Ivy's Arkham Asylum
Batman emerged from the remnants of his cave on Arkham Island unscathed, but it wasn't from lack of trying by Ivy's plants. He allowed himself a chance to crack his neck before steeling himself for his next objective, taking down Ivy. Thankfully, his Batcomputer had been able to synthesize a single dose of Titan antidote, ironically from a plant that Ivy had helped him find. After surviving Killer Croc's to obtain the rare plant, he had thought the worst was over, but suddenly his secret cave on the island had been destroyed by vines that could only have come from one person, despite her being in a severely weakened state when he had last left her.
The reason for Ivy's newfound strength soon become clear. She had obtained Titan herself, and was now trying to recreate Arkham in her image. Even though Joker still had control of the main complex and had a small army of Titan-ready prisoners with him, Batman knew that stopping Ivy had become his new top priority. This had been after dealing with Harley Quinn, Scarecrow, Bane and several other of Gotham's most dangerous adversaries. He was in peak physical condition, but even he didn't know how he was fighting off the fatigue was beginning to set in. He needed to stop Ivy and then the Joker, and he needed to do it fast.
Batman put two fingers to his ear, contacting Oracle back on the mainland. "Barbara, I need to go after Ivy, what's the status of Joker's men in the visitor center, will they be a problem?" He growled.
"Heat signatures indicate that he's pulling his men back, it looks like they're all coalescing inside, but Ivy's plants are interfering with my sensors in the main greenhouse. I can't tell you what you're walking into, you need to be careful."
Batman grunted in reply. "Don't worry, I've beaten her before."
"Not when she's been on the Titan formula!" Oracle exclaimed. "Look at how quickly her control of plants returned after getting it, who knows how else its effected her...other powers."
Batman gave a quick chuckle as he grabbed his Batclaw, he needed to get a higher view. "I developed an antidote to her pheromones long ago, don't worry. She may have grown stronger, but I'm still one step ahead of her." Batman shot his grappling hook near the top of the clock tower and shot up, using the speed to activate his cape glider as he sped past the clock face. As he glided to the gardens, he used his bird's eye view to try to take a better assessment of the island, and it looked worse than on the ground. Oracle was right, the grounds were almost completely devoid of escaped prisoners, but only because the handful that were there were made quick work of by giant, bulbous plants that would open to shoot deadly spores at anyone foolish enough to get too close.
"Good news Oracle," Batman said in his earpiece. "Ivy doesn't have any new tricks up her sleeve at least. When she tried taking down ACE Chemicals last year, she used the same plants that are covering the island."
"Hmmm, we may have gotten lucky. Perhaps Ivy's natural immunity to poisons and chemicals is suppressing some of the more power effects of Titan. It may help her recover her powers, but her own immunity is keeping it from enhancing them like it does to others...."
Batman gently landed down on top of the stone structure, silently taking a vent cover off. The closer he could get to Ivy before she knew he was even there the better.
"I still think you should be careful," came Oracle's from his earpiece. "She might be trying to fool us."
"Relax Barbara," Batman said, starting to get annoyed. "After all I've already been through tonight, Ivy will seem like a cake walk. I have the Titan antidote with me and ready to go, I just need to get close enough to inject her."
He crawled through the vents quietly, noticing it was already much more humid than last time he was here. Ivy's plants were already effecting the inside atmosphere.
"OK, according to blueprint records, the vent straight ahead should bring you right outside the greenhouse where Ivy is holed up, but like I said, I can't prepare you for what's there now."
Batman dropped down do the floor silently, but his fatigue must have have been affecting him, he didn't notice the large plant on the ground until it had already opened up to shoot a spore. Luckily he reacted quickly, diving right out of the way before it hit the wall he had been right in front of. In a quick motion he threw a Batarang that pinned one of its open leaves to the wall and quickly reached down to the opening and tore out its center, killing it.
As soon as he did though, the walls trembled as an agonizing scream shook the ground. "Damn you, Batman!" An angry, feminine voice called out, seeming coming from the leaves covering the walls. "You'll pay for hurting my children!"
