Tendrils and Tentacles
Savage Lucy
The night was calm and dark, as nights usually are from a distance. The stars were out, which was really quite rare for Gotham, but it had just a moment ago been pouring down rain. Finally there was a steady, piercing alarm emanating from Arkham Asylum. For such a well respected center for the criminally insane, it certainly had breakouts often enough. They would enforce barriers, reinforce them, build new walls, rebuild old ones, thicken the bars, place them closer together, add keys, and codes, and locks, and lasers, but those inside would always find a way to get out.
They'd even tried making it a pleasant place, which really wasn't the best of plans as now most of Gotham's criminal population considered it a nice place to go to relax and think up a new plan. This is what Poison Ivy had been doing. There really wasn't even a point to breaking out until you had your vicious scheme all set, because inside the asylum you got a nice warm bed and three meals a day.
She waited, lying in the cold mud. They came and they went. People talked, mostly men, Commissioner Gordon was there. She resisted the urge to jump up, screaming, and attack Batman with her fists when she heard him. She thought better of it and stayed where she was. It was freezing, but at least it was nice rich silty mud. She didn't even dare move, fighting the urge to scratch her nose, until the sky started turning purple. That was when she finally decided to get to her knees and start crawling.
Poison Ivy was a small woman, probably not more than five foot three and a hundred pounds. Her skin was very fair in some light, but pasty in most with the oddest green hint to it. When people used the phrase corn silk to describe her hair they were not being metaphorical. Ivy's hair had the same odd texture and thickness to it that corn silk did. However, it was a vibrant shade of red, and quite lovely and shiny when not caked with mud.
Finally Ivy arrived at one of her beloved greenhouses. The sun was good and up, and she knew she was pretty safe as Batman was really only out at night unless something big was going on. He could pop up at the most inopportune times, though. She stood outside and stretched in the sun, popped a few bones, rolled her shoulders, and yawned. Then she strode to her door and opened it. "Did you miss me, babies?" she asked.
The plants which had been growing quietly for months in a dull haze suddenly seemed greener, the flowers blossomed vibrantly and the sun seemed warmer. "I missed you too," she added. Then she paused. She could hear people talking. It was coming from upstairs. She had a nice room there with a bed, a desk, a refrigerator, and a television. Had she left it on the whole time she was gone? Her plants were already rearranging their tendrils, uncurling and uncovering all her equipment that they'd grown over to hide and protect for her as she climbed the stairs.
She pushed the door open slowly, stepping inside the room cautiously. Surely, they didn't expect her to be here? The news was playing on the TV. She paused, standing, watching it, when suddenly someone jumped on her.
The two girls rolled in the floor. "Get off me!"
"Ivy!" yelled Harley, planting a kiss on her friend's cheek. "I missed you, like, so much!"
"Why aren't you with the Joker?" asked Ivy as Harley Quinn hopped to her feet, took Ivy's hands, and pulled the woman up with her. She was petite like Ivy, but with a thinner, more lithe build. Her skin was peachy and healthy, her hair was a light shade of blonde, pulled up in two perky pigtails.
"Oh Mista' J's still in Arkham. Got caught again a few days ago, so I thought I'd come see what my bestest buddy was doin' and you weren't HERE!" she explained.
"So you decided to crash?"
"Well…" said the other girls, her expressive little face falling, blue eyes full of worry.
Ivy started to laugh. "I missed you too," she said hugging Harley back.
"Did you see the news?" asked Harley hopping over to the TV and turning the volume knob up a notch. "Spiderman killed that Dr. Octopus last night. It even made the way early show, and that's LOCAL! They mentioned that you escaped, last night."
"Dr. Octavius you mean?" asked Ivy, eyes on the screen.
"Not a name for someone like us, but yeah, I think that was it," said Harley.
"I read a paper of his. If his experiments had been successful, we'd have a whole new fuel source. No more burning, no more pollution. No more harming the environment, even though we've done plenty already."
"Uh, huh," said Harley.
"That's a good thing, Harley."
"I know, but too many details!" wined Harley. She wasn't stupid, as most people thought at first. Harley was just very good at getting other people to do the thinking for her.
"That's sad," said Ivy, ignoring her. "Another one of us gone. Another so called hero thinks he's done a favor to everyone because he just knows what's best for us." She glared at the screen and the still picture of Spiderman in the corner as the anchorwoman spoke.
Harley nodded. "At least he has a cuter costume than Bats does," she added.
Ivy laughed. "Whatever you say."
"No really! Bats has that stiff rubbery armor stuff, Spidey has tights and you can see his nice round bum!"
Ivy couldn't hold it in any longer and laughed. "You're too much," she said with a yawn. "Gosh…"
"Want the bed?" asked Harley. "I can't sleep. I just drank a three liter Mountain Dew. I'm so buzzed!"
"I need a shower first…" said Ivy, looking down at her muddy uniform.
