Chapter Text
“I shall grant you the opportunity to make a deal with me.”
Joker supposed he was meant to feel grateful for such an honor of even the consideration. It was disgusting, that overconfident and snide demeanor. Those cold, piercing eyes bore into him. Joker tried not to shift under that intense and intrusive gaze.
“Should you wish it, I shall return the world to its prior state.”
Joker’s eyes widened behind that mask. That uncanny smile widened even more. It caught the string and made Joker’s insides twist.
“One rampant with distorted masses.”
The young girl, Lavenza, yelled out. A biting protest and rebuttal, if Joker had to guess. He was too caught up in the offer to hear. “Igor” smiled. His already unnatural proportions stretched further.
“The Phantom Thieves will be praised and gain fame. The world will escape ruin as well.”
A faint tang of bile settled in the back of Joker’s throat. They had lost once. He wasn’t sure if cutting a deal would still be considered a loss or a stalemate. The odds didn’t settle right. And yet his hands felt weak at his sides, like his heart pounding in his ears. The past year had been grueling, cruel. For the first time, Akira had felt like someone. His life had purpose and he found something he could call completely his own. He made a difference to so many people’s lives.
A thief would take an opportunity to get ahead. And here was a once in a lifetime opportunity perfectly presented in an impossible situation.
It wasn’t a bad life, the one he had. Just a little empty.
Joker felt those concerned golden eyes of Lavenza’s staring him down. His silence must have been concerning. He couldn’t bring himself to look at her. Even at the consideration of taking the deal, it felt a cheap win. But the indirect attention was intoxicating. The showmanship came as easily as breathing. A selfish part of him clinged to the idea of staying a Phantom Thief. A deceived calling.
I just want you to be careful moving forward.
Joker’s thoughts halted. A cold rush of shame washed over him.
Your goals are too lofty and the lack of satisfaction that will bring will lead you down a road you will not recover from.
His father’s words felt like an anchor. They echoed in the back of his mind, catching like thorns in the soft strings of compliance. A cracked, smiling mask and desperate piercing eyes unflinching as they stared down the barrel of a pistol. The bile tasted heavier.
Reckless and blind ambition created an inhuman hatred and destruction.
Joker thought of Akechi. His eyes screwed shut and he remembers the promise he had made with him and those pleading eyes. He remembered how sick he had felt having no choice but to walk away. It was still hard to acknowledge exactly what it was that he had felt that night. Grief still crept up his spine, cold and heavy, and his throat closed. Akechi was more than just a cautionary tale. Akira felt a connection that never became fully realized and never would.
His chest felt fit to burst at the disgust he felt at himself.
“…What say you?”