The General would prove to be critical in Ivy's plans. The frighteningly random and unorthodox strategies of Grievous would serve her army of plant creatures well. They would certainly be more responsive to his more unconventional and chaotic tactical style than droids. While she was staying in this universe, however, she had another recruit that she was hoping to pick up. One exceptionally strong in control of an energy field much like The Green; the dark side of the Force. If she could keep him in line, he'd make a fine 2nd in command. Perhaps they could even teach each other how to master their respective powers.
"Brainiac!" she ordered from her newly designed throne room, covered in a insurmountable number of plant species. "We have one more rest stop to make before we leave this galaxy. Take us to the Mustafar system in the Outer rim."
"Yes, mistress.", the cold, soulless machine echoed to the walls of the ship, as it beamed its way to the inhospitable lava planet. Ivy rose her hand to the window of her throne room as flowered vines dispersed from the glass, allowing her a view of the planet below. She looked with disgust at the molten, smoking Hell below here, an ungodly brew of machinery, sandy beaches and molten lava. Surely, nothing could grow in this backwards wasteland. Perhaps this is what the Earth would grow to look like after some time had it not been for the intervention of The Green.
After taking in the wretchedness of her surroundings, Ivy's eyes settled on her champion and knight; Anakin Skywalker. He and his former master, Obi Wan Kenobi, had been circling each other, engaged in heated banter as tensions boiled. An apple tree lowered its branch to Ivy, dropping a fresh Golden Delicious apple into her hand. "Dinner and a show." she laughed to herself, as she took a small bite out of the fruit, smiling as she chewed.
Obi Wan ignited his lightsaber, causing Anakin to tense up, preparing to make his own move. He reached for his weapon, pushed the button on the hilt and...Nothing. His lightsaber had appeared to be malfunctioning, a rare, but not unheard of, occurrence. Ivy's eyes widened, she'd have to get Anakin out of there quicker than expected.
"Brainiac, beam Skywalker out of there immediately!"
"As you wish, mistress."
A soft green light fell upon Anakin, revealing Brainiac's gigantic ship looming above him. The wind generated from the machine's engines blew all around the two Jedi. Obi Wan gasped in disbelief and confusion, Anakin was frozen in shock. After a good 12 seconds, Anakin was beamed up, his particles seemingly disappearing. Then, as soon as the ship had appeared above Obi Wan, it vanished, teleporting who knows how far away at light speed.
Anakin gasped as he re-materialized in the throne room. Still in shock, he could do nothing but look around his surroundings to try and assess the situation. They were simultaneously mechanical and natural, a kind of greenhouse containing all manner of fauna, but with the walls and ceiling lined with all manner of alien technology that even he didn't recognize.
"Hey, handsome," an alluring voice purred. Anakin turned his face to see a pale, radiant, red haired woman. She wore a kind of skintight biosuit covered in all manner of bright, fluorescent colors, a thorned crown hung on her head. As much as it shamed him to admit, she was even more beautiful than his Padme, a thought he internally cursed himself for expressing.
"Where am I?" Anakin asked, confused and alarmed. "What is this place? Do you work for the Chancellor?"
Ivy rolled her eyes. The very idea that she'd work for that meatbag was insulting. "I'd be caught dead before I submitted to that louse." she scoffed. "I serve none but The Green."
Anakin raised an eyebrow. Obviously, this woman displayed incredible power, perhaps on the level of his own master, but he had never heard of any Galactic organization going under the name of The Green. "'The Green?'" he asked.
"It's a kind of elemental energy field connecting all plant life.", she explained. "Similar to the Force. Which is why I sought you out. I am Poison Ivy, the Green's Chosen warrior and Queen. You waste your talents serving a Master who benefits nothing by being honest with you. I offer you all that you want and more as a successor."
"How can you possibly know what I want?" Anakin asked. This was hardly the first time he had been duped by someone in power who had offered him his desires. He had no intention of being deceived again.
Ivy walked over to Anakin slowly. She extended a hand to her mouth, as if to blow a kiss, before blowing a small cloud of pink smoke in Anakin's face. He coughed and gagged at first, the inhalant taking quite an effect on his lungs. When he returned to his senses, his heart practically skipped a beat. Padme stood before him, looking just as he remembered, only with a slightly greenish skin coloration and wearing nothing but a loincloth of leaves.
