by Lisa Yee
“Gladly, Harley,” Batgirl said via the two-way communication device she had embedded in the hat. “Oh, and Miss Martian says to tell you that she’s finally got a lock on reading Mad Hatter’s mind, but her reception is fuzzy. She says don’t ever trust him. Mad Hatter seriously thought you’d be a great team and now he’s out for revenge.”
“Am I going too fast for you, Mr. Hatter?” Harley said, laughing as she grabbed her mallet and weaved her way out of the maze. “Ya know, I like to make people laugh, but just as much of the time, I seem to make people upset. And boy, you look really, totally, and impressively upset right now.” Harley slowed down. “Try to keep up, why don’t you?”
Mad Hatter was in pursuit, but not nearly as fast as the nimble Harley. The sun was setting outside the bubble as the two raced outside.
“WOWZA! Everyone is still here?” Harley asked. By now she was running up and down and loop-de-looping around the roller coaster tracks with Mad Hatter huffing and puffing behind her. She could see the carnival was as crowded as ever with people. “The bubble is still in place?”
“A confirmation on both,” Batgirl said. Harley stopped to adjust her hat to hear more clearly. “We’re still trying to break the bubble, but everyone is safe, and we’ve got the Krazy Karnival workers on lockdown while we sort out who’s a true criminal and who was under mind control.”
Before Harley could reply, someone grabbed her shoulder. “GOTCHA!” Mad Hatter cried triumphantly.
“No, got you!” she said, doing a flip and ending up standing in front of him. The tracks began to shake as a roller coaster car came barreling at them at high speed.
“Yikes!” both screamed.
Mad Hatter toppled headfirst into the roller coaster car. “See you!” he yelled to Harley, who had jumped over the car and was now standing on the tracks alone.
“Do you need backup?” Batgirl asked.
“I got this,” Harley assured her. “You keep working on breaking the bubble. Mad Hatter is my battle to fight.”
Mad Hatter was on the ground, holding two fistfuls of darts from the Balloon Pop game. “You won’t get me if I get you first, Harley!” he yelled, tossing darts at her. But for a guy who ran a carnival, his aim was terrible, and Harley dodged the darts easily.
Harley swung off the roller coaster track, twirled in a pike position in the air, and landed on her feet in front of Mad Hatter. “I’m making this easy for you,” she said. “How nice am I? Come and get me, or maybe now I should get you!”
Mad Hatter gulped as Harley swung her mallet around like she was twirling a baton, tossing it up a few times and then snatching it out of the air. She had blocked him and there was only one way he could escape. Holding on to his hat, Mad Hatter pivoted and headed toward the Ferris wheel. He grabbed on to a passenger car and was yanked off the ground.
Harley leapt and climbed up the turning wheel until she landed safely in the car Mad Hatter clung to.
“Phew! This is comfy,” she said, leaning back in the seat and admiring the view.
“Help!” someone called.
She peered down to find Mad Hatter hanging to the bottom of the car with one hand.
“Harley, help me!” he pleaded. “I’m losing my grip.”
“Aww, I dunno,” she said. “You were pretty mean, trying to use me to control the world. That’s so not cool.”
“That was the old me. This is the new me,” Mad Hatter insisted. He looked frightened. “Please, I’m scared.”
Mad Hatter’s face was drained of color. Tears puddled in his eyes. “Please, Harley,” he begged as the Ferris wheel continued to go round and round and round.
She took a breath. “I’ll help you so you don’t fall,” Harley finally said, offering him a hand, “but first you have to tell me how to break the bubble.”
“Listen,” Mad Hatter said as his fingers laced with hers. “Just get Obstreperous.”
“Obstrep-who?” Harley asked, confused.
“Obstreperous,” Mad Hatter repeated. “Harley, please,” he yelled. “A deal’s a deal. I just told you how to break the bubble, now save me!”
Mad Hatter’s hand was shaking. Harley could feel his fear as he was about to plummet to the ground. She tightened her grip, and with an “OOMPH!” pulled him to safety. “You can thank me now,” she said.
“Certainly,” he replied, catching his breath. “How’s about this for a thank you?”
Before Harley could say “you’re welcome,” Mad Hatter pushed her off the Ferris wheel.
