Batman and Ivy

Chapter 1: "The Dynamic Duo"

A/N: So, how will an inexperienced Batman and Ivy fare against the pretentious criminals of Gotham City? Some can be much more dangerous than they appear at first glance. Oh, but first…

Pamela's eyes flutter open. She's in a hospital. She feels dizzy. Her right side hurts, her wrists hurt, hell, most everything hurts. She thinks she hears whispers, but she pays them no attention. Her head lolls to the side to face her I.V. Feeling thirsty, she reaches for the glass of water on her bedside, but drops the glass, shocked to see her skin is green. Perhaps her vision is just a bit messed up. A doctor enters the room, the shattering glass having attracted her attention.

"Hello. Pamela? I'm Dr. Brown. You've been in a coma for about five months—No, please don't get up—"

"Five months…? What about my thesis on plant-animal hybridization? I-I'm so late… worked so hard… how will I ever…?"

"I… think you've got a little more than just a thesis…. I'm not exactly sure how to tell you this…"

"Just tell me. I just want this to be over with, so I can get back to my studies. I must have missed so much…."

"…You're not exactly human anymore."

The doctor hands Pamela a mirror. Pamela briefly looks at her green skin, then back at the doctor. "That's… just my vision playing tricks on me, right? Like… the voices, those whispers I hear…."

"Yes, you were heavily drugged when we found you. But… that's what you look like now. Whatever or whoever you were running from… you're something else, now."

Pamela doesn't know what to make of the information. She can only think of one thing— "I want to see my Mom and Dad."

/

Warm smoke meets the cold night air. Gordon takes the pipe out of his mouth. "Thank you for coming, Batman."

"What is this?"

"I thought it would be a handy way to draw your attention," Gordon says, gesturing to the spotlight on the roof of the police department. "You do like bats, don't ya?"

Batman takes one last look at the bat silhouette on the spotlight. "Talk to me, Jim."

"I'll get right to the point. We've had a series of murders in the East End District. Three, to be exact. The victims all look like they were torn apart by a large animal, but we haven't had any witnesses to corroborate this yet. So far, we couldn't find any link between the victims. I was hoping you could find one."

Batman goes home to the Batcave. He cross-references the names using the Batcomputer.

"Find anything, Master Bruce?" Alfred asks.

"All three of the victims are from Tampa, Florida."

"Then I suppose Master Bruce will be taking a business trip this weekend?"

"I really hope it doesn't come to that, Alfred. The faster I can solve this mystery, the better."

Alfred sits down. "When I was in the British military, all I could think of was ending the war early. Then, hopefully, there wouldn't be as much killing." Bruce lifts his eyes to meet Alfred's. "But, one day I learned that it's the greatest victories which require the most patience."

/

Pamela instinctively sits up as her mother enters the room. "Mom…! Wait, where's Dad?"

Pamela's mother pulls up a chair to her bed. "He's not here right now, sweetie."

"…Why not?"

"I suppose he was feeling what I'm feeling now—horrified. And he… just couldn't take it. He overdosed three months ago."

Pamela can't believe what she's hearing. After everything she's worked so hard for, how—why—would everything go so wrong?

"I heard you had something of an overdose yourself."

Pamela looks at her mother in shock. "I didn't do this to myself, Mom!"

"But you did! What right do you think you have to mess around with nature? You want to be some kind of mad scientist when you grow up, is that it?" She stops a moment as she tries to find her words. "This is what you get Pamela. This is what you deserve."

"But you always loved plants, Mom. We both do."

"You used to revere nature. You used to care. Why do you think I emphasized taking care of the environment so much? So you could pursue whatever this is? Creating monsters and poisons? You're a freak. I hope you learn your lesson someday." She hastily gets up as tears collect in her eyes.

"Mom…! Don't leave me! Mom!"

- 3 weeks later -

"I went to Florida to find the connection between your previous murders. And I came back to find you. I came back to tell you that killing is never the answer, no matter what those bullies may have done to you in the past."

Waylon Jones turns around to face Batman. They're at the waterfront, no more than fifty yards from the house of Waylon's next target. "You, Batman, left Gotham City, went all the way to Florida, just for me? Just to stop me? Tell me, Batman. Would you have stopped them all those years ago if you coulda?"

