"Baby" Garrin Anderson yelled at his wife to get her to move towards the car with a little more urgency, "Hurry up!" Jessica hurried to the car with their three-year old son, Paxton, in her arms. The Gotham Bridge had been advised as the best way to leave Gotham on the radio. They had packed everything they felt they needed and wanted to take with them, evident by the large bags of luggage in the back of the Volkswagon, as well as roped to the hood.

Jessica Anderson put their son in his babyseat in the back, strapping him in with his favorite G.I. Joe action figures, and got in the passenger seat. "I never thought something like this would happen" she said to him.

Garrin put the car in reverse, backing his car away from their beautiful suburbia home. He looked at her. They had been so happy before. How could something like this happen? Everything was so messed up now. "We should have never moved here" he admitted to her.

"Oh, Garrin" she said, "You could have never known! Nobody could've known!"

"Mommy" called Paxton, from the backseat. "Are we going to Grandma's house?"

"No, Paxton" said Jessica, turning in her seat to talk to him. "Grandma lives in Gotham too. We are leaving Gotham."

"Why, mommy" asked Paxton.

"Well, son" said Jessica.

"Jessica…" Garrin attempted to interrupt. It probably wasn't best if their son worried about something so potentially depressing. He pulled out onto the street and turned onto their street to leave.

"No" she said, "I think it's best if he understands." She turns fully to Paxton. "Baby? Gotham just isn't safe anymore. We can't stay here."

"Why not" asked Paxton, confused.

"Some people just aren't happy and content with seeing others live good lives while they're miserable" was all that his mother found she could say.

The ABC television station in Gotham wasn't in its busiest work hours. In fact, a little over half the staff were evacuated from the city. The city was quickly falling to chaos. Once proud structures and pillars of civilization, all of Gotham's buildings were nothing but contributions to Gotham quickly becoming a jungle. The city was damned and there were no more stories to be told. That is why after another day, Vicki Vale and the rest of the ABC staff would leave the city, never to return to the ruined utopia.

Vicki was quite pessimistic over the entire situation, which she expressed by lighting a cigarette right in her office, at her desk.

"Hey" Rick Shields, her lead producer yelled into her office door, "None of that, Vale!"

"Who's going to stop me, Rick" she yelled at him. "You?!" She inhaled it deeply when Rick walked away. She leaned back, trying to relax, even though her life as she knew it was gone. Her city is decaying and all she could do was smoke a cigarette which didn't help anybody, herself included. She then randomly looks over her own desk for the first time and sees a manila envelope with a very noticeable bulge in its center.

The Andersons had made it all the way across Gotham with little incident, as Gotham had already been evacuated over the past couple of days. Garrin was forced to brake to a complete halt at the start of the bridge. The entire bridge was covered with a multitude of vines that were a mile high. All the resolve was flushed from Garrin Anderson's spirit. There was no way through it or around it and this was supposedly the last way out of Gotham.

Every television set in Gotham that was still on or working played the same thing because it was the only programming still in function. It was of course an ABC news programming and a result of a certain little package that appeared on Vicki Vale's desk.

It was of course a tape that Vicki Vale and the rest of the staff were more than happy to play on the broadcasting channel. It was worth it, as it was they first public appearance of the very same people that was destroying Gotham City.

The broadcasting seemed to pick up from inside an abandoned warehouse, as the camera was fixated on some ancient hydration pump and rusted pipes. There was an echoing drip of water in the background. The audio would be both amplified and distorted by the setting's emptiness. After a couple of seconds, the camera fumbled with the camera and video skipped ahead so that Dr. Victor Naughton stood in front of the camera. He wore a body armor, black thermal suit and combat boots. He stood with his hands behind his back.

