Barbara was breathing a little easier, and that was because the plant life that had been attempting to take back her apartment building for nature was dying. It was all thanks to that red-colored cloud that had to be some super strong herbicide.
Three guesses as to who was putting it out there and the last two didn't count.
It was so easy to trust the Batman to come up with some effective solution. In fact, one of his flybys had gone directly over her building so all the benefits of that yearned for cloud of plant death was much appreciated.
It made it that much easier to coordinate the efforts of everyone else. From the Batclan, whom she was observing helping people out of multiple story homes, to the Birds of Prey making their way downtown, she was beefing up her digital presence to get them to the hot spots quicker. Due to the disruption of electricity throughout the city, the usual strategy of using traffic cams and other city-based feeds were not optional.
So she needed to be creative here. Fortunately, in any given situation, there was always some idiot recording events with their phone instead of trying to save themselves. So hacking phones and cursing the fact they were being held vertically instead of horizontally had been a new strategy she had been using. Another was the satellite feeds; for some reason, it was easier to get into those owned by Wayne Enterprises.
Because of the satellites, she was able to say, "I need some of you to get over to Pioneer Bridge and quick. I don't think that thing can hold up much longer and if it falls, anybody still on it is going down with it."
"Sure, okay, once we clear this place first," Black Canary was the first to respond. How apropos since from the satellite feed, she was able to see someone in purple already on the bridge. Huntress had beat everyone there, but she could still use some help. It was a bridge and Huntress' safety was just as important as saving the lives of everyone else still on it.
"Batclan, status," she requested next.
"Doing okay," Nightwing answered after a moment—and wow, he sounded tired. "Everyone's...they're coming into their own."
"How nice for you. How long until you think you can get to Robinson? There's some movement going on there that needs to be checked out."
"Is it another giant mutant plant? If so, please don't give it a name."
Where was...no, never mind. She did not need to know the backstory on that. "I'm not seeing any giant plants, so I think you're good," she answered.
After getting an affirmative, she was back to seeking out new hot spots. For the most part, that herbicide was really ripping this nature-gone-wild episode a new one. Still, it was to be expected that retaliation would be on its way. Things were never this easy or simple.
Hold on a sec. Narrowing her eyes, she caught sight of a trail of smoke from one of the satellite feeds. Zooming in on it, she watched as it seemed to lengthen. That wasn't right. So some more zooming in, and for some good news it didn't look like some random, spreading fire, because that was the thing they needed most this night. Still, it looked off…
Huh, it stopped lengthening. Time to see if she couldn't identify what was causing the smoke. Oh...oh no.
The Bat-shaped vehicle, which had to be that plane Batman was flying around, was the source of the smoke. Had it crashed? Was Batman alright? Damn it, the smoke was making it hard to see if there was anyone in the wreckage.
They were going to need a visual and one with a pair of human eyes.
First, where was this? Okay, that was Gotham General not far from the crash site.
"Everybody, I need someone to get over to Gotham General and see if Batman is okay. It looks like he had a rough landing and there's smoke everywhere. Whoever's closest, I need you to get to Gotham General immediately."
The cough wracked Batman's body, causing him to lose his balance momentarily. Reaching out with a hand, he pressed it against the wall, attempting to steady himself. His other hand was clasped over his mouth, being beaten with every cough that roughly forced its way past his lips.
His head was swimming with pain, nausea, and malaise. It weakened his body, poisoning him, robbing him of his strength. Batman finished the hacking, sucking in a deep breath before rubbing his palm against his lips, cleaning them of spit and God knows what else.
He needed to push forward though. Isley was here, the weeds and flowers that sprouted out from between tiles up and down the hallway, along with the overgrown sheets of leaves and vines along the walls, indicated as much. There was a fight coming up and he was at less than optimal shape.
He still had to see it through though.
Resuming walking, the vigilante headed towards the doors at the end of the hall. Reaching them, he pushed them open and was greeted with the sight of something right out of the Animal Kingdom. Green was everywhere, mingled with the reds, yellows, purples, and oranges of flower petals and leaves. The plants sprouted right out of the floor, broken pieces of tile surrounding the trunk of the stems. Sheets of vines dangled from the ceiling at various places, especially along the walls. Flowers and weeds covered what used to be workstations.
