Ivy's Kids

Ivy and Bruce strode arm in arm through the ever-moving crowd of paparazzi, the boys trailing behind them. The red carpet; a place that would make anyone feel alive and energized. That same energy was now flowing through Ivy. She seemed to sparkle as she glided next to Bruce, looking like a priceless gem or a nymph. Needless to say, the boys reflected Ivy's same excited energy.

The rather formidable group blew through the swirling reporters and entered the gigantic building that housed the circus. Immediately, they were surrounded by the sights, sounds, and smells of the circus. Loud drums, growls from animals, and the steady roar of conversation filled the air around them as the smell of cotton candy and popcorn filled their noses. Clowns, strongmen, and trapeze artists milled in the rings. Up in the rafters, hugely muscled men in tights beat on giant kettle drums, creating a beat that the boys could feel in their chests.

Looking around in awe, Jasper broke away from his position between Jaylon and Camden to stand next to Ivy. He stuck a thumb in his mouth, looking up at his mother with wide eyes. Ivy smiled down at him and took his hand with her free one. Bruce graciously led the way to the seats that he had recieved, lining the boys up from youngest to oldest. Jasper sat right next to Ivy, with Camden on his left side. The line went down that way until it reached the twins, who were stuffing their faces with cotton candy, popcorn and Coke.

Ivy looked their way, a slight frown creasing her brow. "Boys, don't eat that junk too fast. You'll make yourself sick."

Bruce chuckled lightly. "Lighten up Ivy. Boys will be boys after all."

"They may be boys, but I won't feel sorry for them when they get sick because of it."

Camden looked over from his seat and cocked his head. "Yes you will Mommy."

A single eyebrow was raised. "What makes you so sure about that."

"Because your like a piece of caramel; hard and crunchy on the outside with a gooey center."

A snort resounded from Bruce at the simple honesty of Camden's statement. he looked over at Ivy to see she was staring and gawking open-mouthed at the little boy. "I am not gooey!"

Now it was Jaylon's turn to speak. "Yes you are. Hard and crunchy with a gooey filling."

Jasper nodded in agreement next to her, and Ivy shook her head, muttering, "And to think, they were terrified of me when they first saw me."

The lights went down in the big top and Ivy leaned against Bruce's shoulder. A whisper as the drums began to soften. "You don't think I'm gooey do you?"

"I plead the fifth amendment."

A slap resounded against Bruce's broad chest. "Okay I guess I deserved that one."

"Shut up the show's starting."

:OOOO:

Sunni and Harley passed the popcorn between each other, listening to some female reporter drabble on about how Poison Ivy wasn't a good date for Bruce Wayne. Sunni had the most horrible urge to chuck the remote at the television screen and start ranting, but she knew that it would only end with her chest on fire and Ivy spitting fire in her anger. So she just settled for rolling her eyes at the woman and making sarcastic comments about the woman's mental health.

"Harley, I think somebody's jealous that they're not as pretty as Mom is."

The Joker's ghost cackled from behind them, the laughter already starting to grate on Sunni's nerves. "Shut up Jack! I'm trying to say horrible things about this woman's personality and I can't do so with you cackling twenty-four seven!"

Jack stopped, but floated up above Sunni's head, sucking the warmth away from her to fuel his manifestation. Sunni shivered and carefully shifted herself to snuggle into Harley's side, muttering curses under her breath. Harley looked at her sharply after a particularly nasty word escaped from Sunni. "Was that what I think it was?"

"What was what now?"

"Did'ja just say the f-word?"

Sunni's eyes widened to the size of saucer's and she snuggled into Harley even more, speaking in a squeaky voice. "No. I have no idea what you're talking about."

Harley grinned smugly. "I though that's what'ya said."

They turned back to the screen watching with awe as the circus started. Trapeze artists flipped and flowed gracefully through the air, catching each other with strong arms and repeating the motions. Sunni sighed. That would be the coolest thing ever to do...besides playing drums for Avenged Sevenfold, of course. It was awesome on the T.V, so Sunni wondered how cool it would be seeing it live.

:OOOO:

Eli and Gabe watched in amazement as the strongmen before them lifted seemingly impossible weights. Feats of strength that they were sure that Jasper could match easily with his power serum induced muscles, were amazing in normal humans.

The ringmaster came out, dressed in his tight black pants and intricately designed scarlet overcoat, brandishing his microphone in one hand and his top hat in the other. He spun the microphone deftly between his fingers and placed it close to his lips, a winning smile on his face.

"And now ladies and gentlemen, for this next act we're going to need some volunteers from the crowd. Would anybody like to volunteer for this act of incredible skill?"

Eli and Gave looked at each other, grinned, stood, and shouted, "We'll volunteer."

The ringmaster looked they're way, a sparkle in his eyes. "Well, we're going to need more than just two. How about your brothers come with you too?"

Pleadingly, the twins looked towards Ivy, who was looking skeptically towards the ringmaster. "Please Mom?"

"Okay, just be careful okay."

With a whoop, the boys descended the stairs, jumping over the rails to land in the center ring. As they reached the ringmaster, they noticed something strange about the man that had called for volunteers. The left side of his face was rubbery looking, as if he'd spread latex all over it. A wild grin spread over his face and he brandished his microphone causing a cage to spread over the center ring.

