Harley and Ivy: Chapter 9
The somewhere else turned out to be a less than respectable hotel in an even less than respectable part of town than the abandoned warehouse area had been. Hookers, drug addicts and petty criminals were the only ones to frequent this area. The good respectable Gotham citizens tried to pretend areas like this didn't exist but all that did of course was to cause such areas to flourish.
"If you could call decay, rot and hopelessness to be flourishing." Ivy thought to herself as she peered out of the grimy window of her and Harley's room. Ivy could see from her room's window the hotel's sign. Gotham Six. Some punks had painted out the i in the six and scrawled in spray can paint above it a u.
"Gotham Sux. Couldn't have said it better myself." Ivy wryly thought. Looking across the room she watched as Harley removed her pigtails from her hair and brushed her blond hair out. Harley was wearing a faded flowery dress that she had stolen off a apartment building's clothesline they had came across on their way here. As she had reminded Ivy, not many people knew what she looked like outside of her harlequin costume. They had stolen the clothing and Harley had been the one to rent the hotel room while Ivy had hidden around the corner. Ivy's face and distinctive red hair was too well known in Gotham.
"Do you have to remove the pigtails?" Ivy asked as she flopped down on the none too clean bed.
"They are too much me." Harley muttered as she tugged the brush through her hair. "Remove them and brush my hair out and I look like any other cheap blond in Gotham."
Ivy frowned and replied. "You run yourself down one more time and I will take that brush away from you and spank you with it." Ivy let an evil grin cross her face. "As a matter of fact that sounds like it might be fun." Ivy immediately dropped the grin when she saw the brief but very real look of fear cross Harley's face. "Harley? What's wrong?" She asked.
"Hmm? Oh nothing. Just worried about all the equipment I need to put together and make sure works." Harley said a trifle too fast and went over to the rickety plywood writing table in the room and started drawing plans out on some paper the hotel 'generously' supplied the rooms with.
Ivy moved across the room to crouch next to the smaller woman. "Let me guess. The Joker once beat you with a brush?"
Ivy thought for a moment that Harley was either not going to answer her or deny it but Harley's shoulders slumped a moment later and she nodded her head. "I made the mistake of using his brush one time so he beat me with it and then re-beat me with my own so I would always know the difference between the two."
Ivy wrapped her arms around Harley's shoulders. "You know I was just joking Harley." Ivy winced as she realized the term joking might not have been the best considering the individual they had just been talking about. "I would never tie you up or spank you unless that is what you wanted. I don't want you to ever have a reason to fear me Harley."
"I know you won't hurt me Ivy. I trust you." Harley stated quietly.
"Look, why don't you tell me a little more about this 'Tenchi' world you are going to send us to?" Ivy said in an effort to take Harley's mind off of the Joker and what he had done to her in the past. "I mean you said that this Tenchi person has a whole bunch of women staying with him. Is he some kind of playboy?"
"Tenchi?" Harley asked and then laughed. "Hardly. I think all the attention the women who stay with him pays him scares him a little."
"So how did all those women end up at his place then?" Ivy asked this time genuinely curious.
Harley proceeded to relate to Ivy the story that Mihoshi had explained to her about the women's arrivals at Tenchi's quiet home, all the while Harley continued to sketch out and draw the plans for the sonic device.
Thirty minutes later Ivy pulled away from the embrace she had kept on Harley the entire time and moved so she could look Harley in the eye. "So let me get this straight. There is a space pirate, a mad scientist, who just happens to be the mother of the space pirate, a princess of an entire alien empire and her sister who of course is also a princess and to top it all off, a galactic cop living with this guy?"
Harley gave a slight laugh. "Yeah I know. That was my reaction at the time too. Somehow it seems to work though."
Ivy shook her head as she walked over to the bed once again and picking up a remote she flipped on the nearly ancient TV in the room. "And you want to add two criminals from another dimension to that mix as well?"
"Well not to the mix so to speak. I don't want to stay with Tenchi like the other women; I just hope he can find us some area of our own where we can live. I mean it would be nice to be close enough we could visit all of them but I don't want to live in that confusion." Harley stated.
Ivy nodded her head but secretly she had her doubts. She couldn't help but notice how Harley's eyes lit up whenever she mentioned this Tenchi guy. It could be totally harmless and Harley really was just interested in finding a safe place for the both of them but Ivy's jealous and suspicious mind wouldn't leave it alone.
Ivy flipping through the channels on the TV was surprised to see the TV was hooked up to cable.
"Bet the owner of this hotel is stealing the cable." She thought to herself.
Ivy not being the soap opera type of girl rapidly and slightly annoyed flipped through the channels quickly only stopping when she came across the all news network.
