"Have you found anything, Master Tim?" asked Alfred, as Tim returned from searching the rest of the Batcave. He nodded, holding up a piece of fabric.
"This was torn off by one of the rocks. It was Harley Quinn who took him."
"Good Lord," said Alfred. "But Master Bruce told me she was cured…"
"Apparently not," retorted Tim. "Cured lunatics don't kidnap people."
"But what could she possibly want with him?" asked Alfred.
"Nothing good, that's for sure," retorted Tim. "Even if it's just revenge for Joker again, she was dangerous enough in Arkham City. We need a handle on her location now."
He tapped the comms unit in his ear. "Barb, found anything yet?"
"Sorry, Tim," replied the former Barbara Gordon, now Barbara Drake. "Bruce didn't have anything traceable on him, and there's no footage from the CCTV as to how she got in or came out. She must have come through some part of the cave that we didn't have eyes on."
"Dammit, this is bad," muttered Tim.
"There's no telling what that dreadful woman will do to him," said Alfred. "We have to find him before it's too late."
"Then we'd better get out there and start searching," sighed Tim. "Alfred, contact Nightwing – we could use an extra set of eyes. I just hope Jason isn't out there causing mischief tonight. The last thing we need is a distraction like that when we've got this emergency on our hands."
"Tim?" said Barbara, suddenly.
"Found something, Barb?" he asked.
"I'm not sure," she said. "But there's something going on at the Pamela Isley Memorial Gardens, something you need to check out."
"I just said to Alfred we can't focus on distractions right now…" began Tim.
"Bruce would want you to," interrupted Barbara. "It's Jason, and he's threatening a kid."
Tim let out a heavy sigh. "Ok, keep looking for Bruce, Barb. Alfred's gonna get Nightwing too. I'll be in touch."
Tim didn't know how Bruce did it on nights like these, where it was just one emergency after another, he thought as he headed toward the Pamela Isley Memorial Gardens on Miagani Island. You couldn't do the tasks in order of importance, because they were all equally important. In hindsight, Tim thought it was probably a good thing Bruce's identity had been revealed when it had – if Bruce had carried on as Batman much longer, it would probably have driven him crazy. Tim was certainly eager to get out of the role as soon as possible – once Jason was taken care of, he and Barbara were going on their honeymoon, and then leaving the task of crime-fighting to the police, permanently. If Bruce wanted to continue being a vigilante, he could get out there and do it himself instead of giving orders from the Batcave. If they managed to get Bruce back, of course.
He tried not to focus on the potential tragedy of the future, and concentrate on the present, as he landed on the balcony of the Pamela Isley Memorial Gardens, staring down at the scene below.
Jason Todd was standing there, dressed in a modified Batman costume with an upside-down bat symbol on his chest, resembling Scarecrow's old symbol. He had canisters of fear gas on the wings of his cape, which he would release before he struck at his targets, causing them to hallucinate a giant, shadowy bat creature with burning red eyes and fire. But right now his very presence was intimidating enough as he stood over a small, ragged child, cowering in fear in front of him.
"I said talk!" shouted Jason. "Where are the others?!"
The child said nothing, shivering. Jason raised a canister of fear gas. "You know what this is, right?" he demanded.
The child nodded. "So unless you want a dose of it that'll kill you, you'd better start talking!" shouted Jason. "I know the others are around here somewhere, so tell me where they're hiding!"
"Hey," snapped Tim, dropping down in front of the child. "Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?"
Jason's lips twisted in rage. "It's you," he hissed. "The one Bruce replaced me with."
"Yeah, yeah, you got a lotta issues, Todd, we know," said Tim. "But this isn't the way to work them out. We can help you..."
"I don't want help!" roared Jason, striking out at Tim. "I want to make the criminal scum of Gotham pay!"
"And killing them isn't the way to do it!" snapped Tim. "Bruce knew that…"
"Bruce is dead!" yelled Jason. "And his way of crime-fighting died with him! Now this town needs a new Batman, a better Batman, a darker, more violent Batman who isn't afraid to do anything to save Gotham from itself!"
"Yeah, orphan children are a real threat," said Tim, sarcastically.
"These are," growled Jason. "Haven't you been keeping an eye on things? Don't you know who they are?"
Tim was about to respond in the negative, when the child suddenly put her fingers to her lips and whistled. Instantly a dozen more children emerged from the surrounding vegetation of the gardens, throwing stones and lassos of vines around Jason, trapping him in the foliage. As he struggled to get free, children rushed up and seized the fear toxin from his cape, tossing it into the water of the fountain to destroy it. As they did so, they bowed and whispered, "For Mother Ivy."
Tim stared in astonishment at the group of children who had subdued Jason. They stared back at him with wide-eyes, wary but unafraid. "Who are you?" asked the child who Tim had thought he was protecting.
"I'm…uh…Robin," said Tim. "Who…are you?"
"We are the Children of Ivy," said the child, gesturing around.
"Ivy…had kids?" asked Tim, slowly.
"We are not born of her," said the child. "But we were cared for by her. We were strays and orphans, hiding in parks and gardens to escape from the cold and the cruelty of humanity…Mother Ivy offered us refuge in nature before she passed on to be one with the earth. She taught us the ways of nature, and its superiority to human life. In her name, we destroy that which destroyed her. We hunt the false Batman and destroy his evil toxin. For Mother Ivy."
"Wow…ok," said Tim, slowly. "So you just…live here alone, in the gardens?"
"It is where we feel most comfortable," said the child. "Sheltered by the eternal presence of nature, and Mother Ivy," she said, gently touching the tree that was the centerpiece of the garden. "Can you not feel her spirit surrounding us, growing with all living things?"
"Er…yeah, sure," said Tim. "Uh…excuse me for a second, kid," he said, turning away and tapping on his comms unit. "Barb, I've found a group of kids living in the gardens. They appear to be orphans, and they seem to worship Ivy."
"Seriously?" asked Barbara.
"Oh, they're serious, all right," replied Tim. "They've got Jason tied up without any help from me. I say we leave 'em for now while we continue the search for Bruce…"
"Bruce Wayne?" said the child. "Is that who you seek?"
"Uh…yeah," said Tim, slowly. "You know him?"
"He is underground," said the child. "Beneath the roots of the trees. Far, far underground, but not so deep that nature cannot find him."
"How do you know he's underground?" asked Tim.
"The trees have told us," said the child. "Mother Ivy taught us to communicate with them. Their roots go deep, and deep is where you will find Bruce Wayne."
"Bruce is alive?" demanded Jason.
"For now," agreed Tim. "And apparently underground. Look, kid," he said, kneeling down. "Could you…communicate with the trees and find out where exactly Bruce is underground? We need to find him urgently."
The child nodded. "For coming to my aid, and for helping distract the false Batman, I will help you."
She shut her eyes, laying her hand against the tree. Several long seconds passed in silence, and then the child opened her eyes. "Follow me," she said, leading Tim out of the gardens and toward Storybook Land.