Revelations of destined meetings notwithstanding, Dr. Jason Woodrue had problems of his own. All over the city, news casts and special alerts flashed brightly on building side LCD's, with the scrolling words Justice League To Speak On Recent Hacking Scare Of Orbital 'Watchtower.'
As Woodrue watched from the skyscraper hotel near the old entertainment district where he had once lived, the figures were moving solemnly onto the screen: The god-like Superman, the warrior called Wonder Woman, the red and gold clad Flash, the glowing Green Lantern and the the orange-clad, fish-god that the world called Aquaman. The five of them joined a sixth, silent member who awaited on the stage, the green Martian Manhunter.
They were all assembled in the massive auditorium of the Gotham City Convention Mastery, surrounded by no less than almost five thousand attending journalists, politicians, tourists… everyone who came to worship these false gods.
Superman walked forward towards the microphone, a grim expression upon his face, and began to talk. "At midnight last night," he said, "sensors placed in a surrounding proximity to the Justice League Watchtower picked up unusual anomalies within its radar systems. These anomalies were the result of a major hack which brought down our system under the control of a foreign entity. The signal was traced to Gotham City, and a message was transmitted to Watchtower personnel. The message has promised vital information on the whereabouts of wanted criminal Jason Woodrue, and Intel on the current development of a massive biological weapon being manufactured to secure an attack on the people of Gotham City." Superman paused for a moment, biting his lip, and then continued. "The message indicated that we make a public announcement at this press conference before the information can be released, and the unknown entity has assured us that this is no joke."
"We aren't happy with following a ghost blindly," Manhunter offered, his tone dark, "but as it stands, a major threat has been issued against the people of Gotham City should we refuse to present ourselves before these people. If Gotham City is indeed under the threat of attack, we will do what we can to appease these foreign terrorists in any way that we can…"
Superman nodded. "We are therefore ready to receive the information. Whoever has transmitted this message to us, and demanded this press conference, the world is waiting."
He went silent and stood backwards.
Woodrue watched intently, his tree-like body quivering in fierce fear. This could not be happening. This could not be happening at all. When W had first warned him that the Justice League was dropping into the city, he had known that he had to be ushered away from the main base. W was managing things there now. But what Woodrue had failed to accept was that the League could be of any real danger. He had thought their sudden need to address the city was a temporary inconvenience that would only put him off of schedule by a day or so. Now…now everything was changing before him.
Just who knew of his whereabouts….and what was this of a biological weapon…?
Surely, so very surely, they couldn't mean-
The massive LCD that stood behind the League suddenly lit changed from the camera shot of the League to something entirely different. A photograph was being displayed on the screen… and Woodrue knew right away that the photograph was not on the part of the televising crew. It had been hacked, that screen, as well as this broadcast… and in that moment, Woodrue knew the true terror of this foreign entity…
A photograph of the Rilee family. Lasetta beamed at the crowd from the left side, planted firmly in the loving arm of her father. On either side of Woodrue stood two of his top research officials, who gave their boss horrified looks.
And then a robotic, filtered voice, electronically devious in sound, began to address the people: "What you see before you," the voice said, "is the biological weapon that you have been warned about. You see her there, smiling…laughing, even… the girl on the left is named Lasetta Rilee… and she is going to bring hell upon Gotham City within a very short amount of time, as her masters perfect her and the deadly capabilities she will display…
Woodrue…wanted to scream.
"I would like to thank the people of Gotham, and the Justice League, for accepting my invitation to speak to you all today, to highlight to you the danger that Lasetta Rilee will bring upon this city and beyond. Jason Woodrue had taken her and transformed her into a creature capable of mass extermination. He will use her against this fair city and then move on, stirring deadly chaos within a few short months, for you see, her body has been transmutated to channel extreme amounts of poison, a conduit that will spread across the ecosystem and mutate whole forests and wild lands. This is a very real danger, and Woodrue aims for nothing less than this mass extermination."
No… no, this could not be! This was not happening! It must not happen!
"S-sir-" one of the officials began, her voice trembling. Woodrue silenced her with a fierce look.
"Jason Woodrue is currently hiding in Gotham City," the voice continued, "and lives among you even now. He has brought this deadly weapon back with him, ready to be unleashed onto the people at a moment's notice. The research that made this possible was taken from the studies of one Pamela Lillian Isley, known to the public as mass murderess "Poison Ivy." Woodrue and Ivy may possibly be collaborating, and immediate assistance from the military may be necessary to contain these criminals before they and their experiment can escape the city."