And there was a scent in the area that made his nausea nearly overwhelming.
For a moment, he stumbled, catching himself by taking a step. That was when he heard the unmistakable click of a gun hammer being cocked back.
Immediately, he lunged forward, diving behind one of the plant-covered desks. Half a heartbeat later, gunfire rang out, bits and pieces of leaves being flung into the air as they were torn into by bullets.
"Yeehaa! We got us a live one!"
Shifting himself into a sitting position, back pressed against the workstation, Batman peeked around the corner and spotted Tiger Moth grinning her head off, both of her handguns pointed in his direction. "And that's not all!" she exclaimed.
That was when he heard the sound of feet sliding against the floor. Jerking his head around, he saw Dragonfly skidding to a stop, her flame-like energy blade blazing from her wrist. "Haaaaa!" she shouted as she lunged at him, swinging her blade down at his head.
Batman scrambled out of the way, dodging the attack as it struck the floor where he had been sitting. Getting onto his feet, he jumped off the floor and dove onto the workstation in front of him, his shoulder hitting it as he rolled onto his back and his other shoulder, falling to the floor on the other side. A moment later and more gunshots rang out, bullets blasting into the surface of the plant-covered desk. Dragonfly cried out from the gunfire, ducking to avoid it.
Pulling out a bat-shaped shuriken, Batman turned to face the workstation before shoot up to stand, throwing the projectile at Tiger Moth. The blonde woman spun to a side, avoiding the shuriken as it flew by her, pointing her guns back at him and firing. The vigilante ducked behind the desk in response.
And then Dragonfly darted around the desk, the dark-clad man catching her movement out of the corner of his eye. With him crouched, he instinctively spun on the balls of his heels to face her, but this only allowed him enough time to get his arms up to block the downward swing of her energy blade. One hand managed to catch the dark-haired woman's arm just below her wrist, the other further down her forearm and stopped the attack.
Normally, he would've been able to hold someone of Dragonfly's strength off, or even use her strength against her and flip her onto the floor. Unfortunately, he could feel his own strength draining from his arms, the poison in his system weakening him, killing him. He gritted his teeth as he held Dragonfly off, though she was slowly forcing her energy blade closer and closer to his face. He needed to do something, or he was in serious trouble.
Allowing his legs to go limp beneath him, Batman fell backwards, which caused Dragonfly to fall forward and on top of him. Before she could land though, the vigilante had pulled his legs up, his knees nearly touching his chest. His feet caught the woman, pressing up against her flat stomach. Then he pushed his feet against her, extending his legs, and launching her into the air. Dragonfly flew headfirst through the air, which thankfully took her energy blade with her and away from his face.
However, the dark-haired woman recovered quickly, going into a flip as her legs swung upwards, and then down, landing nimbly on her feet. In the meantime, Batman rolled down his back and shoulders, swinging his legs up and then down until he flipped back onto his feet as well. Keeping crouched, he spun around on the balls of his feet to face Dragonfly, who was turning around to face him.
By then, the Dark Knight had reached into his belt and pulled out a couple smoke pellets. Holding one in each hand, he then jerked his arms up and then down, throwing the pellets to the floor at his feet. Immediately, smoke exploded all around him, enveloping him, and taking him out of sight of not only Dragonfly, but Tiger Moth as well.
However, this also blocked them from his own view. That would be remedied shortly, though. Pulling out his grapple, he fired it up towards the ceiling, hitting the retraction button so that he shot up into the air. As he emerged out of the smoke cloud, he caught sight of Dragonfly facing it, inching towards it warily as she held her energy blade in front of her. A turn of his head and he saw Tiger Moth keeping her guns trained on the smoke cloud, but keeping her itchy trigger fingers at bay.
It was time to get to work.
With a hand digging into a pouch on his belt, he pulled out another bat-shaped shuriken and sent it flying towards Tiger Moth. The blonde woman never saw it coming until it collided with her skull, knocking her off her feet as she let out a cry of pain. She collapsed to the floor, lying there unconscious.
