The man strutted into a nearby Walmart, stopped, and breathed in the chilled air. He reflected on his newfound confidence, smiling as he realized that before he had been rather quiet, reserved, self-conscious. Now, he didn't care who saw him, what he did in public, what anyone thought of him. He didn't care because it didn't matter. He laughed at the thought that what the masses around him thought of him was so much more insignificant than he thought it was, before. Now, he was living how he wanted, because it was fun. He looked down at the bills he tucked into the waistband of the sweatpants that he still wore from Arkham, and a thought struck him. He didn't need to pay. What was keeping him from just taking the stuff that he wanted? The grouchy old woman at the door checking receipts? He barked out a laugh, grabbed a cart, and started walking towards the toys and sports section. He needed to grab a few things, before he hit the seasonal aisle.

He rode the cart more than he pushed it, receiving dirty looks from everyone around him as he narrowly avoided hitting their carts. Upon reaching his destination, he carefully selected a tee-ball bat. He held it in his hand, swung it a few times. It was perfect, exactly the right size to crack a head open with one hand while driving the cart with the other. Satisfied, he turned and headed back towards the front of the store. He was going to have some fun.

He wandered back through the aisles, heading for the seasonal section. It was nearing the end of August, so the Halloween junk had been set up for about a week by now. He had always loved combing through all the costumes and props in his previous life. For that was what it was, now. An entirely different life, an entirely different person. Now he was here again, not to admire, but to reinvent himself. A multicolored phoenix, rising from the chemicals his last life had ended in.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Once there, he dug through the various junk, until he found what he was looking for. Hair dye. His current shock of white hair was certainly crazed looking, but not nearly exciting enough. As he pawed through the veritable rainbow of options, he rejected each choice, one by one, until he came upon a blazing bright green. It was incredible, the kind you can see a mile away, almost glow in the dark. It was perfect. He grabbed every bottle they had and tossed them into his cart. As good as the color was, he needed it to last more than the three washes the bottle assured him it would take to wash out. Next, he moved onto the face paint. His skin was a blank canvas, and he intended on making it his masterpiece. He caught himself looking at prices and chuckled at his old habits. Price was irrelevant, now. He was above that. Or maybe below it. He was something, but whatever it was, he didn't have to pay anymore. He caught his reflection in the plastic packaging, noticed his smile. It needed to stand out more. He thought back to the clowns of his childhood. They all had an exaggerated smile painted around their mouths. A bright, cherry red, to offset the white face paint. It would do perfectly. He imagined how he would look, a head full of green hair, a bleach white face, lips like blood. It was clownish, for sure. Not very threatening, though. Just kind of silly. He caught his reflection again. His head had been tilted down a little, a shadow had covered his eyes. It was precisely what he was looking for. A bit of black around his eyes, to make them look sunken, dark. He would mean business, though his business would come with a smile. He was satisfied, for the most part. The rest of his ensemble could wait, he wouldn't be able to find it in Walmart anyways. He tossed what he needed in his cart and picked up the bat. Time to check out.

By the time he was finished, there were police sirens already on their way. He left, heading back to the cruddy motel, leaving a trail of broken limbs and busted heads in his wake. He knew this would make it easy for him to be found, but he didn't really care. He was just planning on staying for a little while, anyways. Just enough time to put his new face on, and then he'd be off to paint the town red.