This is an alternate universe where The Joker had gone so insane, nature demanded he develop an alter ego to store what humanity he had left in him and enhance it all. All the good had now been stored in his alter ego where it would be kept from him, disabling him to show any mercy or restraint of any kind towards anyone. However his alter ego had no anger in it whatsoever and when turned, he brought out the good in the so called "Crown Prince Of Crime"
"Where did that crazy bitch go!" Yelled a confused officer
"Hey yo don ask me! I thought you had her!" Retorted another officer shinning his flashlight up at the roof tops of Gotham
"Oh Fuck! The Cheifs Gonna be up our asses!" Shouted the officer looking down a nearby alley way.
"How did we lose Harley Fucking Quinn?!" Wailed the other officer checking the trash cans.
"She's a sneaky lil bitch, the Catwoman must have freakin taught her! Comon maybe she went down here!" Yelled the officer sprinting down the alley way, his keys chiming and rattling at his hips. The footsteps of the other officer not far behind.
Harley giggled and smiled as she slumped against the apartment block building, officers were so careless these days, it was great! Didn't even fully search one area before moving onto the next! She looked down at the doll she had just stolen from the toy store around the corner and squeezed it gently.
"Love Me'" The doll squeaked, her hands tightened around the doll, the simile on her face turning sinister and her eyes turning dark.
"You're My Best Friend'" The doll squeaked again, she let out a grunt of anger and began using her nails to tear into the doll's torso and neck. Her eyes widening as she remembered all the horrible things she had been through in her life, her muscles tensing with rage. She let out a longer deeper grunt of rage and began slowly ripping the doll's head off its body.
"That Tickles'" The words rang in her ears and her mind was filled with flashbacks of all the times he toyed with her for fun, all the time she wasted giving him nothing but love and help and all he ever did was hurt her for it. She knew she still had feelings for him, but they never bother her anymore, she just took her frustration out on small things, she felt in control that way. She decided how much pain they felt and they were helpless to stop it, and she liked being the one with the torture tools for once.
"Love me" The doll squeaked once more, the head was torn straight from the body. She threw the rest of the doll straight to the floor stomped on it with brute force endlessly letting out huge screams of pure anger. The dolls speaker was smashed and the squeaking stopped, but Harley didn't, she didn't stop until the doll was just an empty colorful sack with all its contents stamped into the ground. When she was finally finished, she let out a long sigh and giggled again, but she didn't feel alone anymore. Someone was watching her, she sighed knowing the Bat was present.
"What cha want Bats?" Harley growled looking over at the dark alley way, he had a thing for hiding in dark places.
"How do you know I'm not here to take you to Arkham? After all you did just perform a robbery" Said Batman, as he emerged from the shadows, his voice deep, serious and emotionless as usual.
"Do it Bats" Giggled Harley holding her hands out as though he would cuff them.
"I didn't come here to play games Harley" said Batman
"But why not!" Cried Harley slowly circling Batman bobbing her head from side to side.
"Games are fun, they keep your mind off things!" Sang Harley resting her head on Batman's shoulder smiling sweetly.
"He's back Harley" Spoke Batman
Harley froze and stepped away from Batman suddenly feeling sick with fear and nervousness. The Joker was back in gotham. Last time him and Harley met was nine months ago, he almost got his chance to put a knife through her throat, it was the one time she had hit and ran from him. As she ran she heard him laughing and promising her her own death by his hands. He would no doubt be on the look out for her, holding a gun and a bullet with her name on it. Batman turned to her noticing the look of fear on her face, one that was not often shown unless she was actually with Joker. She got hold of herself.
"SO! Why would I care?" Snapped harley, Batman knew Harley worked a lot like a minefield, step in one wrong place and she explodes, he had to advance carfully.
"Because he's different. I saw him tonight. He apologised for all that he's done and then asked for you." Said Batman
"Did you tell him where I am?!" Yelled Harley, she masked her voice with anger but she was terrified.
"No. That's your business." Replied Batman, he could see straight through Harley's anger act, it was only human that she get scared of The Joker, after all he wasn't the "Crown Prince Of Crime" for no reason.
"Just thought you should know" Added Batman
"Awe Bats, you're so sweet!" Laughed Harley walking off down the dark alley way, her sinister laugh echoing up and out the top of the two narrow buildings stretching over half a mile. She was gone.