That just left Dragonfly. Returning his attention to her, he discovered the dark-haired woman had heard Tiger Moth's cry and was now turning her head from side to side, searching for what had taken out her friend. It was then that she looked up and saw him hanging from the ceiling, the smoke cloud beneath him beginning to dissipate.
"You won't get me like that!" she shouted at him as she pointed her energy blade towards him. Suddenly, the blade lost its form and a torrent of blue flames rushed towards him. Letting go of the grapple, Batman dropped down to the floor, landing on his feet, all the while keeping his eyes on his foe.
In response, Dragonfly began lowering her arm, which subsequently brought the stream of flames down as well. Backing up a couple steps, the vigilante then took cover behind the end of a workstation, feeling the heat of the blue flames rushing by.
Bile forced its way up Batman's throat as nausea made his stomach do things he really didn't want it to. Swallowing hard, he resisted the urge to puke, even though the heat wasn't helping. It seemed Dragonfly was trying to be true to her word.
He would just have to use that against her.
Pulling out another shuriken, Batman waited for the torrent of flames to die down before he darted out from behind his cover. Swinging his arm out, he sent the bat-shaped projectile flying towards Dragonfly, causing the dark-haired woman to jump to one side to avoid it. Because she had her attention on the shuriken, she missed the smaller, round pellet bouncing across the floor towards her, slowing into a roll until it stopped by her feet.
Suddenly, a cloud of gas blew out of the pellet, covering Dragonfly in its fumes as she cried out with surprise. Choked coughs were then made and Dragonfly came stumbling out of the cloud of smoke. She stumbled once, then twice, and then groaned before she collapsed to the floor unconscious.
It wasn't often Batman used the knockout gas pellets, mostly due to the fact the gas could be blown right back at him. In a room like this, it made containing the gas easier, eliminating such variables as wind, assuming there wasn't a fan in use.
Still, he wasn't going to discount the results. Slowly standing up, Batman took in a few breaths before turning away. Both Dragonfly and Tiger Moth would be out for a while. It was time to go find Isley.
Walking towards the side of the room where another doorway was visible, the Dark Knight did his best not to wobble with every step he took. He could feel his hands beginning to shake, a sign he had exerted himself too far with Isley's lackeys. C'mon, keep going. You have to keep going, he chanted in his mind.
As his shoulder brushed up against some vines hanging from the ceiling, the dark-clad man ignoring them, he soon wished he he hadn't. Before he knew it, the vines suddenly moved, wrapping around his body. One arm was jerked away, followed by the other, the same happening to his legs. Instinctively, Batman tried to pull his arms back to his body, but found he lacked the strength to do so. Soon, vines had tightened around his waist, forearms, and calves, restraining him as his arms and legs were pulled apart and away form his body.
Well, this was inconvenient.
Then, to make matters worse, the ground began to shake. He could feel the vibrations shaking his body due to the vines. Several feet ahead of him, the floor cracked before bursting apart, a large flower extending up and out of the damaged tile. It's petals began to bloom, opening up to reveal Poison Ivy sitting with in it, one leg crossed over the other as she looked at him with a playful look. "My, oh my, what have I found in my garden?" she inquired coyly.
Uncrossing her legs, she then stood up and stepped off the flower's center, using its lower petal as a step. Her hips swayed from side to side with every step she took until she stood in front of the Dark Knight.
"I believe I've caught myself a Bat."
Time was moving slow for Barbara. No one was able to get to Gotham General anytime soon and that was because they would have to get there on foot. So no motor vehicles were available and it most likely wasn't safe right now. There weren't a lot of roads that were intact. There were ones that were, but they weren't areas the other vigilantes were in.
Then she got some seismic activity in that area.
To her surprise, there was hardly anyone in the vicinity of Gotham General. For the most part that area of the city was intact with the exception of a portion of the medical complex. That part was covered in plant-life, yet the rest was untouched. Weird. Too weird.
Lo and behold, it also had electricity. Past experiences in hospitals informed her that there were also security measures in such places too, like cameras.
It was child's play to hack into those feeds. While General was left untouched for the most part, the area that belonged to Star Labs was practically a jungle. There was something in there, Barbara could feel it.
While simultaneously bringing up any and all information on Star Labs, specifically this branch of it, she was turning on any and all cameras in the place, hoping to get some visual on what was going on in there. Moving too quickly, she almost missed it. Sharp eyes were handy to have and she stopped everything to check back on a previous camera.