“Not nice!” Harley could be heard yelling as she fell from the Mad Hatter’s sight. “I thought a deal was a deal!”
“Bye-bye, Harley Quinn,” Mad Hatter said, flicking a piece of lint off his jacket. “Pity. We could have been great together. But no one beats Mad Hatter.”
“No one but me!” said a gleeful voice. Harley pulled herself up and into the Ferris wheel car.
“How—? What—? Who—? How—?” Mad Hatter sputtered. “I pushed you. I saw you fall….”
“You should have stayed tuned, Mr. Hatter.” Harley pretended to look sad. “Scene one: You pushed me. Scene two: I landed in the car below. Scene three: I vaulted back up here. Why? ’Cause, duh! I’m a gymnast. It’s what we do,” Harley pointed out. “So, Mr. T., aka Mad Hatter, aka Mr. Soon to Be in Jail! Why don’t ya tell us how to shut down your impenetrable bubble?”
Furious, Mad Hatter’s face grew red as he summoned all the powers of his hat. His eyes narrowed as he focused on Harley, who scrunched her nose at him and swatted the air between them like she was batting away a fly.
“Hey, stop that!” she ordered. “You’re buggin’ me!”
Harley could hear Batgirl through the jester’s hat telling her to bring Mad Hatter in, but something kept interrupting her. It was Mad Hatter repeating, “You will surrender, you will surrender, you will surrender…”
Harley shut her eyes tight to block him out. Even though her hat had been deprogrammed and reprogrammed to sync with communications from Batgirl, Mad Hatter’s hat still had some serious powers.
“Block him!” Harley could hear Batgirl yelling. “He can only mind-control someone who is vulnerable. Don’t look at him. And think of something else, anything but Mad Hatter. He can’t control you if you don’t let him!”
Think of something else, Harley thought, scrunching her eyes closed. But what? Well, there’s that. And that. Oh, and that’s funny.
When the Ferris wheel car neared the ground, Mad Hatter leapt out. When Harley opened her eyes the ride was now hundreds of feet up. She took a breath and dove out. Midair, Harley placed her body into a tuck. When she neared the ground, she rolled, then jumped up, unscathed.
By then Mad Hatter had a large lead. Harley knew she had to stop him before he got to the Lost and Found where his workers were being held. Though they were without their hats, he still had powers of mind control. She may have been able to block Mad Hatter but they were already predisposed to criminal inclinations and more likely to go along with whatever he demanded of them.
In fast pursuit, Harley threw her whole body into the maddest tumble she had ever attempted. She landed on Mad Hatter’s shoulders, and his hat went flying as the two of them tumbled to the ground.
As he scrambled to pick up his hat, Harley beat him to it and put her foot down right on top of it. “What’s a Mad Hatter without a hat?” Harley asked, staring down at him.
Mad Hatter, who looked surprisingly small and weak without his hat, glared at her. He sighed and shrugged. “What?”
“Just mad,” Harley quipped as she raised her mallet high in the air.
“No, no, no!” he shouted. “No, not that!”
With a gleam in her eyes, Harley brought her mallet crashing down with all her might. Instantly, the hat exploded with wiring, electrical components, and computer chips. It sparked colorfully for a few moments, then winked out.
Everything went dark as all the rides stopped and the lights went out.
&nbs
p; “My hat!” Mad Hatter wailed.
“Oh, was that your hat?” Harley asked, giving him a wink. “The one that controlled the tech here at Krazy Karnival? The one that controlled the minds of the guests and carnival workers? Oops.”
“Harley!” she could hear Batgirl saying. “When you destroyed his hat we got communication with the outside. Everything’s back up and running.”
“Hey, Batgirl,” Harley said. “You got a dictionary? Can you look up something for me?”
“Sure,” Batgirl said. “But, Harley, we’re still trapped in the bubble, remember?”
“Not for long,” Harley assured her.
“Hellloooooo, Harley Quinn here,” Harley announced. Her face was on every screen at the Krazy Karnival, broadcasting to the world. “It’s good to be back! I promised you a rematch of Harley’s Battle of the Bands, and here we go.”
