The Tears of a Clown

[Lew Moxon]

What follows is a fan-fiction story I wrote about two months ago. Depending on how one assesses these things this is the first such story I have ever written. I'll say up front that, yes it is inspired by Mad Love. But I hope my readers will forgive me that. I know some people will hate it, for whatever reason. All I ask is that you be gentle with it.

The Tears of a Clown
By "Lew Moxon"

Chapter 1.
Was it Midnight already? The feminine figure in the silhouette wasn’t entirely sure. The Master had left hours ago. Every instant, every solitary second ached beyond measure. She darted her eyes, too and fro, not sure what to make of herself in The Master’s absence. Who was she, anyway? After all these years, did she even remember? All that was left was an oft-aching shell, and an act. She would smile, dance into the moonlight, and tell a joke. And then the Master would bring his gift into the world. Though only a few hours had passed, she longed for the ecstasy that lay in his arms, his all knowing, unfeeling eyes, the brutal barely contained anger which controlled him, everything about him made her pine like a lost puppy. In a way, that’s what she was, she was the Master’s Puppy, a mere child in the presence of a human god. Loki incarnate.

Slowly, the royal colored car approached her. A Window lowered, and the master grinned. “Get in” he barked. She smiled, barely holding in her joy. He was here! Struggling with her own swelling pride, she opened the door, her hand shaking. “You ready?” the Master asked, his smirk rising.

Whispering, she asked him “what’s with the midget?”

“He’s not a Midget, He’s a little man, and he’s also evil. Also into cats if I remember correctly.” Laughing the pair sped out. Suddenly, as if in anger, The Master grabbed her neck, and proceeded to choke her. Oh what a glorious exit, to die at her love’s hands, and to make him smile one last time. As she gasped for air, she smiled. Before she could pass out, the Master grew bored. He smacked his wonderful lips, and tapped his fingers across the dashboard. The short statured evil little creep in the back seat, meanwhile had taken to smelling her hair.

Not surprisingly, she shrieked. “Get off of me you freak”

“Freak?! Lady look at yourself in the mirror lately?”
Before she could respond, the man had fallen dead in his seat, a victim of the master’s dart.

“You know, you really should stand up for yourself once in a while.” He said, before laughing like the madman he was. He could be as sweet as he was dangerous, whatever angle worked.

The Hospital hardly knew she was gone. In a hospital staffed by old friends and coworkers, it wasn’t very hard to get a few favors in here and there. They didn’t even think of her as dangerous, not really. The Master, he was dangerous. Coin flipping acid face? He was dangerous. Mr.-Potato sack? dangerous. She, on the other hand, was a sidekick. Or a lover, take your pick.

As her heart beat as if it were being drummed by a speed-freak, her Master turned on the radio. There were the usual announcements. The Master grinned again when the station noted the general sense of panic that pervaded the city on account of his liberty. “Catch me if you can” he taunted the voices on the radio. “For people in fear of their lives-they sure are chatty. Isn’t that right dear.”

“Yes, yes of course. Do they ever know when to shut the hell up?” She looked up, hoping to catch the birth of laughter. No such luck, not this time anyway. Miserable, she cowered back in her seat. She wanted to cry, but she could never cry in front of someone she cared about. She had to keep her smile, keep the act up. And so, as quickly as she had collapsed, she was revived. “Where is this place anyway?” She muttered. She was met by another slap. “I deserved that, darling.” She screamed at the very top of her lungs as the car turned into a parking lot. The pair quietly exited the car. They carefully took out all the various supplies needed for their late night fun. Before a word could be uttered, they were sneaking into the lobby. The shots rang out. “Before we finish this little opening number, I’d like to thank you, the audience, for making it all possible” she said in her faux-Marilyn Monroe voice.

“I’m a very busy man” said her ideal idol “So I’m going to make this one quick” Before the panic had subsided, he gassed the room, and most of the hotel for that matter, grinning like a Cheshire cat. When all was said and done, the news would report that 400 people had been killed in a matter of minutes.