Batman returned to the Batcave, his mind still blown from The Joker apologizing to him. At the scene it shocked him so much he didn't know how to react, so he let him walk off to do who knows what. It wasn't just what he had said, but how he said it. It was as though it was a completely different person with The Jokers face had approached him, he couldn't get his head round it or forget about it. His voice was soft, humble and kind rather than rage fueled nonsense he would usually speak, and the worst part was he didn't try anything nor did he look like he had any intention of doing so. Batman had been fighting the Joker for years now, and this was certainly not the Joker he had known for all that time. Batman didn't like it... The Joker was insane and pure evil, and yet now after just a minute of speaking to him his whole perspective on him was rapidly changing with each passing second. He removed his suit and went to the Batcomputer where he pulled up Jokers last mug shot from Arkham looking to see if anything good was about him then. After hours of staring at him, he found nothing in his posture, face or eyes. It was the Joker which he knew, and yet now he was so different it annoyed Batman. He gave a thought about bringing the Justice league in on it, but dismissed the idea when he thought about the attention it would bring, and he wanted time to study this Joker to see if this truly was a brand new Joker or just another one of his diabolical typical villain plans.
Harley slipped into her hideout and crashed straight onto her bed burying her face in her pillow. She wasn't sure if what Batman said was true or just another one of his scare tactics, either way he definitely had her scared. She was too afraid to get up and check the perimeter for cops because it was dark out there and The Joker could be just lurking in there waiting for her to cross paths with him. As she dozed off, she became more scared that she would wake up in some box at the bottom of a lake so she kept herself awake with anxiety, her own insanity playing tricks on her. She would jump at the slightest creek in the floor boards and even reached for her hammer when one of her toys fell from the desk. She lightly tapped herself on the head with the hammer when she felt herself drifting off the sleep, after what felt like years of waiting she saw the sun rising over the skyscrapers of Gotham. She slowly crawled over to the window where she entered and poked her head out to breath the fresh air and get her head straight. Just as she was starting feel calm again, she heard a man cough from below her and she shot straight back inside and dived under the covers of her bed sheets. She trembled with fear for half an hour before she had the courage to peep out a hole in the covers, she was so scared she might see The Joker's eye on the other end of the hole. She didn't want to leave her hideout anymore, she knew Gotham was a crowded place and he could be hiding in any one of those crowds, just waiting for her to get close enough.
The hours passed and Harley didn't dare move from the safety of her bed sheets, listening for anything to signal The Joker's presence. Her grip only tightened every second on the base of her hammer, ready to swing with all the power could conjure. As the day progressed, she moved from her bed and went to the window the see if she could see anyone coming, but a night without any sleep wa catching up to her, she was getting lazy and slow. She went from walking to the window to dragging herself to the window. She had small blackouts under the covers and was beginning to become too grip the hammer properly. Not to mention her hunger and thirst, she was too vulnerable and had to do something about it otherwise she may as well jump out into the day and scream the Joker's name to get it over and done with. She was also sweating like a pig with her outfit on whilst under her covers, so much so that her white make-up began to drip off with her sweat. She decided to get herself cleaned up as quickly as possible. As fast as she could she leapt out of bed, removed all her clothes, grabbed a pack of make-up remover wipes and shot straight back under under the covers. She lay down and removed her make-up, she then felt herself slipping away, but lost motivation to stop it. Bit by bit she lost her senses… sight, taste, smell, hearing, touch and then she saw nothing but darkness.
When she came round, she knew she wasn't alone, she could feel a familiar presence. Her heart raced as she fumbled for her hammer, it wasn't there. Someone had removed from under the covers, she was frozen with fear. She didn't move a muscle, she just listened very carefully. She heard breathing, but it was calm and relaxed breathing. It wasn't the heavy rageful breaths the Joker used to draw, the ones that stopped you in your path and were enough to give you nightmares for weeks. She assumed it was Batman and began to breath properly again. She poked her head out of the covers thinking she would see Batman waiting for her to wake up, maybe she could have a little more fun with him. But what she saw was the last thing she wanted to see, a skinny man with his back to the window wearing a purple trench coat with green hair, the back of his neck pure white. She froze where she was, her eyes locked with fear and her heart thumping so loudly she was afraid he would hear it and turn round, she didn't even think about looking for some clothes. She quickly scanned the room for her hammer, but it was no where in sight. She stopped her breathing just incase she would signal him and wondered how loud she had been breathing before when she thought it was Batman, did he not hear it? Then she realised that The Joker was being careless enough to have his back to her. The Crown Prince Of Crime was making mistakes and being careless? that wasn't her Joker. Before she could think any more of it, he turned and faced her.
