The sky was already beginning to turn golden as the sun set over Gotham city by the time that Harley and Ivy made it to the funfair. Ivy had been up since early in the morning, energised by the sun's light, but she had had little success trying to get Harley out of bed so she'd left her to get some rest.
Harley was skipping towards the colourful, flashing lights, endlessly energetic after a good night's sleep. Ivy was struggling to keep up with her, smiling as she called, "Come on, Red! Whatcha waitin' for?"
Ivy hurried towards her. There was a Helter Skelter towering to one side, and a glowing Ferris wheel to the other. There was an overpowering smell of burgers mixed with doughnuts, toffee and candyfloss, and the air was thick with delighted screams.
"What do you want to do first?" asked Ivy. Harley twirled around happily, feeling at home amongst all of the garish, twinkling lights. There were even others walking around in costume, so if either of the women stood out as different, for once it was Ivy.
"Can we get candy floss?" asked Harley, grinning like a child.
"Sure," said Ivy, eyeing a group of clowns suspiciously. She wondered if the Joker had lied to Harley about his plans. It certainly wouldn't be the first time. Or perhaps Harley had lied to her... Her worries were interrupted by Harley bounding towards her, a fluffy stick of candy floss in each hand and mischievous spark in her eyes.
Ivy stared at her in confusion. "Well, that was quick. Where did you get those?"
A couple of young men came running.
"Hey! Hey, lady!" shouted one of them.
"That's ours!"
Harley giggled. "Oops."
Ivy smiled. "Trust you, Harl."
Harley stuck out her tongue. "Ya snooze, ya lose!"
The largest, a muscular young man who couldn't have been more than twenty, squared up to Harley. "If you're looking to fight, I wouldn't hesitate to punch a freak like you," he hissed.
Harley passed the candy floss to a bemused Ivy, and stood in front of the guy in an exaggerated boxing stance, jabbing the air mockingly. "You wanna fight? You got yourself a fight, buddy!"
He looked at her, narrowed his eyes and swung a cumbersome blow at her. She cartwheeled out of the way, stuck her tongue out and giggled. "Strrrike one!"
Enraged, he tried again, and this time Harley escaped via a backward flip.
"Strrrike two!" She tutted. "You're gonna have to do better than that, I'm afraid."
Harley was having way too much fun, but Ivy was increasingly aware that they had an audience. So much for laying low. They'd barely been out of the house an hour and Harley was already causing trouble.
This time, both young men went for Harley; she dodged their punches before coming back with some hard blows of her own. "Strrrike three!" She giggled, and then her face suddenly went serious. "You're out."
"So... Are you finished now?" asked Ivy, her eyebrows raised at the unconscious men in front of them.
"Uh-huh," said Harley, taking a stick of candy floss back from Ivy and blissfully taking a bite. "Sorry, Red. I just couldn't resist."
"Just try not to draw any more attention to us, okay?"
The two women strolled through the busy fairground, Ivy looking forward to getting home, Harley looking over the whizzing, spinning, flashing rides wondering what she should go on first. She had soon demolished her own candy floss, and Ivy gave her the rest of hers. She didn't like candy floss that much anyway.
"That one!" exclaimed Harley suddenly, pointing at the big dipper in front of her. "Let's ride that one!"
"Come on then, looks like there isn't a queue," said Ivy. Harley grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the ticket box.
"Two to ride, please," said Ivy, quickly handing over a couple of dollars before her friend could try anything to get a free ride.
They climbed into a small carriage and pulled down what felt like rather a loose safety bar. Soon, they were clunking and rattling up to the top. Harley was looking forward, smiling in anticipation. Ivy looked out across the fairground; she could see everything. She saw a familiar purple suit near the funhouse and her heart sank. She did a double take, but he seemed to have vanished. Ivy hoped it was some other creep in a purple suit and not the Joker. She held onto her red handbag tightly as the rollercoaster turned the corner and began to slide down the track.
Harley whooped and squealed in delight as they went down, up, down, up... Ivy sat by her, smiling weakly as the contents of her stomach swirled around unpleasantly. The carriage juddered to a halt and Harley turned to her friend and said, "You're not lookin' too good Red. You look kinda green, even for you."
