Jason was honestly annoyed with whomever had designed this particular building. Sure, it was great for the plants, but it was terrible for mounting a stealth attack. He growled to himself as he got into position. There was really only one way for this to go down, and that meant Jason had to play the part that he hated the most. "You know, Goldie, I would have thought you'd love to play the distraction. After all, aren't circus brats supposed to love being the center of attention?"
"You're just mad, because you lost the bet." Dick's joy at Jason's predicament was nearly palpable.
He clung to the metal supports and pressed himself close to the freezing cold glass of the large dome. Jason hated every detail of this plan, not that he had a better one. "Whatever, you got eyes on Ivy yet?"
"Yeah, she's sticking close to Denise and she's got a fair number of plants around her that she's already doused in her venom water. Fortunately, she didn't have enough time to set up another sprinkler system."
Jason glared at the plants below him slowly curling towards the ceiling. "Yeah, real fortunate." He sighed heavily as he took stock of everything in the room. "Things just keep getting better and better. You ready?"
Dick paused for so long that Jason was starting to wonder if the idiot had gotten himself captured already. "Alright, I'm in position. Make your move."
Jason didn't hesitate as he smashed through the window he had been clinging to, and immediately began taking out as many plants as possible. The goal was to make as much noise as he could, which Jason was quite adept at, if he did say so himself. The upside to this particular part of the building being as large as it was, meant that Jason could indiscriminately use his smaller fire bombs to his heart's content.
"What are you doing? I can hear explosions already." Dick spoke through grunts, which meant he was on the move. "Did you forget our little talk about avoiding property damage?"
"I'll make sure to bill B, don't you worry." He grabbed his knives, ducked underneath a swipe from a large vine, and began hacking at everything in his path. "Where's Ivy? I've killed enough of these little bastards that she should be in a full-on rage by now."
"Oh, she's mad, but she's still staying close to Denise, and there are too many of her venom filled plants in the way for me to do anything."
"Well, then, I guess I'll just have to be a bit more persuasive." Jason grinned to himself as he headed straight for the largest plant in his vicinity, cutting down any vegetation that got in his way. In the center of the room was a large flowering tree with thick branches, and he knew exactly what he needed to do to draw Ivy out. Jason could tell that getting in close was really the only option he had for his plan to work, but, with the smaller surrounding plants and the tree's broad reach, it wasn't going to be easy.
He flipped and rolled, staying just out of the range of the giant overgrown tree, and managed to take down a few of the smaller plants around it. He kept moving as he waited for the right moment, and when the tree attacked, Jason jumped on top of its branch and ran straight towards its center. He quickly attached a small explosive to the trunk of the tree, and then leapt off of it. Jason dashed toward the other side of the room, kicking plants toward the tree as he went. He didn't have to wait long before there was a loud explosion that blew plant debris all over the place. Jason did his best to avoid the large chunks of wood that scattered around the room, but a few of the larger pieces slammed into him anyway, but Jason ignored the pain. The sound of the explosion was nearly drowned out by an even louder feminine scream from a few rooms away. "What did you just do? She's writhing in pain."
"Let's just say B is going to need to purchase this place a new theobroma cacao and possibly a few new windows."
Dick sighed heavily into the comm. "Well, at least you bothered to read the plaque before you blew up a portion of the building."
Jason shrugged, even though Dick couldn't see him, as he turned back towards the remaining plants with his knives in hand. "Hey, there hasn't been any structural damage…yet."
"Yeah, it's the yet that I'm worried about." There was a pause as they both heard Ivy screech again, but this time it wasn't in pain. This was a scream of pure rage. "Get ready, she's on the move, and she's bringing friends."
"Man, I hate that. I didn't get to bring any friends. I just got stuck with you." Jason did his best to get into a position with an optimal escape route, but there was no denying they were on Ivy's turf.
"Very funny. I'm heading in; draw her away as much as you can while I get Denise out of here."
"Yeah, yeah, I was there for the briefing, Mr. Perfect." Jason could see Ivy rushing into the room followed by a small horde of plants. He turned to make a run for it, luring her further away from Dick's location. "Just be quick. There's more vegetation in here than I've got explosives."
He could hear fighting over the comm, signaling Dick was having his own fun with some of Ivy's pets, but he didn't really have time to worry about that since there was suddenly a wall of plants cutting off Jason's exit and Ivy was slowly making her way toward him. "You really shouldn't have destroyed so many of my babies. I might have made your end a quick one."
"I gotta say, I don't actually believe you." He didn't waste time with any more banter as he threw another explosive behind him at the wall of plants and a flash grenade in front of him, directly at Ivy, and then made a break for it. Her feral shriek only lasted a few moments before more plants than he had ever seen descended on him. Jason was left jumping over them and sliding past them as he ran away. His knives were still out and he was still hacking away as he rushed out of the room, but they might as well have been butter knives, for all of the good that they were doing him.
There was no point in glancing behind him. After all, Jason knew what was chasing him - and yet he still had to resist the urge to glance over his shoulder as he dived over more greenery and did his best to avoid getting his head lopped off by various tree branches. "If you're not too busy, I could really use a hand here."
