A/N: So last month I bought this big book that collects the first thirteen issues of Grant Morrison's run on "Animal Man" from back in the 80's. Gotta say, it's real great stuff so far and I'm definitely going to look for a volume two. Anyway, I wanted to write a story about Animal Man and also wanted to write a story that featured Poison Ivy. So I figured why not combine both. Unlike the last story I wrote I'm not going to update daily. I've only got this chapter finished so far. I'm going to try to aim for weekly or at the very least twice a month. And just as a disclaimer, a lot of this story takes place in the San Diego Zoo which is a place I've never been. So when writing I wrote it as kinda just a general zoo based on zoos I've actually been too. By the way, this story will probably reference the events of the Animal Man comics I've read. Nothing too spoilery, but if you want to read Animal Man without knowing anything about it I thought I'd let you know. Anyway, enjoy!
Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn were in very different moods as they drove down the highway with the sun setting in front of them. Their postures were enough of an indication. While Poison Ivy had sunk down into the passenger seat of their convertible Harley had sat up straight and was fixedly staring at the road ahead with a big smile.
It had been a week and a half since the two villainesses fled Gotham City. After a very long, exhausting battle with multiple members of the Batfamily Harley had convinced Ivy that the two of them needed a holiday. Mostly to evade the law, but on Harley's part it was just for kicks. From there, Harley and Ivy began a cross country road trip that had led them to southern California.
Both of them had liked the journey across the country at first. The lack of a Batman chasing after them was one thing that they enjoyed the most. But after many, many weeks, especially with Harley absolutely determined to make it to the West Coast, Ivy had become disillusioned.
Every stretch of highway, every gas station they stopped at, and every enormous truck they passed reminded her of what humankind had done to her beautiful planet. Harley's overblown excitement about their supposed vacation never seemed to fade.
At the moment their moods were almost completely inverse of each other. The air irritated Ivy's skin as the convertible drove down the highway, the music on the radio was loud enough to hurt her ears, and the evening sun shone directly into her eyes. Harley, on the other hand, loved the feeling of the wind in her hair, happily sang along to the radio, and liked how the sun lit up the freeway.
"I know, it's up, for me. If you steal my sunshine." Harley continued to sing along with the radio. "Making sure I'm not in too deep. If you steal my sunshine."
Ivy decided to voice her annoyance at the music.
"Hey, Harl, mind turning down the noise?" Ivy didn't bother looking up at the woman next to her as she spoke.
"Sure thing, Red." Harley turned the volume dial on the dashboard. "Anything else I can do for ya?"
Although Ivy wasn't sure how serious Harley was at the second comment she decided to make some more requests. "Could you pop the roof back up?"
"Aww, but don'cha just love the sun on yer skin?" Harley asked. "'Specially since yer part plant 'n all."
"That's true, but I want to take a nap."
"Ya sure? I feel fulla energy."
"That's because you slept for most of the day while I drove. And right now, I need a nap." Ivy paused for a moment and considered their current state. "Maybe a shower too."
"Tell ya what, I keep the top down and I'll stop at the next hotel I see."
"Fine. Let's hope this one has a working sink."
"You'll feel less grumpy after ya lie down. Don'cha just feel so free out here on the road?"
"Whatever you say, Harley."
As they continued down the freeway, Ivy noticed a sign on the roadside that read "San Diego" below was text that would've told her how many more miles until they reached the city but she became distracted by some discarded aluminum cans lining the side of the highway. She changed her focus to the road ahead but was instead treated to a view of the flattened remains of some small animal.
"Humans were never meant to travel this fast." Ivy muttered as she looked down at the floor of the car.
"What was that, Red?"
"Don't worry about it."
Animal Man flew over the familiar San Diego suburb he resided in. Most people don't appreciate the number of birds in the city the way Animal Man did. There were enough for him to absorb their flight powers wherever he went and this was a fact he often took advantage of.
Buddy Baker hadn't actually done much superhero work as "Animal Man" recently. San Diego was a quiet city compared to Metropolis or Keystone City and his work as an animal activist had taken a momentary lull. But Buddy still used his powers for his own amusement sometimes.
On this night, he'd just spent a good amount of time flying around above the neighborhood and had just located his house again. Buddy flew down to the doorstep of his home and pushed through the front door.
"Ellen, kids, I'm home!" Buddy called out as he removed the jacket he wore over his spandex and hung it up on the hatstand in the foyer.
"I'm in the dining room!" Buddy recognized the voice as belonging to his wife Ellen. He followed the voice into the dining room where he saw Ellen seated at a table while she drew something on a piece of scrap paper. "You enjoy your nightly flying, Buddy?"
