"I still don't think bringing Dr. Quinzel was a great idea," spoke up Dr. Nygma from the backseat of the car.
"Look, if you've ever seen a horror movie, the biggest mistake everyone makes is leaving the vulnerable person alone, or with someone useless to guard them," retorted Dr. Joker. "That's a surefire way to lose that person, and I ain't losing Dr. Quinzel."
"But to bring her into the center of danger like this, when she's the one Ivy wants to possess, doesn't seem like the smartest move to me," retorted Dr. Nygma.
"Well, it's actually ultimately my decision, so stop talking about me like I'm not here," said Dr. Quinzel. "And I am not being left alone when I have this threat of possession hanging over me."
"I told you, after that shot I gave you, it would be highly unlikely for you to be possessed again," retorted Dr. Nygma.
"And I told you, I don't feel any different, so I don't know that it worked," said Dr. Quinzel. "I don't think this spirit or goddess or whatever is the type to just release me without a fight."
"Yes, judging by this carnage, she's fairly vindictive," commented Dr. Crane, as he drove them past ruined and wrecked buildings consumed by giant vines.
"So what's the plan?" asked Dr. Joker. "Just start blasting any of these weird plant things we see?"
"According to these readings, the energy is getting stronger," said Dr. Tetch, who was holding a device out the window. "We just need to find the point where it's strongest, and attack there, because that's probably the point where Ivy's plants will have originated from. If we can hit them at the source, not only will we hopefully halt the invasion, but the other plants will undoubtedly be drawn back to defend the portal. Then we can destroy them all in one fell swoop."
"Assuming they don't get us first, of course," said Dr. Nygma.
"God, you are such a downer, aren't you?" demanded Dr. Joker. "Do you just have no faith in your own inventions or what?"
"No, my proton packs will work perfectly," sniffed Dr. Nygma. "I just don't know if the four of us will be able to take down so many enemies without them taking us down first."
"Five of us," spoke up Dr. Quinzel.
"You don't have a proton pack," retorted Dr. Nygma. "I'm not giving one to a potentially possessed woman."
"There you go – having no faith in your abilities again," said Dr. Joker. "Are you saying your shot didn't work?"
"Again, I believe it did, but who knows what kind of strength this entity has in her own territory?" said Dr. Nygma. "Maybe she feeds off these plants, maybe she can channel them to feed off Dr. Quinzel and possess her again. I have no idea what this thing is capable of in terms of power because I have no previous data to extrapolate from. She is a goddess, after all, a supreme being, and we're fairly foolish for choosing to go up against her."
"Just a ray of sunshine, swear to God," muttered Dr. Joker.
"Well, he is right – the odds are against us," commented Dr. Crane.
"If we don't succeed in stopping Ivy, Dr. Quinzel, as well as the whole world, will be lost," said Dr. Tetch. "Therefore we have no choice. We must succeed."
"The world can go to hell," retorted Dr. Joker. "But I ain't losing Dr. Quinzel to some moldy old plant goddess."
"I'd rather we didn't lose the world either," retorted Dr. Tetch. "There," he said, pointing. "As I suspected, the origin of the signal is coming from Dr. Quinzel's apartment complex."
"Yeah…I think we coulda guessed it was all coming from there even without your little machine," said Dr. Joker, slowly, as they pulled the car up in front of the building, which was now completely covered in vines and creeping ivy, so that you could barely tell there was a building underneath it. At the top of the building, a swirling, green vortex hung ominously overhead, and occasionally bizarre and vicious-looking plants would slither out of it.
Dr. Nygma opened the trunk and took out four large backpacks with guns attached. "Here," he said, handing one to each of them. "Whatever you do, don't cross the streams, and don't shoot it at anything you don't want to die. Assuming that it can die, of course."
"Your building has an elevator, right?" asked Dr. Joker, looking up at the top far above them.
"Judging by the plant infestation, it's probably out of order," said Dr. Quinzel.
"We have to climb a hundred flights of stairs with these on our backs?" asked Dr. Joker. "The nerds are gonna faint."
"Actually, that is very likely," agreed Dr. Tetch. "And deeply ironic that we'll probably be defeated before we even get to face the enemy. We should have brought a grappling hook or something."
Suddenly, several plant vines shot out from the building, wrapping themselves tightly around the five of them and dragging them up to the roof.
"Hey, lucky break!" exclaimed Dr. Joker. "Maybe the Plant Lady's all right after all!"
