Author's Note: Quick thank you to everyone who commented, followed and favorited this story. I have over a hundred comments! That is amazing. I know it has been awhile since I updated, I've been busy with another fic, but I promise I never forgot about this one. It has been stewing for a while and finally I have another chapter for you. Please enjoy!
Chapter 17- Getting the Band Back Together and Not Arrested
"Come inside, all of you," Nico Robin said with a small smile. She sauntered into the Concert Hall leaving the gathering of pirates and Gothamites to follow in her wake; after Sanji and Zoro retrieved the abandoned lunchboxes, of course. She waved at the thug who was guarding the door and he opened the door without a fuss, though he had grimaced when she trailed a hand under his chin. Her powers had terrified the minions before when she had sprouted eyes all over the building to check for her crew. They were understandably wary and very jumpy now.
Speaking of jumpy, Harley Quin raced up to the crowd from one of the doors leading backstage. "Nicci!" the little clown cried excitedly. "The set is almost done and the skeleton gave his music to the band to practice! Mr. J said we'd be ready soon." She finally noticed the others standing around. "OHHHH! More pirates!" She grabbed Nami's hand and started to pull her back where she came from. "You have to meet Mr. J and the others! Come on!"
Nami surprisingly went along with Harley when Robin gave a nod of approval. Luffy, of course, was excited to meet more "mystery people" so the rest of the pirates followed easily, though Sanji was swooning over Harley's skin tight suit.
"We might as well," Nightwing said, already following in the pirate's wake. "We need to keep an eye on them after all."
"I'm going to regret this," Gordon complained. Luckily, his radio squawked so he waved the others ahead of him while he dealt with the fallout from the docks.
Batman and Catwoman exchanged a look. "After you, handsome," she purred. He narrowed his eyes at her but followed Nightwing with a dramatic swish of his cape.
Harley led the parade into a spacious dressing room where Joker, Poison Ivy, and Brook were busy. Brook was still tweaking a composition that spread out on a table in front of him. The tall skeleton was bent almost 90 degrees as he wrote with one hand and strummed his guitar with the other. Joker was messing with the costumes and had four hats piled on his head while he compared to sailor uniforms, holding up one than the other as he mumbled to himself. He abruptly dropped both of them when he saw the new comers. In the back corner, Ivy was spraying a quick growth formula on a lineup of potted plants. The plan was to use them as scenery if she could grow them fast enough and already an English Ivy was trailing to the floor and wrapped around her ankles. The ferns were pretty big as well, but the potted ficus tree was her real achievement. It was six feet tall with a trunk as thick as her waist. Brook said it would a perfect prop for several parts of his narrative.
The silence was thick and oppressive as everyone considered each other. Batman's glare flickered between the rogues while the criminals watched the heroes with suspicion. The pirates, even Luffy, looked around in confusion, unaware of the history of violence represented in the room.
Catwoman broke the stalemate first. "Ivy," she greeted the plant woman courteously enough.
"Selena," Ivy acknowledged.
"Batsy," Joker said; his grin firmly on his face but his posture tense.
"Joker," Batman answered, his eyes narrowed dangerously.
Harley looked around, her smile drooping. "Commish!" she said excitedly when Gordon finally joined the party.
"Harley Quin," Gordon sighed.
"Commissioner Gordon!" Joker exclaimed, positively gleeful for some reason.
"Joker."
"Nightwing," Poison Ivy murmured, slinking closer to the younger hero.
"Poison Ivy," Nightwing said as he backed away, not wanting to get too close to her pheromones.
"Catwoman," Harley cried, apparently noticing the thief for the first time.
Catwoman sighed and shook her head. "Harley," she said affectionately.
Luffy watched the exchange of greeting for as long as he could, but he wanted to be involved. "Zoro!" he shouted at the swordsman, who was standing closest.
Zoro considered his captain for a long moment before letting out an amused puff of air. "Luffy," he said finally.
The standoff was broken and Joker turned his attention to the new pirates. "Well, who do we have here?" he asked dramatically with a sweep of one of his hats. "More pirates, I presume?"
Brook finally turned away from his music and gallantly came forward to introduce his crew members. "Joker, ladies, allow me to introduce Straw-hat Luffy, captain of our infamous crew. Beside him is our swordsman, Zoro; our chef, Sanji; and our brilliant navigator, Miss Nami." He indicated each with a grand sweep arm.
Sanji stepped forward to take Ivy's hand and kiss the back of it. "It is an honor to make the acquaintance of such beautiful ladies. Truly you outshine the most glorious flowers."
Ivy looked insulted for a moment, but when she saw that Nico Robin was laughing, she decided to let it go. She took her hand back and moved out of reach. "Careful," she warned. "I wouldn't want to poison you."
Luffy was jumping around Joker, laughing and boxing the air playfully. "Let's fight!" he exclaimed. "Batman said he needed help beating up a clown, and that must be you. Though you don't look like the clown I know. Where is your nose? Buggy had a big red nose, but he got really sore when you mentioned it and…" he was cut off as an arm grew out of his shoulder and the hand covered his mouth.
Everyone looked at Robin in surprise. "We're not here for a fight, Captain," she said gently before dismissing the arm. "Joker and Brook have come to an understanding."
"What is this understanding?" Gordon demanded. "I wouldn't trust that clown as far as I could throw him."
"Commissioner, you wound me," Joker said, throwing an arm across his forehead like a fainting damsel, knocking off another hat. "The chuckling corpse and I have agreed that I will provide an audience and venue for his autobiographical concert," he held up his hand when Gordon tried to interrupt, "and in return I promise not to harm a soul. Scout's honor!" He held up three fingers in a salute when no one looked convinced.
