The greenhouse extended in an unbroken wall around the city. The bits and pieces of glass suspended in the air gleamed and shimmered in the moonlight. Condensation formed constellations that sparkled from the reflected streetlights.
One section of the wall was glistening red. The nervous vines were shifting imperceptibly, afraid of what was nearing them as they grew hotter and drier.
The riots had started around midday, when the citizens of Gotham had discovered that the roads were blocked. The wall cut inner Gotham cleanly off from its suburbs. People were gathered on both sides of the wall, fighting to get close enough to break through the glass.
The vine babies were holding them off. A man, not the first, was foolish enough to rush the glass. The vine babies swarmed him and tugged him up to the roots of the wall vines. A loose tendril whipped out and yanked him upward by the ankle. The vine spun him around, wrapping around his leg tightly, and raised him high into the air. He was screaming with fear as the vine placed itself gently next to another trapped person, a woman caught around the waist. They caught hands and clung tight to one another in their aerial prison. The wall was speckled with other rioters. They dangled helplessly like colorful Christmas tree ornaments as the crowd below fought to get closer to them.
The grocery stores were mobbed. Everyone was buying as much food as they could in case they were trapped indefinitely. There were bitter fights over bottled water, canned goods, and anything that had to be shipped into town. In one supermarket, two women got into a wrestling match over the last can of peas (which was stolen by an unidentified third party in all the commotion).
By the next day, Gotham was in chaos. Angry mobs moved through the streets, trashing anything in their path and taking whatever they wanted. Thieves climbed into house after house through the empty windowpanes, removing heirlooms and treasures. Fires raced through the poorer sections of town.
Batman sat on top of the same building he'd caught Ivy on and stared helplessly down at the carnage. The air up there was stiflingly hot and smoky from the fires. He coughed and started to lower himself down, hoping to remain unnoticed in the unnatural brightness of the flames.
He'd tried everything. He'd tried smashing through the glass with batarangs. The vine-things caught them and hurled them back at him. He'd tried fighting the vine-things, but they threatened to overwhelm him and he was forced to break away. He'd tried to quell the riots by showing up and threatening the rioters, but the rioters were in no mood to stop simply because Batman said so. Ivy was nowhere to be found.
A gunshot snapped through the air below him. He froze to the side of the building and peered downward. A burly man threatened a wizened old lady with a cane. This he could handle. He swung down and took the mugger out with a vicious kick. The mugger flew into the opposite wall and slumped to the ground, out cold.
The victim retrieved her purse from the unconscious mugger and turned to face the Batman. He offered her a hand to help her up.
Her cane smacked down hard on his glove. It stung, even through all the reinforcements. "Don't touch me," she snapped at him, using the wall to assist herself. "You should be out there, not saving some old biddy from a purse snatcher!"
He blinked in astonishment. The cane came whistling around again, aimed at his head. This time he caught it before it hit him.
"I said move it, sonny!"