Chapter 7

Gotham City had been eerily quiet for some time. When the crime rate had been through the roof before, now things had been more peaceful.

Well mostly peaceful anyway. A couple of hoodlums knocked off a bank. They rushed into the streets and towards a nearby getaway car with their ill-gotten gains. They moved with the speed learned by Gotham City criminals.

"We better run!" one of them yelled.

"Yeah, we've got this," he said. "We just get to the car and gun it, before the Bat can even get his underbritches…."

The thug stopped cold. Their getaway car had been lifted high above the ground. The source of which, had been a very large plant vine which dangled around the car and whipped it down to the ground as hard as humanly possible.

"What…."

A second plant vine wrapped around the duffle bag full of money and ripped it from the hands of the thug. The thug on instinct pulled his gun on the plant vine and fired several times on it. The bullets did about as well against the plant as it did against a Kryptonian.

Several innocent citizens had gotten caught in the crossfire when the front of a jewelry store broke open and the wild vines snatched up as many priceless diamonds and emeralds. Along with the funds in the cash register. The woman behind the counter fainted when the plant vines moved about, almost flooding the city.

A dark figure dropped down from the skies. Not Batman, but someone who would protect Gotham City none the same. Dinah Laurel Lance, the Black Canary, opened her mouth and sent a very loud cry through the city and made the plants retreat back a little bit from the sonic sounds.

They were not out of the woods as a large tree ripped through the city streets. The tree fired explosive spores to anyone who had been foolish enough to get close to it.

A second woman, dressed in white, dropped down next to the Black Canary. Her sister, Sara Lane, the White Canary, turned up. The two women faced off against the hideous plant creature and narrowly avoided the razor sharp thorns which the plants fired at it.

But, then, before anything could happen, the vines retracted along with the tree. The two Canaries rushed in to take a better look. White Canary crouched down pretty close to the hole, frowning at what she caught a look at it.

Something was amiss, even more so in Gotham City.

The old Gotham City Clocktower had been run down, at least up until a year ago, where Wayne Industries bought it. Barbara Gordon had taken it over, and had used it as a base of operations. Now she stepped back underneath the cowl as Batgirl, this tower would be a useful base going forward. And she had a lot of work to do.

Right now, the mysterious attack on New Years Eve on Marie Logan had been first and foremost on Barbara's mind. She had visitors. Harry and Helena. Barbara smiled at their arrival.

"Thanks for meeting," Barbara said.

"You said you found something about Marie's attacker?" Harry asked.

"Maybe," Barbara said with a shrug. "She ran in the opposite direction pretty fast, but, we picked up a very familiar face on the security camera."

A flash of light, put up a very grainy image. Barbara enhanced it the best she good. Not the best, but just enough for Harry and Helena to get a good look at the man in the picture. And who had been in the picture, well it had raised even more questions.

"David Cain," Helena said.

"Right, he had been very close," Barbara said.

Last time Harry and Helena saw David Cain, he had been working as a mercenary for Queen Bee. Harry, frowning, wondered who had hired Cain. Marina, Queen Bee, had been a very obvious and potential suspect, but Harry had not been completely convinced it would have been her.

"There's more," Barbara said. "I found a brief image of the woman and ran some facial recognition. And what I found is pretty surprising."

An image of the girl, which matched up very nicely to the image Harry pulled out of Megan's mind. Then an image of a woman, a quite formidable one had been pulled up quite next to her.

"Lady Shiva, one of the deadliest assassins in the world," Helena said.

"She may highly disagree with you, with just calling her one of the deadliest female assassins alive as opposed to the deadliest," Barbara responded with a smile. "But, you look at both of them side by side, and you can't deny, the resemblance between the two of them is uncanny."

"Yes it is," Harry agreed. "So, unknown daughter?"

"Maybe," Barbara said. "Given Shiva's ties to the League of Shadows, information about her is very scarce. But, I'll see what I can dig up."