Chapter 2.
It wasn’t long thereafter that the pair ran into the Monster, that parasitic creature which preyed upon their hopes and dreams. As the evil jester and the woman who loved him fled the scene, both new it was only a matter of time until he showed up. Within a few hours of the attack, the damn signal was already covering up half the, sky. No way now to avoid him. As the royal colored car turned another corner, the tires suddenly gave out. The Master exited the car, and noticed that a carved jagged knife had slashed the tires. He picked up his machine gun, fired into the air, and in a singsong voice, taunted the urban legend. “Come out come out wherever you are” And then, without warning, his hand was hit by another of the Monster’s Knives, forcing him to drop the gun. Knowing full well what was happening, the paragon of lightness grabbed her old sledgehammer, and waited for the beast to become visible. Presently, he landed and began to hit the Master, who responded by poking the beast in the eyes. Seeing her opening, the motley mistress tried to slam her hammer upon the creature’s temporarily blinded head. No such luck. Before she knew it, her right hand was in agony. With her left, she tried to mace him, but that wasn’t successful either, once again she was knocked aside. She was forced to watch, as the man she loved once again let his attentions lie elsewhere.

“Look at me!” She wanted to scream, but of course, in the heat of a fight, no one hears screams anyway. What was the use? Closing her eyes, she awaited the inevitable. Soon enough, the fight ended, The Master’s hands were tied, and the creature threw him into midnight’s car. Then, with the Jester safely taken care of, the beast turned to the Maiden Mistress, and similarly grabbed her and tied her hands. Though she could only rarely admit it, she partially enjoyed this part of the game. And then the Masked Madman drove his car back to the gothic hospital, depositing his guests only hours after their furlough. The Master was returned to his solitary confinement, and the Mistress was kindly led back to her cell.

The guards looked at her with a combination of pity and lust. While she lacked her friend’s magic perfumes, she too could have almost any man she wanted. Alas, the only thing she wanted sat in a cell hundreds of feet away. As she entered the room, she saw the shadow of a familiar face. “Green!” she squeaked. “It’s so great to see you again”

“You were only gone a couple hours, you couldn’t miss me that much”

“So, how are the plants?”

“The roses are doing as best they can, there’s not a whole lot of sunlight in this depressingly dreary place”

“Anything happen here while I was gone?”

“As I said, you weren’t gone for that long. A couple of guards were killed, but I assumed you already knew about that.” The dedicated botanist gave her friend a knowing glance

“No, I didn’t hear about that. When’d it happen?”

“Around nine”

“Am or PM”

“PM”

“Couldn’t have been him then. I’m guessing it was ol’ farm boy up to his old tricks. Or maybe the segregated man made a run for it. All I know is, it wasn’t us. Speaking of which, did you hear about what we did this time?”

“Yeah”

“What’d ya think”?

“I thought it was lazy”

“Lazy?”

“You went to a hotel and killed a bunch of tourists. Scaring out of Towner’s doesn’t impress me.”

“Yeah well, that was only an opening act, we didn’t get much time for an encore.”

“What’s that on your hand?”

“Oh, that, I guess the winged knight of Justice cut it pretty bad this time. Don’t worry Green, it’ll heal up in no time.”

“Now that I think about it, the hotel deserved what you gave it. Did you know thirty American Willows had to be cut down before they could build it? The cruel monsters deserved to die.”

And with that, the room turned silent, both women were in ill humors. Green was fuming at the thought of a massacre of trees, and the Mistress was despondent over even this temporary loss of her love. Why couldn’t she be with him even now? She wondered, but her logical brain knew the answer. To the majority of inmates, the Master was a terrifying, unpredictable threat. It made the other inmates, not to mention the guards, feel safer to have him locked up in solitary. As an uneasy quiet filled the room, she began to meditate upon her situation. She knew full well that she couldn’t really fight with the beast. Even obsessed and deranged as she was, she was smart enough to know she was no fighter.

There had to be another way to strike, it is the duty of every soldier to follow her general, and the Mistress only wished she knew how. And then, suddenly the thought occurred to her. She was, after all, a certified psychologist. And she knew perfectly well who’s face lay behind the mask. She knew that the creature had to be rich. No way to afford all those neat toys otherwise. And it didn’t take a genius to figure out that a millionaire, whose parents had been slain by a mugger, was probably the man behind the beast. And so, silently her focus turned to a single thought.

“If I can’t fight him physically, I'll grind him into catatonic dust mentally.”
And with that, in the dark corners of her mind, a plan began to form.

