Chapter 24: Batgirl
Young Amazons
By Ackbarfan5556
Executive Produced By Wanderer D
Chapter 24: Batgirl
The ambulance sped through the mostly empty streets of Gotham on its way to the hospital. Traffic was at a minimum as most working folks were now back home. In the back, the two EMS personnel were keeping close to Pamela’s unconscious body while trying to keep her condition from getting any worse.
“How are we doing?” One of the medics asked his partner.
“She’s still breathing and got a heart rate, but it’s slightly slower than I would like,” the other man explained.
“Well, try and keep her stable until we get to Gotham Memorial,” the medic turned his attention to Pamela. “Come on, miss. Just hang in there.”
The ambulance came to a sudden stop forcing the two medics to hang on. “Frank!” The medic shouted. “What happened?”
“Darn it! I didn’t realize these streets were under construction work at this time of day. We’re going to have to take a detour to Gotham Memorial,” the driver said.
“Go past Johnson and Mears, by the botanical gardens. That should be the fastest route for us,” suggested one of the medics.
“Got it, hang on.” The driver backed up the ambulance and began to take the detour.
The next few minutes were quiet as the medics continued their work while the driver focused on getting to the hospital. However, as soon as they got close to the botanical garden, the entire vehicle came to a dead halt.
“Whoa!” The driver cried out before he fell forward and hit his head on the steering wheel, knocking him unconscious. The two medics in the back were rocked around too, with one also being knocked out. The other hit the floor.
“Frank! Jamison!” The man shouted in pain as he hit his side hard on the sudden stop. The whole ambulance went quiet as the engine suddenly died before the rear ambulance doors were ripped open by a strong force. The medic’s eyes were wide open before he saw what looked to be a plant root shooting towards his face. His world went dark.
With all occupants now unconscious, the roots went to work. A bunch of them moved in and wrapped themselves around Pamela before pulling her off the gurney and away from the oxygen mask that she was hooked up to. Once free, they pulled her out of the ambulance and began carrying her into the hole that it made in the street.
“Absolutely fascinating,” a mysterious man said as he watched the events unfold not too far away. He walked forward to the hole the roots and their passenger slithered away into before he followed them and climbed underground.
The tunnel was almost pitch black as the man walked through before he eventually saw light at the end of it and began to crawl out of it. Once he got out, he looked around and saw that he was now inside the Gotham Botanical Garden.
He heard strange sounds coming from behind him. The man turned and saw the roots and vines begin to engulf Pamela before a large transparent orb surrounded her and began to fill with a strange pink liquid.
The man walked forward before several roots shot forward and blocked his path. The man held up his hands as to inform that he wouldn’t make another step forward. The roots slowly began to back off.
He looked back up at the organic cocoon that Pamela was silhouetted in as the liquid began to glow.
“This might actually work out better than I thought,” Dr. Woodrue said with a slight smirk on his face.
A breathless moan escaped Pamela’s lips, sounding more like a gasp as she returned to the realm of the living. Her mind raced inside her head almost painfully as she struggled to remember where she was. One minute, she was with her friends, and the next she remembered was being buried under an avalanche of mulch. After that, it was all a little fuzzy.
She tried to open her eyes but could not. Something pressed against her eyes, like it was demanding she keep them closed. Pamela tried again, and this time forced them open. She was surrounded entirely in a pink liquid and felt almost completely naked; the clothes she remembered wearing felt like they were gone. She felt like she was in a cocoon of sorts. Her legs were curled up in a fetal position, just like a baby would before being born. Was this a reversal of life going on? Pamela turned her head to the left but could not see anything. From what she gathered, the thing encapsulating her was a clear bubble.
Pamela reached out to try and touch the sterile prison. Once her hand made contact, the fluid within the bubble started to drain toward the bottom. After it had drained completely, the bubble disappeared, and she placed her bare foot on the soft moss. She tried to take a step forward, but fell what felt like a good twenty feet before she suddenly landed on a soft bush that appeared below her.
She took a deep breath and glanced around. She was inside the Gotham Botanical Gardens. How she got there was beyond her, but she looked down at the small river that ran through the greenhouse and gasped at the sight she saw. It was her reflection, but it wasn’t something she saw before. Her skin was now much paler with a greenish tint to it. Her dark red hair was lighter, and instead of hanging down, it looked more like it was styled into a rose. The last noticeable change was her eyes, no longer brown but rather a bright, almost glowing green. That’s not even to mention the fact that she realized she didn’t have her glasses, yet her eyesight was perfect; something that couldn’t be achieved without the help of her prescription lenses.
“Whoa,” she muttered to herself as she slowly stood back up and noticed she was wearing almost nothing except leaves. The leaves were styled like that of a small short dress, with her torso and lower body covered, but skirt riding quite high up her legs. She pulled away one of the leaves, only for another one to grow back.
She then turned her head around as she swore she heard someone talk. She turned her head a different direction as she heard another voice beginning to whisper. The whispers began to pick up as they slowly started to sound like they were coming from all around her. At first, it was unnerving for her, but then the voices started becoming louder, full of pain and suffering with them.
It took her a moment to suddenly realize that she was hearing the plants speak; and they were suffering. After a few more moments, the cries and screams that began to erupt were too much for her. She fell to her knees and covered her ears to drown them out.
“Stop it! Stop it! Please stop crying!” She shouted in the hopes that the plants would somehow listen. As if on cue, she suddenly heard them go silent. She slowly pulled her hands away from head and most of the voices were quiet. However, a few were still speaking, mostly saying about how she could use them.
Those words confused her until she held up a hand and several vines shot forward and stopped before her. She moved her hand away and the vines followed as if it were a conductor’s baton. She then looked to the ground and spread her hands out, creating a small circle of moss and flowers beneath her feet.
A smile crept along her face as she slowly realized that she was able to listen but also command plants. A short time before, she was worried that she was going to die; now she felt like she had been reborn.
“Amazing,” Pamela turned around as soon as she heard the male voice from behind her in the greenhouse, a voice she could tell wasn’t a plant. “Absolutely amazing.” The voice came out from the shadows.
Pamela gasped. “D-Doctor Woodrue?” she stammered for a moment before she fell backwards. She expected to land on the cold, hard ground of the greenhouse, but was surprised to find the same bush that rescued her from her fall once again catching her.