Cheetah, Batgirl, and other Supers stopped trying to break the bubble with their powers and weapons, wondering what Harley was up to. “A music contest? Now?” Hawkgirl asked.
Miss Martian ran up to Harley. “I’m not sure this is the right time for a contest,” she said.
Harley winked at her and said, “Read my mind.”
Miss Martian shut her eyes, then nodded. “Oh, I see!” she said, not even hiding her delight.
“Battle of the Band contestants,” Harley declared. “Start playing AS LOUD AS YOU CAN. And everyone—join in and MAKE SOME NOISE!”
The bands, who were scattered all over the amusement park, hurried to get themselves together. Instruments were plugged in and amplifiers were turned all the way up. Soon every band began to play. At first it sounded like a clash of wildly different styles and sounds at war with each other. But then something strange started to happen. The music began to mesh into a fusion no one had ever heard before.
The musical vibration began to make the bubble quiver.
“LOUDER!” Harley shouted. “I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”
“What’s she doing?” Big Barda asked as she covered her ears.
Miss Martian closed her eyes and smiled. “She’s breaking the bubble,” she said.
Harley looked into her camera as the bubble began to shake, making its own deep trembling noise. “Harley Quinn here, live at the Krazy Karnival, where the Battle of the Bands is in session. But the musicians can’t do it alone. To break the bubble we need to make a boisterous sound! More noise than you’ve ever heard before! It’s gotta be LOUD! It’s gotta be a sound so obstreperous—” She paused and said slowly to the camera, “That means noisy and difficult to control, according to the dictionary—that it cracks this bubble where it counts.”
Supergirl and Wonder Woman began to fly around the amusement park to spread the news.
“Everyone make some noise!” Supergirl said.
“Louder!” Wonder Woman cried.
Bumblebee, Big Barda, Thunder, and Lightning began to sing. Beast Boy once more became a coqui frog and began to croak. Silver Banshee raised her sonic scream that was only matched by Captain Cold’s wailing guitar solo.
Soon all the other Supers joined in, encouraging everyone to shout, sing, stomp, and bang anything to add to the ocean of sound started by the bands. With each voice and sound added, the bubble began to tremble more. But it still wouldn’t break.
Miss Martian looked at Harley in desperation and cried out, “It’s not enough. We need something more.”
Everything that had happened lately raced through Harley’s mind in fast-forward. Was she an Internet personality? A solid B student—okay, B-minus? A class clown? An entertainment impresario? And then she remembered who she was and a mischievous grin crossed her face.
I’m a SUPER.
Harley Quinn reached into her pocket and pulled out the strength-tester bell from earlier. Smiling, she tossed it into the air and then swung her mallet with all her might. CLANG! the iron bell rang out as it rocketed into the sky. It hit the vibrating bubble and smashed through it.
Everyone stopped making music and noise. For a moment, the absolute silence was as deafening as the cacophony.
“YOWZA,” Harley said quietly under her breath. And with that, the bubble
The bubble broke into a million shards and began to rain down on Krazy Karnival. Poison Ivy cried, “It’s okay! It’s safe! Look—rainbows!”
Sure enough, the big bubble that had once covered the Krazy Karnival turned into tiny rainbows that wafted downward and before they hit the ground.
“You’re seeing it here in this Harley’s Quinntessentials exclusive,” Harley said, her signature smile broadcasting to her viewers. “The Mad Hatter is caught. The bubble is broken, the bad guys are rounded up, and the carnivalgoers are safe. And, wait, wait, I’m getting some news from Metropolis—” Via the jester hat, Harley listened as Batgirl plugged her in to Lois Lane. “Yes!” she went on. “I knew it! When the Mad Hatter’s hat broke, so did the hold he had on the Green Team. They were under his control, but no more. In fact, they’re apologizing and returning everything they took, right now. WOWZA! YOWZA! This is turning out A-okay, and…” Harley’s smile froze on her face.
Principal Waller was marching toward her with all the Super Hero High teachers behind her.
“We cut our conference short when danger arose, but we couldn’t get past the bubble,” Principal Waller said. Liberty Belle, Mr. Fox, Wildcat, and the other teachers nodded. Parasite, the janitor, looked around at the mess that was the Krazy Karnival and sighed.
