The six cocoons surrounding Batman were suddenly forced open from by the inmates within, roused to action by Ivy's call to arms.
To his left and right, he could spot an assortment of inmates, TYGER guards, even GCPD officers emerging from their shells. Encircling the fatigued vigilante, they awaited orders from their queen while surrounding him from all sides.
"My loves, please welcome our dear Dark Knight to our garden. Rip him apart!" Ivy ordered from inside her chamber.
"Yes Ivy," they obeyed collectively, before lunging at Batman.
The first TYGER guard who took a swing at him only punched air as the master fighter ducked underneath his armpit and countered with a kidney punch before finally knocking him down with a spinning heel kick to the jaw.
Batman's eyes darted from left to right as two Two-Face henchmen both simultaneously lunged at him from both sides.
Ducking both blows, he shot back up with a swift double uppercut that rocked each thug. As they crumpled down, Batman sensed an approaching inmate coming at him from behind. Ducking the blow, he answered back with a brutal forearm to the face.
To his right, another Penguin thug lashed at him with a wild haymaker. Using the thug's own momentum against him, he ducked the blow while picking him up in a fireman's carry.
He effortlessly tossed him to the ground but not before landing a cruel side kick to his spine, propelling him directly into the wall. He limply bounced off the wall and crumpled to the floor.
Coming at him from the left, a GCPD officer aimed a low kick at him. Deliberately restraining himself, Batman parried the kick with his own leg before grabbing his face and smashing it into his raised knee.
Another police officer managed to catch him by surprise from behind, locking a potent sleeper hold on his neck. As he flexed his muscles against Batman's neck, a Penguin thug advanced towards him.
Before he could connect with his fists, Batman suddenly lifted both knees up to his chest, kicking off the attacking thug back with both boots to the torso as leverage to send both him and the officer backwards. Losing his balance, the officer collided with the wall, loosening his grip over him. Batman quickly capitalized with a brutal elbow to the face that would've dropped a grizzly bear.
As he slumped back against the floor, he turned to the last standing Penguin thug who groggily made his way up to his feet.
Not waiting for him to attack, Batman lunged at him, rolling on his shoulder and springing to his feet mere inches away from his face. Before he could react, the Dark Knight landed a hard head-butt on his face, before wrapping his arms around his torso, and slamming him into the ground. Grabbing one of his arms, Batman stomped down on his face, knocking him unconscious in one fluid motion.
He casually adjusted his gauntlets as he looked back at his work, before turning to the seething plant queen herself.
"You weren't supposed to do that Batman," she pouted bitterly.
"You're next Ivy," he growled, stalking towards her angrily.
"I think they'd disagree," she purred, gesturing towards the ground.
The second Batman took his next step, his honed instincts kicked in. He could feel an earthquake rumbling underneath his feet, and he knew all too well what happened next.
CRACK! With a cry, the vigilante leaped backwards, performing an agile backflip in the process. Landing on his shoulder, he managed to roll to his feet, a Batarang in one hand.
Mere seconds afterwards, a flurry of vines exploded out of the ground, the animalistic vines converging into a thorny mouth at its center.
Erupting from the floor like a volcano, the assortment of vines circled around Batman, the vines dancing around his body. It started to resemble some sort of tree stump, with its center being covered with thorns. Without warning, the vines lunged at him, the jagged edges aimed at his torso.
Seconds before throwing it, Batman pressed a red button at the center to activate its second function. Hurling it at the plant monster, he started to roll backwards, but some of the vines reached him first, ensnaring him around the ankles and wrists. Grunting, he collapsed on his sides, the vines starting to wrap around his body.
"You're ours now Batman," Ivy purred seductively, laughing hysterically as the vines started to drag him into the mouth.
Just as she said that, the Batarang lodged into one of the vines exploded into a fiery fist. The monster emitted a loud shriek as the explosion knocked it backwards. Almost subsequently, Ivy let out a shriek, the same agonizing pain also affecting her due to her empathetic link with the plants.
The vines dispersed in the midst of the blast, weakening its foundation. The vines loosening around him, he drew another Batarang and began slicing the now limp vines off his body.