"Hello, Gotham" he said. "I am Dr. Victor Naughton. For ten years, I have contributed to some of the greatest Wayne Enterprises innovations. Did I receive any thanks or accolades for my contributions to science? No, but that my fellow citizens is not why I speak to you this wonderful morning. For tens of thousands of years, mankind has constantly disappointed, time and time again. Let's face it, we have never been civilized! Before Christ died for our sins, we had Sodom and Gomorra, stonings, cannibalism, and bestiality! After Christ, we had impalements, the witch hunts, martyrdom, the inquisition and well, bestiality! Gotham, today we are no better! For years, Gotham has been the most crime-ridden city in the entire United States! Everyday, we beat everybody else in murder, drug trafficking, and rape! True, these have declined thanks to a certain bat. However, IVY and I have destroyed the very foundation of this modern-day Gomorra and he has been unable to even find us, let alone stop us. That only strengthened our resolve, IVY's resolve, because it proved to us that God has approved of our plans. God is on our side. As a man of science, I have studied much of man's creations. The problem isn't mankind, Gotham. You see, man is God's most favored creature. No, the problem isn't with man, the problem is with man's corruption. Foundation. It is man's greatest sin. What gave man the right to create? I answer you, Gotham. It was Satan. With the ability to create, man created statues and idols, which led to murder and sinful lust. Man created its own laws, which led to more murder, cruelty and ultimately, more criminals. Man created churches, buildings, and skyscrapers which has led to nothing but misery and a distraction from what's life is really about. I'll tell you one thing, Gotham, it isn't how much money you make on a day to day basis and being so exhausted after a long day of work that you can't cherish time with your loved ones."

With that, Victor Naughton took a deep breath and composed himself.

"Gotham, I am still a man of science, not God. Yet, don't you remember Genesis, when God created man and woman before the original sin? Don't you remember how man wasn't permitted to have fruit from the tree of knowledge? Have you ever stopped to think how simple life must've been for young Adam and Eve? They couldn't even see, let alone create. As IVY, we just want to see what that was like. We are turning Gotham into the next Garden of Eden, where we will begin a new way of living. Follow us, and you will experience just how joyous life can really be! You have no choice anymore, anyway. If you haven't escaped Eden by now, then you are too late. We have blocked every possible way to escape this paradise in the making. So, all I have to say is sit back and enjoy it. Oh, and to all who oppose our wishes, be sure to remember that you are not above the same treatment that Jesus Christ himself received." With that, the broadcast ended and suddenly, those who stayed in Gotham knew who IVY was and what they wanted.

Bruce Wayne sat in front of his monitor at his CONUS hideout. He had just watched the IVY broadcast for himself. Alfred, as always, was by his side. Alfred watched uneasily as Bruce crossed his hands in front of his face, thinking. He thought better than to ask him what was on his mind recently. Bruce has been prone to angry outbursts and mood changes since his betrayal by Commissioner Gordon, his only trusted ally outside of Alfred and Lucius Fox. Alfred, always the bold one, asked anyway.

"What do you think, sir" he asked.

Bruce didn't answer for a long time and Alfred was about to give up and continue about his business, until Bruce finally did answer, "Two things. One, this Dr. Victor Naugton is not the leader of IVY."

"No" asked Alfred. "Then who is it? That Dr. Heather Allister you visited the other day?"

Bruce shook his head and said, "No, as much as they would like to be, those two do not get to call the shots at IVY. I also wonder if IVY's goal is even to create a second Eden."

"But everything they've done, sir" Alfred stammers, "the motive makes sense. What else could it be?"

Bruce shook his head again. "I don't know" he said, "The last part is only my thoughts and speculation, but I know for a fact that Allister and Naugton aren't the heads of IVY. Look at this. Of course, we can't use cell phones, anymore. Signals don't work." Bruce hands Alfred a faxed copy of the records for the funding of project GENESIS. On it were the purchase of various supercomputers, modules and processors, the vector components, among other things, including rare, thought-extinct plants. On the top were four bank accounts in particular. Alfred recognized one as Bruce Wayne's.

"Who else funded the project" asked Alfred.

"I traced the accounts back to their respective holders" said Bruce. "One of them was really tricky. It lead to a bunch of dummy accounts, but I eventually found out who they were. Christine Victoria, head of Eve's desire, a cosmetics giant like Chanel or Sionis Cosmetics; Richard Isley, head of Isley Botanicals, a company I own, strange enough… why would he fund a project like this; and Carla Yang, head of Y-tech, a Japanese-based robotics company. Yang was the tricky one. So, we have Isley, Victoria and Yang. The three of them funding IVY doesn't make sense. The only one who makes even a little sense is Isley but then again, where did he get the funding himself?

