Hello one and all, I'm back again. Sorry for the long break in between chapters 20 and 21, I truly am. This has been one of the hardest chapters to write for this story, I won't lie. I don't know how but writer's block has effected me the most over the October month and every time I've sat down to write this chapter, I've gone blank. Luckily, I managed to get it done over the Halloween period (That Joker spirit must have been with me lmao) and it's here for you all.

I hope you enjoy!

Creeping down the stairs, Harley watched the Joker with a grin. He seemed devilish and unlike the calm, collected and charming man that she had known before. No, now he had turned into this rabid animal, this manipulative horror that had one plan in mind. This was the Joker that the people of Gotham feared, the one that the news and the tabloids knew, this was the terrorist hidden underneath the skin. With his one plan in mind, Joker slowly pushed the door to the ground floor open and crept inside, shushing the scared party-goers to make sure none of them attracted attention to him and spoiled his plan. Gripping her now-signature bat in her hands, Harley giggled in delight and followed him.

Going down onto her knees and following him, Harley smiled. This was her chance, perhaps one of her only chances ever, to impress the Joker and show that she was more than just a pretty face and candy on his arm. She was determined to prove to him that she was tough, that she was better than he thought she was. And if it meant throwing herself in front of one of Penguin's bullets to do it, then that's exactly what she would do.

The entire of the nightclub floor was quiet, except for the absent music that was being played over the sound speakers. Every partygoer that had once been enjoying their night was now lying on the floor or crouching down in shock, whimpering and clutching their knees. The pure fear, the anxiety and the dread that Harley saw in the eyes of the people around her, it showed her what the true underbelly of Gotham City was like. The fear that this man, that the Penguin, could control and operate by waltzing into a nightclub was unbelievable. The power at the man's fingertips, it rivalled that of the Joker himself.

As Harley and the Joker stared at one another, she could see the plotting that was going on inside the skull of the Clown Prince. She could see the psychopath behind his eyes, the true form of the King of Gotham. Harley watched intently as her puddin' formed his plan, looking down at the floor and muttering to himself. Eventually, his plotting is interrupted by the sound of gunfire from the entrance of the club. Snapping his head towards the sound, Harley watched as Joker looked upon the scene like a rabid dog. His eyes wide and a sinister, yellowed grin upon his face, Joker slowly reached and grabbed hold of his revolver.

Before he could move any further, Joker's movements were cut short by the sound of a yell. The vocal chords made the voice sound English and quite royal, as far as Harley could tell.

"Turn that bloody music off!" The voice cried out. "It's giving me a goddamn headache!"

Hearing the orders, almost in complete servitude, Harley watched as a gun fired off towards the DJ area. The initial firing shocked her a little, but a stern look from the Joker made sure that she did not make a single noise. It did not shock him, he didn't even flinch. Joker simply furrowed his brow and placed his finger over his mouth, and of course Harley listened.

"Now, that's better." The voice called out once again, this time making grunts as if they were climbing something. "I can actually hear myself think again!"

Looking over, Harley watched as this lean man in his mid-twenties climbed onto the rampart in the middle of the club. If this was the Penguin that she had heard so much about, then Harley was certainly shocked. She had expected someone a lot more…penguin-like. Short, perhaps balding with a nose like a beak. This man was nothing like that. He had nicely-cut, trimmed black hair with a five o'clock shadow, as well as his lean-muscular build adding to his attractiveness. Harley thought he was rather good-looking, albeit knowing that he would never be as good as Mr. J was.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, I'm here to make a statement." The man spoke in his thick, British accent, waving a handgun around like it was a plastic toy. "My boys and I, we're not here to cause you any harm. We're just here to send a message. So, if everybody relaxes and allows us to do the job that we came to do, then we'll get along just smashing."

Turning around to look at the little gang he brought with him, or at least Harley thought he was, the man waved two fingers in a circular motion. "Spread out and find the Joker."

At this point, Harley could see that the Joker was livid. If he was an animal, he would be foaming at the mouth. The fact that the man had waltzed into his place of work, his own fine establishment and wrought havoc to send a simple message had Joker gripped the grip of his revolver as tightly as he could. With a growl, Harley watched in shock as Joker climbed up onto the walkway directly in front of the man.

"Oswald, my dear friend!" Joker exclaimed, holding his hands out. "What are you doing?"

