I do not own Naruto, Teen Titans, nor any other element that may or may not appear in this story! This story is for entertainment purposes only.

... Also,and please bear with me... it's not my intent to come across or present myself as something of a wise or sophisticated bastard (at minimum). To a degree I'm still learning, both as a person and as a writer.

The last time I updated this I simply gotten lazy and admittedly interested elsewhere at the time that it took a reviewer to bring me back to reality. Or the given value of which.This time however I admit I've been more or less hiding from this story after reading yet another review which levied the greatest sin a writer can be accused of and marked guilty for—being boring. To my shame I admit I shied away from this story out of shock and hope to avoid lashing out be it consciously or unconsciously. Or, worse yet, try to counter this claim through overreaction by upping my game as it were at the cost of quality. As such I slinked off to work on my other stories as well as a personal project as I quietly tried to work out what went wrong.

I also read other fanfics in my spare time during work (THIS BITES! FTW!(WANTS MOAR UPDATES!). But more to the point I ended up treading back to 26-Lord-Pain's page in the vain hope of him updating NU: Dark Lord Plus (Instead we have NU: Dark Lord Evolution (A tedious read at best (Bleh...) or NU: The Killing Joke only to end up reading NU: Red-X Redux. From there my introspection was kicked into a higher gear. Subsequently I been wrestling with certain truths I was and still afraid of being made known. And they are thus:

I have done this story a disservice in my bid to differentiate this from its source by adding whatever appealed to me to make it both cooler and more interesting than the source. Worse yet, in my opinion, in doing this I essentially took liberties of a piece of advice from another author whom I like to think I quietly respect if nothing else;in my contemplation I seem to have interpreted MistressWinowyll's proclamation of "If you do not like the story written as is, then write your own" as something more along the lines of "do whatever it is you want..."

Suffice it to say that while we who write in the fanfiction communities can and will "do whatever" we desired, that doesn't mean we don't have something of a responsibility toward our readers. Namely to do what every writer, entertainer, showman and actor is suppose to do: entertain the audience to the best of our ability if absolutely nothing else. We might not succeed but it is our duty to try for you, the audience. If we're awesome for this way or that then it's merely a pleasant bonus as opposed to grandstanding for our own egos.

With that said however I feel I have another admission to announce: during my hiatus if you will I was more or less plotting and scheming, which in retrospect validated my fear of overreacting. While I won't go into too many details it did involve an over the top fourth wall breaking (because of reasons) "end of the world" plot involving an army of Deadpools fighting off the forces of DOOM Hell (because of more reasons)—

"Which would've been awesome!"

-but... I like to think I thought better of it. Of course I ended up replacing it with a "destructive countdown" type plot in my dead but no. That was before I really started thinking.

"We still have the reality breaking bomb too!"

Which is going into the vault.

"Aw..."

Deadpool dejectedly punted a rather tame looking circular bomb showcasing no less than four (presumably) superficial wires, one for each side, as well as proudly displaying a rather plain digital clock screen face into a ground based vault before walking off to the side where the screen couldn't reach.

... At any rate.Considering what I had already done to this point I am staying the course, give or take.With that said however I will be more or less expediting it toward the end. To those I disappoint with this action, I'm sorry. Self serving as it is though, I cannot help but think it as an act of contrition on my part in recognition of what I did to an otherwise fun story (even though it had its moments that grate against my skin :P) as well as what I did to my own. As such, once done and my schedule (stories) is cleared up a bit I'll be trying to write a more fresher and more original take with this officially abused story; I'll write the new story as I would write it as opposed as to someone trying to one up another author while thinking their improving it. I hope you understand.

Still.

For those who stuck with me so far, thank you. For those who continue to do so till this story's end... double thank you.

"That sucks! Pick up a thesaurus or something to give yourself some ideas!"

... (Picks up a thesaurus as suggested just long enough to briefly skim its contents before lobbing the book at Deadpool.)

"Hey! You're not the one hunting down Duela at the moment you dick!"

Though I didn't express myself well doesn't make my underlying point valid. Still, thank you very much.

"Big Bang Theory for the win!"

... I honestly hope you enjoy the chapter regardless folks, filler though it may be to a degree. He's apparently in a mood.

"I'm the one doing most of the heavy lifting here! And you threw a thesaurus at me! Why wouldn't I be after all of that?!"

Silent as the...