"Furthermore, it is believed that an agent has infiltrated Woodrue's ranks and is currently working to steal the specimen under Woodrue's very nose… I wonder what his reaction would be like, if he were to discover that this news broadcast was merely a way of getting him out of the place he has so happily kept his secret garden girl… I wonder how he would react if he realized the truth about W…"
Woodrue froze. Rooted to the spot…was an understatement. A boiling, cosmic rage was suddenly burning with a furiosity like no other!
"GOD…NO…!"
"I would like to further state…that this broadcast is being transmitted by someone of great importance. An old friend of Gotham… who will stand beside this city and fight Woodrue alongside its people. Never believe that a city's friend ever truly goes away forever."
And suddenly, the screen flashed. The photo of the Rilee family vanished… and in its place, something all too familiar… something that suddenly aroused the greatest blast of noise from the people of Gotham.
It was a simple insignia. An insignia of a bat.
Woodrue felt faint… and dangerous.
The members of the Justice League were suddenly whispering amongst themselves in utter joy, their faces stunned with desperate hope.
"Jason Woodrue," the voice said, "is currently holed up in the Mason Hotel in the entertainment district of Gotham. League…go to work."
"NO!" Woodrue screamed, jumping up and shaking with rage. "THIS IS NOT HAPPENING! THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN!"
"We have to run, now!" the female official cried. Her companion fully agreed. Woodrue, his head snapping in her direction, shrieked like the most terrible banshee…and his hand slithered forward with snake-like movement. The force of that strike sent the woman flying backwards, and she smashed right through the open glass of the hotel room. She fell screaming forever, stories and stories and stories to the concrete so very far below. The male official tried to flee, screaming for his life, but his own scream all too quickly joined the woman's deathly song as Woodrue reached forward and picked up the man. He was sent down to join her on the ground far below.
All the while, Woodrue was screaming, "BETRAYED! BETRAYED! FUCKERS! WORTHLESS FUCKERS! WORTHLESS! BETRAYED!" His head snapped down, and he saw that the League had vanished from the screen, and that the broadcast had concluded.
He had to run. Oh God how he had to run!
While the conference had begun all the way across the city, at the observatory, Wesker and Anassa watched Pamela Isley descend the elevator, both of them smiling darkly to themselves. Today was the day. Wesker had pushed forward his plans to extract Lasetta. He would allow Ivy to make contact, to familiarize herself with Lasetta… and then both of them would be loaded into a truck, and whisked off to a secure base in Europe. Spencer was eagerly anticipating the meeting of both women.
Wesker had to congratulate himself what his accomplishment. Hacking into the League's satellite had been no easy task, and had only been possible thanks to Anassa's aid. Having Bruce make that recording had been even better. Now the city would be united under the flag of their Caped Crusader. Wesker knew that soon, Bruce would have to make his return to the public in full. And that was okay with him. He would never trace Wesker. He would never be free. He could be controlled remotely, that would not be an issue. He and the Cat both. They would be his ultimate agents, his soldiers against Woodrue as the man made his desperate attempt to flee the city. Ivy would be disappointed about Wesker's broken promise about her getting to kill Woodrue herself…but very soon, Poison Ivy would not be feeling a thing other than the fierce electro sharks of artificial suggestion…forever.
"Watch her closely," Anassa whispered to him, squeezing his hand firmly, "and know that something right is at hand." Her mind, however, was filled with everything doubtful, though she tried so very hard not to show it. She could only think of Luna… and what was to come next. Luna had been meant to act as an essential part to Lasetta's enhancement. The Joker… wherever he was hiding, he wanted something from Anassa, and was biding his time, waiting for the first move to be made. She wanted to leave even now and search the city, but Lasetta had to be monitored carefully. She and Albert had sprung the plot early, and Woodrue would be coming back for them soon enough.
So it was that she watched in anguish as Pamela entered the garden.