"Yep, never gets old." Buddy sat down across from his wife. "Where're the kids?"
"Cliff's playing video games up in his room and Maxine's watching cartoons over in the living room." Ellen said. "I figured I'd let them stay up late tonight, it's a Friday after all."
"Oh yeah, it is." Buddy removed the goggles from his Animal Man costume. "We were talking about doing something as a family tomorrow, weren't we? Did we ever decide on anything."
"Well, both of them seemed really excited about going to the zoo." Ellen had stopped drawing at this point to engage Buddy in full conversation. "But I told them I'd ask you first. I know how you are about your animals."
"I'm conflicted about zoos." Buddy remarked. "I don't think it's right to keep these animals out of their natural habitat. Not to mention the last time I was at the zoo was when B'wana Beast went berserk. But if the zoo's humane I don't see too much of a problem."
"So is that a yes or a no to taking the kids out there?"
"If it's what the kids want, then I'm fine with it."
"I'm sure they'll be glad to hear it, Buddy."
"Speaking of which, I'd better go say hi to them. I'll talk to you again in a bit, Ellen."
Buddy got back up from the table and followed the muffled noises of people talking and the occasional sound effect into the living room. Like Ellen had said, his daughter Maxine was attention was directed at the television. On the TV was a cartoon. Something with talking animals in it that Buddy didn't quite recognize.
"Hey there Maxine, I'm home."
Maxine looked up from her cartoon at her father. "Hi daddy. What'd you do while you were gone?"
"Just flew around for a bit." Buddy sat down next to his daughter.
"Wow, cool. You think you could ever take me flying one day?"
"Maybe." Buddy laughed to himself a little. "As long as you don't mind me keeping us really close to the ground."
"Aww, but the fun stuff's real far up."
"Well, I've got something that makes up for that. How'd you like to go to the zoo tomorrow?"
Maxine's face lit up with excitement. "We're really going? Can we see the monkeys? I hear they got super cute chimpanzees there."
"We can visit the primate house."
"Thanks daddy. I hope Cliff doesn't make us look at all the creepy animals."
"There are no creepy animals, Maxine."
"He told me spiders crawl into your mouth while your asleep."
"Well, that's just Cliff trying to mess with you. Don't worry about it. Speaking of your brother I'd better go say hi to him."
"Tell him to stop saying stuff about spiders to me."
"Whatever you say."
Buddy got back up from the couch and Maxine's attention was turned back to her cartoon once again. He went up the stairs to his house and made his way to Cliff's room. It was easy for him to find. The door was always open with none of the lights on inside except the light of the computer screen. Buddy stepped into the room and saw his son Cliff sitting at a desk and using the computer. He was in the middle of playing some video game that seemed to involve shooting at aliens. Buddy briefly pondered what someone like Martian Manhunter would've thought of the game but soon remembered why he came upstairs.
He flicked on the lights to get Cliff's attention. "Hey Cliff, I'm back."
The images on the computer screen paused and Cliff looked over at his father. "Oh hey there dad, what's up?"
"Thought I'd check in on you before I started getting ready for bed." Buddy searched for something else to talk to his son about. "That reminds me, don't stay up so late playing your game again."
"Aww but dad, it's a Friday." Cliff whined.
"I know, but me and your mom have a family day planned. We're taking you and Maxine to the zoo."
"Cool, really? They got a building in there full of awesome insects. And another one with snakes." Cliff got increasingly more enthusiastic as he talked.
"Your sister said she didn't want you showing her anything 'Creepy'."
"Fine, Maxine can miss all the cool stuff. I'm still gonna see the bugs and lizards."
"We can talk more about it tomorrow. I'm guessing you wanna get back to you game."
"How can you tell?"
"You keep looking back at the screen. Anyway, we'll all talk about this over breakfast tomorrow. G'night, Cliff."
Buddy switched the lights back off and left the room. As soon as he left he saw Ellen coming up the stairs.
"Kids both seem to like going to the zoo." Buddy said.
"That's good. I just sent Maxine up to go get into her pyjamas and I'm gonna get changed too." Ellen stopped at the top of the stairs.
"Yeah, I'd better get out of this spandex too." Buddy looked down at his orange and blue uniform. "Maybe wash up real quick too."
"I'll see you in bed." Ellen walked away from her husband and over to her bedroom.
"Good night, Ellen."
"Good night, Buddy. See you in the morning." Ellen disappeared into the bedroom.
