Chapter 20: The Green
Chapter 20: The Green
Suddenly, a large figure jumped out of the ball, catching Poison Ivy off guard. Quinn seized this opportunity.
With a resounding sword sound, Quinn erupted with all his strength, instantly severing the vines connecting Poison Ivy.
With her support gone, Poison Ivy fell to the ground. As she tried to get up, Lake Toya had already pierced through her chest.
"Sorry, Manaphy is better off being protected by me," Quinn said, gripping the hilt of his sword.
"One last chance. You have three seconds to release everyone trapped in the jungle. Three, two!"
No time for unnecessary words, Quinn knew he had to finish this quickly. Despite Poison Ivy's regeneration abilities, he risked a lot by giving her three seconds.
Quinn didn't want to kill Poison Ivy. N52's Poison Ivy was classified as an "anti-hero" and would eventually join the Birds of Prey.
Looking at the wooden sword piercing her heart, Poison Ivy smiled, enchanting and dazzling.
"One!"
Cold numbers were uttered, and Quinn decisively twisted the hilt, ensuring her heart was crushed.
Poison Ivy seemed not to feel the pain of her heart breaking and continued to smile, watching Quinn's futile efforts.
Vines climbed up Quinn's feet, suspending him upside down. The exertion from his earlier outburst left him powerless, unable to resist.
He had tried his best, but it wasn't enough.
"See, little one? In the face of nature's greatness, the so-called wisdom of humans reveals their ignorance."
To prevent Manaphy from escaping, Poison Ivy placed her in a pink flower, petals closing and trapping Manaphy inside.
Poison Ivy allowed Lake Toya to pierce her chest, and vines wrapped around her body, forming layers that transformed into a human-like appearance, including a fibrous structure similar to that of plants within the human skin.
It looked like flesh but was actually plant matter.
"I am no longer Poison Ivy."
Ivy connected her vine-like hands with the surrounding plants.
"I am the Heart of the Forest, Ivy."
She is the jungle itself, even if he cuts her into pieces, it will be useless. Unless every deep root under the forest is burned, or she was killed before she transforms, but if she was not transforming, she will be able to see Quinn's every move, and the Poké Ball raid plan will be impossible to carry out.
"I surrender, you win, Ivy." Quinn stopped struggling.
Ivy remained unfazed. "The plants tell me there's no despair in you. Do you still think you have a chance to win? Let me guess, those two birds preoccupied with their own problems?"
She could see everything the forest could see. Nightwing and Damian were heading in their direction, but their progress was slow as the entire forest opposed them.
"I advise you to give up. Even if Superman came here, he couldn't kill me, just like he couldn't kill the Swamp Thing."
The Swamp Thing and Poison Ivy, were both hosts and representatives of the green. The Swamp Thing transformed his habitat into a swamp, and defeating him there was impossible. With the power of the green, Ivy had reached the same level as the Swamp Thing and even surpassed him in control.
Quinn knew Ivy wasn't exaggerating. With the power of the green, she was a true "immortal."
"Damian and Jason know my location. They must have placed a tracker on me. They're not fools. If they see I'm not moving, they'll figure out my situation."
Ivy, empowered by the green, was not someone an ordinary hero could physically confront. Special equipment was necessary. Damian, Jason, hurry up and realize this, find a way to contact the Justice League!
As expected, Damian and Nightwing stopped advancing towards him and turned toward the forest's edge.
Perhaps they could manage to contact the outside world, but it would take too long. By the time the Justice League arrived, Quinn would probably be plant food.
Ivy's human-like form was restored, with a few leaves covering her essential parts. After all, her current body was no different from plant leaves.
With a seductive sway of her waist, Ivy approached Quinn. "I believe you genuinely wanted to protect that child."
Seeing Ivy's attitude soften, Quinn held onto a glimmer of hope. "So, can I avoid death?"
Ivy's fingertips turned into sharp claws. "I will take care of her for you."
Fine, he still had to die.
Quinn did have another option - another chance to extract a Pokémon item. But Ivy also claimed to be protecting Manaphy, and from a global perspective, entrusting Manaphy to the power of the green was actually safer.
Staring at Ivy's eyes, Quinn suddenly had a strange thought. He realized that he had never called out the name "Lake Toya" during a battle. Maybe he should try now?
The scene before him became blurry, and Quinn's thoughts gradually numbed as the vines wrapped around him injected a neurotoxin.
Ivy gently touched Quinn's white neck and then kissed his forehead.
"You will merge with the forest and with me."
Quinn reached out for Lake Toya and tried to call out its name, but his throat couldn't produce a sound anymore.
He made a cut, and his blood flowed into Ivy's mouth - a bloody kiss of death.
Ivy sucked on his blood, but to her surprise, it didn't taste like blood; it was more like plant sap.
A vine tapped her back from behind. Ivy turned to see another vine precisely wrapping around Lake Toya's handle and pulling the sword out of her chest.
In a few swift moves, the vines binding her were cut. A tall, green figure fell to the ground.
"Hello there, beauty."
Using five vines as legs, the figure had two rows of black pods on its back and a green, glowing eye, beckoning to Ivy.
"What are you... a plant?"
Ivy was confused. The forest told her that the creature before her was purely a plant lifeform, but that couldn't be true. Quinn was a human.
"First, let's start with a proper introduction. I am now a plant-human, so you can call me Wildvine."
With four slender branches as fingers, Wildvine touched his chest, and Quinn saw the hourglass symbol on the Omnitrix start flashing rapidly, indicating the time left for his transformation.
"I have the ability to fight the original Poison Ivy, but I am not strong enough to threaten the Forest Heart."
Quinn threw out a vine and entangled himself with Ivy. The hardened outer layer of plants pierced her body.
Ivy was surprised by Quinn's transformation, but after they came into contact, she understood that Wildvine was no match for her.
Several thorns pierced Wildvine's body, and the two plant-beings fought while regenerating rapidly, making it impossible for either to defeat the other.
Wildvine flipped Ivy over and tied her vines together.
"You thought I couldn't kill you, huh? Let me show you the power of the Forest!"
Roots penetrated Wildvine's body, but this time, Ivy wasn't simply attacking; she was attempting to drain his nutrients.
The weakened Wildvine found himself unable to resist Ivy's actions, and as the Omnitrix's transformation time ticked down to less than ten seconds, the flashing frequency increased.
"You won't need ten seconds. Two seconds are enough."
Wildvine banged his head against Ivy, and a shoulder Venus flytrap bit off a third of her body. Her regeneration was noticeably slower this time.
Noticing the changes in her body, Ivy roared, "Why? Why are you just watching, Green? Have you truly betrayed me?"
With half his face taken up by the large glowing eye, Wildvine approached Ivy. The pods on his back burst open, releasing spores that densely attached to Poison Ivy's body.
"Green never betrays anyone."
In a mocking tone, he said, "Don't you understand yet, Miss Ivy? We are both plant-humans. In the eyes of the Green, we are equals, like two neighboring plants competing for soil nutrients. The Green won't take sides. Survival of the fittest is part of nature!"
Ignoring the seductive body, Wildvine opened Ivy's chest and extracted a green orb - the authority of the forest.
Wildvine grabbed Ivy's head and lifted her tattered body.
With force, he crushed the green orb, and the secret realm of the forest disappeared like a burnt canvas. Simultaneously, Wildvine transformed back into a shorter form. Poison Ivy's feet touched the concrete ground.
Quinn patted her forehead, then released her. Poison Ivy collapsed.
"Welcome back to Gotham, Poison Ivy. Trying to escape this dump of a city? Relying solely on the Green won't cut it."
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