Pamela found herself collapsing inward at the abundance of life before her, flourishing so strong and sweetly inside of this colossal kingdom of flora. The dirt under her feet felt incredible and inviting. She was home in this place, this temple to Woodrue's greatest creation. The goddess, then, lived inside of this hall of wonders. As she walked, the plants bent down to her will as she called out to them, recognizing her as their superior and sighing, stretching out their green necks and allowing her to caress them with her fingers. Vines slithered about on the ground. Flowers turned to regard her as she passed.
She followed a lightly colored, green path through the heavily hanging brush and the many fruits that decorated the limbs, and found her way into a private grotto. Above, on the walkway outside, the two Weskers studied the scene carefully.
Pamela reached the centerpiece of the magnificently pink and golden grotto. Before her sat a massive clump of magenta vines, writhing, alive, extending out forever in bulk and consistency. All around the great sphere of flora there spewed out deadly green gas. Pamela inhaled the poisonous smog that had killed so many other people and felt a rush of energy and joy as the poison tainted her bloodstream and bonded with her pores. Silently, passionately, she removed the dress and became appropriately naked, falling to her knees before the poison spewing clump.
The vines burst forward at once, opening up like some divine door, and Pamela beheld her goddess. Dark skinned and perfect, she was everything that Wesker had promised. Lasetta's smile was evident upon green lips, and she descended now, her eyes filled with such happiness and love. Lasetta came onto the ground before Pamela, only inches apart from the redheaded Floric, and reached out with a trembling hand.
Pamela allowed the goddess to touch her hair…her neck…her lips…her cheeks… It was as if Lasetta were making absolute sure that Pamela were really were. Pamela's hands planted firmly against the dirt, her head bowing low, idolizing this manifestation of Mother Earth.
"Goddess," she whispered at last, her own voice shaking. "I am your servant."
Lasetta beamed, her teeth flashing. "You're the friend that W told me about," she whispered. "The friend who would come and- and not get hurt by me…" She giggled a little. "It's been really bad, you know, being trapped in this place without being able to touch… but now you're here." Lasetta sat down on and placed her arms upon her knees. Pamela studied the girl so closely. Her skin, her glowing eyes, the deadly poisonous cloud that constantly emitted from her body… and how every time she so much as shifted, the ground would burst to life with brilliant green flowers and black ivy, which would slithered and crawl to join the infinitely growing flora… Lasetta was everything that Pamela had always seen within the goddess Mother Earth.
And now seeing her, Pamela felt her heart go cold. Not for Lasetta, for she had idolized Lasetta back when the woman had only been an idea in her head. Now, the coldness shifted up there, to the walkway. She glared up at Wesker… and suddenly hated him.
Hated him because he had aided in keeping this brilliant goddess locked away.
Hated him because he had helped Woodrue shun Mother Earth from the world.
Hated him because she knew, deep down, that Wesker would never allow Lasetta to be free.
Fuck that, she thought, gazing back at Lasetta. I won't let him.
"I am a friend," she said at last, taking Lasetta's hands in her own. Gosh how the poison that seared into her skin felt! It was like receiving life, like receiving wisdom! Taking in the Mother's power… she wanted to see that power in true action! "Behold," she told Lasetta.
Pamela reached out an arm, willing and calling out. The plants around the room came to her, beckoned by her very call, desperate to feel the touch of their superior kin! Ivy, vines, flowers, dirt, it all burst freely forward and came to Pamela, entwining her and Lasetta, overwhelming them both and hiding them away from the eyes of the world.
Lasetta was breathing rapidly, eyes wide and face filled with utter joy. "You are my sister," she whispered.
"Your servant…your sister…your daughter…I must be all I can be," Pamela whispered back, placing a kiss upon her goddess's hand. "Lasetta…Mother Earth!"
"What's your name?" Lasetta asked quietly.
"Ivy. Poison Ivy."
Lasetta exhaled deeply. "Poison Ivy… I love it!" She shook with teenage glee. "It's so radical and bad!" She giggled. "You're like a rebel!"
"I am… I can be," Pamela assured her. "I'm going to free you from this place. I'm going to bust you right out!" Her teeth gnashed in the intensity of her promise. She would kill the entire world to see Lasetta free… and perhaps with Lasetta by her side, she could accomplish just that.
Lasetta punched the air happily, crying out and laughing. As she did, explosions happened all around them as massive ivy tendrils erupted from the ground, spiraling them both into the air in a mass of writhing vines. Pamela felt power and divinity descend down upon her with the proximity of such a fine goddess as Lasetta! They rose higher and higher, ascending towards the glass and the fierce stares of the two Weskers. Albert looked sullen; Anassa was nervous.
