Author's Note: This popped into my brain when I was discussing Young Justice and Batman with a friend. This is part of my Fem! Robin universe. This is how the team finds out that Robin has a way to take them all down. Also I have tweaked Ivy's powers so the pheromones work on both males and females. I own nothing.
Best Friends, Deadliest Foes
1. When In Gotham
They had been on assignment from the Batman to patrol Gotham city. Nothing more, just patrolling stopping minor crimes while the Bat took on the Joker who had recently broken out of Arkham Asylum. He had sent Robin along with them, more to ensure their safety than hers KF knew that but Gotham had always spooked him. Robin ran here nightly but even she knew this town wasn't right. They had only been out for two hours and they'd already stopped three attempted bank robberies, four kidnappings including a one Barbara Gordon whom Robin had insisted on taking home personally, and seven separate muggings. Two hours and they had to stop for a breather. Robin sat there giggling at them. She wasn't even out of breath. But then again she'd been doing this for three years where as they had, as a team only been at the hero gig for about three months. Artemis was the most inexperienced of them. Tonight it was her, Robin, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, and Superboy. Aqualad had decided to stay behind knowing he would be unable to keep up on a mission like this without stopping to refresh his strength.
Robin was watching the city below as only a bat could. Glancing up into the clouds she spotted it. The bat signal. She motioned to the team.
"Come on guy's breaks over. We got trouble. Serious trouble or the comish wouldn't have turned on the signal. Follow me." Without another word Robin pulled out her grapple gun and swung off towards the source of the light. A rooftop away from the police station where the signal was located Robin paused and waited for them to catch up. They could all clearly see a lone figure standing next to the floodlight that called the capped crusader for aid. He wore a long brown trench coat and glasses, his graying hair blowing in the slight breeze.
"You guys wait here, groups of powers make Gordon nervous. I'll be back." They all nodded and Robin vanished into the darkness of the Gotham night only to reappear moments later on the roof of the police station. The team watched closely but only Superboy could hear them clearly.
"Do you always have to sneak up on me like that Robin?" Robin grinned and flicked off the bat signal.
"It's just what we bats do. The big bat is off taking care of the Joker, but you know that so why the call Commissioner?" Jim Gordon nodded and began.
"They finally got the fires over at Arkham put out and I've got bad news for you. Seems the Joker wasn't the only one to break out yesterday. We've got three more empty cells. Looks like Two Face, Ivy, and the Penguin are all unaccounted for." Robin nodded.
"Penguin and Two Face will wait till Bats gets the Joker back behind bars, they both need the spotlight, it's just how they operate. Any movement from Ivy?" The commissioner shook his head.
"Not yet but we can't find her." Robin nodded flicking on her wrist computer and typing away.
"I hear there are a few new bats in town tonight." Robin shook her head, but kept typing away.
"You heard wrong, they aren't bats. It's training for them, Bats doesn't want me facing up against the Joker after what happened last time so he has me running patrol with the newbie's. "Gordon nodded.
"Truth be told I'm glad. You were in bad shape after that last run in." Robin shrugged, not looking up from her computer.
"I've been worse." The Commissioner nodded looking worried. He opened his mouth to speak but Robin cut across him.
"We've had this conversation before Commissioner. My answer isn't going to change. I know you don't think I can handle myself but I can. I'm young not incompetent."
"I never said that Robin." Jim Gordon sighed and looked down at his feet pulling a cigarette out of his pocket in lieu of something to do.
"Just be careful, none of us want to see you hurt like that again." But when he looked up Robin was already gone, vanished into the night like the bat who had trained her. Gordon sighed lighting his cigarette and puffing smoke out into the night air. He couldn't help but worry about the young crime fighter. Robin had a habit of getting neck deep in trouble and with so many big names on the streets right now the kid was liable to get in over her head. The boy wonder couldn't be older than Barbara and as a father he worried about the capped crusaders young partner.
Moments later Robin reappeared on the roof next to Kid Flash without so much as a sound. Even Superboy jumped when Robin cleared her throat to get their attention. Holding back a smirk Robin pulled up a map of Gotham city on her wrist computer.