Chapter 27: The ides of March

MecaTon (aka Troika HQ (Outside)

"... I'm really starting to regret this."

A soft and gentle giggle tickled his ear. "We haven't even been inside yet."

"... I have more than enough to make any of those greedy bastards fork over the deeds to their properties."

"And I would very much like to peruse our choice of a home first before we move right in," Saeko pleasantly hummed.

"... I'd rather not send half of these guys in a hospital," Naruto finally admitted in a sigh, eliciting a soft chortle from his wife.

"You're very overprotective sometimes," she softly supplied.

With a sly grin he turned to her with his visible eye. "And you're not the same?"

She matched him grin for grin. "My husband, can you really blame me?"

He squeezed the arm which was wrapped around his own. "I love you."

"I love you too."

They both leaned in for a quick peck on the lips. In that instant a brief and utterly horrifying image struck his mind... it was evidently plain and visible on his face if Saeko instantly picked up upon it with a meticulous and stern perk of her brow. "What is it?"

... with any luck Blackfire wasn't in at the moment. Be even luckier if she decided to move on. He was starting to like her as a friend after all.

... maybe, just maybe, he should tell her about Raven just to be on the safe side while he was at it? Weird as that fiasco back in Tsurishado was, he'd rather not be mistaken for cheating twice!

"Promise you won't be mad... at me?" he tried to say only to squeak at the end. His wife's icy stare had a way of doing that to people after all.

XVX

Common Room, Titan's Tower

"I see. I'll see you when you land then."

The door opened just in time for the tamaranian to not only catch the tail end of the conversation but to see the enlarged screen to wink off. To further add to her confusion both Beast Boy and Cyborg were in the midst of giddily squeaking to themselves as they were both hopping up and down rather excitedly. For the life of her she could only make out but a few words in their newfound state of jubilation. None of which made sense however no matter how much she tried to rearrange what was discernible within the confines of her mind. Finally she turned to the only other occupant in the room apart from Robin who was already furiously typing away at the keyboard as a map of Jump City dominated the briefly unused screen looming overhead of him. "Friend Tenten, what did I miss?"

Partially startled upon being called out to, Tenten finally tore her gaze away from the screen as she sat at the kitchen island. With pursed lips she lowered the mug of coffee she was nursing.

"Apparently an old friend of Robin's is stopping by. It seems some of Gotham's regular rogues not only slipped out of prison but are suspected to be coming here."

"Arkham," Robin interrupted without tearing his eyes from the screen. In response and with a raised brow the shinobi turned to him.

"I'm not sure I get the reference."

With a scowl Robin typed into the keyboard and brought up an image of a building of gothic architecture that had seen better days. Not only that but there were hints of guard towers in the edges of the screen shot as well as a couple of armed guards patrolling what appeared to be the front door of the building.

"Arkham Asylum," Robin elaborated. "While not a prison in its own right it's where we store the likes of Two-Face, Killer Croc, Maxi Zeus and the Joker just to name a few whenever we bring them to justice..." A trio of images then appeared. "Now we potentially have Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn—"

"It's getting better and better!" Cyborg squealed.

"Maybe we can get pictures!"

"Right on!"

Robin's pointed clearing of his throat was interrupted by something more poignant sound of a coffee mug shattering on the ground.

"That can't be right," Tenten mumbled aloud as she stumbled out of the stool she was sitting on and staggered her way closer to the colossal screen.

With a perked brow Robin turned to her. "What are you talking aboooo—... oh." While the expression known as "sucking the teeth" may be new to her, Starfire knew that grimaced expression was practically universal. Having teeth to suck was merely a bonus for humanoid creatures when they were caught with "the pants down their legs." Even so Robin further sank into himself as Tenten's incredulous and infuriated glare turned to him. In an effort to keep his cool under her scowl he did everything he could to avoid meeting her eyes whilst typing away at the keyboard before him. "... evidently after stealing my bike she somehow tracked Grave all the way to Gotham... and apparently was caught up in one of the Joker's schemes. She ended up falling into a pool of chemicals and nearly drowned before she was rescued, though as you can see it wasn't before some... alterations were made."

Tenten pointedly snorted much like the Earth's bull.

"After her rescue she was originally hospitalized in Gotham General in a coma-like state. When she awoken however..." After a few telltale taps of the keyboard a list of charges were presented on the screen. In company of which were a few pictures of the more... 'dignified' deaths.

"Dude..."

