Nightmare in Arkham

Chapter 11: "Blood of the Innocent"

-Harley sat on the living room couch wide-awake. The light from the TV cast bright light over her body that illuminated all of her features. She had been watching World's Dumbest Criminals for nearly an hour now. This was one of her favorite shows because, not only did it have a never-ending supply of comedy, it made Harley feel a little better about herself seeing real criminals mess up in ways 1000 times worse than she ever had. Harley laughed as she watched people pull over to smoke a cigarette while fleeing from the police, getting beaten up by store clerks during a robbery, and announcing their crimes on live radio broadcasts. Suddenly, in one quick flash, the television went black. The room, which had been filled with enough light to keep the boogeyman off of the street, was now pitch black. There was not even the faintest speak of light in the room. Harley let out a feeble shriek and wrapped her arms around herself in fear. A clash of thunder sounded outside and Harley hid under the covers, shaking and whimpering. Alice, where are you?

-Suddenly, a loud scratchy noise came from the TV. Harley peeked out from under the covers and saw that the TV was back on but was displaying static. Harley slowly lowered the covers and made her way to the TV to adjust the picture. Before she could make it to the TV, Freddy's silhouette appeared on screen. "There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. I am controlling transmission".

-Harley starred at the screen in confused silence for a few moments before slowly backing toward the couch and sitting back down. Once she was settled on the couch the television cut to an image of Summer Gleason smiling at the camera. "I'm here live with Gotham's happiest newly weds." She turned toward someone off screen to her left. "So tell me, Mr. and Mrs. J, how long have you 2 known each other?"

-The camera zoomed out and sitting right beside Summer Gleason was the Joker. He was sitting right beside a woman Harley had never seen before. She was dressed in a black and red Victorian corset with red hearts covering it and she wore a golden crown on her head stubbed with rubies. She seemed to possess every physical quality as Harley, except they seemed vastly superior. She leaned over and kissed the Joker. Harley's eyes and mouth hung open in horror.

-"Well to be perfectly honest", the Joker said, "I would have to say since we were but young juveniles in teeny, tiny pants trying to move up in the world".

-"And we've been in love for just as long", the woman said with a smile. Harley's heart began to ach as she listened.

-"Quite right, my little Queen of Hearts". The Joker said seductively. The woman then playfully scratched at the Joker while meowing like a cat. Tears began to roll down Harley's face. He even has a cute nickname for her.

-Summer Gleason spoke. "Now, I understand you used to be in a long lasting relationship with some other girl. I think she was named after a motorcycle or something."

-"Oh yeah, Hurley" the Joker said apathetically, "Yeah, I never actually loved her. I just needed some gullible little fool, a sort of jester if you will, to break me out of Arkham. Although I will admit she was pretty useful with killing and restraining my victims for me".

-"And why, exactly, did you have her do those things in the first place?" Gleason asked.

-"Ya know to be perfectly honest, I can't remember. I'm like a dog chasing cars: I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it. I just do. In fact I always forgot about the people I hurt the very next day. I didn't even remember whom I attacked; just that I did it. The only memorable victim was Batman".

-Harley shattered like a glass vase hitting the floor. "He told me 'it was all a joke'. That it was all 'leading up to a giant punch line'".

-"Although I will say this", the Joker continued, "if there is any punch line to be found in any of the acts that I have taken part in, or rather tricked her into taking part in, it's Harley".

-"You mean that the 'Killer Jester' really is nothing more than a jester?" Gleason asked.

-"Correct!" The Joker exclaimed, pointing his finger like a game show host. Gleason and an unknown amount of people off screen began laughing hysterically. By now all of Harley's senses had been muted. She wasn't even breathing. The pain and disbelief that had built up inside of her caused her to freeze like a stone statue. All this time…I was the punch line? My God, how many people have I hurt? How many people have I killed? Like a bolt of lightening, all of the faces, the screams, the pleas, the tears, and all of the blood from Harley's victims came rushing into her mind. She felt like she was going to throw up. She looked at her hands with eyes wide open in shock. Although Harley's hands were clean, she saw blood covering them like a fresh coat of paint. Harley fell to her knees, unable to look away from her hands, unable to move.

