Chapter 9
Movie Night
Clark awoke to the sound of his alarm clock blaring at eight o'clock. He gently pressed the stop button before rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He got out of bed and after a quick shower, he got dressed to watch the morning news.
"What you are seeing here is the remains of the police van transporting two of Gotham's most wanted criminals Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. Using a giant plant, the two criminals have made another escape," A news anchor's voice said over the footage.
"You've got to be kidding me?" Kara said completely flabbergasted as she and her partner watched the report in their apartment.
"That green witch of a woman," Barbara muttered bitterly as her girlfriend turned off the television. "Calling me a slut, says Ms. 'I'll seduce any man just for the fun of it'," she ranted in her impression of Ivy.
"It's scary how well you can do her voice."
Meanwhile, Ivy and Harley were enjoying their freedom as they watched the news cover their getaway.
"There is currently no trace of the two," the reporter stated before the scene cut to the guard holding his head with his right hand.
"It was like I was hit by a train. I don't know how they were able to accomplish all this. They have to be evil geniuses," he said.
"Now that's an understatement," Harley chuckled.
"Once again Gotham is threatened by the redheaded eco-terrorist and Joker's crazy ex-girlfriend."
Harley's smile slowly turned to an irritated expression. Ivy decided it would be best if they decided to watch something and turned the over to the next channel.
At Joker's hideout, Lois was rudely woken from her sleep by the door swinging open as Joker marched into the room. Before she could even fully open her eyes, the cruel man bent down to pull her up.
"Come along, honey, it's time to begin your day," he stated. Hearing her new nickname made her wince.
As he lead her down the hallway they once again passed the room where that bubbling noise came that both scared and intrigued her. They continued down the hall until they came to a filthy room covered in slimy black gunk.
"It took the men all night to fill this room up. Unfortunately, honey, I've lost my favorite watch in there and I need you to find it. See you in an hour," he said, closing the door.
Lois took a deep breath and began to look through the gunk that squished between her fingers. She felt completely humiliated as she had to search for a watch on her hands and knees. Then she felt something slimly land in her hair, she looked up to see the same gunk on large overhanging pipes. Lois groaned in disgust as she continued her task. She looked in every corner of the room high and low, digging through the black goo, without success.
After an hour Joker returned and opened the door. "Did you find it?" he smugly asked.
"I... I can't find anything in this mess," Lois stated as she came out covered from head to toe in black ooze.
"Maybe I should remind you what you're looking for," Joker said taking out the watch from his trouser pocket. "Whoops, silly me."
"YOU HAD IT THIS WHOLE TIME!" Lois yelled.
"What did I say about talking to me like that," he coldly said as he grabbed her tightly by the jaw.
"Sorry, Joker," she pled.
"Please call me... Puddin' from now on." he calmly requested and released her.
"Yes, Puddin'," Lois replied much to her disgust.
"Good, now come along, it's time for your next activity."
"Could I at least have a shower first?" she asked.
"All right but only because I don't want you to get my suit dirty," he coldly agreed, leading her to the shower room.
In her boss' office, Kara was given a new assignment.
"I need you to get information on the Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn story."
"Couldn't Jerry do it instead?" Kara calmly asked.
"I've already got him on a story about a bakery trying to make the world's biggest cookie."
"Well, what about-"
"Ms. Kent, I'm assigning you to Ivy and Harley's escape and that's final," he commanded.
"Yes sir," she said in defeat. On her way back to her office, Kara texted a friend to request their help with Clark tonight's patrol since she and Barbara had plans. Once she had gathered her things, she set off to get information for her article.
Barbara was cooking a lasagna dinner at her apartment for her and her partner. Kara arrived home at six o'clock, looking exhausted and slightly frustrated.
"Hey sweetie, what's wrong?" Barbara asked as she walked over to greet her.
"Nothing, I just had a hard day that's all," she responded as she slumped onto the sofa.
"Do you want to talk about it?" She began to massage her girlfriend's shoulders.