"Oh yeah…" said Harley. She was still in her white shirt and striped pajama pants. "Why don't you take a shower and get ready for bed. I'll go get you some breakfast 'cause breakin' out of Arkham can take it out of you."
Ivy smiled. "Sounds good," she said with another yawn.
Of course by the time Harley returned, Ivy was asleep in the bed, and Harley didn't have the heart to wake her.
Ivy sat up and yawned. It was cooler than at Arkham, and the bed was a little itchier, but she strongly preferred it. She got up and got dressed in green boots and a green strapless leotard. She'd gotten so used to wearing it that even when she wasn't planning on going out, it's what she wore.
Harley was downstairs in her red and black jester costume doing cartwheels. Overnight Ivy's plants had arranged them selves to give her better access to her lab. "Shall we?" asked Ivy. "I've got to make a supply run."
"Yay!" said Harley. "Can we go to the mall too?"
"Maybe. I don't need much to start out."
"Yay!" said Harley, following Ivy out the door.
"Ow… Oh, god, my head…" Something was wrong here. Firstly his head was pounding and his lungs were burning, but that wasn't it. He was sitting on the bank of the river under the bridge when he looked up. One. Two. Three.
"One of you is missing…" he said. That wasn't really it either. "And I'm not dead." He rubbed his head. "You bastards dragged me out."
"I am aware of that. Didn't I just say one of you was missing? He's at the bottom of the river, as we all should be. Right, right. We'll deal with Spiderman." He went to stand up and fell back down. "But later…" he said, curling up on the sand.
"I'm not saying to not talk at all. I'm just saying, use your indoor voice. Somebody might hear us," said Ivy. The women were on foot, as it was really the best way to travel and not be seen.
"I know, but I forget. So I figure I should just not say anything at all…" The two women were near the docks and on their way back from a run to the Gotham City Botanical Gardens and breaking into Saks Fifth Avenue. Ivy had a rare plant transferred to a tiny pot in her arms, carrying and cooing to it like a baby. Harley's arms were loaded with bags from the store, as that was the easiest way to transport the clothes.
The two girls were now nearing the docks, quietly slipping between buildings and around them. Ivy's greenhouse was on the shore, a little ways from the cluster of other buildings. "Oh I see lights. He's looking for us."
"Oh no…"
"Come on, we'll go under the docks the rest of the way," said Ivy. The two girls slipped away. They stood quietly and still on the bit of shore under the docks, waiting for the police headlights to come and go.
Harley hopped from one foot to the other, watching as Ivy stood perfectly still. "Ivyyyy…"
"Let's get going. This baby needs some leg room." She patted its leaves. "The poor thing."
Harley cantered off ahead of her, singing. "Can we go out tomorrow? Bats is never looking for— Ivy!"
"For me? He keeps an eye out, Harley, you've no idea," she replied, looking at her new plant. She looked up at Harley. "What's wrong?"
"It's looking at me…" said Harley in a hushed whisper.
"What has got you spooked?" asked Ivy, approaching, but she paused wide eyed as well. There was no mistaking the camera lens in the middle, which definitely gave the impression that it was looking at the girls. Suddenly it snapped shut like a four pedaled flower, and withdrew back into the shadows. Harley and Ivy exchanged glances.
"Go away."
"We're just two harmless girls on our way home if you wouldn't mind letting us pass by," said Ivy. Her adrenaline was still up from the chase earlier, and she was ready for whatever was lurking.
"And you're coming from a costume party? Isn't Halloween a few months away?"
"Ivy, let's just go around," said Harley.
"Around what? The river?" asked Ivy.
"I see your point. Go on, now, and you didn't see me."
"No, I didn't. I saw something though," said Ivy. "Magnificent piece of machinery whatever it is." She nudged Harley and the two girls started walking under the bridge.
"Thank you."
The two girls continued on their way, not even sparing him a glance. There were plenty of odd things in Gotham. A long metal vertebraed tentacle with some nasty pincers and a camera on the end was nothing to bat an eyelash about until it popped up again in front of them.
"It's looking at us again," said Harley. She turned around intending to walk away and find some other way and there was another. Ivy was about to dash to the river, taking her friend's arm, when she was blocked in by the third.
"I'm sorry. They aren't in a very good mood right now," said Otto stepping from the shadows. Even without the tentacles, he'd have towered over the two. He looked like he'd been through quite a bit in the past few days.
Ivy looked at him carefully then at the tentacles then back at him. "Weren't there four of them?"
"We lost one."
"Lost one what?" asked Harley, about to cry. She put her arms around Ivy. "Don't hurt us!"
"Doctor…" said Ivy.
"Octopus!" said Harley, breaking into a smile as the tentacles pulled back allowing them to move. "You aren't dead!"
"No, I'm not," he said.
"Very tactful, Harley. Would you believe she has a degree in psychology?"
"She does?" he asked incredulously.
"Yep, I do! I was a practicing psychologist, but I got disbarred," said Harley happily.