"Isley, Victoria and Yang" murmured Alfred in disbelief.

"Yeah" Bruce answered, "I know. Their names make up the name of the terrorist cell."

Jim Gordon sat in his office, expecting to be left alone. There was no traditional crime in the city anymore. All the looters had evacuated along with all of the sane, respectable citizens. It seemed that all that was left were cultist followers of the IVY eco-terrorists, who would run all over the city naked saved for cloaks and hold church in some of the buildings among the plants. They hold daily public burnings, where they cast any man-made possession into fires: iPods, phones, clothing, jewelry, basically everything else people seemed to cherish not too long ago. They were throwing it away now. Gordon would never have thought it possible. People were actually going for IVY's bullshit and he strangely felt like he had sold his soul to the devil and received no benefits from the deal.

There were relatively few on the police force now, since many had chosen to keep their families safe or they were simply watching their own backs. Whatever the reasoning was, Gordon had small resources compared to the usual circumstances. Now he sat behind his once-esteemed chair, contemplating a bottle of Scotch, rolling a rather large shot glass in his palm. He's been sober for five years. That used to be a problem, especially for Barbara and the kids, James Jr. and Barbara. It made him laugh now. How selfish did they really look, to name their children after themselves. He guessed it was to display how much they loved them, or to be sure something was left behind of them in case something terrible happened. He had sent Barbara to take the kids with her to New York, with her sister. She didn't want to at first, for his sake. God bless her heart, but he eventually convinced her and now they were safe. Just in time, it seems as all the passage ways to the leave the city, including passage ways to the ports, have been blocked off by IVY's damn prehistoric trees and vines, now as intimidating as skyscrapers. The spikes themselves, which covered most of the vines around the city now were larger than humans. He had sent patrols out during morning shift to recover information on possible escape routes. Nothing of use had returned yet. This was why Gordon contemplated his return to drinking.

"You're not thinking of touching that bottle and tipping its contents into that glass" stated his Deputy Commissioner, Sarah Essen from his doorway, "and in turn tipping the contents of that glass down your throat, are you? I would hate to admit it, but it would make me think less of you."

Gordon put the glass down and smiled. "Of course not, Deputy" he said. "Do you have anything to report?"

She walked in from the doorway and approached his desk, stopping seven feet from him. She was a no-nonsense and charming woman who was quickly proving to be a cop that Gordon could trust. Even as Gordon was the highest-ranking police official in the city, he still believed that real police work was done in the streets and on the field. He really didn't like associating with police officials or even high-ranking police officers such as majors and captains. Before the evacuations, Gordon had only met Essen twice and never paid any attention in her direction. Now, he was finding her to be his most trusted confidant. After all this was over, he'd have to remember to promote her to be assistant Commissioner. Right now, she was a glorified secretary of his. What he wanted was a trustworthy partner.

"Only that all escape routes are blocked and inaccessible as we expected, Commissioner" she said, solemnly. "I'm sorry."

Gordon sat back in his chair, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. He hadn't slept for the past twenty hours. Part of the reason was the job, but it was also guilt for his betrayal of Batman. He knew he was wrong to ask for forgiveness, but he was truly sorry for his actions and hoped that Batman would understand one day.

"Okay, I want six units patrolling the city" he said, quickly. "The rest manning the station. Those worshipping those criminals, don't mess with them. I do want these terrorists caught, though. Set up an operation and put someone undercover. Make sure he's good. We're going to take this city back. I just hope that God's on our side, not their's. "

Bruce Wayne arrived at Wayne Enterprises Headquarters. Strangely enough, IVY hadn't been able to attack the place though they had originated there. Bruce knew this was because Lucius recruited all of the masterminds behind the operation himself and in turn, he knew them. Lucius knew that Dr. Ramona Stowalters had genetically spliced a new breed of plant using fossilized remains of a prehistoric plant and of a relatively modern one, specifically for her experiments. He knew Allister's personality and how jealous of Stowalters she was. She knew she would steal the genetic samples and replicate them. He also recognized the trees and vines from the attacks instantly as Stowalters' creation. Bruce in turn, knew Lucius Fox. He knew that Lucius Fox would be working on a way to counteract the Alpha Vector. He just knew. Lucius Fox had massive biometric scans of the buildings done and had all traces of the species removed, removing the threat of an IVY attack on Wayne Enterprises.