First rule of being a criminal when you have access to a TV, find a news channel. You never know when they might be doing a story on you and give you advanced warning the cops were coming.
"Crap! Crap! Crap!" Harley said in a loud voice and then let her head drop down to thunk on the rickety table.
"What is it?" Ivy asked.
"I forgot about the power usage of the portal generator. I was told by the Batman that was how they found the warehouse Puddin and I used so quickly. The power drain blew out lights and electricity for blocks around the warehouse."
Ivy frowned at Harley's slip. It was obvious that Harley herself hadn't realized her slip.
"If I build another sonic portal device and turn it on, it'll draw the attention of Batman and Mr. J. instantly. If they don't show up to stop us they'll follow us through the portal to Tenchi's world and I can't let that happen."
Ivy shrugged her shoulders. "I wasn't exactly crazy about the idea of traveling to another dimension in the first place. Forget it and we'll escape from Gotham and move down south to the Amazon jungle. The pollution levels down there are still low enough we can live for a few years in perfect comfort."
"I don't want to live with you for a few years in comfort Ivy…" Harley said looking across at Ivy.
Ivy doubts and fears about Harley's feelings for her resurfaced instantly.
"I want to live happy, safely and in comfort with you forever!" Harley finished.
Ivy mentally sighed a sigh of relief.
"Then don't worry about it Harl, we'll think of something to get around the power problems." Ivy told her.
Both women glanced over at the TV at the news story that was being introduced when they heard mentioned Bruce Wayne's name.
"It was announced today that entrepreneur and corporate head Bruce Wayne revealed today that Wayne Enterprises has finished a prototype of a new power generator. We go to his press conference that was recorded earlier."
Harley rose from her chair and walked over and sat down on the bed beside Ivy to see the screen better. She could see a strikingly tall and handsome man with coal black hair standing behind a podium. She recognized Bruce Wayne instantly. Well everyone in Gotham knew Wayne on sight but her and Ivy knew him even better than most. Ivy and her had kidnapped the businessman once during the Christmas season and had forced him with the help of Ivy's male control lipstick to buy them expensive gifts. It had been just a lark at the time, a way to overcome their holiday blues. Wayne had escaped and been rescued by Batman of course.
"The new power core can generate massive amounts of energy and it does it without consuming fossil fuels or polluting. Here at Wayne Enterprises we have run probability tests and have found that if we don't come up with a cleaner power source within the next five years then the earth may reach a point where industrial pollution cannot be stopped or reversed so we've made it a priority to invent one. I'm proud to announce the creation of the first prototype of the new energy core."
"He's wrong you know." Ivy replied distracting Harley's attention.
"Wrong about what?"
"The earth passed the midway point two months ago by my calculations. Nothing can save this planet any more. His new energy core while a marvel of male invention is just too late. It can only delay the inevitable collapse of the environment a few decades at best."
Harley tuned out the rest of the broadcast to stare at Ivy in horror. "Are you sure Red?"
Ivy shrugged casually. "It was why I went into Eco-terrorism in the first place Harley. I was an environmental scientist and long ago I realized that mankind had dug itself into a hole that we couldn't possibly climb out of if we continued as we have. I tried to publish my conclusions and test results but the scientific community dismissed them as being anti-progress and fear mongering. I turned to crime as a last resort in hopes of shocking people into seeing for themselves."
"That is why you said if we went down to the Amazon jungles we could live for a FEW years in peace and comfort." Harley stated.
Ivy just shrugged.
"Then it makes it even more important that we get out of here and make it to Tenchi's world Ivy! His earth is still clean and pure…" Harley let her sentence drift off as she turned back to the TV. On the screen was a black box about the size of a large suitcase.
"The prototype will need further tests to prove itself but we at Wayne Enterprises hope to mass produce the device for cars and power generating needs of cities within the next two years." Wayne's voice came from the TV.
Ivy sadly shook her head. "Far too late Wayne, but I do have to give you credit for at least noticing there is a problem."
Ivy turned to look at Harley. "But there is the solution to our problem."
"Huh?"
"The power generator Harley. We can steal it and use it to power your dimensional thing. If it can generate enough power for a city, surely it has enough power to run the portal generator."
"But Ivy, he said it was a prototype. If we steal it, they might not have another working copy. It could set their research back two or three years and if that happens it might really be the end of this world." Harley replied nervously.
"So? I'm telling you my past research is correct Harley. This world is done for. Wayne's toy will only delay the inevitable. And what is more important? That this planet gets a few more years of lingering on or we escape to somewhere safe?"
Harley didn't look too pleased but was considering it.
"And think of the fun we'll have stealing it? A last 'girl's night out' before we escape to Tenchi's world and give up crime and go legit." Ivy leaned towards Harley and said persuasively.
