Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Batman.
Selina POV
Heat and newfound energy buzzed under my skin, and I enjoyed the look of terror in the men's eyes as I walked by. Laughter bubbled in my lungs as blood dripped down my glove, the businessmen would let out pathetic yelps as my claws dragged across their throats.
"Now, now Selina," Ivy said sharply, I turned abruptly to find her delicious lips pulled into a scowl and froze. "If you let them bleed now, you'll ruin your appetite," she chided, I nodded slowly, my heart pounded heavily as pure delight danced in her green orbs.
"Of course, Ivy," I responded calmly, the siren then turned back to the last functioning camera inside the building. The redhead brushed away the ivy that covered it and stood back,
"Good evening Gotham," Ivy purred, "I know you can hear me Commissioner," she said lowly. "Oh and boys," she added in a silky tone, "Stay out."
Just the sound of her voice made me smile, "Batman would you stop grimacing? It'll only ruin your handsome face; should you decide to interrupt my little meeting, I can and will kill her." The siren stepped aside and motioned for me to look at the camera, so I did; "I'm afraid this cat only has one life," she said darkly. Eyes glued to her perfect form I felt contentment break over me, if I was going to die, why not by the hands of a goddess like Ivy? After a brief pause the redhead sauntered over to the line of men, only to stand near the one in the very center of the north wall. Suddenly plant life peeled away from him, and revealed the pulsing sores on his bare skin and the massive vine clasped around his throat. "One of your men is already dead Mr. Baker," Ivy said coolly, "You know what I want. And if you give it to me, I can stop the toxin from spreading and you can leave this building."
Minutes passed, it must be hard to breathe like that, the grey-haired man's cheeks warmed with a lack of oxygen. "Silence won't save you," Ivy snarled and quickly snapped her fingers, the sound alone put my body in motion. Without pause I dug my claws into the man's neck nearest to me, hot blood gushed over my palm and a smile crept across my face. "Your stubbornness will be the death of your men," across the room four more men let out wonderfully dreadful gasps and shrieks. For once my concentration drifted from Ivy, instead my gaze focused on the dark red as it slithered down their expensive suits and stained their skin. Nausea boiled in the pit of my stomach and I hunched over, ready to vomit; an icy sweat blanketed me and my head started to spin. Senses rising and bottoming out rapidly I stumbled as the room swirled around me, I can't let her do this. A chill coiled tight around me and guided me through the muggy haze; I stood up straight after any trace of Ivy's control evaporated.
Now free of her I filled my lungs with crisp, winter air; the stench of blood hung heavily in the room, cold hatred flowed through me as I gazed down at my bloodstained hands. Ivy had controlled me and I had been weak, but that didn't mean this was over.
"Selina, do you read me?" the small, cautious voice was Richard's, "Ivy's hypnotized you, but you can snap out of it." I silenced the device on my goggles wordlessly, with one glance to the only man alive I put a finger to my lips, and the brunette only nodded with wide eyes. In a few swift moves I was directly behind the redhead, who grunted when I slammed my elbow into the back of her skull, Ivy fell to the ground gracelessly. Hair shrouding most of her face I watched as glowing green eyes pierced through me,
"There you are," the siren said hotly and spat blood. Before she could make another move I snatched her up by the hair and sent an undercut straight into her core.
Ivy crumbled forward, her forehead dragged against the leafy floor as her body shook with each gasping breath, "Yes," she hissed. Annoyance swelled inside me at the almost pleased tone of her voice; with a growl I gripped her hair and pinned her against the wall. "Oh yes," she chuckled as her nails bit into the wall, confusion fueled my hatred. Once I took a step back Ivy turned around, the redhead gave me a bloody smirk, one of her cheekbones started to puff up already, and made the skin there shine a darker shade. Anger roared to life and I shoved her back into the wall, my body giving her no way to escape as my hands curled around her slender neck. A snarl passed my lips when her eyes fell on me, "Does it make you feel good," she choked, "to see me bleed?"
"Yes," I glowered, despite the fact she clawed at my grip, a haunting smile curled her lips,
"Good," Ivy murmured.