"I guess that's a lesson in "don't judge—"

"What. The.Hell!"

Robin didn't offer anything toward his defense. Instead he glued his attention to the computer monitor in front of him as solemnly as he could in response.

"I know Hinata! We've been on missions together for years! We've even been hanging out together since..." She bit her lipped and scowled in a rather ugly manner before jutting a hand out a hand to wave in Beast Boy's direction. "She's like a shy and cuddly version of Beast Boy in his reasoning about being a vegan, except towards everything! She would literally only attack people solely in self defense or the defense of others, I and everyone else seen it time and again! In conversations she would try to be as least noticeable as possible when in the company of strangers if she could help it!" She then jolted her hand toward the screen where the murder charges were present. "That! That isn't Hinata at all!"

Everyone save for Robin stared at her in somber silence as most did not know what to say or even know if they should interfere. Robin however, after a moment's pause, opened up a drawer to the console he sat at and reached in without looking. From it he produced a manila folder. On its tab was Hinata' name. Tenten briefly diverted her gaze onto the folder and glared at it with the same intensity as before. Then, with obvious reluctance, she marched forth and made o snatch the folder out of his offering hand. Yet even as her fingers clasped and near violently tugged at the folder, Robin's grip didn't lessen for a tense moment.

"... just know that Batgirl had to enlist outside help to capture her... Naruto had to capture her."

The second after Robin had spoken his piece the kunoichi whipped the folder out of his grasp, turned on her heel and quietly stalked off into the depths of the tower without so much as glancing at Starfire in her passing. Starfire opened her mouth to say something to her only to close it shut upon seeing the dark mood she was in where reason and comfort were rebuked at best. Instead she covered her mouth in contemplation as she looked over to the screen where this "Hinata's" picture was located, her lips pursing underneath her hand. As she began thinking her eyes began to quietly flick to and fro in thought as she considered how to best help the Titan's Tower's newest resident.

Common sense would dictate she at least wait till Friend Tenten was in a more receptive mood. From there she would be both the ear and shoulder which to lend her support. After all, while not quite the same, she knew what it was like to have the mere image of someone both loved and trusted to be shaken; Robin's mistakes still quietly haunt them to this day whether the Titans liked to admit it or not. But in the context of the situation however, while she may not know this Ivy of Poison and "Harley Quinn" there was little doubt that trouble would soon come to Jump City. If Tenten's friend was indeed with them then... It would almost be like the time they fought Robin when he was the apprentice of Slade. She doubted that such a similar encounter with Tenten's friend would end as... benevolently however if there was any truth to what Robin called a "sheet of rap." Thus causing her further harm on an emotional level... if her addled friend did not try to kill her however. A very real possibility if she was like anything from Tenten's old comrades, never mind being unsound of mind.

That did not leave her with much options.

She looked to the screen once more and quietly chewed her lip in thought as the most sensible yet least appreciated option came to the forefront of her mind: considering that it took a shinobi to catch her, much less survive her if she didn't mistake the number of case files on Robin's monitor for something else, from a logical point of view they would need one again. One not as... attached to Hinata. One who already doubled as the focus on the green haired girl's sole focus, the bait. The one who was not only as familiar with her tactics but had less reason to hold back which could be fatalistic in regards to Tenten's current state. In fact it was likely a possibility nudging along the back of Robin's mind as well if not his old colleague's in the long run. And while he was not a friend of the Teen Titans, an enemy as a matter of fact, he was not as remotely actively antagonistic as a number of their local enemies. Undoubtedly this was something that he would at least appreciate some form of warning over. With luck it would also make him amiable enough to at least aid the Titans whenever Hinata finally made her appearance. Even if he ultimately decides to assault the Titans as oppose them, or more ideally stayed out of the issue instead of joining forces with Robin's old enemies, the fight was going to be difficult regardless of what her friends and Robin's ally do if her fears concerning her friend were true. It was a risk worth taking. She prayed to the gods that what she hoped was true if this Naruto's inclusion in Hinata's earlier capture.