Batman grimaced, Ivy had always had a connection to the foliage she grew around her, but he had never seen her actually be able to talk through it before. "Ivy, I can't let you destroy this Island!"
He put activated the Batvision on his cowl, hoping it would reveal something his tired eyes couldn't, but the tropical mist filling the air was too thick, everything was just a pink blur.
He sighed as he turned it off, staring down the hallway that led to the greenhouse. He began to cautiously run down the hallway, trying to move quickly but not get caught off guard again.
After a few minutes, Ivy's voice came through the plant life around him, but this time more calmer, almost soothing. "Do you really think you can stop me, Batman?"
Batman didn't bother to answer, with every step his resolve to find her grew.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Oracle said. "She's not even trying to stop you, we need to rethink our approach."
"She's overconfident, that's all." Batman replied. "Her powers are back so she feels unstoppable. But this is just the same old Ivy."
Batman finally came to large room with several doors. He grimaced again, as he stood thinking, trying to remember which way to go. "Oracle, which way to the greenhouse?"
"You were just there," she replied as he could hear her typing at her console. "Is everything, ok?"
"It's just been a long..." before he could finish the sentence, he notice a long, green vine retreating behind one of the doors.
Ivy's voice came out of the leaves again, soothing, almost enticingly. "I'm waiting for you, Batman."
"Never mind, Oracle, I've got it." He said, resuming his pace and following the vine that continued to lead him on as it snaked its way through the halls.
"Bruce, this is a trap, you HAVE to stop!" Oracle pleaded. "This is too easy!"
Batman ignored her, following the vine until the the hall finally opened up into the large glass dome. Nature had almost completely taken over this room, even more than the rest of the island. Batman noticed a large wooden trunk on his left, and noticed it was almost pulsing with a green energy.
He brought out the injection gun with the Titan antidote, and was just about to test it on the trunk when a vine suddenly snapped the gun out of his hand.
A familiar figure walked into view, her curly, red hair almost floating in the air as if she were underwater. Her skin was a a warm white, with just the slightest hint of a green glow, and all over her body small vines grew like veins. They were easy to see because Ivy had taken a very loose approach to her prisoner uniform. Her red Arkham prisoner shirt was only buttoned in the middle, allowing a her chest and ample cleavage, along with her midriff, to be completely exposed. That was modest compared to her lower half, however, where only the simplest of a thong of green foliage covered her. Her emerald green eyes, almost dull when she had first been released, were now practically bioluminescent.
"I won't let you destroy them, Batman," Ivy said confidently
"Ivy," Batman growled, "I told you to go back to your cell."
"I was a fool, I thought the plants were in pain, that's why I told you about the flower to stop Titan. But I was wrong." She lifted her arms and ground shook. The stone floor shook and crack, and with a thunderous roar giant vines exploded form underground. "They were evolving, and now we'll evolve together!"
As she was speaking, a slender vine had wrapped itself around her legs and lifted her up in the air. With her last word a giant plant burst through the ground behind her, a single bulb at the end. With a grow it opened up on the end and swallow Ivy inside of it.
When it reopened Batman could see Ivy was encased behind a protective case.
Oracle almost screamed in his Batman's ear in a near panic. "What's going on? Readings on the greenhouse just went through the roof!"
Batman grunted as he dodged vine and spore as the plant life around him came alive against him.
"Poison Ivy is just showing off," he said in-between dodges. "She enjoys putting on a spectacle."
Ivy screamed at him from behind her organic enclosure. "When I was in my cell I begged you to help. Begged! And you mocked my children! Mark my words Batman, soon
you'll
be begging!"
Batman bided his time, waiting for the right moment. Oracle could worry all she wanted, but this was the same old Ivy. He jumped and dodged until bulb of Ivy's plant was in the right position, and threw a well timed Batarang that flew threw the air and into the stem just beneath the bulb.
Ivy screamed in pain as the giant plant fell to the floor with a crash, leaving Ivy with only a thin encasement between them. Batman picked up the injection gun before slowly walking to opened bulb, getting his grabbing his gun with explosive gel.
"Its over, Ivy," he said victoriously as he walked right up to the case, spraying it with the explosive substance.