“It appears that you’ve been blessed with a great gift: To command nature at will,” he said as he looked around the greenhouse.
“Is that what’s happened to me?” She asked, looking at her hands.
“At first, I thought Temblor had failed me completely when he was captured. But instead, his actions have truly given me something better.”
Pamela’s eyes widened. “Wait, did you say-” her mind slowly pieced things together. “You mean, you’re the one who hired Temblor?”
“Don’t act so surprised, Miss Isley. Protesting and calling out companies doesn’t work, it’s just a waste of time. Companies like Chlorogene will always ignore the facts about the damage they cause to nature as long as they can keep making their profits. I just wanted to show them that there was a price to be paid for their actions.”
Pamela almost couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her idol, the man she held the utmost respect for, was nothing like she had thought.
“That’s why I hired Temblor,” Woodrue continued. “However, the problem was that he didn’t share the vision that you and I have. To him, it’s all about profits, same as Chlorogene. But you, with these powers of yours, you can be able to truly show humanity that nature won’t stand for it’s destruction any longer.”
Pamela felt so conflicted with what she was hearing. However, the plants around her slowly began to make aloud their suffering, something that she could clearly only hear.
“You can hear them calling to you, can’t you, Miss Isley? I must imagine how beautiful it is.” Woodrue’s words, combined with those of the plants, were slowly breaking her defenses. Woodrue kneeled and held out his hand. “Come with me. Let us show humanity the wrath of nature.”
Pamela closed her eyes tight and contemplated what was being asked of her. She knew she should say no, but a dark voice in the back of her mind, the one that was familiar to her when she had her vandalistic streak, returned and slowly whispered familiar thoughts in her head.
After a few more moments, she looked up to Woodrue and took his hand.
“I understand what you were trying to do, Barbara, believe me. Tonight should show you why I don’t want this kind of life for you. It could have easily been you in the back of that ambulance.”
“But, Dad!”
“Sweetie, I only do what I do every day so you can live your life free of danger. Now, I’ll have an officer take you back home while I deal with Temblor. As for Pamela, well, hopefully your mother will be on call for her. If not, there are plenty of doctors at Gotham Memorial who will do what they can for her, okay?”
Barbara sighed as she laid on her bed and looked up at the ceiling, remembering the short one-sided conversation she had with her father after Temblor was arrested. The only good news she had was the officer that her father picked to escort her home was Detective Ellen Yin.
“You ever feel like you’ve let everyone you’ve known down?”
“Believe me, Miss Gordon, I know that feeling too well.”
A few words later, Barbara suddenly realized that Yin was not only the officer who was caught supplying Batman with information, but also the partner of Detective Ethan Bennett. The conversation the two had in the car on the way back made Barbara feel a bit better.
Of course, it didn’t solve much. Sure, Yin had been in the same boat as Barbara, but most of her issues had been solved. The Batman and Alicorn were no longer hunted, and Ethan Bennett had returned to the GCPD, if only working traffic as she heard from her father. For Barbara, she wouldn’t feel better until she knew for a fact that Pamela was going to pull through and everything would be all right.
Her eyes looked over at the bonsai tree Pamela gave her for Christmas before Barbara felt another wave of emotions come over her. She growled out in anger as she threw her fist against her bed. She then stood up and went straight for her closet.
She dug into the back of it, where she had been hiding her secret project from her parents. It was well-hidden in case they ever investigated her closet. After moving some things around, she pulled it out and placed it on the bed.
Barbara stared at the purple bat suit she had designed herself, all part of her efforts to join Sunset and protect Gotham. At first, Barbara considered something more like Sunset’s outfit, but decided to take more of an influence from the Dark Knight with a color scheme that fit Alicorn’s; hence the choice of purple.
However, tonight’s events completely shattered her plans. She felt that all she would be is a burden to Sunset, and more than likely end up getting her hurt as well. Or worse.
“What was I thinking? I’m not even remotely qualified to do what Batman or Alicorn do, however that works. Maybe I should just take Dad’s advice and focus on school and gymnastics.”
She grabbed the outfit and folded it up. “I guess Batwoman will never take to the streets,” she smirked for a second. “And just when I finally figured out a name.” She sighed in disappointment before she put away the costume and sat on the bed once more.
Her depression would be short lived as she heard a rustling sound coming from her nightstand. She turned her head back and her eyes suddenly widened as she witnessed her bonsai tree pulling itself out of its potted roots.
“What the?” she questioned as she got right back up. The plant looked like it was suddenly scared. “Uh, sit, stay? Wait a second, you’re not a dog,” she then turned away and walked for the door. “Okay, you stay put while I go find those bonsai trimmers.”
As soon as she opened the door to her room, she found the entire way out blocked by a giant bush of branches and leaves. “Or maybe I should get the hedge clippers,” The bush shot forward and caused Barbara to backflip. Her timing was slightly off and she accidently collapsed on the floor.
She glanced back up to see the bush part away to reveal a pale colored girl around her age wearing a leaf dress and sitting on a rose bush like it was her throne.
“You’ll regret those words. Prepare to suffer the wrath of Mother Nature. Destroy her!” The girl ordered before Barbara closed her eyes and braced herself. However, instead of feeling the pain of being torn to spreads by the bushes, she could only hear the girl snickering. “Oh, man, I really got you going there for a minute, Red.”
For the second time in just as many minutes, Barbara’s eyes shot wide open. She looked up at the girl that she had suddenly came to the realization was Pamela.
“Pam?!” Barbara shot up to her feet and stared at her friend for a moment. “What the- what happened to you?”
“Let’s just say I got a makeover. I think green is the new red now, what do you think?” Pamela asked as she stepped off her makeshift throne.
“Well, I can’t say in terms of that statement. I’m not an expert on the fashion scene, but I’m certainly glad to see you’re not on death’s door anymore, although, you’re clearly not exactly human anymore, are you?”
“I was half expecting that Chloromulch to be the death of me, but instead it’s truly made me more alive than I ever have been before,” she held up her hand before a small group of cherry blossoms bloomed in her palm. “It’s certainly brought me closer to nature.”
“Does Sunny know about this?” Barbara asked.
Pamela shook her head. “No. I went by her apartment first, but she was gone. Speaking of which, where was she?”
“She’s the one that got the police to show up and arrest Temblor. Wait, you’re not going to pay him a visit, are you?”
