The Harlequin and the Bat
This is the story sequel to: The Harley and The Ivy.
Important notes: I do not own Batman or any portion of the franchise. I give all credit to DC Comics and respective owners.
Warning: Violent scenes to come. These stunts are done by highly trained professionals and should not be imitated by anyone. Except those proficient in martial arts training and weapons, even then it shouldn't be imitated.
Chapter 14
The new day began: the sun was shining, birds singing and the sounds of Gotham were awake. Harley awoke in her bed well rested and happy; as she stretched she went downstairs to the smell of pancakes and syrup. The chef was at the hob flipping the cooked batter onto a plate.
(Harleen's POV)
"Hmm, that smells good…" Harley smiled rustling her dual red and blue hair.
"They should be, made them just for you." Bruce turned around smiling.
"Bruce! You…you're cooking! I…I didn't know you could do that!" she said in shock
"Well…I only got better after the great teacher taught me." Bruce slid next to her kissing her on the cheek, Harley blushed.
"Oh please…I'm hardly a great teacher." Harley answered
"Now we know that's not true. I mean you've cooked for us before and it was delicious." Bruce answered
"Oh…flatterer." Harley smiled and as she got into her pancakes.
"Oh by the way, Barbara and Ivy wanted to take you shopping to get you ready." Bruce smiled
"Ready…Ready for what?" Harley asked
"For what? Our anniversary of course. We're married remember." Bruce said holding Harley's left hand showing a beautiful diamond ring.
'Ma…married? Me and Bruce? But…how…?' Harley questioned in her mind but was kissed by Bruce and made her forget the question.
"Hmm…sweet." Bruce smiled
"You're sweeter though." Harley said rubbing Bruce's cheek
Harley went around the manor trying to make sense of it and saw Alfred working on his dusting around the house carefully maintaining the large vases. He waved and smiled at Harley and carried on, Harley then heard a faint crying sound…like that of a baby!
Harley went upstairs and ran to the source of the crying, she opened the door and saw Bruce coddling a baby in his arms trying to calm it down "*hush, hush* It's okay, it's okay."
The baby saw Harley and stopped crying, he started to reach out for her. Harley felt drawn to the baby, but she had to ask "Err…Bruce. What is that?"
"What are you talking about, this is our daughter: Barbara-Ivy." Bruce smiled "See she just wanted her mum." As he handed her to Harley.
"Our…our daughter…" Harley looked at her with disbelief, she always wanted a family; but she thought of a clown family with Joker…but he wasn't having it because he was devoted to killing Batman. But with Bruce, she saw a beautiful baby girl: wisps of black hair on her head, stunning blue eyes and her mother's smile; she held her in a loving hug and felt tears coming up. Barbara-Ivy fell to sleep in Harley's arms; Harley whispered "She's beautiful…"
"Just like her mother." Bruce smiled and held her close, Bruce looked at the door and saw a young lad holding a harlequin clown with a bat-cape plush in his hand. He had black hair and blue eyes just like Barbara-Ivy; he walked over and asked to be held by Bruce.
Harley looked at the lad next and welled up, she saw the youth in the boy that reminisced too Bruce. "Our son?" Harley asked
"Our son…Thomas-Alfred." Bruce answered smiling.
The four looked like a family photo: a loving father, doting mother, and their two young children. Harleen felt happier than she felt in a long time, even longer considering her time with the Joker but she heard a faint voice whispering her name "Harley…Harley…" then fading from her mind.
"Hey momma Harleen. Are we going on this all-day shop or not?" Ivy said leaning against the opened door her hair was longer than what it was; going down to her lower back like a red waterfall. Her figure became more hourglass-like her, bust was probably grew in size but Harley always blamed that on the amount of sun Ivy always got.
"Come on Harleen, we've got credit cards burning in our pockets." Barbara rolled towards the door. Barbara had her hair in a librarian's bun with a robin motif hairpin holding it in place, her glasses were crescent mooned. She wore black racing gloves (well with all that rolling around she found use to wear them all day) her arms were more defined as she was used to using them all the time.
"Err…I err…" Harley looked at her than Bruce.
"Go…I've got them." Bruce smiled
Harley kissed her husband then went with Ivy "I promise to help with the kids later. I love you."
"We love you too." Bruce answered as the children stayed with their father.
Time passed; Barbara, Ivy and Harley were full to the brim with dress boxes, shoe boxes and makeup boxes…there were contents in the boxes but there's so much stuff in each there's not much point in listing them all.
The three of them arrived at the coffee shop and had their hot beverages; Harley couldn't help but feel like something was wrong. "Hey guys…does something feel off to you?"
"What do you mean?" Ivy asked while supping her milky tea.
"I mean: I'm married! I've got kids…and Gotham is…is quiet! What the hell's going on?" Harley tried to wrap her head around it.
"Harleen, I know retirement makes people forget, but this is ridiculous: You and Bruce have been together for five years, you had kids during your second and fourth years in your marriage and all the villains have been neutralised due to you and Bruce. There's nothing wrong in Gotham anymore." Barbara explained holding Harley's hand
"That's the point! The forgetfulness, I can't remember what happened a few hours ago…I'm even hearing voices." Harley held her head in her hand.
"Well you and Bruce did have a little too much champagne last night. But that didn't stop you being rampant as rabbits did it? I mean you did it before you got married." Ivy said
'Yeah maybe that's…' Harley thought then she realised something "What did you say…?"
