Chapter 158: The Wonders of a Reboot
Swamp Thing was adamant that this series of problems had nothing to do with him. This actually matched Orin Vale's initial guess, but the current situation clearly suggested otherwise.
"Uh... so if it wasn't you, why did you attack me? And what about those hostages you kidnapped back there?" Orin Vale asked. "No offense, but have you noticed you really look like the villain here?"
There was one other thing. In Orin Vale's memory, although Poison Ivy could also control plants, under normal circumstances, she was far from capable of inciting a city-wide plant rebellion. But Swamp Thing definitely was.
"Uh... is that so?"
Swamp Thing looked around blankly, seeming just as confused by the surrounding wreckage.
"I attacked you? I don't remember... Wait, what am I even doing right now?"
Swamp Thing glanced around, trying hard to recall.
"The last thing I remember... the very last thing... A visitor came. Someone came, she came specifically looking for me..."
"She?" Orin Vale noted the choice of words.
"Yes, a woman," Swamp Thing mused. "She came looking for me, and I appeared before her. I could sense something wondrous about her, like... a feeling of destiny, a subtle thing that bound us closely together..."
These words basically confirmed her identity as Poison Ivy. The wondrous feeling he mentioned must be the connection to The Green. Swamp Thing and Poison Ivy are the most well-known connectors to The Green on Earth, so it was only natural they would feel that connection.
"Let me guess, 'she' has long, fiery red hair and a smoking hot body, right?"
"Yes. Because of that subtle connection, she made me feel close to her... I remember now, I remember it all. It was that woman!"
Swamp Thing's expression darkened.
"I instinctively trusted her from the bottom of my heart, with almost no guard up. Who would have thought that woman would... would do *that* to me!"
"What did she do?"
Orin Vale asked, his mind rapidly running through various plausible scenarios that could explain the current situation, like a backstabbing, stealing his power from The Green to enhance herself, and so on.
Then he heard Swamp Thing's indignant accusation: "She... she actually took advantage of me... and suddenly forced a kiss on me!"
Orin Vale: "?"
She did... *what* to you?
"It was that kiss, wet and soft, and it had a fragrance, a bit like roses, that lingered and even entered my mouth..."
"Ahem, we can skip this part," Orin Vale interrupted. "And then?"
"After that, I felt dizzy, my vision blurred, and then everything went black. When I woke up, I was already here, facing a monstrous, armored human."
"That's a pretty rude way to put it, but I'll let it slide," Orin Vale said.
Swamp Thing's description reminded Orin Vale of certain related plot points. Come to think of it, Poison Ivy's two main abilities were controlling men and controlling plants, and Swamp Thing was, unfortunately, half-man, half-plant. In the Justice League animated series, there was an incident where Swamp Thing was mind-controlled by her and went berserk.
So the problem really did lie with Poison Ivy.
"I remember it all now. She did this." Swamp Thing's eyes were grim as he clenched his fist. "She must pay the price. That despicable, filthy..."
Before he could finish, Swamp Thing's entire body suddenly stiffened. His eyes widened, glowing with a green light.
And within that green light... were there little hearts floating?
"...My beautiful, gorgeous, gentle, and lovely sweetheart. For you, I would do anything... starting with smashing this annoying metal shell in front of me!"
As he spoke, his right fist, wrapped in vegetation, transformed into a wooden mallet. Empowered by The Green, he brought it crashing down!
Orin Vale dodged to the side. With a deafening boom, the wooden mallet smashed into the ground, and a wave of dust erupted like a tsunami.
"It appears Swamp Thing has not completely broken free from Miss Poison Ivy's control, sir," Pal said.
"Yeah, I noticed that too."
The ground beneath his feet suddenly split open into countless rifts, like giant dragons stretching their bodies. The abrupt fissures were accompanied by the groaning of the earth as dangerous plants burst madly from the underground, their twisted branches like serpentine vines, covered in vicious barbs and sharp needles.
Like thousands of black whips dancing wildly, demonic tentacles surrounded Orin Vale, blotting out everything at extreme speed.
Orin Vale shot out like a bolt of lightning, instantly appearing before Swamp Thing. The latter let out a furious roar as his left arm suddenly extended, his hand transforming into a sharp spike that shot forward. Orin Vale twisted his upper body to evade the point, then seized the outstretched arm and yanked with all his might!
Orin Vale leaped into the air, wreathed in lightning. He spun rapidly in mid-air, swinging the body of Swamp Thing, whom he held, around like a giant green windmill.
After an unknown number of rotations, he abruptly let go. Swamp Thing was instantly flung away at superspeed by the centrifugal force. The impact carried immense strength, a tremor that shook the very world. A colossal cloud of dust and gravel erupted, and vibrations spread outwards from the point of impact, sweeping through trees and shrubs along the way.
Ultra Spin. It was one of the favorite techniques of the Original Ultraman, the senior from the Land of Light most skilled in wrestling arts. However, it was typically a throwing technique performed by grabbing a monster's tail and spinning it. Orin Vale had substituted Swamp Thing's extended arm, and the effect was more or less the same.
But the next moment, a green afterimage burst through the smoke screen and charged again.
As he charged out, the various damaged parts of Swamp Thing's body were already self-restoring. In his left hand was a shield entwined with vines, and in his right, he brandished a plant longsword, still shouting.
"For my love!"
His eyes seemed to burn with a green flame.
He came on extremely fast, but of course, in Orin Vale's eyes, it was still as clear as slow motion.
Orin Vale deftly leaned back, dodging the edge of the blade. He seized both hands wielding the sword and shield, grabbed his body, fell backward, planted his right foot on the opponent's chest and abdomen, and, using the momentum from the other's high-speed charge, forcefully kicked backward as he fell.
Ultra Throw. It was a combat technique favored by many Ultramen, including the Original Ultraman... Alright, Orin Vale didn't know why, but everyone in the Land of Light had a habit of making any old technique sound awesome by adding the prefix "Ultra."
Like the Ultra Nod, or the Ultra Thumbs-up...
In this respect, their habit was somewhat similar to Batman's. Batman liked to add 'Bat' to the front of all his equipment, and even had a compulsion to spray gel on a wall in the shape of a bat...
This throw caused another earth-shaking tremor, and this time, he was certain Swamp Thing had landed face-first. His entire plant-based head nearly exploded into countless broken twigs.
Orin Vale immediately spun around and locked onto the direction he had been thrown, the ammo bay on his armor's shoulder popping open.
"Pal, you know where I come from, if a computer gets a virus and crashes, what do we usually do?"
"Try running an antivirus, sir?"
"No. We smack the case hard, and then we reboot it."
As he spoke, a Spacium Warhead had already whistled through the air, striking Swamp Thing just as he was getting back up.
The next moment, the light from the explosion illuminated the entire forest.
(end of chapter)