"We're screwed!"
Harley Quinn's heart sank.
Green vines covered her body, beginning to feed on her flesh and blood.
She regretted not having brought a few bombs with her so she could take these people down with her.
There was no way she could escape the clutches of these Laughing Ones now.
Even Poison Ivy, who could control plants, and Solomon Grundy, the giant zombie who had risen from the dead—
Even those who could manipulate people's minds had been infected by Joker Venom.
Her gaze swept over her surroundings.
The ACE Chemical Plant, which had been fine just moments ago, was now nothing but ruins.
Two-Face and Black Mask's men were buried beneath the rubble, crimson blood seeping out from underneath.
Black Mask's body hung limply from the green vines like a withered tree.
Two-Face was bound by vines, motionless, his face as pale as a corpse.
Nearby, the cold radiating from Mr. Freeze was fading. He was covered in blood and didn't look like he'd last much longer.
Harley Quinn clenched her teeth and pulled a dagger Lynn had given her from her pocket.
Rip!
The sharp dagger cut straight through the vines, and she dropped to the ground.
The pistol she'd been carrying had fallen to the ground when the vines wrapped around her.
"Heeheehee... Harley Quinn, stop struggling for nothing. Just be a good girl and become my specimen."
Laughing Poison Ivy approached at a leisurely pace, the smile on her face growing more and more deranged.
Harley Quinn stared hard at Laughing Poison Ivy.
All her gear had fallen to the ground. With nothing weighing her down, she could easily run off to the side.
And not far away, a van sat near the ruins.
If she could reach it, she could start the engine and escape.
She knew that if she ran, the Criminal Alliance would be utterly wiped out by the Laughing Legion.
But if she didn't, she'd die here without ever making a name for herself in Gotham.
So how could she escape?
The mechanical arms behind Laughing Robin clutched several corpses, including people she recognized.
Countless mummified corpses were impaled on Laughing Poison Ivy's vines.
Even Mr. Freeze was on the verge of death.
What's more, nearby, Laughing Mad Hatter and the other Laughing Ones were grinning as they picked up mangled corpses and body parts.
With so many of them in the Laughing Legion, could Harley Quinn really escape?
"Fuck! If I can't get out anyway, I'll take a few of you bastards with me! I, Harley Quinn, am the Queen of Gotham!"
Harley Quinn rolled to the side, dodging a huge plant vine.
She picked up the rocket launcher on the ground and fired at the people ahead.
Boom!
As soon as the missile left the launcher, one of the mechanical arms behind Laughing Robin blocked it.
Harley Quinn gritted her teeth and kept firing at the people ahead.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
She fired every missile in the launcher, blasting the spot where the Laughing Ones stood amid the ruins.
Blazing light and smoke engulfed them all, but Harley Quinn knew that with the Laughing Legion's equipment, a rocket launcher wouldn't do a thing.
She rolled to the side, gripped her dagger, and cut Mr. Freeze down from the vines.
"How are you?" she asked.
"I'm... fine," Mr. Freeze replied weakly.
"Blow them up, Harley. Blow them up! Gotham's beyond saving!"
As soon as he finished speaking, several missiles shot out of the thick black smoke.
Harley Quinn's scalp prickled. In her wide eyes, she saw the warheads of three missiles hurtling toward her.
"Holy crap!"
Rumble!!
Rubble rained down densely, like sheets of rain.
Harley Quinn spat out a mouthful of blood. Pain burned through her whole body, and her ears throbbed as if she were about to go deaf.
She tried to get up, only to realize in shock that a huge rock had pinned down both her legs. She couldn't move at all.
Harley Quinn looked toward Mr. Freeze and saw that fragments from the exploded missiles had pierced his body. He lay there motionless.
It looked like he was already dead.
She gave a bitter laugh.
Heh... the newly formed Criminal Alliance had run into the Laughing Legion and been completely wiped out.
If Joker were still around, he'd probably be laughing nonstop at this joke.
Tap, tap, tap!
Footsteps approached from ahead.
Harley Quinn lay on the ground, watching indifferently as Laughing Poison Ivy, Laughing Robin, and the others walked toward her.
The Laughing Ones carried the corpses of Criminal Alliance members in their hands.
But Deathstroke was the only one missing.
"I knew it! That bastard Deathstroke really did run away!"
Harley Quinn cursed, then murmured, "Maybe that's for the best. If he got away, he can survive. Maybe he can even save Gotham..."
As she gazed at the pale, grinning faces before her, Harley Quinn thought back over her life.
A poverty-stricken childhood spent living on scholarships, and a dream of changing the crime situation as an intern psychiatrist.
A life of crime, and a life shattered into pieces.
The scenes played over and over before her eyes like a movie.
Heh... Harley Quinn, you're a joke.
What Queen of Gotham? Once you're dead, no one will even remember you.
"Heh... what a sad joke."
A voice filled with manic laughter rang out from ahead, interrupting Harley's thoughts.
She looked up and saw several dark gun barrels aimed at her.
Was this really how Harley Quinn's story ended?
Dying in some secluded corner, unknown and forgotten.
Heh. How pathetic.
A self-mocking smile appeared on her face.
Then Harley stared at the Laughing Ones before her and raised her right hand, giving them the middle finger.
"Fuck you, Batman Who Laughs!!"
"Is that your last word? Heeheehee, what a useless one!"
One of the Laughing Ones slowly squeezed the trigger. Steel bullets were about to fly from the dark gun barrel.
Just then—
"Lightning Release: Electric Current Drive, 80,000 Volts, 80% Perfect Realm, Thunder Blast!!"
As the words fell, terrifying golden lightning burst forth!
The thunderbolt swept in from another part of the ruins like divine punishment, surging with unstoppable force as it struck the Laughing Ones.
The terrifying golden lightning tore through the air amid a deafening roar, piercing the abdomens of Laughing Poison Ivy, Laughing Robin, and the others.
Laughing Robin's eyes widened as he stared at the nightmare-like figure beneath the pitch-black night sky.
Black-and-yellow armor enveloped the man from head to toe. He looked like the Grim Reaper, come to harvest lives, and yet also like an angel bringing hope.
He was utterly shocked.
At that moment, Laughing Robin thought he saw Batman's old shadow.
That king of Gotham, that nightmare-like figure.
The terrifying current erupted, killing the Laughing Ones clad in their high-performance suits.
"Deathstroke?" Harley Quinn opened her weary eyes and stared in shock at the man who had walked up to her.
It really was him!
When had he gained such incredible power?
Harley Quinn was shaken to the core, staring in disbelief at the man standing before her.
And at the Laughing Ones, charred to a crisp ahead.
Amid the surrounding ruins, Lynn's cold face showed not the slightest emotion.
After he rushed out earlier, he had spotted the Laughing Legion's fleet of drones and fought them off elsewhere.
Only just now had he found a chance to rush over.
He lifted Harley Quinn out from beneath the rubble.
Lynn narrowed his eyes and looked up at the laughing Bat symbol appearing above the clouds.
"We have to get out of here, Harley."
The moment he finished speaking, the two vanished into the night.
"Ha ha ha ha ha..."
Not long afterward, manic laughter rang out.
A figure clad in a bright blue suit, laughing wildly, flew down from the sky.
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