"How?"
"She was very friendly with one of her patients," said Ivy.
"I fell madly in love with my patient," corrected Harley.
"Oh right. The Joker," replied Otto.
"He's an egomaniac and a sadomasochist," said Ivy. "I am not his biggest fan."
"I am," said Harley. "Oh! I'm Harley Quinn. This is Poison Ivy." She held out a hand and elbowed Ivy to comply. He shook each of their hands.
"Did you used to be Pamela Isley?"
Ivy brightened, "Why yes. Before my little accident anyway."
"I know all about lab accidents."
"I can think of worse things," said Ivy, glancing at a tentacle. "At least you're still human."
He laughed weakly. "Yes. Of course."
"Man, the river must've dragged you all the way here. You should come with us, no wonder you look so rough," said Harley. Ivy sighed. "What? He can't stay under the bridge. And besides, he's one of us now."
"What do you mean one of you?" he asked.
"Criminals," said Ivy. "We can never really be normal again." She paused to think. "And Harley's right. You can't stay under this bridge. Can't go home again, of course, but we're your sort of people now. I've got plenty of room." Harley grinned madly, nodding.
"We maim, steal, cheat, lie, and kill," said Harley, "But if there's one thing we do, we look out for our own. Anybody not on Batman's side is on our side."
"And Spiderman is on the same side as Batman," said Ivy.
"So that puts you on our side," said Harley.
"Right…" he replied. "Fine. Thank you, really."
Ivy turned. "It's this way. We were almost home," she said.
The greenhouse was falling apart, but most of the glass was intact which is why Ivy still used it on occasion. "Show him around, Harley. I have to put this in something bigger," said Ivy, holding up her bud in its tiny brown pot. She disappeared into the greenery.
"So can you see with the little cameras in them?" asked Harley.
"What? Sort of. They can see, and if there's anything interesting, they tell me."
"Huh," said Harley. "Anyway, this is the lab, that is more lab. There is some other lab. That's leaves, leaves, plants, upstairs is everything else." She waved her arms about theatrically to indicate all the areas as she listed them. The Amazonian flytraps opened, mirroring the movements of the tentacles.
"It's very nice."
"You must be cold," added Harley. "I'll make cocoa. You can have a seat at the table over there." And Harley cantered off into the greenery leaving Otto standing there, looking at some of the larger, scarier plants.
Ivy reemerged from the greenery to find them sitting at the table together. "That one's yours," said Harley. Ivy shrugged and took her seat.
"I was thinking," she said, "that we should check with Croc and see if he's found your missing tentacle."
"Ew no," said Harley.
"You don't have to go," said Ivy.
Otto shrugged. "Do I really want it back?"
"Well you're incomplete without it. There aren't a lot of seven armed octopi in the oceans," replied Ivy.
He looked up into his reflection on the camera lens before the tentacle snapped its pincers shut again. "I suppose you're right."
"You should be grateful you have them," said Ivy. "They saved your life."
He nodded. "They did. They weren't really supposed to."
"What happened the other night?" asked Harley, leaning forward.
"I can't really remember," he said. "I remember pulling apart some of the machinery… and being under water for a while. I should have drowned. I know I blacked out…"
"And they pulled you out," said Ivy. "You owe it to them and to yourself to repair that stump there." She nodded toward the half a tentacle that kept itself near the floor. "That is, if it's not lost forever. There's no telling how far the river dragged it."
"Dragged me pretty far."
"That's why I think we should check with Croc. Anything that goes through the Gotham water supply goes through him. He finds some interesting things."
"He lives in the SEWER," said Harley.
"That's right," said Ivy.
"Ew!"
"I said you don't have to go."
"I've got to go check on Bud an' Lou anyway," said Harley. "And Mista' J ought to be out soon. He hates it in there cause they don't let him be him."
"You mean they don't let him torment Edward, Oswald, and Jervis? Oh that's just torture for him I'm sure." She scowled at her mug.
"That just means he likes 'em!" said Harley.
"Who are Edward, Oswald and Jervis?" asked Otto.
"The Riddler, The Penguin, and The Mad Hatter," replied Ivy.
"Oh I see. Everyone's on a first name basis in Arkham?"
Ivy shrugged. "For the most part. Some of us prefer not to use our old names. Like me and Harley."
"Pengy lets me call him Pengy," said Harley.
"There's always things like that," said Ivy.
"Can I call you Doc Ock? I won't if you say no, promise, but please," asked Harley.
"I guess you can if you really want to," he said.
She clasped her hands together. "Neat!"
"If the thrill ever dies, you can start calling me Otto."
Ivy laughed. "It doesn't take much to thrill Harley. She's easy."
"I am NOT," said Harley.
Otto and Ivy laughed.
"What would I do without you?" asked Ivy.
"Probably not laugh as much," said Harley.
Ivy yawned, stretching. "Now then… Where do we put you?"