Pamela gave a small chuckle. “For a moment, I thought about it, but I’ve got bigger things to deal with. For starters, I don’t think Chlorogene will simply ignore me now, will they?” Pamela had a look in her now green eyes that Barbara remembered when Pamela went on that short vandalism run.
“Pam,” Barbara said with nervousness in her voice. “You’re not planning on doing what I think you are, are you?”
“Come on, Red,” Pamela grabbed Barbara’s hands. “We can do this together, the three of us. You, me and Sunny. It’s like Dr. Woodrue said, we can use my powers to avenge crimes against nature.”
“Dr. Woodrue? What does he have to do with this? Unless…” Barbara thought before the realization hit her. “Temblor’s employer. Pam’s hero is nothing more than a terrorist.”
“Listen to me for a moment here, okay? You’re going down that old path again, remember? Sunny and I kept you from doing something that you would regret. Please, don’t let that go to waste, Pam!” Barbara insisted.
“Ivy, I think the name Poison Ivy fits better, don’t you think?” Ivy then looked away before sighing. “If you could hear what I hear now, you would side with me in a heartbeat,” she walked back towards the door and sat on her living throne. “Just think about it, would you?” Ivy was engulfed in the bushes before they quickly pulled out of the doorway and out of Barbara’s home.
Barbara sat back down on the floor, still shocked over the sudden turn of events. For a moment, she was happy to see that Pamela was okay, albeit different. But now, Pamela was not only going to go back to her old ways, she now had some serious power behind it to where she could do untold amounts of damage.
Barbara stood back up and went to the phone. “I need to call Dad right now.” She began to dial the buttons. But then, she stopped and placed it back down. “No, wait. If I get Dad involved with this, he’ll just act like a cop and try to put Pam behind bars. Come on, Gordon, pull it together!” she huffed as she punched the air. “You’re going to have to be the one that helps her.” She looked out the window and towards the direction of the CGPD Headquarters.
Her eyes then looked back to her closet where she had hidden her costume. “At least I know I won’t be doing it alone.”
Sunset sat in the Batmoblie as it drove towards the GCPD Headquarters with the Bat-Signal high in the sky. However, the young heroine was thinking more about how sick she was to her stomach.
“Are you okay?” Batman asked as he glanced over to her.
“Not really. How would you be feeling right now if your best friend was missing after being nearly killed?” she said.
Originally, Sunset was going to spend the rest of her night at home and then go to the hospital in the morning under the assumption that Pamela hopefully would’ve been recovering. That all changed when Batman messaged her that Pamela’s ambulance was knocked over and her friend was nowhere to be found.
Alicorn wanted to try and find Pamela immediately, but Batman wanted to see what Gordon wanted. He was concerned that perhaps Temblor had escaped. She sighed as the car came to a stop, Batman promised they would go look for Pamela after talking with the Commissioner.
The two of them quietly made their way up to the roof of the headquarters, where the spotlight shined brightly against the sky. Alicorn’s eyes widened underneath her mask as soon as she saw the person that was standing next to it.
“I don’t know if your father told you this, but the Bat-Signal is not a toy, Miss Gordon,” Batman said as Barbara quickly turned around.
“Sorry, but I didn’t really have any way to contact you other than this, but I promise you this is serious.” Barbara explained.
“Then if it is, why don’t you tell us?” Alicorn asked.
Barbara nodded. “It’s Pamela.”
“What?” Alicorn said..
“Yeah, she came to see me, but she’s not exactly herself anymore. She’s now calling herself Poison Ivy, mentioned how she’s going to avenge nature and how do I put this…she’s become part plant. I know, but that’s the only explanation of how she was practically conjuring flowers and commanding trees at will.”
“Hmm, that does fit with what I found at Pamela’s crashed ambulance,” Batman said.
Both Alicorn and Barbara turned to look at him. “What exactly fits?” Alicorn asked.
“When I investigated the ambulance crash, where Pamela disappeared, I discovered a plant particle that contained traces of steroids made by Chlorogene.”
“Steroids? But she should be looking like she works out and knocking a baseball into next week. Not controlling plants.” Barbara said.
“When Pamela was contaminated, her biochemistry was altered.” Batman explained.
“Well then, let’s stop standing around here and save her!”
“Listen, Barbara, we will do everything in our power to try and help her, but you need to stay put. Come on, Batman,” Alicorn said as the two of them turned to get off the roof and get back to the Batmobile.
“She’s not going to do some simple vandalism this time. She’s going to tear this city apart, Sunny!” Barbara shouted.
Both heroes stopped in their tracks before quickly turning around to look back at Barbara. Alicorn’s eyes were wide once more.
“I, uh, I don’t know-” she stuttered.
“Drop the act, Sunny, I’ve known for a month. I heard you in that alley when Batman told you to stay put while Joker, Penguin and Riddler were running around.”
Sunset was about ready to deny once more, but knew there was no point. “I knew someone was watching me. I guess I should be glad that it was you.”
Barbara walked up to her before putting a hand on her shoulder. “Listen, Sunny, I have a thousand questions for you right now, but they can wait. We need to help Pam. She’s scared right now and Woodrue is using her for who knows what.”
“Wait. Woodrue?”
“Yeah, she mentioned him. I guess he found her first from what I could piece together,”
Alicorn looked back to Batman. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
“That Woodrue was the one who employed Temblor? I think you’re right,” he said.
“Yeah, turns out Pam’s hero is an eco-terrorist and now he’s going to have her cause even more destruction than Temblor did. The kicker is he probably doesn’t even have to pay her.” Barbara said as she crossed her arms.
“All the more reason to stop her, but, Barb, I need you to stay away, okay? With Pam developing florakinesis, then she’s more than likely going to be very dangerous while she’s under Woodrue’s influence,” Sunset warned.
She then placed her hands on Barbara’s shoulders. “But, trust me, I’m going to do what it takes to get our best friend back, okay?” Sunset then turned around and followed Batman off the roof.
It didn’t talk long for Batman and Alicorn to find out where Pamela had gone. They heard out over police communications that a massive plant root was wrecking through Chlorogene’s headquarters. It was clear that Pamela’s powers were much stronger than Sunset thought.
The two heroes landed on a roof only a block away from Chlorogene where they could see multiple police cars surrounding the area. The double helix logo that Chlorogene had was suddenly launched up in the air. It crashed back down and smashed the sign out front, kicking up a large dust cloud.