Kind of hard unfortunately when this girl had disappeared into the wind. The David Cain connection also had been a very interesting one for them to delve into it.

"Still, if Cain's involved, someone had to have a motive," Helena said. "Queen Bee seems obviously...almost a bit too obvious."

Yes, Harry would have to agree. In the months which have passed since the incident on New Years Eve, Biayla had upped the security. Queen Bee in particular had went underground and Harry had not made much contact.

"Dig deeper, see what you can find," Harry said.

While he was not willing to dismiss Marina potentially being a part of this, Harry could not help and think there might be other explanations behind this.

A cackle came through Barbara's head set. She pressed it in to answer it.

"Dinah?" Barbara asked.

"Sara and I ran into a bit of trouble," Dinah said. "You're not going to believe this."

Oh, what Barbara would believe was a lot. She was born and raised in Gotham City after all.

"I have your location," Barbara said. "Backup is on the way."

Time for Barbara to suit up as Batgirl. And for Helena to do so as Robin and Harry to do so as Superman. The frantic nature of Dinah's voice worried Barbara. She would not call for help, unless she had been completely and utterly into something over her head.

A flaming spore fired in Sara's direction. She did a flip and avoided the spore before it exploded. They picked up the trail of the mysterious mutated plants, or rather, they picked up. One of the vines whipped up and blocked Sara's staff and yanked her off of the ground. Sara took a dagger from her sleeve and cut the vine and sent her down to the ground.

"Head's up!" Dinah yelled.

Several razor sharp spikes shot from the plants. Black Canary turned on her heel and did a duck and roll motion to avoid the plants and their terrible spikes. Two of the vines ripped into her fishnets and tore at her jacket from behind. Dinah pulled away.

Three discs came through the air and stuck into the side of the plant. An explosion sent the plant vines flying back and forth.

Superman came down from the heavens and lowered the boom onto the ground. The vines retracted and then fired more of the pods at him. Superman punched the pods through the ground. They released a sickening yellow mist which Superman inhaled and took high into the sky before releasing it harmlessly into the atmosphere.

Batgirl and Robin joined in the fight. One of the quivering plant vines wrapped around Batgirl's ankle. The blade from her suit popped out and sliced the plant vine into pieces. It spat and spurted all over the ground.

Batgirl and Black Canary fought side by side and deflected the plants. Robin came down and used an explosive charge to bring the plants down onto the ground. They retracted almost as soon as they arrived and left the group of five heroes breathing heavily.

"Well, we know who could be behind this," Robin said. "But….the attacks seem a bit too random."

"It's been five months since the explosion," Harry said.

Dinah nodded. Ivy, for whatever she was, had been doused in Kobra Venom. This changed a lot about her. She might not be herself, not any more. Some demented, twisted copy of the woman she once had been. Dinah crouched down and took a good long look at one of the quivering plants.

"These vines are all growing in the same direction," Black Canary said.

"Yeah, although they don't appreciate being followed," White Canary said.

Harry scanned them briefly, to make sure the plant toxins did not affect any of the girls. When they came up clean, Harry closed his eyes. His vision picked up the dust particles in the air.

"There's a trail there, going to the old Keaton Center of the Gotham City University," Harry said.

Barbara frowned as she picked up. "That place has been shut down for years ...after…."

It hit Barbara. Helena put a hand on her friend's shoulder and picked up where she left off.

"After the accident which transformed Pamela Isley into Poison Ivy," Helena finished. "Of course, that's what happened. It's almost obvious, almost too obvious."

"Yes, it is," Harry agreed. "And there was a Doctor Jason Woodrue who was involved."

Barbara and Helena grimly nodded. The madman disappeared into the wind the last time he turned up in Gotham City. Surely he would not be brazen enough to return to the scene of his greatest crime? Well, anything was possible, even something which seemed highly and utterly improbable.

"Let's go," Harry said.

