Ivy's Kids

The weeks passed, and Catwoman started to tutor Sunni at night, much to Ivy's disdain. She didn't like the fact that Sunni was hanging out with Catwoman every night, despite the girl's constant griping about her new tutor. Ivy was actually starting to get a little bit jealous of Catwoman, and slightly nervous about her daughter's health. Sunni may have been more muscled and slightly calmer, but she was starting to look slightly haggard and worn. She had lost weight and had deep bags under her eyes.

What Ivy didn't know was that Sunni was actually hiding the true extent of her decline from her. The teenager was covered in bruises, lacerations, and had various cuts all over her torso. It was from the constant sparring and physical training that her tutor put her through. She still remembered their last match, and what had transpired.

Catwoman and Sunni were in the greenhouses, running and leaping through the now incredibly dense foliage. The younger girl was ducking and swerving, trying desperately to avoid the lightning fast blows that her older counterpart was aiming at her. An annoyed hiss reached the girl's ears as she landed a few glancing blows to Catwoman.

"Come on kid, you can do better than that! Concentrate!"

"I'm trying!"

Another hiss. "Well try harder. Visualize and attack!"

Catwoman landed a solid kick to Sunni's ribs, knocking the girl face-first onto the ground. The rich scent of earth filled her nostrils and hot tears spilled down her face. Her chest was on fire, the burning sensation settling in her lungs as she breathed.

"Get up kid. We're done for tonight."

With that, Catwoman leapt out of the greenhouse, leaving the girl all alone. Sunni got up, stumbling out of the greenhouse to reach her room. She shuffled into the bathroom, washing all of the sweat, dirt and a little blood off of her body and covering the bruises well. It wouldn't do to have Mom asking about bruises.

Sunni shook her head, dislodging the memory and returning to the present. She was giving the now seven month old Howard a bath, carefully washing his silky blond hair with shampoo. There were bags under her eyes and she was incredibly tired, but she still was taking on her responsibilities as a sister. She had a short sleeved tee-shirt on, despite it being winter, and her blond curls were pulled back into a braid.

Footsteps resounded behind her, and Sunni didn't even look up from what she was doing. "Joker, if that's you, I am SO not in the mood right now."

An exasperated huff reached Sunni's ears and she smirked. Howard looked up, tilting his little head curiously. Sunni peered over her shoulder to see what he was looking at and saw the silhouette of the Joker. She rolled her eyes.

"Go away Jack."

"Why would I leave when I can annoy you even more?"

Sunni growled. "Don't make me call T.A.P.S on you Jack."

"Ah! But I have leverage on you my dear. If you call T.A.P.S on me, I tell your Mommy about what happens during your nightly jaunts."

Sunni whipped around, snarling at the shadowy figure of Joker. The ghost immediately dissolved, cackling and screaming, "I'm telling Itchy! I'm telling Itchy!"

Shaking slightly, the girl bowed her head in defeat and looked down at her youngest brother. "What am I going to do Howie? Can you tell me buddy?"

Cobalt blue eyes stared up at her, seeming to almost frown at the older child. Howard seemed to be telling her something in a way only an infant can do. Sunni looked down at her arms, the bruises contrasting starkely with her pale white skin.

"I should probably tell her. Thanks buddy."

Howard burbled happily as Sunni rinsed the shampoo out of his hair. She then picked the baby up out of the tub and wrapped him in a towel, gently rubbing him dry with the soft cloth. Sunni went into the nursery and started to dress Howard. She cringed as she heard a loud "WHAT!" eminate from Ivy and Harley, and a cackle come from Joker's ghost.

Thuds came from the stairs as Harley and Ivy ran up them. Soon, Sunni could see her Mom's bright red hair out of the corner of her eye. She heard a gasp as Ivy caught sight of the deep purple bruises on her arms.

"Sunni, what happened?"

Sunni took a deep breath, sat Howard down in his crib, and turned to face Harley and Ivy. "They're bruises from where Catwoman and I sparred."

Now it was Harley's turn to speak. "Ya mean that she's been all out fightin' with a fourteen year old kid?"

Sunni nodded and watched as Ivy flushed a bright red with anger. "How could she do that?"

"She says it makes me stronger. It puts me more in control of my physically based powers."

Harley turned to her friend and whispered something in Ivy's ear. Whatever Harley had said, Ivy obviously didn't agree with, because the red-head shook her head vehemently. Sunni just stood there in silence. All of a sudden, the girl started to sway and blink quickly, murmering something unintelligable under her breath.