"We could put him on the couch, and we'll take the bed," said Harley.
Ivy looked at the tentacles. "I could take the hammock. You take the couch. We'll put him in the bed. There's more room there."
"I could leave," he offered.
"No!" chorused Harley and Ivy together.
"You'll take the bed, Harley will take the couch, and I'll be down here with my babies."
"Well, I don't want to put anyone out or anything," he said.
"Nah," said Harley. "I'm sure Ivy'd love to have you in her bed."
"Oh I'm sure."
Ivy bit her tongue, but couldn't stop herself from laughing.
"What?" asked Harley.
"Nothing," said Ivy. "Nothing at all."
Harley left fairly early the next day while Ivy was still curled up in her hammock downstairs, being rocked gently by a vine. The buds turned toward Harley as though watching her as she crept down stairs, said goodbye and hurried off to go check on her hyenas.
Ivy started working as soon as she got up. Digging in her garden, watering plants, cross pollinating things that had been sitting idle since she'd last been put away. She sat on her knees in the dirt, talking to the plants while she worked.
"Where's your friend?"
Ivy looked up. "She left already. She'll be fine."
"Ah, good."
Ivy stood and dusted herself off. "So, ready to go?"
"Where?"
"To Killer Croc's. See if he has your tentacle."
"Oh right. Lead the way."
The two left her greenhouse at sunset, quietly walking under the docks until they came to the sewer entrance. "Damn," said Ivy, looking at the new grate. At some point Gotham City had spent a few thousand of its citizens' tax dollars on new stronger iron grates to go over all the entrances to the sewers. It was of course a waste, because the less desirable citizens would insist on using the sewers to get around.
Ivy looked around. "Should have brought some seeds from that vermadis vine. Rip it right off the—"
Otto tossed the grate into the water with a splash. "After you?"
"Oh never mind then," said Ivy with a smile. He offered his hand to her to help her step up into the pipe. "Thank you."
"No trouble at all."
"I don't know if I totally remember the way, but I doubt he's moved or anything. If we get lost, we'll just have to go to the surface," said Ivy. She started walking slowly. "It's this way," she said, suddenly turning.
Croc was sitting on his knees, banging on the television, but all that would come on the screen was snow. He fiddled with the antennae, saw a rerun of Murphy Brown, but lost it as soon as he took his hand away. He grumbled and held up the antennae, bent over watching the TV until his back started to hurt and he gave up.
He straightened up and stretched in his little home. It was more or less a dead end, an accident in the original construction of the sewer. He had orange extension chords running up and down the walls, a cot, a table, a few chairs, and a television that refused to work.
He paused listening. Something very big was moving around, but then he heard "He's around here SOMEWHERE" and relaxed.
"I'm in here," he said aloud.
Ivy rounded a corner and there they were. "We've been wandering around for hours," she said.
"We?" asked Croc. "You got some big plant thing with ya? It's shakin' everything to pieces." Doc Ock appeared behind her. "Oh."
"Croc, this is Doctor Octopus. Otto, this is Killer Croc," said Ivy.
"Hey," said Croc.
"Nice to meet you," said Otto.
"Croc, have you seen anything that looks like this?" asked Ivy, gesturing toward a tentacle that was scanning the room.
"Maybe…" said Croc.
"Have you or haven't you?" asked Ivy.
"Yeah, but I don't have it anymore," said Croc. He picked up a newspaper and handed it to Ivy. Her eyes moved over the words and the black and white picture of Commissioner Gordon, Batman, and a handful of policemen holding up the fourth tentacle.
"That must be your local hero," said Otto, glaring over her shoulder.
"That's what he considers himself," replied Ivy bitterly.
The table was cold. It had no feeling but somehow it knew the table was cold and metal. It twisted itself around, opening it's pincers slowly to take in the scene. It was alone, really alone. It hadn't ever been alone before, at least not that it could remember. It surveyed the dark gray walls, the ceiling covered with stalactites. It narrowed its electric eye at the batmobile. The thing which had brought it here.
Beside the batmobile sat Batgirl's batcycle and never before had it seen such a beautiful machine. The batcycle was a deep purple, almost royal blue. It had curves in all the right places, the shiniest chrome that glinted under what little light there was, and honey colored lights that seemed gold when they reflected the light.
The detached tentacle twisted itself back again to see that it was unattached. It started thrashing again, falling off the table with a clutter, and attempting to make its way over to that purple goddess glinting in the lamplight. "God, it fell off again!" said Batgirl.
Batman frowned. "It's not being very cooperative. I wish I could find its fuel source to turn it off." He stood watching it for a moment. The tentacle clamped down on a table leg and attempted to throw it at the dark knight. He leaned to the right. Batgirl screamed and dove for cover. "It doesn't have very good aim on its own," he said as she got to her feet and dusted herself off.
"It doesn't need good aim if it's throwing something that big," she replied.
"What did I miss?" asked Robin, his mouth full. He ate another potato chip while he watched Batman and Batgirl head down the steps to deal with the tentacle.