"Absolutely."

"I put a stop to them now. And now, I'll put a stop to you. My life's already ruined. I don't need you to ruin it more."

Batman carefully studies the large reptile-man to prepare himself for any attack, but Waylon strikes quickly. He feels the blow before he sees it, now finding himself on his back, staring at the night sky… that is, until Waylon comes into view. Waylon strikes a fist into the asphalt, Batman having avoided his second blow. Batman kicks his legs out from under him. While on the ground, Waylon claws at Batman's chest, shredding his suit and drawing blood. Batman throws a batarang at Waylon's face, then grapples away. Waylon stands up and scans the area for Batman. "That's right! Run away, ya freak!" Waylon is soon knocked over, as Batman slams into him from behind.

/

"You came all the way here, to Virginia, from where, Gotham, New Jersey? For me? Why me?"

"Pollution, depletion of natural resources, deforestation, not to mention these new buildings you built drove poor families out of their homes, onto the streets. Just where does it end, Mr. Daron?"

Mr. Daron backs up to the large windows of the office thirty-plus floors up. In fact, the whole wall is practically made of large windows. "Oh, I get it. You're just one of those angry social worker types. L-look. I can schedule a meeting for you, but not until next week. 'Kay?"

Pamela grabs the man and smashes his body through the window just far enough to keep him from falling. "HELP!"

"You know, my mother said I didn't care. That I stopped caring about nature, about the environment, as soon as I went to college. But I was doing it for her. For myself, too, but I was doing it because I cared. Because I wanted to make a difference my way. You think I care if anyone thinks I'm insane for the lengths I go to? Oh, right. My methods are sooo unnatural, unorthodox." She draws him in, close to her face. "You'd better hope you land on a bush on your way down. On second thought, I wouldn't want to kill a perfectly innocent bush."

"—We now interrupt this broadcast for this special announcement. After months of rumors and speculation, witnesses now confirm the Batman is in fact real. His last appearance in Gotham City was—get this—He was fighting a giant crocodile man witnesses are dubbing 'Killer Croc.' According to the Batman, this 'Killer Croc' was in fact hunting down the people that tormented him as a child."

*"Look at you, dressed up as a bat! Aren't we all freaks, Batman? Aren't we all monsters?"

*"We all have a dark side, a pain in our past, but bloodshed solves nothing, Waylon. Above all else, I do not kill, and I will tolerate nothing less from you or anyone else…"

"PLEASE! Please, don't kill me!" Mr. Daron cries, as his feet touch the floor again and he sits with his knees in his chest. "I don't wanna die!"

Pamela's attention is fixed on the television. "Maybe we're not all monsters," she says.

Bruce lies in his bed awake. His head lolls to his left, where he can see the Bat Signal lit from his window. He fights through the pain in his chest and bones to get up and make his way out the door. Alfred is waiting just outside.

"Going somewhere, Master Bruce?"

"Aren't you supposed to be in bed, Alfred?"

"I was going to you the very same question. At almost 3am this morning, you were nearly killed by that horrible crocodile man. You haven't gotten enough rest."

"I know, Alfred. But if I don't go out there, who will? There's only one of me."

"Perhaps the police."

"Or me!" Bruce leans to his side to see him excitedly raise his arm in the air behind Alfred.

"Master Dick, it's past your bedtime," Alfred reprimands him.

"I want to help, Bruce! I could be… Batboy, the Boy Wonder!"

"You're much too young, chum; I'm sorry," Bruce say to him.

"But… please?"

"Perhaps one day, when you grow older. So long as you take proper care of your health, unlike Master Bruce."

"I'm going, Alfred." Bruce turns his attention to Dick. "Alone."

"But Master Bruce, I can't—" Bruce turns and leaves Alfred mid-sentence. Alfred's focus shifts to the boy. "Don't ever grow up to become like Master Bruce, young lad. You'll not enjoy what you become." With that, Alfred puts his hand on Dick's shoulder and escorts him to his room.

Batman approaches the GCPD rooftop, but a strange figure catches his attention. He elects to move to the shadows and approach from behind, but then—

"Batman…? Is that you?"

How could she have possibly known I was here?