Quickly rising to his feet, he turned to Ivy, who was absolutely fuming behind her chamber.
"You'll pay Batman," she growled irritably.
Her words ever prophetic, a lone vine shot out of the ground, wrapping around his ankle. Yanking him off his feet, the Batman fell flat on his back as the vine dragged him backwards.
"You of all people should know darling," she started, perhaps pausing for dramatic effect.
Just as she said that, another plant monster burst out the ground, this one even larger than the first. Even more vines wrapped around his body, coiling around his waist and legs and pulling him into its mouth.
"Kill one of us, and two more shall take its place," she grinned.
This time however, the vines managed to wrap around Batman's wrists, preventing him from using his belt. Struggling valiantly, he soon found himself entangled within Ivy's monster, unable to escape its thorny wrath.
He grunted as one of the vines wrapped around his neck, strangling him. Grunting with the thorny vines pricking his throatplate, he tried to free one of his hands to free himself, but to no avail.
Batman continued to struggle as the vines continued to constrict around him, tightening their grip as Ivy laughed at his plight.
"After we're done choking the life out of you Batman, we'll destroy your precious Gotham!"
"Never!" he vowed, his resiliency being his only weapon at this point. The vines had now tightly wrapped around his ankles and wrists, rendering him completely helpless to escape.
Now with its prey in its grasp, the vine monster began to slowly reel him in, the vines dragging the Dark Knight along the floor despite his fervent struggles.
"As you humans grow weaker, we will grow stronger!" she sneered, pleased at the plants utter dominance over Batman.
With no utter alternative, Batman wrestled for control over his left hand, forcefully dragging it over to his utility belt. Gritting his teeth, he finally managed to touch one of his pockets, just as the vines dragged him into the mouth of the monster.
"My children will enjoy feeding on you, Batman!" Ivy cackled, as he disappeared within its mouth.
Suddenly, a grappling hook shot out of the mass of plants, the hook embedding itself within the above gargoyle. The hook propelled the battered Batman up and away from the jaws of his own demise.
Battered but unbowed, the Dark Knight emerged from the hostile vines and into the air. Propelling up through the air, he glanced down at the vines who continued to pursue him.
Just as they started to touch his heels, he hurled another Batarang down below him, but not before dialing a quick succession of dials on the projectile.
With a clank, the Batarang embedded itself in its mouth, a familiar beeping sound emitting from the Batarang.
"NOOOOO!" she wailed, sensing what was happening.
But not even the plant queen could interfere, as the Batarang exploded immediately.
The vines tried to scatter but to no avail as the explosion caused the monster to dissipate, the now scorched vines flailing around before dropping to the floor.
In the midst of it all, Batman managed to grab onto the gargoyle, wrapping his forearms around it and pulling himself up. He didn't get much grip on the gargoyle before Ivy gestured wildly at the recovering Batman.
Not even a second later, two more vines exploded out of the ground towards him.
Narrowing his eyes, he launched off the gargoyle just as the vines speared it, tearing down the stone where he was just at and demolishing the statue. His cape extended in its symbolic form, he glided back to the ground nearing Ivy.
With a grunt, he managed to land on the floor, pounding the ground with his fist in a crouched position as he gazed up at the shielded redhead.
Drawing a Batarang, Batman started to aim it at the chamber but the temptress flickered her eyes behind him.
The same two vines to circle back around towards him. he quickly hurled the Batarang at the vines, rolling to his side as the Batarang cleanly decapitated both plants in one motion. He rolled to his feet with another Batarang drawn, but for once, Ivy was one step ahead of him.
A spore blast slammed into him mere seconds away, connecting with his upper torso. It instantly knocked him back to the ground.
"You'll have to do better than that, Batman!" Ivy taunted, her face gleaming insanely as he skidded across the floor.
Groaning, he clutched his sides, still singing from the blast. Luckily, his body armor lessened the damage, but only to a degree.
"I need to take out those two before I get to Ivy," he thought to himself, glaring at the two monstrous Venus plants guarding her before formulating a new strategy.
