The humid air in Poison Ivy's private greenhouse smelled of rich earth and blooming orchids. Harley's Houndour dashed between rows of ferns, its black fur a blur against the vibrant green, a happy puff of smoke escaping its nostrils.
Ivy watched its path with the careful attention of a curator tracking a bull in a china shop. Her green fingers gently brushed a nearby Venus flytrap, coaxing its leaves to relax.
"Careful near the Solar Sages, little one. You singed three of their leaves last week with an over-enthusiastic Ember."
Harley was sprawled on a mossy patch, grinning up at the glass ceiling.
"Aw, he's just havin' fun, Red! Can't blame a Fire-type for bein' a little… fiery."
Houndour skidded to a stop, nosing at the base of a delicate, glowing mushroom. Ivy's sigh was a soft, rustling sound, like wind through leaves.
"Fun is one thing. Arson in my arboretum is another."
"Relax! He's got it under control. He's a good boy."
Harley's voice was dismissive but fond, her gaze following her Pokémon's playful antics with utter confidence. To her, a little controlled chaos was just part of the charm.
Ivy remained wary of Houndour's playful bursts, and a subtle command flowed from her mind to the greenery. A large vine stirred, moving with a silent, predatory grace toward a disturbance in the greenhouse corner.
Curiosity and protective instinct pulled Ivy forward to investigate. She saw a figure tangled in the foliage, their purple cape caught among the leaves.
"Is there a particular reason you Batpeople consider the front door a decorative suggestion?"
Batgirl blinked, thoroughly ensnared. The vines held her fast, and she looked more sheepish than intimidating.
"Sorry," she said, her voice slightly muffled. "It's… kind of a habit."
Harley, noticing the commotion, recognized Batgirl with a wide grin. Her chaotic energy softened into genuine warmth.
"Well, if it ain't the whole Bat-Family's honor student! What brings ya to our humble jungle, Babs?"
As if responding to Harley's cheerful tone, the thick vines holding Batgirl suddenly loosened. They withdrew into the foliage with a gentle rustle, leaving her free on the rooftop.
Batgirl brushed a stray leaf from her shoulder and returned the greeting with a small, wry smile. The tension in the air shifted from defensive to curious.
"Harley. Ivy. Sorry to drop in like this. Literally."
Ivy, regaining her composed posture, crossed her arms. Her green eyes narrowed slightly, but the edge of suspicion was gone.
"You usually announce your visits with less… foliage. Explain your presence, Batgirl. We haven't done anything wrong lately."
"That's why I'm here," Batgirl said quickly, her tone turning direct and earnest. She looked from Ivy to Harley. "I'm not here to make an arrest. I'm here to ask for your help."
Ivy crossed her arms, her expression guarded. The calm, analytical tone she used felt sharp enough to cut through Harley's usual chaos.
"Explain something to me, Batgirl. You've got the Justice League on speed dial, the Titans are literally next door, and you've got an X-Men on call. Yet you're here, in my apartment, asking for our help."
She let the silence hang for a moment, letting the question settle.
"You're dealing with a legendary Pokémon with enough voltage to blackout a city and a terrorist organization that grows back heads. What, exactly, do you think two 'reformed' villains can offer that they can't?"
Batgirl shifted her weight, her posture earnest.
"Because we don't need a battering ram. We need a scalpel."
She leaned forward slightly, her voice dropping to a more serious register.
"Zapdos isn't just a monster to be fought. It's a force of nature, tied to the entire ecosystem of the preserve. You can feel that, can't you? The life there. You understand it in a way none of the heavy-hitters do."
She gestured toward Harley, who was currently trying to teach her Houndour to play fetch with a stuffed hyena.
"And Hydra… they're organized, tactical, and predictable. Harley is none of those things. Her unpredictability is a weapon. They can't plan for chaos."
Ivy's skepticism softened into a more thoughtful, scrutinizing look.
"You want us to do what, exactly? Talk to the trees and throw glitter at commandos?"
"I want you to read the land. Tell me where Zapdos will go, how it'll react. And I want Harley to be the wild card that blows their perfect little plan sky-high. We can't just fight them. We have to out-think them."
Harley leaned forward on the couch, her eyes sparkling like she'd just been told the world's best secret.
"A legendary Pokémon and a world-domination club? Red, this is a two-for-one special of awesome! We get to protect a cool bird and mess with a bunch of uptight, multi-headed-snake goons? It's like my birthday came early!"
She bounced a little, already picturing the beautiful, beautiful chaos. This wasn't just a mission; it was a playground with built-in bad guys to bonk.
Ivy, however, didn't bounce. She exhaled slowly, the sound carrying the weight of a thousand past frustrations with human stupidity.
"Harley, the 'cool bird' is a force of nature that can blackout cities. And HYDRA doesn't 'mess around.' They consume. They'd strip the preserve, enslave the Pokémon, and turn that creature's power into a weapon."
Her focus wasn't on the fun or the fight. It was on the silent scream of the forest she could already feel in the back of her mind—the disruption, the fear in the plants, the violation of a natural order.
But then, a different angle clicked into place. A slow, cold realization.
"If they capture Zapdos and harness its power… the first thing they'll do is drain the local energy grid. They'll scorch the land. They'll treat the entire preserve as a disposable battery."
Her green eyes narrowed. This wasn't just about stopping bad guys anymore. It was a direct attack on her domain. On every root and leaf in Aurawood.
Harley saw the shift in Ivy's posture, the subtle tightening of her jaw. The fun was still there, but now it had a righteous, eco-friendly coating.
"See? It's perfect! We get to stick it to the man and be, like, superheroes for trees! It's a win-win-win! We win, the Zapdos wins, the trees win!"
She grinned, nudging Ivy with her elbow. "C'mon, Red. When's the last time we got to save the world and have this much potential for hilarious property damage?"
Ivy let out another sigh, but this one was different. Less exasperation, more resignation to the inevitable, chaotic path her life always took when Harley was involved.
She looked from Harley's eager, mischievous face to Batgirl's waiting, expectant one. Two very different kinds of hero, asking for the same thing.
The risks were enormous. HYDRA was methodical and ruthless. Zapdos was unpredictable and devastating.
But the alternative—letting that serpent symbol spread over a place bursting with life—was unthinkable.
A silent conversation passed between Harley and Ivy in that glance. Harley's was all excitement and promise. Ivy's was a calculation, a weighing of danger against duty, and a final, quiet acceptance.
Harley's grin widened into a full, brilliant smile.
"Alright, Batsy. You've sold the crazy girls on the crazy plan."
She slapped her knees and stood up. "We're in!"
Ivy gave a single, firm nod, her expression serious but resolved.
"If HYDRA threatens the balance of that preserve, they answer to me. Consider it an alliance."
The words were calm, but the meaning behind them was anything but. The most unpredictable duo in Gotham had just signed on for a mission to save a legendary Pokémon. The course was set, and it was going to be anything but normal.
***
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