“She’s more dangerous than we thought. Are we sure she’s actually scared?” Batman observed.
“If Barb believes so, I think she’s right. Pam might appear like she’s in control and confident in her attitude, but that might just be a mask at the moment,” Alicorn said.
“We need to stop her now before someone ends up getting hurt.”
“Look, she knows me, or well, she’s had encounters with Alicorn before. Let me try and talk to her first, you back me up, okay?”
“She’s your friend, Alicorn. If you think you can get to her, then I’ll follow you.”
“Thanks, I just hope she’s willing to listen.” Alicorn then leapt off the roof before landing on an ethereal platform she conjured up and used it as a stairwell to reach the level of the building Pamela was standing on.
She wasn’t sure what to expect when she first saw Pamela, or rather Poison Ivy, as Barbara explained. It was clear her friend had gotten quite the makeover thanks to her change.
“Consider the fate of Chlorogene a warning, Gotham!” Ivy shouted. “Mother Nature just got herself some muscle.”
“Hello, Pamela,” Alicorn said as she walked forward, causing Ivy to turn and look at her. “I see you’ve recovered from your injuries.”
Ivy smirked as two roots came up next to her and she began to pet one like a dog. “Ah, Alicorn, yes. As you can see, I’ve gotten much better.”
“Physically, perhaps, but not mentally. You need help, and Woodrue isn’t going to give that to you; he’s just using you for his own gains.”
Ivy gave Alicorn a confused look for a moment before giving a non-friendly smirk. “Thanks, but no thanks. I have all the help I need.” She held her hands out and the roots shot right towards Alicorn.
“So much for trying to talk her out of this,” Sunset thought to herself as she back flipped and avoided the roots. They kept following right after her until a few pellets struck them and coated the tips in a green liquid that made them burn. Batman landed next to her, being the one who threw those acid pellets.
Alicorn could see Ivy give a slight wince of pain when the roots fell to the ground. She looked at them with a sympathetic look for a moment before rage flashed across her face when she looked at the crime-fighters.
Ivy threw down her hands and caused a small earthquake to shoot towards them. Both Alicorn and Batman jumped off the roof to avoid the giant spiked root that erupted from the ground.
Batman used his grappling hook to swing around while Alicorn landed back on the balcony and faced Ivy. With her attention towards Alicorn, Batman took the opportunity to use his swinging moment and tackled Ivy to the ground.
She groaned as Batman got up. Alicorn saw what looked like a small bonsai tree running along the edge of the balcony, preparing to jump on him. Alicorn was about to call out to him about the ambush, but was beaten to the punch.
“Look out!” A young female voice shouted before swinging down and tackling the bonsai tree. Alicorn’s eyes widened for what felt like the millionth time tonight as she saw Batman’s rescuer.
The young girl got up, dressed in a similar looking Bat suit, with a cowl, mask and utility belt. However, her costume was purple, and she had skirt and long black boots that went way up her legs and covered much of the purple pants she was wearing. The final kicker was her long red hair that stuck out the back of her cowl.
“Couldn’t let this little guy get the drop on you,” she smiled. Alicorn knew in a heartbeat who the girl behind the mask was the moment she heard her speak.
“A Batgirl?” Ivy said as she got back up. In quick succession, she used the distraction to call up several roots that grabbed hold of all three heroes and moved to hover them over the side of the building. “I wasn’t aware you took on another sidekick.”
“I didn’t,” Batman turned his head to glare at the young heroine.
“Hey, just to clarify, it’s Batwoman,” she argued.
“Doesn’t matter, you’re both Bat-meat!” Ivy growled.
Alicorn looked over and saw Batgirl looking down. “Time to give it up, Ivy,” Batgirl said while not showing any fear, although Alicorn suspected she was scared deep down.
“Yeah, that’s not going to work,” Alicorn told her. “She’s not interested.”
“Maybe she’ll be interested in this!” Batgirl managed to free her arm and pulled out a homemade Batarang before throwing it. Of course, it went way off course from its intended target and embedded itself in the wall.
Ivy looked back at the Batarang before turning back to look at her captives. “Nice aim,” her tone oozed with sarcasm.
Alicorn heard Batgirl nervously chuckled. “I’ll be practicing that.”
“I’m disappointed, Batman. You clearly can teach a sidekick with what I’ve seen with Alicorn, but your newest protégé shows she’s still very much out of our league,” Ivy smirked. “I wonder, have you taught her to survive a fall yet?” Ivy opened her palm and the branch holding Batgirl released her.
“Whoa!” She cried out as the branches released Batman and Alicorn. The three of them fell and while Sunset began to conjure a magical whip, there was no way for her to reach Batgirl. Thankfully, Batman reached her, grabbed her tight and used his grappling hook to get her to safety on a nearby roof. Alicorn landed right behind them.
“Whoa, you’re really good at this,” Batgirl said as she tried to catch her breath.
“No time to babysit. Stay here with her.” Batman ordered Alicorn before he headed right back up to the balcony. Alicorn waited for a minute before he came right back. “She’s gone. Got away during the confusion.”
“Great,” Alicorn moaned before she turned her attention to Batgirl.
“Let me be clear, there’s no room for a Batgirl in Gotham,” Batman coldly stated to the young girl.
Her response was that of a smirk. “That’s fine, because it’s Batwoman. As in, I’m a grown woman and don’t need to listen to you.”
Alicorn face-palmed. “Oh, for crying out loud, Barb! Drop the macho act!” she shouted. “Now, as your friend, I’m telling you that you’re in over your head here and that you should take our advice and go home before you get yourself killed.”
Batgirl gave her a look. “I’m sorry, I think you have me confused with someone else,” She smiled before it dropped as she realized her lie wasn’t being bought. “Come on, Sunny, you just outed my secret identity!”
“Considering what happened back on the roof of the GCPD building, I say we’re even.”
“She’s right, though, Miss Gordon,” Batman spoke up. “You’re risking your own safety by trying to do something that you’re unqualified to do.”
“Then what the heck does one need to do to be qualified for this? Why is Sunny allowed to but I’m not?” Batgirl argued.
“Listen, Batman gave me this same spiel when I got started, but I proved myself with proper training and powers. I wouldn’t even be here right now if it wasn’t for my magic or the lessons I took.”
