alordofstories
What if the person you became was the monster you were running from?
Harley Quinn has found peace. Living with Poison Ivy in their own universe, she's finally escaped the shadow of the Joker and built a life worth living. But peace is fragile, and the past has a way of catching up.
Ripped from her home by the enigmatic Phantom Stranger, Harley wakes in an alternate Gotham-a city transformed by the Joker's final joke. Ten years ago, he poisoned the air with diluted Joker gas, forcing its citizens to pay the "Smile Tax" just to breathe. Those who can't afford anti-laughing inhalers become Smilers-mindless, grinning shells of their former selves.
And ruling over this broken city is the worst possible version of Harley Quinn: The Toxic Harley.
A tyrant who rose to power through bloodshed and exploitation, the Toxic Harley is everything Main Harley fears she could have become. But the nightmare doesn't end there. Harley is trapped in this body through a Soul Binding, forced to watch as the Toxic Harley-a manifestation of unprocessed grief called the Grief Ego-takes control at the worst possible moments.
The trigger? Her son Lukan's stress and pain.
Lukan is sweet, gentle, and desperate for his mother's love. He looks like the Joker but is nothing like him-pure of heart and endlessly forgiving. But his stress causes his skin to bleach, and that pain summons the Toxic Harley. It's a horrific feedback loop: the more he suffers, the more she takes over. The more she takes over, the more he suffers.
Lucy, his twin sister, has become the shield. She plays the "favorite" to distract the Toxic Harley from her brother, hating every moment of it. She's cold, calculating, and deeply traumatized. She desperately wants to trust her mother, but she's been burned too many times.
Harley must find a way to break the curse or let her past impulses win