[Lew Moxon]

Chapter 3
“Lunchtime, bozo” said Gaia’s seductive defender to her motley friend. It was around noon, but of course, in a place so bereft of light-who could tell? Today was Thursday, and usually on Thursdays the inmates were served their choice of fish sticks or fried chicken. The Mistress never cared much for fish. As a matter of fact-she was allergic. This had caused some problems years ago, when the Master had decided to base one of his productions around fish. In spite of her undying love for the man, she could barely contain her loathing towards his product. Those events had ended unhappily, she had feared that he was no longer among the living. But he came back, he always came back.

Since the beginning the master had always been the world’s most prolific death cheater. When he had first appeared in this dull city, his campaign of terror was temporarily cut short when he had accidentally stabbed himself with his own knife during a fight with the American grotesque. Everyone involved thought he had felt the cold reaper’s hand. All except one man, the Doctor sent in to examine the body. Upon the revelation, he turned his dead down. In a quiet voice he told his nurses, “This man’s not dead-he’s going to live after all.” The Master had already killed ten men, who knew then how many more would fall?The Doctor knew that if he let things be-if he let the master die- lives would probably be saved. However, he was a Doctor, he would not violate the oath, no matter how many lives it saved. And thank the world for that, if he had done nothing, she would never have met the man of her dreams. She shuddered at the mere thought of it.

“Look lady, you want the fish-or the chicken?” Said an obviously annoyed intern. The Mistress had lost herself in thought

“You talking to me?”

“Have been for about three minutes now.”

“Chicken, and just for the record, I hate fish.”

“And what about plant lady over there?”

“Not hungry”

“Suit yourself”

And with that, the intern left. The Mistress, in a lucid moment, pitied the girl. She remembered how scary it had been when she went to work here. It’s only natural that the girl would be a tad inconsiderate. As for Green, she wasn’t eating much of anything, not these days.

“How’s the chicken?”

“It’s okay, about what you’d expect.”

“That bad huh.”

The pair shared a laugh. They were a strange match to say the least, Green was barely human, and the Mistress at heart was something of a lost little girl. But in part, that was why they were so close. In spite of her rampant misanthropy, Green liked the idea that she was taking care of someone. And The Mistress simply adored being around such a strong personality. It was as if all her self confidence had abandoned her, only to materialize as another, fully formed person. This is not to say that the two were always in agreement, or that there was never an argument between them. They were, after all, friends not soul mates.

As for the chicken, the Mistress was lying. It was utterly terrible. The food here was never satisfactory. The chicken, more or less tasted like rubber. The Mistress could barely stomach it. But, in any case, at least it was better than fish.
At that moment the panic alarm sounded off.

“He’s free at last!” squeaked the Mistress

“Ain’t him.” Muttered Green

“Who else could it be?”

“This place is a revolving door. It could be anybody.”

“Then how do you know it’s not him?”

“When’s the last time you heard him set off the alarm?”
As Green spoke, Dr. Fear Itself ran pass their cell.

“Well, that explains that.”

Disappointed, the Mistress decided to lie down on her bed and rest for a while. It wasn’t as if she had anything better to do. While she lay there, he mind began to race. She didn’t know when next she would be free. That depended on the Master’s schedule. For now, all she could do was wait and think. Soon enough the beast would feel its primal pain. Soon enough she would hold her slain rival’s heart in her hand. At last the Goddess justice would rule against the beast who had for so long denied the Mistress her sweetheart. With all that was to come, it seemed only natural that she would get some rest. Tomorrow might be a big day. And with that, she closed her eyes, and dreamed sweet dreams of her Master’s arms.


Chapter Four
When the Mistress finally awoke, she noticed that several hours had passed. She almost wondered what time it was, forgetting how useless a concept time was in a place like this. Pausing for just a moment to contemplate her dreams, she quickly climbed out of her bed seeing her friend still sitting in her chair in the deepest sort of silence. Yawning she turned to Green, who’s concentration now appeared to be broken. Annoyed, the Devil’s gardener muttered angry words at the Motley Maiden for a few seconds, finally the silence was broken when a guard appeared at the door.

“It’s time for your session miss.”

“Wait, which one of us is he talking too Green?”

“I’m not the one in therapy.”

“What time is it?”

“1:15”

“But my session isn’t until 2:30”

“It’s going to be a bit earlier than that today Ma’am” said the guard, who’s face slowly turned into a mirthful grin. It was then she understood. It was the Master, come to break her out of this house of horrors.

“Green, I need to borrow some of your lipstick.” Said the Mistress, turning quickly to her friend.