Pamela had recognized Anassa at once. Valere Frazeer. Memories of that day had come back to her almost at once upon seeing Anassa. The amusement park… and the incident with Donovan Ventimago. That had been the night she had first met the newly improved Alissa Jagner. That had been the day she had seen Valere Frazeer, the wonder acrobat, performing her impossible stunts before the tent-clad audience. Now everything made sense… and in a way, came full circle, confirming Pamela's regards that Mother Earth had a desperate plan for her. Valere Frazeer, the sign of power and impossibility, the woman who had awed her and given her insight to the greater powers… now, with this happy reunion, she knew it had always been meant to be, that it had always tied her back to Wesker and back to Lasetta. While "Valere" was not necessarily a key, she was something more important: a reminder.
The vines carried the two women right up to the glass, and Lasetta gleefully put her hands against the side of the greenhouse and beamed at her two favorite Weskers. "She's everything I hoped she would be. Thank you for this, W!"
Pamela smirked. "I was always meant to see you again," she said to Anassa. "Valere Frazeer, the true wonder woman. This is called destiny: a trace of the unreal, of the unimaginable. Mother Earth predestined this."
"I wish I could agree," Anassa said dryly, smirking herself, "but I have no belief in such entities."
"Believe or not believe, Valere Frazeer, you were destined to see me again. I see now the connection: you were an omen of Wesker."
"If you say so. Your power, your control, it's all so wondrous like Lasetta. I look forward to working with you, now that I've seen what you can do up close."
Pamela tilted her head. "Oh? And what do you mean, dearest? Why don't you tell me? How will the two of us work together?"
Wesker stepped forward. "I wish for you both to take the elevator now. We need to be leaving. The transport truck is prepared now and ready to cart us off to the airport. We'll be in Paris by tomorrow morning."
"Oh, we're going to Paris?" Lasetta looked at Pamela excitedly. "Do you hear that, Ivy? The city of love…" She smiled deeply, and her face began to descend into what Pamela could only describe as reminiscence. She turned in the air and leaned against the glass. "A city for lovers and- and passion-and…and…" But she suddenly stopped talking. Her face had suddenly went dark, and her smile faded. Anassa looked around at her curiously.
"Lasetta?" she asked. Pamela studied her goddess closely.
Lasetta looked puzzled about something, as if something were biting her and she could not quite place her toxic fingers on what. "Of love," she repeated again, frowning in concentration. "There's that word again…"
The vines were starting to lower now. She and Pamela were descending down, down, down into the shadows of the greenhouse. Wesker glared down at them darkly… but he did not speak. He did, however, check his watch impatiently. Ten minutes since the broadcast from Bruce. Woodrue would be making every attempt to return even now. And the other researchers would not stay downstairs forever…
"What is it?" Pamela asked when the two of them had settled down into the shadows once more. In the intense shade, Lasetta's eyes glew so brilliantly… She was the most beautiful thing that Pamela had ever seen.
Lasetta shook her head slowly. "It's… I don't really know, truth be told… but every time that world pops up, I get this odd feeling. A sad feeling… and that feeling usually has something to do with the memories…"
Pamela frowned. Memories? "Tell me," she inquired.
"I don't really know myself. But for a while I've been getting all sorts of glimpses. Memories of an older life, of an older time. One of them is about a boy, a boy named Olivero, and me… and we do things…" She grabbed her head and stared intently at the ground. Flowers and vines bloomed and crawled to her to give her comfort. Pamela continued to study Lasetta very, very closely… and as she did, there were realizations that were hitting her, deep, deep down inside of her soul. A fire, a smile, began to glow.
I understand, she thought to herself. "You were in love…"
Lasetta beamed at her. "I did love him. That much is clear from the memory. I loved a human boy once…"
"I love many human boys," Pamela replied. "They have so many uses for us."
"But this was different… I feel like something bad happened, Ivy… something bad that took him away from me…"
Pamela was no longer smiling on the inside. It had actually reached her lips. Her lips, glistening and lovely. Her lips, more poisonous than ricin. Her lips, a form of mutated biology, courtesy of one-
"-Jason Woodrue," she finished the thought out loud. Lasetta nodded.
