---
"A True Relationship Is Two Imperfect People Refusing to Give Up on Each Other."
- Kaguya Shinomiya (Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War)
---
<(Omniscient POV)>
"What are these plants even made of?" Batman muttered under his breath, twisting aside as a volley of long, poison-tipped thorns shot past him. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, watching the scorched vines ahead regenerate right out of the charred ground, as if defying the laws of nature itself.
For the last ten minutes, he'd thrown everything he had at Poison Ivy's creations—ultrasonic guns, plasma cannons, laser cutters, vibro-blades—every piece of tech he could pull from his armor or utility belt. But it didn't matter. Every time he tore those plants down, they came back like nothing happened, their regeneration absurd. Hell, even the All-Blades were useless against their insane regeneration. Not that he hadn't expected it since those blades only worked on evil beings, and plants, no matter how twisted or dangerous, weren't actually evil.
Anyway, the plant regeneration thing was probably either another gift from the Compound V mutating through her system or a unique ability that her increasing connection to this so-called Green was providing her with. And while Batman's body could handle a dragged-out fight, even he had to admit, this would eventually tire him out mentally if he didn't find a solution to these immortal, ever-regenerating plants. So, after exhausting most of his arsenal, Bruce decided to go back to basics.
"Alright. That's enough," he muttered, his tone flat with irritation. With a few quick taps on his gauntlet, he shut off the chi dampeners embedded in his suit—systems he normally kept active to mask his life force from anyone capable of sensing it. The tradeoff was simple: stealth over enhanced stats. But tonight, stealth was useless in front of Poison Ivy's plants.
However, if these plants had an unlimited amount of life energy, then maybe his own could counter theirs. After all, Poison Ivy might be stronger in his universe with an unknown byproduct of Compound V running through her veins, but that didn't put her at Hashirama Senju's level of power, where she would have unlimited energy and life force reserves.
Sure, he still had other weapons left that he could use—ones that could vaporize everything in this sewer if he really wanted—but unleashing that much firepower in an underground, closed sewage system, surrounded by methane gas, wasn't exactly smart.
"I warned you, Ivy," Batman said quietly, stretching his shoulders as his chi surged freely again, flowing through every muscle and nerve like a rising tide. "Whatever happens to your children now… that's on you."
A vine snapped toward him, but this time he didn't dodge. He caught it mid-strike, his gloved hand tightening around it. Instantly, the plant began to wither, its vibrant green bleeding into dull gray. Cracks formed along its surface as it crumbled into dust, and the decay spread down its length—consuming the connected vines, the roots, the entire network. Within seconds, the once-living mass had aged and died, collapsing into nothing but dry, lifeless husks.
"NOOOO! My children!" Ivy screamed at the top of her lungs, her voice cracking as green tears—thick with chlorophyll—streamed down her cheeks. Then suddenly, her skin began shifting color shade by shade, turning from its normal color to a vibrant green. Even her hair glowed brighter, the red deepening like blood spreading through water.
But the unique transformation didn't just stop with her. The entire sewer around Batman began to twist and pulse as if alive. The remaining plants exploded in a sudden burst of growth, vines thickening and flowers blooming into monstrous shapes. What had been a battlefield was now a strange jungle of living color. The vines stretched higher, the thorns longer, sharper—glistening with fresh toxin. Giant flower buds emerged, their petal-maws lined with teeth like some grotesque fusion between Venus flytraps and carnivorous beasts. For a moment, Bruce felt as though he'd been dragged into a fantasy version of a prehistoric forest—wild, ancient, and hungry.
"You'll regret that, abomination," Ivy hissed, her voice no longer fully human, echoing like a chorus through the roots and leaves. She even slowly began to rise up in the air like a floating balloon. It was as if she had finally been fully possessed.
"Sir, my drones are detecting massive bursts of vegetation growth across Gotham," Cortana's sharp and urgent voice came through the comms. "The growth rate is off the charts—parks are turning into full-blown forests, and trees are breaking through concrete, sprouting out of buildings and streets. Whatever she's doing, it is spreading fast. The entire city's plant life is reacting, and the effect is only intensifying. If this keeps up, Gotham's going to become a jungle in a matter of minutes."
"...Then she needs to be stopped before that happens. Originally, I didn't want to hurt her too severely, but desperate times call for desperate measures. She will have to live with a couple of broken ribs for some time." The Dark Knight muttered as he cupped his right fist with his left and focused all his chi into that spot.