"Face it darling, my babies know all your moves. You're predictable, meat-sack, and that's why you will lose." she continued to mock him, not noticing his fingers closing around another one of his gadgets.
Batman replied by rising up to a knee with his Remote Electric Charge gun in both hands.
He quickly squeezed the trigger, releasing an electrical discharge directly at the Venus fly trap. As soon as it connected, the fly trap convulsed violently as discharges surged through its body. Between convulsions, it started to leak out fluids.
"Nooo!" Ivy cried, pressing her palms against the chamber as the irony of her words began to come back to haunt her.
Finally, it exploded in a loud bang, the remains splattering against the wall.
Now standing, he fired another discharge towards the second Venus fly trap, watching it too implode with similar symptoms.
He then turned towards Ivy's pod, preparing to fire an electric charge at the chamber with the horrified villainess looking on.
But just before his finger could touch the trigger, a vine out of nowhere suddenly whipped the gun out of his hands, causing it to spiral to the floor, and out of his reach. The vine then proceeded to lash at him before he could retaliate, landing a stinging blow right to the face and sending him flying backwards.
As he rolled over on his belly, he managed to dispatch the vine with a Batarang before it could continue to attack him. The two halves of the vine landed innocuously on the floor, allowing him time to recover albeit with a slight cut on his lacerated lip.
"You're running out of tricks darling!" Ivy sneered.
"That's what she thinks," he thought defiantly, his eyes darting up to the stone gargoyle conveniently hovering about Ivy's protective shell.
Before she could continue to taunt him, he rolled to his feet with his patented Batclaw in hand.
Just as she started to summon more of her babies to attack him, he quickly fired the hook directly at the gargoyle, the cable now taut as it pierced the stone. With the gargoyle hooked, he then began pulling the line back the statue of its hinges.
Ivy merely smirked, her hubris blinding her to what was happening. And that was the way Batman wanted her, oblivious and pre-occupied. With both hands yanking back on the line, he was starting to see cracks on its legs, signifying that he was making progress.
"You think that your 'toy' will save you, little man?" she purred arrogantly.
Finally, he managed to pull the stone gargoyle down, much to Ivy's unsuspecting regret.
"You're starting to a-" she started to say, just before the gargoyle collided with the chamber pod.
Caught off guard, Ivy mentally lost control of her creation as the impact from the collision sent her headfirst into the chamber wall. The plant writhed in pain, uttering screech after screech as visible scratches started to well up on its sides. In its blind confusion, it crashed back into the wall, sending debris flying down to the floor.
Her body slammed against the chamber as the collision jutted her forward one last time, breaking her concentration.
Its captain momentarily incapacitated, the monster plant collapsed loudly on the floor. The vines that were trapped underneath its massive statue feebly tried to escape, but to no avail.
Wiping a line of blood off his face, Batman shelved his Batclaw before approaching the grounded Ivy, his hand once again reaching into his utility belt. After a dramatic pause, he revealed his Explosive Gel gun, the item of Ivy's undoing back at the asylum, and just as much here.
Hastily yet cautiously approaching her chamber, he couldn't help but hesitate after gazing at her limp form, her back slumped against the wall almost unconsciously. But considering how much of a threat she was, it was simply no time for alternatives.
Sighing, he began to spray the wall in the form of his iconic bat motif, his hand gliding along the chamber as the gel began to stick to the pod.
The noise rousing Ivy, she instantly opened her eyes as an extreme sense of Deja vu began creeping up her spine. Lunging at him futilely, she pounded at the wall, almost pleading with him.
"No please! Don't do it Batman!" she pleaded, her voice nearly cracking.
Backing away with an unsympathetic look, he raised the gun to her horror with his finger on the detonation button, only for the absolute worst-case scenario could materialize.
A lone vine suddenly grabbed his wrist, preventing him from pressing the trigger and ending Ivy's threat for good. His eyes widening in surprise, he tried to pry his hand lose, only for another vine to wrap around his neck. Strangling him, the two vines succeeded in preventing from harming their mother.
