The Joker's Perspective:
So... whilst Harley has been having a tizzy with Empress...I've been kidnapped from my own home, taken to a warehouse, beaten with a crowbar, met someone who should've been dead but is somehow miraculously alive, been pounded by several thugs, had my jokes blatantly ignored rudely by said thugs, shoved back in a van and finally now arrived back at my front door. All caught up? Good. Now... let's see if Harley's still alive.
I opened the apartment door, closing it behind me. I strolled into the bedroom...what I saw...I can only describe as a boyfriend's worst nightmare.
Harley looked up at me with horror and embarrassment.
"Puddin! I...I can explain, this isn't what it looks like!" she tried to defend what my eyes clearly saw. She was lying on the bed...kissing Empress. That's what I saw. "You have to believe me...please!" she begged for me to believe her.
I picked up the revolver which was laying on the duvet next to them.
"I can forgive a lot of things you do, Harley. But this...this is inexcusable!" I pointed the gun at both of them. "Now I have to consider which one of you I should actually kill" I wasn't sure whether to be angry or sad. Or to just kill them both. Harley got up from the bed and tried to make me calm down. "After the 'fun' time I just had at a warehouse with Jerome...I didn't expect to come home and find you having sex with his cousin. Even worse is the fact that she tried to kill not just you, but me as well!" I was shrugging her adorableness off and just ignoring it. "It's almost as if you're trying to make me go even more insane than I already am."
"Don't be mad at Harley, I forced her into this." Empress bravely explained.
"And you...my most trustworthy mercenary...you've been working with me, protecting my ass for years and now I find you making out with my girl?" I adjusted the aim of the gun over to Empress. She was the one who was most deserving of a bullet at this point. "There's a line I cross, Emma...and you crossed it, and yet I shrugged it off. But I won't be making the same mistake twice." I braced my finger to pull the trigger, Empress got off the bed slowly...putting her hands up and calmly trying to change my mind.
I kept the gun firmly locked on her as she moved. I did let Harley come behind the aim of the gun though, she was innocent enough to live.
"You have every right to put a bullet through my head right now...but please let me explain myself." she pleaded.
"The gun remains pointed at you, you go no where near Harley. And you stay fucking still. That's the deal" I explained seriously.
"Very well, I respect your orders..." Empress swallowed nervously. "My cousin...Jerome, he wasn't dead when I found him. I managed to get him some help, phoned an ambulance and they took him to hospital. Whilst we were there...the doctor said he wouldn't make it. He said the only way was with a risk...injecting him with five millilitres of XOS chemical formula. That's over double the recommended amount, but he was dying anyway." "When he awoke from the operation...his eyes lit up bright blue, and he got straight up. He felt no pain, no tiredness, he was himself but...something was wrong. He ended up killing the doctor, the nurse and then found himself kneeling before me. Insisting I was his 'Empress' and that I must command him...that I must command everyone, and if I didn't then he would kill himself. The only thing that was clear in his mind is that Harley Quinn and Joker were the ones responsible for his death...so he went on a path of revenge and insisted I planned the entire thing. I made it all up, there was no ambush for Batman, and now Jerome is probably already dead or locked up in prison." she paused.
"Why are you telling us this?" Harley asked suspiciously.
"Because this isn't who I am. I want to stop this, I didn't want to hurt Harley...but the thought of losing my only surviving family...I couldn't help myself, my thoughts and inhibitions took over and for a brief moment I nearly ended up dead. Harley, she shot me in the leg, not the head. I feel no pain, I feel no power. Jerome won't argue against me because he only has thoughts of me doing terrible things. Terrible things that I would never consider doing...terrible things that don't deserve to be mentioned. And yet I did them, I did them to save his life. I corrupted myself to fit the role of his 'Empress' and soon became associated with the underlying fact: That I was a cold-hearted,ruthless serial killer who killed for pleasure and the suffering of others. That is not true, it will never be true. What I've done...it's always going to play on my mind. I got into this business for a reason: To kill bad people and get a large pay-check at the end of it...why would I take another life if their head is not on a contract? Why take another life for the sake of another's pleasure? I know that's the same type of relationship you two share...and I would never take that away from you. You're perfect together. You both love each-other."
She looked at us both with admiration. I wasn't sure what I just heard, or how much of that lecture I actually paid attention to...but part of me believed her.
"You tried to break us up!" Harley shouted, ignoring Emma's plea for forgiveness.
"Have you ever wondered what it feels like to pretend to be someone you're not for so many years that you just get used to it? And then when you find yourself face to face with your cousin's killer you just sort of...let that part of you take over? I was angry, I was scared! I don't know...I'm a huge flirt, and my parents never approved of it." she explained sadly.
"Don't include me with yur sexual flirting! I aint interested!" Harley made that explicitly clear.
"I understand, but whatever you choose to do with me...Jerome will still be alive. He'll still be a threat to you and to Harley."