"P-Padme?" he practically cried. "I'm so sorry, I..."
Before he could finish, Padme kissed him, fogging hid mind up with beautiful, flashing colors, putting him in a state of dreamlike euphoria. Her lips tasted like the finest honey, better than they ever have before. When she pulled away, she stepped back to reveal two children. Toddlers. Presumably his own. Their cute little mouths opened in shock as they ran toward their father.
"Daddy!" they yelled, Anakin's arms extending before he wrapped them up in a warm, tight hug. The Chosen one cried tears of joy, this was the happiest he had ever been. Was this woman, this goddess, really capable of all of this?
Ivy walked up beside Anakin, smiling coyly. She snapped her "I can grant you all of this, Anakin." she vowed. "You stick around as my 2nd in command, teach me what you know of the Dark Side, I'll teach you my knowledge of The Green. There are many ways I can save your wife, I assure you. And, if not, I can certainly bring her and your children back. Back and better than you could possibly imagine."
Anakin turned to Ivy, falling to his knees still in tears at what he had just witnessed. "How can I trust you?" he asked. "I can't afford to be let down again. I've lost too much."
Ivy lifted Anakin's chin up slightly. "Because I have a clean slate." she explained. "Palpatine, the Jedi, they lied to you for years. You just saw first hand how powerful I am, and I don't have over a decade of gaslighting against me."
Anakin nodded. When he listened to the Jedi Council, his mother died. When he listened to Palpatine, he almost killed his wife. Ivy, stranger as she was, was the only person he had to turn to anymore. "I pledge myself to your teachings, my mistress." he vowed. "I will serve the cause of The Green."
Ivy smiled, kissing his forehead lightly. "That's a good little boy," she cooed. "And good little boys always get what they're promised."
Ivy walked away from Anakin confidently. He had been even more submissive than she hoped. "Where are you going, mistress?" Anakin asked.
"Just checking on your General." she explained. "Feel free to come along. It will certainly make things less awkward later."
'General?' Anakin thought to himself, as he followed his new master to the lower, basement levels of the ship. As the door automatically opened upon their arrival, Anakin was shocked and horrified upon his discovery; General Grievous, still alive, hovering in a bacta tank with his formerly metallic features encased in bark.
"GRIEVOUS!" Anakin screamed.
"SKYWALKER!" Grievous roared.
"Glad to see we're making progress." Ivy mused. "The transformation should be entirely complete in about an hour."
Anakin pushed past Ivy, slamming on the bacta tank hard enough to cause a slight crack. "I'm going to end this, once and for all!" he growled.
"I was hoping for the chance to kill another Jedi before leaving this galaxy, Skywalker!" Grievous seethed.
Before either of them could do anything, Anakin quicjly felt a vicelike grip take hold of his throat. A vine had wrapped around his neck, gripping tightly enough to almost burn. Simultaneously, Grievous felt a sharp, piercing pain echo throughout his entire nervous system, causing him to howl in agony.
Poison Ivy looked upon the 2 former enemies in burning anger. "Anakin, you are no longer a Jedi, are you not?!" she asked.
"N-No, mistress." Anakin choked out.
"And Grievous, you no longer serve the Confederacy of Independent Systems, do you not?"
"Of course not, mistress!" Grievous cried out.
"Good." replied Ivy, coldly, as she released her grip of pain on the pair. "Mother Nature can be as punishing as she is rewarding. The world you knew is at an end. I brought you into my team because you are both invaluable assets. Behave yourselves, and I promise you, you will be rewarded. And I assure you, this is a team you are on. A betrayal of your teammates will be treated as a betrayal of myself. And a betrayal of myself will be treated with slow, painful death. I have no time for your childish, masculine games."
With that she stormed out of the room, Anakin and Grievous lay silent for a moment. Finally, Anakin spoke up.
"You aren't worth it, Grievous." he bluntly told him. "I have more important things to concern myself with than a droid who dreamt he was a general. You're a tool to be used and discarded. If Ivy doesn't realize that now, she will soon."
Grievous laughed sinisterly in response. "Where's the fun in killing you now, Jedi scum? You'll slip up like you always do, Skywalker. Ivy will see for herself that you're hardly the hero you pretend to be. And when she does, I'll be the one with the lightsaber in hand to watch you fall."