"I'm getting Denise out now; just hold her off a little longer." There was a grunt that probably meant Dick had taken a hit from something.
Jason ducked under another plant, slashing it in half as he went and nearly got tripped up by another. "Yeah, easier said than done."
Jason was just about to bound over a strange bush of some kind when he felt a tendril wrap around his legs and drag him down onto the floor. Before he could cut himself free there were more plants coiling around him and slowly smothering him. Jason struggled as much as he could but there wasn't enough leverage to escape. "I can't wait anymore. I'm doing it now."
"What? No, Jason, come on." The panic in Dick's voice was evident, but there was nothing Jason could do about that. "I only let you set those up as a last resort. I'm on my way to your location now. Don't do it!"
"There's no time. I can't get free." However, before Jason could make a move there was the sound of glass shattering and Ivy screamed once again.
"Hold your breath." The voice didn't come through the comm and it wasn't Dick's. Jason would have yelled, but he knew better than to disobey such an order just to complain. A peculiar yellow gas filled the air and within seconds the plants fell away from Jason.
He quickly got to his feet and glared at the person in front of him. All of the plants in the vicinity of the gas died almost immediately while Ivy continued to howl as if in pain. Since he was unsure if his mask would filter whatever it was properly, Jason waited until the gas dissipated completely before speaking. "What the hell are you doing here? A is going to be so pissed when he discovers you're missing."
Red Robin shrugged as he grabbed his bo staff and turned to face Ivy, who was back on her feet and livid. "Well, since it was either that or let you blow the support beams and possibly kill yourself, I'm sure he'll understand."
"You…you killed them all. How could you? These plants were rare. Some of them were endangered." Ivy practically growled as she leapt at Tim who swiftly sidestepped her and brought his bo down on her back forcing her forward into Jason who punched her in the face. Jason could tell that Tim's movements were slowed and he was still recovering, so he made sure to stand between Tim and Ivy.
A dark shadow fell over them and Tim and Jason backed away from Ivy who was still lying on the ground. She was obviously weak and was still coughing continuously from whatever gas Tim had exposed her to. "I guess you should have thought about that before you used them to attack my brother. Now, you're going back to Arkham, Ivy."
She merely laughed as Dick hauled her up to her feet and began dragging her out of the building before she regained enough strength to use the rest of the plants in the building to her advantage. "Do you honestly think I only had that one greenhouse, that warehouse, and the few plants that you destroyed here? You'll never find all of the plants that I infused with venom, but if you let me go, I might be persuaded into telling you where they are."
Tim smirked as he stepped closer to her, obviously watching for any sudden movements. "Actually, keeping your plants alive in this weather takes a lot of resources, and those resources are pretty easy to track. In fact, we've already started. How long do you think it'll take us to find them, especially with Denise Emerson's help? Because, I've got news for you, Ivy; it isn't going to take long at all."
They walked outside to the sight of a small squad of Gotham police already surrounding the entrance of the botanical gardens. Jason turned toward Tim while Dick handed Ivy over. "You called them on your way here?"
Tim nodded as the two of them slunk back into the shadows, and made their way to a rooftop a block away, allowing Dick to deal with the police. "Yeah, who do you think is out tracking down the rest of those plants? I noticed a few hot spots when I originally hacked into the city's power grid and finished compiling the list while you guys made your way here, but when I heard your brilliant explosive plan, I decided to slip out while Alfred was busy."
Jason shook his head. "Yeah, well, I don't envy you when you get home."
"You shouldn't envy him now." Dick suddenly appeared behind them. "What were you thinking? You've only been conscious for a few hours. You shouldn't be out here in the cold fighting meta-humans."
Jason smirked enjoying the fact that, for once, it wasn't him on the other end of Dick's lecture. Tim, unlike Jason, had the good sense to at least appear sheepish. "Sorry, but your plan was rather flawed, and you needed someone to act as backup."
Dick threw his arms over both of their shoulders. "Whatever you say, little brother. Now, come on, it's time for all of us to get out of this weather."
Jason shrugged off Dick's arm. "Well, that's my cue to leave. You two have fun."
Dick grabbed a hold of him before Jason could get away. "And where do you think you're going?"
Jason pulled his arm out of Dick's grasp and backed away from him, ready to make a break for it if necessary. "Hey, case closed…problem solved…my work here is done." He turned to leave again before he remembered something and spun back around to face them. "Oh, and Goldie, don't forget to tell baby bird all about how he was poisoned by the demon brat."
Tim's eyes suddenly widened at Jason's words. "Wait, what? I was poisoned? By Damian? When? How?"
Dick rubbed the back of his head. "Um, I'll explain later."
Tim glared at him as he folded his arms across his chest. "No, you'll explain now."
Dick glanced over at Jason imploringly. "Uh, Jay, a little help?"
Jason threw his hands in the air. "Nope, not my problem. They're your little brothers." Before Dick could say anything else Jason leapt off the roof and ran in the other direction. He was definitely done with the entire family - for at least another week.
The End (for real this time)