Without warning thick vines snaked up my legs and dragged me away from Ivy, who coughed up stale air after she landed. Fear started to gnaw at my mind, she slowly followed me as her plants yanked me across the ground; my claws tore into the thick green floor in a desperate search for grip. Suddenly ivy coiled tight around my wrists and hauled me up into the center of the room, my annoyed hiss filled the air once I realized I was the fly trapped in the middle of a spider web. Somehow I had forgotten under her insanity, Ivy had always been a genius, nothing had changed that. Thinking I could traipse in, ruin her plan, and manage to single-handedly capture her had been idiotic. If only I had some of Bruce's goddamn gadgets, the plants practically crushed my wrists in place; there was no way I could claw my way out. Just maybe if I can at least get to my whip, I glanced down at the leather cable, let's not get ahead of yourself Selina, first you have to get out of this web.
The ground shifted under Ivy, and massive vines pushed the piece of floor up so she was now eye level with me. Icy, rage filled eyes impaled me, "Because you," her voice trembled with anger, "Will never again, have the pleasure of seeing me bleed." Just out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of something slithering towards me, soon I realized several midnight colored vines crept closer. What the hell? I blinked when buds pushed out at the ends, my insides turned to knots when the snake-like plant blossomed. Instead of yellow pollen, sharp serrated teeth grinned back at me, clear sap dripped from the edge of the petals. Fierce instinct took over, I tugged and fought against the vines in spite of the bone-crushing hold they had on me.
"Shit," I snarled, without much thought I decided to yank my knees up to my chest, a grin burned on my face when they suddenly snapped from around my ankles. Still need to get the wrists, naturally my legs shot out and wrapped around Ivy's shoulders. Caught off guard the siren's angry shouts got muffled in my thigh, with her distracted I swiftly snapped the cables around my wrists, and we both fell to the ground. Before she could even blink I got to my feet, snapped the whip and trapped her hands. Ivy let out an amused laugh,
"You really think a bit of leather can stop me?" Somewhere behind me earth crackled and crashed, the other floors, when I glanced over my shoulder a swarm of purplish vines punched through the concrete floor and flew towards me. "Feel the wrath of Nature," she roared, green cables again coiled tight around me, and froze me in place.
Almost too fast to see, sharp black shapes tore through the air and shredded through the monstrous plant life, "No!" the redhead shrieked. The wing-dings landed with a small clatter, the glass window shattered as Nightwing swooped in, the raven haired man immediately leapt into action. Always graceful Richard dodged everything Ivy threw at him with the utmost ease, each twist and turn let his expert skill in acrobatics shine through. The siren paled the second she caught sight of him, and I knew why, Ivy wasn't nearly as good as he was at hand-to-hand combat. Once I felt the vines slacken around me I ripped my way out of them and gripped my whip tight, as he swiftly closed in on her, the redhead fumbled with a pouch at her hip. Without another word the siren blew twinkling dust into Richard's face, who only blinked and sneezed in response. Ivy's jaw dropped in shock, her green eyes boiled with annoyance, "How are you immune?"
Not caring to answer her question, Nightwing kicked Ivy's legs out from under her. Never breaking eye contact the redhead pulled herself to her feet; behind me I heard the muffled scream of the businessman. I turned to him and realized he wasn't hurt, or at least he wasn't in any worse shape, but when I followed his line of sight I noticed the wall across from him. There, thick red buds had sprung from the floors below and sat where the men had once stood. I stepped closer and curiously ran my eyes over the eight foot tall scales, they protected the unopened flowers like cocoons. A bloody hand suddenly slid down the petals, they're inside, but I thought Ivy killed them, they should be dead. Monstrous screeches and wails erupted from inside the buds, fear gripped me and I held my whip tightly, I took a few weary steps back. It was terribly silent for a few seconds; Dick threw me a glance before he observed the gigantic flowers. I felt sick to my stomach when I noticed the wicked grin on Ivy's face.