The scientist Dr. Phillip Radmon, who was manning the front desk, was more than surprised to see Bruce Wayne at Wayne Enterprises. He, like everybody else in Gotham, fell for Bruce's shtick as Gotham's most eligible bachelor and air headed billionaire playboy. Even Wayne's recent generous donation to the victims of Downing Tower didn't change that.

In the lobby was where Radmon met with Bruce Wayne. Radmon was a slight man with bulking glasses, a lab coat over a quite a nerdy outfit of a black Darth Maul shirt, khaki shorts and sneakers.

"Mr. Wayne" Radmon said, clearly surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to talk to Lucius Fox, and where is all the security?"

"They bailed. I'm sorry, Mr. Wayne but Mr. Fox is really deposed right now. Even if he wasn't I doubt he'd want to speak with you."

"Oh, really" Wayne asked, innocently as he saw Lucius Fox walk into the lobby with his usual pleasant smile and his hands clasped behind his back.

"I'll take it from here" Fox assured Radmon, "Phillip, thank you."

Radmon raised a hand, saying, "Sir, I was only doing what you asked."

Lucius raised a hand, interrupting him, "I know, I know, Phillip. I got it from here."

Radmon wisely stepped aside and went back to typing comments on his Myspace page from behind the front desk.

"I take it you have something you want to talk to me about" Fox said to Bruce. "Come on, walk this way." He led Bruce to the lobby elevators. They took it down to the sub-basement, the site of Project GENESIS.

"Tell me you have something to combat the Alpha Vector" pleaded Bruce Wayne of Fox as they walked Project GENESIS' familiar halls.

Fox didn't hesitate when he answered, "We don't have anything to combat the Alpha Vector."

"Dammit" replied Bruce.

"But we're working on it" assured Fox. "Ever since Ramona Stowalters debuted the Alpha Vector, I've had a completely different staff building a counteracting agent known as the Omega Vector, as a precaution. It works the same as the Alpha Vector, only instead of using the Divinity gene, we're using a disintegrating agent we're calling Exodus."

"Cute" commented Bruce.

"I thought so" said Lucius. They stepped in front of the Sec. 11 vault door. Bruce never thought he'd be back there. Then again, he didn't think a lot of things happened.

There were back in the troughs of Project GENESIS, looking into the same window where Bruce witnessed the Alpha Vector's test. The room was destroyed in the attack by IVY but was now semi-rebuilt in a way to house the Omega Vector. It looked somewhat the same, a large ten foot-long vase-shaped metal contraption with a circular mouth lined with orbs which acted as bells and aided the spread of the Exodus gene.

"Lucius" Bruce said as the two marveled at Gotham's salvation, "why didn't you tell me initially that I wasn't the only one to fund Project GENESIS?"

"You must remember, Mr. Wayne" Fox said, carefully picking over his words, "I intended Project GENESIS to be a secret project. It required quite a lot of money. If you were the only one putting so much money into one project, you would have been asking questions. I didn't want to have to lie to you."

"I have been getting a little of that, lately" said Bruce, thinking of Gordon.

"I had Dr. Allister and Dr. Naughton handle the funding" Fox said, lowering his head, "I see now that that was a mistake."

Bruce didn't know what to think. Lucius was indirectly responsible for IVY forming. Then again, wasn't Dr. Ramona Stowalters, seeing as she provided them their weapons? Wasn't he himself, seeing as IVY were Wayne Enterprise employees? They all had a little burden to bear in this whole ordeal. Neither of them said anything for a while.

"I've been meaning to ask you" said Lucius with a grin, after a while, "what happened to your face?"

Bruce laughed it off, saying, "Damn, mangy cats. I swear, Lucius, that's why I'll always be a dog man."