"What did you do to Gordon?" he growls.

The woman adjusts her position to reveal herself to the light. A redhead dressed in green casual clothes, with fair complexion and green eyes that almost glow from behind her mask.

"I did nothing but ask nicely."

"She's right, Batman. I let her up here," Gordon says, appearing from behind the roof access stairwell.

"Well? What's the emergency, Jim?"

"It's no emergency, Batman," Pamela begins, "I just wanted to offer my help. I didn't quite give myself enough time to come up with a costume, so I just chose my favorite color."

"And just who are you?"

"Right. I didn't think of a good hero name, either."

"Who do you think you are? What is it you think I do? Do you have any experience fighting crime, any qualifications?"

"Well, no…"

"May I remind you, Batman, that I once gave you a chance, too?" Gordon asks.

"Look, it's… not about who I am. I honestly don't know who I am anymore. My life ended six months ago when my college professor experimented on me and landed me in the hospital. It destroyed my family and my future; I have nothing left and I need an outlet, or some guidance. I… I don't know what I need. All I know is I saw something good come out of Gotham for the first time, something to give me hope; a Bat-Man. I was just hoping… I just want to…." Pamela suddenly finds herself at a loss for words.

"I'll take it from here, Jim," Batman says to him, Gordon complying with his wish as he heads downstairs.

"…Well…? Batman?"

"The first thing I'll do is train you."

"No, the first thing you'll do is get a good night's rest, sir."

Dammit, Alfred.

Pamela gets a few hours of training with Batman. The way he sees it, he needs to help her as much as she needs to help him.

"I could help you find him, you know."

"It isn't all that important to me. I'm not what he made me."

"If you don't mind me asking, what did he do to you, exactly?"

"Is this all really necessary?" Pamela asks, as she quits kicking the practice dummy in the Batcave.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"No, I mean all this training. I feel like I'm in school again. Not that I don't love learning—I do, in fact, much more than most of my peers—it's just… I don't think I quite have the patience for, well anything, anymore. I just want to move on with my life, push myself to become something better. I don't want to—it scares me to think about my old life, everything I lost."

"I don't understand. Why can't you just go back to your old life? What's stopping you?"

"No, you don't understand." Pamela rubs her arm hard, smearing off the makeup and revealing her green skin. "I have to drown myself in chemicals everyday to look normal. And I think to myself—is it really worth it, all the money I spend on this gunk, all the pollution created when they make this stuff? And—not to mention—the plants. I hear them all the time. I mean, really. It's so distracting. So hard to think straight. You want to know how I knew you were there on the rooftop the other night? I can actually communicate with plants. Control them to some degree. Or, not control them. More like guide them."

"Show me."

Pamela picks a seed out of her new leafy leotard and tosses it at Batman. It sprouts vines and wraps itself around him, restricting his movement.

"That's nice. Now, let me go." The plant releases him and crawls towards Pamela as if it were a spider.

"Alright. If you can beat me in a fight, I'll let you go on a mission with me. BUT, we'll still train afterwards."

"Deal."

Batman opens with a batarang throw, which Pamela promptly dodges, only for it to return and hit her in the back of her head. Batman then charges, but Pamela pulls a vine from her suit that wraps itself around Batman's wrist as he comes in for a strike. Pamela strikes his face, then elbows him. Batman draws her in close, using her vine, then serves her an uppercut, before throwing her to the side, once again using her vine. She releases her vine, then turns her spider-like seedling on him. It begins to wrap itself around him, then he uses a batarang to chop off one of its legs.

"NOOO!" Pamela screams, rushing into a kneeling position before her plant. Batman takes advantage of this and pins her to the ground as the spider-like plant runs away.

"What are you doing? You had the upper hand!"

"How could you do that, Batman? Could you not see how you hurt her?"

Batman releases his hold on her. "You're not ready to go out there, Pamela."

"The hell I'm not! If I can just stop people from making victims out of others like you were so eager to do to my poor Clematis quadriaranea!"

"You can't allow yourself to be distracted—"

"Oh, no? Can't allow myself to consider the very lives I want to protect? I'm going out there, Batman. You can either go with me or without me."

"…Have it your way, Pamela."

"It's Ivy. Poison Ivy."