Deep red splattered across the floor as the thick petals were angrily ripped open, my heart hammered painfully in my chest as I drowned in confusion. Ivy had killed those men, I had heard their hearts stop beating, Richard was too busy fighting the siren to notice. Loud primeval screams rung in the air, and I backed into the opposite wall. The redhead soared above us, a swarm of vines created another small platform for her,
"Boys," a pleased smile pulled at her lips. "You've all blossomed so beautifully," out of the corner of my eye I watched as Ivy turned. "What's wrong pussycat? Only an idiot barrels into battle without a plan," I could feel the heat of her glare.
Usually the slash of a wing-ding was loud to my ears, but I could hardly hear the two fighting a few feet away. "Oh little bird, I've been dying to clip your wings," the siren chuckled darkly, the sound was on the fringe of my thoughts. All I could focus on was the monstrous shapes as they inched closer, their eyes were now hollow and bloodshot gray, they're toying with me. Frozen with fear I could hardly breathe,
"Selina, snap out of it!" Richard's shout shoved me into action. All but a blur the leather cable instantly shot out, and wrapped around the closest throat. The suit's harsh growl turned into a hiss, one of the men's body suddenly lunged forward from my side. I quickly threw the man in my whip's hold into the other, and hardly sidestepped their sudden collision.
It was when they picked themselves up without hesitation or so much as a wince, that the realization hit me,
"Nightwing," my voice trembled as I shouted, "They don't feel pain." If he had reacted to the news, I wouldn't have known. Suddenly the men moved with orchestrated coördination and intelligence, without another thought I leapt into the air to avoid the reach of their vicious claws. Wild screeches and howls haunted my thoughts, are they even human anymore? What can Ivy do now? Can she actually reanimate dead bodies? Instead of dwelling on that chilling question, I slammed my thick-soled boots into a man's face; I heard the sickening crunch of his cheekbone as I landed.
Not able to stand still with a pack of six men trying to rip me to shreds, I managed to keep my eyes on the one I had most recently hit. This time one of them finally looked injured, the businessman with graying dark hair spat up blood, or something that looked like it. Dark green ooze dripped from his pale lips, my eyes landed on the sliced open part of his neck, infection darkened his veins as they branched out like fingers from the wound. Beyond me I could feel the floor shake with Ivy's every attack, the distinct scent of blood tinged the air, but most of it was hers. In seconds I crouched down and swiftly swung my legs out, I only managed to hit half of the men in the back of the knees. A smile curled on my lips when I heard the sharp splinter of a handful of tibiae, they may not feel pain, but they can definitely fall.
Once I heard the crazed roars I turned to face the rampaging men, my whip caught the man who had pleaded for help before, blood stained his grotesque skin. Without much thought my fist barreled into his face, he stumbled backwards and I pulled him back, burying my knee in the pit of his stomach. Sweat dripped down my face as I quickly looked around, I was fully aware there were another two men hiding somewhere. Instead the last living hostage caught my attention; I ran over to him and tore through the thick vines and ivy with my claws.
"We need backup," Richard shouted into his radio, a chill washed over me, I had never heard him so unhinged.
"You need to get out of here," I hissed to the man with sandy brown hair,
"Th-thank," he stuttered wide-eyed, without another sound a dark hulk came gliding through the broken window.
"Take him," I shoved the man over to Batman, before his fluttering black cowl could catch Ivy's eyes. Solid navy stared into fiery jade, and in an instant he was gone with the Gothamite in tow, I knew this was nowhere near over, but still let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding in. Footsteps flitted behind me and I turned to find Thomas Baker charging at me,
"No," Richard's yell danced in my ears for a millisecond. Two pairs of arms suddenly clamped around my arms, something sharp sank into my stomach. Mind slowly blinking I looked to find crimson red trickling down my suit, boiling pain and nausea dug deep into my bones.
Outside of my haze I could hear something slithering towards me, I jerked and struggled in their iron grip, a thick blackish vine emerged from the shadows. Razor sharp teeth grinned at me, when it abruptly shot out I desperately kicked and tried to keep it at bay. Within seconds the plant coiled tight around my legs, my heart thundered in my chest when the bud nestled against my side. Searing agony rocked my body when fangs plunged into my waist and tore into me, just as soon as it had bit down, it vanished, taking the men along with it.
