LEVEL 05

The same thoughts kept pouring in Pam's head. This can't be happening. She looked at her former residence and the demolition crew standing by. She and her mother had since moved to another place across town yet she still comes back here to tend the garden. She tried to save as many of the little plants as she could but if her mother ever found out, no amount of explanation would stop her anger.

The whole block was being demolished in place of some big hill property, supposedly a new mansion or a super department store. She could have rallied up a cause to save the neighborhood. It would have been the perfect scenario. Poor residents with nowhere to go versus evil corporate land developer. But Pam never got any near any plan to fight. Her mother is cynical and so were the rest of her former neighbors. In short, she gave up easily.

Now that the building is being demolished, it all seemed so unreal. She watches as the wrecking ball makes its first strike. WHAM! The entire wall of the fourth floor was almost taken off. WHAM! Pieces of the fifth floor start falling off. WHAM! The downspout and roof gutter from the roof drop to the ground. Each strike is like a bullet hitting her head. It wasn't just an emotional reaction, her entire body seizes up too. By the fifth and sixth impacts, sections of the roof are starting to give in and some of the flower pots fell. The moment the first spot touched the ground and shattered, she couldn't take it anymore.

She shook her head, unable to hide her emotions, she ran towards the pot. "NNnnnoooooo!!!!" She made her way through the crew with amazing speed. Her quickness and small size made her difficult to catch.

She was almost there, just moments away when somebody finally managed to grab her before the debris fell on her. "What's wrong with you, kid? Are you stupid or somethin'?" The tulip or whatever it was is now buried under the debris. All she could do now is cry.

"What's going on here? Why'd you all stop? I'm not paying you all to do nothing!" a harsh voice came from a man making his way through. He looked clean and slick in his black business suit. He looked like a thirty something and rather handsome. "What the…? Who's this kid?"

"I dunno, sir," the foreman said, "She just came running in and screaming and just heading straight to the building. Maybe she's got a death wish?"

"Dammit! I can't afford publicity like this. They'll eat me alive if they hear about it," the man paused for a moment, "Get her into my car before somebody sees her."

One of the younger workers with a concerned look said to him, "Umm, sir? Shouldn't we bring her to a doctor? She might have a concussion."

"I-I'll take care of her," the man turned to the foreman, "And you. You better make sure that nobody makes mention of what happened. Remember, it's your job on the line here, understood?"

"Y-y-yes, sir," the foreman nervously replied.

Everything seems like a haze to Pam right now. Things were happening too fast. She was taken from the dirt to the hands of men and finally lying in the backseat of a… a black limo. The limo looked familiar. Could it have been? It was something to note but not something to care about right now. Her eyes slowly gazed around the interior. Only then did she notice that there's a woman sitting in the seat facing opposite hers. The thick glasses, the ponytail, that posture, it's the lady who was with the movers. Hardly that someone she would want to talk to.

"Oh, God, it's you again," the woman said.

Pam resented that remark. It made her feel like a piece of trash, a dreg of society. What can she say back to her? It was somewhat true. She just buried her face in her hands and continued crying.

The limo continued plying through Gotham's busy streets until it went into the parking area of one big building and finally stopped there. Pam got up and only then did she realize she must have fallen asleep. Still trying to comprehend her situation, she can feel someone tugging at her jacket. "Come on, kid. Let's go!" the woman said to her. When Pam was moving too slowly, she got impatient and pulled her arm.

"Ow! You're hurting me!"

The woman pulled her all the way to the elevator where they got in. Pam didn't realize what floor they stopped at. It must have been the thirtieth as it took a long time to get up. She gazed at the woman's face. Her eyes were partially closed and there's a tremble in her face. Maybe she felt guilty for treating her like this? Pam was feeling rather angry and thought this spinster deserved the guilt trip.

They enter a room that looks like a cross between an elegant hotel suite and a personal office. There was a big office desk in the middle and what must be a drinking bar in her right side. Though she couldn't see them, she would wage that there's a bathroom and changing room too. And to think that what must be below are offices and clerks working. It's like having your own empire in a building.