Their first mission together gets a bit messy.

"Ivy, Duck!"

Batman crouches under a pungent yellow liquid, while Ivy just stands in place, allowing herself to be sprayed with a sweet red liquid. Batman turns to her in disbelief. "Why didn't you avoid Mitchell's attack?"

"For goodness sakes, it's literally just ketchup, Batman."

"Aha! You think it's just ketchup! But the Condiment King will blow you away with this sweet shower!"

Condiment King increases the intensity of his ketchup spray, such that it sends Ivy flying into the wall on the other side of the restaurant.

"Always be prepared for the unexpected," Batman says. "It could have been poison, for all you know!"

"Thanks, I'm immune to poisons, by the way," Ivy responds from across the room.

"And THAT would have been good to know sooner!"

Condiment King sprays his mustard gun in a sweeping motion towards Batman. He avoids the attack, but he knocks several customers out of their chairs, one man's shirt even getting completely torn off under the pressure.

Smack!

Batman's fist proves to be a much more reliable weapon than a mustard gun.

"…Is everyone okay?" Batman hears Ivy ask from the other side of the room.

"Remember Ivy, not everyone is what they seem to be," Batman articulates.

"Noted," Ivy says from thirty feet away in her mess of ketchup.

Ivy stares up at the bright morning sky. She sees two small birds in a chase. "Hmph. I wish I could fly." One bird appears to be a large bat, while the other appears to be a rocket. "Way to show off, partner. Bats sure do look ridiculous in the day time." She sees several streaks of smoke make their way from the rocket to the bat, followed by explosions soon after.

Three, two, one…

And she hears the booms. "I thought you wanted my help, Batman."

"I'll get you a Batglider of your own."

"Oh, no thanks, dear. Bats aren't really my style. Could you at least lure her over here?"

/

"Hahahaha! No one can stop Roxy! Next thing you know, I'll have my own TV show. And you know what I'm gonna have rerun every day? The time I bested the Batman. Whoo-hoooo!"

"Is that right, Roxy? Is this the best you've got? I bet you can't dive under that railway and loop back up toward the Sundollar on your right."

"Aw, really? We'll have ta see about that!"

Sure enough, Roxy dives under the railway and loops back up, only for Roxy's rocket to get caught by a giant vine.

"Aaaaaaaaahhh!"

She falls off her ride, but a small extension of Ivy's vine comes up to catch her. Roxy grabs the vine and swings around it before it can restrain her, using her momentum to jump to a nearby leaf. She then makes the rest of the way down, leaf by leaf, until she reaches the roof. Batman and Ivy are there waiting for her.

"Don't do it, Roxy," Batman warns. But she raises her gun anyway. "Just put the gun down."

"Challenge accepted, Batman!"

Roxy throws the gun as hard as she can, smacking Ivy in the face with it. Batman prepares to throw a batarang at her, but she backs away towards the ledge.

"Roxy, no!" he yells.

She does a backflip off the ledge with nowhere to go. Batman shoots a line that wraps around her to slow her fall, but just as she reaches the bottom, she cuts Batman's line and takes off running. Ivy walks up behind Batman, clutching her bleeding forehead.

"Still need some help, Batman?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"Give me one of your silly batarangs."

He gives it to her and she wraps a seedling around it.

"Aim for anywhere but the head. Hell, aim for her head. It'll serve her right."

Batman throws the batarang and it promptly ties her up upon hitting her, restraining her in such a way that she can't reach for her knife. Batman then jumps over the ledge himself.

"Is this the place?"

"Yeah, this is the place. I thought you were an expert."

"I am the Eraser," the man wearing a yellow suit of thin, black, vertical stripes says. "This gun can erase all organic residue in an area the diameter of a number two pencil. And it can just as easily rip a whole in you. Won't affect plant matter, though. Last time I tried erasing evidence from a crime scene, I ripped apart half an office desk. Ha-ha!"

"Alright, big guy. Why don't I leave ya alone ta do your job?"

The Eraser takes a look around the museum. "Wait, don't leave. I'm scared."

"Oh, for cryin' out loud. Why don't I just walk ya over to the crime scene?"

"Wait. Someone's here."

"Oh, really? And how do ya know that, Mr. Eraser?"