"It's throwing things," said Batgirl.
"Neat," said Robin. He set his chips aside to help. "What are we doing with it?"
"We're taking it to the police station," said Batman. "In case there's a tracking device in it, it would be safer there."
"Ah," said Robin. "You know, I'd miss something like that if I lost it."
"We're pretty sure he's dead, though," said Batgirl.
"I was pretty sure the Joker was dead, and we've seen how that turned out," said Batman.
"Oh, right," said Batgirl.
"And that's why we're moving it," said Batman.
"Oh, I got it. Just in case he comes looking for it. Cause I would, if I lost it. That thing is pretty bitchin'."
"I think it even has a primitive form of artificial intelligence," said Batman, watching it scramble slowly toward the batcycle. "Let's pack it up and be done with it."
"I'd think you'd want to take it apart and see how it works," said Robin.
Batman shook his head. "Not this."
"Well, I'm sorry about that. If he's got it now, you'll probably never see it again," said Ivy.
"That's all right. Maybe I can build another one," he replied.
"Of course, but it would have been easier to just reattach it. I'll help you though. We can get started tonight." She realized he had stopped. She turned around. Otto was standing still, looking up at grate, all three tentacles also pointed toward it, as though also listening. "What is it?" she whispered. Her voice bounced off the walls making her sound just as loud as if she'd said it.
"It's him," was all Otto said before tearing the grate down and climbing out.
Ivy stood there, looking at the rubble for a moment before she realized what had just happened. She shook her head and climbed up after him. She hadn't seen the tentacles in action yet, only the rare glimpses on the news when she was able to convince her fellow inmates it might be worth watching.
She stepped aside, as he picked up a large chunk of rubble and hurled it at the oncoming batmobile with all the effort it took a normal person to throw a soft ball. The batmobile spun, slamming into a streetlight. Save for them, the street was empty. "My god," said Ivy.
It hissed, and steam poured from the engine which now had a rather large dent in it. The doors popped opened and out stepped Batman and Robin. Ivy tensed up, ready to jump. Batman looked at them briefly as though glancing at an everyday ordinary acquaintance. Then he walked around the car. "I don't want to fight you," he said.
Another chunk of rubble wizzed past him, slamming into the batmobile just a few inches from where Robin was standing. Robin jumped, going wide eyed. "I think they want to fight us, though, Batman," he said.
"You have something that belongs to me," said Otto.
"Do I?" asked Batman, walking toward them. Otto approached him and knocked him down the street with a tentacle.
He came face to face with Robin, or rather chest to face with Robin, and looked down at the boy. Robin flew upward on a grappling hook's wire as soon as he remembered he had it. Batman came flying at Otto, but was knocked to the ground again.
Ivy was still standing with the rubble. She spotted Robin and decided to take care of the boy, while Otto tore the car opened like a Christmas present.
"There you are," he said, picking up the tentacle. "Heavier than I remembered you." He proceeded to tear the tires off the car, so Batman couldn't follow them.
Ivy was fighting with Robin. She uppercut the boy's jaw, brought her knee up swiftly, and Robin fell to the ground with tears welling up in his eyes. She looked up at Otto as Batman seemed to fly out of nowhere, knocking her to the ground. He was about to batcuff her when a tentacle slipped around his waist and threw him backwards.
Otto offered a hand to Ivy and helped her to her feet. "You got it?" she asked, still woozy.
"Let's go," he said. Batman was still lying on the pavement, as was Robin. The two disappeared back into the sewer.
Robin climbed to his knees as a high buzzing noise pierced the quiet night. Batgirl skidded to a stop beside the totaled batmobile. She looked at it astonished then up at Batman and Robin as they limped over to her. "What happened? Are you okay?" she said as she ran to them, putting an arm around Robin to hold him up.
"Doctor Octopus kicked our asses. That's what happened," moaned Robin.
"I think we're okay," said Batman. "It could have been worse."
"So he's still alive then…" said Batgirl.
"No, he's dead, he just managed to kick our asses in zombie form," snapped Robin. Batgirl rolled her eyes.
"Still alive and somewhere in Gotham," said Batman. "I think to be safe, we'd better go ahead and get some help on this one."
"That was amazing!" she was saying as they splashed their way home through the sewers. "I've never seen anybody just hand Batman's ass to him like that! I know Clayface and Croc have talked about it, but they aren't as fast as you!"
"Well Spiderman is a bit faster than Batman…"
"Yes, but you tore the batmobile to pieces! Nobody's ever done that. It's like a tank or something." She shook her head. "Amazing…"
"Well, thank you."
"I have to ask," said Ivy after a few moments quiet walking, "what are you planning on doing once we've got it reattached?"
"What do you mean?"
"Are you going back home? Exact revenge on Spiderman?"
Otto shrugged. "There's no rush. I'm not entirely sure it was his fault, really. If I ever decide to, he'll be there waiting. Most people still think I'm dead."
