Alright, boys and girls. Let the smackdown commence. It's Batman v. Wonder Woman. Who will win?
PART FIVE
So, in summation, Poison Ivy now appeared to be a full fledged metahuman with a primordial connection to the Green. Her plants were taking root and soon she would have a connection to plantlife across the globe, which would likely lead to disaster for all mankind. And to top that off, she also had Wonder Woman under a pheromone induced thrall.
Even immobilized in the grip of Ivy's vines, Batman wasn't too worried about Ivy establishing her global connection. In approximately forty-five seconds, that problem would be taken care of. What concerned Batman was the fact that Ivy had mental control over arguably the second most powerful being on the planet.
For the moment, Ivy's attention was focused on Diana, who was still wound tightly by vines.
"I feel you now," Ivy said to Diana. "I feel you connected to the Green. Your mind is now linked to mine and... Oh my." A terrible smirk appeared upon Ivy's lips as she cast a glance in his direction. "All those pent up emotions. All directed towards...Batman." With feigned sympathy, she said to Diana, "Oh, my dear. How he's abused you so. Just like a man. That must offend your Amazon sensibilities. Why don't you make him understand exactly how you feel?
"Yes, Ivy..." Diana murmured.
Ivy grinned. "Mmm. Good. That's my—"
Her thoughts were interrupted by a sound. A loud whistling, coming from the south. She immediately turned a hateful gaze upon Batman.
"What did you do?"
Batman smiled tightly. "Crimson Protocols."
Never let it be said Batman didn't thoroughly prepare. Despite the fact of Ivy's supposed death, he took pains to ensure he'd be ready should she ever arise again. The Crimson Protocols were what he devised.
The backbone of said protocols was the military grade drone currently en route to their location. This drone carried four canninsters of Spectremaldehyde-B, a variant of a potent commercial herbicide developed by Wayne Enterprises. This herbicide was designed to attack and destroy any life dependent on chlorophyll.
Naturally, Batman hadn't planned on the changes to Ivy herself. But that's where a good old fashioned warning came into play.
"Pamela...run."
Half a mile south of the condominium, the drone released the canninsters. Each cannister contained a propellant, and thus were able to spread wide and create the spread necessary. And since each cannister contained hardware that received and calculated weather variables, such as windage, they determined the exact location and altitude in which to detonate.
And detonate they did. From each exploded a fine green mist. Ivy watched in horror as the first particles touched down at the very south end of the condominium. Flowers and vines and trees that once rose high over rooftops began to whither and rot before her eyes.
"My babies!"
The howl of despair that escaped her lips cut him deep. This wasn't an action he wanted to take, but it was a necessary one. His eyes found Ivy's. This time he allowed emotion to slip into his voice.
"Pamela. Go."
Ivy screamed with rage. But she heeded his advice. And not before promising, "We'll meet again, Batman." The blossom deposited Ivy to the ground, and the woman took off quickly to the north, away from the incoming mist.
The mist continued to descend, permeating the landscape. Ivy's Eden cried out its death throes. And just as quickly as it arose in life, it collapsed in death. The two Justice Leaguers were unceremoniously dropped to the asphalt.
First hurdle jumped. Now maybe he would get extremely lucky. Maybe with the demise of Ivy's Eden, her pheromone hold over everyone would break.
But when Diana's eyes found him, Batman knew, it was not his day to get lucky.
"You," she snarled.
"Hell," was his reply.
Like a rocket, Diana launched at him. But Batman was ready, having extracted a few flashbang pellets from his belt. His aim was true, and the phosporous balls ignited in Diana's face.
With a howl of pain, she crash landed, her body impacting asphalt and creating a twenty foot long trench before finally coming to a stop. As she rose unsteadily to her feet, stars appeared in her eyes, the white hot pellets temporarily overloading her retinas.
Batman bought himself thirty seconds. Once Diana regained her vision, he'd have an enthralled, angry Amazon bearing down on him. Batman used the time to race for cover, bolting inside the nearest house, and tried to formulate a battleplan.
Batman was supremely confident in his combat abilities. There wasn't a hand-to-hand combat tactic in the world that he didn't know of, and only a few he couldn't claim mastery over.
In training exercises and sparring sessions, Batman routinely defeated Diana in scenarios where she "powered down". That is, when she purposely forewent using her Olympus derived meta abilities. And even during sessions where she went full power, Batman won often enough to severely frustrate the Amazon.
Against a fully powered Diana, Batman depended on quick strikes and submission maneuvers. When he won, the fight was over quickly. It was the drawn out affairs that resulted in defeats.
The knowledge that he could defeat Diana even when powered did little to comfort Batman. Because during training exercises, there were rules of conduct. Neither combatant used illegal maneuvers or those which might lead to severe injury. In essence, they fought fair.
And this definitely wasn't a training exercise. This was live combat. And during a real fight, Batman knew, fighting fair was a good way to get your ass kicked.
In the past, Ivy's pheromones had proven to have a shelf life. After a certain period of time, their effects wore off. However, depending on the potency on the compound, an individual might be entralled for fifteen minutes or longer.
In boxing terms, that was five rounds. And confident as he was in his abilities, Batman held no delusions that he could last five rounds against a fully powered, combat ready Amazon. And now, with Ivy's powers ramped up into the meta range, he had no idea if any of the old rules still applied. For all he knew, Diana would remain in her control until she was forcibly snapped out of it.