Now all that remained is finding him. A task most arduous right from the start. Given that he had the capabilities of a shapeshifter her friend Cyborg would be hard pressed to find him with the electronic surveillance systems prevalent in Jump City. He might be able to narrow down places of interest to this wayward warrior from the Village of Leaves yet he would nevertheless slip away by assuming a different face if he spotted any of the Titans first. With Beast Boy's prowess for tracking in thanks to the multitude of species dedicated to such tasks they might find him. Yet, as she understood it, it usually required a scent unique to this person of interest. Like with Cyborg's method of tracking it could be potentially thwarted by the "henge" as Tenten called it. If nothing else he could simply jump away and retreat a great distance to either negate Beast Boy's abilities or simply enter an area where Beast Boy simply could not reliably follow him without being nauseated to say the least. As for Robin... she feared she would only come to conflict with him given his own particular grievances toward Grave. Even if the both of them were unfortunately correct with their darkest imaginings what would could happen...

Perhaps she should talk to him. If nothing else then to at least stave off the feeling of betrayal that was doubtless to occur.

In a moment's worth of hesitance she flicked her eyes toward her friends who were still on the couch, resuming where they had originally left off in their game. A part of her considered escorting Robin away so as to not disturb them any further. Then again this, the inclusion of someone who was neither friend nor truly foe, was not a decision to be taken lightly without the others at least having the courtesy of being aware of it at the least.

"Excuse me, everyone?"

XVX

Abandoned Warehouse, Jump City

"This place is a dump," Harley grumped as she held a squirming Hinata in her arms.

"Yes, well, there weren't any abandoned funhouses, gag shops or even a derelict park to hid out in Harl," Ivy nonchalantly intoned as she crushed and rubbed a marginally damp piece of dirt collected from a seemingly forgotten burlap sack between her fingers before tasting it. Judging from the state of things it was likely overlooked by whomever was using this place when they packed up and left for reasons unknown. Compared to Gotham standards it was done rather sloppily, especially for an unhurried pace that was not only more excusable but more often employed by virtually everyone, especially Gotham's criminals . Still, their loss, whomever they were. Whoever they were, they were either developing surprisingly potent fertilizer or this was a homemade concoction that was accidentally left behind. She was leaning toward the former really. Regardless of the case this was richer than most of her own blends! Perhaps she should use some of it just to see if there would be any marked differences for her children.

"But a warehouse, really?" Harley whined as Hinata continued to try to wriggle out of her grasp.

"I know it's not some abandoned hotel or a forgotten cabin in the woods—"

"Ugh! Anything but those, Red! I'd rather not deal with some crazy government spooks with an army of zombies and monsters again!"

"That only happened once Harl," Pamela Isley sighed with a roll of her eyes as she sauntered over to her improvised garden she had yet to properly cultivate and grabbed an empty pot.

"What about that other time with the other zombies where you had ta plant some of yer attack plants to keep them at bay?!" Harley whined once. Hinata soon joined her as she stopped wiggling. "Oh come on now!" Harley said as she turned to the green haired girl. "You just have to wait a little longer now hun! Red just needs some of her killer babies up and ready before we start doing anything!"

"But he's out there, I know it!" Hinata mewled with burgeoning watery eyes.

"I know sweetie, I know," Harley cooed as she petted Hinata much like an oversized puppy. She certainly whined like one at least in Pamela's opinion.

Regardless, after preparing it the way she just liked it the now filled pot was soon host to one of her more innocent projects. A seed cultivated to grow a blue rose for both her personal amusement and to act as a test subject for experimental compounds. Rather than wait to see if anything would happen soon, which she largely suspected it wouldn't, she began to process of filling the remaining pots with her own personal blends, each soon bearing a new generation of both her tried and true children as well as a few experimental species she was hoping to observe, record and experiment with. With any luck it would be a few good weeks worth of dedicated research this time around as opposed to her more hamstrung bouts whenever Batman wasn't sufficiently distracted by everything else with a pulse.

"Huh. That was fast. Are you trying out a new formula, Red?"

"Can we go now? Can we go? Canwegocanwegocanwego?!"

"Hey now! Calm down before you short yerself out! Help me Red! It's like holding up a sugared up ten year old?"

As tempted as she was to flatly glare in their direction, her curiosity was piqued as she directed her gaze toward the only thing that would have elicited such a comment. Sure enough the blue rose seed she had planted was growing at an alarming rate. In fact just before her eyes the bush rapidly matured enough to not only bear its first bulbs but bloom them as well whilst it only continued to grow and grow until it overwhelmed the pot, breaking it as the roots forced their way out. Even with its host's destruction the bush continued to grow till it threatened to not only reach shoulder height with the seed's originator but utterly dwarf her with its girth before finally tapering off and stilling. She stared at the bush for a few moments with both of her brows raised in surprise before slowly drifting over to the temporarily forgotten sack of fertilizer. After sparing a moment to gather her wits she ushered herself to the sack, grabbed a handful of the unknown concoction and as an experiment to confirm what had happened was indeed the result of this mixture as opposed to some unwitting mishap on her part. The minute she touched the enriched soil to the exposed roots she received her answer in the form of a quiver before those very roots thickened as the bush once more grew to unprecedented levels without her guidance.

