Disclaimer: Batman Beyond and all related characters, names, and indicia are DC Comics, a division of Time-Warner Communications, and are used without permission. All rights reserved. Making it perfectly clear that I do NOT own it. Those are some people you just don't mess with!
A/N: I refuse to do terrible puns! The old Batman show was crawling with them! How could people laugh at that, how?
Pointless Key
*** is an elapse of time or change in scene.
sound effect
"..." someone speaking
'...' someone thinking.
Chapter 3: Partnership
Nightshade awoke to a warm tasty smell. He slowly opened his eyes to the soft yellow lights of the ceiling lights. Gradually collecting himself he noticed a bowl of steaming red liquid beside him. Nightshade's stomach growled he was unaware of his last meal since he arrived in Gotham. He stirred the contents in the bowl bringing up colorful chunks of vegetables to the top. "Homemade." He smiled. Careful not to burn his tongue he swallowed a few spoonfuls noting a lack of salt and pepper.
After he had finished his bowl of vegetable soup did he notice he was in a rather comfortable bed in a decent sized room with light indigo walls. It took him a moment more to discover he was no longer wearing his costume but was dressed in some dungaree jeans and a t-shirt.
Nightshade got out of the bed and followed the sound of music coming from the other rooms. It was the older music from back in the dinosaur days of the late 1900's. He walked into the living room and saw a pillow and blanket thrown carelessly on an old sofa. "Someone must have given up their bed for me." He said to himself as he made his way into the kitchen.
The smell of the vegetable soup lured him over to the pot. He was about to serve himself another bowl when he heard a clang from below. He glanced over the kitchen balcony railing which prevented one from falling down onto the first floor, the garage area.
Down below he saw a figure crouched beside an exposed motorcycle swinging her head from side to side in time with the music.
"Harley?" Nightshade called. She did not acknowledge. "Hey Harley!" He shouted. Still no responds. Nightshade grabbed a discarded carrot top and threw it with careful aim at Harley.
The carrot bounced beautifully off the top of Harley's head. "Ow! Great now vegetables are out to get me." She grumbled turning around. "Oh you're awake." She smiled at Nightshade while turning off the CD player.
"What's that you're listening to?" He asked.
"Queen. I like those old bands, their music had meaning and you understood what they were saying without a lyric sheet. Not like today's music, it's so loud and dismal." Harley smiled tossing off her work gloves.
"Thanks for helping me and bringing me home with you." Nightshade said watching as Harley climbed a large silver toolbox onto the beam beneath the kitchen balcony.
She swung herself up with a small flip onto the rail and there she squatted with perfect balance. "No prob. I'm always gettin' strays following me home. You I don't find unpleasant, so I decided to keep you. I just hope you're house broken." Harley said.
"Really?" Nightshade asked amused.
"No," She stated frankly. "You see I have a small annoying thing in my head called a conscious. And if I had left you it would have been buggin' me for days." Harley said frowning at her small human flaw.
"How long have I been out?" Nightshade asked.
"Almost two days. Thank goodness Miss Q was at home when I called her. She told me all I needed to know to take care of you. Sunlight, water, and mulch." Harley said walking into the kitchen. "She has the know-how with plant people. Now tell me what's the name, I mean your real name." She served Nightshade another bowl after she noticed his sight wondering towards the pot then she poured herself a glass of orange juice.
"I'm Christopher Isley." Nightshade said.
"Any relation to Pamela Isley?" Harley asked taking a drink of her juice.
"Poison Ivy? Yes she's my mother." He said proudly.
Harley choked on her juice. "Your mother!" She asked wiping off her face. "But you can't be! Miss Q told me that Poison Ivy couldn't have children. Something to do with the chemicals or toxins or whatever that stuff was that changed her into the plant gal Gotham knows and loathes." Harley said.
"You've been listening in villains 101." Nightshade said.
"Was that an attempt at humor?" Harley asked dryly.