"Selina," Richard's voice echoed in my mind after I collapsed, darkness gnawed at my senses before it swallowed me whole.
Richard POV
Horror and rage filled my mind, a few meters away my best friend lay broken on the overgrown floor, her own blood pooled around her. Dark hair clinging to her skin Selina's eyes slowly closed,
"Where are you?!" I called into the blackness, addressing both Poison Ivy and Bruce. Silence answered me; I rushed over to the dark-haired woman and gingerly placed her on the remnants of a wooden table. "So now you want to play hard to get?" I snapped before pulling out my escrima sticks and thrusting them into the leafy floor. Sharp blue electricity flitted across the ground and immediately found the rest of Ivy's mind-slaves. They didn't make a sound as the volts wrapped around them, the only sign they felt it at all was the way their bodies jerked and their eyes bulged. Cyan light lit the large conference room, the redhead simply stood out of conductive reach, her body completely still.
Wind carded through her blood-red hair, Ivy's face wrinkled with fiery rage when she spotted Bruce protectively perched by Selina's side.
"She's mine," the siren roared, in a blur he grabbed Catwoman and leapt out of the window. Before Ivy could take another step I gripped my escrima sticks tight and brought them together above my head. Unknowingly the redhead now stood on very conductive, moist foliage; bright electricity snaked through the air and shocked both Ivy and her plants. Voltage crept across her sickly green skin, the villainess' body convulsed and her arms shot up to protect her head as she screamed in pain. Once her disturbing lime eyes snapped open I threw a flurry of wing-dings her way, most of them got caught in the monstrous vines that shot up to protect her.
Without warning thick vines hit my core and slammed me into the opposite wall, plant life swarmed and swayed around Ivy. The gut-wrenching scent of burnt flesh filled my mind, my eyes fluttered open to land on the gruesome burns that coiled around her arms and ran up her legs. Out of breath I lunged forward and snatched up the sticks, and hardly managed to avoid the spiked cage of ivy that threatened to close around me. White hot hatred boiled in her eyes, and blood dripped from her lips as they curled back in a snarl. She's getting weak, leafy barbed wire shot out and dug into my neck, before it dragged me to the siren's bare feet. Vivid emerald orbs drilled into me, I cursed inwardly when I realized the escrima sticks laid out of reach. More teeth-like ivy wrapped around my wrists and ankles.
The redhead crouched down, her observant stare made my skin crawl; she muttered something under her breath. Ivy was extremely cautious when she reached out to run her knuckles down the side of my face,
"You aren't interested in women," she murmured analytically. "That's why my fine powder doesn't compel you, like it does the others." Horribly trapped I didn't flinch or break away from her curious gaze, "it's now that I'd pout, and say something ignorant like "what a waste." Becoming uncomfortable I shifted as I knelt at the redhead's feet, "But men are much too simple-minded to interest me," the siren huffed apathetically. I didn't dare speak, she was well-known for her mood swings, suddenly a smile crossed her face and Poison Ivy laughed.
The sound rang loudly in my ears, "Nightwing, it seems your Bat has abandoned you for someone better," her tone dripped with amusement. Frustration and annoyance ripped through me,
"You don't know me," I spat. That piqued her interest,
"Oh, how right you are," she mused darkly, chills shot up my spine when her thumb swept under my mask. "Masked men, however, are so very strange. The anonymity gives them strength, but only a coward hides their face. Don't you agree?" I calculated the probability of any one of my handheld weapons being obtainable, and which would be the most effective. Her sudden question felt extremely impatient. It was when I concentrated on her that I noticed the true stress wearing on Ivy's body, which could usually heal by now.
She isn't accustomed to electrical burns,
"Those goddamn blue eyes," the siren growled in frustration and tore off my mask. Years worth of surprise and anger danced across her face, "Richard," she said breathlessly, like there was no oxygen in her lungs. A smile curled on my lips, as I took in the sight of her hand clasped over my shoulder, voltage branched out from my suit and crept up her arms before throwing her back. In the confusion her plants released me, once I was free I quickly raced over to where she laid sprawled on the overgrown floor.
