Megan Damon is an autistic child personally picked up and raised by the Joker.
When she was little, due to her illness, she ignored everyone. When she grew a bit older, she asked the Joker, &...
Chapter 211 Chapter 211 [VIP]
The night talk was still going on. Poison Ivy told Megan that Misha would go to work at the nursing home tomorrow and had reserved a meeting time for them. They could just go there directly.
Megan agreed obediently, but suddenly she brought up a topic that was completely unexpected for Poison Ivy. She said, "Pammy, my father and I are planning to build a factory."
Poison Ivy was startled. She looked down at the child in her arms and repeated delicately, "Preparing a factory?" What factory? A factory to mass-produce nitrous oxide or the Joker virus, or perhaps some other, lesser-known purpose? Many terrible hypotheses surfaced in her mind, but she was certain that Megan was different from the Joker. She was a soft-hearted child who had never hurt anyone. They couldn't agree on the concepts of crime and good and evil, which further baffled her.
As she pondered, Megan laid out her humble plan. "On my birthday last year, I told my dad that my wish was to help people reduce suffering, and he agreed."
"Dad said the plan won't start until this year. Once the preparatory work is complete, he'll start a company using Damon's identity."
So it's not that the Joker set up the company openly. Since he wants to maintain the fake identity of Megan's father, he must consider her. Poison Ivy easily figured this out, but she still couldn't understand why that evil and cruel madman would tolerate or allow Megan to go against him and have such rebellious thoughts, and he didn't even try to correct her, but even helped her.
This is unimaginable for Poison Ivy. Even if she uses the Joker's love for Megan as an excuse, it is still too crazy. If she tells others, even Batman might laugh.
But Megan would not lie, and Poison Ivy was also aware of the Damon family's movements in the past six months. Unlike other mentally ill criminals in Arkham, she was not afraid of the Joker and even actively avoided him, so she knew the situation of the Damon family very well, and knew what Arthur Damon did and what he encountered under his fake identity. She even knew the amount of savings in the Damon family!
When she saw the information, she knew that Arthur would not be a worker in the workshop forever. However, a person's changes need to be traceable and his growth process must be visible to others. But she did not expect that the cause of this change was Megan.
Because of her wish which could be described as whimsical, naive and stubborn.
So the Joker compromised, and Arthur Damon grew up. He had to acquire knowledge, possess abilities, and demonstrate his own value before he could prepare factories and start companies. Otherwise, his sudden changes would only arouse suspicion.
Everything seems perfect, but Poison Ivy thinks there must have been a dispute between father and daughter, and perhaps Megan was injured and paid a price for her successful struggle. After all, how could a crazy, twisted, and unpredictable character like the Joker easily compromise?
Even after being compromised, Megan still hid her wishes and ideas deep in her heart, and only confessed these things to her when she was about to implement them.
She grew up and became a better person than Poison Ivy could have imagined. She was soft-hearted and empathetic, but also not pedantic and had her own ideals.
Poison Ivy stared blankly at the child beside her and gave her a hug that was as gentle and tolerant as it could be. She didn't ask any questions, she just wanted to comfort the child who was definitely sad and crying at that time. She heard her say, "I know that poverty, weakness and ignorance will bring pain, and there is a lot of such pain in Gotham..."
Megan did not make the decision on a whim. When she was in the foster care center, she saw many children with special needs from poor families. The adults begged to send their children there, but some families had no identity information and could not prove their identity because they had no place to live, so they had to take their children back. Others were ignorant and told the doctors that the children's physical defects were fake and that there must be a way to cure them.
As she wandered around Gotham City, she also saw many harsh and dirty environments. She saw many homeless people, prostitutes standing on the street, obviously underage children working on the docks, and teenagers joining street gangs to try to find shelter for themselves, and then turned around and bullied the weaker people.
She saw robbery, theft, fraud, and bullying. It seemed like there were pitiful people everywhere. Even men in suits would burst into tears on the street, and there were people at disaster sites...
The world is full of danger, harm and pain. Megan sees them, but she doesn't really want to get close to them. She stays upstream, paddling the water with her fingers, trying to bring some good to the people downstream.
"I know I can't help everyone, and I know I can't make them all stop suffering, but there must be something I can do. Like Wayne, the Special Children's Care Foundation and the foster care center, maybe I can take care of some people and make a small change."
Allow them to float up from the waters of suffering rather than drowning in the world.
"I want to provide them with jobs and pay, so that they can escape poverty, weakness and ignorance, and if they want to go ashore, they can grab the rope and come up by themselves."
Megan does not have big ambitions, nor does she think that everyone is her responsibility. She has made an idea and just needs to complete each step of the plan step by step. She believes that her father will make her wish come true, so from the beginning, she plans what she can do and what she will do so as not to lose her pace.
Poison Ivy listened to her quietly, unable to suppress her love. She held the child's small hand in her palm and said, "What a great wish, Megan! When I heard you say these words, it felt like the sky in Gotham was brighter."
Megan subconsciously looked at the window, but the thick curtains had long blocked the night sky. She didn't know that this was just a metaphor, and Poison Ivy slowly thought about Batman, Gordon, the former Knight of Light Harvey Dent, and many other unknown people who were also working hard to change Gotham.
It is said that this city is a city of chaos. Too many people have sunk into it, living a life of drunkenness and dreams or have long been numb, but there are always people who want to drag Gotham out of the vortex of crime.
The predecessors are there, and it seems that they have struggled for many years but have not achieved good results and nothing has changed. Megan also wants to follow this path, but she is different from all of them.