The sight of Batman restrained in a bunch of vines was surprising. There was immediate relief that he was alive, maybe not okay, but certainly alive. Then the worry returned two-fold. Because Batman was restrained and there was a green-skinned lady with red hair approaching him. Barbara was willing to bet that this was the person responsible for tonight's big crisis.
"All points, someone, anyone, get your asses to the Star Labs division over at Gotham General. It's the big man himself and he looks like he's in a lot of trouble."
A lot of trouble, that was understating it. Zooming in to get a close up on Batman and his latest foe of the week, she winced at how tired he looked. Never before had she ever seen him like this. To top it off, from the portion of his face was was revealed by his mask, she could see his skin was drenched with sweat.
How much punishment had he put himself through? A plane crash could take a lot out of someone and there had to be some kind of defenses inside this place the Dark Knight had to fight off. Couple those two together with perhaps a concussion on top of it and it was a wonder the Batman didn't look any worse.
Then, to cap this all off, there was this green lady. Barbara didn't know why she was doing what she was doing, but for now she was content on giving her full attention to Batman.
And then she began leaning towards him.
A restlessness had overcome Strange that night. His thoughts raced around recent events, putting his normally structured thoughts into turmoil. Even now, the Joker's words continued to circulate in his mind, and that only served to infuriate the former psychiatrist.
On top of that, "Warden" Sharp was turning the Asylum into his personal kingdom, one more fit to belong in the ranks of Blackgate and not a respected mental health facility. There were more armed guards, the ranks of orderlies shrinking with everyday.
And of course, there was the Batman's tauntings all those months ago. Indeed, it was most apparent his schemes had backfired on him. The situation as it was now, it was something he had not anticipated on nor planned for. But the fact that a lunatic like that clown looked down on him, like he was some lesser lifeform was what galled him the most.
Well, let it not be said that Hugo Strange was not an opportunist. His time incarcerated here had allowed him to improve on his weaknesses, turning them into strengths. His knowledge of certain fields of study had increased and improved. He had more schemes to finalize and put into motions.
It was time to end this stay in the asylum.
Sitting on the edge of his bed, Strange waited patiently, counting down the minutes. He was acutely aware of the patrols of the night staff and knew that the next one would be passing by any moment. More specifically, he knew who this patrol consisted of, and any moment now he would be able to put into play his latest plan. One that was months in the making.
Arriving a little earlier than expected, Terrance the Orderly was passing by, footsteps quick as if he wished to get this portion of his job over and done with. A simple cough would not be enough to get the man's attention, though it did not stop Strange from doing so. He did, however, call out the man's name in a calm tone of voice, and as anticipated, that stopped the orderly long enough.
"Professor Strange?" Terrance asked before shaking his head. "It's lights out already. Keep quiet, would you? You should be in bed."
Strange allowed his lips to curl upwards slightly. "Pardon me, Terrance. It's just I had something urgent that I needed to speak with you about. It won't be long, a few seconds at the most if you would permit me."
Terrance shifted uncomfortably where he stood, but he did not simply leave as he very well could have. Good. It was a silent sign to get on with it.
"As trivial as this may sound, I would like to have my tea at noon," Strange said and did not speak after. Terrance remained where he was standing for a little while longer before turning and continuing on his patrol.
The minutes passed and Strange waited, staring ahead at the wall of his room. He clutched at the end of his walking cane, a necessity still even after all the healing he had allowed his body. Two-Face's work was a constant reminder of his failings, in particular his lack of physical prowess.
It was just one more thing to correct.
Suddenly, the door to his room opened. Openly smirking, Strange pushed himself off his bed as fast as his physical restrictions would allow him. Next, he was stepping out and into the hallway, taking a glance to his left and right, already knowing that there would be no one in this part of the facility for some time. No, it was more about patrolling those escapees from Blackgate these days.
A golden opportunity for Hugo Strange.