"Mom adopted me when she noticed I had a strong fascination with plants just like her. Then with extreme caution she exposed me to the same 'stuff' as you say it. Making me like her. We've been living in and out of cities and the South American rainforest for years now." Nightshade said.
Harley scratched her temple. "The sounds sensible...I guess." She said finding it amazing that he shared many of her looks though he was adopted.
"You don't understand the logic of it do you?" Nightshade asked.
"Haven't a clue. Well Chris why are you here in lovely Gotham city?" Harley asked. "This isn't the best place for neither plants nor plant people."
"I came to investigate some young woman going around Gotham calling herself the successor of Harley Quinn, a great friend of my mother's."
Harley blinked with surprise. "Well you've met her what do you think about her?"
"Not criminally insane and obsessed with the Joker, but I approve." Nightshade said.
"Yeah especially after I hauled your compost carcass all over Gotham trying to dodge police and avoid getting captured by Batman." Harley said raising a brow at him.
"That's true." Nightshade nodded.
"And who said I wasn't criminally insane?" Harley asked.
Nightshade ignored Harley's last statement. "And since I like it here and the people so much I think I'll stay for awhile." Nightshade said.
"I get it now sowing your roots in new soil." Harley said.
"Something like that." He said.
"But in my soil." Harley said.
Nightshade gave Harley's words little regard. "Tell me Harl how did you become the successor of Harley Quinn?" He asked.
Harley smiled. "My grandpa use to work for Harley Quinn. He did it to support my grandmother and his kids." Harley said.
"What happened to him?" Nightshade asked.
"Quinn shot him in the back." Harley said frankly.
"What?! Wait this doesn't make any sense." Nightshade said.
"Will you let me finish Red geez! My grandpa Lewis was Miss Q's favorite and most loyal 'henchmen'. Grandpa Lewis use to come home and tell my papa all about the fun he had with Quinn. My papa asked what if he got killed workin' for Quinn and my grandpa said 'No regrets.' Papa always told me I would have loved my grandpa. From the stories he told me about him I know I would have. But anyways, my papa met Miss Q when my grandpa was workin' for her and he liked her, he said she was a lot of laughs even when she had quit the criminal business. When she killed my grandpa Lewis my grandmother was upset, as anyone could understand. But my papa knew my grandpa wanted no regrets for either of them. Then I was born!" Harley said smiling broadly.
"And in honor of Harley Quinn he named you after her." Nightshade said.
"No I was named after a Harley-Davidson motorcycle my papa was restoring during that time." Harley said forthright. "Now stop interrupting! When I was little papa took me to see Miss Q for myself. I liked her a lot even thought she had aged and had children of her own." Harley said.
"She has kids?" Nightshade asked.
"Granddaughters now." Harley said.
"So why didn't she pass her title down to one of her granddaughters?" Nightshade asked.
"They are just simple juvenile delinquents, I think they're apart of the Jokerz. There's a crude irony in that somewhere. Now stop interrupting me! I'm almost finished! After my papa was killed I asked Miss Q if I could take up the torch and voila!" Harley said motioning to herself.
"Your story is lacking." Nightshade said.
"Hey I wasn't put on this Earth to entertain you!" Harley said. "Life is just more interesting when things don't make sense and are lacking. Besides it's no concern of yours." Harley said.
Nightshade thought it over. He was never going to figure this young woman out. "Do you know what Harley Quinn saw in the Joker?" Nightshade asked.
Harley smiled. "The man may have been a criminally insane murderous psychopath. But the man was a genius! And you could never predict him; he could make you laugh moments before he shot you in the head." Harley said.
***
Nightshade helped Harley clean up the kitchen by washing the dishes. "So why are you after Fletcher?" He asked.
"Why do you ask?" Harley said as she placed the leftovers in the fridge.
"I just wanted to know why I'm going after someone if I'm going to join you." Nightshade said turning towards Harley while drying his hands.