Nightwing finally shook off the surprise at the talking skeleton. It was a new one for him and had honestly thrown him for a bit of loop. "So you're saying that all of you just want to put on a show, that's it?" He tried for his best Batman glare. "No larceny, vandalism, ransom, poisonings, or other felonies?"
"I swear," Joker promised. "Brook wouldn't even let me rig bombs to the doors. These people could leave whenever they want, but they are all waiting to see his performance."
"Brook is a big rock star where we come from," Nami spoke up. "He was just finishing a sold out world tour when we reunited."
"This is so cool," Luffy mumbled happily around a mouthful of food. He was sitting in the middle of several empty lunch boxes, where he was happily stuffing his face while everyone was talking. He had figured since he wasn't going to fight the clown, he might as well eat and since no one was watching him…
Sanji lashed out with a violent kick that sent Luffy spinning into the wall. "You shitty rubber! Those weren't just for you, you bastard. What about the ladies? Do you ever think about anyone but yourself and your monstrous appetite?"
"But I was hungry," Luffy whined from where he was propped, upside down against the wall.
"Sanji," Nami exclaimed. "Don't break the place! I don't want to pay for any of your damage!"
"Sorry, my swan," Sanji cooed. "I promise no more property damage because of our idiot captain. I'll break my own body before I allow one wall to break."
"Dumbass," Zoro coughed behind a hand.
"You want to pick a fight with me, mosshead?" Sanji snarled.
"Sanji!" Nami exclaimed, jumping between the two men.
"What do we do, Batman?" Nightwing asked softly, watching the exchange. Robin had stepped forward to mediate between her crewmates and convince Sanji to salvage the rest of the food and distribute it.
Batman sighed, an honest to gosh, shoulder slumping sigh. "We could fight," he said finally. "We could try to arrest all four of them," he glanced apologetically at Catwoman, but she just shrugged in understanding. She walked over to where Nami was getting to know Harley and Ivy, leaving the men to their talk. "However, I think the pirates would rather side with the rogues than the law." He looked over at Luffy who was now trying on costumes with Joker. "I would rather avoid that fight and the pirates haven't committed any heinous crimes."
Commissioner Gordon groaned with feeling. "So you want to let them put on the show?" he asked despairingly. "Is that wise?"
Suddenly Joker was leaning over Gordon's shoulder. "You can come, Commissioner, free of charge. In fact," he stood up straight and held a finger up in the air in what he probably thought was a dramatic pose, but it just looked silly because of the oversized eveningwear jacket he was wearing. Behind him, wearing a tuxedo jacket, Luffy copied the pose. "In fact, I invite any officers of the law who would like to enjoy the show to come, free of charge in good faith of my peaceful intentions."
"Featful indentations," Luffy mimicked.
Zoro hit the back of his head. "Stop goofing around," the swordsman scolded.
Luffy just laughed and dragged Joker back to the costumes, though he gave Batman a strange look from under the brim of his straw-hat. Batman had the idea that maybe Luffy wasn't as oblivious of the tension as he acted.
"This is a bad idea," Gordon lamented.
"It sounds like fun," Nightwing laughed. "I like these guys."
"And that's enough reason to let three of Gotham's most wanted put on a blasted musical?" Gordon rounded on the younger hero. "There are so many things that could go wrong. Are you going to take responsibility for this?"
"I think it is our best plan," Batman admitted. He put a heavy hand on his old friend's shoulder. "Bring in your officers to stand guard and keep the peace. Tomorrow we can see about sending the Straw-hat Pirates back home and arresting Joker and the rest."
"Yosh!" Luffy cheered, startling everyone who turned to look at him then at Batman. "Batguy says we can have the concert!" He ran up and gave Batman, Nightwing, and Gordon a big hug that lifted all three men off their feet. "This will be so much fun. Hey Brook, can I have a part?" He ran off, leaving Gordon rubbing his ribs.
"He is deceptively strong," the commissioner grated. "Are they all like that?"
"You saw what Sanji and Zoro can do," Nightwing pointed out. "I think that as long as no one gets hurt, it would be best to avoid a confrontation. They seem like good people."
"Thank you," Nico Robin said from behind them, making Nightwing and Gordon jump in surprise. "This performance promises to be very entertaining. I'm pleased that there will not be a battle to ruin the mood" She smiled at the men, and they all felt a shiver run down their spines. "Though, I'm sure you understand that you didn't have a choice once our Captain made up his mind, right?"
Gordon sputtered and Nightwing blanched, but it was Catwoman who walked back over to answer. The other women were pretending to not watch the conversation with varying results. Harley was staring with a huge grin on her face while she held a watering can for Ivy. "They are very bright," Catwoman assured the assassin turned pirate. "I'm glad we will put our differences behind us tonight." She rubbed up against Batman. "What do you say, tall, dark and broody, take a girl out to a show?"
Batman turned an unimpressed look at the thief, but was saved from replying by a booming shout down the hall.
"Oh, yeah! That bro in the makeup said they were down here right? Oh, yeah!"
"Arg, keep it down. Indoor voice," a girl's voice scolded just before the door was flung open violently.
Everyone turned to see Franky striking a pose with a grinning Robin beside him mimicking the pose while Batgirl hid her face in her hands behind them, groaning softly in embarrassment.
"I told Bullock to send the shipwright and your bat partners here. I thought it would be best to have them all in one place," Gordon admitted to Batman. "I wasn't expecting that."
"Supah!" Franky shouted as he marched in, barely clearing the doors with his shoulders. "Let's get this party started."
Batman shared a look of understanding with Batgirl as Luffy launched himself at his cyborg. Somehow Zoro had been caught in the rubberman's launch and they went down in a tumble of swords, rubber limbs and more mechanical hands than made sense. It was going to be a long night.