"I thought you were more of a bat man" said Lucius.

"I may look like I have a love for the creatures" said Bruce with a chuckle, "but I've actually hated the damn things."

"Surprises come in all shapes and forms" muttered Lucius with a nod. His face seemed sad to Bruce, something he wasn't accustomed to seeing from his Chief Executive Officer.

"What's wrong" asked Bruce, sincerely.

"To think" Lucius said, "that I gave you a hard time for using sonar technology to hack every cellphone in the city not too long ago. Here I am, sponsoring a weapon that's potentially more dangerous than the hydrogen bomb."

"Hey" Bruce said, reassuring Lucius with an arm on my shoulder, "IVY didn't give us a choice. What else can we do? Just let them destroy the rest of Gotham and replace it with trees and vines?"

"Not only that but I'm partly responsible for the creation of Alpha Vector" he said, looking at the Omega Vector thoughtfully. He watched as hand-picked engineers were welding parts to the machine as scientists took notes and system checks. "I wonder if Ramona feels some of this same guilt."

"I assure you" said Ramona, the last patient of Gotham Medical Center, "I do not." She looked at Bruce with a look of venomous contempt for even thinking of questioning her guilt.

"That's funny" Bruce said, rubbing his head, "I came here expecting you to be gone. If you weren't gone, though, I was going to give you a speech about how its not your fault."

"Save it, Bruce" Stowalters said, "I don't feel an ounce of guilt."

"You've made that clear" Bruce replied.

Sitting up as Bruce opened up the blinds, bringing a little light into the room, she said, "I created the Alpha Vector to build cells. It was meant to be a cure for diseases around the world. How could I even have guessed it would be used as a weapon?"

"But you had to have known that it could potentially happen" Bruce said.

"Maybe" she said, thoughtfully, "Bruce, you have to understand though. The Divinity gene is a very aggressive agent that forcefully clings to anything it can find and builds on it. Genes are not programs. You can't tell it to do one thing and not do another. It has a specific job to do and that's all it can do."

Bruce nodded and said, "Yeah, I get that. Let me rephrase what I'm trying to get across. How could you not have known that what you created could be used a devastating weapon."

"Okay" she relented, "I knew that there was a one out of a billion chance that it could happen. I took precautions. I never let it out of my sight. I barely slept and only kept around those I thought I could trust. Well, those I thought I could trust, anyway. Allister and Naughton have picked apart my trust factor."

"Ramona, another thing" Bruce said, "did you have any idea who Allister and Naughton were getting to fund the project."

"No" she said, softly, "I saw none of that part. That was all them."

"I'm sorry I have to push these things, Doctor" Bruce said.

"It's okay, Bruce" Stowalters said, with a pleasant smile, "I like you, anyway. Hey, come closer for a moment. There's something I want to tell you. Oh, and please call me Ramona."

Bruce was at the foot of her bed but she motioned him to come to her bedside. He reluctantly did. She immediately stroked his hand with her own and snaked her way into holding his hand.

"Bruce, I have something to confess" she said, swallowing and looking into his eyes, "I've had the hots for you ever since I met you. I always imagined you to be some kind of arrogant prick but when I met you, I realized it was just what people expected of you. You became that because that's what Gotham needed you to be, a playboy it can hate and love at the same time. I hate that part of you but I really like the part that you really are. Bruce, come closer." He reluctantly leaned down to her until their noses almost touched. He had expected her to smell somewhat bad as she had been in an hospital bed with broken bones for a week. He knew she had to have taken showers but she smelled so good. It was a strange, but very pleasant aroma that seemed very natural but tantalizing all at the same time. He couldn't describe it but it seemed familiar, somehow.

"What's that smell" he asked, absently.

"You like it, don't you" she said with a smile. "That's a secret I might reveal to you, one day. I guess you'll have to interrogate me for it." She was stroking the back of his hair with his right hand and stroked his facial scar with her left hand. "The Alpha Vector can heal this, you know."

He thought about it and said, "I think I'll pass."

She smiled and leaned up, kissing him softly on the lips. "Mmm" she hummed, "You have soft lips."