"I said: You and Bruce had…" Ivy repeated
"Too much champagne and we consummated before we were married…" Harley had a horrible realisation. "This…this is wrong!"
"What? What's wrong?" Barbara asked
"You two…calling me Harleen…Bruce drinking, my consummation…this is all wrong!" Harley panicked
"What are you saying?" Ivy and Barbara said in a monotone voice
"Who are you? What are you?" Harley backed away
"We're your friends…always Harleen…" the two spoke again in monotone
"Harley! Harley wake up!" the voice game again, much louder this time.
"Bill? Bill, where are you?" Harley recognised the voice and then was being choked by Barbara who was now standing on her legs.
"You could've been happy…you could've had this life…" Barbara said like an automaton
"No…it's fake…and since it's fake…!"Harley choked then kicked Barbara in her face; this released her from Barbara's grip revealing a hollow interior in a Barbara like female robot. "I don't have to worry about hurting you!" Harley said landing on her feet, then using her grapple gun that materialised in her purse, escaped.
"Get her…" Ivy and Harley said together followed by the patrons of the coffee shop and the street.
"Harley can you hear me? If you can head to the weak spot, it's the place you arrived in!" Bill's voice directed her
"Okay, Fake Gotham; time to: wake up!" Harley said crashing through the windows of Wayne Manor.
"Where did I wake up? Damn! *gasp* the bedroom!" Harley asked then being pursued by an army of fake citizens of Gotham.
"Harley…" the fake Bruce said "what are you doing?"
"Waking up! That's what!" Harley said kicking Bruce out of the way.
"I can't let you do that. The game isn't over." Bruce said in someone else's voice
"What? Is this a game to you? Let me out!" Harley demanded
"No, little Harley or should I call you: Bat-Shard?" Bruce with another's voice exposed her identity, and was accompanied by the fake children of Harley and Bruce.
"Harley; break through it! It's only an illusion!" Bill's voice sounded
"But it…I can't break Bruce and my family…" Harley began to shake
"Harley, if you don't get out of there Bruce, the real Bruce will die!" Bill responded.
'Bruce!' Harley thought while being surrounded by her friends and loved ones except Bill. "Oh sod it!" Harley ran through the crowd and shattered the illusions and woke up in an unusual room. "ARGH!" Harley screamed.
"Harley, you're awake!" Impact said punching Riddler in the face. "About time!"
"Oof! No…no I had them! I was so close! Their secrets were mine!" a stodgy man, wearing dark glasses and a scientist clothes groaned.
"*groan*…The secrets were mine to uncover Strange…they were mine! Unravelling the riddle of the Bat was to be my glory!" Riddler groaned in pain "ARGH!"
"I thought you were knocked out! Now stay down Edward!" Impact said. "You too, Strange!" Impact went over to Strange with intent to kill.
"You wouldn't hit a man with glasses would you?" Strange pleaded
"No…no you're right I wouldn't hit a man with glasses." Impact explained then grabbed Hugo Strange's glasses then smashed them over Strange's head.
"Ow! You hit a man with glasses…well played. ARGH!" Hugo found the twist then he was flung into the wall-pole bending his back in the process.
"Now for you!" Impact spoke darkly turning to the Riddler
"Wait, wait, wait! You need me…I know how to work the machine!" Riddler begged for his life "Bill…without me you won't get them out of their state!"
"I've figured it out. Now, for my revenge!" Impact said grinning with sharpened teeth.
"What…what revenge?" Riddler asked after being thrown to the floor.
"What's: green, purple and red all over?" Impact said over his shoulder.
"…I don't know…what's the answer?" Riddler asked
"You!" Impact lit a fire on Riddler's clothes and saw him burn.
Riddler screamed and rolled to put out the fire. Impact didn't leave him in pain long he got the extinguisher and put him out before he did some real damage.
"That is payback for the stuff back in Arkham!" Impact growled.
Bat-Shard saw the monster behind Impact's social face, that time in Arkham did change Bill…he just had a good mask hiding it and he was just like Bruce before they started dating.
"Sorry about that…but it was payback. Edward did have it coming." Impact explained
"Anyone else you want revenge on?" Bat-Shard asked fearing for her friends
"Crane, Zsasz, Strange, Hatter, Riddler…that's about it actually." Impact listed off "I'll explain later, come on we got to wake Bats and Robin."
"Okay…but what happened?" Bat-Shard asked "I don't remember anything."
"That's expected, Riddler and Strange wanted to crack open your heads and find the secrets inside each of your heads." Impact explained "Strange wanted to expose your identities and exploit them. Riddler was going to broadcast the identities over the subliminal dream waves to every villain in the world. The Bat will forever be known as a playboy instead of a symbol of fear."
"Okay, with them knocked out how can we get them out of it?" Bat-Shard asked
"Unfortunately only I can work this piece of crap. So you have to go back in and wake them up." Bill was concerned he didn't want to send in Harley in after her ordeal. "I'm sorry Harley…if there was another way I'd take it…"
"Don't worry, it's Nigma's and Strange's fault. I'll go in; you got me out, I'll have to repay the debt someway." Bat-Shard said with bravery
"Okay…but the first sign of trouble I'll pull you back out." Impact said after tying up Riddler and Strange.
"I promise…we'll all come back safe." Bat-Shard said smiling.
To be continued
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The next chapter coming up soon.
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