“Wait, so you mean to tell me that you work as a magician’s assistant but actually can do real magic, does that mean- It does. Zatanna doesn’t perform elaborate tricks, she’s an actual sorceress,” Alicorn could tell Batgirl was shocked by the sudden discovery of information.
“Yes,” Alicorn admitted. “Zatanna’s magic is for real. Can’t really deny that when you figured it out. Again, we’ll talk about this after this whole crisis is over.”
“Look, I want to help here, that’s all, Pam’s my friend too.”
“You’ll be more helpful if you stay out of this and leave this to us. I don’t think your friend is likely to listen to reason anymore,” Batman said. “If you insist on doing this again, I see no other reason but to tell your father about this.”
Alicorn could tell those words rocked Batgirl. “Please, Barb. Just–just go home.” Alicorn said as she put a hand on Batgirl’s shoulder. The inexperienced heroine sighed before turning around and walking away, exiting off the roof via the fire escape.
“I hope you’re not blaming me for this, I had no idea she was planning anything,” Alicorn explained to Batman.
“I’m not. Listen, I don’t want to hurt your friendship with her, but I’m serious about my threat, it’s for her own good. She tries it again; her father is going to find out,” he said.
“Yeah, I think our friendship is a bit strained at the moment, and Pam’s clearly gone mad which is making everything worse.” Alicorn sighed.
“Come on, let’s head back to the Batcave and try to figure out where she and Woodrue are and come up with a plan to stop them…before all of Gotham becomes a jungle.”
Barbara sighed as she sat back down on the couch at her house, feeling even more depressed than when she first got home earlier.
“Some first day as a sidekick,” she moaned as she threw her head back and looked up at the ceiling. “I failed to stop Ivy, my aim needs work, and I blew my secret identity. On top of the fact that one of my friends has gone nuts, and the other one is clearly upset at me, this has to be one of the worst days of my life.”
She looked back to her Batwoman outfit and her mind began to think over about what to do with it: Either keep it or just burn it. She looked over to the remote and picked it up before looking at the TV.
“Guess I better see if Pam made the ten o’clock news,” she said in a deadpan tone before turning it on.
“And we’ve just received some new information. Apparently, Police Commissioner Gordon was abducted a short time ago by a new, but unknown, super-villainess. As of right now, there’s no word on whether or not-”
“Dad,” Barbara said as she jumped to her feet and turned off the TV. Her mind was rushing with thoughts about the danger her father was in and wondering if Pam was really going to hurt him. Added to the fact that she had no idea what either Pam or Woodrue were thinking just added to that worry.
She looked back at her outfit, and a feeling of determination came over her. “I’ll quit tomorrow,” she said as she suited back up.
She looked in the mirror once more to see herself before she huffed and regained her confidence. “Come on, Barbara, you’ve got to be strong, for Dad, for Sunny, for Pam.”
Her mind went to work trying to think about what she was going to do. She knew she had to rescue her father, but she had no idea where he had been taken. That’s when it hit her: Where would be the best place for Pamela to be now that she was part plant? The Botanical Gardens.
Batgirl got to the Gardens as fast as she could before she stood out in front of it. She took a deep breath, knowing that she would have to prepare for anything in order to rescue her father.
“So, is there a reason why you’re ignoring my advice?” Batgirl heard Alicorn’s voice from behind her before she turned around and saw both Alicorn and Batman standing behind her.
“I know, I know. I was going to listen and get rid of it but after hearing the news, I just couldn’t sit around and do nothing,” Batgirl explained.
She waited as both heroes looked at each other and silently discussed with each other about her. A moment later, they looked back at her.
“Okay,” Alicorn said. “You can help us, Barb. But you listen to everything we say, okay? And after this, you put away that suit and just go back to civilian life, got it?”
Batgirl nodded. “I guess I don’t really have much room to argue, do I? Lead the way.”
The three of them made their way up to the roof of the garden before looking down into the greenhouse. Ivy sat on an elaborate natural throne with Woodrue standing next to her.
Barbara’s eyes were more focused on their prisoner. Her father was alive, but in quite a predicament. He was unconscious and being hung over what looked to be a plant with a pool of something like acid inside it.
“Looks like Woodrue has got your dad in a position to be dipped into a pitcher plant, a sort of carnivorous plant sort of related to a Venus flytrap.” Alicorn said.
“Wait, what is it they’re saying?” Batgirl asked. Batman responded to her question by pulling out what appeared to be some sort of small listening device that allowed them to hear what was going on.
“We’ll give the city a night to sleep with worry about the Commissioner’s abduction before we start the next wave of attacks. We will show Gotham there’s a price to be paid for it’s sheer ignorance,” Woodrue said as paced back and forth.
“Well, at least it’s clear that Woodrue is the one calling the shots then,” Alicorn observed before the three of them noticed Woodrue walking away.
“Okay, here’s the plan. Alicorn, you take on Woodrue while he’s isolated, I’ll jump in to deal with Ivy and lead her away to a different part of the gardens. While that’s going on, you go down and rescue your father, Barbara.” Batman explained.
“If it’s all the same with you, Batman, I’d rather be the one to deal with Ivy, I just want to try one more time to get through to her.” Alicorn argued.
“If you believe you can, then alright. I’ll take care of Woodrue. In the meantime, once you save your father, get him out of here. Understand, Miss Gordon?”
Batgirl nodded. “I understand. Just,” she paused for a moment, “please try to bring Pam back to her senses, okay, Sunny?”
Alicorn nodded. “I’ll try.”
Batgirl waited on the roof before Batman moved away towards a different wing of the garden where Woodrue went to. Alicorn waited for a moment then jumped down and crashed through the roof before safely landing on the ground.
“Well, it seems I’ve got some weeds that need pruning in my garden,” Ivy said as she stood up from her throne. “Destroy her!” She ordered her plants.
“You’ll have to catch me first!” Alicorn shouted as she turned around and ran out of the greenhouse with Ivy and her plants following right behind her.
Batgirl waited for a moment before she hooked up her grappling hook and slowly started to make her way down towards the ground.
“Easy, easy,” she muttered to herself before her feet touched the ground. She then looked up and saw her father still hanging by a vine over the acid trap. “Okay, Commissioner. Batwoman is here to save you.”