"Because I can spot a blot of blood from a mile away. And someone's cruisin' for a bruisin'. Er… bleedin'." The Eraser takes out his pink gun and shoots two cap-eraser-like projectiles into a dark corner of the museum.

"Batman, look out!" Ivy says as she shields him from the projectiles with her body. They seem to have no effect, so Ivy steps out of the shadows. The Eraser keeps firing at her, which proves ineffective.

"No! It's impossible!" the Eraser says as he sees Batman step out of the shadows after her. "The Batman is working with a Kryptonian partner?" The other guy with him flees the scene, as Batman chases after him. Ivy throws three seedlings on the ground, all of which sprout a set of four root-legs. The Eraser attempts to shoot them with his gun to no effect. Ivy just saunters towards him. "Batman's working with a partner who has horrific Kryptonian plant monsters?

"AAAAAAAAHHH!" he screams.

Batman keeps his voice hushed. This is the big one.

"Ivy. I need you to follow my instructions very carefully this time around. We're dealing with a very dangerous mob boss here, and he's come to this factory to settle a score with Colonel Gumm. If we mess this up, it could cost him his life. Understand?"

"Got it," Ivy replies with a curt nod.

"We had a gargain, rememger? I keep the feds off your gack, you pay me a percentage up front," a voice echoes from across the stamp factory.

"Why does he talk like that?" Ivy asks as she peers around a cylindrical piece of machinery.

"I'd assume he has trouble pronouncing the letter B while keeping his lips from moving," Batman says.

The man's voice appears not to be coming from a man, but from a puppet sitting in the man's hands. "You don't mean… that's Arnold Wesker?"

"I told you he was a ventriloquist."

"No, you told me he was the Ventriloquist. I had no idea he actually—"

"And would you have taken this mission seriously if you had known?"

CLICK!

"The Ventriloquist ain't nobody," a voice behind them says. "Scarface is the brains of the operation."

Batman and Ivy are escorted to the center of the room to join Colonel Gumm, the Ventriloquist and his puppet, Scarface, and four other men, who are all armed with guns.

"So. You're the new groad workin' with Gatman."

"Batman and I aren't afraid of a puppet."

"Ivy! Remember what I told you about Condiment Ki—"

"Who you callin' a puppet?!"

RATATAT!

"Aaaaahh!" Ivy screams as a bullet lodges itself in her shoulder, accompanied by two in her left arm.

"Hey, Mr. Gumm? How comes the Gatman knew we were here tonight?"

"I assure you Scarface, I have absolutely no idea—"

RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATAT!

"Noooooo!" Ivy screams as Gumm's entire body immediately fills with dark red blots.

"An' how agout you, Gatman? You got any feedgack or you just gonna give us all the silent treatment this evening?"

Ivy trembles as she sees smoke pouring out of her wounds. She examines the floor directly under her.

"She'll need a hospital, Scarface."

"Ha! You kiddin' me here? The groad don't matter. Gut imagine the money the people would pay ta have the mythical Gatman in their grasp. Or mayge I'll just kill ya on live television ta spread fear through my city."

"I'm giving you one. Last. Chance," Batman growls.

"Ohhhh, I'm scared!" Scarface mocks. The lights suddenly switch off. The Ventriloquist finds a batarang stuck in his right wrist and screams in pain. "DUMMY! Why'd ya drop me?" Scarface shouts. "An' who turned out the lights?" They hear a metallic squeak in the distance.

"Ivy. Ivy! Pamela, stay with me!" Batman says as he carries her outside into the dimming orange sunlight.

"I'm going to kill that Ventriloquist if it's the last thing I do!"

"It will be the last thing you do! And we don't kill, remember? You need medical attention, Ivy. I'll handle him."

"I'm sorry, Batman. All I wanted to do was help. I didn't mean to put you in this situation."

Batman lets out a heavy sigh. "You saved my life yesterday, remember? Now, let me save yours."

Ivy lets out a short chuckle. "Yes, I remember. You were almost killed by that man who dressed as a pencil." Batman reaches out to check Ivy's wounds. "WAIT! Don't touch my wounds. Look… at the ground." Batman looks down at the asphalt to see it corroding where her blood is dripping. "I'm scared, Batman. W-What am I?" Batman carefully examines her wounds, nonetheless.

