Chapter 5
"You picked Snow White as a theme?" the boy asked as he picked up an apple and took an enormous bite out of a it.
Pamela gathered the apples on the table and placed them in the basket.
"I guess you could say so Kisho...Does it taste good? I mean they're hollow and filled with hydrogen cyanide gas...That just means that you won't taste much flesh but lots of hydrogen cyanide instead...But with the para-aminopropiophenone cell implants...We're quite immune to it...But not those who will maybe inhibit our next heist." Pamela said with a laugh.
Kisho took another bite, munching with enthusiasm.
"You know, although hydrogen cyanide smells bitter...It's not really bad with apple...Because...Um...The apples you grow taste great and secondly, the taste of hydrogen cyanide blends in quite nicely with the apple juice. Mmm..."
"Ironic haha...And I've to confirm this with you again. You're sure there's a lethal dose of hydrogen cyanide gas in the hollow apples? I don't want anyone to survive you know?"
"I understand Pamela...Don't worry...I tested the levels of Amygdalin in the apples. Very, very high...So that'll mean large amounts of hydrogen cyanide. About 300 parts per million of hydrogen cyanide give or take...That should kill someone in a few minutes...And for the apples...Well basically...The apples are quite safe unless they're subjected to a certain level of impact...But I really must commend you for being able to cultivate apples that contain such a high level of Amygdalin and are hollow! You really are the best horticulturist. But why go to all the trouble when we can just create explosives with hydrogen cyanide?" Kisho asked as he finished the apple.
"Well Kisho...That'll be so not my style and besides...Mother Nature has so much to offer...Apples specially bred will need no resealing, no injecting of hydrogen cyanide...That's more troublesome! With breeding, everything's natural! It was easy to change the Amygdalin's presence to the flesh instead of the seeds and to have hydrogen cyanide produced in the gaseous form...I just tweaked here and there with the enzymes...But the hollow part was rather tricky...But it's all over, and worth it! Now...Help harvest more and fill the basket. We're going to start our little Eden..." Pamela said as her emerald eyes flashed dangerously.
*
Pamela looked stunning in her usual revealing criminal suit, dark green gloves and boots topped off with a simple straw hat. She walked slowly, hips swaying ostensibly from side to side, as the heels of her boots made contact with the ground, resulting in a sharp tap in Pamela's every step. Kisho followed silently behind Pamela, dressed in light black clothing, with soundless footsteps as if he was gliding across the ground. They arrived at the entrance of the Gotham Botanical Gardens. The massive gate towered over them as they stood in its eerie silhouette caused by the rampant vine growth on it. Kisho inspected the gate and smiled.
"The hinges are rusty. The whole structure is in bad condition. A little explosive could bring it down. So-" Kisho said before he was interrupted.
"We'll do something special tonight. None of mankind's mechanical creations...We'll do this the green way. Behold...My growth formula...Ah...Pardon the drama..." Pamela said with amusement.
She took out a small vial from inside one of her dark green gloves and another from beneath her suit at her chest and Kisho grimaced when he saw that.
"Ewww...Must you put it in your bra?" Kisho asked in a disgusted voice.
Pamela just giggled.
"Oh you sound exactly like Harley! I don't wear bra by the way but better safe than sorry! Harley was never very careful...And that's why she..." Pamela said as her voice turned into a whisper.
Pamela dried her moist eyes with her gloves than smoothened out her suit.
"I'm sorry. That was most unprofessional of me." Pamela said as she sniffed.
"You loved her didn't you? Harley?" Kisho asked softly.
"She was my only human friend...Other than plants of course...She didn't deserve to die...She was so young...Oh but Batman just had to meddle..." Pamela said as her eyes narrowed.
A memory tingled in her mind and showed itself.
"Red? Are you sure breaking into Wayne Corporation is such a good idea? I mean you worked here? Quite obvious looking at the stuff you're gonna steal? And what if Batsy comes?"
"Oh Harley...Batman...So insignificant...No match for my perfume..." Pamela said as she gathered a few bottles of cyanide and boxes of ammonium nitrate.
"Harley? Can you load this bottle of cyanide into your gun? We'll be prepared just in case..." Pamela said as she handed the bottle to Harley.