"Hello Harleen" he said smiling at her, but it wasn't his usual smile, the one he would use before he ended someone's life, it was a sweet and harmless smile. He looked like he had no intention of hurting her, he kept his distance from her knowing she would be scared and just smiled at her. Harley was still frozen with fear, she knew how unpredictable The Joker was, he could lunge at any second with a bomb or throw poison coated knife straight into her womb so he could watch her suffer before she experienced the escape of death. Then she actually thought about what the Joker just said… Hello HARLEEN. He had addressed her by her birth name. She was confused, why was he calling her that? Usually he would just call her a random shortened version of it or address her as father would his child, then Batman's words ringed throughout her ears...
"He's different" Rang the ear piercing words through her head, was it true? Could this be a new Joker, or just an act put on by the real Joker to gain everyone's trust.
"I know I must have you quite scared at the moment… But I assure you, you have nothing to fear." Spoke the Joker, his voice was soft and soothing, there was something in his voice that made it seem like he wasn't acting. Harley still didn't buy any of it, tricking others into believing something that wasn't real was one of The Jokers favorite thing to do.
"Oh Yeah! Then wheres my freakin Hammer!" Harley yelled jumping out of the covers. The Joker gasped loudly and spun around as quickly a he could covering his eyes. Harley had forgotten she was completely naked, but it was nothing the Joker hadn't seen before.
"I'm very sorry! Here!" He yelled tossing the Hammer backwards inside the hideout, he sounded frightened and shy. Harley couldn't even handle the weirdness of this situation, the man who had sworn death upon her was too shy to see her naked and had thrown back a weapon she could use to kill him without hesitation. Had he rigged it with a bomb? He had done so before so what stopped him from doing it again. Harley backed away from the hammer, she looked for an escape route, but the door was on the other side of the room and the window was blocked by a man who seemed to be the Joker.
"Can I turn around now?" He asked, his back still turned. She quickly scanned the room for a secondary weapon she could use to take him down and evacuate the area, she did have her portable gaming device she could use to crack his head open with. Or her fake trophies to knock him out with but she knew she wouldn't be able to bring herself to kill him, as much as she hated it, she knew she still had feelings for him which had not died down enough for her to actually move on from him. He cleared his throat indicating he wanted an answer.
"Yea… you can turn round. I'm just naked" Replied Harley eyeing the Hammer still undecided if it was rigged with a bomb set to go off any second now. No wonder he was waiting outside, he was ready to jump before the explosion, but on the other hand… he was asking her permission to turn round. It was like he respected her privacy and didn't want her feeling uncomfortable. She couldn't handle not knowing any more, she had to ask him who he was.
"Who the heck are you! You sure as hell ain't Mr J!" Yelled Harley still keeping her distance from him and edging her way to the door.
"I understand your reason questioning me. I wanted to tell you first, as you are my priority." Said the Joker still keeping his back to her, Harley only received more confusion from this, his priority was usually Batman, she was last on his priority if anything.
"Well… I am The Joker yes… But I'm not THE Joker... I'm part of him" He explained to Harley, and with her being a former psychiatrist she caught wind of what he was gesturing towards, but she still didn't want to believe it. Could it be true…
"...I'm his alter ego." He added nervously, He had no idea how Harley would take this as she was just as unpredictable as the real Joker, would she scream and lunge at him for revenge all the pain he caused her over the years, or would she sing Puddin' and leap into his arms? He had no idea, but seeing as all of the Joker's love was stored inside this version of him, he knew which one he prefered. Harley herself didn't know how to take the news. She had already figured out that this version of Joker was a goody side of him, if it were anything else she would have been dead already. So she had a choice, she could go back to him, or she could take this as her chance to run for her life and get out of Gotham. She had been too afraid to prior to this as she feared wherever she went, The Joker would be there waiting for her. But that didn't apply anymore, and this version of Joker being an alter-ego means that any second right now the real Joker could come back, he was a ticking time bomb timed perfectly for its moment to strike. But her curiosity and love for The Joker got the best of her and she decided to stick around and see what this new Joker was like.
"So… Why'd ya come here? I could just bash your skull in and be done with ya" Said Harley, reaching for a T-shirt that was two sizes too big for her.
"I know... that's the reason I wanted to find you actually. You deserve to kill me if you want to…" He replied
"Maybe I will… Don't ya care?" Asked Harley slowly walking towards the hammer, even if it was a bomb she could still hit him with it before it exploded.