Harley slowly began to grin. "It would be fun to have one last big job. Just to celebrate our becoming honest women once we get to Tenchi's world of course." She added.
"And I can't think of anything more fun than making an 'honest' woman out of you." Ivy replied with a lustful grin as she leaned in even further towards Harley.
Harley leapt to her feet and began to pace causing Ivy who was off balance to fall over on the bed and land face first.
"We'll have to make plans." Harley muttered to herself not noticing Ivy. "The power core is bound to be well guarded. You make any type of news announcement in this city and you know you are just advertising for someone to try and steal it."
Ivy still lying prone on the bed sighed.
In the Batcave, Batman watched his alter ego Bruce Wayne on the news on the large central monitor before turning to look at smaller monitors.
"Do you think it is wise Master Bruce to release technology you have developed for your own use to the general public?" His butler Alfred standing behind his chair asked him.
Batman picked up a large bound document and handed it over his shoulder to Alfred. "Do you know what this is?" He asked.
Alfred taking the document paged through it slightly.
"Well at first glance it would seem to be some kind of a thesis from one Pamela Isley on the destabilizing influences that pollution has on world environments." Alfred replied.
Alfred then did a double take and studied the document even closer.
"Is this Pamela Isley…?"
"Poison Ivy? Yes. This was the last official work she released before taking up a life of environmental terrorism." Batman replied as he continued to work on the computer before him. "She reaches the conclusion that unless extreme measures are taken the world will reach a point where it can no longer purify itself and even if all forms of pollution are stopped instantly, the world will still die. Her conclusions are we passed that point a short time ago."
"Dear me. Is she correct?" Alfred asked.
"My and the Batcomputers calculations show that she missed it by a few years. The point of 'no return' hasn't been reached yet. This world still has about four years before that point. If enough counter measures are enacted before that time, this planet's decline can be halted and reversed."
"Ah. So that is why you are releasing the power core technology you developed for the Batcave and the Batmobile to the world as a new prototype generator?"
"Yes. If I were to suddenly release a fully working and tested power generator to the world there might be difficult questions on how it was developed in secret. By stating it is only a prototype under testing it will make it less likely that anyone will get suspicious when I release the technology next year. I can just have Bruce Wayne state in a news conference that the prototype worked far better than was expected."
"Speaking of Poison Ivy." Alfred said as he handed the large document back to Batman. "Are there any clues to her and Harley Quinn's whereabouts? And what of the Joker?"
"Nothing at the moment. I have the Batcomputer doing constant searches for any plant or joke themed crimes being committed but Ivy and Quinn it would seem are staying out of sight. As for the Joker? Other than a suspicious fire at an abandoned plant store this morning, there has been nothing."
"Do you believe that the Joker is still maintaining his vendetta against Miss Quinn?"
"She crossed him Alfred. She protected someone the Joker had decided to kill. The Joker's personality is by nature a manic one. Once he sets his mind on something, nothing will stop him till he accomplishes it. He won't rest till he punishes Quinn."
"Do you believe that Quinn and Ivy are together, plotting some crimes?"
"It's a strong possibility. From the guard at Arkham we know that Ivy did a blood transfusion with Harley to help save her life and those two have worked together in the past. I've also studied Quinn's mental profiles from Arkham. The psychiatrists there state that Quinn has dependency/abandonment issues."
Alfred gave a discreet snort. "Anyone can see that. Why else would she put up with a psychopathic clown beating on her all these years unless she had some problems with being on her own?"
Batman scrolling through a computer file on Harley paused on one of the many photos of her from Arkham. This one was taken after a severe beating by the Joker had left her in the Infirmary for months. It wasn't so much the bruises on her face that disturbed Bruce so much as the lost empty look in her eyes. It reminded Bruce strongly of someone but he couldn't quite place who."
Alfred looking over his shoulder sighed. "She reminds me in that photo of you."
"Why?"
"When the police brought you home after your parents were killed. You had that same lost look on your face. As if you had lost everything in life and didn't know how to pick up the pieces." Alfred explained sadly.
It was impossible to clearly see emotions on Wayne's face when he was wearing the Batman cowl but Alfred could hear the emotion in his voice when he replied.
"I had you Alfred to help me pick up the pieces."
"But who does Quinn have?" Alfred replied. "Do you still believe it was the right thing to do to bring her back from that alternate dimension you found her and the Joker in?"
"Quinn is this dimension's problem. It is unfair to dump our problems on some other dimension."
Alfred nodded his head and turned to leave to continue with his duties but added as he left. "Even if she might have found what she needed to pick up the pieces in that other dimension?"
Batman didn't reply.