"We'll know in the morning if they still think that after our run in with Batman. He's the worst to go to the authorities with information like this."
"All we've lost is the element of surprise, though."
Ivy nodded. "It would be fun to just make Batman's life hell. Sometimes a break from the intricate plots can be surprisingly productive."
"Maybe," he said after a while. "What exactly did you have in mind?"
Otto's tentacle was reattached with a minimum of fuss. Ivy had had to call the Riddler in to help, because Otto couldn't see what he was doing, and The Mad Hatter was currently locked in Arkham. Both of them were quite good with wiring and machinery, but Ivy strongly preferred Jervis because he didn't whistle and ask stupid questions in an irritating singsong voice while he worked.
Otto and Ivy continued to work together quietly experimenting in Ivy's greenhouse. Until one day when Ivy caught an interview with Chip Shreck on Good Morning Gotham as she sat curled up in her beat up arm chair. Otto sat on the bed, making notes and writing things down. He pushed his reading glasses back up whenever they slid down his nose. He'd moved the bed up to the TV, though, so he could watch with Ivy before she headed downstairs to sleep on the couch.
Chip was planning on picking up where his father's plans had left off a number of years ago. A brand new power plant. This in and of itself was not a terrible thing. Otto was a little down because Chip had said how revolutionary it would be, and there would now be nobody willing to fund or even complete his years of research. However, if this plant was anything like the Shreck family's other endeavors, explained Ivy, it would destroy everything.
"I'm sure you don't mean everything," said Otto.
"Yes. Maybe destroy isn't the right word. Lay to waste is better," replied Ivy.
"Are Gotham's power plants as bad as all that really? I've heard it's pretty polluted here, but I haven't seen a lot of evidence myself. Except maybe for the river, it's not exactly tidy."
Ivy nodded. Tears welled up in her eyes and she hurriedly blinked them away before he saw them. "Gotham is so full of chemical plants, nuclear power, and toxins that it's no wonder there are so many freaks here. You should see the lagoon of chemical waste under the old zoo." She shook her head. "It's amazing that plants are able to grow at all in these harsh conditions."
"And this is what you've been fighting against all these years? You just want this place cleaned up?"
She nodded. "I only punish people who deserve it. If Catwoman hadn't killed Max Shreck, I probably would have."
Otto nodded. "Maybe we can stop them. I mean it is what I do. It's what I've been working on most of my life. To see such a primitive form of power running this city and polluting it is just a shame and I would be happy to help you with your life's work. Because I know how it is to feel that way about something."
"Really?" asked Ivy. Nobody understood how she felt about her plants. Harley thought she did. She equated her love of the Joker with Ivy's love for her plants, but that was far from how Ivy felt. She simply found them and every aspect of them to be fascinating and beautiful at the same time.
Otto nodded. "I'll be able to continue what I was working for, and in the process I'll save some plants."
Ivy smiled, something she rarely did genuinely anymore. "Thank you. You've no idea what this means to me."
"Oh don't worry about that. Consider it a payment for letting me stay here and convincing me to go on living. I think my tentacles like you better than me now, anyway. You've never said anything bad about them," he looked up at a tentacle, opened and appearing to read over his notes.
"Well they are quite amazing," said Ivy, looking up to see one watching her.
"As are most of the things you do. I've never seen a plant grow like you can make it. I mean, right in front of me. How do you do it?"
"I breed for speed," said Ivy. "It's taken quite the number of years to get them going that fast. Thank you though. Nobody seems to appreciate them."
"Well, I do."
"Hurry up! He'll be here any minute with the alarm going like that!"
"I took care of him last time. I can take care of him this time," said Otto, picking up the other bag of money.
"The worst mistake you can make is to underestimate him," she replied. Ivy dug in her little green satchel. "He's fought you once now. He'll try a different tactic every time."
"And so will I," said Otto. "Shall we then?" He nodded toward the hole in the floor. Ivy watched her seeds spring to life, the green vines started crawling down the hole and up and around the desks.
"We shall," she said finally, after making sure the vines would do their job once they had left. She picked up her bags and hopped down, making a little splash. As Ivy and Otto made their escape in the sewers, the vines thickened, grew, and pulled the bank down around the temporary entrance.
Batman was finding it quite difficult to track them, as they'd learned to always use a different path and form of transportation with each robbery. This, of course, made it so that he could not predict where they would be next nor how to be ready to follow them.
They had been gathering their funds for a few weeks now, but they also took the time to steal odd bits of machinery and chemicals just to throw off the authorities. The authorities were very unhappy, and as usual were finding it more and more difficult to quell the fears of Gotham's citizens. But really everyone who'd lived in Gotham more than a month was pretty aware and comfortable with the amount of danger and insanity of everyday life.
"They got away again," said Robin.
"Apparently they've been away for a few hours now," said Commissioner Gordon. He looked at Batman.