"... And you can freaking turn around now!" she yelled annoyed by the sudden innocence of the man who sworn he would kill her. Joker stood up and turned round, his innocent smile spread across his face again. He gestured towards the hammer and bowed so half of hi body was inside the room, he then exteneded his neck making his head more vulnerable.
"I am the good in Joker, and killing him would do the entire world the best good deed there is to do." He said, but he suddenly looked as though he was struggling with something, he began to grunt and tense as though something was happening to him.
"Watch it Pal!" He growled, but the voice that spoke... the sinister evil tone had returned and was unmistakably one that belong to the real Joker. Harley dived for the hammer and leapt backwards towards the door just incase it really was the real Joker. He began throwing himself around the balcony, almost throwing himself of numerous times. He broke into small fits of laughter no doubt coming from the real Joker and then long grunts of struggle coming from the other Joker. He then froze as he dropped to his knees, his face in his hands. He let out a deep slow laugh and slowly turned his head to face Harley, his smile terrifying and murder in his deadshot eyes. The real Joker was now present, and Harley was the first thing he had seen
"...Harley" He giggled deeply, his voice sending chills down her spine. She dropped the hammer in fear and turned to run for the door,but it was barricaded from the other side. She forgot that she barricaded that door just incase the cops or The Joker tired to get in through it, as she had no problem coming in through the window. She was locked in there with The Joker who wanted her dead, the only exit being blocked by him. She turned and pressed her back against the door, frozen with fear as his stare pierced through her. The hammer was to far away from her now, she was too scared to move towards it.
"Good to see you Kiddo!" He laughed jumping inside through the window, she could feel his statistic humor coming on.
"I'll have to thank that other me later, he's just lead me to you after all! I think I'll keep him around for a while" He said, his voice chilling and sinister. He approached the hammer and picked it up not taking his eyes of her. He examined it and hit it against his palm a couple of times.
"Remember when I planted a bomb in this! Oh… good times eh Kiddo?" He laughed, Harley was to scared to even breathe, she prayed Batman or some other superhero would just swoop in through the window and save her, but she knew what fate awaited her. The Jokers smile widened as he saw Harley accepting her fate.
"Not even going to beg?" He asked giving the hammer a few practice swings
"Will it do any good?" She whimpered bowing her head, waiting for it.
"Maybe…" He giggled twirling the hammer in his hands
"Okay…" She cried and dropped to her knees
"Mister J, Please don't do it this! Puddin... please I'm beggin ya!" she cried crawling towards the Joker. He laughed hysterically and slammed the hammer onto her back flattening her. She let out a yelp of pain and slowly got back up to the crawling position.
"Gonna have to do better than that Harls" He laughed looking at the end of the hammer to see if there was any blood on it yet.
"Please… I'll do anything… You know that…" She coughed, the Joker raised the hammer once again and crushed her left calf. She yelped louder with pain, this time with tears in her eyes.
"What? Expect a quick death after what you did to me… That kick really hurt. I had a headache for the morning after you know!" He growled rising the hammer and storing power. Harley gave up trying and decided to let him kill her slowly. Just as he went to bring down the hammer, he stopped himself instantly and laughed with satisfaction as he saw the look on her face when she braced for impact.
"I'll let that pain get worse for a while" He said throwing the hammer over his shoulder and walking around the room inspecting it. He deeply inhaled through his nose.
"Ahhhh… The sweet smell of your perfume, I'll miss that. I'll have to keep a bottle of it" He stated as he looked at all the stuff on top of her dresser. He looked inside her draws, he giggled hysterically and pulled out a pair of large lacy underwear.
"Oh Harley… You Naughty Girl!" He laughed holding them up to the light. He then threw them aside and looked under her bed. He began giggling to himself.
"Oh no… This is too much Harls" he laughed as he pulled out a doll of Joker.
"You kept something to remember me by!" He laughed standing up with it and holding it against his face in the mirror to compare looks.
"Oh… how sweet" He said in a sarcastically deep romantic voice. Harley was just glad he was off doing something else why she could think of an escape plan, but she could barely move with all the pain in her leg only getting worse, she kept telling herself she could get out of this alive on her own, but deep down she knew her only way out of this was the return of the good Joker. She should have just fled while she had the chance, and now here she was with nothing but regret.
