The Greedy Frog
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DC: The Enchanter Chapter 67
🕑 Added 2023-09-26 17:52:20 +0000 UTCChapter 67: Harleen Quinzel (3/3)
"My life had been a shitshow from the moment I was born." A new spectator said, "Alcoholic mother that would beat me up every chance she got till she dropped dead from substance abuse. A pathetic father that sold me to different families multiple times just for me to run away. Wolves in the skin of friends that threw me away the first chance they got. Professors that wanted to take advantage of my circumstances and a society that never accepted me."
"So you clung to the very first person that showed the slightest bit of compassion towards you."
My statement irked her but she did not look at me, instead she looked at an old memory unfolding in front of her eyes.
"Ah, you sweet girl." Both of us looked at the perpetrator behind her destruction. "You are only lying to yourself if you think that these people like you."
The clown painted man voiced as the two of us could do nothing but witness the scene unfolding in front of our eyes.
It was an effort by him to obtain coercive control over her. Making her believe that the world was against her but he was there for her.
"You are just another criminal trying to sweet talk your way out of this cell." The innocent Harley said, or Harleen as she was known till this point in time.
But while the younger Harleen was able see through his scheme, the older Harley wasn't.
"He was not." Harley repeated as she stared at her younger self and her psychological abuser.
"He saw that I was caged mentally just like he was caged physically."
I did not say anything and allowed her to continue.
"He was just a man broken by this society so he understood the pain that I went through."
She was not wrong. Joker was broken by society. But with time, Joker had failed humanity and walked a path that destroyed both his mind and his soul.
Calling him just a broken man was not correct. He might have been broken but he was also evil. He rejoiced in the suffering of others and looked for ways to hurt the innocent.
There were villains who were broken but did not kill innocents.
Bane was a perfect example. He went to prison and suffered because of his father's crime but he did not allow that to destroy his mind.
And there were heroes that despite being broken refused to walk the wrong path.
Batman, while his way of handling situations were questionable, he was a man that still followed the right path and believed in justice.
Flash was no different. His father was imprisoned and mother killed but he still became a protector of the weak.
So, Joker was not someone whose actions could be justified. He was a freak, one whose mind was filled with dirt and chaos.
And it wasn't that he had become insane entirely.
Oh no, he was very much sane in the sense that he could manipulate others.
"See sweetheart? They do not care how hardworking you are. All they care about is having an underpaid psychiatrist working for them."
I saw memories of multiple days passing within minutes as Joker poked Harleen's weak spots every chance that he got.
"He understood my pain."
All while Harley deluded herself that Joker cared for her.
"I have been there, the place that you are in." He said, "And when I fought against it, they called me insane and threw me in this prison."
"You are here for your crimes, Joker. Not because of being misunderstood."
Only if the current Harley had the same view as her younger self.
"But he was misunderstood." Harley's eyes had pain in them, "Puddin' was misunderstood."
It felt weird to see the ever grinning Harley with such a serious look. But she was at a very vulnerable state and even a slight poke could cause her to crumble down.
"I can help you be free, Harleen Quinzel." Joker promised, "I can make you happy."
"Ironic of you to say that from behind those bars," Harleen smiled but I could see that she did find his words comforting.
"No matter how good one is with their words and how much of a low point in life you were at…" I asked, "How did a genius clinical psychiatrist fall for his tricks?"
Harley did not reply and instead we watched the iconic moment of Harley helping Joker escape.
"This is it, sweetheart." The Clown Prince chuckled, "Just one step more and you will truly be free."
"You know just as well as me, Harley." I sighed, "You did not just help Joker escape but you helped him destroy the lives of countless in the process. You unleashed a monster in an attempt to find someone that could understand you."
"I-Is is it going to hurt?" The young Harleen asked Joker, looking at the pit of green liquid underneath her.
"Is that wrong?" While the older Harley asked me. "Is it wrong to search for happiness at the cost of others? When those 'others' gave you nothing but pain?"
"It is not," I answered as I saw Harleen walk towards the edge of the block. "But it is wrong when those others involve countless other Harleen that also deserved happiness."
She did not only harm the ones that harmed her, she harmed people that possibly had suffered worse than her.
"Is it– Ahhhh!"
We witnessed Joker pushing the scared Harleen into the pit of Joker toxins without a second of warning.
"A man who would push the person that freed him into a pit of toxins is not a person who wants to help, Harley." I said looking at Harleen drowning in the pit of green fluid.
"That was a step necessary to free me." Harley was not ready to accept that Joker did anything wrong.
"See," She continued, "He followed behind to save me."
I could sense that she was trying to console herself into believing her words. But it was a false hope.
"Then let's witness your other memories."
I saw her jerk a little, but she still managed to keep a stoic face.
The Harley that stood in front of me was a personification of her mind, her metaphysical form and it was scary.