"We're working on it."
"Well you'd better work harder. You know Spiderman doesn't have a car or a sidekick, and he managed to almost take this guy down. What's the problem?" said Gordon. He was not an unsympathetic man, and over the years he'd grown to almost consider Batman a friend. However there were things that he'd started to expect from the dark knight, and allowing a pair of criminals to remain at large for more than a month was not one of them.
"Dude, did you see what he did to the car?" asked Robin.
"Robin." It only took the one word from Batman to make Robin begrudgingly back out of the conversation.
"Listen, I understand this isn't the sort of thing you're used to," said Gordon, "But it's really exactly what we're used to."
Batman nodded. "Like I said, we're working on it. I'm pretty sure why they're working together. It can really only be one thing, considering who they are."
"And that is?"
"It can wait."
"Commissioner," said a lieutenant walking up to them, "We're going to have to wait for these plants to slow down before we get down to business."
Commissioner Gordon listened, then he turned back to Batman ready to say, "You see what problems they're causing?" but Batman was nowhere in sight. "You know I hate when you do that!"
Ivy sat on the bed, her legs folded under her as she carefully counted bills into a neat pile. Otto sat next to her doing the same. "Okay I have one seventy," she said.
"I had one fifty, I counted that," he replied, as she started to gather everything and stack it in a briefcase.
She paused and looked back at what was in her hand. "Did we overlap? You didn't have any fifties did you?"
"Yes, I had seven thousand in fifties."
"Damn," she said. "I think I counted that twice. How much did he say he wanted?"
"He said he wanted three hundred, right?" asked Otto. He had never dealt with Penguin before, so he wasn't aware of how much haggling went on.
"He'll take two fifty from me though," said Ivy. "It looks like you have less than me. What did you divide by?"
"Every stack is ten."
"Oh!" said Ivy. "We're good, then." She continued filling up her briefcase and shut it.
"You sure?"
"Oh yeah. He'll have people to count it when we get there anyway, so we'll bring extra just in case," she nodded. She slid the locks over and set the case on the floor. "Oh, I got something to celebrate how we're almost done," she added, standing up and heading out the door.
"You'll have to open it. And I only had wine glasses. Harley's broken all my champagne glasses over the years," said Ivy when she came back.
"They'll be fine," he replied, taking the bottle. "When did you have time to go get this?"
"Yesterday. You slept the day away," she replied, sitting back down.
"Oh, right. Had to make up for all the late nights," he said, smiling. Ivy held the glasses under the bottle as it fizzed and overflowed. He sat the bottle on the floor and took a glass from Ivy. They clinked together.
"To ending the reign of the Shreck family," said Ivy.
"And to lab accidents," said Otto.
Ivy giggled. "Yes, that too." She sipped her drink, glass in one hand. Then with the other she reached up and put her arm around Otto's neck, pulling him over to her and kissed him.
He put an arm around her waist and his other hand flailed about looking for a place to set his glass. He thought he set it on the table, but it fell to the floor, shattering. Once his other hand was free, he ran his fingers through her hair. Ivy lifted her glass up in the air, and a tentacle took it, setting it down on the coffee table.
He perched on an overhang in an alley, watching downtown New York City as he caught his breath. It had been a quiet night. Actually, it had been a quiet month. For the few days after Doctor Octopus's apparent death, the streets had been almost peaceful, and Peter had had a few days to spend on school instead.
Of course he'd been a little depressed. Not because Octavius was dead, but because he was relieved Otto was dead. And then when he heard through the grapevine that the doctor was now wreaking havoc in the sixth borough with Poison Ivy, he was unhappy with himself for being unhappy that the doctor was still alive. These are things that Peter was thinking about, anyway, when he spotted a flutter of movement.
He leapt into space, swung on a string of webbing and stopped on the wall of the opposite alley way. He watched two people enter the alley and the shadowy figure, which went unnoticed.
There was a scuffle, Spiderman swung into Barbara, knocking her backwards, and the two civilians ran away. "You idiot, I'm on your side!" said Barbara, sitting up, a hand to her head. Peter looked at her black boots, black gloves, black scalloped cape, black mask with pointy ears and the big yellow symbol on her chest.
"You're Batgirl!" he said, rushing over. He took her hand and helped her to her feet, still remaining wary though.
Barbara looked him up and down. She didn't know what to expect at first, but she had figured he'd be bigger than her. Batman was a towering, intimidating figure, but not Spiderman. He was average height, a lithe quick build, and bright friendly colors that the newspapers never did justice. She tilted her head. "You must be Spiderman."
Peter smiled under his mask, "That'd be me." He held out a hand; she shook it. "Sorry about that," he said. "People who wear costumes tend to be weirdos. I mean… Well you aren't weird, and neither am I. I know fighting crime can be weird, but—"
"Can we go somewhere and have a talk? I've got something important to ask you," she said, cutting off his awkward conversation.
"Sure, where?"