“What for?”

“You’ll see Green, You’ll see.”

Grabbing the lipstick, the Mistress simply walked out of the asylum, if anyone asked, the ‘Guard’ claimed that he was escorting her to a Doctors visit that had to be conducted at another hospital, and that there was no reason to be concerned. She had forgotten just how talented her love was at disguise. He himself was reported as having once told a victim “Disguise is one of my many accomplishments”

In those days, the Master often made use of that particular skill, but in more recent years, it had fallen by the wayside. These days, it was mostly a way to return to his beloved stage. It might be a mistake to call the outside world beloved, the man was so full of hate and antagonism, one might imagine that a thought like love could scarcely cross his mind. But, whether it was out of jest or honest feeling, he appeared to have some attachment towards his mistress. If he could be said to love, he loved her. How else could she have survived for so long? Most of the Master’s employee’s barely lasted days, let alone years. Though, perhaps, in the final account all we can say is that the joke was still funny in his sick and twisted mind. The pair sped off into the night, while the Master kindly saluted the city that made him.

“So, what’s the plan this time?”

“It’s take your daughter to work day in a few days, and I have fun planned for the whole family.”

The Mistress was utterly stunned, she simply could not believe how perfectly the Master’s plan dovetailed in with hers.

“So where we hitting?”

“The public works center.”

“Sounds like a swell time, a swell time indeed.” The Mistress turned to thoughts to more serious matters. She had Green’s lipstick, but she needed the Professor’s anxiety medicine for her plain to work perfectly. Luckily for her, she still had the gas stained rag the good Doctor had tried to use on her. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do.

The Mistress , in a cleverly designed disguise, approached the old castle with some trepidation, she was crossing the rubicon, there could be no coming back from this. Slowly, her hands firmly in her leather gloves, she knocked on the garguation doors. An old proper English butler, who looked at her with some disdain, met her at the door.

“Can I help you miss?”

“Yes, My name is Stephanie Crow. And I….”

“I don’t answer tabloid questions.”

“I’m not here to ask you any questions, Sir.”

And with that, the Mistress leaned over, and kissed the old man, who was promptly driven into convulsions.
Giggling at what she had accomplished, she promptly fled the scene.

When the Man of the house finally arrived at his mansion, he was greeted by the grisly sight of his half dead Butler, who lay unconscious on the steps. Quickly, he checked for a pulse, happily, the man was still among the living. With out a moments hesitation, he rushed his oldest companion to a hospital. He wondered what could have been the cause of this sudden, near death experience? Perhaps the old man had been poisoned, difficult to tell simply by looking at him. Or perhaps he had simply had a heart attack. The Hospital, of course would quickly know the truth. For now, the only clue to the events that had transpired earlier was a nearby rag. Perhaps it was nothing, perhaps it was everything

[Lew Moxon]

Chapter Five
As the Doctors rushed the good butler away, the American Holmes noticed the faint echo of lipstick on his servant’s lips. He was shocked, how could he have been so blind? Perhaps he was being paranoid. Perhaps again, it meant nothing. But it was better to be safe than to be dead. And so, the great chiropteran detective descended into his hidden lair. There was only one criminal in the city who used lipstick as a weapon. And according to the records, she was safely stored away in the asylum. Besides, as far as the Detective knew, the butler had done little to deserve her wrath. He was hardly crueler to wildlife than an average gentleman, and he had done nothing recently involving plant life. In spite of the lead the lipstick provided, the detective was no closer to seeing the source of the attack.

At the same time, he was becoming increasingly nervous. He had nearly loss his most trusted advisor. It is not surprising then, that he would be a bit stressed, even more so than usual. But, to some degree his nervous demeanor was a direct consequence of the rag he still wore in his hand. The rag, was lightly doused with the phobic poison, and as such, the Detective was beginning to feel its effects. In short, he was panicked. If it was an attack, it was unexpected. If it was circumstance, it was even more frightening. He knew that his butler was not immortal, but he never quite expected a day like this would come. Still, even after examination, he didn’t have anything. There were no fingerprints on the rags, and there was no evidence, as of yet, that the lipstick was of the poisoned variety. If it was, the hospital would know. But the results would not be in for at least another hour.