"Don't call me, 'friend', you scum!" Oswald snarled. "You'll pay for what you did!"

Harley watched as Joker's mouth slowly dropped open, as if he was operated like a puppet. His right arm slowly went limp as he slanted his head and stared at Oswald. "What?"

"You heard me!" Oswald cried. "You'll pay for what you did to my restaurant!"

Immediately throwing his hands up into the air, Joker cackled but did not take his eyes from Oswald, still locked in eye contact with him. "That's what this is about? That old, run-down little shack that smelt disgustingly like fish? It deserved to be shot up."

"Don't you…don't you dare!" Oswald raised his eyebrows and snapped his handgun towards Joker, which automatically made Joker's hand shoot up to do the same. "That restaurant has been in my family for generations! It has history!"

"Careful, Oswald." Joker took a step forwards and held his hands out. "It's unwise to threaten a man in his own home. It's very…disrespectful."

Harley watched the entire confrontation in awe, her eyes wide and her mouth open. Every now and again she let a giggle leave her vocal chords, excited about the potential explosion that could happen from the meeting of these two men.

"You think I give a damn about respect for you?! You're nothing, Joker! Nothing to me!" Penguin gritted his teeth. "You're worth less than the dirt on my heel."

"Then what does that make you, Penguin?" Joker snarled. "Where does that leave you on the food chain? If I'm a small, insignificant little piece of dirt, then you're a tiny little speck of dust that nobody ever notices. Just like your family, Oswald, you're insignificant. A remaining piece of the relic that was the Cobblepot family."

"Enough of this!" Penguin roared. "Lads, light this clown up like a Christmas tree!"

Almost immediately, Harley heard the guns click on the rifles of Penguin's men. Jumping into action, she jumped onto the rampart and twirled the bat between her hands, causing all of Penguin's goons to stop in shock and for the Joker to cackle once more. Locking eyes with the nearest thug, Harley ran and dove off the stage, swinging the bat in the direction of the man's face and connecting swiftly with his cheek. Stamping her high heel down into his chest for an audible scream, she swung the bat down onto his forehead and knocked him clean out.

"Who in the hell is she?!" The Penguin roared once more, his finger directly pointing at Harley, who was now innocently swinging her now-bloodied baseball bat.

"That, my friend, is the new Queen of Gotham City." Joker took another step forward. "Bow down and pay homage, Penguin. Bow down to the wonder that is Harley Quinn."

Penguin chuckled. "You've got to be joking. Where the hell did you get someone as freaky-looking as you…"

Before he could finish his sentence, Harley watched as Joker slammed his fist straight into Penguin's mouth, dropping him straight down onto his back. His lip bloodied and his face bruised from all of Joker's rings, Penguin looked up delirious and dazed. The man's plan certainly hadn't gone to plan at all. Harley simply stood and stared as the Joker stalked Penguin like a predator, pointing his revolver at Penguin's face with a single thought in mind.

"Now that…that was not funny, Cobblepot." Joker gritted his teeth. "Not funny at all."

Penguin didn't even respond, he just dropped his head and growled under his breath. Harley watched in awe, on her knees holding the edge of the rampart with both hands, as Joker made an example of the man that had entered their palace and ran havoc with their guests. Harley looked upon Penguin with disgust, as a man that did not know his place. Joker was the King of Gotham City and she was his queen, he did not have the right or place to disrespect her in such a way as he had done. Watching as Joker dropped his revolver beside him and gripped Penguin by the back of his perfectly combed hair, Harley cackled as Joker simply stared and smiled into his enemy's face, his metal grills glistening in the lights.

As many more of the Joker Gang swept into the building from the back room and the front entrance, they caught Penguin's mobsters off-guard due to their interest and shock about how quick their leader had been put to shame. Harley watched with a grin as many surrendered and put their guns down, submitting themselves to the torment that would no doubt come from choosing the wrong gang to side with in the gang war for control of Gotham.

"Now…what should we do with you? Hm?" Joker made a look of confusion, biting down on his tongue gently as he looked around.

At this point, Harley climbed up onto the rampart and knelt in front of Penguin. She stared at him with contempt, before slowly pulling away and giggling in the cutest manner that she could possibly muster in her insane mind. Looking up at Joker, she smiled and cocked her head to the side. "Teach him a lesson, Puddin'. Show him why we're on top."