"Stop this and I won't have to hurt you," I barked to her tense shape as she slowly crawled to her feet.
"I should have known," she murmured, and tossed an icy leer my way, "But you should know, I'm not one to surrender." The floor beneath me quaked and I stumbled backwards, Ivy made a small concrete base and quickly rose off the floor.
Before she could tear me apart with her vines I set off the stun gun in my glove, the wire shot out between her plants and the probe buried itself into her stomach. Electricity coursed through her veins and knocked Poison Ivy to her knees, the possessed plants went slack. An avalanche of weight suddenly crushed down on me, insides on fire and eyesight blurry I slumped against the wall. Everything seemed to slow down, the redhead hardly controlled the platform she knelt on, and tossed herself out of the broken window and into an awaiting helicopter. She's getting away, searing pain clawed through me. Eyelids heavy I stared down at my calf to find my suit ripped open, bright red blood streamed down to my boots before I collapsed.
"Bruce," it was hard to breathe, "Make sure Selina's alright." Everything went black,
"sleep little bird," Ivy's breathy whisper echoed in my mind.
Bruce POV
"Take her to the cave," I ordered the butler roughly,
"Yes Sir," Alfred swiftly settled Selina in the backseat of the car and sped off towards the manor.
"Bruce," the voice over the radio device was weak and hoarse, Richard. I instantly left the alleyway, I focused on the raven-haired man through my internal binoculars, Dick leaned against the wall beside the broken window. Worry boiled in my chest, I used my grapple hook and was by his side in seconds; she tore off his mask, the angry chop of blades drowned out my thoughts. Wind whipped me in the face when I turned to see Poison Ivy staring at me, dark purplish bruises littered her body and gruesome electrical burns etched into her pale green skin. Her fiery red hair lashed in the strong breeze, her eyes were dark, dull, and most of all tired, Ivy hunched over in the door of the helicopter.
Life came before capture, it always had; I quickly scanned Richard's vitals and relaxed, he's still breathing. Still, I couldn't leave him here half alive in Ivy's quickly dissolving jungle, and out of the reach of Gordon's men. So instead I observed her weakened state, the redhead stumbled back into her seat and struggled to keep her chin up; I soon realized Bane was her pilot and that there were air missiles welded to the helicopter. He won't hesitate to shoot if Ivy feels threatened. Just as police sirens screamed I leapt out of the building with a now masked Nightwing in my arms, and glided down to the batmobile before his condition could worsen. Dark vermillion above us the sky only darkened as I raced to the cave, the cover of night left us invisible to curious eyes. The sound of his labored breathing made me ungodly anxious, I carefully pulled him out and carried him over to where Alfred analyzed Selina's injury.
With practiced ease I pulled away the material covering Richard's left calf, and glanced over to see the butler had cut through Selina's cat suit, which revealed her wounded midsection. Concentration back on my patient I quickly washed and sanitized his wound, it was a good sign when he twitched in response to the alcohol. Alfred did the same, but didn't get the same reaction, Selina hadn't batted an eyelash; in my absence the butler had analyzed her blood, found the correct match and had started a transfusion. Crimson stained his gloved hands as he worked, she was already unconscious and losing too much blood for any average bite. Light blue eyes perplexed Al continued to keep pressure on her injury; her usually olive toned skin was translucent and left the veins under the surface a dull red.
"Why isn't she coming to, Alfred? What's wrong?" I gripped the arm of the operating station tight, and glanced between the slight rise and fall of her chest and the fresh blood being pumped into her body.
"I am not sure," the grey-haired butler answered, "The donated blood matches her blood type, Sir." Frustration ripped through me when I gazed down at her now ghostly complexion, she's already lost a few pints of blood. My eyes flicked up to the tube running into her inner elbow,
"The wound is clean, and the transfusion is working, she'd be dead if it hadn't." Alfred's cool eyes washed over the gruesome looking bite mark that tore into her waist,
"The wound isn't closing properly," he said calmly. A second later he pulled away the small towel, to reveal blood soaked cotton.