Another vine wrapped around his waist, as well as his ankle. Collectively, they managed to lift him above the ground, before catapulting him backwards. As he was hurled back, he could feel the Explosive Gel flying out of his fingers.
He landed hard on his back, dust scattering as his head bounced off the concrete. As he was skidding across the floor, he spotted the trifecta of vines still lunging towards him, and with his quickfire draw, shot three Batarangs out of his waist in quick succession, each one severing a vine.
Pushing himself up to a knee, he quickly spotted the Explosive Gel detonator, just feet away from him.
Desperately, he made a lunge for it, but he wasn't the only one.
A larger vine instantly pounded it into the ground just as he reached it, crushing the gun in one fell swoop. His eyes widened in shock at the now destroyed remnants of the detonator, the weapon now meaningless to him, with the remaining Gel now splattered all over the floor.
"Aww, looks like I broke your toy," came Ivy's taunting sneer, visibly pleased that her adversary was now without his greatest weapon against her.
Seething heavily, he turned to see Ivy, who had taken advantage of the sudden change in momentum and willed the plant monster to rise again. Her pitiful whimper had vanished, replaced by a smug grin painted across her face.
"Now, what are you going to do, little man?" Ivy purred, once again out of his reach.
He glared irritably as he was once again being drove back by Ivy, who had, to her credit, managed to turn him back at every turn. She had been more prepared, with a counter to his attack, a defense to his offense.
Noticing his fatigued expression, she erupted in a triumphant chorus of laughter.
"Don't tell me the big bad Bat is getting tired. Perhaps you finally realize that your flesh and bones are simply no match for Mother Nature. Don't worry, darling, this will all end for you soon enough," she declared triumphantly.
Deluded and egotistical as Poison Ivy was, he had to admit she was right on one thing: it was time to end this.
He didn't have long to dwell on the sentence, as she symbolically raised her arms, causing an even more monstrous Venus plant to erupt from the ground like a volcano.
Towering above her own carrier plant, the behemoth roared to life as it exploded out of the floor, nearly knocking the Dark Knight off his feet. He cast a glance at the REC just as the breakthrough of the ground caused it to slide towards the wall and out of sight.
Twin branches peeled off of its skin, each one brandishing foot-long spikes decorated on its sides. As it extended to its full height, it maneuvered its snake-like body in front of Ivy, protecting her. A green liquid seeping from its mouth, the plant monster immediately lunged at Batman.
Instinctively throwing himself backwards, Batman landed on his shoulder and rolled to his feet as the Venus fly trap snapped at the ground where he was just standing at with its jagged teeth.
A Batarang in one hand, he seamlessly threw the projectile at the roaring beast. Predictably, the Batarang bounced harmlessly off its thorny sides.
If anything, it only seemed to annoy the behemoth, which retaliated with a thorny vine lashing out at him. He managed to throw himself to his right, but not before the vine managed to just barely clip him on the shoulder.
Wincing as it's thorny exterior bit into his shoulder, the blow knocked him off-balance but he was still able to roll back up out of further harm. He briefly looked at his shoulder, a wicked-looking scar stitched into his suit. And the vine just barely grazed him.
The plant monster then lifted its makeshift branches and brought them down at his feet. The thorns attached to its branches detached from their source, now functioning as sharp projectiles against the resilient Batman.
He instinctively threw himself to the side just as the deadly volley of makeshift arrows reached him. Maneuvering his body in mid-air, the thorns just barely whistled his face as a result. Unfortunately, he caught the tail end of a few stray ones just as his shoulder hit the floor.
Rolling to his feet, he grunted loudly as he yanked out the thorns now partly embedded in his sides, instantly causing a surge of pain that coursed through his battered body. He sorely felt the spot where the object had first penetrated his body.
Snarling, he threw the thorns away and instead clutched his sides, managing to crawl to his feet.
"Did that hurt love?" she chided, relishing in Batman's plight before addressing the floral behemoth.
"I don't think he's suffered enough yet," Ivy commanded, pointing her finger at Batman.