"My boss wants me to write a story about Harley and Ivy's escape. All day I had to listen to the guard about how they "wonderfully" got away without a trace and how not even the greatest superhero could stop them."
"Well, next time we see them, you can kick their butts even harder."
"Thanks, honey."
"Don't mention it," Barbara smiled with a peck.
"So, how was your day?"
"It was good," she said.
"Sofie tried to ask you out didn't she?"
"She's really getting on my nerves. Every week she asks me out even after I've explained that we're a couple," she explained. "And today she had the gall to suggest I have two girlfriends."
"She'll give up eventually and if not, well I could always knock her out cold for trying to steal you," Kara joked.
Then Barbara's expression turned sly. "On the plus side, we've both finished work," she stated. "Not to mention that it is Friday evening, which means that for the next two days..." Barbara wiggled her eyebrows.
Kara smiled at her girlfriend as the redhead leaned towards her.
"Why Ms. Gordon, I think you're trying to seduce me." Kara played along as she was mounted.
"Come to think of it, we do have a bit of time before we need to go," Barbara lustfully goaded her.
"We do, but I think we should have dinner first," Kara pointed out.
Barbara's eyes went wide as she recalled their lasagna was still in the oven. She hopped off and rushed to the kitchen just in time to get their meal out before it burned.
Back at his hideout, Joker was setting up the final round of torture for the day. He strapped Lois to a chair that had two contraptions to pry her eyes open.
"I hope you like movies, sweetheart," he said as he put some eye drops in her terrified eyes. "This one is six hours long."
Joker turned on the projector and a truly horrific film began. Horrifying images that should have never been conceptualized by the human mind flashed across the screen. Lois screamed in horror as they were permanently planted into her brain.
Joker left the room, not bothering to lock the door. He went into a room where a few of his goons were nervously sitting at a table.
"How was your day, boss?" one of them asked.
"Good. I almost have her the way I want. Just one more night and she'll make the perfect replacement for Harley," he chuckled then his voice turn dire cold. "What's happened?"
The goons gulped. One of them showed him a paper with the headline reading: A GREEN GET AWAY: HARLEY AND IVY MAKE ANOTHER ESCAPE! Beneath was a photo of the broken van next to which was an older photo of the criminal duo.
Joker snatched the paper to read the article. One sentence stood out to him. "It is without a doubt, that Poison Ivy and Harley are Gotham's greatest criminals." Joker lowered the paper to reveal a face of pure anger. He then let out a furious scream as he knocked several cups off the table, shattering as they hit the ground.
"When I see those two, I will make sure they're pushing up the daisies," he stated clenching his fists.
Barbara and Kara walked down the street, now wearing neutral-toned street clothes, to meet James at the cinema.
"You know I'm really looking forward to this," Kara said.
"Me too, I heard it's the craziest yet."
"Actually it's more because I think it's a great opportunity for me to get on your dad's good side."
"I just hope he doesn't say anything horrible about us being a couple."
"Hey, give him credit, he's at least trying. That's more than some people have done."
"I know, I know but, it still bugs me," Barbara admitted. "Seven months and he still doesn't see you as part of our family."
"Well, tonight is the night we change all that."
"How?"
"Simple, I'll be on my best behavior to build bridges and soon things between us will be back to normal."
"I hope it works."
"I'm sure it will and I'm pretty sure it could also make up for what I said about the police that one time," Kara recalled with embarrassment about the opinion piece she wrote about a city's police department, having described them as 'useless and incompetent'.
"I'm sure he knows you were talking about the ones in Metropolis," Barbara confided.
Superman waited on the rooftop for Batgirl and Supergirl, yet when he saw a small yellow glow, he could see it was a tiny young woman. She landed and turned to her normal size.
"Evening, Bumblebee here to assist," she greeted.
"Oh, thank you. Um, who sent you?" he asked.
"Batgirl, she and Supergirl are unavailable tonight so she asked me to take her place."
"So, who did Supergirl ask?"
"Hola Superhombre y Abejorro."