"Kid, I want you to sit there and don't touch anything until I get back," the woman tells her and points to the chair in front of the huge desk. Pam did as she was told. She noticed the name plate sitting on the desk. It said Walter Donner.

Nearly thirty minutes passed before the bossy man from the demolition came. He looked very angry. Pam looked at him and he scared her. She turns her gaze back to the desk in front of her. What was she doing in a place like this?

"Was she hurt? Did anyone else see her? Are you sure you weren't followed?" he asked the woman.

"I've made sure and no other employees in the parking area were there. What are we going to do about her, Walter?"

"Dammit! Don't use my name in front of her!"

Pam was miffed, "Hey! I may be a kid but I'm not stupid. Your name's Walter Donner and I don't have to do any investigating. Your desk's nameplate said it."

"Spunky kid! What the hell were you doing at the building?" he talked back.

"I- I was trying to save Grandma Belle's garden…"

Donner bowed his head down and elicited a chuckle, "Ah, my mother's precious garden. She was so short-sighted. She could never see the big picture."

Pam could not believe what she was hearing. Grandma Belle was his mother and yet it seems he has no love for her. "H-how… how could you say that? S-s-she was a kind woman. And when she was sick, you didn't even visit her!"

"Kid, you have no idea how long I have waited. Waited to finally get the rights to that place."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about but I think I d-deserve to know. Sh-she's my friend."

Donner eyed her with a hesitating look. Maybe he's deciding whether to tell her what is the story? "You're too little to understand."

"Oh, yeah? Try me," she said. Pam can't believe she just said that. Is she becoming more daring? Does she have any chance to change this man even if he's already destroyed the garden?

"I know what you're thinking. You think that if I tell you everything about my past, you might find a way to change me. Well, kid, you're wrong! I am not that kind of person!" he said so with a big sneer.

"NNnnooo!!! You're wrong! Somewhere deep inside of you is a decent person and you know what you're doing is wrong!" Pam can't believe she said that.

He takes one deep long look at her and with an annoyed look, he said with an angry tone, "Kid, you don't even have any idea what you're defending or the nature of the affair. You don't know what happened between me and my mother. You don't know how hard I tried to make my dreams come true or how she tried to stop them. You don't know how far I had to go to get here, how much I had to do just to get what is rightfully mine! You have no idea!"

Now, Pam is shaken by this event. Here is a man who would be a caricature of filthy rich men. Despicable to the bone, seemingly without redeeming value and, yet, he was absolutely right. She has no idea of the nature of the Donners' relationship and what right had she to tell him? What right?

Tears start rolling down her cheeks. Donner is clearly not in the mood and rather than look at her, he faces the Gotham cityscape that one can see through his large windows. Through gritted teeth, he said, "Amanda, I want you to give her fifty thousand dollars," addressing the woman in the room, "Kid, I want you to stop crying and take the money. Don't ever tell anyone we had this conversation or even tell anyone what you think you know. Take it and just go."

"Wh-what? You think you can just give me money and pretend nothing happened?!"

Donner gives out a loud sigh and then turns around and grabs her around her jacket's collars. "Listen! I'm giving you the chance to go with your life intact! You don't take it, fine then. A little conscience has never bothered me. Understand? It's a dog eat dog world out there… and in here. The strong tread over the weak. Do you really want me to say it out loud?" Pam is simply frozen. "I thought so."

Later, Amanda escorted Pam out of the building. Amanda's movements were a bit erratic. Obviously, she is in a wonder as to what a kid would do with fifty thousand dollars and what she's supposed to do with it. Pam didn't care. Her own life had been threatened and she's only a powerless child. Only a powerless child.

The day is almost over when she got back to the place that used to be her former apartment building, all that was left is a rubble. The plants that were on the rooftop garden was strewn about like common garbage. It was the one place that gave her peace in the world, now it's gone. She picks up a broken flower pot. She dusted it off and finds a little bud that would have flowered. She closes her eyes and knows what she must do.

***

"They think they could do anything they want. They thought they could buy their way out of trouble. They didn't think Poison Ivy would come for them."

