The Darkest of Knights

"Well all we need to do is draw him out, and perhaps say, the town square? Get him there, turn it into a maze, the maze leads to the police station, and we get our cash. I have to make him believe that it leads him to a way out. And I already have this here tape to draw him out already." He said pulling a tape he made in his room, in homemade video quality. "The only thing missing out in my plan is you." The Riddler said smiling broadly, it never once left his face. "We can split the cash 50/50." He bribed.

Poison Ivy had to admit it was a worthy plan. But a part of her still doubted it. A maze to hold Batman? Made out of what? Her plants? He'd break them all in half, put her babies in pain. Or he could just use that grapple hook and jump right out.

"You've got a deal, Riddler. But if the plan doesn't work, I have every right to kick your sorry ass and leave." She said the last part as a statement, not a question.

"Good then!" The Riddler said joyfully, "I have a certain way you should make the maze though... I want it to be exact." He said as he began to want to stress on details. "But we'll go over that during lunch or whatever you prefer, the Batman isn't moving so I suggest you get some rest. I have a tape to deliver." He said walking to the door of the green house. "It was a pleasure to see you again. Oh by the ways the answer to the first riddle was you." He said cheekily and ran out laughing.

Poison Ivy shook her head. "Absolute nutjob." she murmured, reclining into a chair made of intertwined leaves and vines. The Riddler was so focused on the stupid riddle, he may have failed to notice the dead body of the security guard behind her. And how oh so easily she could make that him.

Maybe he did notice, and chose not to say anything. Either way, Poison Ivy just got herself pulled into a plan that would either work, or fall down in flames. For the Riddler's sake, it better work.

After his escape from Arkham, Mad Hatter had stopped by his old office to pic up some 'supplies' for later. He was now sitting in a small, abandoned cottage out side of Gotham, a cup of tea in his hands. "Oh Alice." he sighed looking at a photo frame. It was a framed newspaper clipping from 2 years ago of Alice. It had the other Midnight Riders in it but, unlike Alice's face, theirs were doodled on or crossed out. Mad Hatter took another sip of his tea. Chamomile tea of course. "I long for the day..." he touched the thin glass over her face. "When we can be together again." he smiled and closed his eyes.

"We already are together."

The Mad Hatter spun around and saw a silhouetted figure in the door way of the cottage. "Oh my dear, is tha-" he stood up from his chair. "Yes it is Jervis. Its me." she stepped out into the light, "Its your Alice." Alice Mau looked different. She wore a white collared light blue dress covered with a white apron. White stockings covered her legs and polished black shoes covered her feet. A neat black bow rested in her blond hair and a small smile was upon her face. "Alice!" he came up to her and their hands intertwined. "Alice my dear, I was lost without you."

"You have found your Alice." she smiled sweetly and they began to dance. The cottage was now a large ballroom and a slow waltz was playing, but they couldn't see where the music was coming from. But they just didn't care. Spotlights followed their every step as Jervis held Alice close. They never took their eyes off of each other. "This is truly a Wonderland." Jervis smiled. Alice just continued to smile as they moved to the music. He twirled her around, never once letting go over her.

The music was coming to an end, no matter how much they didn't want it to. Jervis dipped Alice and looked down into her blue eyes, completely mesmerized. "Alice." he leaned down close, their noses almost touching. "I lov-"

The Mad Hatters eyes opened to see only his hand, still leaning down. He looked up surprised and saw that, instead of an elegant ball room, he was still inside the small cottage. "It wasn't real." he said and stood up straight. The music, the ballroom was only in his head, just like Alice. He looked over at the photo frame at Alice's smiling face. "But soon," he stooped down and picked up his hat that had fallen off in his hallucination. "We shall be together once again Alice."

For a long time, the pale blond lost touch with the world, with her body, and the cold fridge that hummed in her ears. The plastic rough surface pressing into the wet skin of her cheek, her eyes squeezed shut tightly, her throat hurt, but it wasn't enough. She was losing herself to her own devouring brain, the hungry sponge soaking up her consciousness as if it was a stain upon her body' surface.

She was biting her tongue, cutting little slices into the thick muscle with her dull canines, just trying to halt the process of losing herself to the loneliness. Mame slowly opened her eyes, shutting them once the utter black registered in her brain, the dark room mirrored her inner turmoil. However, she had comprehended something else through her agony,a window in the door of the kitchen, a window that spewed light into her dark world.