White Canary, Black Canary, Batgirl, Robin, and Superman all followed the trail. The dust particles got so thick. The girls had been equipped with face masks which had been calibrated to deal with all of Poison Ivy's known toxins. Hopefully, it would be more than enough.

Nothing to lose here.

"Well, this looks like something out of a 1950s horror movie."

Harry could not help and agree with Sara's assessment on what was before them. Plants hung over lab tables. Vials on the ground of bubbling substances, of unknown origins. And also, in another room, cash, jewels, and pretty much everything possible. The results of the earlier mad spree from the plants.

"Woodrue is completely mad," Helena said. "After his mutation he's completely insane…."

A small army of nymph like creatures appeared. They had the facial features of Poison Ivy, although they did not bloom just yet quite as well as they could.

"You are foolish to come here," a raspy voice said. "Although, I was planning for the Bat. Instead, I get his brats, and a pair of pretty birds who are looking to have their wings clipped...oh and Kryptonian….well I know how to deal with you."

The pods broke open and released a green cloud of dust into the air. Harry powered on through. The breather device he wore prevented him from getting poisoned by Kryptonite dust just as well as shield did from the radiation.

"She's my greatest creation, so I had to reclaim her," the raspy voice said. "And now, all of Gotham City will bask about the brilliance of Jason Woodrue!"

The man looked as if he had been carved out of some kind of slimy bark. He left a trail of sludge down on the ground and the smell of decay. The plant vines reacted to his arrival, falling in line for the attack. Woodrue's body looked brittle, but given the information Cadmus had on him, he could regrow from the worst damage. He was previously kept in a specially created cell deep in the pits of Arkham Asylum.

At least until he escaped.

"Where's Ivy?" Robin demanded.

"Oh, she's around," Woodrue said. "But, you won't be for much longer. These little nymphs will go from city to city, using her gifts underneath my control. And as long as I can harvest cells from the original, I will have an infinite number of…."

"NOW!" Harry yelled.

White Canary and Black Canary cut off Woodrue mid-monologue with a double canary cry. It caused the plant vines to go out of control and Batgirl and Robin to blow them up. They cleared a path for Harry to look around properly.

"She's further below," Harry said. "The real Ivy."

"Go, we'll hold him and his plants off!"

Harry super charged one of the explosives from Robin's belt and threw it into the air. The large tree blocking his path to the basement blew up and scorched into flames to leave Harry's path to the basement open. Anguished screams echoed through the room.

Harry focused on the sounds of the screams and knew Ivy was very close. All he had to do was go further and deeper into the basement until he could reach her..

Never had Poison Ivy felt greater pain. Everyone just burned through her body. The machines she had been hooked up to rendered her useless. She had been forced to put her babies in peril and cause her to do great destructive things. Woodrue, much like he had many years previously, perverted nature. And this time, there would be nothing to stop it.

Large vines whipped down the tunnel. Through hazed vision, Ivy saw the person who went through it. Superman caught the plant vines and tied them together, before smashing them down onto the ground.

Three of the Ivy drones rose up. They smiled and directed more of the plants. Harry caught one of the spikes from the vines and whipped it back. He stabbed the zombie Ivy plant repeatedly. They had no life, empty shells to be used for Woodrue's perverted needs of control.

"I can't stop them," Ivy breathed. "They'll kill you."

The loud sonic vibrations of Canary cries from upwards caused the plants attacks to be misdirected. Harry flew on through, dodging all of the attacks from the vines as they whipped back and forth.

Harry frowned at the machine. It looked an awful like some of the technology Cadmus patented. Always the Light, it always had to be them.

Shaking those thoughts from his head, and ignoring the burning plant spores which rained down onto him, Harry snapped the cables and undid the machine. He pulled Ivy out of it. Ivy, leg's dragging on the ground, stood up. She put her hands on Harry's face and smiled.

The solar radiation his body absorbed caused Ivy to be repowered. And what had been repowered even more was an unsettling and deep seated rage for one Jason Woodrue. Ivy rose up, eyes flashing in rage when she made her way high up.