However, before she could do anything, the small bonsai tree that was in her room, that she had tackled earlier, came out from around the plant.
“You again? Come on! Go away, I’m busy right now,” she dismissed it before she suddenly came to regret that decision once the tree slowly began to grow in size. It dwarfed her by several feet when it finished growing. “Okay, clearly you’ve been taking some vitamins.”
She panicked and ducked down as the tree tried to take a swipe at her. She then backflipped to avoid a punch it threw at her before she ran to get some distance from it.
“Typically, I take good care of the plant and now it wants to kill me. Wait, it doesn’t know it’s me! Maybe…” A risky thought crossed her mind but that she thought might just work for her. It was the only thing she could think of since she had no ideas on how to truly fight the overgrown bipedal tree.
“Hey, wait, stop for a second! It’s me, Barbara!” she threw her hands up before the tree came to a stop. “You know, the girl that was taking care of you for several weeks?” The bonsai tree did nothing but just looked at her, even though it didn’t have eyes.
“Okay, I think we’re getting somewhere,” she muttered. “Look, I don’t know what’s been going through with Pam, but I just want to help her here, okay? I’m certainly not like Woodrue, surely you’ve been seeing it. He’s treating her like a weapon, not as a friend.”
The standoff continued. “Remember? Pam gave you to me as a Christmas gift because we’re friends. I want to continue to be a good friend to her, and to do that is to stop her from something she’s going to regret; like give my dad there an acid bath.”
Neither of them moved for what felt like an eternity. Barbara was silently praying that the bonsai tree would listen. After a few more tense moments, the bonsai tree looked over to her father and reached out to free him and place him back down safely.
Barbara let out a sigh of relief before she ran over to her father, kneeling to checking on him. He was still unconscious, but at least he wasn’t going to be dipped.
“Thanks,” she said to her father’s savior. “Now, if you don’t mind, look after him for the time being. I’m going to try and bring Pam back to her senses.” She turned around and ran for the area where she last saw Alicorn and Ivy go to.
She stopped for a moment when she heard some doors violently open back in the greenhouse behind her. She turned to see Woodrue on the ground by them, out cold, while Batman stepped forward.
“Thought you may have needed a hand, so I took care of him quick. All he had was a gun that I quickly disarmed. He relied too much on others helping him,” Batman explained as he walked over to Gordon. The bonsai tree stepped in front of him.
“Easy, he’s okay. Just let him do his thing!” Batgirl quickly said to the plant. It complied and moved out of the way. “Pam’s Christmas gift. That’s the only reason why my Dad’s okay now. Anyways, I didn’t think that liar was going to stand much of a chance against you.”
“Where’s Alicorn?” he asked.
“Probably with Ivy still, I’m going to go help her. Look, I know what you said, but I think her two friends talking to her might be what it takes to get through.”
Batman nodded. “Very well, but I’ll be lying in wait just in case things don’t work out. We may have no other choice with her.”
Barbara sighed. “Yeah, you might be right, but I’m praying that’s not the case.” She turned around and ran back towards the direction where she thought Alicorn and Ivy were.
“I certainly admire your courage, Alicorn,” Ivy taunted as Alicorn dodged yet another vine that was sent her way. “You came all this way into an area where I would have complete control over everything around you.”
“What can I say? I’m not one to truly back down from a challenge,” Alicorn said as she jumped over a large root that shot its way out of the ground below her. The fight was one of a losing battle for her. Her words were having little effect on Ivy and Alicorn was getting tired from all the dodging she had to do while not even being able to get close to Ivy.
“Your bravery is to be commended, but despite your best efforts,” Alicorn suddenly felt a root wrap around her leg and stop her dead in her tracks. Another larger root wrapped her entire body slowly. “You just can’t stop Mother Nature.”
Alicorn watched as another vine slowly began to crawl up and looked like it was getting into a position to strike her. The vine shot forward, only to be stuck by a metal Batarang. Alicorn looked over and saw Batgirl standing with a smirk on her face.
“Got it this time.” Her celebration would be short lived as she was soon entangled in another root trap. Now both heroines were at the mercy of Ivy.
“Ivy, listen to me for just a minute before you do anything else, okay?” Alicorn spoke up as she felt the roots tightening around her. Ivy raised an eyebrow in a way of saying ‘Fine, but you’ve only got a few seconds’.
“Believe me when I say this, but you don’t want to go down this path. It’s not going to end well for anyone. You may think you’re doing what you want, but you’ll feel the regret of your actions, sooner or later.”
An upset look crossed Ivy’s face. “Don’t bother trying to lecture me. I know what I’m doing! I’m finally giving plants a voice to humanity, who refuses to listen. They’re the monsters, not me!”
“Is that what you think? Is that what Woodrue told you? You’re a good person. We both know it, Pam.” Alicorn said.
Ivy’s eyes widened upon hearing that name. “What?”
“Go ahead, take my mask off right now,” Alicorn watched as a vine slowly made its way to her face. Her hand was barely free, but enough for her to use her magic and drop the spells on her mask. A moment later, she felt the vine pull her mask off her face, allowing her identity to be exposed.
“Sunny?” Ivy muttered before she had another vine move towards Batgirl and unmask her as well. “Red?”
“We’re your friends, Pam. Remember what I said when I stopped you from vandalizing Wayne Industries? The most important thing in life is your friends, that no matter what you do, we would be there for you. That’s why I’ve been trying to talk to you here, rather than fight you. The same goes with Barb.”
“She’s right,” Barbara spoke up. “I originally did this whole thing because I found out Sunny’s double life. I wanted to be like my parents and try to help others rather than just do gymnastics, but once I found out what happened to you, I put that aside just to try to get my friend back.”
“I said this before, Pam, but I’ve been down this road. It’s terrible, full of isolation and loneliness with everyone around you either fearful of you or hating you. It took an amazing girl to show me what friendship can accomplish, and I’ve seen the results. I’ve never felt better in my life thanks to it.” Sunset said.
She then sighed. “But, in the end, this is all up to you. So go ahead, either listen to what words Woodrue has told you and finish us both off, or come back to reality. I won’t even try to stop you from finishing the job.”
Sunset stared down Ivy after her ultimatum. When she convinced the human Twilight to come back to reality, Sunset remembered seeing the struggle on her face. With Ivy, there was no sense of a struggle, just a cold, unchanging look.
