I will follow you down into the dark

And I was left in the depths surrounding her feral heart

Oh, there's just something about the sun

That seems so very, very boring

She had regrets. Of course she had regrets. Nova wished she had taken a longer route on her way towards her lover in order to give warning to the few she considered familiar acquaintances. In retrospect, she wished she had been involved from the beginning, and she wished she had come round to letting the world burn sooner. What she did not regret, however, was that it was happening. For the first time, perhaps, in her life... in Florence's life, as well, she felt no guilt and no conflict about her decision. Truthfully, she had no idea if that would change as the night went on - similarly, she held no illusions when it came to Pamela's predictability - but if she knew anything for certain, it was that the night ahead was going to be very dark. Gotham was always dark. It would be nothing new. Nighttime was the obvious culprit, but that only took up half of every day - the thing about Gotham was that it felt so dark and foreboding, the atmosphere heavy and oppressive not only because of the very legitimate fear but also the darkness every citizen carried around inside of them. Of course, there were plenty of good people in the city, but nobody was completely good. It played out in front of her, every step she took through the streets. Model citizens pushed, shoved, trampled and sacrificed their fellow Gothamites without hesitation now that disaster had struck. The toxic fog was doing it's job very thoroughly, and neither she nor Ivy had been forced to lift a finger against anyone they passed.

Their faces were all twisted and ghoulish and partially melted away when they died. Nova stared back at each blank, horrified stare impassively; finding she had no sympathy left to give to these people. No mercy, no compassion... nothing.

It made her feel proud.

The ones who didn't die like particularly gruesome victims of Medusa either choked on the gas, their vomit, or simply got snatched up by a carnivorous plant or two. It was glorious - the most natural form of natural selection.

"Oh, the symphony, my darlings..." Ivy's voice was different, almost lilting. It took Nova a moment to realise that what she was detecting as alien in her creator's tone was merely... genuine emotion. Never had she seen Ivy sincerely joyful before. Sincere anger, annoyance, pride, confidence and sadness were all familiar by now, but genuine happiness was a rare unknown, and Nova was enthralled by it.

Of course, Pamela was referring to the gut wrenching screaming of thousands of people as they died excruciating deaths when she said 'symphony'. No matter. Nova was altogether very convinced that they all deserved it.

"You..." Nova stroked along a portion of Ivy's delicate back, drifting over the intricate patterns and swirls that the plant life imbedded in her skin had left there, and subsequently trailing over her arm with the tips of her fingers, "are so heart-breakingly beautiful." It was completely involuntary. She could sense it - she knew she wasn't under Ivy's toxicological influence anymore - everything she did and said came naturally, and she no longer had any excuse. Any repercussions she faced now were her own to face, and the fault of nobody else - she was a willing participant in the chaos, and doubtless Batman would not be so lenient with her now.

There was a stillness between them, even among the plants - somehow the screaming stalled, quieted ever so slightly - and Ivy never turned to face her progeny, but in the dim street lighting, Nova could make out her side profile, and her lips were curved ever so slightly upwards. There was a twisted kind of evil satisfaction there, but for once... Nova couldn't dredge up the bygone feelings of fury. Only the distinct warmth of pleasure sprouted deep within her chest cavity, an electric thrill shooting through her system at the sight of such beauty and the attention bestowed upon her. It was pathetic, and she knew it - her newly ruined psyche more than happy to inform her so - but she was worryingly unconcerned with even her own thoughts as she dove headfirst into the madness. Once more, she was reminding herself of Harley, but somehow it was less important to her now... Harley was less of a victim in her eyes, less of a pawn. It was a terrifying slope to be traversing, but something that made her feel so alive could hardly be bad for her, could it? No, this reeked of destiny, and she would bask happily in it.

Amongst the chaos, the two women - the only current members of their specific species - were finding themselves getting ever closer as the world around them tore itself apart.

This was, unfortunately, ultimately the cause of their subsequent downfall. So transfixed on Ivy was Nova that she only caught sight of the dark figure in her peripheral vision when he was close enough to prevent them making a clear getaway. Swiftly, and almost in unison, she and Ivy turned on their heels. Growing insanity makes one strangely capable, she noted. Up on the rooftops he blended in nicely, as was his usual M.O. - and on any other occasion he may have gone unnoticed, but the air was so tinged with a heavy green fog that he just barely stood out against the backdrop of the buildings behind him. It was hardly anything - an ordinary person would never pick up on it, but his adversaries were far from ordinary, and they were not people.

No signal was needed - no discussion. They were off, Nova propelling herself through the air by both vine and leafy launchpad towards a nearby rooftop. There was no time for surprise at her own sudden ability, Batman was a palpable threat to their operation, and Nova knew that if she could follow Ivy's example in a fight, they stood a better chance of felling the rodent before he could cause any significant damage. Landing in a swivel, her eyes quickly picked out her ally perched delicately atop a spire at the top of a taller building, parallel to her own. Even in her considerable fury, she was glorious.

I guess you were always supposed to make a good team, huh?

Quiet.

The plants they had rooted in aid of their escape were still slowly sprouting below, so swift and immediate was their escape, and Batman was now flanked on both sides, leaving him with two options: either flee or fight.

He was always going to fight.