Buddy pulled the rest of his costume's mask down from his face and made his way over to the bathroom. Thoughts of the day ahead buzzed through his brain.
When morning came, Harley Quinn was woken by the sound of running water. Her and Ivy had entered San Diego late at night they'd spent the night at a hotel that Harley judged as "Cheap enough". The rate to sleep there was low but that meant putting up with lumpy mattresses and broken lamps. But after hours on end on the open road it was a welcoming place.
Harley looked around the room and saw no sign of Poison Ivy. She yawned and stared off at the ceiling.
"What time is it?"
A glance at the alarm clock on the end table next to her revealed the time to be seven forty. Harley judged it to be early enough to lie in bed for a little while longer. The only sound Harley heard for the next couple minutes was the running water that had woken her up. Deciding she had nothing better to do, Harley pushed the blankets off of her and got up from bed. She followed the sound of the water which got louder the closer she went to the bathroom. Pushing through the door, Harley walked through a cloud of steam and saw the shower curtain completely pulled shut.
"Hey Red, has this place got hot water?" asked Harley.
The first response Harley received was a sudden shriek of surprise. "Harley! What have I told you about needing my privacy."
"But there's nobody to talk to outside and I'm bored. You can talk 'n shower at the same time, can'cha?"
"I can, but I'd rather you wait until I'm not so busy."
"If the problem's that ya can't see me then I can get in there with ya." Harley reached for the waistband of the pants she'd gone to sleep in.
"What? No, don't do that!"
"Don't act like yer Ms. Modesty all of a sudden. Lemme in there, please? It'll save water, won't it? And ain't ya all about savin' the environment?"
The water in the shower stopped running and the shower curtain moved back slightly. Ivy stuck her head out through the opening. She stared down Harley for a couple of moments as water dripped off her face and onto the tiles. Her expression seemed irritated but also like she didn't want to hurt Harley's feelings.
"Harl, I like you, I really do. But please just give me some alone time. Watch TV if you're bored, okay?"
"Sure thing, Red. Whateva makes you happy." Harley beamed at Ivy. "Buh-bye."
Harley backed herself out of the bathroom and the water started up once again. Once she was out of the bathroom Harley flopped over onto the bed and tried to remember where the television remote was.
The next ten minutes were spent flipping through the channels on the hotel television trying to find something fun to watch. After not finding any comedies or cartoons Harley settled on watching the commercials. The sound of the shower stopped eventually and Poison Ivy left the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her.
"Shower's all yours, Harl." Ivy sat down on the hotel room's second bed.
"I showered last night, let's just talk." Harley turned off the TV and looked over at Ivy.
"About what?"
"We're in San Diego, ain't we? I was thinkin' we could have some fun in the sun."
"Harl, we're known super-criminals."
"In Gothan. 'Round here, people won't recognize us. C'mon Red, please. I wanna have some fun." Harley reached across the gap between the beds and put her hands on Ivy's knees. "You'll love it, trust me."
"What can we even do here?"
"Well, last night I talked with the lady at the desk here 'bout what they got in this town and she mentioned a zoo. Don't that sound fun? I bet they got cute little pandas in there."
Ivy's eyes narrowed and her lips formed a grimace at the mention of the zoo. "I don't think I'd like to spend time at a place that imprisons nature's creatures for other people's enjoyment. How would you like it if you were put on display for other people to gawk at? Like some kind of freak. The animals deserve better, Harley."
"Aww… I'm sorry… Don't wanna make ya angry, Red…" Harley lay back on the bed. "Mista J was right… I shouldn't try ta do what I want."
The expression on Ivy's face became one of frustration. "Don't compare me to him…"
"I ain't comparin' ya. Just thinkin' 'bout him. Puddin' didn't like it when I came up with ideas."
Ivy was unsure of the guilt trip was intentional or not on Harley's part but decided to cave in regardless. "Harley, if it makes you happy, I'll go to the zoo with you."
Harley stood up from the bed and hurried over to Ivy where she pulled the plant-woman into a tight hug. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! Pam, I swear, ya ain't gonna regret this."
"Yeah, it'll be fine." Ivy told herself this but wasn't sure how much she believed it. "Let's go find something casual to wear."
The Baker family had eaten an early lunch at home and arrived at the zoo just a little before noon. Both kids in the family were overflowing with enthusiasm. As soon as they passed the ticket stands Ellen brought the rest of her family over to a large map of the zoo by the entrance.
"So, where do you all wanna go first?" Ellen asked.
"I wanna see the cute little animals." Maxine pointed to an area on the map with the silhouette of a seal on it. "Like seals and monkeys."