Clark turned around to see Jessica Cruz hovering behind him.
"Jessica? What are you doing in Gotham? Shouldn't you be looking after Metropolis?"
"Kara asked me to help. Besides, John has the Flash while I'm here."
"Well, thank you for coming quickly," he said as the Green Lantern floated down to the ground.
"Es genial verte de nuevo Karen," she said as she hugged the other heroine.
"It's great to see you too, Jess," she agreed before pulling away. She turned her attention to Superman. "So what's first?"
"We'll be searching Gotham for Lois."
"Got it," the two women confirmed.
Bumblebee shrunk down and they all took to the skies to begin their search.
Barbara and Kara, meanwhile, arrived at the cinema where Jim was waiting inside.
"Hi dad," she said.
"Hello, Barbara. So, how have you been?"
"Great, how was your day."
"Hard. I had to deal with this dy-" he stopped when Barbara raised an eyebrow at him. "This difficult woman," he corrected.
There was an awkward silence for a few seconds.
"I'll just get the tickets," Barbara segued, trying her best to not sound cross.
"Do you want us to get some treats?" Kara asked.
"Yes please," Barbara replied. She walked over to the counter leaving her father and girlfriend alone.
"Nice weather we're having," Kara spoke as they made their way to another counter.
"Oh yeah. How have things been going for you?"
"Good, thank you for letting me come, I really appreciate it."
"Well, Barbara wanted you to come and I couldn't say no to her." Jim explained.
"I'm still happy you let me come."
"That's alright. Sorry about almost using that word."
"It's fine. So how difficult was this woman?"
"She was a nightmare, it took nearly an hour just to calm her down."
"Was she called Karen by any chance?" she joked.
"No, but she sure acted like one." he replied.
They reached the counter and placed their order. Jim bought a cup of coffee while Kara ordered a small tube of chocolate ice cream, a box of popcorn, and diet sodas for herself and her partner. They met back up with Barbara and went to the theater.
Elsewhere, Harley and Ivy hid in an alleyway near the back of the museum, waiting for the guard to end her shift. Just as Tara walked out the back door, carrying her guard's outfit in her bag, they caught sight of a blue blur. They hid again, hoping they weren't noticed. As Jessica and Bumblebee followed, the latter stopped and looked down where the rogers were hiding.
"What is it?" Jessica asked.
"I thought I saw something," she stated.
The criminal duo held their breath, as they heard the heroes get closer.
"Lantern, Bumblebee, what's going on?" Superman asked.
"I thought I saw something." the young black woman replied.
He took a quick look down before speaking again. "Probably just a cat. Come on, we're wasting time."
They flew off to continue their search, Bumblebee taking one last look before following them.
Harley and Ivy grinned before making their way to the unsuspecting guard.
Tara was just making her way to her car when Harley once again stepped in front of her. She turned and ran only to be met by the other femme fatale. This time Ivy blew a small pile of knock-out dust. Before she could do anything, Tara fell to the ground in a deep slumber while the criminals stole her guard suit and made their getaway.
At his hideout, Joker entered the room just as the credits rolled. Lois was completely silent. He walked toward her with a wide grin, he knew after that showing she would at the very least lose her kindness.
"Did you enjoy it?" he asked as removed the devices from her eyes and unstrapped her from the chair.
Lois had a blank expression on her face. "N-no."
"Why not?"
"I... didn't... have... any... popcorn... during the show," she said with a little twisted chuckle.
Joker beamed. "Guess I'll have to remember to bring you some for next time. Well, come along honey, time for bed."
They walked back to her room. Once they arrived, Joker opened the door and Lois went into her room.
"Good night, Honey."
"Good night, Puddin'," Lois replied.
Joker could hear small chuckles of twisted amusement coming from his hostage, he was pleased, the first cracks were beginning to show, and soon Lois would be Harley 2.0.
As the clock struck eleven, Clark and the two heroines finished for the night and were now in their civilian clothes. They waited at the train station for the women's ride home.