“No!” Ivy cried out before she dropped to her knees and covered her face. Sunset could feel the vines that were squeezing her suddenly dropping both her and Barbara to the ground. After taking a moment to catch her breath, Sunset ran over to Ivy’s side with Barbara following close behind.
“I can’t… I can’t do it…” Ivy sobbed into her hands. “Please, I don’t want to do this anymore!”
“It’s okay, Pam. We’re here. We’re here.” Sunset said as she wrapped her arms around Pamela before Barbara joined into the group hug.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Pamela continued to cry, appearing to beg for forgiveness from those who were embracing her.
“Hey, it’s okay, Pam. We’re not mad at you, okay?” Barbara said.
“I’m sorry,” Pamela said once more. “I was just scared of what had happened and the plants, their cries of suffering, and Woodrue. It just…it just was too much for me at the time. I wanted it to all stop.”
“Shhh,” Sunset tried to quiet Pamela down. “Don’t say anything else. Just let it all out and know you’ve got us here with you.”
The girls sat there on the cold floor of the gardens for several minutes as they let Pamela continue to cry. After a bit, she began to calm down.
“You okay now?” Barbara asked.
Pamela wiped her eyes before sniffling and then shook her head. “A bit, yeah, but I’m hating myself right now for what I’ve done. Destroying Chlorogene and then kidnapping your dad, Red. You two should just escort me to Arkham right now.”
“Hey, don’t you even dare compare yourself to any of those madmen that are there. You are not like them!” Sunset said. “Listen, if it makes you feel any better, I’ll be sure to tell you the story of how I was in the same place as you when we get this all taken care of.”
“Yeah, you’ve got a lot of things to explain, Sunny,” Barbara chuckled as they helped Pamela up. However, the girls were suddenly greeted by a bunch of vines that were aimed right for them.
“No, stop!” Pamela ran forward and held her arms out to shield her friends. “Listen, I know you’re all hurting, but this isn’t the way. I promise you all that I will do what it takes to help.”
The standoff only lasted for a few moments before the plants slowly backed away and returned to their original spots across the garden.
“Phew! I thought that was going to get ugly in a heartbeat,” Barbara said with a sigh of relief.
“So, what happens now?” Pamela asked.
“First,” the girls turned their attention to Batman who walked into the chamber. “We should probably get you looked at, Miss Isley.”
Pamela sat on the roof of a nearby building with Barbara and Sunset. The three friends chatted while Batman was looking through a blood sample he took of her. The Dark Knight explained that he woke up the commissioner and handed Woodrue over to him, who was on his way to prison, more than likely to be charged with being the mastermind behind the string of attacks that Temblor had done.
She felt somewhat sorry for him, despite his actions. At some point in his life, he must have had the best of intentions, but they had slowly been corrupted to the point where he was merely living a facade. Pamela heard the phrase ‘Never meet your heroes’ plenty of times before, but it hurt her inside to experience that lesson first hand.
Meanwhile, as they waited for whatever tests Batman was doing, Sunset was holding her hands up towards her and muttering to herself, what she assumed was some sort of spell. Sunset had left them for a moment when she opened a portal and said she was ‘going to find a spell to hide Pam’s condition’ for when they were going to take her to the hospital.
“I’m still wondering what I’m going to say to Mom when I see her at the hospital, ‘Hey, Mom, guess what, I’m part plant now.’” Pamela shook her head as she looked out towards the Gotham skyline. She was now wearing some clothes that Sunset loaned her after she returned back from wherever she went.
“There might be some ways to work around that,” the trio turned their attention to Batman. “While your current blood sample shows your change, an earlier one could be used for the doctors. Have you given blood before, Miss Isley?”
Pamela nodded. “A few times, if you can manage to find them. At least that would keep me out of jail, or out of a lab to be experimented on,”
“Hey, if anyone wants to turn you into a lab rat, they’d have to go through us,” Barbara said.
Pamela took a deep breath in relief. At least she still had her friends on her side. The rest of her problems were still needing to be solved, but she held on hope that they could be taken care of and her life could go back to at least some form of normality.
“With this sample, and several more if need be and with your permission, I should be able to eventually come up with a cure for you, Miss Isley.” Batman said.
“Thank you, Batman, I’m grateful you’re willing to help me after everything I did,” Pamela said.
“You can thank your friends for that, Miss Isley, they didn’t give up on you,” Batman then put Pam’s blood sample onto his utility belt and pulled his grappling hook out and swung off the roof of the building.
“How much longer is this going to take, Sunny? We probably should get to the hospital soon before Dad puts out another APB,” Barbara asked.
“Just give me another moment, I’ve almost got it, okay,” Sunset took a deep breath before exhaling. “Alright, done.”
“How do I look?” Pamela asked, noticing that hair hanging past her shoulders like before.
“Like your old self again, albeit without the glasses, though, I think that might be a good thing,” Barbara said. “Might catch some guys' attention now at school.”
Pamela chuckled. “I’m more worried about explaining to Mom about losing my glasses. I mean, my eyesight is all great now, so maybe I could tell her I want to wear contacts from now on, just not actually wear them though.”
“Well, at least the good news is that we might be able to fool the doctors and your mom, Pam, but this disguise spell only works if I’m in close proximity to you. I’m going to have to find a more permanent solution for you first thing tomorrow,” Sunset explained.
“At least it’s something, come on,” Pamela said as she stood up. “Let’s check me in before people start getting suspicious again.”
“Yeah, this way,” Barbara led the girls towards the building’s fire escape before stopping and glancing over her shoulder. “And you’ve got some explaining to do for us, Sunny.”
“I know, I know, I’ll come clean about everything,” Sunset said as she started to climb down the ladder. “And there’s a part of my past that you really need to hear Pam.”
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Hero Trio!
Thank you. Just...thank you for saving Pam. I cannot wait for the next chapter.
I get the feeling that Pamela's powers and form are a permanent condition. My guess is that she has, or had as the case is now, a dormant Meta-Gene, and the accident at Chlorogene forced it to activate. Sunset's spell might be the only way she can appear like a regular person in public anymore. I'm certain, with time, she can create something that will allow Pamela to look normal while Sunset's not around.
