Chapter 160: Taking a Plant Hostage
A beam of light illuminated the pitch-black space. A red-and-silver body emerged within the light, floating silently in the air.
Simply put, Orin Vale had pulled Swamp Thing's spirit into a mental group chat. Their current state was similar to the classic Ultraman trope: after crashing into a human host, both parties would have a clandestine chat in a pocket dimension before merging.
However, just before Orin Vale could strike an opening pose and say something like, "Swamp Thing, open your eyes, I am Ultraman," he realized there was someone else in this domain.
Poison Ivy.
"Darling, I'm preparing our wedding."
Poison Ivy said with a wide smile in the mental domain.
"Our wedding has to be the wedding of the century. All the plants must attend. I'm designing the wedding altar right now. Do you think pink flowers or purple flowers would be better?"
"Ugh... ahhh..."
Swamp Thing gritted his teeth, clutching his head and shaking it.
Orin Vale's physical reboot method was indeed effective. While the Specium energy was destroying his body, his spirit began to fight back, showing signs of waking up.
"You... Poison Ivy?" Swamp Thing's eyes cleared for a moment. He shook his head and said irritably, "You're playing with fire, woman. This is your last warning. I have no plans to get married. Back off now, or I'll—"
As he spoke, his expression suddenly stiffened. A green glow flashed in his eyes, and his face immediately broke into a wide, fawning smile.
"Whatever you like, I like, my dear," he said with a cheerful laugh.
"Ha, I knew it. You're so sweet. Then let's use both kinds."
Poison Ivy moved closer to him, still smiling cheerfully.
"I bet that handsome little head of yours is already planning our future together, isn't it?"
"Y-Yes, of course."
Swamp Thing put on a forced, customer-service smile and even conjured a small red flower on his chest that looked like a bow tie.
"But my answer might be a very long one, my dear. I plan to spend a lifetime answering it. Are you ready to listen?"
Poison Ivy giggled. "Oh, shmoopy, you're so thoughtful..."
Orin Vale: "..."
What a cringey pickup line.
Still, having broken in, Orin Vale could already feel a connection to Swamp Thing's consciousness. He was struggling desperately, and the degree of control over him wasn't too deep.
He just needed a little push...
"Arghhh!"
Swamp Thing's expression suddenly twisted, and he clutched his head, roaring in agony.
"Shmoopy, what's wrong?" Poison Ivy looked astonished and moved forward with a concerned expression, but at the same time, she secretly increased her mental output, trying to strengthen her control.
But she quickly frowned, feeling a strange resistance that was causing interference with her spiritual link to Swamp Thing.
"Stay... away from me!"
Swamp Thing roared, and a green shockwave suddenly erupted. Poison Ivy was caught off guard and blasted far away, almost thrown out of his consciousness entirely.
"You..."
Poison Ivy barely stabilized herself, her expression changing drastically as she said grimly.
"Who's there? Who is interfering with me? Show yourself..."
Before her voice had even faded, an intense burst of light erupted in the darkness. It was as dazzling as the Sun, like an exploding supernova. In the middle of the deep, boundless ocean of darkness, the body of a being of light appeared.
Poison Ivy looked up, stunned into a stupor.
So hot.
So huge.
So scorching.
It couldn't be a human. Humans could never be this scorching, this powerful.
Even the radiance of its spirit was like the Sun, while she felt like a moth recklessly flying into a blazing star. Just grazing the edge of that heatwave would burn her to ashes.
And then that being reached out a massive hand toward her.
The enormous hand, shrouded in endless light, reached for her as if breaking through the shackles of time and space. The scorching shockwave suffocated her, her spirit felt as if it were undergoing torture, and her consciousness nearly melted within it.
"AHHHHH—"
"..."
The events in the mental domain had taken but a single second in reality.
Swamp Thing's body regenerated, but this time at a human scale. Orin Vale also canceled his transformation; the giant's body dispersed into light particles and flew back into his armor as he landed again in front of Swamp Thing.
"...Thanks."
Swamp Thing said in a deep, rumbling voice. His dark green face still looked quite grim, but Orin Vale figured that was just his normal expression.
"That woman, Poison Ivy, she has some peculiar methods. I was careless for a moment, and she took advantage of my weakness to control my body," Swamp Thing said in a low voice. "It won't happen again. And as for that woman, if I ever find out where she is... she will pay the most painful price."