Batman was actually just regaining consciousness when he heard her words. What was she talking about? And more importantly, why was he asleep? He didn't remember being hit unconscious. And then he found out his hands were bound. He is tied to a post which is actually one of the roots of the massive plant pod. Maybe he was gassed so he wouldn't put up a fight when they tied his hands?

Poison Ivy turned around to face him. He feels being aroused as she strokes her fingertips about his body. In a lusty voice, she said to him, "So, you're the new Batman. Was I anything you were expecting, hmm?"

"Actually, I wasn't thinking about you the entire time." He's somewhat amused at his own answer for telling a truth.

"Hmmph! You're just like your mentor, trying to sound macho all the time."

"W-ell, we could cut to the chase and you can tell me what it is that you're doing here."

Ivy releases a laugh. "Why, the same thing you think you've come here to do! Save the world! You see, this pod will replenish the Amazon. It will release spores that will quickly grow to trees. They will spread out and reclaim all deforested areas."

"Yeah? What kind of trees will they grow into? I'd say this is an entirely new life form that you've built here. You don't know what kind of offspring it will produce."

"You're just like your mentor, you think you're right and everyone else is wrong. This thing is a product of my own genetic design. They will grow into the new trees of the Amazon. There won't be an ecological disaster. I've already tried it out."

"Uh huh, you did?"

"A small island in the Pacific is the first test site. The new trees quickly outgrew and multiplied faster than the indigenous plants. In a matter of days, the local plant life died out to give way to the new ones. The forest will no longer adapt to civilization. We'll go back to the way it should be, civilization will adapt to the forest!"

Batman gives out a scowl. "He was right. You are crazy!"

"Did anyone ever tell you that you look sexy when you're angry?"

"You do know you're going against everything you have ever believed in?"

"Oh, not quite. The rule of nature is everything must be used over and over again. Animals eat from the plants, other animals eat them, they die, their dead bodies fertilize the soil, seeds make use of the fertilized soil and they become plants. And then the cycle is repeated again. The new trees include genetic strains of those in the Amazon so I'm not replacing anything really," Poison Ivy gave a coy smile.

"That's not an excuse," Batman said.

She gives out a sigh, "I don't really have much time. I'm not getting any younger you know."

"Oh? Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? You sure don't look like a day over thirty."

"Herbs and extracts may make me look young but even they can't stop the clock. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do than debate with you all day." And at that, she leaves him to ponder his fate.

***

Gotham City.

Mary McGinnis makes a call to the hotel Terry was supposed to be staying in. It took a while but the clerk was finally able to connect her. An image of her son flickers up on the vid screen. He looks fine and unhurt. She gave out a sigh of relief.

"Terry, I just heard on the news about the earthquake. Are you all right?" she asked him.

"Oh, don't worry, Mom," he replied, "I saw it on the news, too. But, we're too far away to be affected by it. As you can see, I'm getting ready to hit the beach and it sure looks like everybody's got the same idea." He points out to the crowd beachgoers that can be seen through his suite's patio.

"Well, you can't blame a mother for worrying. You and Matt are all I have."

"Yes, don't worry, I can take care of myself. Look, I have got to get going. Goodbye. I love you," and then he went offline.

She's glad that Terry's okay but wished she could have told him to come home sooner. Sigh.

***

Bruce continues to look at the monitor screen. He is rubbing his chin with his right hand. He got off the videophone as soon as he could. She might get suspicious. He remembers a time when all someone had to do to fool the person on the other end of the line is to disguise your voice. Now, they have video phones and you have to come up with a way to fool the other person with fake computer images. Anyway, there's a more pressing matter, that of Terry's safety.

"So, what now, boss?" asked Raffy.

Yes, what now? A moment of pause and Bruce finally speaks, "We give him two hours."

"And then what?"

"And then I'm going in myself."

"What? If you want done something right, you have to do it yourself?" It was a woman's voice from the warehouse's small door.

"Ah, Miss Covarrubias. I am going to require your assistance," Bruce said.

"And you're not going to get it until you give me an explanation," she said back.

"Alright. I'm in a position where I know who the enemies are and my team is the only one who could do something about it," Bruce said with a straight grim face. No winks, no twitching.

For a moment she thought about doubting him but… Huh! I guess he's not kidding!