So he needed to end this fight quickly and decisively. Past experience had shown the best way to cure an enthralled victim of Ivy's was to introduce as shock to the system. Force the person's consciousness to rise through the haze of Ivy's pheromones.
Somehow, Batman didn't think splashing water in Diana's face would do the trick. A few flashbangs sure as hell didn't. He needed something big, something powerful, something...
Well, shocking.
And suddenly, Batman had devised a plan that would likely get him killed.
"Batman!" Diana bellowed. "Come face me, coward!"
Unfortunately, his plan involved doing just that.
"Look at what you've done!" she cried. "Is this what you do to every woman you meet, Batman? Destroy their spirit and soul?"
And of course Ivy's pheromones tended to reduce her victim's inhibitions. This was gonna get...interesting.
"Ivy merely wanted a place in this world to call her own. But you couldn't even grant her that. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Bruce Wayne, the infamous Playboy of Gotham, unsympathetic to the wants and desires of the women he so casually abuses. Were this Themyscira, we would place your head upon a pike before the Temple of Athena."
Okay, he needed to end this. Now. He stepped into the open front doorway of the house. "Diana-!"
Like a bullet, Diana was airborne and rifling towards him. Batman reached for the front latch of his utility belt, opening the compartment and pressing a button. He then braced for impact.
The Amazon led with her fists, impacting square into his chest, gripping his uniform. But she didn't stop there. She carried him, flying across the living room, slamming him through the outer wall. Continuing across the backyard, then the front yard of the next house, before slamming him through the heavy wooden door and skidding to a stop.
And so Batman found himself flat on his back upon an atrociously colored carpet, an enraged Amazon atop him, her hands wrapped around his neck. Every bone and muscle in his body ached. Thankfully, if this plan didn't work, he wouldn't have to worry about pain for much longer.
"To think I've wasted my time on you," she growled. "A man so stubborn, so self-absorbed that he would refuse a gift from the gods themselves. And you do so without a hint of regret or compassion."
Batman's gauntleted hands grasped feebly at Diana's wrists, trying to remove her hands from around his throat. The pressure was slowly building. Even if he survived this, his neck would be bruised for weeks. And he might be unable to talk for days. Looking into her eyes, he saw she was gazing into his. The fury, the malice. She was savoring slowly crushing the life from him.
"Diana..." he gasped.
"Shut up!" she spat. "Do you know how it feels every time you deny me? Every time you so casually discard my affections? It feels like I can't breathe. It feels like being crushed." Her face was but inches from his now. "I want you to feel how I feel."
"I'm sorry," he managed to choke.
"Yes!" she screamed. "Beg for forgiveness! Tell me how sorry you are for destroying my heart and soul! Die with your sins confessed."
"Am...sorry...for hurting...you," he admitted. "Also...sorry...for this."
Suddenly, Batman's hands were on either side of her head, and what felt like a bolt of lightning coursed through Diana's body. She let loose an ethereal howl of pain, her hands releasing from around his neck. But Batman kept a firm hold.
The button he pressed on his utility belt engaged a thirty second timer. That timer was tied into an emergency defense program installed into the costume of every Batclan member. Ordinarily, the program only engaged whenever the suit's biometric readings indicated its wearer was dead, unconscious, or otherwise incapacitated. In the event any third party tried to remove the suit without an override command, the suit would discharge up to ten thousand volts as a countermeasure.
And every single one of those volts was being discharged into Diana.
It felt like eternity, but the suit only retained enough charge to sustain five seconds. But even once the electricity was depleted, Diana's scream of pain continued for a few seconds longer, until it finally segued into a gasp and whimper, and she collapsed in a heap upon his sore and bruised chest, her head falling into the crook of his shoulder.
"Ow," he groaned.
About ten seconds later, Diana began to rouse back to consciousness. Her hair wild and frayed, her cheeks flushed and pink. Obvious effects of the electricity.
Batman knew all about struggling to breath. He felt it everytime he looked at her.
"Still want to kill me?" he gasped.
With the slightest of grins, "No more than usual."
Batman chuckled. Bad idea. It hurt like hell. Diana gasped, the realization of what she'd done hitting in force.
"Oh God, Bruce... I'm so sorry-"
"S'okay. You were under Ivy's control."
Diana remained laying atop him, gazing down. It was almost intimate, romantic. Except-
"No offense, but I'm injured and you're heavy, so if you would...?"
"Oh!"
Diana rolled off his chest, but didn't go too far. His left bicep made for an excellent pillow. They gazed upwards to the ceiling, mostly torn away. Something had obviously grown up through the roof, exposing the night sky.
"I see Perseus," she said.
"And Cassiopeia," Batman put in.
"It's a lovely night."
Batman hummed agreement. "You don't get this view in the city. Smog."
They laid on the floor in comfortable silence for several minutes, occasionally pointing out stars. It wasn't exactly the date Diana had imagined, but it was certainly gonna be a memorable one. Finally, Batman groaned and shifted his position.
"I hate to spoil our evening, Princess, but can we teleport to Watchtower infirmary? I think I'm bleeding internally."
END PART
Hope that was good for you as it was for me. The finale, part six, is getting the polishing touches today. It should be ready to go tomorrow sometime. If you enjoyed this part and the story thus far, please, review. It might prompt me to work on other plot bunnies I have hopping around.