"I'm sorry we couldn't find her," Jessica apologized.
"It's alright. Thank you for your help tonight."
"You're welcome."
"Don't worry, you'll find her," Karen encouraged him.
Clark smiled but deep down he was beginning to have his doubts. They parted ways and he went to a nearby bus stop while the other two went to the station platform.
"Do you think he'll be ok?" Karen asked.
"Eso Espero. I've never seen him this worried before," she answered.
"I hope he finds her soon."
"Same, amiga."
They looked out of the window as the train began to leave, seeing Clark sitting on a bench looking down at the ground just as the bus came into view.
Once the vehicle came to a stop Clark got off the bench and took a seat on the left side at the front. He looked out of the window to spot a shooting star soaring across the night sky.
The 'star', however, was a glowing rock that shot through the air going lower and lower until it landed on the museum floor.
At the abandoned greenhouse, Ivy sat on the bed in revealing short-sleeved blackish-green pajamas while she watched her girlfriend model the guard outfit. Harley walked up and down the room like a runway. When she reached the bed she posed like a security guard.
"Excuse me Batgirl I'm looking for a woman called Poison Ivy have you seen her?" Harley jested in a stern voice, earning a chuckle.
"Sorry ma'am, I haven't seen that brilliant woman. I was too busy making out with Superbrat," Ivy replied in a scarily accurate sounding voice to Batgirl.
Harley and Ivy laughed and fell onto the bed together.
"This couldn't have gone better even if we wanted it to," Harley stated.
"You said it, honey. In a few weeks that museum won't know what hit 'em. Alright, time for bed."
"Could I model one more outfit, please?" Harley requested with puppy dog eyes.
"Alright, but just one," she agreed.
Harley beamed and quickly went behind the wooden dresser to change. She appeared now wearing a revealing purple nightgown. She walked over to the bed with an amorous expression on her face and posed with her hands on her hips once she was next to the bed.
"Ms. Quinn you're trying to seduce me," Ivy stated in a lusty tone as she got under the covers.
Harley joined her partner with slow sultry kisses.
Kara and the Gordons walked down the street after the film.
"That was amazing," Kara said.
"You got to love it. So stupid but so good," Barbara agreed. "What was your favorite part?"
"The scene where Superduck and his ex realize they still love each other. What was yours?"
"The scene where Batrabbit's dad discovered his son's identity. What did you think it dad?"
"It was um... something," Jim stated, unsure of what to make of the film.
"You know, I would love to do this again sometime."
"Me too. You choose the next film, Mr. Gordon." Kara suggested.
"Well one of the previews did catch my interest," he stated.
"Which one?" his daughter asked.
"Brody Martian. Would you two be okay going to that?" he generally asked.
"We'll be more than happy too," Kara said. Barbara nodded in agreement, although secretly she hadn't been won over by the trailer.
Soon, they arrived at the duo's apartment house.
"I had a great time tonight, Mr. Gordon," Kara said.
"Glad you did," he said.
"Thank you again for letting me come."
"It was nothing."
"Night, Dad," Barbara said.
"Night Barbara," he replied.
"Good night Mr. Gordon," Kara said.
"Night Kara."
Jim smiled as he left for home while the other two made their way to their apartment.
As the day ended, they got ready for bed. Barbara had just finished brushing her teeth when she spoke. "You can stop using your X-ray vision now."
"How did… um… what makes you think I use my X-Ray vision like that?"
Gordon raised an eyebrow at her girlfriend.
"Darn," she pouted causing Barbara to chuckle.
"You know, I think tonight went really well."
"You got that right. I think he's finally accepting me as part of the family."
"By the end of the month he'll be more than happy to have you in our family," Barbara smiled then she and Kara rubbed their noses together.
"Good night Kary," Barbara sleepily yawned.
"Night, Babs," Kara said before she turned off the lights and put her arm around her girlfriend's waist.
Barbara was happy as she fell asleep. Things were beginning to get better finally getting between her and her dad.