"Aww...Red...I wanna use my extendable boxing glove. Pretty please?" Harley pleaded, a megawatt smile on her face.
Pamela sighed and gave a nod of approval. They finished putting the last of the bottles into Harley's handbag and almost reached the exit when the alarm sounded.
"Drats! Harley! Whatever happened?" Pamela shouted.
"Oopsy? Haha..." Harley said with a weak smile as she held up a tripwire.
Pamela rolled her eyes and took out a bottle of cyanide, wielding it in her hand just as two police officers burst into the room.
"Freeze! Nobody move!" One policed officer shouted.
Pamela threw the bottle at the police officers. One of them raised his arm to deflect the blow and the bottle crashed onto the ground. The bottle smashed into pieces as its contents flowed out. Harley launched the boxing glove and the other police officer was thrown back into a wall as the boxing glove struck her. The other police officer started coughing as he inhaled the cyanide fumes. Pamela gave him a vicious uppercut and a kick in the groin while Harley threw a smoke grenade on the ground. The police officers coughed even more violently in the mixture of chlorosulphuric acid and cyanide as Harley and Pamela made their escape.
A flash of black. A large shadow was cast over them. A soft thud. The Batman narrowed his eyes. Pamela smirked.
"A late-night rendezvous? To what do I owe the honour Batman?" Pamela asked mockingly.
"Harley and Ivy. You'll both soon have the honour of staying in Arkham."
"What makes you so sure Batsy?" Harley shouted as she launched the boxing glove.
The Batman leaped and avoided the attack with ease. Pamela produced a thorny whip from her boot and lashed out at the Batman as he landed behind them. The Batman parried Pamela's lashes with his arm guards and threw a batarang in Pamela's direction. Pamela raised her arm, preparing to strike again but the keen projectile sliced her weapon into half. Harley launched her boxing glove again and this time, it hit. The Batman flew backwards several feet as Pamela took out an abnormally large aerosol.
"You'll pay for doing that to my precious vine Batman!" Pamela said with rage as she squirted a liberal amount of hydrochloric acidic mist at the Batman.
The Batman shielded himself with his cape but the concentrated acidic mist dissolved part of the cape and his suit, searing his flesh. The Batman flinched in agony just as Harley dealt another severe blow to him with her extendable boxing glove, causing him to fall onto the ground. Pamela dropped a bottle of cyanide onto the ground, shattering the glass and causing the lethal cyanide fumes to rise up from the slowly-forming puddle of cyanide. The Batman started coughing violently as he inhaled the fumes. Pamela blew a kiss at him and laughed.
"Ah...The Batman incapacitated...At our mercy...How long have I dreamt of this..." Pamela said, circling the Batman languorously.
The Batman tried to get up and lifted an arm but Pamela put a foot onto his chest.
"Ivy...Police..." The Batman mumbled, looking behind Pamela.
"Oh the police officers? The cyanide and acidic smokescreen should stop them...And don't bother trying to move Batman...The last kiss I blew was a paralyzant. Now...For the coup de grace...A corporeal kiss...To seal your fate..." Pamela said slowly, puckering her lips for a kiss.
Pamela crouched down and leaned forward.
"What perfect physique Batman...Your figure certainly matches mine..." Pamela said with delight as she leaned forward more, lips touching the Batman's.
"Red!"
There was a shout. The sound of a gunshot. Pamela paused, lips still locked with the Batman's.
Harley crumpled, the patch of red stemming from the left side of her chest was slowly spreading wider and wider.
"Red..." Harley said for the second time, the first being a shout.
Pamela watched aghast from the side of her eyes. Her peripheral vision was not excellent but what she she saw was enough to make her blood run cold. Tears started streaming down her face as she broke her kiss with the Batman.
"Harley!" Pamela screamed, running over to her body.
A police officer stood at the entrance to the building of Wayne Corporation, holding a pistol in his hand still aimed in Pamela's direction as smoke drifted from the barrel of the pistol. He coughed and gasped before the effects of cyanide poisoning overwhelmed him, killing him.
Pamela witnessed the police officer's death and her sharp mind deduced what happened.
