Spider-Man, Jason Todd and Cyborg woke up dazed and confused. When they finally regained consciousness they realized that they were being held up the ground by vines. Cyborg grumbled, "So Ivy was a bad egg after all...Should've seen it..." Out of the darkness stepped Poison Ivy, tears running down her face. She composed herself before answering "This is for your own good. I'll be back here with Harley and then I'll set you free...But this is my fight." Ivy replied.
As Ivy began to walk away, Spider-Man cried out "Wait!" Ivy turned around to face Peter dangling. "We're a team, Red! We have to either hang together or hang separately, you have to have faith in us!" Ivy sighed as she walked back slowly towards Peter. She was centimeters away from his face before she answered. "It's not about you...When Hank was holding Harley in his cold, metal hands, all that was running through my mind was rage...A searing adrenaline rush pulsing through my head. At that moment, nothing mattered. Not my life, not your lives...Just watching that monster suffer. If I go in with you...I'll lose control and if I do...I'm afraid I can't go back."
Spider-Man nodded slowly, understanding. This former criminal, who cared for nothing but her plants and her friend Harley, was selfless enough to go in completely alone if it meant her friend's survival. "...Red, I know what you're trying to say, but I can help you...Me, and Stone and Jason..." Before Spider-Man could finish, Pamela Isley lifted the bottom of Parker's mask, kissing him passionately and gripping his face tightly with her hands. Parker was taken aback at first, but eventually gave in, kissing back as he was held in Isley's embrace. After a good 7 seconds, Ivy finally pulled away, crying tears of both rage and sadness. "...I shouldn't have done that. Don't follow me...For your own good."
Ivy walked away, as Stone and Todd turned to Spider-Man shocked at the grand gesture of emotion from Isley. Spider-Man turned to both of them, his head low. "Stone, alert Captain America. If we don't help out Ivy, we're going to have ourselves a withered flower, with or without Venom, Bane and Daredevil's help." Stone nodded as he wriggled to access his holographic messenger. Spider-Man turned to Jason next. "Jason, how many weapons have you got?" Jason laughed mischievously, "Enough to make old Strawface piss himself..." Spider-Man nodded back, "You'll need them all."
Meanwhile...
Scarecrow's guards surveyed Harley's cell with a great presence of intimidation. The biggest guard nudged a heavier one, who looked as if he was about to fall asleep. "You see something there in the darkness?" The fat one got up and looked deeply. "Not sure...It's more black than night in here. Can't see a damn thing." Suddenly, a clicking noise was heard. The heavier guard turned to his right, gasping as a red figure descended upon him, cracking a billy club against his skull. This was Daredevil, accompanied by Elektra.
Two guards charged at the skilled martial artists, to no avail. Elektra threw a sai at one of the guards, hitting him straight in the head as he plummeted to the ground. The second one blindly threw himself at Daredevil, who skillfully dodged the move as he swung his elongated club at the attacker, bringing him to the ground with a cracking noise. A deep roaring sound was heard as Bane and Venom charged from deep down the hall, crashing into the group of guards. Bane slammed two guards together before forcefully shoving one into a wall, killing him instantly. "Go, Eddie!!" Bane shouted. "Get to the Jester!" Venom nodded as he ran down the hall, swinging himself towards a guard. As he was in mid-air, he grabbed the guard, throwing him forcefully at the cell. Venom approached the cell, reverting back to human form, ripping open the gates of the cell with a screeching shriek.
He walked to the corner to see Harley crying. Eddie extended his arms to calm down Harley, shushing her. "It's okay Harley...It's okay...We've found you." As Eddie was about to hug Harley, a hideous figure emerged from the darkness. A deformed mish-mash of what appeared to be dead corpses, the figure was rather built, though one could see that 3 of his limbs had been stitched together. He wore a red cape, similar to Superman, but his outfit seemed to resemble Batman's, only with a red and purple color scheme. His face was covered in grievous scars, his head having a long scar down the middle indicating it had possibly been split apart. His mouth was the most hideous part of all, giving his identity away. A large, crooked smile with yellowing, decaying teeth, covered in red lipstick. Even Eddie was startled, as the figure emerged from the darkness, a knife to Harley's throat.
"...Joker..." Eddie whispered. "You're...
Joker laughed in response, a booming yet cackling noise that brought a chill down Eddie's spine. "Alive? Well only technically, my slimy friend!" Joker chuckled. "Scarecrow brought me back to life using Batman and Superman's DNA. Of course, I'm little more than a wooden puppet under his strings...But in the end I don't mind. When I hear the screams of my food, it makes my status all the worth it..."
To be continued in Gotham City 21 Civil War: Chapter #1~A Family Torn Apart
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