Lashing Out #200

Gotham City Park

"Very subtle..." I remarked, sighing as I looked at the greenhouse, overrun by vines adorned by colorful flowers and leaves. Two men stood in front of the entrance, their eyes glowing emerald green as they spotted me.

I prepared to force my way inside, but the two men quickly moved away from the entrance behind them. Green vines crawled to the wooden door, parting it before me.

I shrugged before moving toward the entrance, raising an eyebrow as the vines littering the ground moved out of my way, revealing the grass and dirt beneath.

I didn't think much of it and went inside, pausing briefly to appreciate the beautiful interior. It looked similar to the greenhouse's exterior, overrun by colorful greeneries and vines, albeit much thicker and tidier.

Whereas the building's exterior looked like something that might happen naturally over time, the interior looked sophisticated, with many plants taking the forms of various pieces of furniture.

The most eye-catching plant at the end of the room was a chair, shaped like a red flowery throne, with the even more eye-catching Ivy resting leisurely on top of it.

"You expect me to bow or something...?" I jokingly asked, raising an eyebrow as I looked into Poison Ivy's eyes, who was intently watching me from her crown like some queen looking down on a peasant.

"If you wish to please the queen..." Ivy replied as she rested her elbow on the throne's arm wrest and leaned her cheek into it, her tone amused as she trailed off at the end of her sentence.

"Well, pardon me, your royal greenness..." I replied with a snort, rolling my eyes as I performed the crudest mock bow imaginable, which only seemed to further Ivy's amusement.

"Very pleasing indeed..." The redhead remarked, letting out a light chuckle as she looked me up and down. "Your form could use some more work, though..." she went on as she relaxed her royal posture and shrugged.

"You're lack of grace aside... I know why you're here..." Ivy said as she got off her throat and stood up. "Enchantress is with me..." She added as she began walking toward me.

"But before we get to business, I need to know your intentions..." The redhead concluded as she stopped before me. She regarded me with a hard-to-read expression as she locked eyes with me.

'What's with Batman villains suddenly turning into caring parents...?' I mused as I found the scene familiar, reminding me of The Penguin's attitude when I asked to see Nightshade.

"I want Echnantress to testify against Amanda Waller in the upcoming trial..." I replied with a nonchalant shrug, keeping my reply brief and to the point as I maintained eye contact.

"And if she doesn't want to testify...?" Ivy asked, her eyes narrowing as she stepped forward, getting into my face. The plants seemed to match her mood as the vines began wriggling and wreathing around the room.

"Then I will catch and throw her into the nearest prison..." I replied as I kept calm and maintained eye contact, unfazed by the vines slowly crawling toward me.

"Enchantress worked for Waller and had a part in Brimstone's rampage," I went on, my expression darkening as I activated my Menacing Presence perk, which seemed to shock Ivy into recoiling back.

Affected by her mood, the crawling plants and vines retreated away from me. However, they seemed ready to lunge at me and protect Ivy at a moment's notice.

"If she doesn't regret her actions enough to testify, then she belongs behind bars..." I concluded, shrugging my shoulders as I deactivated Menaching Presence and put on a calm expression.

To my surprise, Ivy chuckled as the shock and fright dissipated from her expression. "You really are different from him..." The redhead remarked after she gathered her bearings and regained her composure.

"But I suppose that doesn't matter..." Ivy said as she stepped away from me and walked back to her throne, sighing. "I will spare you the trouble; Enchantress is not interested in testifying..." She went as she sat on the throne of flowers and vines and turned to me.

"Now you're just wasting my time..." I said, grunting in annoyance. "If you won't help, then I'll find Enchantress and ask her myself," I added with a shrug of my shoulders as I turned to leave.

"Don't get in my way..." I concluded as I walked toward the exit, only to sigh and halt my steps as a wall of green vines engulfed the way, causing me to turn around.

"I won't... but you didn't let me finish..." Ivy said, putting on a calm front, but I could see her body stiffening as I turned to her. "I did say I need to know your motives before we talked business..." She went on, shrugging her shoulders.

I let out an annoyed sigh but decided to hear Ivy out and conveyed my intentions by crossing my arms. "Enchantress might not be interested in testifying if you ask her..." The redhead said, trailing at the end of her sentence as she smiled cryptically.

"But I bet I can get her to change her mind. She owes me as much..." Ivy concluded as she leaned into her seat, doing her best to put on a calm, composed expression.

"In exchange for what exactly...?" I asked as I got to the point, relaxing my posture and expression to calm her down, which seemed to work as she became visibly less tense.

"A second chance..." The redhead replied after a momentary pause, to which I could only tilt my head in confusion as I had no idea what she meant.

Ivy seemed to understand and proceeded to elaborate without waiting for me to ask. "You said that violence was pointless..." She explained, her face showing a mixture of complicated emotions.

"That there were other ways to change the world..." Ivy said, her tone hesitant as she seemed to pick and choose her words. "Normally, I'd scoff at such ridiculous ideals because I knew better..." She went on, letting out a bitter chuckle.

"Humans are impossible to reason with; they never change. They only understand force..." The redhead continued, her expression darkening and tone souring as she shook her head.

"Or so I thought... but this city..." Ivy remarked, trailing off as she let out a disbelieving chuckle. "Gotham and its people are changing... for the better..." She added, sounding both confused and amused at her own words.

"Not through force, and not through some elaborate scheme, but through words..." Ivy went on, her expression turning more complex with every word she spoke as she looked directly into my eyes.

"Meanwhile, nothing I ever did seemed to work. Moreover, everything I do only seems to make everything worse..." The redhead said, her complex emotions turning into anger as she gritted her teeth in frustration.

"Everyone sees me as this destructive monster when all I ever wanted was to change the world..." She went on, her face shifting again as she adopted a helpless expression.

"To curb the destruction humans brought on the planet and help those as helpless as I once was if possible..." She continued, pausing to take a deep breath and calm herself. "That is all I ever wanted, and yet..." she said, trailing off at the end of her sentence.

'Fucking comic book logic...' I mused, already feeling the urge to punch someone at Ivy's reasoning and motives. The woman was supposed to be a fucking genius, for fuck's sake.

She couldn't be this dense, could she?

"Can you blame them...?" I interjected, raising a hand as I cut her off before she could continue talking. "You might be well-intentioned, but nobody cares about good intentions..." I added, shaking my head as I crossed my arms.

"Out of all the so-called Gotham villains, I understand you the least..." I went on, giving the redhead a bemused look. "On one hand, you want to save the plant..." I went, taking a deep breath as I prepared to go all out without holding anything back.

"On the other, you team up with people like the injustice gang and the secret society trying to take over the world...?" I said, resisting the urge to walk to the nearest wall and topple it with my head.

"What is that supposed to achieve...? Do you think humans, not to mention plants, would have a better time with some self-absorbed douchebag like Luthor on the helm?" I asked, to which the redhead had the decency to wince in shame at my words.

"And don't get me started on the petty crime. Why the fuck would you go around robbing banks when you could make billions with your connection to The Green?" I concluded, letting out a breath as I paused and waited for her to reply.

...

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