"I can handle that, he's no bother...you're just too much of a hassle to keep in this business. I'm letting you go" I prepared myself to pull the trigger, but Empress issued one more sentence to try and get me to reconsider.
"I will kill my own cousin and spend the rest of my life in Arkham." Empress admitted.
"Why would ya do that? You really are crazy aren't ya?" Harley asked. "Besides, Arkham aint even been rebuilt yet!"
"I will gladly face the punishment of my crimes in Blackgate until it's rebuilt and I get transferred there for being criminally insane." Emma explained.
"Why would you kill your last living relative? After you did so much for him...so much to yourself?" I asked.
"He turned me into this monster, and with him dead maybe I'll finally have peace of mind and time to myself. Jerome won't stop until you're both dead...I think you underestimate him and his power. The XOS is still in his system, and I don't know how much of it he has stashed away. I'll find it, destroy it and kill Jerome. He won't ever suspect it. He's forcing himself to bow before my hand...and I won't allow him to commit acts of murder and mutilation to try and impress me. Not anymore, it's gotten to the stage where it's more merciful to kill him than let him turn crazier than he already is."
"You want me to let your un free? This is just screaming 'trap'." I said.
"You have no reason to believe me...but you're The Joker, you're not powerless to an attempted threat on your life. Harley, you're a strong, beautiful woman...you love Joker and he loves you. Even if he won't admit it, he does." Empress winked at me.
She was somewhat right, but our relationship is complicated. It'll always be complicated, but Harley knows that...and she doesn't mind.
"Here, I'll prove it, pass me the phone...on the bed. I'll call him and end this right now" Empress directed her eyes onto the phone. I picked it up and handed it to her, still pointing the gun at her.
She dialled a number on the phone.
"Hi, yeah I'm fine...listen. I have to talk to you. No... Don't be stupid, Joker is back here...yeah of course I killed him. Where's his body? On the bed next to Harley's of course! They're a couple...they should stay together even in death. But enough about that, they're dead...and as your Empress...I....I command you to get a knife and slit your own throat...You dare argue against your Empress? Well that's what I'm ordering you to do, sweetie so you have no choice but to do it. You don't have a knife? Ugh...fine then just use a gun. There is no reason I want you dead...no of course not...I love you of course I love you, dear cousin but there's a time and a place for your affection and now is not that time. Yes...yes of course I want you to do it on the phone, how else would I know that you've done it? What? No...for god sake man just get on with it! I will come down there and kill you myself....if you don't shoot yourself in the head on this phone within the next sixty seconds. I mean it, pick up the gun from the table, pull back the trigger and put a bullet into your head. There's nobody telling me to say this...you'll thank me...please, cousin it's the merciful thing to do. You know it's the right thing, this stuff is killing you...no, fuck no! I'm not a lesbian, why would you even think that? Right...you're really pissing me off now...put a bullet...through your fucking skull right now...I love you too..."Empress put the phone on speaker just at the end of the conversation.
"This is for you, my Empress" Jerome gave into Empress' order, there was a gunshot. I heard the gunfire clearly through the speaker of the phone. He really did just kill himself...I didn't know what to think but that...that was actually making my hairs stand on edge.
Empress finished the phone conversation, dropping the phone to the floor and crying devastatingly into the palms of her hands.
"Thank you, dear cousin for granting my wish." Empress said gratefully.
"You...you really did it" Harley commented, in shock of what had just happened.
"Now you know I meant it, I hope that's enough for you to let me live the rest of my life in peace." Empress requested.
I lowered the gun. I wandered over to Empress. I touched her cheek softly, wiping away her tears.
"I've never seen anything so brave. So incredibly selfless and heart-warming. You're a beautiful, brave and clever young woman. I wish you the best of luck in life. If you end up in Blackgate, Arkham or stay on your own...know that you're always going to be deemed a hero after what you just did. I don't much like heroes...but you're an exception." I smiled at her forgivingly.
Empress smiled at me, putting her arms around me for a quick 'goodbye' hug and then did the same to Harley. Harley kissed her on the cheek and hugged her with a slight squeeze. Empress then opened the apartment door and closed it behind her.
"I hope you're not jealous?" Harley asked playfully.
"I'm not, but I can't properly understand what just happened...if I'm honest she was too open about the whole thing." I mentioned, distracted by the thoughts which were currently whizzing around in my brain.
"Well you were threatening her with a gun, Mistah J" she winked, taking the gun from my hands and putting it on the bed. "Remember when I said I wanted to have more authority?" she asked me.
"Yes, I remember it well, puddin" I said flirtatiously.
"Well, I'm just fine with being your little Harley Quinn. And we don't need to do anything to change that." she smiled at me.
I smiled back at her.
"Good girl." I said, patting her on the head gently.
I think I need to lie down after that. What just happened...that's too much excitement to handle in one day...even for me. I mean I've heard of accepting your fate and who you are...but inside, Empress is just scared of accepting who she is. I hope she does, she'll make a formidable ally. But at the same time, I think she'll break in prison or an asylum. I guess we'll see.