Harley shrugged. “Um, I’m in trouble again, right?” she asked. “Hiya, VP Grodd, guess I’ll see you in detention tomorrow!”
“Quite the contrary,” Waller informed her. “What is happening is highly unorthodox—but then, so are you. Harley Quinn,” Principal Waller continued in a booming voice, “it is my honor to name you Super Hero High’s Super Hero of the Month!”
For once Harley was speechless—but not for long. “WOWZA!” she yelled as cheers erupted. “ME?!”
“YOU!” Pied Piper called out. He turned to the bands and gave them the signal to start playing.
When Waller handed Harley the official Hero of the Month award, Harley hugged it and then backflipped onto the top of a tall Sweet Treats stand. Harley looked out over all the Supers who had gathered around. With a mischievous glint in her eyes, Harley threw her award high into the air.
“This award doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to all of us. Yes, I’m lookin’ at you!” she said when Miss Martian caught it. Harley pointed. “And you, and you, and you, and you! I declare EVERYONE the winners of the Battle of the Bands, and the Battle Against Mad Hatter, and the Breakers of the Bubble! We are all winners here!”
Cheetah looked up at Harley. “Is there a class clown award?”
Harley winced. Waller had just named her a hero and now Cheetah was bringing up the class clown thing again?
But when Cheetah turned to the crowd, Harley could hardly believe what she was hearing. “Hat’s off to Harley Quinn, Super Hero High’s very own one-of-a-kind class clown,” Cheetah said. Breaking into a grin, Cheetah started to shout, “Harley! Harley!”
Harley’s heart swelled as the crowd began to chant “HARLEY! HARLEY! HARLEY!”
As the chant grew to a thunderous roar, Harley dove off the top of the Sweet Treats stand, and hundreds of hands rose to catch her.
As Lois interviewed Harley on camera in front of Capes & Cowls Café, Miss Martian stood off to the side, watching. She clutched a basket overflowing with fan letters from people who had been inside the bubble and outside who had learned of her bravery. While Harley chatted effortlessly, Miss Martian was trying not to disappear, since her interview was up next.
Thunder and Lightning waved to Harley as they raced inside. Beast Boy, as a baby kangaroo, kept jumping up and down, photobombing the interview. Bumblebee’s phone rang with its familiar “Flight of the Bumblebee” ringtone. But Harley, ever the pro, stayed focused.
“The safety of the world was more important than how many peopl
e were watching my show,” she was saying. “Mad Hatter wanted the audience, but I wanted to save the world from him.”
“You heard it here,” Lois said to the camera. “It’s no joke that Harley Quinn is a real hero. So what’s next for Harley’s Quinntessentials?”
“Well, now that the Green Team is taking over the Krazy Karnival and donating any profits to charity, I’ll be covering that. Plus, I plan to start a new segment called ‘Good Deed of the Day,’ featuring Supers and citizens helping others….”
Bumblebee started gasping for air as Harley was talking. Supergirl and Poison Ivy rushed to her. Lois cut off the interview. “Are you okay?” she asked.
By then Bumblebee was in tears.
“Bumblebee?” said Harley.
Bumblebee put down her phone. “My mom and dad are in danger!” she cried. “I have to go!” She turned herself small and rushed to fly away before anyone could stop her.
Poison Ivy shouted after her. “Bumblebee, what’s happening?”
But Bumblebee couldn’t hear her. By then she was already past Metropolis.
To be continued…
Mieke Kramer
After writing jingles, restaurant menus, and TV shows, Lisa Yee won the prestigious Sid Fleischman Humor Award for her debut novel, Millicent Min, Girl Genius. Her other novels for young readers include Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time, Bobby vs. Girls (Accidentally), and several books for American Girl, plus Warp Speed, about a Star Trek geek. Her most recent original YA novel is The Kidney Hypothetical. She has also written for Huffington Post and is a contributor to NPR.
Lisa’s books have been named a Washington Post Book of the Week, a USA Today Critics’ Pick, an NPR Best Summer Read, and more. Writing the DC Super Hero Girls series is a dream come true, says Lisa. “I get to hang out with Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Katana, and the rest of the super heroes!”
You can visit Lisa Yee at LisaYee.com.