The shout. The gunshot. Harley.
The bullet had been meant for her, to stop her from planting her deadly kiss on the Batman. But Harley had shielded her, with her own body, and it cost her her life. Harley had tried to warn her but it was too late. And she used the only last resort she could, sacrificing herself.
Pamela clasped Harley's hands in hers. They felt frighteningly icy. Harley looked pale.
"Harley...Hang on...I'll save you...I'll think of something...You said I was the best botanist didn't you? Just don't die yet Harley...I'll find a plant...I'll help you..." Pamela said in between sobs, holding Harley in a tight embrace.
Harley smiled.
"Red...I had gotten over the Joker long ago...I'm no fool...I used to be a psychiatrist...I realised it was just infatuation...The one...I really love...Is you Red...You..." Harley said, with ostensible difficulty as she articulated each word.
"I love you too Harley...I had always loved you...Just wait for me...I'll find a cure...The immunity serum I gave you...I can try to change it...Make it something to give you immortality...Just hang on Harley...I'll do anything...We can go beg Ra's Al Ghul...I'll be his slave...So you can use his Lazarus Pits...Yes...I'll go now...Oh Harley..." Pamela whispered comfortingly.
"Red...Promise you won't forget me..." Harley said, smiling as she closed her eyes and a teardrop rolled down her rosy cheek.
"I won't...Harley...Harley? Harley?" Pamela screamed, tears cascading down literally.
Pamela carried Harley in her arms. She could hear sirens, then another gunshot, a burning sensation in her chest and then everything went black.
"Pamela? Pamela? The growth serum...Do I pour it or what? Pamela?" Kisho asked.
Pamela snapped back to the present. A teardrop fell.
"Yea-Yeah? Pardon? I was reminiscing, sorry."
"I asked how should I use this serum of yours?" Kisho repeated.
Pamela rubbed her reddened eyes.
"Oh just pour them on the vines. On the roots."
"Okey-dokey."
"I'm so sorry Harley...But I'll avenge you...The entire world's population will pay at the expense of your death..." Pamela said in an undertone.
"Sorry?"
"Nothing...Just mumbling to myself about imperfections in the serum..."
A flurry of vines sprouted from the tip of every leaf of the initial vines on the gate. All the vines snaked their way up the gate as their roots planted themselves in the ground firmly. The vines continued to shoot up, lifting the gate into the air, pulling it from its hinges.
Pamela smiled at the phenomenal sight.
"Now...Let me show you something I discovered during my stay in Arkham..." Pamela said, clearly please with herself.
Pamela stroked the plant softly.
"Spread yourselves out...Slowly...We don't anyone suspecting you do we?"
Tne vines curled up and snaked across the gate, spreading out evenly. When the last of the rustling of leaves was heard, the gate was back in its original position held up by the vines that spread across it.
"Good work my babies...This way...When they open the gate the next morning...They'll think the gate just needs maintenance. No suspicion of foul play..."
Kisho watched in awe, mouth agape.
"Oh, my, god...Telepathic plant control..."
"No Kisho silly...I can...communicate with the plants...Not control...Now, let's collect all the species of plants here..."
The both of them went around collecting seeds of plant species ranging from some of the rarest to the most common weeds. In the event whereby there were no seeds, they took the entire plant altogether. They continued throughout the night without fatigue, stamina, strength and agility enhanced by Pamela's plant extracts.
The first rays of sunlight filtered through the clouds, signaling the arrival of dawn. Pamela and Kisho finally finished and they approached the gate. Pamela greeted it.
"Good morning my dears! Now my hands are a little full...So could you open the gate for me and then close it after I leave?" Pamela asked the vines.
The vines responded by moving away from Pamela towards a tree. The vines coiled around the tree at one end and grasped the gate at the other. The vines then started to curl, pulling the gate away from Pamela.
"Thank you." Pamela said sweetly.
Kisho continued watching even after they left the compound as the vines started their work of returning the gate to its original position.
Kisho ran after Pamela.
"Wait up! Now that's something you don't see everyday..."
"Oh don't worry...I promise we'll be seeing much of this in the days to come...Gotham - My Poison Paradise! Now get the plants and seeds into the car..."
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