She is a child who walked out of Arkham, the only person in that huge and depressing insane asylum who may be cured and is being cured. She has the Joker as her backer, and she also has some special friends who, even if they don't necessarily help her, will lift her up.
It was impossible for Poison Ivy not to be moved. She felt that the child in her arms was the best child in the world, a rising star ready to take off. She smiled and asked, "Do you want me to help you?" She was happy to serve her.
Megan moved in her arms, her head rubbing against her cheek, and thought seriously, "I want to open a factory that manufactures machinery and electronics. Pammy, can you design toys?"
"I don't know how to do it, so what should I do?"
Megan said, "Then we can still be good friends. When the factory opens and the staff and machines are in place, I will give you the first product made." She said it so seriously that she deliberately sat up from Poison Ivy's arms, turned around and looked at her, without a perfunctory look in her bright eyes.
Poison Ivy smiled and touched her forehead to hers, "Then I'll wait for your gift." If any of her cellmates wanted to hinder the child and prevent her from fulfilling her promise, she would never stand idly by.
…
The next day, Poison Ivy disguised herself as a blonde, changed into casual clothes, and made up her face, becoming pretty but not too eye-catching. After all, the protagonist today was Megan. The child changed into clothes she had chosen herself. There was soft plush on both sides of the coat, and a close-fitting base dress inside was enough. With small leather boots and a beret, she looked like a little lady.
Megan was satisfied with her new look. When Poison Ivy was tying her scarf, she said to the vines that were coming over, "I look cute today, right? If so, just nod."
Plants couldn't understand human language, but with Poison Ivy acting as a go-between, she vaguely conveyed her message, and the Piranha Plant at the top of the vine folded up and drooped, nodding affirmatively. Megan then pointed to the hat on her head and said, "This is my crown, I am the king." She was talking nonsense, immersed in a meaningless game.
But what is a king? Plants don't need a leader, but Poison Ivy tells it: the sun rises and the moon sets, and then the vine, like a loyal subject, suddenly stands up and then falls down, lying obediently beside Megan.
After watching them play around, Poison Ivy patted Megan's shoulder and said, "Okay, Your Majesty Megan, please come with me."
Before leaving, they also said goodbye to the plants in the villa. Although there was no wind, the green plants in the garden were swaying slightly, and the leaves rubbed against each other, making rustling sounds. For Megan, there was only a response from what she saw, but in Poison Ivy's senses, all the plants were expressing their emotions, making similar yet different whispers.
They took the subway and then a shuttle bus to the nursing home, and were only allowed in by security personnel after their identities were verified.
Megan walked in this familiar yet unfamiliar place. More than a year had passed, and some new facilities and equipment had been added here. Because the sun was out today and it felt warm on her body, some teachers led the special children in the class to conduct classes on the playground, either exercising or doing skills training.
Megan and Poison Ivy, who were not taking classes, became conspicuous, but they were allowed in, so they must have been authenticated. The security management of this foster care center has always been strict, because it houses children and teenagers with physical or mental disabilities. In order to protect their personal safety, there are complete rules and regulations for internal monitoring, external defense, and personnel entry and exit.
Poison Ivy asked, "Where did you study and live?"
When Megan was taken out of Arkham by the Joker, he sent her here, all alone, in an unfamiliar place with strangers. She must have had a period of confusion. Perhaps it was at that time that 'Misha' became her friend.
Megan took Poison Ivy's hand and took her to look outside her former classroom. The teacher inside knew her and came out to greet her during the break. Megan carefully hid behind Poison Ivy's arm, still looking timid and shy. Compared to her state when she first came, Megan's personality is undoubtedly much healthier now, but when she returned here, it seemed like she was back to the past.
When she left the nursing home, she was still selective in her communication with others and ignored everyone. She had spent more than a year outside, but her personality had not become more extroverted.
When she returned here and saw people she knew before, she suddenly felt at a loss, so Megan subconsciously treated them with the same attitude as before.
Poison Ivy didn't force her to stand up and talk to anyone. She gently placed her hand on her shoulder, a gesture that was comforting and protective. She communicated with the teacher and they had a good chat. When she mentioned that they were here to visit Misha, the teacher laughed and said, "I know, I know they are good friends. Misha is the most gentle teacher here. The next class is about to start. You guys should go--"
The teacher did not ignore Megan. She squatted down and waved to her. Megan walked out from behind Poison Ivy's arm, raised one hand to her with her palm facing forward, and said, "Goodbye, Hannah." Hannah smiled and high-fived her.
As the bell rang, Megan walked with Poison Ivy to Misha's office. She looked furtively at the door and confirmed that Misha was the only one in the room. She was facing away from the door and sorting out the lesson plans on the table. She leaned against the door frame and peeked out softly, "Wow—"
Misha heard a familiar and soft voice and turned around suddenly. A child ran over hurriedly and threw himself into her arms.
She blinked, bent down and hugged the child tightly, but after several minutes Megan still didn't hug enough. When Misha brushed away the hair that covered her eyebrows, she was facing a pair of wet eyes.
"Oh, it's our little bear."
After a round of greetings, Megan and Poison Ivy both refused the treat, but Misha still stuffed a lot of her favorite candies into Megan's pocket, and then the three of them went out for a walk. The two adults walked beside her, and Megan held one of them by the hand. When she heard what they said was all about her, and they were all nice words, she couldn't help but run aside after a while.
Poison Ivy and Misha, who were walking behind, couldn't help but smile at each other.
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