Nearly strolling down the hallway, Strange made his way through the asylum, intent on making good his escape. He was especially pleased that his programming of Terrance had been as successful as it had. Honestly, did no one really remember that his greatest weapon had always been his words? That they had even allowed him to speak was a shortcoming on everyone's part. By now, a nearly comatose Terrance would be at the guard station, sitting in his chair in a daze for as long as it would take Strange to leave; then and only then would he snap out of the trance and resume his duties.
Far too late to—
"Out for a stroll, Doc? I can't blame you, it is a lovely night for it."
Strange came to an abrupt halt, his eyes widening behind his glasses. He had left the wing where he and the rest of the dangerous gallery of rogues were held, and to his left, leaning against a wall just around a corner was none other than the Joker himself. With arms crossed, shoulder blades pressed against the wall along with a bent leg and foot placed against the vertical surface, the man most known for mass slaughters, fiery explosions, and lethal toxins gave the shrink a cheeky smile.
Strange opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to process the sight before him. So casual, the pale, green-haired man was, as if he had been waiting there for him to show up all night. Finally, Strange croaked out, "How are you—?"
"—taking a romantic stroll through the nuthouse? Oh, Hugo, has it not occurred to you that I do this every night?" the Joker mocked, giving the man exaggerated facial expressions. "What? Thought that everybody was nicely locked up in this pathetic excuse for a summer home? Sure, I like the private suite, but a man has got to stretch his legs. Keep him locked up twenty-three hours a day, why, that could drive anyone nuts!"
Ignoring the chuckles that escaped through those too red lips, Strange pressed, "But the locks! No one should be able to—"
"And that's Strike Two, Hugy! Honestly, I don't know what's more pathetic: Your belief that you can honestly pose a threat to my better, darker, but not better dressed other half, or that Arkham was ever able to hold me in the first place," Joker interrupted. "I've been getting out of the cell since day one! I only stayed to give everyone a false sense of security, until the place started growing on me. Everybody needs a vacation home to go to when they're not on the merry trail of slaughter!"
Strange tightened his grip on his cane. Again with the mockery, the scorn. This man...how...how DARE he belittle him? He was Professor Hugo Strange! The superior mind! Superior to all! To the Batman, to the pathetic denizens of Gotham, to this, this, this ridiculous excuse for a carnival clown! Yes, Strange was no stranger to derision, but after all this time, all the defeats, his normally impenetrable skin was broken through and the insults were finally being recognized.
Did they all laugh at him behind his back? Like the Joker was doing to his face? That could not be allowed. Would not be allowed.
Turning on his heel as fast as his body allowed, Strange set down on his path, a new destination in mind.
"Aw, did I hurt your feelings, Doc? You were always so impersonal, I didn't know you had any! Oh, going off to sulk? Lick your wounds? Hide away for another year or two and come back with some mutant cockroaches? Seriously, Man-bats? What will you come up with next?"
Yes, continue talking. He still had one last card to play.
In spite of all the changes Sharp had forced onto the asylum, this part of it had had the least amount of alterations. His knowledge of the facility allowed him to know where exactly the entrance to the security booth was. More importantly, it seemed no major changes had been done with the key codes. Yes, Jeremiah Arkham had suspended his original one, but Strange always had a few spares in the system.
Punching one such code into the keypad that controlled the door's locking mechanism, the device flashed a green light and released the lock. Pushing his way in, he ignored the figure of Terrance, who was in a chair, still trapped in the programed trance that Strange had forced on him. Pushing the catatonic man to a side, a feat easily accomplished thanks to the wheels at the base of the chair, the former shrink reached out to a set of buttons.
"Oooooh, Huuuugooooo, I think you're in a place you shouldn't beeeeee!" a grating voice singsonged behind him. Joker had followed after him, not content with his mockings and tauntings.
However, Strange ignored the mass murderer as he propped his cane up against Terrance, taking the chance to balance on his crippled legs. Grabbing hold of a microphone and bending over so that his mouth was close to the receiver, the infuriated man began turning on all the lights in the building, following that up by switching on the alarm.
As a klaxon began to blare, Strange announced into the facility's sound system, "Attention to all security personnel! The Joker had escaped his cell. I repeat, the Joker has escaped! Find him, quickly, before he can—" he began pressing a row of buttons rapidly, "—release the prisoners. Find the Joker before he can—!"
