30 advance chapters in my Pat.reon. Patr.eon.com/Saintbarbido.
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(General P.O.V)
There was something in the air. Something different from the cold concrete and metal bars that made up Arkham asylum. One second, they were in the process of letting Ivy have her usual monthly therapy session and then the next, dread had crawled up her spine while in her cell.
The shadows had lengthened and her blood had grown cold as a smoky form coalesced into a ghost like figure flying in the air. Ivy's mouth had grown dry and she scooted far into the corner of her bed, holding her body close to herself.
She wasn't going to call for help. She'd rather die than let these pigs see her weak.
"Close your eyes, daughter of the green."
The thing repeated the words over and over.
"No! stay the fuck away from me!"
She thrust her hand out in anger, to try and bind the ghost in the tattered robes with vines.
It didn't work. She was too far out of range on anything she could use and although they hadn't strapped a power dampening collar on her neck, it didn't mean anything when the cell itself was lined with the same technology.
A wheeze escaped the creature and only after it spoke again did she realize it had been laughing!
"Humans. So fascinating in their complex emotions and simplistic biology."
"Well fuck you!"
She showed it the middle finger and the wheeze returned.
"I truly mean you no harm. Infact, I am here to save you."
A grey swirling vortex appeared beside it and she could see the other side. Something, a sense that had always vibrated just a hair's breadths away from her touch, took over.
She could feel the plant life coursing through the green forests she saw on the other side. It was beautiful and called out to her desperately. Without even knowing, Ivy had walked forward and into the vortex as if in a trance.
Her mind ignored the faraway shouts of fear and screams coming from the other inmates at Arkham. But even in her muddled state, the echoes of a deranged laughter managed to make their way to her ears and then she stepped through the vortex and it disappeared all together.
Silence. Tall trees, green undergrowth, bubbling creeks, roiling mountain ranges, critters skittering about and flowers blooming. The plants felt her presence as well, vines reached out to her, producing fruit and flowers as they neared her touch. They craved it without her prompting. Came when she hadn't called.
A combination of a cry and a laugh escaped her lips as she fell to her knees.
So much silence. The good kind. There was no human here to ruin everything. There was no polluted air. It was just a buzz that grew bigger and bigger the more plants that came to her. The connection went deeper than she had ever thought possible.
And she embraced it. She embraced it fully, falling into the soil and the greenery moving to hold her in its embrace.
A green cocoon covered in vines enclosed her within its form. The cocoon pulsed with the rate of a beating heart and nature itself coiled around it in a protective zone. Vines with thorns that dripped with a green poisonous liquid, Venus fly traps that were bigger than an average cinder tree swayed each direction of the cocoon. They all ensured she was safe.
A few hours later, a bud grew from the top of the cocoon. The bud was the size of a marble but as each minute passed by, it grew larger and larger before exploding into a mesh of vines that was vaguely humanoid. The new creature took to it's legs unsteadily. It fell the first two times before learning how to twine it's vines tighter to give it more stability.
The body gradually formed, memories stored in a spiritual space being accessed as the creature grew larger and bulkier. Half an hour later, Swamp Thing opened his red eyes to the new world.
The last thing the man/plant creation remembered was a blue light that shone in the skies, then overwhelming heat as everything was scorched within milliseconds. Swamp Thing had roared in indignation as the light and heat swallowed him and then...
The green...it was missing. Yet, how was he alive? How was he moving about as if it was just a normal day in his bleak life. Alec had never asked for this but Swamp Thing knew his duty and this was not earth.
The most confusing thing however was the cocoon behind him. It was heavily protected even discounting his presence. Which is how he came to learn of his new duty. The green was missing from this new world but...the being inside the cocoon was the closest thing to it.
"Daughter of the green..."
His words were deep like the roar of a huge waterfall, flowing into a deep cavern. Maybe that's how he had survived? Maybe the Green had felt the end of it's tenure on earth and thus had appointed the next collective consciousness of plant life to be this being. This...girl that Swamp Thing knew all too well.
"A new beginning..." Swamp Thing was hopeful.
"I shall protect you, sister Grove. Rest easy, I shall."
Swamp Thing promised before shifting into hundreds of vines that encased the surrounding trees in another layer of protection. You never know.
(Hollowlands)
Michael smiled from the head of the tour. The spirit of the plant life on earth had been the last being to be allowed into the elemental dimension. And with that, Michael had completed his master's instructions.