The vines dropped them on top of the roof, and Dr. Joker slowly straightened up. "Or maybe not," he finished, noticing the ring of giant venus flytraps which surrounded them.
A beam of green light suddenly shot out from the portal, enveloping Dr. Quinzel and dragging her forward toward the plants.
"No!" shouted Dr. Joker, grabbing her, but the pull of the beam was too strong, ripping her out of his arms.
To their surprise, the venus flytraps bowed to her as she passed. They saw her blue eyes flickering across her panicked face as she stretched out her arms to Dr. Joker. "Please help me," she whispered.
And then the green infected her eyes, and her face turned hard and cruel. "Pathetic mortal fools," she spat, glaring at their guns. "You dare challenge me?"
"That's right!" snapped Dr. Joker, raising his gun and aiming it at her. "You bring Dr. Quinzel back right now, or you're getting a face full of positivity!"
She smiled coldly. "This body is now mine," she murmured. "I have destroyed Dr. Quinzel, and now I will destroy you."
She raised her arms, and Dr. Joker suddenly fired at her, shooting her straight in the face. The beam knocked her back, and she hit the wall, winded. Her face twisted in fury.
"You show some strength," she growled, standing up slowly. "Are you a god?"
"No, just an incredible genius who invented a ray that works against gods," spoke up Dr. Nygma.
She smiled again. "Then it will be so much more rewarding to crush you," she growled, raising her arms again.
Her plant vines suddenly seized them, dragging them toward the edge of the building. "Shoot the vines and not each other!" shouted Dr. Tetch.
"No promises!" snapped Dr. Joker. They managed to disentangle themselves from the vines before they could drag them off the edge, and Dr. Joker rounded on Dr. Nygma furiously. "Eddie, when someone asks you if you're a god, you say yes!" he shouted.
"I'm not going to let people think my genius is because of some supernatural reason!" snapped Dr. Nygma. "Frankly, I'm just so much smarter than everyone else!"
"No, a smart person would have lied!" snapped Dr. Joker. "You're an idiot who nearly got us killed! Now I'm gonna go teach this ancient bitch a lesson!" he said, storming back over to her. "Last chance, sweetheart!" he said, raising his gun again. "Bring back Dr. Quinzel, or you're gonna get this times four!"
She smiled again. "I will not risk harm to my new body," she murmured. "So I shall not destroy you personally and risk injury due to some pitiful attempt at resistance against your extermination. I shall leave it to your choice."
"Leave what to our choice?" demanded Dr. Joker.
"You must choose the form my destroyer shall take," she replied. "I leave that to be your final decision before you and the rest of the worthless meatsacks of this planet are wiped from the earth by Mother Nature, in other words, me," she added with a smirk.
"You know, humans are part of nature too, so wanting to wipe us from the earth makes you a pretty terrible mother," commented Dr. Joker.
"Perhaps," she agreed, nodding. "Or perhaps when a mother realizes she's given birth to a monster, she has a duty to destroy it before it can destroy the rest of the world. Which I will now, so choose the form. Merely think of it, and it will appear."
"Uh uh, lady, I ain't thinking of nothing!" snapped Dr. Joker. "My head's completely empty!"
"Some would say that's your usual state," said Dr. Nygma.
"You're not helping, Eddie!" snapped Dr. Joker.
"Your companions will choose," she continued, turning to them.
"Well, that's not fair – it's impossible for a genius such as myself to empty my head of all thoughts," retorted Dr. Nygma.
"The form has been chosen," she said, nodding.
"Wait, what did you think of?" demanded Dr. Joker, rounding on him.
"Nothing specific," retorted Dr. Nygma.
"What about you, Johnny?" demanded Dr. Joker.
"I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought," replied Dr. Crane.
"I guess women do have that effect on you," retorted Dr. Joker, nodding.
They all turned to look at Dr. Tetch. "Tetchy?" demanded Dr. Joker. "What did you think of?"
"I…I couldn't help it," stammered Dr. Tetch. "It just popped in there."
"What just popped in there?" shouted Dr. Joker.
"I…I was thinking of nonsense poetry, from my favorite book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and the poem that the Dormouse recites at the Mad Tea Party, which begins, 'Twinkle, twinkle little…" began Dr. Tetch.
They suddenly heard a thud behind them, and the building they were on shook. "Is it a giant star?" asked Dr. Joker. "Giant dormouse? Giant teapot? What is it?!"
Dr. Tetch shook his head slowly. "It's…the Batman," he stammered.