She hesitated, reluctant to put herself out on a limb by merely opening her eyes, fearing what the dark would do to her, but eventually she did peel back her heavy eyelids. The pale slanted tower of light that traced itself onto the floor filled her up with an epiphany, a great realization taking over her aching thoughts. Because in the streaming flood of light was a figure, it was more shaped like a Rorschach ink blot then any real shape, but within the shape Mame saw something, a symbol of hope and justice. She hated these things but, it made her realize there was only one way she was going to be saved.

The girl stood up, shaky, frightened, but filled to the brim with tenacity and unrighteous indignation. She NEEDED to get back into the game, it wasn't because she felt crying in the dark was pathetic, or because she knew she was meant for better things. No, Mame worked her way out of her depressed fright for the sake of one man.

Mame slung her jacket over her, shoving her arms into the sleeves before rushing out the door of the warehouse, not bothering to pay her dirty figure any mind. She was a girl on a mission. She managed to hitch a ride on a fish truck, convincing the driver she was a poor innocent little creature, scared and hurt. She wanted to go home. After he drove her back into the central shopping district of the city she had ditched the truck, shaking off the fishy smell and storming her way in to a very unlucky fabric shop.

The blond went through the motions afterwards. She knew how to make what she needed. She spent hours pulling fabric off walls and cutting, stitching, calculating. Working within the workshop available for costumers. She didn't stop working, not for many hours, the people about her grew nervous, a few workers even approached her, but only to be growled at or nearly bitten. No one was going to interrupt the little girl, not now.

After too much time had passed, Mame wound up sitting in her panties at the work stool, nearly done with one last stitch on the crazy monochromatic get up she had just cobbled together. She was being avoided and the workers had already called the police, Mame didn't seem to care.

She stood up after it was all done, licking her chapped lips and tugging everything in place. She was a flurry of fabric and angry blond, somewhere along the way she had wrapped up her legs with bandages she had snatched from the first aid in the back rooms of the building. Tugging on a black and white sock she shook herself out. Her hair rode in a high pony tail, a domino mask pressed into her face, she had managed to find some white make up in the shelves, but it wasn't water proof, just smudge resistant.

There she stood, only missing her shoes, in her full Mime get up. Mame was ready to go. Back at the warehouse, still sitting within the pooling light of the window of the kitchen , the ink blot like figure remained.

The figure of a bat.

Alice took Karmy's hand. "I'm going to show Karmy around for a bit Dick, I'll be back soon." She told Batman, "Be back before dinner." He told her still talking the the Ropers and Riders. "Sure thing Bats!" She said moving to the first floor. "Remember, Karmy... Don't touch anything."

"Haha I won't" Karmy laughed, hiding her wicked smile. "Alice."

(Lol Ropers and Riders)

"Huh..?" She asked turning around to look at her friend. "What is it...?" Alice asked. They were in the study room, the first floor in the Batbunker, closest to the center of the earth.

"Oh nothing." Karmy grinned and looked around. "A study room? Wow." she read the book titles. "I've never needed one of these. Never set step in a school my whole life. I've learned by doing, not sitting in some desk." she shuddered. "I hate being in enclosed spaces.. I'd go crazy in a school."

"Well there's a training section in the study room by the back, but y'know, this is just for cracking cases. We have super computers disignated for everything here. Profiles of baddies and what not." Alice said showing her around.

"Ohhh!!" Karmy perked up. "Wanna do some training? I can totally kick you ass even with a head injury." she laughed.

"Haha, I don't think so Karmy! We have dinner soon, and plus.... I don't want to hurt you too bad." Alice said wishing she hadn't said that.

"Hmmm.." Karmy thought for a moment. "Hey whats that book?" she said pointing behind Alice. When she turned, Karmy nailed her right in the arm. "Ha!" and she ran towards the training room. "Oh wait shoot... I don't know where the training room is. Frick!"

"Karmy!" Alice grabbed her collar. "Okay... I think you're still not ready to see the vehicle room." Alice smiled. "But if you really want to train... Follow me." Alice said with a smile walking ahead of her smiling cunningly at her. She came to a door and pressed a code on a metallic pad and invited Karmy inside.

Inside the room was dark too dark to see. And Karmy couldn't find Alice. The lights came on and she found herself in city resembling Gotham. "Get through the course and you get to fight me!" Alice said through the intercom system. "If dinner comes too soon I shut down the course and we head upstairs!"