"If she fell into your hands, I'm sure she would. But I don't think you'll get the chance," Orin Vale said with a smile.
"You sound like you know something," Swamp Thing said.
"When we established our link just now, I followed her consciousness and reverse-located her physical body," Orin Vale said. "A moment ago, I took a casual glance at her location. She's in some underground greenhouse laboratory about ten miles from here."
Ten miles away, and he just took a casual glance...
Swamp Thing fell silent.
Although he didn't say anything, he had already mentally filed Orin Vale away in the same category as himself: a monster.
"So don't worry about Poison Ivy. If things go smoothly, it should be game over for her by now."
"Where did that third-wheel monster come from?"
In the greenhouse laboratory, Poison Ivy was incredibly furious.
"Why could he break into the private world I had with my shmoopy? Why was he so huge and so scorching? If I hadn't pulled back so quickly, I might be dead by now!"
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She glared at a pot of trailing plants next to her.
"You tell me why!?"
The potted plant trembled, not daring to move at all.
It was as if to say, "I can't answer that question for you, because I'm just a plant..."
"One by one, you all ruin my plans. I just want to create a world ruled by plants, is that so wrong!?"
Poison Ivy put her hands on her slender waist, looking completely self-righteous.
Just then, another strange plant sidled up to her, seemingly whispering something in her ear.
"An intruder? Batman?"
Poison Ivy was enraged.
She had dealt with Batman before and knew he was just an ordinary person in bat-themed equipment.
Poison Ivy was fuming, full of pent-up rage with nowhere to vent it. Now, a perfect outlet had just walked right up to her.
"Heh, I can't do anything about that third-wheel monster who came out of nowhere, but now even Batman... You really think I'm a pushover, don't you?"
"Fine. Very well. Tonight, I may have lost a powerful partner, but the Dark Knight of Gotham will submit to me!"
CRASH!
The rooftop shattered and a shadow figure descended, his wide cape spreading like black wings. In a standard Batman-style landing, he touched down in front of Poison Ivy and said coldly, "It's over, Poison Ivy."
"That's my line, Dark Knight."
Poison Ivy sneered and made a casual hand gesture. All the various plants around them immediately stirred and closed in, surrounding Batman.
Although her raw power level was in a completely different league from Swamp Thing's, Poison Ivy still possessed the basic ability to control plants.
"The plants... they are my most trusted companions," Poison Ivy chuckled. "Tell me, Batman. How will you fight back when surrounded by so many of my children?"
Batman's expression remained unchanged. He swung his cape...
...and revealed a potted plant.
Its delicate, lush petals were like soft silk. Dozens of petals were arranged closely together, their edges soft and smooth, gradually fading into a pale pink like a soft rainbow.
"Th-This is..."
Poison Ivy's face changed dramatically as she stammered.
"A Vermeer Wild Rose, native to Gotham! I thought they went extinct long ago! Where did you..."
"They aren't extinct, Poison Ivy. The greenhouses of Wayne Enterprises preserve one of the last two specimens in the world. This is one of them, guaranteed genuine," Batman said coldly.
Poison Ivy gritted her teeth. "W-What do you want?"
"You wouldn't want one of the last two Vermeer Roses in the world to meet its end here today, would you, Poison Ivy?"
As Batman spoke, he extended one arm, as if with a single twitch of his hand, this beautiful rose would be smashed to smithereens.
"Don't!"
Poison Ivy panicked. She couldn't help but bite her lip, her eyes filled with resentment and rage as she looked at Batman.
Despicable! Shameless! Depraved Dark Knight!
To actually take a plant hostage!
But, admittedly, there was truly nothing she could do.
In the eyes of the environmentalist Poison Ivy, that small potted plant in Batman's hand was practically the entire world, more important than her own life.
"What's it going to be, Poison Ivy?" Batman narrowed his eyes. "Even so, do you still insist on fighting me?"
"I... I... I..."
After an intense internal struggle, Poison Ivy finally closed her eyes, knelt on the ground, and shed tears of humiliation.
"You win. I surrender. As long as you promise not to harm that rose... I'm at your mercy."
"Of course."
Batman tucked the potted plant back into his cape, his face impassive as he produced a pair of handcuffs.
"I keep my word."
(end of chapter)