A spectre is haunting Gotham

For a moment, Harley felt like the world was doing a wacky cartwheel, but when she opened her eyes, she realized she was still sitting. She blinked a couple of times, scratching her head, trying to understand what had happened, and moreover if something had happened. In fact, she didn't feel much different; for example, she was pretty sure there wasn't a hole in her head. But she felt, like... lighter?

Then she looked to her side and gasped dramatically.

-Oh my puddin' poppers!!!- She jumped on her feet and turned around, staring at the other Harley Quinn who was lying on the couch with her eyes closed.

-The gun cloned me! And...- She inspected herself: -Made me fluorescent blue?! What in the actual fuck? No, wait a minute...-.

Panic crossed the face of the ghosty clown-girl.

-I'm dead??? Oh, no!!! How could shooting yourself in the face kill you???- She wailed, grabbing her pigtails in despair, and feeling nothing at all: -I'm not ready to die! I'm young, beautiful, with my whole life ahead of me! Oh, I'll miss myself so much, I always waved hello! No, no, don't follow the light, Harley! I don't want to follow the light!-.

Except there was no light. She glanced downward, half-expecting the, aehm, the other side to be rolling out a red carpet for her. Nope.

-Hello? Any, I don't know, Grim Reaper? Or angel? Is there a heaven waiting for me? Can I choose the one with the virgins?- She called out to the void, rubbing her chin in contemplation.

-Meh, I guess religions are a lie.- Confused and actually quite disappointed, she glanced back at her still body on the sofa.

-Well, ain't I just the cutest thing? Looks like I'm sleeping... darn it, I hope it's not Ivy who finds me.- She then furrowed her brow, noticing a peculiar detail—more accurately, the absence of a detail.

-No hole in my forehead. That's weird.- She poked her face, and suddenly, she felt a bizarre tug. Harley yelped, and then she straightened up from a lying position.

-What? Where... oh yeah!- Harley exclaimed, looking down at herself with sheer amazement. She was back in her body! Without missing a beat, she excitedly grabbed her own boobies, feeling the solid consistency of her flesh under her hands.

-I'm alive! I knew I had tough skin, eheh!-.

After a brief moment of self-celebration, she picked up the gun that had fallen during her earlier commotion.

-So, that's what you do, huh? Turn people into ghosts. Well, all guns kinda do that, in a sense. But you also have the return button. Cool!- A devious smile spread across her face. The possibilities with this newfound toy were endless, and Harley's mind raced with all the mischief she could cause.

Without any hesitation, she shot herself again, letting her body flop back onto the couch as she returned to being a specter. She tested the perks of this new form, wiggling her fingers, shrugging her shoulders, and, of course, groping her breasts. Just like before, she actually felt nothing – truly a spirited experience.

-That's freaking awesome! I wonder what I can do! Hey, wasn't one of the supes a ghost himself? Mmm, what was his name?- She rubbed her chin, looking up as she tried to recall the superhero. Suddenly, she noticed the ceiling seemed to be getting closer. Then, looking down, she realized it wasn't the ceiling – it was her who was floating!

-Hell yeah! I'm flying like the freaking Superman!- She cheered. She then tried to understand how to move. She tried to push herself forward, but ended up just spinning around, off-balance with an 'oo-ooh!!!'.

-Ok, what's the trick here? Let me think...- Harley reasoned that that, when she wanted to walk, she just had to think about walking and her legs did the rest. Perhaps with flying it was the same. And indeed, soon enough, she was rocketing from one corner to another of her lair, laughing and screaming like a thrill-seeking girl on a roller coaster.

-Yatzeeeee! Eat this, Batsy! Harley Quinn now can fly!-.

When she had her fill of the airborne experience, she landed back on the floor. Flying was nice, but she knew there was more to explore. For example, couldn't ghosts pass through objects?

She rushed over to the TV, pausing as she noticed her lack of reflection on the screen. She was invisible too! Her day was getting better by the second, and it was merely dawn.

-Now, back on the... track! Woah!- When she tried to touch the television, her hand disappeared, but she could still feel it: meaning, touch, pain, and warmth might have gone, but proprioception lingered. Plus, there was a tingling sensation, like when you fall asleep with your head on your arm.

She wiggled her fingers, and the television suddenly turned on, displaying static. Pulling her arm back, the screen returned to black.

-Well, now for the grand spectacle...- Harley mused, counting up to three before leaping forward. Instead of crashing into the device, she felt that tingling sensation in her legs and groin, and then she found herself behind it.

The former psychiatrist couldn't help but chuckle at the success of her latest ghostly ability. Flying, invisibility, intangibility, and now... what else could she wish for?

But then it hit her – possessing other people. The idea sent a thrill through her. Could she do that too? Well, why couldn't she?

Excitement bubbling, she knew she needed someone to test it on. Of course, there wasn't another person in her shabby hideout. Well, not a person, at least... but maybe...

Harley quickly searched around until she spotted some bugs scurrying in a corner, entirely unaware of her ghostly presence. Crouching down, she slowly brought her finger closer to one of them. If a touch on the forehead was all it took to return to her body, then...

Another pulling sensation, and suddenly, everything changed. She felt tiny – really, really tiny. Coherently, the room around her appeared giant, and it wasn't just that: her vision itself had changed, there was a peculiar black space between her eyes. Of course, she elaborated, cockroaches had eyes on the sides. Trying to move, she struggled to do so, as she felt like she had six legs and no arms; finally, rather than standing, it was as if she was crawling.

"No, not as if." Harley thought to herself: "I am crawling!". She tried to scream out her joy, but her mouth emitted weird clicks (plus, it opened in a very odd way, as if she had two fingers on her cheeks).

"I'm a bug! I'm a freaking bug!!!" She rejoiced in her newfound insectoid form, reveling in the bizarre experience.

She then focused on mastering the art of movement, and it was funny almost like flying. But then, a realization struck her – she could still leave the bug's body, right?

Panic set in momentarily.

"Oh, fuck. Ok, ok, don't panic. Just... think that you're outside, Harley. You're outside, you're human again...".

To her immense relief, she was instantly propelled forward, crouched once again, and definitely larger than a moment ago. She smirked in satisfaction – back to being a ghost of a bombshell!

Eyeing the confused cockroach scurrying away in the corner, Harley knew it was time for the real deal. She skimped in front of the wall, barely able to contain her excitement, shivers running down her incorporeal spine.

-Ok, Harley Quinn, if you take one more step, there's no turning back. You can still choose to go back to being the same sexy clown as always... oh, who am I kidding? Let's go!-.

With that declaration, she jumped against the wall. Another tingling sensation, and now she was outside. The sun was setting in the sky, and she could clearly hear the hum of the city waking up from its slumber: cars roaring, passerbies chatting, car and shop alarms going off: it looked just like any other normal day in Gotham... but not for much longer. Harley attempted to take a breath, but she couldn't feel the air filling her lungs. How could she? She had no lungs!

-Be careful, Gotham City!- She declared, arms spread open.

-A new ghost is in town!-.