"Daddy… I think Daddy did something…"
"Don't call him that, please, goddess. Jason Woodrue is not deserving of your attention anymore. Lasetta… I imagine he never told you any form of truth, did he?"
Lasetta's head snapped up. "Truth?"
From above, Wesker and Anassa suddenly looked at one another. Now that the two women were not concealed within the thick brush of ivy, the bugs placed around the greenhouse were transmitting proper signals to the earpieces they wore… and oh God how they heard Pamela's words.
"We're leaving now," Wesker hissed. He began to move fast, walking so quickly towards the end of the walkway, Anassa close on his heels.
Down below, Pamela was nodding.
"Do you realize the truth of this entire mess, Lasetta? Of why you were hidden away in this dark little corner of the world? Because you were kidnapped. Kidnapped… and forced into something bigger than you could ever have imagined. Kidnapped by Jason Woodrue… and turned into an experiment."
Lasetta fell backwards, eyes wide, lips trembling. "W-wha-uh… huh…?"
Pamela grinned, glancing upward. As she had predicted, the two Weskers were moving fast on the walkway, heading for the elevator. So they had been listening in. She stood…as did Lasetta.
Pamela exhaled deeply, remembering everything that Wesker had told her about Lasetta Rilee…and her family. "Jacquez Rilee. Oregon Coupe de Grace. Hotels. Maria Rilee. Olivero Fransisco… Olivero Fransisco…"
"…married…"
Pamela and Lasetta both froze. One was frozen in delight…the other in truest wonder.
"..married…" Lasetta said again, looking anguished and grabbing at her head. "What…why…?"
"Married, yes," Pamela agreed. "Olivero was your fiancé, wasn't he? You had a rich family, a rich fiancé, a rich life indeed. The world belonged to you. And then Woodrue came and took you away. Took you away, with W- Wesker's- help."
Lasetta gazed up at the two Weskers, who were quickly stepping into the elevator, their lab coats flying behind them frantically. A burning rage began to grow inside of her.
"What?" she whispered, shaking her head. "W…Wesker…kidnapped me…?"
"He certainly helped, yes," Pamela whispered back. "Anassa, too, I'd wager. They took you and experimented on you. Stole your life away…and made you into this. And you know I'm telling the truth. Talking about your family and about Olivero is reminding you, isn't it? After all, you just said the word "married."
"Oh, no…" Lasetta collapsed onto the ground, grabbing her legs fiercely with shaking hands, eyes wide and filling with green tears. All around them, her plants were going crazy. They whipped about violently and hissed, aggravated that their kin were in such desperate moods. In the distance, the elevator was zooming down. Pamela quickly bent down before Lasetta.
"Your name was Lasetta Rilee, and you had a life before Woodrue took you away and stole everything from you… and now it's up to you to take that life back."
Lasetta looked up at her incredulously, green flooding out of her tear ducts.
"What…w-what do you mean!?" she asked desperately. Ivy, standing above her and smiling darkly, raised her arms.
"Look at this place. Look at your children. You owe it to them…and yourself…to fight back against the people who stole your life away. Start now. Destroy this place. Destroy this place and the people who hurt you, who experimented on you and took everything away! Kill them, Lasetta…" And she offered Lasetta her hand. "I'll help you."
In the distance, the elevator doors burst open, and the two Weskers rushed forward.
"DAMN IT, WOMAN, STOP!" Wesker was roaring, Anassa's face twisted with savage rage. "DON'T TELL HER ANYTHING MORE!"
Lasetta stood up… and she was looking at the two Wesker with an impossible exasperation in her features.
"You did this!?" she roared, her teeth gnashing, the green poison exploding out of her pores in a massive cloud of death. "DID YOU REALLY DO ALL OF THIS!?"
The two Weskers were held at bay as Lasetta's vicious, snarling flora blocked their way and struck violently at them. The cloud was expanding and explanding…
"DID YOU DO THIS!?" Lasetta roared, her eyes and soul suddenly alight with the fire of hatred. "YOU STOLE EVERYTHING FROM ME!?"
Pamela nodded darkly, her fist clenched in triumph. "They all did, Lasetta…they all did…"
Lasetta screamed the most terrible, shrill siren imaginable… and the plants all surged forward at once, intent now on decimating the apprehensive Wesker duo.