Harley skipped through her own wonderland like Alice from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
At least, that was how she saw herself.
To anyone else, she looked far more like the Queen of Hearts.
But Harley didn't think that way. She happily wandered through her wonderland garden, Arkham Asylum.
She skipped toward a motionless doctor, grabbed his ear, and gave it a playful tug.
Rip.
The doctor's ear came off instantly.
Blood streamed down the side of his head, but he remained completely still.
Harley didn't find anything strange about it.
In her eyes, she had merely plucked the cute ear off a cartoon doll.
The world she perceived was no longer reality. Everything around her had transformed into a giant animated world.
Every person looked like a toy or a cartoon character.
Even the stray cats and rats inside Arkham resembled Tom and Jerry.
And everyone knew cartoon characters never died.
Whether they lost an ear, a head, or suffered something even more ridiculous, they'd always be fine.
So Harley didn't think tearing off an ear was a big deal.
She also didn't question why she could rip someone's ear off with her bare hands.
She casually tossed it away.
"Oh dear, this is troublesome. What's going on? Why isn't anyone playing with me anymore?
Did you all forget your little princess?
This is my stage. I'm the director and ruler here, but all my guards and handmaidens are standing still.
Whose fault is that?
Ah, it must be the Rabbit... or maybe the Mad Hatter.
Yes, that's it.
I just need to find them, and my garden will return to normal. Hahaha!"
Only she knew how she arrived at that conclusion.
Still, psychiatric patients rarely lacked ideas.
They also possessed extraordinary initiative.
With that bizarre thought in mind, Harley immediately began searching through the wards.
Bang!
She threw open a door and peeked inside.
"Nope, nothing here. Just frozen patients. On to the next one.
Rabbit, Hatter, Queen of Hearts, where are you?
I'm getting bored, and that's unacceptable!"
Thud!
She kicked open another door.
Standing in the doorway like a princess and a madwoman at the same time, she stared at the stunned Mad Hatter.
Even dressed in a patient's uniform, he still wore his signature hat.
Harley burst into delighted laughter.
Meanwhile, Jervis Tetch, the Mad Hatter, was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
What was happening?
Hadn't he taken advantage of Wraith's chaos and seized control of everyone in Arkham after Hugo Strange's death?
Everyone here was supposed to be his puppet.
Then why was Harley Quinnzel acting like this?
He couldn't understand it.
Originally, he had simply chosen the least qualified person available and made her Arkham's director.
She was meant to be nothing more than a tool and a toy.
He had only hidden himself away for two or three days to avoid attracting Bruce Wayne's attention.
More importantly, he had been hiding from the terrifying Wraith.
Yet in that short time, Harley had become someone he barely recognized.
As he stood there in shock, Harley pointed at him and laughed.
"Hahahaha!
Was it you who made those awful hats for the Queen of Hearts?
Do you know how much trouble you've caused me?
The Queen didn't like your hats, so she ordered everyone to stop moving.
Do you know how terrible a frozen garden is for me, Alice?
It's all your fault, Hatter.
If you disappear from my garden, everything will return to normal."
"What? That's complete nonsense!"
Cold sweat formed on the Mad Hatter's forehead.
He understood now.
During the days he hadn't been actively controlling her, Alice had somehow become a true protagonist within his Wonderland.
Originally, this entire world was his creation.
He was supposed to be the central figure.
Even Alice had been guided along her path under his control.
But now...
Somehow, things had corrected themselves.
Alice had reclaimed her role.
And her talent had exploded beyond his expectations.
Harley skipped toward him.
The Mad Hatter suddenly felt as though he were standing on stage before an equal.
It was like two master actors facing each other.
Two Oscar winners meeting for the ultimate performance.
His excitement surged.
He immediately freed himself from his restraints and leaped off the bed.
The instant he moved, Harley grabbed a nearby metal pipe attached to the wall.
Crunch!
With brute force, she tore it loose.
She weighed it in her hands and nodded approvingly.
"Perfect.
This looks ideal for knocking off your hat.
Are you ready, Hatter?
Alice is coming for you."
The Mad Hatter grinned.
"Haha, I never expected this.
But now that I think about it, an Alice like you is fascinating.
Without me, you've gone completely off script, my dear Alice.
Come, let me help you.
You need my guidance.
Put down that candy cane you're swinging around.
It's supposed to be licked, not used as a weapon."
He gently waved his hand.
At once, Arkham Asylum came back to life.
Using the lighting inside his room, he manipulated the shadows in the corridor and activated one of his many hypnotic triggers.
A doctor who had been lingering nearby suddenly sprang into action.
That movement triggered another person.
Then another.
Like dominoes falling in sequence, Arkham began operating again.
The Mad Hatter's hypnosis wasn't ordinary mind control.
It was a vast interconnected network.
Every person represented a link in a chain.
Every action had been meticulously planned.
The doctor nearest his room rushed inside first.
He saluted the Mad Hatter like a loyal card soldier before charging at Harley.
In Harley's eyes, however, a cartoon character was running toward her.
She giggled and swung her magical girl wand.
Whoosh!
The doctor's head flew off.
She laughed even harder.
In her world, the flying head even winked at her while spinning through the air.
Soon, more doctors and patients flooded into the room.
Harley became even more excited.
She swung left and right, smashing through everything around her.
Cartoon organs covered the floor.
Ears sprouted legs and ran around.
Detached hands crawled along using their fingers.
The entire scene became complete chaos.
Meanwhile, the Mad Hatter observed Harley with admiration.
Then he quietly blended into the crowd and escaped.
At Downton Manor, Bruce Wayne was conducting experiments alongside Lex Luthor when his wrist device suddenly flashed blue.
Lex looked up.
"Bruce, your watch is flashing blue.
Don't tell me Vacheron Constantin makes watches this cheap.
If they do, I'm never buying from them again. Maybe Patek Philippe deserves my attention instead."
"Stop it, Lex."
Bruce frowned.
"I connected Gotham's communication network to my monitoring system.
If several people call for help in one area, my watch flashes red.
If emergency calls surge throughout the entire city, it flashes blue.
That's what this means."
He immediately put down the robotic arm he had been welding and rushed to his computer.
Lex shook his head.
"Fine. I'll use this opportunity to rest anyway.
Those fairy banshees yesterday were ridiculous.
My legs are still weak."
Bruce spoke without turning around.
"Help me check online reports."
Lex sighed.
"So I'm still working for Batman."
He reluctantly picked up his phone and started searching.
Suddenly, another alarm blared.
"Whoa!"
Lex nearly dropped his phone.
"What is that now, Bruce?"
Bruce's expression changed.
"Damn it."
He sprinted toward another computer.
"That alarm is even more serious.
It means something major is happening at one of the locations where I personally installed surveillance systems."
He opened the live feed.
Then he froze.
On the screen, Harley Quinn was rampaging through Arkham Asylum like a one woman army.
She wielded a broken fire hose, and every swing sent blood, limbs, and fragments flying everywhere.
At that moment, Lex shouted from behind him.
"Bruce, look at this!
Axel actually brought that dragon into Gotham City.
No wonder emergency calls are exploding.
That's a dragon over a hundred meters long!"
===
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