Now where was he?
He heard a loud scream that was suddenly cut off as one of the prisoners fell from the shaky wooden bridge towards the gray depths covered in smoke. None knew what was below except for the Warden but they could guess.
After being told to go crazy by his master, Michael had done a stellar Job of it. Red light glowed below the smoke and hest washed out, making the prisoners drip with sweat.
One of the billions of his dementor bodies floating in the sky swooped down and caught the falling figure by the leg.
Michael stopped and the line halted as well. He looked back and crossed his hands on his chest like a stern music teacher. The nearest Arkham inmate, Ratcatcher, flinched and scooted far back. He wasn't the only one either.
After carrying out his master's instructions, he knew that letting any of the imprisoned humans, mingle with the rest would result in...chaos and anarchy. Two things he was actually fond of. But he knew what his Master would say.
So he had elected to bring the worst of the worst humans, based on how likable they were to him (see the anarchy and chaos statement for context) and was now giving them a tour of their new home.
Of course knowing that some would try to act rowdy, Michael had simply shown them a split second instance of the shadow of his true form and they had immediately gotten terrified. Well kinda, there were a few characters that took to his form with awe and as a concequence, among the throngs of people, The Warden had a cult forming in his name.
Then there was the special case who saw his form and actually...laughed. He was... interesting.
"Ok, who was it this time? Who tried throwing Kite man off the fucking bridge for the goddamn eighth time?"
The Arkham group was a headache, which was why they were the first group behind him. The rest of his prisoners and sicks fucks from across the world were being shepherded by his servants.
"It was the clown."
A slim man with a sinister smile said, lazily pointing behind him.
"Oh? How surprising..."
Michael shook his head in mock disbelief.
"Fuck you riddle man." The Joker slipped in.
"It's the Riddler!"
The themed supervillain wildly protested.
"Joker, is it true you were the one responsible?"
Everyone else made a collective groan. This was the eighth time, the Warden had asked the same question to the same crazy person. It got to the point where everyone started wondering if maybe the Warden was just as insane as the rest of them and belonged in an orange prison uniform as well.
"You can't prove anything, office boy."
The Joker cackled.
The smart ones could see the lazy almost imperceptible smile on Michael's face. The Riddler for example read the expression and figured out what was going on! It was another twisted display of a battle of wills between them. A sort of lax, Prince of crime against the dark knight clash of insanity and sanity.
The Joker wanted to see how far he could push Batman so that Batman killed, while he also wanted to push Michael but fir different reasons. He wanted to see how far he could push him before Michael gave up his facade of a polite man in favor of... His true self. That 'thing' they saw earlier. The Joker was egging him on while Michael was letting it happen.
The Riddler saw Michael's eyes pass over him and if he looked more closely, the eyes of this 'normal man' were cold and lacked any light. The Riddler gulped and stepped back, only to step onto the toes of an average sized man of Latino descent.
"We are given vision not to see and understand but to understand what we see."
The man said, his eyes boring imti Riddler's own.
"Bane..."
The Riddler realized who was behind him.
"And there is literally no contrast to those two statements."
He added afterwords, whispering.
Bane did not say anything, only stoically stood behind The Riddler up until Michael seemingly gave another useless warning to the Joker and the tour resumed.
Never once did the prisoners stop and think...where are we going? How did we get here? What happened? Why are we not rioting? They simply moved forward as if it was the most natural thing to do. The only one who could get close to the mental strength needed to question their new reality, was too busy trying to clash their super sanity against something that defied sanity. And so the tour continued without ever stopping.
(Elsewhere)
They had no need to eat, sleep, rest or...do anything really. None of them could tell how long it had been but they all agreed it had been a few weeks now.
To keep themselves busy, a structure had been put in place. First had been finding out how to interact with the non physical material in this dimension in a physical way. They had found out that Will played a crucial effect here. The stronger your determination the more control you had over yourself and surroundings. And they could also sort of avoid/ push back the creatures they encountered there with a stronger will.
Regular scouting of the area, enabled them to draw out a map as they tried to find an exit out of this nightmare world. Then one day, a shimmering yellow portal had appeared above them in the form of Doctor Fate.
Zatara took one look at the figure wearing a the helmet of Nabu and broke down crying.
"No...please...not her. Anyone but her!"
Just like that the League was saved but it left a bitter taste in the mouths.
Now then, time to get back and save the world from Savage. Batman only wished they had enough time left of the clock.