"Damn it," I gritted my teeth, "There must've been some natural anticoagulant in Ivy's toxin. Is there any other way, is there any antitoxin we have that can combat this?"
"I am afraid not, we will have to cauterize her injury to stop the bleeding," he stated regretfully. "Once the bite closes the new blood can flush out the infection, I am sure of it. Ms. Kyle is strong, she will be able to endure the procedure without anesthesia. Ah, Master Grayson is awake." If he had said anything else I was deaf to it the second I knew Dick was conscious,
"Bruce?" he croaked as his glassy eyes blinked open.
"I'm here," I breathed shakily,
"It would be best if you let me perform this task alone, Master Wayne. Take Master Grayson into the manor and attend to his injury there."
"Yeah, sure Alfred," I murmured absently, "Just, give me a second." Dark blue eyes finally focused on me, his brows pinched together in pain,
"Is Selina okay?" Thankfully he hadn't received the same high dosage of toxin she had,
"She will be," I said softly and glanced down at his bandages. Something in him snapped when he heard her whimper in pain,
"Al, what are you doing?" I settled a hand on his shoulder,
"He has to close up her wound, and nothing else has worked." In truth we had never had an antitoxin ready for Ivy's attacks, because she constantly manipulated their chemical compounds. That's why going against her was always a tricky task. She pulled out all the stops this time, Poison Ivy's actions have never been so public or bold before. I should've tried harder to stop her, shouldn't have let Selina in there in the first place.
Despite that he didn't relax at all, if anything Richard only became tense; his fiery eyes focused on her pained expression. Suddenly Selina's body jerked and her nails bit into the armrests, Alfred on the other hand ran the red-hot branding pen over the bite as gingerly and quickly as he could, we didn't have time to set up the lasers. It only took a small slip deeper into her body to throw it into chaos, I quickly took hold of her shoulders and pinned them down against the cot. She would've kicked Alfred across the room if Dick hadn't taken hold of her legs, but that didn't stop her from thrashing and arching her back.
"Please calm down Ms. Kyle," the butler ordered loudly,
"I'll get the anesthesia," Richard said thoughtlessly. I shook my head,
"If she goes under now she might not wake up, we can't risk that," I hissed. My eyes flicked from Selina's crippled form to a hardly standing Richard, "This, this is what happens when I let someone act alone."
Richard POV
Bruce's harsh tone rung in my head as I struggled to keep her legs down; feeling horribly queasy already I made the dumb mistake and looked over to find Al cauterizing her injury. Oh god. After mostly uneasy quiet the dark-haired woman's screams and howls filled the batcave, I cringed at the terrible sound and smell of burnt flesh. Alfred kept her from thrashing with one hand and worked with the other, all while Bruce held down Selina's arms. He's almost done, though blood smeared her stomach the nasty bite was now closed. My friend collapsed into a groaning, crying heap; Bruce and I released her at the same time, and I went to her side immediately. Her green eyes fluttered half-open; my heart ached as tears streamed down into her hairline,
"Shh, it's okay. You'll be alright," I murmured softly.
Meanwhile, Al carefully applied cooling cream to her sensitive skin, before Bruce wrapped bandages all the way around her stomach. Before I knew it her hand was weakly clasped around my wrist, Selina's other hand shook as it covered her eyes. Shame, pain and frustration crumpled her face as she continued to cry, and then suddenly she went quiet.
"I've injected her with mild sedatives to keep her calm, and to help her sleep once the transfusion is complete," the butler explained coolly. Thunder clapped outside and shook the cave, "Master Grayson, are you alright?"
"That's the first time I've ever seen her cry," I said absently. Something tells me it wasn't just the pain that got to her. Moving closer to my friend I held her hands between mine, I glanced at Bruce and Al, "We're all here," I whispered to her.
A/N; We're getting closer to the end now. Dislikes/ likes? Predictions? Thanks for all your support readers!