"Pfft, boring. Let's go look at the cool stuff." Cliff motioned to an outline of a snake. "Y'know, bugs, snakes, gators."
"Well there's an easy solution." Buddy looked down at his kids. "One of you goes with your mother and the other goes with me."
"Awesome." Cliff looked up at Ellen. "C'mon mom, let's go find the lizards and bugs."
"All right, take it easy Cliff. We'll have enough time to see everything." Ellen and Cliff walked away from the sign together. Before she went too far away, Ellen looked back at her husband and her daughter. "Buddy, Maxine, let's meet back here at four o'clock!"
"Okay Ellen, you and Cliff have fun!" Buddy called out to his wife and his son. He looked down at his daughter. "So Maxine, where do you wanna go first."
"I wanna see the monkeys!" Maxine cheered.
"Well follow me then, we've got a whole day ahead of us."
Buddy took a smaller map from a pouch attached to the larger sign and put it in the tote bag he was carrying with him. Maxine and Buddy walked away from the sign and further into the zoo. Everyone in the Baker family was optimistic about the day ahead. Unaware that others at the zoo weren't exactly the friendly type.
Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy had been wandering around the zoo for about five minutes with no real aim in mind. Occasionally Harley would run up to a random animal enclosure and stare for a while. Poison Ivy was far less ecstatic about the zoo. She didn't bother looking at the animals but seeing Harley this excited made Ivy warm up a bit on the inside.
"Oh, oh, Red they got crocodiles over here. Let's check 'em out!" Harley grabbed Ivy by her forearm and led her over to another habitat.
The two of them leaned over the railing and looked at the enclosure below them. It was a large pond with some small sandy islands and land areas by the edges.
"Y'know me 'n Mista J dangled one 'a Batsy's Bird Boys over a tank of crocs once." Harley said conversationally. "Kid got himself outta there though, real smart guy."
Ivy didn't respond to Harley's anecdote. Instead her vision honed in on something shiny on the ground of the crocodile habitat. She leaned in further over the railing and got a clear view of what it was. It was a small bag. Probably used to contain potato chips from the look of it. She would've stared at it longer but then she became aware of Harley trying to talk to her.
"Pam? Pammy? Can ya hear me?"
"What's that, Harl?" Ivy looked up at Harley.
"You were spacin' out big time. Ya feelin' okay?" Harley placed a hand on Ivy's shoulder in what she hoped was a comforting manner. "Ya look down in the dumps. I don't like it when yer feelin' down, Red."
"I think I want to go back to Gotham." Ivy looked at Harley. "This- This- Whatever this spontaneous road trip is, I don't like it."
"I thought we were havin' fun."
"It's just, all this distance we've gone, all these buildings, the freeway. Do you have any idea how much of it used to be nature? Every town we passed through was beautiful wilderness for hundreds of years. Back when humankind knew their place." by this point Poison Ivy wasn't talking to Harley anymore. She was venting to the world in general. "All these animals don't belong in some cage in California. Their ancestors lived in the wild where they belong. I haven't hated humans this much in a long time."
Harley bit her lip and looked at Ivy with some concern. She'd grown so close with the other woman that it was hard to remember she was also an unstable misanthrope sometimes. "Red, that's all crazy talk. I'm a human, yer still at least part human. Don't go all nutso on me, okay?"
"It's so hard not to hate the human race for what it's done."
"Y'know what always makes me happy? Cotton candy. I'm gonna go see if this place's got any cotton candy. I'll pick some up for the both of us. Will that make ya feel better?"
"Maybe."
It was just one word but it made Harley smile. "Don't worry, yer gonna feel better in no time. I'll get'cha the biggest thing of cotton candy you've ever seen."
"Thanks. Meet me over in the reptile pavilion, okay."
Harley nodded and turned away from Ivy. She walked off in search of sugary snacks. When she was gone Ivy tried to convince herself that Harley had been right about her not really hating humans. But she wasn't quite able to believe the words she thought.
After casting one more look down at the discarded bag in the crocodile enclosure Poison Ivy decided to go find the reptile house.
A/N: I ended up featuring Animal Man a lot less than I intended but I'm hoping to turn that around next chapter. Random fact, I actually wrote an earlier draft of this back in December that had Killer Croc in place of Harley but I decided against that because he didn't have as good chemistry with Ivy when I tried writing it. Also, Animal Man's line about B'wana Beast is referencing the events of "Animal Man #4" where the two of them fought at the San Diego Zoo. Keep an eye out for the next chapter, I'm hoping to finish it by next week. The next chapter should have a bit more action going on in it too.