"Red? Hello? Are you listening?" Harley huffed as she practically limped her way around the bush with a still struggling Hinata in her weary grasp. "What are you doing, Red?"

The green skinned woman didn't reply at first as she rubbed the now thoroughly dried dirt in her hand. Slowly she stood up and smiled both broadly enough and darkly enough to remind Harley of her Puddin' whenever he was planning one of his more exhilarating, for him at least, schemes. Hell, it sent a chill down her spine as well when Ivy went back to her lab and brought out a vial containing one of her more dangerous experiments. The kind where masking tape had to be applied so she could write in big bold letters to warn Harley to stay away from lest she becomes some sort of mutant trapped in the middle of nowhere with a cult worshiping both her and a tree growing out of her head and pushing her guts away while keeping her alive as an example.

"Now I know you wanted to have a little vacation Harley while helping out your new friend..." With her smile still in place she turned to Harley. "But how do you feel about making this more of a 'working' vacation instead?"

XVX

Park

He knew he should've kept his mouth shut. Then again it probably saved him a fuck ton of trouble as well... either way however he might as well still be in hell between the cold shoulder and latent annoyance aimed at his direction whilst she pointedly scoured the even larger pile of housing brochures they had promptly gathered before coming here. The only upside to this was that at least she wasn't glaring at him anymore. It didn't really help matters one way or another but it was something at least considering he was more of a victim in all this, tamaranean biology be damned!

... things might be easier if he could distract himself. But he had no such luck.

Tug-tug.

Scratch that. The moment a small hand tugged on the sleeve of his shirt he swiftly canted his head toward a familiar little girl. Needless to say his eye widened in surprise as he blurted out her name. "Cassandra?"

He fought back a flinch when he when he felt his wife's eyes upon him and the girl. Thankfully her curiosity was greater than her displeasure. It didn't mean he didn't feel any dread however the moment he realized that for all intents and purposes she was never out by herself. At first glance he couldn't find Raven anywhere. While that did draw a very meticulous sigh of relief, he wasn't leaving things to chance. As such his byakugan flared to life and began to scan the immediate area. Sure enough, for better or worse, Raven was indeed nearby. What had him confused however was the fact that she, in her civilian clothes, was hiding behind a tree and peeking out in their direction through the shrubbery. Beyond that he was able to see a crowd gathering around what appeared to be a destroyed trash can for some reason.

"Naruto, who is she?"

Upon being addressed Naruto switched off his implanted eye and turned to his rather bemused wife.

"Uh... Cassandra," he said as he lamely pointed at the girl in question who intently, in an analyzing fashion, stared at Saeko and vice versa. "I basically pulled her out of Gotham when a bunch of shinobi were trying to kidnap her..."

"Ah," she replied before arming herself with a soft smile. "I am Saeko Uzumaki," she introduced herself as she bowed to the younger woman. "How do you do?" When she straightened herself and saw Cassandra's still neutral expression Saeko's smile was lost to a puzzled frown.

"She's mute, Saeko," Naruto practically muttered.

Blinking in confusion for a moment, his wife bowed once more. "My apologies." When she corrected herself once more in her seat she turned a curious eye to her husband. "Out of curiosuty, how did you learn her name then?"

XVX

Nearby

For Raven this was unexpectedly... irksome as it was surprisingly painful for her. And she knew she shouldn't be! He was married! He told her! They didn't even have so much as one official date! Azar knows, does he even know that he and his wife, for who else could it be, were sitting on their bench in this park? The one both she and Naruto typically sat with each other with!

It wasn't like she was jealous—

BOOM!

"NOT MY CART AGAIN!"

As much as she hated to do it, she closed her eyes and took a very deep, calming, meditative breath. "Okay," she sighed, "I'm jealous." No need for another episode like that time after she watched that horror movie Beast Boy rented after their first brush with Control Freak.