Obeying its mother, the plant monster lashed its branches at Batman, once again unleashing another wave of thorns.
In a stunning act of agility for a man his size, Batman leaped backwards in a fluid back flip, curving his body in mid-air to make sure that his hands hit the ground first. After landing on his feet to evade the initial bombardment, he rolled backwards to avoid the next wave of projectiles.
He winced out loud as a sizable thorn barely managed to clip him on the shoulder, the blade tearing clean through his suit as it just made contact with his bare skin. Clutching his shoulder, his eyes darted to the closed operating area where an idea hatched in his mind.
Before the plant monster could throw another volley at him, he clambered to his feet, breaking into a frenzied run towards the wall.
"You thinking running will save you, my little Bat?" Ivy laughed, as he continued to run towards the wooden barrier. Launching himself into the air, he wrapped one arm around the top, before quickly pulling himself up and over.
"There is no running from Mother Nature, meat-sack," Ivy snarled indignantly, prompting the plant monster to dive directly at the wall, its jagged teeth aimed at him.
Sensing its impending arrival, he took off towards the brick wall as the monster crashed through the barrier sending wooden splinters everywhere. He continued to run nevertheless, with the behemoth literally on his heel.
Before it could ensnare him, he suddenly bolstered himself up, running up the surface just as the monster collided loudly with the same wall.
Just as the monster recovered from headbutting the wall, the caped crusader kicked off the wall and landed on its neck, wrapping his arms around its neck for support.
Realizing the added weight on its neck, the plant monster shrieked in pain as it tried to shake him off, wildly moving back and forth and left to right. Batman could feel its thorny body pricking his suit, but he refused to succumb to it.
With a grunt, Batman kept a tenacious vice grip around its neck as he reached for his utility belt.
"What are you doing?" Ivy cried, as it retreated back into the open sanctuary.
In order to keep a more solid grip over it, Batman drew a Batarang, stabbing it directly into its neck. It roared in agony as he impaled the weapon through its flesh, only augmenting its struggles.
Using the Batarang for support, he managed to drag himself atop its head, right where the important organs were. His legs were constantly swinging on and off its body, but he managed to hold on. Batman cocked his fist high above his shoulder as he searched for a weak spot in its thorny armor.
"No... stop!" Ivy shrieked, instantly realizing what was happening. She wildly gestured her arms at Batman, commanding a group of vines to start to warp around his ankles and wrists.
But before the vines could get a good grasp on him, Batman plunged his fist directly through its flesh, sinking his arm down deep to get a good grip. He could feel its inner liquids soaking his arm, but he finally relented when he felt his fingers wrap around something circular.
Straining slightly, he retracted his arm, pulling out the literal heart of the monster. He immediately crushed the orb in his hand, emitting a wail from the monster as well as a subsequent cry from Ivy.
Jumping off the now dying plant, he landed roughly on the ground as the monster continued to writhe, twisting its body as its fluids leaked down its skin. Rolling to his feet, he glared at the dying creature.
Finally, it collapsed to the ground in a twisted heap, wailing one last time before its head splattered against the floor. Ivy stared in utter disbelief as her ace in the hole, her last pawn, fell victim to the Dark Knight.
Brushing some fluids off his shoulder, he turned to see Poison Ivy, who suddenly clutched her stomach in pain, almost leaning against the pod. Her playful, seductive grin was gone, as well as her smug laughter. Her face was now livid with rage, and she wore an impregnable scowl. She pounded the pod angrily as she glared at him resentfully, her eyes gleaming with fury.
"My plants are endless Batman! You've only killed one, but I can summon thousands with the snap of my fingers. You cannot beat Mother Nature!" she seethed defiantly, commanding even more vines to burst out of the ground.
Seeing no other alternative, he reached into his belt and pulling out his last resort: a freeze grenade.
Ivy's eyes widened and tried to use her vines instead as a protective shield. But alas, it was too late.
With a cry, he hurled the grenade at her protective shell, before the first of her vines could reach him.
It latched on to the pod, an icy blue gas starting to emit from its container as it did so. Her eyes widened in fear as she gazed at the grenade.
