The Rose and Her Thorns
Sunni drove the Escalade through the downtown Gotham slums. She was careful to pick a place that no one would suspect a bunch of spoiled rich kids to go, as well as making sure that she wasn't going to be robbed in the process of moving into whatever building they could find. Her father's Blackberry was in her hand as she drove, the dial tone soon giving way to the crisp voice of a 911 operator.
"911 what is your emergency?"
Sunni turned to boys and pressed a singular digit to her lips before answering the woman in her best panicked voice. "It's my Daddy Miss! Someones killed him! Please get the police here fast!"
The operator spoke quickly and soothingly. "Sweetheart, where are you at? You've gotta tell me so that I can send someone to help."
"I'm at the residence of James Anthony Amyx on the outskirts of Gotham. Please hurry! They're gonna find me and my brothers!"
Eli and Gabe snickered at the false panic voice Sunni was using, but her now incredibly eerie glare shut them up fast. "I know where that is. Don't worry sweety, someone's gonna be there really soon. I promise."
Sunni breathed harder, making it sound like she was panicking even further. "Oh my God! They're outside the door! I've gotta go. They're gonna hear me!"
"No sweetheart! Don't!..."
At that, Sunni hung up the cellphone, cutting off sharply to make it seem like someone had snatched the phone from her. The twins started to giggle quietly again, they're laughter slowly rising in volume and pitch until it was reverberating through the SUV. Jaylon and Camden actually plugged their ears, stuffing their fingers deep into the organs to at least muffle the high pitched squeals of laughter.
A vein throbbed in Sunni's temple and she snarled. "SHUT UP!"
Silence pervaded the atmosphere in the car, as the oldest ones eyes glared with a dangerous amber light. They soon returned to their normal hazel color and Sunni sighed, apologizing quietly for her outburst. She really needed to work on controlling her temper, but now wasn't the time for deep breathing exercises.
"Look guys, we really need to stop fooling around and find someplace decent that can accommodate us all. Now can you please look outside your windows for a new home."
Jaylon spoke from the back, his relatively low six-year-old voice coming out slightly muffled. "Sunni, can we go to the big house with the plants?"
Sunni stopped at an intersection stop sign and looked to her right. Sure enough, there was a large greenhouse with a house attached to it just off the highway. Looking both ways, Sunni roared into the driveway of the greenhouse. She parked the car just outside the building, putting it into park and staring at the dark green glass panels around it. Looking at the nine year old twins beside her, crammed into the passenger seat uncomfortably.
"Stay here and look after the younger ones. I'm going to go in and make sure it's safe."
With that, Sunni leapt out of the car and went to the front door of the greenhouse. She was dressed inconspicuously, so there was no way for any nosey neighbors questioning her about what she was doing. Looking over her shoulder, Sunni pulled out a bobbypin and stuck it in the lock, picking it and getting the door open in less than 15 seconds.
Entering the building was the easy part, searching it and making sure it was safe was the hard part. Sunni snuck in and looked around the large living room she found herself in. The walls were a mint green, with plants in pots all around the room. It looked like a jungle had been brough into the home. Tip-toing on her famous ninja feet, Sunni made her way into the kitchen. It looked like a professional chef's kitchen, with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. Not only was it professional looking, but it was also huge.
Sunni snuck back into the living room and went down the hall to the bedrooms. There were three, all green and crammed with plants of everyshape and size. One in particular was larger than the rest, with a bathroom attached to it. All of them were quite large, but the master was by far the biggest. The bathroom attached was large too, with a gigantic bathtub with beautiful stonework and, again, huge potted plants surrounding the tub.
She snuck back out, searching for the guest bath. Sunni found it next to a certain room that she found rather odd. The guest room had pictures of the Joker everywhere, including a Real Villains plushy. There were also black and red jumpsuits in the closet that made the teen a little uneasy, but she shrugged the feeling. This place was perfect and she was wasn't about to pass up the one actually decent place she had found in this hell hole called Gotham.
Sunni strode out into the greenhouse, only to be met with a sight that was strange to say the least. The plants were huge! The roses and violet and various other flowers were at least three times the size of normal specimens. There were also many different kinds of vines of all different shapes and sizes...that were moving. In the center of this nest of plants on steroids was a giant Venus flytrap. Teeth the size of her arm lined the side of that thing, and Sunni was absolutely stunned by it.
Retracting back into the house section, Sunni stood there for a moment. This place was perfect, but she was nervous. Something about this place made her nervous. She knew of a villain that had some sort of a plant motif and another villain that was obsessed with the Joker, but she couldn't place their names. If this was their home, and they came back,she and her family were in deep dog do.
Exiting their new home, Sunni waved to her brothers to tell them that it was safe. Sunni ran over and helped unload the boys, lifting Hayden from his car seat and holding him close to her chest. This place was going to help them heal...Sunni just didn't know that it was going to do that in more ways than one.
Arkham Asylum: The Recreation Room
Harley Quinn was bored. Now, a bored Harley usually meant a very annoyed and disgruntled Joker, but today her unfortunate victim was none other than the great Poison Ivy. The bubbly blond was chattering non-stop, trying to relieve her boredom with excessive talking. It wasn't working. The green plant villainess was slowly turning red with the effort of restraining her rather volitile temper.
Finally, Poor Ivy just couldn't take it anymore and snapped. "Harley! Would you just stop talking!"
The blond's pigtails seemed to droop and she pouted, slipping away like a kicked puppy dog. Immediately, Ivy felt bad. Harley had a triple hit of poor fortune; she was blond, childish, and trusted easily. The poor kid didn't have a chance.
Harley was talking with Edward Nygma, to her known as Eddie. Over the past few weeks, Eddie had become one of Harley's "BFF's". Nygma actually enjoyed Harley's company and tended to be less pompous around her. They made a strange pair of friends, but a cute pair just the same.
Ivy strode over to them, Harley immediately pouting and turning the other way. Eddie gave Ivy a knowing grin and began to speak, his smooth voice ringing with a mocking tone. "Ivy! Harl was just telling me that you were yelling at her. Now why would you do such a thing?"
The icy glare Ivy gave him didn't make the pompous grin disappear, so she turned to the still-angry Harley. "Come on Harl! You know why I yelled at you! You get yelled at by Joker all the time, so why do you pout when I do it?"