"Right! I think that pain had settled in enough, lets have at it again shall we?" He said swinging the hammer for power. Her leg was once again crushed by the hammer. The pain was almost too much for her, it was so bad she felt like begging for death, but she instead she let out a small whimper as it hit her, she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of the look on her face when she was hurt. The Joker frowned and raised one eyebrow at her.
"Getting Stubborn are we Kiddo?" He sighed, raising the hammer higher for more power.
"Well... then I guess we'll just have to turn things up a bit!" He laughed, she watched his shadow on the wall. She watched his arms fall with force and the hammer practically bend backwards with all the force and friction. She braced for impact awaiting for the next bone to be crushed, but it never happened.
"DAMN IT! Just let me kill her would you…" He suddenly yelled angrily, his arms frozen in place, he looked upwards trying to talk to someone, although there was no one there. He staggered backwards holding his head giving small deep giggles and grunts of anger.
"Oh why must I be stuck with such a buzz kill" He moped, he looked over at Harley's tear stained make-up dripping face. He gave her one last sinister and dark smile and looked away dropping the hammer.
"Oh Fine! Have it your way!" He laughed angrily, his posture slowly relaxed, the good side of Joker must have returned. Harley sighed with relief and rolled onto her back spreading herself out of the floor like a starfish.
"Harleen?" he asked looking over at her, he saw her smile but he also saw her face. He rushed over to her side and helped her sit up.
"Get the hell away from me!" She screamed shoving him off, she shuffled away from him and towards the hammer. The Joker saw her deliberately avoiding the use of one leg
"Your leg… Is it hurt?" He asked, walking towards her with care
"Why do you care!" she yelled attempting to get up. She was over the moon that the good in the Joker had come out at this time but that didn't make her any less scared of him. She knew now she had to get away from him as soon as possible.
"I don't know what to say… I truly am… very sorry" He pleaded falling to his knees in shame. He couldn't actually control the Joker and yet he took full responsibility for his actions, despite them not being exactly his own to take responsibility for. Harley being a former psychiatrist understood these alter ego things and knew he was just apologizing for the Jokers mistakes, and yet this annoyed her even further as she wasn't exactly used to this nice guy Joker.
"Sorry! He made me beg for mercy!" Harley yelled, balancing herself on one leg, though how much as she was hurting, she felt different. With all the pain, her love for the Joker got stronger, however it wasn't for the bad side of The Joker… she felt love for his good side. She despised it and knew it meant only more danger for her and increased her chances of death by 97% and yet her love for him began to magnify. She had a thing for relationships that would most likely end in her death, and this one only meant more danger, but also more love and affection which is all she ever wanted really wanted from her Mr J. Loving the Joker always came at his high price, well so did loving Harley Quinn, the old Joker could handle that price but she wasn't sure if this guy could. She decided to keep up the angry, troubled and damaged bitch act and see how he handled it but as she went to continue, The Joker wiped his tears with the back of his sleeve, stood up and walked towards the window.
"I'm once again truly sorry for what he did here tonight. You may want to stop barricading your door. He hurt you for all those years and I wish I could do something to take them back. I came here to give you the chance to kill me, as you deserve that chance more than any. You clearly don't want to so I must go." He said, he had tears in his eyes as he climbed out of the window and leapt over to the other side of the balcony. Harley didn't do anything to stop him leaving, she wanted to leap on him and beg him to stay but she didn't. She just kept up her angry act.
"I know you still love me Harleen, but I will never allow myself to grow further attached to you. I would be hurting you beyond belief and would be signing your death sentence." He said quietly, he then looked back and smiled cutely again, the tears rolling down his face.
"What makes you think I love you?! I don't! I hate you!" Harley lied, but this new Joker still had the ability and memories of the old one and so he could see straight through her disguise and lies.
"That's the spirit" He laughed Joker and leapt from the balcony. Harley was only on the second floor so the fall wouldn't kill, or even hurt him that much. She didn't bother going to check if he was okay, she was alone now, the one time should could let her actual self out rather that the person she thinks she fools everyone with. She crawled into bed humming sweetly ignoring the crushing pain in her leg. She pictured a new future with the new Joker and after hours of thinking and laughing at silly and naughty thoughts, she decided she wouldn't be too much of a hassle for this new Joker and that he was the one she had truly been crazy for this whole time. All the pain and sadness she had endured, he was her payment for it all. She giggled childishly and played with the covers as she rolled around with excitement, her leg screamed with pain but she it was as though she couldn't feel it, all she could think about was a future with this new Joker. After a while she got tired and let herself doze off.
"Puddin" She giggled softly to herself as she fell asleep.