With a sigh she turned around and pressed her back against the tree she was hiding behind as she blew another breath. As such, in the midst of her calming herself down, she was all the more startled when her communicator practically blared in her ears in an unwelcomed volume that she fumbled with the device before finally activating it. "What?!" she growled.

Had it been anyone else she might've gotten something of a satisfying reaction. As for Robin however who, on a normal day, wasn't easily cowed in the least, it seemed he was in a foul enough mood not to even deign dignifying her snarl with a surprised reaction of his own. "Team Meeting in the Common Room," he said rather tersely. Not hostilely despite the underlying growl, just terse and sour about something.

As quick as the image and subsequent message came the feed cut out. Once more she sighed as she fought to calm herself to allow herself to calmly think. Whatever it was that had Robin agitated surely affected the team as a whole if he was calling a team meeting. In all likelihood it was something that affected him on a personal level, or else something monumental had happened to sway him into such a mood. She would've shuddered if such a thing had happened; any number of things could be blamed for it without her being any the wiser to them beforehand. Still, regardless of the reason, it was obviously important. As to how important it was was something of a matter of debate however: without any sort of 'date' in mind, she had brought Cassandra out so she could enjoy some sunshine for a change. She was more than tempted to bring her back to the Raven to ensure she was safe as both Raven and the team doubtlessly gallivanted about on whatever mission that was about to happen. On the other hand she was fairly familiar with Naruto... and he is protective of her...

Raven guessed it wouldn't hurt to have her spend time with him, the new woman aside.

In quick succession she whipped out her cell phone and in short order took a selfie of her pointing to the camera, of her pointedly jutting her finger downward, and of her covering one of her eyes with her hand in the exact fashion Naruto usually wore his eye patch. All of these were sent in a message to Cassandra. Thankfully she didn't have to wait long for Cassandra's response: her giving Raven a thumbs up via the exact method of communication Raven had just used. With a small smile she was just about to turn off the phone when a new message, a new image rather, appeared...

She face palmed at the image of Naruto, apparently holding Cassandra's phone for the time being, making use of duck lips... The image of Cassandra apparently joining in only made it harder for her not to gently bang her head against the tree all the harder.

XVX

Elsewhere in the park...

"A-are you sure about this, Red? I mean you yourself said this was one of your more wacko ideas. The hypocritical kind even!"

"I'm sure, Harley," she softly hummed as she meticulously dug quick the hole which she deposited the fertilizer and mixed it with dirt. "After all, if all else fails there are miles of desert to halt its advance and starve it to death."

"Uh, Red... I'm not sure how to say this but you're usually a bit more... compassionate about your experiments... and your babies... and especially the environment!" That actually managed to get Ivy to stop in her tracks. "I mean, if this thing goes berserk like you say, what's keeping it from wrecking the woods near—Hey! HEY! GREEN! Calm down, will ya?!"

"But he's nearby, I know it! In fact I'm looking at him!"

"He's not even wearin' an eye patch!"

"... he could be using a bunshin!"

"Why would he be in a wheelchair then?"

Hinata, after a brief pause, squirmed anew despite Harley's surprisingly strong grasp.

As this was happening Ivy simply stilled as she considered the consequences of what she was about to do. Yes she was being callous with her unborn creation. Sadly it was a must sometimes. After all, as much as she was loathe to quote that mad industrialist that took a crack at polluting the depths of the ocean with that doomed city of his, progress could not be made if she were to stop with each scream and fit of a child simply because it didn't like it. In a way it was a necessary sacrifice if she was to better understand just what it was she created, a field test to have her proof of concept. If it worked or didn't, this would be destroyer of mankind's faux concrete jungles, she would observe and record what she could to improve it, encourage it, or, as Harley reminded her, limit it lest it did more harm than good. Destroyer though it was in intent, what use was an eco warrior that utterly devastated what was left of the once verdant ecosystems ravaged by the hands of mankind?

On the other hand... Given the nature that was humankind, how long did the surrounding forests before they disappeared completely? Two centuries? One? Decades at most? This city would grow like the parasitical organism it was and utterly devour the remains of the natural beauty that this once small port had originally carved itself into. It was damned either way, be it from the eventual growth or the resulting pollution from the area alone much like the rest of the Earth if she didn't at least try to act. The utter most she could do for it was try make sure to record her experiment as accurately as possible so she could have her soon to be born child operate in more specific... parameters for the sake of the other dying habitats around the world.