Harley held her hands up as if to stop a game. "Slow down weeds. Who said anything about a partnership? Aren't you plant folk solitary like? I mean Miss Q always told me how Poison Ivy was always independent and strong and how she admired her for it and all. 'Ivy always liked to stay in one place, she said she had roots where she was. And that left me to go out on my own.' Is that not correct?" Harley asked.
"That sounds like my mother." Nightshade smiled. "Listen Harl, you know Gotham better than I do. Besides I think you could use someone like me around to give you an edge."
"No I don't. Besides plant boy you make me sick." Harley said bluntly.
"What!" Nightshade flared with anger at Harley's crude honesty. Then he noticed Harley's tried eyes. "Oh you mean being around me? I thought Harley Quinn gave you her immunity."
"I'm immune to Joker venom. You know that stuff taste like kiwi? Mmm." Harley said losing train of thought. "What you except her to insert her blood into me? You can get diseases do things like that."
"So how am I to get the ingredients I need to make the concoction?" Nightshade asked.
Harley began to laugh at his ignorance. "You're a bad boy of Gotham now. We criminals shop after closing time, so much easier that way." Harley said.
Nightshade stared at her with annoyance. "I know that. What I mean was were in Gotham could I find such things?"
"Laboratories, stores, malls, if you're on the look out for plants there aren't many nurseries here." Harley said.
Nightshade grabbed Harley's bag as he went to the elevator. "Hey you know your way around here?" Harley asked with concern in her voice.
"Harley, I didn't know you cared." He smiled as the elevator descended.
"Why do I care?" Harley asked herself. She shrugged her shoulders and jumped over the balcony. "I have better things to do. Like reload my popgun."
***
"Excuse me ma'am, can you tell me where the nearest nursery is?" Nightshade asked an elderly woman with blonde hair and a cane to help her walk with her sinking body.
"A nursery? What do you need with plants?" She asked in a rough voice. "If you ask me you should be looking for the hospital, you looking kinda green." The woman said gruffly inching in on Nightshades face her baby blue eyes peering at him from behind her glasses.
Nightshade had been taught to always be kind to women and the elderly. Even if they happened to be rude and annoying. "You see tonight in my girl's birthday, and the flowers I got for her are cut. She hates cut flowers. She want plants she that can plant." Nightshade said.
"Shows what a pathetic boyfriend you are." The woman said edging towards the bus stop.
Nightshade swallowed his anger. "Please." He said.
"Six blocks down take a right at the bus stop. You can't miss it." The woman dismissed him with a wave of the hand as she walked off.
***
Nightshade smiled triumphantly as he walked comfortably through the park. Slowly swinging by his side was the bag full of small herbs, plants, seeds, and the chemistry set he had stolen.
"I'll get fertilizer on my next trip. I guess this Gotham isn't such a bad place." Nightshade said aloud.
"Not the best place for a green thumb." A voice said.
Nightshade looked up just in time to receive a boot in the face. The kick sent him tumbling backwards.
Quickly Nightshade regained himself and jumped onto his feet. He checked into his bag making sure none of the plants were seriously damaged.
"So you're Batman." Nightshade said looking up. "We didn't get much of a chance to meet the other day, but I was sick and Harley was racing us around on that bike." Nightshade said.
"You're that man the police reported with Harley Jest?" Batman asked.
"Guilty." Nightshade smiled as he reached out to stroke a low branch of a tree.
"And who are you suppose to be Weeping Willow?" Batman asked.
"Why does everyone find joy in trying to guess my name? Let me introduce myself. I'm Nightshade, deadly as the real thing." Nightshade said proudly.
"Let me guess you have relations with Poison Ivy?" Batman asked.
Nightshade reached into his sleeve. "Find out for yourself." He said holding out his arm fist down. Nightshade opened his hand dropping five small seeds on to the ground.