"Thanks" he said. "Ramona, why are you still here?"

"For you, Bruce" she said, before leaning in for another kiss, "it was all for you."

Selina Kyle stood outside of Ballard Hall where Agents Flanagan and Montoya had driven her. They were parked not too far away but out of sight. She was undercover as a fashion model to catch a suspected drug trafficker named Christine Victoria, who was also the head of a modeling and cosmetics giant named Eve's Desire. Now, as Gotham was falling apart, it was a better time than any to arrest her. Their superiors had asked the agents to pull out but not to return empty-handed. They would give them Victoria. However, the door were locked. Using her left shoulder, Selina barged her way through. To her surprise, both Agent Flanagan and Agent Montoya approached her from behind helping her with their barges. Eventually, they knocked the doors open and walked into a dark theatre, with only a little illumination from various holes in the ceiling and walls where light shined through.

Montoya and Flanagan pulled out their guns as they all cautiously walked inside.

"Christine" bellowed Selina. Immediately, machine-gun fire rained down on them from the upper levels. All three of the agents scattered in different directions. They each hid behind a different object.

"Flanagan" yelled out Montoya over the gunfire, "are you hit?!" she was hidden behind a statue depicting famous engineer Andrew Ballard holding up the entire city of Gotham. Flanagan was behind a replica of the statue across the aisle.

"No" he yelled back, "but I can't get a fix on the shooter! They won't stop shooting!"

"Where's Kyle" Montoya called out.

"I don't know" Flanagan yelled back as some gunfire nearly hit his face and slumped down to avoid it.

Christine Victoria was on the balcony above them with a clear view of the entrance and had run out of rounds in her sub-machine gun. She unloaded the clip and was attempting to reload the next one when somebody jammed an elbow in the back of her neck. She stumbled forward and attempted to swing the gun on her attacker but a palm was driven upwards to her chin and she fell backwards. Selina Kyle, the attacker, stepped towards her. She had used her well-honed agility to rush for the stairs while she was firing on Agents Flanagan and Montoya and circled around the shooter, which turned out to be her boss. At least, one of them.

"Selina" asked Christine looking up, drowsily, "what are you doing here?"

"What the hell are you doing, Christine" Selina asked, seeing the mirrors and lines of cocaine Christine had set up in the seats. "Why were you shooting at me?! And I thought I told you to stay away from this shit!"

"I'm sorry" Christine apologized. "I got nervous! Selina, I screwed up! It's too late for me!"

"What are you talking about" asked Selina.

"Selina" Christine said, sitting up, "I didn't mean for any of this to happen! I just wanted to cash in on the profits and to say I did something great! To make something out of my life!"

"You're not making any sense" said Selina, shaking her head. "You're coked out of your mind!"

"So" Christine shouted, "Shut up and let me talk! They're coming to kill me! There's nobody that can save me now!"

"Who's coming to kill you" asked Selina. "Calm down."

"Didn't you see the broadcast" she shouted, "IVY!!! And you might want to run because if you're here when they arrive, they'll murder you too!"

Author's Note: I'm very sorry about how long it took to update this story but I've been having a few problems with having it progress. I know how its going to end but as fellow writers know, its getting to that ending which is a different story. I won't call it writer's block because when I couldn't work on this one, I've been working on other stories. They're not fanfics so sorry, you won't be seeing them on this site. All I can do is apologize for the ending because while the previous two chapters had action, this one had like NONE. I hate cliffhangers just like the next reader and viewer, and I'm sorry for being a hypocrite but I just took so long on this particular chapter for seemingly no reason and I had to get it away from me and be done with it. I got Batman:Divine Right under control again, so don't fear. Don't worry, the next chapter is going to have A LOT of action. There's going to be hell to pay for IVY, courtesy of Batman and Catwoman. I plan on finishing the rest of the story pretty quickly, now. I hope to put out the remaining 3-4 chapters before the end of the week. So, I hope the ones who like this story stick around. There are some lasting effects on the Batman movie universe and I might just decide to do another Batman story if I get a positive enough response for this one. I'll decide when its over. Bye for now.