"Harley, would you be a dear and get the car ready? If this is indeed as wild as I predict then you may want to get as far away as you can."

"What about you Red?"

The redhead's lips quirked. "I am it's mother," she said a-matter-of-factly. "Even if worst comes to worse I would need to be within ground zero to see how fast it would grow and evolve. I can only collect so much data from afar after all."

"Alright, fine," Harley grumped as she dragged the otherwise pouting kunoichi away to their trusty metal steed. "Don't blame me if it tries to bite your head off!" She made it roughly halfway before she stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Hey Red?"

"Hm?" the other woman hummed as she looked over her shoulder just as her fingers skimmed along the stopper in anticipation.

"Be careful, okay?"

A soft smile graced the green skinned woman's red paint lips. "You too Harley. Be sure to get to the city limit as soon as you can, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Harley huffed as she continued on her way, again hauling a sulking kunoichi with her who only whined in response.

"Come on, cheer up Green!" Harley said. "If he's as tough as you say then he'll tough it out! Besides, I'm stopping for ice cream!"

Again Ivy couldn't help but roll her eyes at the scene of their latest almost child-like addition their little team as she beamed like a preschooler upon hearing those two words. Why Harley decided to have her tag along was beyond her, though Pamela would be lying to say that this crazed woman, for her strange tendency to target blondes with a single minded purpose, was definitely a step up from their brief team up with Livewire. For the most part at least. One blond man, no matter the difference, and whatever task she was given would be utterly forgotten. Not an ideal trait for a potential team member. Not to mention of course that it took Harley to keep her at bay whenever Ivy did it. Could be worse she supposed, especially with how avoidable it is.

Regardless, Ivy waited a few good minutes for her friend and their acquaintance to get into the car and leave. She waited a few more to watch them drive off till they were out of sight. Even then just for Harley's sake if her experiment truly was as vicious as she intended if it was to ever have any hope against metahumans be they hero, criminal or having yet to be revealed she restrained herself from opening up the test tube for a few extra minutes. She even checked her watch an arbitrarily allowed it to count away the minutes till the remainder of the hour had passed since that goofball likely enacted her claim for ice cream by now. In the end though she couldn't wait forever, especially out in the open with nothing more than a sunhat, sunglasses and a designer's coat as a disguise. It was as if she would be asking to be preempted by doing so. So she worked the stopper free and gently plopped the seed within her palm where she could stare at it and reminisce her previous trials with this heavily mutated strain.

This potential city buster was a fast grower to begin with, a must if it was to have any chance to not only take root but hope to either ensnarl the Dark Knight or survive him for a spell. Resistant to chemicals was a must, again courtesy of Batman and his preparedness. Toughened exterior when flourishing, carefully crafted genomes to ensure a mutation factor to respond to both environmental dangers as well as situational dangers... Difficulty and planning aside, the greatest drawback she had was that this little devil was just a glutton for nutrients thanks to its conditioning and her admittedly overzealous engineering. It could neither grow nor evolve without the resources to provide the means, the energy, to do so. As such it often starved to death in a contained before she could begin to observed its more advance stages. Even a park just might not do depending on certain factors like whether or not there was a bed of concrete and steel underneath the soil or that the vines could not tap into an equally large patch of fertile soil to further expand and grow, assuming of course it wasn't killed off early. This fertilizer though? This might give it the edge it needed to truly prosper.

With a smile she got up to her feet and knelt down before affectionately plunging the seed into the disturbed soil to begin its first field test. She wasn't disappointed in the least when the first of its vines shot forth from the ground much like a geyser with such force that she had to jumped back lest she was clipped by her own creation's wild birth. Even so she began to laugh, cackle even as a wild mess of thorn covered vines grew higher and higher as it surged forth in all directions...

XVX

Back to the Uzumaki Family

It was hard to miss a rumbling rising tower composed of vines either lumping over or curling with one another. The snaking and destructive vines spitting forth from the trees that weren't immediately demolished were just as obvious.

By the time the first screams erupted several hapless pedestrians were already crushed or worse yet impaled before they knew what was happening. It was also by that time that a certain pair of arms reached forth and took a hold of both a little girl and his spouse in their hold before the shinobi responsible for it leapt away from a vine which bulldozed the very bench they were just sitting on.

XVX

Blackwood Emporium

"Uh, boss? Did you, uh, plant one of your plants back in the old hideout and forgot about it or something?"