Woodrue and his Ivy drones directed the plants to attack.

"Stop!" Ivy yelled.

The drones fell into line. Ivy's force of will overwhelmed them. Her children obeyed and Woodrue turned her attention.

"And now, you're going to pay!" Ivy yelled.

"You would be nothing without me!" Woodrue yelled. "Without me, you would be that same mousey little girl, barely able to strike up…."

Ivy wrapped the plant vines around Woodrue and smashed him through several floors, all the way to the basement. Ivy slammed Woodrue repeatedly, over and over against the ground and ripped his body to shreds. A vine impaled Woodrue's body and ripped him. Sap spilled out of the man's body.

"I'm more than you could ever dream," Ivy said. "And I'm better than your little brain could ever comprehend."

Woodrue, ripped in half, twitched on the ground. Vines stretched out, to put the pieces of a very demented man back together.

At least until Harry released a glass orb and it sealed Woodrue up into a bubble. Woodrue slammed back and forth against the edge of the orb, any attempt to break free not going as planned.

Ivy took two steps forward and blacked out at Harry's feet. Harry, gently lifting her off of the ground, sprinted her off for medical attention.

"I hope that Woodrue jerk rots for a long time!"

Selina chuckled at the animated comment. Leave it to Harley sum up everything in the most obvious manner possible. Still, things could be worse. Ivy had been resting. Harry, Helena, Harley, and Selina watched over her.

"Woodrue's not getting out," Harry said. "Not this time. Lena created a special cell which no one could break him out of."

"Good," Selina said. "Of course, it would be even better if we could ground him up into mulch."

Pamela rose up into bed and looked around to gather her surroundings.

"You okay, Red?" Harley asked.

"I'll be fine...just...the last five months have been hell," Pamela said. "So, where is he...my savior?"

Harley, Selina, and Helena all stepped off to one side and allowed Harry to walk inside. Pamela just smiled and gazed into his green eyes.

"I thought about you long and often, after you rescued me from the mind control device," Pamela said. "And you did it again...that's two times that you rescued me...and I don't think I could ever thank you….and….I need to replenish and recharge."

Oh, Pamela really felt the burn of being someone's puppet. She did reach up and cup Harry's chin.

"And I thought about you," Pamela said. "Gave me a reason to fight, and you truly were the light at the end of the tunnel."

"Happy to be an inspiration," Harry said.

"Oh, you are to many women," Selina said. "Right, Helena?"

"Yes, Mom, he really is," Helena said.

"Oh, yeah, especially late at night," Harley murmured, not really intending to say that out loud.

Helena just smiled and patted Harley on the shoulder. Harry swooped down and kissed Pamela on the lips before pulling away from her and leaving her with a smile.

"Get some rest."

Oh, Pamela would rest very well. Now she was among friends, and not under the control of deranged psychopaths. The people who were behind Woodrue and the Injustice League, well they would see why one should not cross Mother Nature.

Helena stretched in a pair of tight black yoga pants and a sports bra which showed off her tight and fit body. In the window of her mother's apartment. She caught Harry coming up from behind her out of the corner of her eye.

"It's after Midnight," Harry said. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks," Helena said.

Helena moved into position and walked over towards Harry. She had been mentally counting down the moments until this would happen. Helena put her hand on Harry's cheek.

"Thank you for bringing Aunt Pamela home."

The moon shined through the window. Helena leaned in and kissed Harry on the lips. Harry returned the kiss. No man, no woman, could quite kiss like Harry. A tingling feeling erupted through Helena's lips and cascaded all the way down her body. Harry put his hands down her body and Helena enjoyed it.

It was long overdue for Helena and Harry to have some fun. Helena Wayne knew what she wanted and now her birthday had passed, she would not wait a second later to get it.

"Ready to unwrap your birthday present?"

Helena resembled her mother when she smiled. "Yes, and it's a nice big package as well."