"I'm fine," said Ivy as they left the ride. "Where should we go next?" She hoped she could divert Harley away from the funhouse, but in case she couldn't... She curled her hand around the cold metal in her handbag.
The next thing Harley dragged her to was some flashing, spinning, stomach-churning nightmare of a ride. When it finally stopped, neither of the women could walk straight and Harley had to catch Ivy by the arm to stop her from falling over. Before Ivy's head had fully stopped spinning, Harley had bounded away towards the funhouse.
Ivy swore and ran towards her. "Hey, Harl, how about the bumper cars? Or we could play some of the games and see if we can win a prize?"
"How's about we check out the funhouse first?" she said, waiting for Ivy with a smile.
"I don't know..." said Ivy, unable to think of a convincing reason not to.
"You're not scared, are ya?" she teased. "C'mon, it'll be fun!"
She took Ivy's hand and pulled her along to the entrance. The clown in the ticket box waved them through to the entrance as Ivy tossed some coins his way. The room they walked into consisted of a cylindrical tunnel which was divided into five sections, rotating clockwise and anticlockwise, all at different speeds.
"Aw, this is no fun," said Harley, climbing into the tunnel after Ivy. "This old thing is moving so slowly, there's no challenge in it."
Just then, they heard a door banging behind them, and maniacal laughter echoed through the room. The tunnel started spinning so quickly that both women fell down and couldn't stand up again. Harley screamed.
"What's goin' on?" she shouted, just before her head made sharp contact with the tunnel. The laughter continued. "Mistah J? Is that you?"
A gas cannister dropped from the ceiling and the room began to fill with sweet smelling gas. Recognising the toxin, Ivy reached into her bag and tossed Harley an antidote.
"Quick, Harl – drink that before you fall asleep!"
Harley forced herself to stay focused as she grasped for the vial. It was no small task trying to catch it as she was thrown around. Her fingers managed to clasp it just as she felt her eyes closing, and she squeezed a drop of the bitter liquid onto her tongue.
Ivy struggled to get to the end of the tunnel, where she could see a shadow looming behind the smoke, but it was no good. The tunnel was moving too quickly and every time she thought she could take a step or two she was smashed against the tunnel again. She pulled a glass vial out of her bag and threw it towards the end of the tunnel. She heard it smash, and the laughter turned to coughs.
"What's this?" came the voice of the Joker. A short silence as he worked it out. "Ah, it's you Pammie. What a surprise." His displeasure was more than evident in his flat voice.
"Mistah – oof!" Harley hit her head again before she could even finish saying his name.
Ivy forced herself down the last section of the tunnel and rolled out. She pulled out her gun and pointed it at the Joker's head.
"Stop the ride," she said.
"Pammie, Pammie – let's not do anything hasty here. Put the gun down, that's a good little weed." The Joker held his hands up as though ready to surrender, but his smirk said that he wasn't to be trusted.
"Stop the ride," she repeated.
"Oh, fine, fine," he pouted. He waved his hand, presumably to someone in the control room, and the tunnel slowed down to a halt. Harley dragged herself up from the floor, but when she looked up she gasped.
"What are you doin' with my Puddin'?" she shouted.
"Don't move, Harley," said Ivy. "Come any closer and I pull the trigger."
Harley looked at her friend for a moment, before turning and storming off, hot tears streaming down her cheeks. She kicked open the door that had been closed behind them, knocked out the Joker's goons with a couple of well-aimed punches and didn't look back.
The Joker grinned at Ivy. "Oh dear, Pammie – your little plan didn't work, did it? Harley'll never talk to you again." His cold laughter went right through Ivy. "Are you going to hurry up and try to shoot me then? I don't have all day, you know."
Ivy shook her head. "You've inhaled the toxin. My work is done."
"The toxin?" he asked, his voice a little high-pitched.
"It's something I made specially for you," said Ivy, a satisfied smile growing on her lips. "Don't worry, Puddin' – it won't kill you."
Ivy left the Joker to ponder this as she ran out of the funhouse, through the crowded fairground and back towards her hideout.