Then—
He spun once more, faster and faster, until the blades became a whirlwind encircling him. With a sudden halt, he thrust his fist forward, eyes gleaming.
"Fly, my darlings!"
THUMP—THUMP—THUMP!
Screams erupted.
One blade tore through the man's eye, a burst of blood spraying like ink.
Another sank into his ear, a snuffing sound in an instant.
Two buried themselves deep in his knees, cracking bone with a sickening crunch.
Three plunged into his stomach, red blooming across his shirt like cursed roses.
Two more stabbed straight into his chest, missing his heart but not his agony.
And the others... They slammed into the wooden board behind him with violent precision, framing his body like a grotesque painting.
The man could no longer scream. Only choke. On blood. On pain. On silence.
The lady... still laughing... The crowd... still cheering...
"Thank you, thank you, my dears. Ahuhuhuhuhhu~ Now then--"
[THEARTER OF PAIN—ACT V: LAUGHTER-OF-PAIN]
"Jester's Rite: Strings of Heaven!" He snapped.
A golden string started to wrap around the lady's body, hanging her in the air in front of the Joker. Then he raised her and and a blade fell into his hand from nowhere.
"Now, laugh... my dear~!"
CUT! He cut from her shoulder to her hands with the other hand.
"UGGhh-hahahah-haHAhAh."
SLASH! He slashed her stomach. A thin cut opened. She was still laughing, somehow.
SHANK! He slashed, and the fingers of her right arm fell apart. She is still laughing. Then blood came racing from her mouth, and her laughing stopped!
"Yes, and it's done! Thank you for this show, my dear~!"
[Ohh, I... I... I couldn't save you, Nana... I am sorry... I couldn't be a great mother for you... I couldn't save you...] She cried.
The Joker raised his hands above, and a circle of blades appeared... Then, again the he danced with them, spun and--fire!
The blades went straight for the lady and--Shank!
The Blades stopped!
"What's going on here?!" Blaze came flying with Nith.
What's that? Everyone here is laughing? The person there... And the lady here... How cruel!
"-Everyone here is under his spell," Nith said.
"What did they do to you?! Who are you?!"
"Well, well... Infiltrating my domain. Okay, I am all done here anyway, my dear~"
[THEARTER OF PAIN—FINAL ACT: ANNIHILATION]
With a sharp snap of his fingers, the entire tent filled with red balloons—hundreds of them, floating like crimson omens.
"Jester's Command: Depart!"
"All these balloons will burst in five minutes, my dear~! Save them if you caaan~ Ahuhuhuhuh~!"
Another snap—Snap!—and his form shimmered, then slowly faded into the air, leaving only his voice echoing in the laughing madness.
I ran toward the stage.
"Are you alright?!"
The woman was barely conscious, her body battered, bleeding, suspended by a cruel string. I quickly cut the rope, catching her just in time as she collapsed into my arms.
"Are you alright?" I asked again, gently.
Her lips trembled.
"My ch—"
"Don't speak. You've lost too much blood."
"My child..." she coughed, blood spilling from her mouth. "The balloon will... burst."
"I'll save her. Just rest—don't waste your strength."
Tears mixed with the blood on her face as she whispered, brokenly:
"Please... she wasn't under the spell... she saw... everything..."
"Save her... save... Na—"
Her voice cracked. Her eyes rolled back.
She passed out in my arms.
I lowered her gently, then ran to the man still pinned against the wooden wall. His body—mangled, pierced, broken. I could barely look.
"What kind of monster could do this...?"
I freed him quickly, but my thoughts raced.
The balloons—they were everywhere.
The crowd—still laughing hysterically under the Joker's spell.
And the child, the one holding the red balloon... the one not laughing.
"-She's not even blinking, is she alright?" Nith asked.
"All these balloons will burst. In five minutes. And no one's aware..."
I clenched my fists.
"I have to do something—now. What can I do?" I don't know what to do. I've to wake everyone up.
"Everyone, wake up. Hey, you, stop laughing. No... Not working." What should I do? "Nith, freeze all of the balloons, if that stops them from blowing."
As I asked, Nith went flying in his small form and froze all the balloons.
"I am not sure if it'll stop them from bursting. There is only one way... Nith!"
"-But, if it bursts!"
"Don't worry about me, this is nothing."
Saying that, I wrapped the child the lady was talking about with my body, "Nith, now, don't worry, I'll be fine."
Nith threw an ice shard into the balloon and--BURST!
Then... silence....