"Please Batman...don't...not my baby," she pleaded, her seductive purr absent in favor of a begging plea.
She pounded weakly at the chamber as the grenade prepared to detonate.
CLINK! In one fell swoop the grenade exploded, covering her protective chamber in an icy shell. She staggered backwards as the ice wave obscured the chamber, clothing it in a ghostly white. Ivy was barely visible in the icy prison she was now entombed in.
"W-w-what is this?" she stammered, the temperatures within her chamber dropping quickly. Ironically enough, her shield against Batman had now become her own undoing.
"You're a scientist, Ivy. Plants can't survive under sub-zero temperatures; they're practically naked in the cold," he taunted her, relishing in the horrified look that she shot him.
Clutching her sides, Ivy began vibrating violently, her body unnaturally convulsing as the cold started to get to her. Her bare legs trembling, she was too cold to even concentrate on summoning her plants, her only advantage. She even breathed out a ghastly white, instead of her usual pink dust.
Falling back against the wall, her entire body shook as the temperatures dropped to unprecedented levels. She tried crossing her arms together, but to no avail. She was trapped inside her own creation!
"No, wait Batman! Don't hurt my baby!" she pleaded, just as she started to collapse to the ground. She could barely feel her legs, and the look of defeat on her eyes told the entire story. Despite her predicament, she pounded the chamber with her palms, trying to will the creature to break through the icy prison. Unfortunately for Ivy, the plant creature was just as frozen as her.
Still clutching his arm, he slowly walked towards her. Ivy desperately gestured at him, but she was too cold to even concentrate. Ivy was simply a witness to her own defeat.
"Y-you can't stop us Batman! Kill one of us, and more of us will take its place. Besides, what do you think that you can do to me in here, protected by my plants? You can't hurt me!" she claimed wildly, mentally willing the chamber to retreat out of his range despite her shivers.
In one hand, Batman drew one last Batarang, dialing one last combination behind his back.
"I'm counting on it!" he growled, cocking his arm back to throw the Batarang at her.
"No," she whispered hoarsely, as he threw the Batarang at the frozen chamber.
With a clink, the Batarang embedded itself within the ice, the red button now blinking as it prepared for detonation. She hopelessly touched the spot where the Batarang had penetrated the ice.
"You brought this on yourself," he replied simply, right before the detonation.
BOOOM! The explosion sent the chamber lurching backwards violently, Ivy being slammed backwards as well. The plant monster itself wailed in pain as the impact sent it slamming into the church organ, the rubble created from that falling on the ground. It then slammed into the wall, emitting another screeching cry.
"Noooooo!" she wailed incessantly, as her creation literally came tumbling down, repeatedly smashing against the wall until it was too weak to support itself.
As soon as it slammed against the church organ, the sharp pipes punctured several openings on its rear. It wailed in pain, involuntarily slamming against the wall again, slamming Ivy's head into the chamber. Stunned, Ivy's empathetic link with the creature severed.
Batman shielded his face as the falling rubble rained down around him.
Finally, the plant monster uttered one last shrill shriek before starting to collapse to the ground, for good this time. Smashing into the wall one last time, it plummeted directly towards him.
Grunting, he threw himself backwards just as the chamber crashed into the floor.
Rolling backward on his shoulder, he continued to edge back until it came to a complete stop, just a few yards away from him. Green fluids seeped out of the now creature, lining the floor around him.
With Ivy finally out of the equation finally, he turned to the captive medical team, who were evidently watching the entire confrontation play out.
"You alright?" he said grimly. Most of them stared at him in open awe, still dumbfounded by the duel while Cash nodded in appreciation.
He then turned back to the fallen chamber, his eyes managing to spot Ivy, who was barely able to crawl out of the fleshy wreckage. The impact must've woken her up.
He sighed perhaps out of pity for the former botanist as she maneuvered her body out of the broken chamber. Clutching her sides with one hand, she managed to pull herself out of the wreckage.
While the humidity of the sanctuary had warmed her back to normal, he could still spot some shivers running through her body.