Joker simply cackled and pushed him back to the floor. Without hesitation or warning, Harley felt her body reaching for her baseball bat. However, as she looked to do so, something started to scream inside her mind. She felt it, like a drum being played on the inside of her skull. It stopped her dead in her tracks and caused her to grit her teeth and scrunch her eyes up in shock. She recognized this scream as one of Harleen Quinzel's, the cry she made before an electric current torched her personality and left her clinging onto reality. She felt Harleen on the inside of her head, in one final attempt to stop her from doing something that should could possibly later regret. This was it, one of the last turning points in her life. Was she able to remorselessly hand over the weapon that could lead to this man's brains being beaten into a pulp and dropped all over the rampart?

Was this her now? The remorseless killer sidekick of the Clown Prince of Crime? Is that what she had become? The prized second-in-command of the Joker Gang? She had been brainwashed and moulded over months of therapy by this man, her brain and her body morphed into something that he wanted by his side. From the first day the two of them sat down, Harley knew that she should have been playing by her rules.

But they weren't.

She made the mistake of placing her trust in the hands of a madman. And this is where he had landed her. No remorse, no shame, no conscience. Not just another criminal on the rungs of the Gotham City underworld, but the partner of the man who ruled Gotham City, the man that she had fallen so helplessly in love with.

So, yes. Yes, she was able.

Snapping back into reality after a few seconds, Harley giggled and threw the bat in Joker's direction without any mercy or remorse towards the Penguin. Immediately catching it with excellent reflexes, Joker turned his attention to Penguin. Pulling him up onto his knees, Harley watched with a sinister grin as the two men, the two rivals, locked eyes. There was a look of understanding in Penguin's eyes, a look of knowing. He knew that his plan had failed and that he was subject to whatever fate was left for him and he would face it head held high and with dignity.

"So, where should we start?" Joker grinned, tapping his fingernails on the bat with eagerness as he scanned across Penguin's body. "Hmm…. there."

Harley jumped back a little in shock as Joker connected the bat with Penguin's cheek, sending him tumbling back down to the ground with a yelp, bloody saliva following him down. After taking a split second to gather her bearings, Harley looked at Joker and applauded him, cheering for him as he stood over Penguin again.

"This is what happens, Cobblepot." Joker grinned. "This is what happens when you undermine me. You see, Oswald, you are quite deluded. You believed that I wouldn't know what you were up to? You think this wasn't all planned? I know a rat when I see one, Oswald, and I saw you from a mile away."

Penguin simply turned his head and spat blood in Joker's direction, albeit barely touching him with it. "You…"

"Hm?" Joker bent down, leaning his weight on the bat. "Didn't catch that?"

In response, Penguin simply groaned.

"Just what I thought." Standing up, Joker rolled his head in a circular fashion before smiling once again. "Now, back to business."

With a yelp of her own, Harley's eyes widened as Joker brought the baseball bat down Penguin's left knee, wood colliding with bone horrifically as Penguin cried out in pain. She watched as he smashed it down a few more times, before throwing the bat away carelessly in Harley's direction. Quickly running to pick it up, Harley watched as Penguin held his knee with a grimace, whimpering a little as Joker stood over him.

"I'm the one in charge here, Cobblepot." Joker folded his arms. "And this is what happens to people who don't respect that. But you should be thankful, I only broke your kneecap!"

With a cackle, Joker kicked Penguin in the face in a playful manner and quickly knocked him down and out, ending the whole coup in spectacular fashion. Dusting his hands off and rubbing them on his suit pants, Joker picked up his revolver and twirled it on his finger aimlessly, before looking over and absent-mindedly firing at one of Penguin's goons who had just surrendered, the bullet connecting right in his heart area.

"Jonny!" Joker growled in that direction, causing Jonny Frost to appear out of the crowd of cowering civilians. "Get rid of him. I don't know how, just do it."

Without a word, Jonny nodded and looked down at Penguin, shaking his head with a sigh. Joker simply jumped down next to Harley and flexed his shoulders, before looking at her with a large grin plastered to his face.

"Well, that was fun."

Without another word, Harley watched as Joker walked straight past her and back towards the back room, kicking the dead Penguin goon in the stomach on his way past. Harley's look of shock slowly faded away into her own grin, before she smiled and quickly jogged to catch up to her Puddin'.