"Hm? No. Why?" Sēji asked without once looking up from his pet project on the verge of blooming. One of the few he simply grew for both the fun and challenge of it. Honestly, who could say they made an flower with ever changing colored petals? Granted it wasn't likely to work this time but it was still a fun notion and experiment!

"You may want to check the news then, boss."

With a sigh the business man finally deigned to languidly turn in his spot and lean against the table he was hovering over to see what the current commotion was about. Before him and lounging on a couch were some of his employees on break who were watching the news. Breaking News in fact showing what looked to be a disorganized mess of a weed now wrecking—

BWO-SMASH!

Having been caught by surprise, Sēji counted himself lucky to stagger forth in surprise and whipped around to see a colossal vine had not only shoved its way through a nearby wall but annihilate both it, the wall beyond it as it continued its trek, AND THE TABLE WHERE HIS PET PROJECT WAS!

SMASH!

With narrowing eyes he whipped his head over to the fresher breach had occurred, utterly ignoring the vine and its thorns as it ripped up the space behind him as well as his panicking employees who were tripping over themselves to flee through the nearest exit. There, in the warehouse he and his men moved to after Robin's visit, beyond his office where he kept the majority of his growing collection of merchandise was another vine running amuck! Not only that but it was trampling through theexotic good section...

"Oh they're dead," the arms dealer mutters to himself as he calmly marches over to a footlocker, opened it and began to arm himself with kunai, homemade weed killers and a few scrolls. "They are very dead."

XVX

Common Room, Titan's Tower

She was embarrassed to admit it but she was indeed caught off guard when that klaxon went off. Though to be fair she was already a little haggard from her all night trip from Gotham. That and the Batcave didn't have any either which sounded out a crim in progress; Bruce had some sanity after all. Even so it didn't help matters much that she was drinking from a mug of coffee at the time though. Worse, she from her spot against the kitchen island she didn't need to look at the gigantic screen Dick and his friend had set up to see the cause of the ruckus that inadvertently ended a brewing argument amongst the Titans that she didn't care to listen to the moment she let herself into the Common Room after landing.

Regardless, with paling features she set her cup down as she allowed herself a moment to stare in awe at what was undoubtedly Ivy's handiwork, inelegant as it was when compared to her usual creations. It had all the malevolence of them though. In the corner of her eye she was able to see the giant screen divy its image up into smaller screens to showcase vines muscling through everything in its path be it cars, people, buildings, as if it was nothing. Before her however was a scene that wasn't as readily picked up by the monitor: the tower of vines began to sway to and fro as if being swayed by the wind despite its gargantuan size. She knew better though. Sure enough her quickly formed predictions came true as the tower reared back like an arm and swung its 'fist' out at a nearby office tower.

It didn't stand a chance. The closest it had toward revenge was that, due to the angle it was hit the tower had no choice but to buckle and collapse onto its destroyer. From its sheer size alone it was quick to have the 'arm' bow underneath its encompassing crash. Whether or not it would stay down was another matter entirely.

"Titans Go!"

Without deliberation the Teen Titans ran out the door with Batgirl following close behind with a grim scowl on her lips as her hand went down to her utility belt and flicked a switch.

XVX

Meanwhile, an Underground bunker

Her eye narrowed with both distaste and with calculation as she watched this floral menace tear through the city as if it were made of paper. "Wintergreen."

"Yes young miss?"

"This bunker was equipped with a dock with numerous troop deployment vessels, wasn't it?"

"Indeed it does, ma'am. Thankfully they are in good condition as well given this installation's previously abandoned nature."

"I see..."

Slowly she stood up from her throne of a chair and cracked her neck.

"Are you sure this is wise?"

"Perhaps not," she admitted. "Still, this presents a rather unique opportunity to hit them when they not only least expect it but when they are fatigued as well, wouldn't you agree?"

"I would. However given who is causing bedlam as we speak it would stand to reason that the Justice League would soon involve itself. And while the chances are low that they might interfer when they believe the situation has been resolved..."

"A fair point." Her lips quirked as she began to saunter into the darkness of the room. "But they should be sufficient enough of a distraction while I complete my objective."

"Very well, my lady," the butler bowed. "I'll inform the trio of enforcers to make ready at once whilst the drones load themselves onto the transports."

"Thank you Wintergreen. That will be all."

"Very well Miss Wilson. I wish you good luck in your endeavors."