"Who are you?" was all she could say.

Raffy piped up. "He's the lord of the darkness. He knows what you're thinking. He…"

"Stop it, Raffy," Bruce told him. And then he continued, "Satellite images indicate small convoy of jeeps came from the task force's camp. They're head this way. I will need you to play along with me."

He's not asking me, he's telling me to help him? What kind of nerve…? "Why should I help you?" she said in whispering gasp of disbelief. Bruce didn't answer her. He just stared back at her with that stern face of his. The arrogance of this man is astounding.

***

It was Col. Paez coming. His jeep stopped just by the warehouse's door. As he stepped off the vehicle, the warehouse's occupants came out of the door. He wonders if they were already expecting him. Bruce Wayne was the first to greet him.

"Good morning, Colonel," Bruce said, "What is the current status of the hostages?"

Paez went straight to the point, "Ha! You can't fool me, Wayne. I know you had something to do with that thing last night. You couldn't stand our ineptness and decided to send in your own man, didn't you?"

"Ah, the direct approach," Bruce smirked, "Perhaps you would like to step in to my command center?"

Paez could see that Covarrubias and her secretary looked surprised when Bruce invited him in. Hnn, just what is going on here?

They all went inside. The Brazilian soldiers were all impressed by the computers, the large monitor screen and whatever gadget that is lying about. All except Paez. He keeps showing his grumpiness, just a way to show Wayne how much he dislikes being used or manipulated. But, he admitted to himself, all these equipments are really something.

"Colonel, I do admit I had something to do with that flying thing last night," Bruce said to him, "But I didn't do it to show up everyone, I did it because I have complete distrust to one man's motives for being here." He can see the colonel's brows crease from being puzzled. "Oh, I assure you that it isn't you."

"Oh, of course not," Paez replied, "Go on, continue."

***

His suit's strength booster is gone, he suffered a few injuries and his utility belt was taken from him but Batman is far from being completely helpless. His glove fingers extended into claws and he begins cutting through his bonds. The two guards' backs were turned to him and so it was with great ease to sneak up on them and knock them unconscious. He winced as he did this, the bruises on his ribs suffered in his last battle. Afterwards, he stripped one of the guards to his shorts and he put on the uniform for disguise. He still had his mask on though so he put on a cap to cover his mask's ears.

The entrance to his holding cell was actually a hole on the trunk of the giant pod. Vines the size of tree trunks floating about were the only means of being transported from one part of the pod to another. He has no way of controlling them. He would have to take the chance of jumping from vine to vine to get to the bottom. And he has to do this without a jet pack.

He walks back in his cell and ran toward the entrance, only stopping for a moment when his initial steps hurt his ribs. There is no choice, he must continue. The momentum he gained carries him forward to the first vine. He manages to get a step in but the momentum is still pushing him. He has no choice but to move to, hopefully, another vine that would be in his way.

Another vine is floating by. He goes for it but he falls short of a foothold. He is able to grab onto it. His claws dig in and he barely holds on. Just lucky enough to avoid going into a spasm, all that movement was sending pain throughout his body. As he holds on, he manages to catch a glimpse through a bold spot on the forest canopy of where the special force's gears were kept. His utility belt has to be there.

Finally, he works his way down to the bottom. A guard would have stopped him but he seems enthralled, no doubt, by Poison Ivy's pheromones. This is a cinch, Batman thought.

He reaches the spot where the equipments were held. Batman rummages through and finally finds his utility belt. He examines just how bad his battery is shot. Perhaps he could find a replacement in the Special Forces' backpacks. Excited by this thought, he continues rummaging through. Their radio man must have some.

Instead, he finds what appears to be some kind of high-frequency emitting instrument, some kind of speaker system. It is the kind that gives out sounds at ultra-high frequency. Not exactly something you use to transmit radio signals. Just exactly what is going on here?

Before he could examine it further, somebody hits him on the head. Not again! And he is quickly losing his consciousness but not before he could hear someone's voice. "Heh! I guess he thought the Bat thought he's the only one who's capable of escaping." It sounded like Pogue's voice, "Should we kill him?"

NNNnnnnoooo…