Ivy turned to her daughter, alarmed by what was happening. "Sunni? Baby what's wrong."

Sunni blinked again, and started to speak, the words coming out slow. "Mommy, I don't feel good."

At that, she collapsed, unconcious before she hit the floor. Harley and Ivy rushed over to Sunni, feeling the girl's forehead. She was burning up with fever, and shivering violently. The two women carried her into the master bedroom, where they placed her on the bed. Harley ran down to the kitchen to get some medicine for Sunni's fever, leaving Ivy alone with the sick girl. Ivy decided to put Sunni into a pair of her pajamas to make her more comfortable.

The former plant villainess was almost sick with rage by the time she finished. Bruises and cuts littered the poor girl's torso, and Ivy could feel a few fractured ribs as she brushed her fingers across her torso. Ivy also realized that Sunni was now much thinner than she was before her sessions with Catwoman. Harley soon returned with a carefully measured dose of medicine. The adults forced the medicine down Sunni's throat.

Soon, Sunni was asleep, Harley petting her on the head. "What are we going to do Red?"

"I'm going to get Catwoman tonight."

:OOOO:

Selina Kyle crept into the greenhouse of Poison Ivy to give her adopted daughter lessons. Selina, a.k.a Catwoman, was resenting having to do so. She had places to go, things to do... stuff to steal! She didn't want to waste her time teaching some girl how to control her powers.

Suddenly, Catwoman caught something out of the corner of her eye. The plants around her were moving. Immediately, Selina leapt toward the window she had just entered through, trying to escape before the plants caught her. But she was too slow.

Vines and various tendrils wrapped around the Catwoman's waist, drawing her none to gently into the center of the greenhouse. There stood Poison Ivy, glowering dangerously at Catwoman. Selina hissed, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and anger.

"What the hell is wrong with you Ivy? Where's the kid?"

Ivy's venomous green eyes darkened and she whispered viciously, "The kid's name is Sunni and she's inside, broken and sick. I saw all the cuts and bruises, Selina. You know, you even broke some of her ribs?"

The plants brought Catwoman close to Ivy's face, the former plant villainesses eyes betraying how furious she really was. When Ivy spoke again, her voice was nothing more than a poisonous whisper, but it was more effective than if she was shouting. "If you ever show your face around here again, I WILL kill you. Do you understand?"

Selina nodded and Ivy smiled viciously. "Good."

The vines dropped Selina, allowing her to take off at a dead run. One thing was for sure; she was never pissing off that particular woman again. Because if she did, Selina was sure that Ivy would keep her word about killing her.

:OOOO:

Ivy sat in the living room the next day, shaking violently. Sunni was still sick, and now, the boys were starting to fall ill. One by one, all day the boys had fallen into a feverish stupor. She and Harley had been busy all morning, running back and forth between the kids with medicine and trying to comfort them. Sunni and the twins were by far the worst sick, actually appearing to be catatonic with fever.

Now Ivy was scared that she might actually be losing her kids to some strange sickness that she didn't know how to treat. Joker had been trailing Harley all day, the insane ghost actually somewhat concerned. The only ones that weren't sick were the babies, herself and Harley.

As she sat there, the doorbell rang. Ivy stood and went to the large doorway, opening it to find none other than Bruce Wayne. He smiled for a moment, and then frowned as he caught the strained and haggard look Ivy was wearing.

"Ivy what's wrong?"

She put on a transparently false smile and said, "The kids are sick and I've just had a really bad night."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Another strained smile. "Not really Bruce. Thanks for asking though."

Bruce placed a hand on Ivy's shoulder. "Ivy there's something else going on here that you're not telling me."

The billionaire was startled as tears started to well up in Ivy's eyes. She then started to tell him all about what happened, from the time Sunni told them about Catwoman's abuse to when Sunni collapsed to when the boys began to get sick. By the time she finished, Ivy was sobbing almost uncontrollably. Bruce pulled the poor woman into a hug, stroking her hair gently as she sobbed.

"It'll be okay Ivy. It'll be okay."

Hey guys! How's it goin'? Sorry that I didn't update yesterday. I was held up at softball camp for eight hours so I was kind of late getting home. But now you have a brand new chapter to read and comment on. So yay!

Lot's of love,

BlackRosePoetry