And, so the great detective decided to fill his time listening to the news, hoping for a lead. He heard that the old comedian was free, with his mistress in toe, could they be behind the event? Unlikely, if the comedian was behind it, there wouldn’t be any uncertainty on the matter. The old professor was free as well, but again the attack, if it was indeed an attack, didn’t fit the profile. The kind of obsessive criminals who lived and worked in the city rarely betrayed their ticks and quirks.

As he spoke, far in the distance, a sad woman prepared to strike again. This time, she was taking a page out of the Master’s playbook. She had her five shot revolver in hand, as she knocked on the door of the feline predator. Hardly a moment had passed before the door was quietly opened.
“You?”

Without so much as a word, the Mistress fired a single shot from her gun. The other woman fell down to the floor, as one might expect in such a situation. But of course, this wasn’t enough, no the plan was so much better than this. So she dragged the pretty woman into her car, driving her down to the birthplace of the great dragon she was so carefully slaying. When they arrived at the scene, she dropped the body, unto the very spot where years earlier the Millionaire Monster’s mother had died. To drive the point down further, the Mistress dropped a cheap faux pearl necklace by her latest victim, and gently carved the words, “Look familiar?” into the forehead of the Queen of Thieves.

Chapter Six

The Madman Millionaire stood in stunned silence as a sudden update appeared on the news. The pretty girl robber lay dead in crime ally, the last of her nine lives finally used up. What a horrid nightmare of day! Thought the millionaire, as he sat, mouth gaping at the screen. Though his old protector still lay sick in a hospital bed, the creature of the night rushed at the quickest of paces to the scene of the crime. Slowly but surely, the barely ingested poison was having its effect, and the man behind the mask was beginning to fear that everyone around him would soon be gone.

When he arrived at the scene, the police had already arrived, and had been there for some time. The old Police Chief, smoking on a newly lit cigar, approached him with a mournful demeanor.

“It’s too bad really, sure she was a criminal, but she didn’t deserve this.”

The Masked Avenger looked down upon the sorry sight. Now there could be no doubt. The slain woman before him was no product of mere circumstance, no cruel fate of chance. This was a carefully orchestrated attack against him. He noticed the pearls that lay on the ground. Suddenly, for the moment he was flashed back to that most hateful day. He saw his mother lying there on the ground, and if there could be any doubt of the killer’s message, there was a reminder carved into the lover’s forehead.

“Any idea what the carving means?”

“Some, but can’t be too sure.”
The millionaire hated lying to his old friend, he felt that he had to hide this apparent attack against himself. Perhaps it was the poison speaking, or perhaps he felt it better to confront personal demons alone. Pausing in the dark to shed a single tear, the Monster stood to contemplate the situation, someone was targeting him. Could he be sure what happened to the butler was part of the attack? No, or at least, not yet. But that didn’t change the fact that someone was targeting him. He went down the usual list of suspects, but none seem to have a proper motive.

Only one person had the proper motivation to attack his daylight persona so utterly. But Roman Sionis, was of course dead, slain by the very woman the police had found slain in crime ally. But, perhaps he wasn’t in the ground after all. He wouldn’t be the first man to escape death, and he certainly had a motive for killing off Selina Kyle. Perhaps he had chosen to kill two birds with one stone? But if that were the case, how had Roman evaded his glance for so long? How could he have faked his death so perfectly? Why had there been no chatter among the citizens of the cities underworld, there was hardly a rumor to be found. If it was Roman, there would be a sign, soon enough. No criminal is perfect, and Roman was hardly a criminal, well at least in the traditional sense. Roman was a businessman, albeit a crooked and vengeful one, but a businessman nonetheless. He made more than his share of mistakes, it seemed unlikely he could have stayed hidden for so long.

After all this discussion, the walking urban legend had failed to determine the face behind his most viscously determined foe. So, without any further delay, he rushed off to the hospital. Shedding off his uniform, he arrived bereaved, but otherwise normal and ready to meet the Doctors.

“Hello Mr. Wayne, I’m Dr. Finger. I’m sure you’ve met my associate Doctor Miller”

“Very pleased to meet you all, now can you please tell me what happened to my Butler?”

“Well, the good news is he’s partially recovered, and we expect him to be good as new in a fortnight.”

“And the bad news?”

Dr. Miller stepped forward
“There’s no easy way to say this, but your butler was poisoned.”

Now there was no doubt, what had happened to Alfred was indeed a part of the siege so carefully laid out against him

“What kind of poison?”