The Harley that was in front of me had full control over the plane of existence that we stood on. She was the architect and I was a spectator in this world.
A spectator was not allowed to mess with the architecture but an architect was.
However… there were exceptions, especially in this case.
"Then be it." She said, "Witness them."
As she said that, the scenery turned dim with a sense of dread surrounding me.
"Pull the trigger Harley." The Joker laughed maniacally, "Be free! Be free from the rules of the society! Be free from the morals of this world!"
"No! N-No! Please don't shoot. I-I have a daughter that I need to go back to!"
I saw young Harley's hands shaking while the older Harley kept moving her eyes away from the scene.
As she went through her memories, she witnessed the horrifying things that Joker made her do.
"I-I am sorry–" The young Harley said before shooting the man straight over his head.
"Yaa-Ha!" Joker rejoiced while I felt a slight bit of sorrow for the man who Harley killed, especially towards his daughter.
"D-Did I do good, Puddin'?"
"Is that the freedom that you were looking for, Harley?" I asked the figure that stood next to me.
"He helped me escape the chains that shackled me. If I was unable to kill the man, that meant I was still bound by the rules and morals of society."
I stared at her with a look of pity, "Is that what you 'truly' believe?"
She remained quiet and the scene changed to another. And this time around… I saw her shudder.
And that scene… that scene made me shudder as well.
"HARLEY!" The psycho screamed, "YOU HAD ONE JOB!"
Harley was strapped naked to a spinning wheel with duck tape around her mouth.
"BUT YOU FAILED ME!"
She was not just strapped naked, she was being tortured.
Hot wax was being poured over her while the wheel that she was strapped to kept spinning.
"So, that is freedom, huh?" I mused and Harley refused to meet my eyes.
"H-He was teaching me a lesson. I made a mistake and the punishment was well deserved."
Her voice cracked, proving that even she was having a hard time believing her words.
"I feel bad for you," I said, "Not because of the suffering that you went through but because of the false hope that you keep giving yourself."
"Shut up…" She mumbled, "You know nothing."
She kept repeating and trying her best to make herself believe. "H-He cared about me… He loved me. He truly did!"
"Do you really believe it?" I asked, "Remind yourself. Was there any moment where he said he did not love you? When he exposed his true self to you."
"N-No!" She yelled, "He never said or did anything like that?"
"Really?" I shook my head, "Try to think. Try to remind yourself."
"No!"
She shouted but there was a very specific reason I was doing this.
This was her world and the Harley that was in front of me controlled this world. And if I could make her remember her past…
"No no no!"
"Oh Batsy~"
If I could remind her of a memory, it would play before us.
Like the one that did.
"No!" Harley screamed, horrified at the memory that was playing in front of us.
"That child is only a tool." He said as an injured Harley laid in front of him and Batman. "A tool to bring you closer to me."
"You… are sick, Joker." Batman said and I could not have agreed more. "You ruined an innocent's life," He said as he looked at the injured Harley, "For your sick plans you destroyed her life."
"Oh, Batman Batman Batman~" Joker laughed, "It does not matter if a girl or two gets hurt. What matters is that she fulfilled her role. She managed to bring us closer." His laugh grew louder as the look of horror in Harley's eyes grew bigger. "She is just a fool in love and a tool for me."
"N-No." Harley laughed, "He is just saying that to lower Batman's g-guard! Y-Yeah! That is it!"
I sighed, "Then recall all those times that he said such things in front of you with no Batman involved."
"There was never a time like that!" She claimed but both of us knew that she was lying as yet again, another scene unfolded.
"You are nothing more than a minion you fool!" Joker roared, "Do not overstep your boundaries! To me you are a tool and if you dare ruin my plans I do not mind replacing you!"
"I-I love you, puddin'–"
"I DON'T!" Joker slapped her, "Know your place, girl!"
"No…"
Harley stumbled back.
"This is not true."
She laughed but we both knew that it wasn't a happy laugh.
"It is just a false memory."
Everything faded once again and this time around– it was a dark void.
It was not a younger Harley trying to escape her father but the adult one trying to cling to the false memories of her love.
A love that wasn't love but desperation.
"Wake up from this delusion, Harley." I said, "He never loved you. He only used you."
"SHUT UP!" She screamed, "YOU KNOW NOTHING!"
"I know enough to see that you were being used."
She was fuming, "No! No! He wasn't!"
"Were the memories not enough?" I asked, "You were abused, you were stripped away of the one thing you had –your innocence. And you still think he cared about you?"
I was lighting up a bomb, but maybe… just maybe that bomb needed to explode once for it to not be a threat ever again.
"You are lying!"
"Am I?" I asked and her rage exploded.
"Yes! Yes it is your fault!" She finally broke, "You killed him! Everything was perfect before you came! You are the reason for my misery!"