Abruptly, Strange stopped himself, taking a second to look at the various monitors around him, the images of opening cells presented on all of them. Already, you could hear the noises of hooting and hollering, and on the screens the men and women locked up in Arkham began to flood the hallways.
Finally, Strange turned enough to look at the Joker, said man staring at him owlishly. Unable to resist, Strange raised a single eyebrow, as if to say, "What do you think of this?"
Blinking, Joker began to smile widely. "You sly dog!"
"Have fun," Strange taunted as he began to move away from monitors and consoles, heading towards a second entrance into the booth.
Time to use the unfolding chaos to his advantage.
At one time Bruce Wayne had found Pamela Isley to be irresistible. Most men did as he had come to find out. Now though, he could safely say he was not aroused by the sight of the red-haired siren.
The poison killing him probably had something to do with that.
"You know, I always wondered what it would be like to meet you," Poison Ivy drawled as she raised a hand up and pressed it against his chest, drawing it down as her fingertips traced the various grooves in the armor plating in his suit. "Never had I imagined it would be like this, you restrained by my children. I rather like it."
"Where is the Wayne Board?" Batman growled at her, his tone suitably dark and strong, unlike the way he was feeling.
Ivy blinked her eyes languidly at him. "I wouldn't worry about them, Batman. I would be more concerned with yourself if I were you."
"Where are they?"
His demands did nothing to wipe away the lazy smile on her face. "They're hard at work, if you must so desperately know. It's about time someone made them do a hard day's work if you ask me. You see, this is only the beginning. Gotham is nothing more than a staging ground for Mother Earth's return."
The vigilante raised an eyebrow, though the redhead before him obviously couldn't see it. She took his silence as her cue to continue though. "Far too long has Mother Nature taken a backseat to Man's destructive behavior. They stab her, abuse her, burn her, tear her to shreds, and still she allows them to, like any mother. At last, someone is standing up for her, demanding the abuse ends. First, Gotham will fall, an example to the world for what's coming."
"Gotham won't fall so easily," he responded.
"Of that I am sure." Ivy's eyes narrowed at him. "I know what you've been doing in my Eden, Batman. The herbicide you sprayed on my children will not be forgiven. Even now I can hear the cries of terror as they wither and die. It pains me."
"And what about the terror of the people? Surely you heard their screams when you destroyed Pioneer Bridge and sent them to drown in the river."
Ivy suddenly threw her head back and let out a vicious laugh. The very act prickled the Dark Knight, anger welling up inside of him. "You think I care about those meat sacks? They are nothing more than fertilizer now. No, Batman, you clearly do not see what I'm trying to do."
"Oh, yes I can," he spat at her.
"No, you don't. Before I was reborn as an avatar to the Green, I was a respected researcher for the University. One of my projects was how to genetically breed plants that could defend themselves. It was a project that would take years, if not decades to complete. Now, however, I have the resources and means to jump start that evolutionary change. Even now, those wealthy meat sacks you worry yourself about are developing a serum I can use to enhance my children. Just imagine it, a multitude of genetic changes within one generation."
Oh, he could picture it; in fact, Batman could picture how Ivy's plan could backfire in several ways. Cramming eons of evolution into an extremely short time span could cause catastrophic results. Shorter lifespans for plants, unforeseen mutations that further damaged the environment, and so on. Ivy wasn't thinking as long term as she thought she was.
But he was certain she had no qualms with killing off the human race. That would be her final solution eventually, it was only a matter of time.
The vigilante jerked his arms against the vines, though it was a useless effort. The restraints tightened around his arms and pulled harder against him, nearly popping his arms out of their sockets. Even though they didn't, Batman could still feel the strain in his shoulders.
Poison Ivy tutted. "Now, now, don't hurt yourself just yet. I have plenty in store for you." She then leaned closer to him, pressing her body against his. Looking up at him through her eyelashes, her face inching closer to his, she added, "Some of which you may even find pleasurable."
And then she closed the remaining distance between them and pressed her lips against his. Immediately, Batman tried to jerk his head back, only for Ivy to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him back. She made a throaty moan as she kissed him, ending it when she slowly pulled back.
"I hope that was as good for you as it was for me," she whispered to him, her eyes glimmering with mirth. "Unfortunately for you, that'll be the last pleasure you'll ever experience."