-"So, Joker, what do you plan to do about your Ex?" Gleason asked on the TV.

-"Tell ya what" the Joker responded, "Why don't we let our lovely viewing audience decide?" Joker turned to the audience "Any suggestions?"

-"Well, my suggestion" A silhouetted man in the audience replied, "kill the little piggy". He then raised his right hand and 4 blades flicked out of the fingers. Harley snapped out of her trance just in time to see the man bring his arm back and fling it straight at the camera. Like a nightmare 3D effect, the hand popped out of the screen and Harley just barely dodged it as the knives stabbed through the couch and embedded themselves in the wall. Harley rushed to the front door. However, when she opened it, there was an army of at least 50 angry people outside waiting for her. They were all Harley's victims at some point. Some of them had depressed skulls from being hit in the head with her mallet; some of them had melted faces from her acid flowers, and some of them had no bodily damage at all but still bared faces of anger and fear. As Harley stood petrified with fear while her eyes scanned the faces of the lives she had ruined, all of the victims' eyes widened and they all smiled a big Joker smile. Their smiles grew so massive that the flesh between their ears and the sides of their lips ripped apart giving them permanent grins.

-Harley slowly started to back away. Then, like a horde of zombies, the victims began slowly walking toward her. Harley slammed the door and backed away from it. Suddenly, one of the victims' arms burst through the door and the crowd outside began to scream and laugh and bang their way in.

-"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!" Harley pleaded with tears in her eyes, but the victims continued to claw and bang and tear at the door until it started to split open. Harley ran up the stairs and shut herself inside of a bedroom and locked the door. When she felt safe, Harley allowed her body to slide to the ground against the door. Her mind was wracked with guilt, betrayal, and fear. She buried her head in her knees and started to cry. Suddenly, Harley felt something stroking her knee. She shot her head up, gasping in surprise. It was then that Harley saw the child. It was a little girl about 5 years old with long blonde hair dressed in a white robe. The little girl looked at Harley with concern as she continued to stroke her knee. Harley stopped crying and looked at the little girl confused. Harley knew this could not have been one of her victims. Harley would blow up a bank, rob people at gunpoint, and even slit a few throats; but the one thing that Harley would never ever allow herself to do under any circumstances, even if the Joker ordered her to or even if her life depended on it, was hurt a child.

-Harley looked into the girl's face and saw nothing but pure, sweet innocence. The little girl looked directly into Harley's eyes and moved her hand from Harley's knee to her face, gently wiping the tears from her eyes. Harley's emotions took over. She didn't know who the little girl was or where she came from, nor did she care. All she knew was that she was in desperate need of a hug. Harley slowly brought her arms out careful not scare the little girl away. However, the little girl rushed up and embraced Harley before she even had a chance to put her arms around the girl's back. Harley wrapped her arms around the girl and held her tight.

-When Harley looked over the little girl's shoulder she saw 4 other children around the same age. There were 2 girls and 2 boys. Both of the boys had thick brown hair. One of the girls was black and the other white. The white girl had long, curly brown hair and the black girl had long black hair in a ponytail and wore glasses.

-"You have to wake up now", said the little blonde girl. Harley broke the embrace and looked at her.

-"What?" she asked confused.

-"He's coming for you, Harley. You have to wake up"

-"Who's coming for me?" the little girl did not answer.

-"What's your name?" Harley asked.

-"Kristen," the little girl responded.

-"Who's coming for me, Kristen? Where are your mommy and daddy?" Suddenly, Kristen and the other children looked up as if they had just heard a noise. Harley did not hear anything. The children turned back to Harley.

-Kristen slowly started to back away toward the children. The two little girls took out a jump rope and the two boys started to throw a ball back and forth. When Kristen reached the two little girls, they started swinging the rope through the air as she jumped over it. The children began singing. "One, Two, Freddy's coming for you. Three, Four, better lock your door. Five, Six, grab your crucifix. Seven, Eight, better stay up late. Nine, Ten, never sleep again."