"Now, boys. What we're going to play is...hostage situation!"

With that, goons jumped out of nowhere, wielding automatic weapons and laughing cruelly at the panicking patrons. The boys clustered together, back to back around Jasper and protecting their younger brother from the insanity around them.

Ivy and Bruce stood, the billionaire actually having to restrain Ivy from rushing towards the cage like a maniac. The Mayor, who sat near them, stood and shouted, "Who are you? Some sort of new supervillian?"

The unknown supervillain laughed cruelly, his voice deep and raspy. Ivy's heart froze in her chest as he did so. She knew exactly who that was. Sure enough, her suspicions were confirmed when the man ripped latex off of the left half of his face. The newly revealed scars were read and swollen, distorting the large yellow eye and accentuating the place in his lips where perfect white teeth were revealed.

"I assure you Mr. Mayor, you've met me before!"

Ivy saw red, her skin deepening to a dark forest green. "HARVEY! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?"

The former district attorney turned, grinning as he laid eyes on Ivy. "Simple my dear. We want Batman; broken, bleeding, begging. In a word, I want him DEAD! Now these are Gotham's finest, wealthiest, most influential men. Surely one of you must know who Batman is?"

With that, chaos erupted. Bruce screamed at the top of his lungs; a single sentence that only one could hear. And that one was Ivy. "HARVEY! I'm Batman!"

Ivy whipped around. "What!"

Bruce turned to her, his eyes just as scared as hers. But his contained something, a familiar hardness that identified him as the man that Ivy had fought so many times before.

"You're Batman? You lied to me! The only reason you gave us that house was so you could keep an eye on me! You didn't want to give me a second chance, you just wanted to keep me on a tab!"

Ivy was crying now, eyeliner running in thick streams down her cheeks. Anger fueled and upset, Ivy ripped herself out of Bruce's grasp and ran down to the cage, kicking off her heels and slipping between the bars.

Harvey looked on the crying woman with disgust. "Well, looks like little Ms. Goody Two-Shoes has come to play! This should be fun for us."

Ivy's eyes blazed with fury, and she snarled, coming between Harvey and the boys with a single bound. "Are you forgetting that I almost killed you once Harvey? I could do it again, just as easily."

Two-face, a.k.a Harvey, growled and balled up his fists. "As if. I'm going to kill you."

With that Two-face sent his fist into Ivy's face, knocking the woman back. Irate, and now sporting a bloody nose, Ivy turned to the boys and told them to leave. Eli and Gabe shook their heads, refusing to budge, but caught the look on Ivy's face. She was about to cry again, but refused to back down. "Go Boys! Now!"

They turned without another word, dragging their younger brother's behind. Ivy continued to fight Two-face, but to no avail. The boys were captured by the goons, automatic weapons pointed at their heads. Jasper started cry, sending his mom into a frenzy. Ivy started to cry, beating back at Two-face savagely. The former politician simply laughed and pummeled his fists into her flawless face, beating the poor woman to the ground.

Ivy simply lay there, bleeding, as she watched Two-face's men drag her boys out of the building. Harvey laughed, pulling Ivy up by her hair. The scarred half of his face was terrifying to say the least especially when your eyes were swollen and tear filled. Breath that reeked of cigars washed over Ivy as he spoke, quietly, so as no one would hear what he was saying.

"You're never going to see those boys again, that is, if you can't bring me Batman."

With that, he threw her to the ground and kicked her in the stomach. Bruce snuck behind him, landing a right hook as the super villain turned. Two-face shoved him away, escaping even though he was still reeling from the solid blow that the billionaire had placed to him.

Bruce could have snarled. Looking down at Ivy, tears came to his eyes. It hurt him to see someone so broken. Ivy had been so strong at the beginning of the night, a person that would gladly beat someone within an inch of their lives if they threatened her or her boys. Now, she looked fragile, like a fairy that had lost its wings or a china doll that had it's face shattered.

Ivy was curled into a ball, sobbing and holding her hands to her face. Bruce kneeled next to her, gathering her into his arms, being careful to not get any of her toxic blood on his skin. Ivy beat her fists against him for a moment, screaming obscenities and other various things. Then she broke, sobbing into the billionaire's arms.

:OOOO:

Sunni and Harley sat in their living room, screaming curses at the television and crying at the same time. It was happening all over again, only this time they had no idea what to do about it. Two-face's current hideout was unknown, and now Ivy was thoroughly beaten. It was on the screen right now. Ivy was huddled in Bruce's arms in the center ring cage. Two-face had escaped. There was virtually no way to find the boys.

They were lost. The Joker's ghost was for once silent. He had actually grown attached to the boys in the time that he had been a ghost in the manor. He had this strange feeling; a mixture of horror, terror, and anger that swirled with something new. Fear.

Sunni was filled with only rage. Two-face had made the biggest mistake of his life. She was going to kill him, and there was nothing Batman, Ivy, Harley, or anyone else for that matter could do to stop her.

I was filled with inspiration! Yay! Now, please stop giving me the cold shoulder and review! I respect your opinions. Really I do! I was just having a bad day at the time I said those things to AvenJackel, so please disregard them.

I'm about to go crazy with review deprivation.

With hope and love for ten Grinches,

BlackRosePoetry