She Was a Monster

Harley Quinn appeared outside Hugo's private lounge in a white coat and high heels, her steps hurried.

She walked straight toward the closed steel gate, completely ignoring the two armed guards outside it.

"I have urgent business with Professor Strange."

Even as she spoke, she reached for the door.

Both guards stepped forward at once, blocking her path with their shotguns held across their chests.

"Professor Strange has ordered that no one enter or disturb him," the guard on the left said.

Harley's hand froze in midair. She turned to look at the guard who had spoken.

"Take a good look at who I am. Everything I do has always had the professor's express permission."

The guard on the right had already aimed his gun at her. Faced with this woman, he had to stay on his guard.

"No means no."

The two guards weighed their options:

If they let Harley in and offended Professor Strange, they would become experimental supplies by tomorrow morning;

If they kept Harley out and offended her, the worst she would do was knock them down. At least they could say they had tried to stop her.

Harley glared at the two human walls, her breathing growing a little heavier.

She was not someone who often heard no. Strange had even given her a Special Access Card that let her enter his lounge in an emergency.

But she had just received a message from Herman: Ririko was in Strange's room.

At first, she had not believed it.

Hugo would never be alone with another woman in his lounge. Even when he met with Harley, it was only when an emergency arose at Arkham.

But seeing the security here, she had no choice but to believe it.

Something beyond normal procedure had to be happening behind that door.

"Move!" Harley's voice sank. "Don't make me get rough with you."

The two guards kept their guns raised and did not move.

Just as the three stood on the brink of a confrontation, they all heard a sound from behind the door.

A woman's laughter drifted out, soft and sweet, as though something had amused her-or, more likely, as though she were basking in the intimate afterglow of pleasure.

Of course, both guards understood what that sound meant. Their backs stiffened, all their attention captured by the sensual scene they imagined behind the door.

Harley gave them no time for erotic daydreams.

She pulled a Stun Gun from her coat pocket. Before either guard could make a sound, both crumpled to the floor.

The whole thing took less than two seconds.

Harley slipped the Stun Gun back into her pocket and pressed her card against the lock's sensor. The red light turned green, and the electromagnetic lock gave a muted beep.

She pushed open the door and froze.

"What... are you doing?"

Ririko sat at the desk with a ceramic dinner plate in front of her.

On the plate lay a piece of roast beef, its edges lightly crisped and its cut surface a perfect pink,

She was holding a silver knife and fork, bringing a small piece of sliced beef to her mouth.

Then she picked up the stemmed glass beside her and took a sip of red wine.

Hugo sat opposite her in a suit and polished shoes.

The atmosphere between them was perfectly normal. No buttons were undone, no sheets were rumpled...

Hugo stood, his expression icy. "Doctor Quinn, who gave you permission to come in?"

If Ririko had not made a bet with him as an "experiment" that Harley would arrive uninvited tonight, he would not have waited here all this time.

Harley stood in the doorway, still clutching the Special Access Card.

"I thought you were..."

Ririko looked past Hugo's shoulder and complained softly to her:

"If it weren't for Professor Strange, I would have starved to death."

Ririko's voice was soft and gentle, carrying just the right touch of wounded grievance.

Then she narrowed her eyes at Harley. "Harley, you know how awful Herman is. She's abusing me."

Harley's eyebrows lifted.

Hugo walked toward Harley, his jaw tight. That expression warned of an approaching storm.

"Was Herman the one who sent you the message?" he asked Harley.

Harley could only nod.

Hugo was furious that Herman had so utterly failed to "read the situation" and had even tried to use Harley to obstruct him.

He turned to Ririko, his voice a shade lower than when he had spoken to Harley. "Go back to your room once you've finished eating."

Ririko hurriedly stuffed the last bite of beef into her mouth and wiped its corners with a napkin.

"I want to come too."

She did not want to miss such a spectacular moment. Watching was especially satisfying when Hugo's anger was directed at someone other than her.

Hugo hesitated.

But his gaze lingered on her lips, glistening with beef fat...

"Let's go," he said.

Harley stood beside the door, watching the two pass her one after the other.

As Ririko passed Harley, she turned her face and whispered, "I miss you so much. Come visit me more often when you have time."

Harley's heart skipped a beat.

[Core character: Harley Quinn]

[Current infatuation value: 22/100]

All the lights in the Warden's office were on.

Herman stood uneasily in the center of the room.

She had thought Harley would expose Ririko's seduction of Hugo, and that Hugo would ultimately throw Ririko into the "Failed Experiment" incinerator for the sake of Arkham's lasting peace and stability.

But that was only what she had imagined.

In reality, special guards had "escorted" her here, and she already knew things had not gone as she had planned.

Harley had not "caught them in bed." Hugo had not been exposed. Even that seductive woman was now standing in a corner of the office, watching her with perfect composure.

Hugo sat behind the Warden's broad desk.

He rested his hands on the desktop, fingers interlaced, as though the office had belonged to him all along.

The Warden himself had been forced into a small chair beside it, his eye level a full head lower than Hugo's.

At Arkham, the Warden and the Chief Physician were nominally equals.

But Hugo held far too much authority. Anyone who offended this madman might well wake up the next morning on an operating table, their body riddled with tubes...

With that thought, the Warden had no choice but to hand over the authority to pass judgment on Herman.

Hugo spoke. "Head of Security Herman, you privately defied orders by withholding a patient's meals, abused your surveillance privileges while off duty, and disclosed information about a patient's whereabouts to an unauthorized party."

His gaze was cold as he listed three charges in one breath.

Herman raised her chin slightly.

"Everything I did was for Arkham."

Her voice was a little hoarse. "I've been loyal to you all these years. These things... what do these things even amount to? You can't treat me like this."

She pressed her lips together, deeply resentful that she was being called to account over such trivial charges.

The Warden shifted uneasily beside them.

"Professor Strange, look, Doctor Herman has worked at Arkham for so many years, and she's always been diligent. Perhaps there's been some misunderstanding..."

Hugo did not look at him.

The Warden could only shrink awkwardly back into his chair.

Through his tinted lenses, Hugo glanced toward the corner of the room.

Ririko glanced at him with her right eye, the corner of her mouth twitching: Deal with her already.

Their tacit exchange of glances was like hidden currents converging beneath calm water, stirring up a terrifying undertow.

Herman saw it, and her pupils abruptly contracted.

She could manipulate Hugo so brazenly. This man was the highest authority in Arkham. If even he sided with her... hadn't I lost from the very beginning?

"That woman-she's a monster!"

Her terrified voice squeezed out from the deepest part of her throat.