"The good news is your blood seems to be clotting extraordinarily fast. The bad news is your blood is also dissolving the bullets, which will still leave too much room for it to flow. I need to get you a transfusion."

Ivy chuckles again. "But my blood is—how will you—"

"The Batmobile is equipped with O-negative in case of emergencies."

They get in the Batmobile and he injects her with the bag of blood. She passes out. Batman quickly checks the medical bay computer.

I don't understand. Her body is barely reacting to the allogenic blood. And it's not an autoimmune reaction. It's as if her cells can't properly absorb the nutrients in it…. That's odd. Her lungs are filtering out the oxygen as if it's—

"Oh, Gaaaaaatman…!"

Scarface shows up with all four of his men. They open fire on the Batmobile. Batman drives off and they quickly board a white Holden EK and drive after him. They continue to fire at the Batmobile as the chase goes on.

"Penny One."

"Yes, sir?"

"Alfred, I'm being chased right now. We have a medical emergency; Pamela's unconscious and losing blood. I need you to pull up the analysis of her skin cells that we took from her earlier. Tell me anything that might be different from a normal human's cells, especially nutrient intake."

Batman makes the mistake of turning onto a busy street filled with traffic—and civilians to put in harm's way.

"I'm afraid there would be too much to detail, as her cells are more akin to those of a plant than that of a human's. They also appear to be slightly toxic."

"That's going to be a problem."

Batman veers back into a less populated area as he tries to think of another route to get Ivy safely back to the Batcave, while also being preoccupied with finding a way to make up for her blood loss.

"Alfred, go into the gardening closet and get the fertilizer. Be sure to infuse it with plenty of carbon dioxide."

"Sir? Are you suggesting I inject fertilizer into Miss Isley's circulatory system?"

"Just do it, Alfred."

"Very well, Master Bruce."

Batman turns down an alley and drops a smoke bomb. He then ejects from the Batmobile and grapples the Ventriloquist's Holden EK, making a distinctive thud.

"Ey. You dopes hear somethin'?" Scarface asks.

Two of his men turn to face the back window. "That's Batman! He's right behind us!"

"Not for long," Scarface says, as he faces the back and starts shooting out the rear window. Batman lets go of his grapple to dodge their fire. Now that the rear window is shattered to pieces, he throws a batarang that he hopes will hit the driver—it does, as their car soon crashes into the alley wall. Batman struggles to land safely with one of his glider's wings half-ripped to shreds. He bounces off a fire escape, then falls three stories. His suit provides some protection from the impact, but he's in no fighting condition. He sees the smoking wreckage of the Holden EK and lobs a canister of knockout gas in their direction. He then takes a moment—if only a brief one—to catch his breath before making his way over.

Batman arrives in the Batcave using the Batwing. Pamela looks up at him from her chair. Her left arm is in a sling.

"Did Alfred tell you what he put in my body?"

"Actually, I told him," Batman responds.

"Well, honestly, it's pretty disgusting."

"It saved your life."

Pamela looks down at the floor in shame. "I'm sorry about today, Batman. I know that man died because of me."

"It wasn't your fault, Pamela."

"Then whose was it?"

Batman takes a seat himself. "It was mine. You got shot because you underestimated the Ventriloquist. He got shot because I underestimated him. Gumm triggered a silent alarm, but it's because we got caught—it's because I didn't prepare well enough, check my surroundings—that's what put all three of us in danger." He finishes by putting his head in his hand. Pamela is unsure what to make of her new mentor's self-deprecation. He suddenly stands up and starts to wander off.

"Batman…"

"AAAAAAH!"

He suddenly throws everything off one of the desks. He gives the now-barren desk two good punches before leaning against it for support.

"Batman." He turns his head at her from his hunched-over position. "I still trust your judgement. Maybe more than mine. I need to learn to be better. Even if it scares me. The voices I hear. Every time I go outside. It's almost winter. They're dying. I'm afraid to go outside, to be honest. But I don't want to be. But to me, it's worth it if you're there with me, because I know I'm making a difference. I want you to train me, Batman."

- End Chapter 1 -