Although, Bruce might be able to help with that. In the cartoon Static Shock, Wayne Enterprises was shown to be researching possible ways into helping teens that were forced into getting superpowers, mainly the ones who's Meta-Gene's powers afflicted their physical forms, making them look not so human anymore. A girl known by the alias 'Nails' had her skin turn into an organic steel with the durability to match. She was noticeably different looking from everyone else. With help from treatments developed at Wayne Enterprises, she was able to gain control to the changes at will, even return to her normal looking self. While a far cry from a total cure, the results were promising that it could happen someday.
As for Woodrue, I'll bet you anything that we haven't seen the last of him. Every hero needs a villain, after all.
10089380
Given he became a plant-based villain himself in the comics, Woodrue's return wouldn't be a shocker.
D'awww, I'm glad they saved Pam and stayed friends
the trinity is born
Gotta say, the Woodrue stuff (which I’m assuming is from the show) did not age well. Between stuff like climate change, declining bee populations, the Flint, Michigan water crisis, outlawing protests against new pipelines, and more, directly attacking a company that’s doing irreparable damage with an extremely toxic fertilizer doesn’t seem that crazy. He’s definitely done some other really bad stuff, but looking at where we are in the real world right, he’s not exactly wrong.
Definitely excited to see Sunset finally tell her friends about her though, maybe even with Batman there.
10089514
Maybe but the fact is he's breaking the law and harming others in the pursuit of his goals. I mean Mr. Freeze has a pretty good reason for the things that he does (in the TBAS universe anyways not so much in the "The Batman" universe) but that doesn't make what he's doing right nor should nothing be done to stop him.
I don't think he was in the show, I believe he was introduced so that another villain could take Ivy's place. In the show, Pamela was the one who hired Temblor prior to her accident.
This chapter was WAY better then the episode.
Well we have our trio now. I wonder how Pam will take the revelation about Sunset’s original home universe. Still I hope we will see more of the expanded DC universe so we can meet Wonder Women as I don't think she was ever in this series.
Yay!! I'm so happy for another chapter. Awww I'm very happy to see the girls help ivy come back to her senses
Hmmmm, sounds like an enchanted necklace is needed for Pam.
Anyone else thinking of the Harley Quinn Television series now?
10089522
Mr Freeze has sympathetic motivation, but he’s still committing crimes against innocents for personal reasons, including revenge. The issue here is that Woodrue is a criminal for fighting back against government backed supervillains where peaceful protests have become very ineffective and are even being banned in real life. It’s particularly awkward since in this story we’ve seen how nothing the protests have been, and with what’s going on in real life, this feels rather weird. The protests amounted to basically nothing, there’s a real threat, yet the only person to effectively act against said threat is a terrorist.
10089673
Just because the villain states change through non-violent means doesn't work doesn't mean it's true. Nothing is shown to indicate that his methods were nescessary thus we have to assume he's just cynical as a result of past experiences and simply doesn't try less violent methods anymore.
It made more sense In the show as noone really took Pamela seriously so she took violent action as she felt it was the only way her message would be heard.
10089514
10089522
Oh, Woodrue is a real piece of work...
I mean he has gone from Evioronmental defender to Eco Terrorist to one of the Guardians of the Universe's pet projects to Eco terrorist, to 3rd Candidate to be representative of the Green...
I hope WandererD will add the Floronic man to this version of the "The Batman" Universe instead of Ivy and she'll skip the periods of Villainess and Anti Heroine... all thanks to the S. S. Sunset Shimsham
Someone needs to talk with an appropriate mentor for her new gifts.
Fate and Zatanna are definitely in the know on Swamp Thing, after all.
10089684
Except the story kind of pointed towards his actions being necessary. The only people we’ve seen actually show any kind of care or interest in this are Pamela, her friends (mainly because Pamela asked for help), and Woodrue. Sure it’s easy to say Pamela and co are being ignored for now because they’re kids and they’ll eventually gain more traction, but in story the Chloromulch is already causing supposedly irreversible damage (and is screwy enough to turn Pamela into a plant person that can communicate with and control plants). Say it takes them 5-10 years to build up enough awareness to start sizeable protests (which seems generous considering the story so far), and action gets taken immediately (again, extremely generous), how much damage would be done by then? And even if action is taken against Chloromulch, something else can easily rise to take it’s place and the process would have to begin again. And all that is assuming that the company doesn’t action by hiring people and bots to spread disinformation and lobby to stop protests and bribe police to crack down on protesters. The story itself is saying that extreme action is bad while not showing the non-extreme action having any effect and setting up a time limit with the amount of potential damage from the company. And that’s just one of them.
Heck, apparently Dr Woodrue had been protesting this kind of stuff publicly for awhile now, it wasn’t having any (or at least enough of an) effect. Sure he was doing the eco terrorist stuff in the background, but his public efforts didn’t disappear. Heck, if it wasn’t for his complete disregard for targeting innocents and trying to weaponize a recently mutated teenager (which unquestionably pushes him into villain territory), I’d say he’d be a borderline anti hero based on what the story’s established so far.
Poor Pam...
Yes, a new chapter
Very well done, You handled Pamela's situation wonderfully. And Barbra's foray into superheroism is proceeding along a somewhat more, sane, path this time, we've a tidy little trio going here. I wonder if this might result in a Gotham chapter of supers this time around, rather than Batman dourly maintaining his monopoly.
10089380
I have a feeling he's a one-off though. The arc of Pam's transformation is done, I expect minor references to him in the future, if any at all. Some dude with a gun isn't going to cut it for these heroines.
Assuming Sunset's involvement doesn't majorly fracture the storyline, villains and allies are going to get involved. For example, Robin (Dick Grayson) has to show up sometime! I wonder if he's gonna get a crush on Sunny.
Don't forget, The Joining is coming ...
so i take it from here on out is where the story will diverge massivly from the batman cartoon
Can't wait for the next one
10090475
Well he knows ivy's identity so he is probably going to die during a jailbreak or something
Getting caught back up. Yay for friendships!
In this variant timeline, Jason Woodrue is responsible for Temblor, just as suspected.
Yeah for Yin! I hope we see her in this variant of The Batman Season 3. Such a shame she totally disappeared from the show after Season 2.
So in this variant timeline, the purple in Batgirl's costume is inspired by Sunset's Alicorn costume.
Things have gotten silly again
So in the end, Sunset and Barbara defeat Poison Ivy with the magic of friendship! That's more MLP/EQG rather than The Batman
I love it!