"You know I can just portal right?" Karmy stated.

[uh..... not sure what to post, i'll just BS it ..; ]

Zero tried his hardest to focus on the meeting as hard as he could, but he slowly found himself growing increasingly bored wityh 'Flass' this, and 'bounty' that. He began to spin a quarter on the table, and randomly throwing things at Ivy and then quickly pointing at Luna to blame her.

"Correction Karmy, I guess I know you more than you. You don't know where I am and you can only teleport in places you know what looks like, and you can't portal out of me." Alice said again through the intercom. "I'd hurry up if I were you."

"You suck Mercy.." Karmy said and began to walk through Gothams streets. "Ok so. What the hell is the purpose of this?" she peered into one of the shops. "I mean, I know its for y'all to like train and stuff." she moved on not seeing into anything. "But seriously. You just like to torture me don't ya?"

Ivy rolled her eyes, taking every thing Zero threw and her and bending the air to toss it back. She stuck out her tongue as if to taunt, "You can't hit me!" She knew it was incredibly immature, but she was growing a little bored with Bats herself. He had, after all, said everything he knew. So she proposed a different question:

"Have you seen what Poison Ivy has done to Arkham?" She asked with a straight face, while the wind behind her threw a paperclip at Zero.

(Dammit this scene is starting to suck... Sorry guys.)

Batman crossed his arms. "Okay, okay, Arkham Asylum. I've heard of what happened. And I also heard you the Midnight Riders have been working on that. Though a lot of dangerous criminals got out, anything we can do about this?" He asked looking at the table of Heroes.

The Riddler knocked on the GCPD, an officer opened the door, "Come in, quick!" He rushed. He walked into Flass' office and sat down. "Evening Commission!" He said with a grin. "Riddler." He responded, "I have something to give you!" The Riddler flashed a smile at him.

"A bullet in the head?"
"I want my sixty million commisioner."
"Fine what is it?"
"What's small but lengthy, inexpensive but vital, and your one way ticked to getting the Batman in behind your bars?"
"Damn you and damn your riddles."
"Oh c'mon, you don't even want to guess?"
"No! What is it?"
"Geez, Poison Ivy was more fun than you. But anyways here you are."

He held a mini DV tape into the air, "Its a lure, air it tonight." He said smiling at him. "A lure?" He asked looking at the mini DV, "What do you say on it?" He asked suspiciously. "Oh a bunch of empty promises, you know, all protocall." He said slyly. "Oh and I'd ask for your police to get off of Poison Ivy's tight ass. She's been rather pissy lately. No idea what's going on but still I thi-" "Done! Just get out of my office!"

Alice didn't respond to Karmy's question, instead a group of cardboard mobsters popped up and shot guns at her. With real bullets.

"Yup." Karmy said when she saw the cardboard mobsters popped up. "You just love to torture me. GAH!" she quickly portaled out of the way. Landing on top of one of the mobster, crushing it, she quickly withdrew a sword from her bag and sliced through the others with ease. "That was too easy." she twirled the sword and slipped it back into her bag. "That all you got?" she grinned.

"Well," Ivy began, "We could try and find out where some of them are. Poison Ivy will obviously be near plants, Mad Hatter...some place like Wonderland, really out of the way. Clayface, some dark and dirty place...." She struggled to think of other villains and their common lair scheme.
---
Poison Ivy, now clean and healed for the most part- being part plant had advantages- paced irritably around the greenhouse. She had already chosen a small Venus Flytrap sapling to use later. In case the Riddler's plan crashed and burned, she'd have a back up. I'll have to pick up the toxins later. she thought.

"Come on, grow a little more for mommy." She coaxed the sapling, watching it's leaves unfurl as it grew maybe half an inch. "How sweet. What a nice little child you are." she cooed. "You'll help me later. I won't let them hurt you..." She assured. The plant grew a little more.

A baby stroller was being pushed mechanically down the street, a gang of cardboard mobsters came up threatening the other cardboard cutout.

"You know. Its like y'all just want babies attacked or something." Karmy shook head and pulled out a chainsaw. She portaled between the baby stroller and the mobsters and went to work. "Ok seriously!?" she shouted as she sliced through one of the cut outs "Cardboard?! Thats nothing Alice. Come on give me something harder!"