-Now Harley was starting to get scared. "What are you doing? What are you talking about? Who is coming for me?!" Harley asked displaying her fear. Then a nightmarish chuckle sounded out of nowhere. "Why, I believe that would be me".

-Harley froze in terror and when she looked back at the children. Her eyes caught sight of a dark shadow in the shape of a man standing beside them. The shadow turned toward the children. "Alright kiddies, time to come in now. The adults need a little, alone time". The children vanished in a mass of light. "NO!" Harley screamed, reaching an arm out to the children. But the children were absorbed into the shadows body and it turned to Harley.

-Harley stood up, preparing to run. "Who are you?" she asked terrified.

-The shadow laughed at Harley and stepped into the light. Harley gasped at the sight of Freddy. "I'm your boyfriend now, Harley."

He then flicked his claws out and wiggled them.

-"Say 'hello' to your new and improved Mista K!"

-Harley screamed and frantically tried to open the door, forgetting that she locked it.

-"Things ain't much better outside, kid," Freddy said. When Harley finally opened the door her victims were outside and they lunged for her. Harley fought them off as they grabbed and clawed at her body, ripping her clothes and pulling her hair. Harley managed to break free and ran toward the window and instinctively leaped out of it into the pouring rain. The glass shards slashed into her skin and shredded through her clothes. Harley landed on her side on the sopping wet grass that had been soaked by the rainwater. The shards that hit the ground before her were embedded into the flesh in her back, shoulder, thigh, and arm while the rain mercilessly poured down on her. Harley tried to get up but every move she made felt like a knife stabbing into her body. When she looked up, a bolt of lightening scattered across the sky and Harley saw Freddy's dark figure standing on top of the roof looking down on her. He let out a devilish laugh and crawled along the front of the house like a spider to the front door, which was torn from the hinges. Freddy put a hand by his mouth and shouted into the doorway, "Hey boys! Lunch just delivered itself!"

-Harley turned to the doorway and the Headless Horseman came running out without his horse. Behind him was the Mad Hatter, who now had a giant grin like the ones on Harley's victims, his teeth were serrated and stuck out of his mouth even when it was closed, his hair was now cloud white and puffed out like a lion's mane, his eye spun in opposite directions, and his head was stitched onto his body at the base of the neck. The 2 monsters grabbed Harley by her arms and held her down, pushing the glass deeper into her body. Harley screamed in pain.

-"Care for some tea, my dear?" the Mad Hatter asked in a psychotic voice. He held a white ceramic cup over Harley's face and poured the hot liquid over it. Harley screamed in pain from the burning and some of the liquid slid into her mouth and down her throat causing her to gag and choke. Just then, the victims all came running out of the house and gathered around Harley with the smiles still etched on their faces. They all began laughing and cheering and calling for their revenge. Harley begged for their forgiveness and for her life but they all laughed at her tears and reminded her that they begged her for the same thing and she denied them.

Back in the real world Alice was frantically trying to wake Harley up as she struggled helplessly on the couch. "Leave her alone! Leave her alone you bastard!"

-Harley screamed out in her sleep "ALICE!"

-Alice's heart sank as her own name rung in her ears. She felt defeated. She was going to lose her friend. NO! Not again! Not this time!

-Alice decided to use a desperate approach: she took out her Bug Zapper.

Freddy stepped through the crowd of victims and stood towering over Harley as she lay on the ground. Freddy smiled and leaned down closer to Harley. As Harley began to scream Freddy extended his index blade and slowly began lower the point toward Harley's face. The blade slowly slid into Harley's open mouth and she could taste the steel and dry blood on the dagger.

-Before Freddy could make his next move, a bolt of lightening rushed down from the heavens and struck Harley. Freddy was electrocuted as the current spread to his body through the steel in Harley's mouth and was blown away in an explosion.