Hardly visible, a gloved hand darted downwards towards his belt and before she could even discern what it was, Nova was just about evading it. She whacked it aside and threw all her weight and newfound supernatural strength down into her foot as she stomped down onto the gadget. After a second, the thing crunched, and an electric current fizzled out across the surface of it. Nova scowled, truly in a thunderous mood now. To make matters worse, she didn't manage to dodge the second batarang when it came rocketing towards her. She was newly skilled, but she wasn't that dynamic. The shock that ran through her system was debilitating - her muscles seized, heart clenching so alarmingly she was convinced it had stopped completely for a terrifying moment. Nova slumped uselessly to the floor, temporarily paralysed.

Across the way, a screech of fury rang out and suddenly Nova was aware of something large and spiky whipping round and out with a furious vengeance. It collided with the shadowy figure of Batman with a satisfying, audible smack, flinging him up high and in an arc off his perch and swiftly down towards the streets below. Nova's eyes followed him, her limbs only just recovering from the extreme electric shock she'd been delivered - the telltale swoosh of his cape opening meant he was gliding with infuriatingly safety to the ground.

Ivy jumped, then, glorious red hair billowing out viciously around her like wildfire. Panic rocketed through her, heart soaring as she scrambled painstakingly towards the edge, and looked over just in time to see her lovely Ivy get hit by a small, controlled explosion that threw her backwards into a building and straight through a window. So desperate to get to her, Nova all but dragged herself impulsively over the very edge, and immediately began to plummet with alarming rapidity. Still, she had no regrets. The wind blew her hair out as well, but unlike Ivy, the long, dark strands were pushed straight upwards because there was no grace or logic to her fall, no premeditated plan other than throwing herself recklessly in the direction of her maker.

The concrete was approaching very fast, the wind hitting her like a whip as if it was punishing her for her stupid decision. Through the violent wind, though, she heard a very indistinct vwoosh, and sure enough the caped crusader himself hit her like a brick wall, and they were both dashed through the window Ivy had smashed right through previously.

Nova's body ached. Every frenzied breath she took hurt, and each involuntary movement provoked a horrible, burning, cutting sensation; like she was being cut again and again and again all up and down her back. Beside her, Batman was stirring, half crawling, half dragging himself determinedly across the bed of broken glass they had landed on. His jaw was clenched, a muscle spasming in his cheek.

Vines were inching slowly around her body, all up her arms and legs, around her waist and darting about her torso as they climbed. Spiralling around her neck, a single vine stopped just below her lower lip and a solitary leaf rested on her lips like a kiss. It was that simple gesture that reminded her of Ivy, somewhere nearby. She needed help. Now.

It was the aggressive desperation that pushed her upwards, onto her knees, and the desire to curl herself protectively over her wounded heart like a shield that forced her to move her limbs in a way that facilitated movement. Quickly, she found herself overtaking Batman - only pausing very briefly in her quest to press a venomous kiss to his bleeding lips and shove him out of her path. Truly, she didn't know if the toxin would even have any effect on his body, as she was unsure of how much of a resistance (if any at all) his system had built against the poisonous, manipulative chemicals Pamela had laced his blood with over and over again as they fought throughout her criminal career. Secondarily, Nova didn't know how strong or potent her toxic kiss even was in comparison to Ivy's, as her maker had deliberately ensured that Nova was weaker when she created her. Regardless, it was the only plan she had to buy herself the time necessary to reach Poison Ivy - and that was all she had to - was to reach her, and make sure she was still breathing. Her sanity depended on it.

Who are you kidding? You lost that weeks ago.

SHUT. UP.

Ivy was stirring slightly, making vague noises and twitching with residual agony. It stoked the fire inside Nova's chest, forcing it to roar ever higher, and she drove herself towards her destination - reaching it and slumping gracelessly beside her ultimate goal. As wounded as Ivy perceivably was, she managed to fix her with a glare of such magnitude that Nova was surprised a hole didn't burn through her head right then and there. She cringed, ducking her head submissively towards her mistress, and swore to make up for the catastrophic failure her defensive strategy had been.

You're useless. Utterly pathetic.

I know.

It was, perhaps, the first time she had agreed wholeheartedly with the voice inside her head since her rebirth into villainy. Cowed at Ivy's side, Nova was so busy contemplating her own failures that she didn't take note of Batman's until Pamela finally managed to shift herself upwards, and wheezed into a cackle. It resounded around inside her head, puzzling her out of her misery until she realised what it was her boss was looking at with such radiant smugness. Batman was where Nova had left him, stilled in his position as he gazed at her across from him. What astonished her was this eyes were not fixed on Poison Ivy, as she assumed they would be, but were locked resolutely on her own features. Clearly, he was struggling internally, fighting off the effects of the toxicity she had planted on his lips, but he remained effectively motionless - the only indication of his inward rebellion a very slight tremble that ran through his formidable limbs and strain in his half concealed expression.

Something metallic circled around her wrist, and shut with a clunk. Someone yanked her other hand back, away from Ivy's shoulder and crossed her arm back to cross over the other behind her back. Clink. She was locked in. Outraged, Nova spun around with difficulty to confront her new attacker - in tandem, there was a more aggressive struggle next to her, and just like that, Batman and Robin had taken down Nova and Poison Ivy.

What did you think when you made me this way?

What do you think when you love me this way?

Hold me so close when we get to the gates

And we'll be together forever and evermore