“Were not sure, not exactly. All we can tell is that it seems similar to the compound which effected Harvey Dent, many years ago.”

“So, Pamela Isley attacked my Butler?”

“It does seem a bit strange, I checked with Arkham, she’s still safe in her cell.”

“So, who else could it be?”

“Our best guess is someone with access to the poison had a grudge against old Alfred here.” Chimed in the oddly silent Finger.
Suddenly, the great Detective knew the shocking truth. Under his breath, he muttered the words, “Harleen” How could he have forgotten how close Isley and Quinzel were? The two shared a cell, and generally behaved like a pair of sisters. As if in confirmation, on a nearby radio blazed a threat.

“I know your all enjoying take your family to work day, but I’ve got a quick little news-brief. At precisely Midnight, Harley and I will destroy the Public Works Building, and until then we will kill one hostage, on the hour, every hour. Do not try and stop us, THE JOKER HAS SPOKEN”

[Lew Moxon]

Author's Note: I apologize for the multiple posts involved in the story.


Chapter 7

Aggravated by circumstance, the great urban warrior dashed to the scene. As his car sped through the night, he quickly came to a inadequate understanding of his situation. It all came down to the death of a pretty girl, the whole scene looked like a cruel Joke-the jester’s trademark. It almost had to be him behind the events. The dearly delusional Doctor had always been his pawn, and little else. She was obviously singing to the tune of her nefarious piper. When he arrived, he saw the seduced innocent leaning on the man she loved, her beautiful blue eyes half glazed over. The Jester grinned, as he placed his weapon on the neck of yet another nameless victim. After firing his shot, he looked up at his enemy, and politely asked.

“How was traffic?” The great demon of the criminal underworld threw his first punch at the diabolical clown. “Not bad, could use some work. You seem stressed. You really should laugh every once and awhile.” While making this declaration, the homicidal maniac attempted to quite literally stab his ancient enemy in the back. This was followed by yet another punch, this time to the Master’s abdomen .“I know, it was a poor choice, considering our history with knives.” This, naturally enough, was followed by the kind of shrieking laughter that rattles the senses. “You’re shaking, are you feeling okay sweetie?” The Mistress fumed in the background. How dare the beast steal the man she loved away from her, he had no right, no right in the world.

“SELINA KYLE!”
With a sheepish grin, the Master responded.

“Damn shame, wasn’t.”

“YOU KILLED SELINA KYLE!”

“No, no I did not.”

“SELINA!”

“Let’s use our inside voices here, okay?”

“ALFRED”

“Are you just screaming random names now? Look, we can talk about a dead lady with a cat fetish all night until we both get blown to kingdom come, or you can try to look for the bombs.”

The Mistress smiled briefly, she was somewhat amused that the Monster would blame her beloved for her own crimes. Her smile lasted only a moment, as she sank into a deep despair. For all her efforts, her plan had utterly failed. Sure, the Monster was angrier than usual-as if that were possible. But he was hardly catatonic. He was still stealing the Master from her. Could she never hold him in her arms? She felt slightly dizy. Her temperature rose as her world shrank and circled around her. In a fit of anger and desperation, she raised up her revolver. “Darling, look at me!” she screamed, making a final plea for the Master’s love.

When there was no response, her anger overtook her, and she fired three shots into the Master’s chest. He collapsed to the ground, his life stolen by the woman who loved him. For a few moments, she was in a state of paralyzed shock. Her mind simply could not accept what she had done. In the end, she had killed the thing she loved the most. Once she fully realized what had happened, she joined her beloved on the ground. She was in utter hysterics, her makeup smudged by a torrent of tears. She clenched the handle of her gun, as if for comfort. In between her sobs, she told the Monster, “the bombs are in the basement, third room on the left. Though a murderer lay in front of him, the Monster had little choice but to deal with the bomb. After all, the hysterical mistress wasn’t going anywhere. And so he rushed down to the basement. As the Master ran, the Mistress muttered, “I’m so sorry for what happened, but you know you stole the man I love from me on a weekly basis-it’s only fair I take away someone you loved. But it doesn’t matter, there isn’t any point anymore, no point at all.” The Millionaire could barely hear her muffled voice as he rushed to the basement. And as the Millionaire disarmed the bombs, the Mistress placed her revolver on her temple. And with the final bullet in the gun, she ended a world of misery.

[Cloudman]

Not bad, not bad at all. (I'm assuming you're finished)