"Sears tower?"
"How about Channel Four. It's closer," offered Peter.
"I'll race you," said Barbara before disappearing upward on a wire.
Batgirl landed on the roof. She stood up and looked around, smiling. "Beat you," she said.
"Almost," said Spiderman. She looked up to see him as though he'd made himself comfortable to wait for her.
"I'd have beat you if this was Gotham," she said as he climbed down.
"I don't doubt it," replied Spiderman.
"I don't like that mask. Can't tell if you're smiling," she remarked, taking a seat on an inclined vent housing.
"Ah well, it's all in the eyes anyway. So I can't really tell if you're smiling either," replied Peter, sitting next to her. She had the definite feeling that he'd winked at her. "Now you had something to ask?"
"I did," said batgirl. "I don't know if you're aware of it, but Doctor Octopus is still alive."
"Doctor Octavius," said Peter. "And I've heard. Of course Gotham's news doesn't always make it here. If it did, it'd take up the whole paper."
"Gotham may be ridden with strange crimes, but you've got little room to stand in, bug boy," she retorted.
Peter laughed. "Okay so Octopus is in the sixth borough, wreaking havoc, and you guys don't know how to deal with him so you're asking me. I really don't know what to say. You've got a lot more at your disposal, and I didn't even take him down. He did that himself. He's not a bad guy in the end, just misled."
Barbara nodded. "We don't just want you to tell us how. I want you to come with me to Gotham City and help us fight him. Somehow you fought him and got the better of him, and we can't. He destroyed the batmobile. We're still rebuilding that one."
"That one? There's more than one?"
"Well, of course," said Barbara.
Peter nodded. "Well… I'm not sure I can. I mean if I started popping up in Gotham City, the Daily Bugle might send that photographer after me, and he really can't be missing any more class than he has been."
"Maybe he could meet with my friend, Barbara, while he's in Gotham to help him catch up," said Barbara, acknowledging the understood and unspoken relationship between super heroes. Batman was pretty sure who Batgirl really was, as Barbara was fairly aware who Bruce Wayne was, but they never spoke of their other lives.
"We'll see," said Spiderman.
"We're pretty sure they're going to do something at the new power plant's opening. Our crime family is close knit no matter how much they feud, and they do not like Chip Shreck."
Spiderman nodded slowly. "Like I said, we'll see. Have to take care of a few things here, first."
"All right. I'll try not to attack you when you show up."
"If."
"Yeah, if. People like us can't always be depended on when innocent civilians may be in harm's way."
Ivy blinked to clear the sleep from her eyes and looked at the sunrise in the tilted skylight. She reached out, there was nothing there. She sat up quickly, looked around, and she was all alone. She was terrified for the briefest of moments before she heard a clang of pans downstairs and smelled bacon. "Oh god, you're cooking me breakfast…" she muttered. "Step up from waking up in a padded cell, eh?" she added to one of the potted plants in the window. She climbed out of bed and slipped on her gown and housecoat. She walked down the stairs barefoot, and was sure she heard voices when she rounded the corner to the kitchen.
"Morning Ivy, sleep well," said Harley.
"I hope it's okay that I let her in. She said she had a key anyway," said Otto.
"It's fine," said Ivy. She looked at the stove. "You're fixing two kinds of eggs?"
"She wanted scrambled," said Otto.
"But I know you like 'em poached," said Harley. She was sitting at the table at Otto's insistence. He wouldn't allow her to help except to show him where things were. "And he's been so agreeable and in such a good mood," remarked Harley.
"Oh has he?" asked Ivy, approaching the table. A tentacle pulled out a chair for her.
"No more than usual," he said, quickly, busying himself with Harley's eggs.
"And where did you get that housecoat?" asked Ivy.
"It was on the back of the bathroom door," said Otto. He set a plate of toast and a bowl of scrambled eggs on the table.
"Is this beef sausage?" asked Harley.
"I… don't know."
"It is," said Ivy.
Harley hopped up from her seat and ran to the fridge. "Jelly!"
"She has a horrible case of Stockholm Syndrome. I've never actually seen it in action before," said Otto in a low voice.
"I know," said Ivy. "There's nothing you can do."
"Nothing who can do?" asked Harley sitting down.
"Nothing I can do to say thank you for breakfast," said Ivy. She looked at Harley.
"Thank you!" said Harley.
"Well, you're both welcome." Ivy paused. She leaned back in her chair to look at the sink, full of soapy foam and the clank of dishes and tentacles. Otto looked up. "Want me to stop?"
"How can you do two things at once like that?" asked Harley. "I can't even pat my head and rub my stomach." And where a normal person would have just said it, Harley at this point attempted to.
"They have their own intelligence," said Otto. "They can't totally function without me. I have to give them general commands, but they can handle things on their own."
"Oh, bet that comes in handy," said Harley, giggling.
Ivy sighed. "Harley, God…"
"Harley Quinn," corrected Harley.