Batman watched keeping himself on guard. Nightshade stood with his hands parallel to his sides and a sadistic look in his eyes. Nightshade slowly raised his hands fingers spread like and composer conducting an orchestra. The ground beneath Batman's feet began to tremble.
Thick green thorny vine-like stems began to sprout out of the ground.
"What the?" Batman leapt out of the way.
"Careful Batman that my plants don't touch you." Nightshade said pushing his red hair from his face. "The barbs have a poison in them that helps to fend off animals that tends to feed off it." Nightshade said willing the dangerous flora to attack the evading Batman.
Batman reached for his bladed glaive and threw it at the thorned stems.
The stems released an inhuman cry as it shriveled away. "Killer!" Nightshade cried out as his creations one by one each withered away when struck by the blade.
"Is that all you've got?" Batman asked landing before Nightshade.
Nightshade stared down dismayed at the dry detached stems on the ground. "Murderer." He whispered. "You will pay for what you've done."
With a cried Nightshade attacked fist first. Batman dodged the swing hooking his arms under Nightshade's elbows. With a push and forced Nightshade face first down on the ground.
"I'm impressed." Nightshade chuckled with aversion.
"Where's Harley?" Batman asked removing his cuffs.
"Harley, she didn't join me on this little escapade. She was aware of something you aren't." Nightshade smiled. "Being around me is very hazardous to your health." Nightshade rolled pitching a handful of yellow dust into the air.
Batman released Nightshade to wipe his face as he began to fell his eyes itch and water. Nightshade smiled as he picked up the bag. He swung it upwards catching Batman in the chin, pitching him backward onto the ground.
"I must go now Harley is expecting this." He laughed as Batman began to sneeze. "Oh and no matter how much you wash the pollen I threw on you won't come off. After a few hours it should wear off on it's own." Nightshade said running off before anyone else came to investigate in the park.
***
After watching the latest news update upside down on the couch Harley laid in a claw-foot bathtub; soaking in the hot water with honey-milk bath foam. It was the best way to clean off grease and oil build up.
"Settle your mind about us teaming up?" Harley jumped at the sound of Nightshade's voice. Living by herself for so many years had left her careless and unprepared for his return.
Harley watched as his eyes darted quickly over the surface of the water. "Didn't your mama teach ya about manners?" Harley asked sneaking down into the tub a bit.
"Didn't yours teach you modesty? You haven't covered yourself or anything yet." Nightshade said.
Harley humped as she began to wash her left leg, revealing yet another three red diamond tattoo on her calf. "Being modest is no fun. You're putting yourself down with modesty." She stretched one leg straight up into the air. "Look at these lovely legs, if I were modest I would never show these babies off to no one." She smiled.
Nightshade sat down leaning his head against the tub. "Have you thought about our partnership any?"
"Yes, I've been thinkin'."
"And?" Nightshade asked turning to see Harley.
"And it made my head hurt. Why do you want to help me?" Harley asked folding her arms on the tub edge and resting her chin on her folded arms.
"My mother taught me to always help a woman who could use my assistance." Nightshade said.
"I would believe you if I didn't feel like what you just told me was bull." Harley smiled crudely.
Nightshade stared spellbound at Harley's dark brown eyes. "I want my first crime to be big and noticed by everyone." Nightshade said.
Harley smirked as her body slipped into the water until her head disappeared in a swirl of milky water.
"I don't think I'll ever figure you out Harl." Nightshade sighed.
Forty seconds passed before Harley reemerged. She pushed the water away from her eyes. "I've decided to give you a trail go. Until then you had better get started on that 'immunity stuff' it you want to last 'til then." Harley said splashing a bit of water on Nightshades head.
"Hey!" Nightshade cried as the water slid down his back. "Okay then it's a deal!" He splashed the water catching Harley in the face.
Harley jumped out of the water laughing. She wrapped a large beach towel around herself recalling their earlier discussion about modesty. "Sleep tight, Red." Harley said heading into her room.
