Teen Titans In The Field (3)

Quinzel's Kids

Time Drake

"I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T INTERFERE!"

"This is no not what we were promised!"

"If You were EXPECTING us to Stuff it up, WHY'd you SEND US!"

"Honey, darling, no no no! You mother and I just wanted like, good records of your first crime! That's all I promise! And I thought, well I could pay someone to do it, or I could!"

"MUUUUUM!"

"Arrrrrg. Why are you Like This!"

I watched the tennis match of sparse dialogue get thrown back between the older blond who'd been dragged in, and the two kids as they bantered. The Checker-board kid seamed resigned, and groany, the long haired girl was the one yelling. It took a moment before Lena gave up, gently throwing the older woman across the room.

Starfire stalked in too, unravelling the now calm vines that were no longer trying to catch us. Taking the opportunity while they were distracted, I used a second tie to bind the plant themed girl's hands, and detach myself.

"Wait, wait wait wait. Are you Harley Quinn! What happened to you? You dropped off the face of the planet!" I stopped, I knew that name! I KNEW THAT NAME!

Looking over the old woman I connected the dots. Harley had stopped being the joker's number two long before I took over as Robin, but I'd seen the stories. The crown doormat of crime who went and...

No, it was her, older, like so much older. "I thought you became a good guy?" I asked her in shock. Harley was filming again, ostensibly memories for a photo album or something. With some presence of mind I realized that her hands were tied together. I hesitated. Okay, no. They were co-operating and they shouldn't be. I gave Lena a solid look, and a shake of the head as she started relaxing.

"Oh that, that started cause of the whole Suicide Squad gig. After multiple successful missions me and Ivy went and hooked up. Been retired for the last ten years, outside of occasional Eco-terrorist attacks and petty theft!" The apparent mother of two shrugged off the casually admitted crimes and moved to stand with her children. I wasn't going to question how that worked.

"Anyhow, my kids wanted to sign up as patsies, and I'm nothing if not supportive. Isn't that right goils!"

"You only ever support us for things you want to do!" The checker-girl called back.

"You even put us in your and mum's old costumes! What even does Quinn mean by itself!" Quinn complained, tugging at the dress and vines. "It has nothing to do with my costume and powers and Briar for -"

"That's enough, remember. I don't need actual names, nobody does." I supplied. Starfire had rounded the kids up, everyone was in ties now and in theory this job was over. So why didn't it feel like it was.

"I think Quinn and Briar are lovely names, but I do agree their backwards. The one with the long hair and vines should be Briar and the, um. Are you a girl, boy, other?"

"Other!" the second kid spoke up quickly, "Always other! Although I dress more girly than this at home!" Lena and I caught each other's eyes as the exchange went down. She sensed it too. Quietly I stalked up and down the string of plants and science experiments, looking for options. Poison Ivy, if these were her kids, was immune  to poison. They would be too. Harley was notoriously hard to put down. So, when it all happened we needed to .... Nope - act now!

"Starfire, Window!" I called out, looking back.

I'd been right, creeping along the ceiling out of view had been a thing, a plant menace consisting of red tendril-thin vines. Now they pulsed, throbbing and thickening quickly to large vines, blossoms budding and growing into massive flowers quicker than I'd like.

Starfire did as instructed, smashing out through a wall and then the nearest window. She took a table with her to get the biggest opening possible, and at the same time Harley snapped her straps. Clean and easy as you'd like, for somebody clearly in her late forties.

"I saw the rose near the entrance, check it Quinn!" Was the barked instruction from the mother, the checker-board kid who now identified as Quinn jumped their ties, pushing their sister towards me. I fielded, using basic throws to toss them. Too late, I realized I'd thrown Briar toward the mass of plants behind and she vanished inside in a moment.

With Quinn making a bee-line for the corner of the room, Lena used her power-armor to wrestle the middle-aged, middle weight, former supervillain turned mother; towards the window.  For a second it seamed as though they were an equal match, but Lena's power armor had more weight and like a sumo she threw the old woman on the ground. Hands still gripped by Lena's machine. In a short while Lena had the woman at the window.

I waded into the plant mess looking for Briar, checking my belt I was glad to find the little explosive capsules I used for opening stubborn doors and tried to roll them in around the outsides and the base of the plants. The popped with satisfying crunches that sent plant matter sprawling and I very gratefully did not hear any screaming.

From the back of the room I heard Quinn yell, "A DOG! A FRACKING DOG! Why are they Cloning a DOG!" before they returned, making a bolt for the exit.

Behind me, Lena successfully threw Harley Quin out the window, where Starfire caught her and carefully dropped her into the end up a police van. It stood on it's end currently, making it harder to escape. "It got one! Next one please!" Starfire called in.

While I moved to block Quinn's escape, Lena wading into the mess of plants and pulling at huge vines that struggled against her. Several attempted to choke her or pull her robot arms off.

Catching Quin we struggled against each other, me attempting to obtain a grip anywhere that would let me throw them away from the exit, and at first Quinn attempted to avoid me. Then, instead they pulled in close. I'd stuffed up. I'd stuffed up big-time.

Caught off guard, and way too close, Quinn pulled me in by the shirt, dropping me to the ground in a judo move, and their face filled my whole world as emerald green lips pressed up against mine. It wasn't what I would call a good kiss, forceful, not passionate. A kiss of function, not for any emotion sake. Yet, I felt my muscles tense, my face go stiff and a few second later, the rest of my body.

"STARFIRE!" I heard Lena call out as Quinn climbed up and attempted to escape. "ROBIN's Down! Catch Quinn!" From my prone position on the floor I saw Starfire fly over me, skirt and bathers and grab the retreating Quinn.

"What did you do to him?" Star called from out of vision.

"Just a kiss, like this!" A moment of silence with no sign of action. Surely Starfire couldn't have been that stupid? What was I thinking, she knew nothing about earth culture or Poison Ivy, of course she'd fallen for it!

"OHHH! It's a poison! HAHAHA! oH, Poison Running through you veins, I get it! Will it wear off?" I wanted to laugh, Lena did laugh as Starfire bodily carried the little harlequin over to the window  to shouts of; "Wait! Why didn't that work! What Are You!"

"Our Little Affront to Science is just as immune to poison as you are!" Lena called out.

Digging through the plants green gory mess of plants that had been strewn around the room in Lena's epic fight, she strategically culled into the vines with triumph; "Got You!"

And a moment later the third villain was outside and in the van. So.

So.

I failed by getting paralyzed. Lena and Starfire did all the work and captured the villains, and I was probably gonna lay on the floor for the next hour. Great. Maybe I'd get lucky and I wouldn't be upgraded from Sidekick status after all this. Something tells me Diana is gonna laugh about this.