This was a skill taught to him by the All-Caste called the Mystical Punch, though he had refined it further by borrowing elements from Gon's Rock-Paper-Scissors punch in Hunter × Hunter and Iron Fist's signature iron fist blow from Marvel. The move wasn't just about raw strength. No, it channeled chi through the strike into the target, devastating them from the inside and largely ignoring exterior defenses. He'd been reserving it for metahumans with enhanced or super durability. This was actually the first time he was going to use it on an enemy.
"Ssssnnnkk." Batman drew in a deep breath through his helmet's filters, making a sharp and deliberate sound. As the air filled his lungs, he prepared to unleash his Darkness Breathing Style—his muscles tightening, and his chi sharpening—ready to amplify both his speed and the devastating force of the strike.
"The Green protects its own. The Green is eternal. What we desire, we claim. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But you will serve us. It's written in your destiny—to be the hand that breaks the balance of this world." The possessed Poison Ivy started muttering what would've sounded like pure nonsense to anyone else. But despite all that, Bruce froze mid-step, his instincts flaring. Something in her tone—something behind her matter-of-fact words—made him pause. He knew it wasn't Ivy talking anymore. And for a split second, a thought crossed his mind, something that he didn't like at all. Whoever, or whatever, was speaking through her… might actually know his real secret.
So despite his better judgment, he decided to wait and listen.
"The Red, the Grey, the Black, the Clear, the White, the Melt, the Metal, the Divided… one of us will claim you. Or you'll fall as nothing more than a pawn of the Seven..." She tried to continue speaking, her lips moving as Bruce stood still, waiting and listening—for the end of her ramblings, hoping to piece together some meaning behind them. To him, this wasn't just madness; it was a clue. A puzzle that might explain why he was transmigrated here in this universe at all—and how to protect himself and his family. But before he could even begin to make sense of any of it, her voice abruptly cut off, vanishing mid-syllable, as if someone had just hit mute on her entire existence.
Then, before she could even figure out what was happening, Ivy suddenly swayed and collapsed from the height, hitting the ground like a marionette whose strings had been cut.
Even the living forest around them froze mid-growth as well. Instead, the massive vines, still stretching moments ago, began to wither in place. Leaves shriveled, blossoms sagged, and the thick, pulsing roots cracked apart. Within seconds, the entire jungle seemed to exhale one final breath before disintegrating into dust, as if all the life had just been drained straight out of it for no apparent reason at all.
Then, without any gap, a heavy silence fell over the entire area, swallowing every trace of sound. The steady rush of sewage water, the faint buzz of insects—everything was gone. It was as if the world itself had gone still, wrapped in an invisible layer of perfect noise cancellation. For a few seconds, there was nothing. No movement. No sound. Just utter uncomfortable silence.
And then, without any warning, it shattered.
"Not yet!"
The voice that followed was both monstrous and serene, its tone impossibly calm yet filled with something ancient and powerful. It echoed through the tunnels like a reverb, not as a shout, but as a whisper that somehow carried everywhere at once—sliding through the air, and even resonating in his mind. However, before Batman could even process what it meant or who had spoken, the sound faded, the echo dissolving as the world snapped back to normal. The silence lifted as suddenly as it had come, as if it had never existed at all.
And just like that, Bruce was now left alone with Poison Ivy lying unconscious and motionless at his feet, her breathing shallow but steady. Around him, the once-living forest was gone—reduced to a heap of brittle, ash-like dust that crumbled under his boots. Batman stood there in silence for a moment, his eyes narrowing behind the helmet at the acid trip-like experience he had just had. However, he knew one thing: whatever or whoever had spoken, they didn't do it to help him. They only did it to make sure he didn't have any additional information except what was... allowed for him to know right now.
He had a feeling he wouldn't be crossing paths with the Green again anytime soon. Whatever it had been trying to say, it had clearly provoked the other… presence. And frankly, he preferred it that way.
Still, Bruce Wayne wasn't the kind of man to leave things up to chance. If there was even a possibility that the Green could resurface, he was going to make sure it never reached him again. Contingencies, countermeasures, layered safeguards—it was what he did best.
Poison Ivy might have just proven to be far more unpredictable than he expected, since she had been twisted by the Green's influence. But in the end, that didn't matter. Because as long as he had enough prep time, Batman could even take on God himself... or so he hoped.
---
(A/N: Any guesses who the other presence was? However, don't expect spoilers!)
GIVE me POWAH-STONES💎💎💎.
You can join my Discord channel using the link below:
https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS
Also, you can check out my Patreøn page as well to read ahead or to support your amazing author.
pátreon. com/God_Doom
(replace the á with a)
Right now, I have about 20chapters in advance there.
(My Patreøn uses the new billing method, which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.)