Upon seeing his stare, the redhead playfully flicked his nose with a finger. "You see, a kiss from me is death," she explained teasingly. "A dose of a rather lethal poison is released into your bloodstream, destroying red blood cells, decaying organ, and so on. The longer the kiss, the bigger the dose. You now have minutes, if not seconds to live. Enjoy them."
So that was how the poison had gotten into his system. Unfortunately, Ivy's latest kiss was longer than the one he had received at Wayne Manor, so there was no telling how much more poison was in his body. If the small amount he had been given previously had sapped him of his strength as quickly as it had, he probably only had a few seconds at most.
So why was it he was starting to feel better?
Already he could feel the nausea beginning to recede. It was getting easier to breath and he could feel renewed strength flooding into his arms and legs.
Unfortunately, Poison Ivy must've noticed this as she narrowed her eyes. "Why aren't you dying?"
Immediately, Batman leaned his head back as far as he could go, then swung it forward, headbutting the woman. Ivy cried out as she stumbled backwards, both of her hands gripping her forehead. Batman, in the meantime, ignored the stars he was seeing as he began twisting his arms until he managed to slip the vines right into the space between his triangle blades. Gritting his teeth, he then yanked his arms down.
At first the vines scraped against the blades, their outer skin being peeling right off. As the triangle blades dug deeper though, the vines were cut, severing them, and freeing the vigilante's arms. Immediately, his hands were digging into his belt, pulling out more shuriken. In quick succession, he threw shuriken at the vines restraining his legs, cutting them and freeing them. His last one he sent flying at the vines that were reaching out to his torso, slicing through them as the projectile cut into them.
At last he was free; however, the moment he returned his attention to Poison Ivy, he found the redhead glaring at him from beneath the bottom of her hands, which were still pressed against her forehead. "You'll pay for that!" she screamed before she shot one of her hands out in front of her, pointing towards him.
Immediately, more vines came lashing out towards the dark-clad man. In response, Batman took off running, the vegetation giving chase. Eyeing a workstation ahead of him, the vigilante focused right on the Bunsen Burner resting on top of it. Leaping, he went into a roll over the desk, grabbing the burner in mid-roll and landed on the other side of the workstation.
This put him facing the advancing vines, though they would be dealt with fairly soon. Turning on the Bunsen Burner, the flame immediately coming to life, he then aimed it right at the vines before feeding more gas. The fire shot out like a flamethrower, igniting the vines, and causing them to cringe away.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Poison Ivy screamed, her hands moving to grasp at her head, her fingers burying into her hair. "It burns! It burns!"
Well, that was unexpected. Was it possible Ivy had some link to the plants around them? Eyeing the large flowery plant by the wall, Batman drew the Bunsen Burner back and then chucked it towards the plant. It immediately went up in flames, which caused an inhuman shriek to wail out from Ivy's lips.
As if that wasn't enough, the flames spread up the curtain of vines hanging from the ceiling and walls, feeding the hungry fire. With each subsequent plant lighting up, Poison Ivy's body twisted and cringed as her hands dug into her hair. Finally, she dropped to her knees, throwing her head back as she screamed in agony.
Reaching into his belt, Batman pulled out a canister containing the same knockout gas as the pellet he had used on Dragonfly. Striding towards the woman, he stood behind her before he moved his hand around her and held the canister in front of her face. With a squeeze, the knockout gas was sprayed into her face, which immediately sent the red-haired woman into a coughing fit.
Seconds later and she began to collapse, the vigilante catching her before she hit the floor. Lifting her up, Batman held the former Pamela Isley with one arm behind her back and the other beneath her knees. Looking around him, he soon saw most of the lab was on fire.
It was clearly time to get out of here, though unfortunately the Dark Knight had some unfinished business. For one, he needed to not only get Poison Ivy out, but her cronies Tiger Moth and Dragonfly as well. There was also the hostages somewhere else in the building. However, he was up to the challenge. Already feeling much better, escaping an inferno like this would be nothing.
And then he'd need to get his blood tested. No sense in assuming the worst was over.
To Guest: Hopefully the struggle with Poison Ivy was good. It's not very long admittedly, but that's because of reasons.