When a person does not want to believe in something, they tend to blame others.
And that was what Harley did.
"If you never existed I could have lived in peace with Puddin'!"
With that statement, I felt a strong force of wind striking at me.
And by the time I realized what it was from, it was right in front of my face.
"Gahh!"
Barely blocking it by enchanting the air with the hardness of diamond, I was able to protect myself from the massive hammer that Harley swung at me.
"Die!"
She screamed and the hammer swung again from behind.
It was impossible for her to move such a massive hammer but she did, reminding me that this was her world, her mind.
This world did not follow the rules of physics, physics followed the rules of this world.
"You should have never come to Gotham!"
I accelerated my speed and dodged the hammer but just as quickly my body decelerated because of her wish.
This was fucking bad.
"Wake up Harley!" I yelled, "Open your eyes and remember what he did to you!"
"No!" She shouted and the ground below me started to shake violently.
"Shut Up!!!" She screamed, "He was my world!"
The area around me started to explode as if countless dynamites went off.
"That's a lie!" I yelled, "Remind yourself of all the people that were there for you!"
"There was no one!" She denied it but I did not give up.
"It is a lie!" I said, "Croc saved you from the league countless times! Ivy was there for you every time you needed her and there were countless other people in Gotham that supported you whereas all Joker did was to use you!"
It was extremely difficult to out-enchant her disenchantment.
Especially when I was enchanting my mind, balancing a connection with her mind as well as enchanting this body.
Under normal circumstances, I would be happy and call it an achievement but here I did not have the time or the luxury for that.
"B-But but he was also there for me!"
She was cracking!
I could see it.
I needed to keep reminding her.
"Harley!" I said, "For your sake! For the sake of Ivy! Remember!"
"No!" Tears started dripping down her cheeks but she did not stop her attacks.
"Remind yourself of all the times Ivy and the rest were there for you yet Joker wasn't!"
"S-Stop!" She cried.
"You do not need Joker to survive! You are enough by yourself! You do not have to be Harley!" I said, "You can be Harleen again!"
"P-Please stop!"
"Remember the times you were happy with your friend!" I requested, "You can be who you want to be. Harley… Harleen whoever. Just remember."
And remember she did.
"Ivy…" She muttered, "Pam…"
Her attacks weakened.
"Joker did not love you but Pamela did. She cared for you not as a friend but as a sister." I said, "She misses you."
Memories of happiness and bliss of her laughing with Pamela flooded her mind as in the blink of a moment, I saw countless images of her and Pamela joking and goofing around floating through the void.
"See!" I shouted, "You have her, you have friends, you have people that you care about!"
"I-I do?"
Her belief cracked.
"You do!" The heavy pressure that I felt lifted up but the wind around us became strong.
"D-Does she truly care about me?" Harley asked.
"She does!"
And I wasn't lying. Pamela spent sleepless nights trying to find a cure for Harley.
"I-I am scared." Harley finally voiced, "What if she lies like puddin' did?"
"She isn't lying!" I declared, feeling the space around us cracking as her belief trembled and her previous views shattered. "And if she does, you will be the one to decide your fate and the relationship you two share! No one else!"
Gravity suddenly increased making both of us find it difficult to stand.
Yeah… even Harley found it difficult to stand in her own mindscape.
Why? Because it was crumbling down.
"I-It is too late." She said with a pained smile –one that she showed while shuddering in fear.
"It is not… She is still waiting for you." I said, "So, please… just come with me. Come to her."
For the first time, I requested her and maybe… maybe she was finding the courage as she slowly started to crawl towards me.
"I-I don't deserve this… I don't deserve a second chance."
"Maybe not, but it is for the others to decide." I said, "So… take my hand."
I extended my hand, "If you take it you will be back with Ivy."
"Repent for your mistakes, do not run like a coward. And you will have people that will walk with you and support you!"
"D-Do you promise?" She finally started to extend her hand towards me.
"I do."
She stared into my eyes and I started into hers –both of our eyes filled with determination.
And in that moment, neither of us realized that our hands had touched.
And with that touch, time stopped and the world started to disintegrate.
At that moment, there was only one question and only one answer.
"Do I deserve happiness?" She asked.
"You do." I answered.
And with that, both of our visions went dark.
And the world…
The world faded away.
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[[A/N: This took me hours to write and damn it is almost 3k words long –just 50-ish words short.
If there are spelling mistakes, let me know.
While I am not fully satisfied with how this chapter turned out, I did my best to write Harley's character. She is extremely complex and maybe even more difficult than Joker to write (Nah not true.)
But yeah, this was a challenge to write. So, I hope you like it.
Wow, with this A/N this chapter is 3k+ words.
Cheers. (Last chapter was 2.2k as well.)
From now, we will be able to focus on Green Arrow and the main plot.]]