Almost instinctively, she crawled over to the fallen plant monster which had been defeated by the Dark Knight, her motherly tendencies kicking in. Almost dejectedly, she held one of its vines in her arms, stroking it softly.
Still wincing loudly, the victorious Batman managed to clamber to his feet. Clutching his bruised sides, he reprimanded himself for underestimating the eco terrorist, letting his overconfidence once again get the better of him. He had been expecting a much more subdued, weakened Ivy, but instead, he was taken to his physical limits.
If anything, Ivy was anything but subdued, the evidence of that claim still embedded within his abdomen. Noticing the pain now with his adrenaline back to normal, he yanked out another spike which had lodged itself in his side and tossed it away.
Taking a breath, he walked towards the equally battered Ivy, who was still tending to the limp vine.
"It's over Ivy," he said simply, still feeling the effects of their battle. Naturally, she ignored him, instead gazing blankly at her now destroyed creature.
"My children...my family. You murdered them, " she finally mournfully, her hands still gripping the limp vine. Her voice was no longer the seductive purr, or even the overconfident sneer, only a dejected, almost broken murmur.
Batman cautiously walked over to her, not letting his guard down.
"You left me no choice. You had hostages Ivy, you had to be stopped," he pointed out.
"They would've murdered innocent people," he pointed out, but he knew that she was in the midst of one of her mood swings. At this point, there was no negotiating with her.
"You killed them. You...all of you...you're all monsters," she whispered, still clutching the vine.
Hidden from his view, she silently broke up one of the foot-long thorns still attached to the behemoth, grasping the blade close to her chest with the Dark Knight cautiously approaching.
"It's over. Get up," he repeated, starting to place his hand on her shoulder.
"They did nothing to you…THEY DID NOTHING TO YOU!" she suddenly screamed, turning towards him, her eyes livid with rage.
Before Batman could react, the now feral Ivy lunged at him, aiming the blade at his torso.
Instinctively moving out of the blade's trajectory, the Dark Knight easily sidestepped the desperation slash.
Ivy's surprise attack had not come without consequences, as her flow of momentum had betrayed her. She lost her footing, and as always, Batman capitalized.
Without hesitation, he grabbed her wrist, sharply twisting it behind her back as leverage against any comebacks. The villainess cried out in pain as he tightened the wristlock. Out of desperation, she struck at him with her other free hand, her next and final mistake.
Batman easily caught the blow in mid-air, now pinning both wrists together.
She tried desperately to squirm out of his grasp, but with a mere wrench of her arms upwards Batman maintained dominance.
Defiant even in defeat, Poison Ivy struggled against his grasp, twisting and thrashing her body back and forth but he held firm, noticing the weapon still in her hand.
"Drop it!" he growled viciously in her ear, his tone indicating that he was also willing to drop her.
Reluctantly, Ivy did drop the weapon, the blade clanging against the floor.
Asserting control, Batman quickly landed a sharp kick behind her knee, forcing her to kneel with her arms now completely restrained.
Nonetheless, the struggling began to subside, and Batman was able to relax his grip on Ivy, who finally succumbed to his hold.
She gazed desperately at a scorched vine, smoke still dissipating over it.
Tears inevitably welled in her eyes as the vine remained motionless, as did all the other plants in the church.
Unsympathetic to her cries, he produced a pair of handcuffs from his utility belt, finally able to apprehend the redheaded vixen.
Without hesitation, he pinned both wrists together with one hand, using the other to loop her hands with the bat-shaped restraints. With ease, he was able to lock both hands together with a familiar click.
"You'll pay Batman. You'll pay for hurting my babies. I'll enjoy burying you in my garden, along with your precious Gotham!" she spat resentfully.
"Get up!" he growled, roughly hoisting her back up and pressing his fingers against his cowl.
"Jim, Ivy's been dealt with. You and your men are clear to enter," he informed the Commissioner.
"My babies will grow again Batman! And when they do, I'll make sure you die very...unhappy," she vowed.
"I'm sure," he replied sarcastically as the doors to the church burst open.