"Right there's been a slight change in plans. We are going to be taking a slightly different patrol route. A few rules before we head out." Kid Flash sighed.
"More rules? We spent two hours going over rules at the mountain." Robin glared Wally shut up.
"We weren't aware of three other escapees at the time. Penguin, Two Face and Poison Ivy. Do not engage any of them alone. Penguin and Two Face will be in hiding but Ivy will be up to her grievous gardening already. We find her but do not engage unless absolutely necessary." Robin looked around at the team, stone faced. She was never like that at the mountain, she was a carefree and happy prankster not this stern controlled, well, bat. There really was no other way of putting it. They all nodded. And so they set off once again with Robin leading the way. They were taking a slightly different route, one that took then within spitting distance of all the greenhouses and parks in Gotham. It wasn't until the third one that Robin spotted it.
Robin stopped dead in her tracks and motioned the rest of them to stop and stay low. They did so and robin tapped the side of her head with two fingers, a signal she and M'ggan had worked out earlier. M'ggan immediately nodded and linked them up mentally.
'Look, there.' Robin pointed towards a few trees that were swaying seemingly in the wind.
'what? It's a tree. So what, we passed like sixteen of them.' kid flash asked pulling out a protein bar from his pantry.
'Yes but the wind is blowing from east to west, so logically the tree should blow the same direction. But this tree is moving north to south. And they are growing take a look.' Robin handed over her binoculars to the kid. He peered through them and saw exactly what she was taking about the trees were indeed moving, seemingly of their own accord. He handed back the binoculars and looked at her.
'what do we do now?' M'ggan was clearly nervous but Superboy was anything but. Without a word he leapt off the roof to land near the greenhouse below with a large crash and accompanying crater. Robin practically growled.
"Did I not specifically say do not engage!?" Robin leapt after Superboy knowing full well the kind of trouble he would get into with the flowery fem fatale. The others followed closely behind the boy wonder. Robin pulled two bird-arangs from her utility belt and threw them, deftly chopping the tree roots that had wrapped themselves around Superboy. He fell a few feet but Robin made no move to catch him he deserved a good fall after not listening to orders. She was about to give more when the plants around them sprang to life crashing through the glass of the greenhouse and dragging them all into the plant filled room. Artemis grunted in pain as the thorns dug into her skin. Robin was bound tighter than the rest, her arms pulled out away from her sides, ankles bound tightly together and mouth covered by a large green vine. The others were too busy trying to free themselves to notice their youngest member's plight.
She was dragged, struggling all the way, through a hedge into a dark corner of the greenhouse while her team members fought the plants that tried to get a good grip on them. Robin tried to call out to M'gann but the mental link seemed to have been cut off somehow. Robin fought harder, worried about M'gann. But she knew that fighting was going to do her no good as soon as she saw the throne like flower out of the corner of the eye as the vines dragged her over the glass covered floor. The pain of the glass digging into her barely registered as she was dragged upright and the flower turned revealing the figure sitting at its center.
"Well well well, a little bird that's fallen from its nest. Whatever will I do with you?" Bright green eyes stared hungrily at the trapped boy wonder as she struggled to pull free of the vines to no avail. Ivy stood walking forward like a cat stalking an injured bird. She reached robin and ran a finger down her masked face. Robin glared, eyes darting towards the length of hedges she had been dragged through where her team was fighting Ivy's plants. Ivy turned the boy wonders head back towards her and grinned.
"Oh don't worry about your little friends. My babies will take care of them but why should they have all the fun. Oh what a lovely idea." Ivy grinned and motioned the vine on Robin's mouth aside. Robin was about to scream for help when ivy blew a fist full of pink dust right into robins face. Robin tried not to breathe in but the vines wrapped around her torso and squeezed hard forcing her to cry out and inhale the dust that swirled in the air. She coughed and sputtered for a moment before going limp in her bonds. Ivy gently lifted Robin's chin with one finger grinning wickedly at the limp teen.