[Side Quest Completed: Rescue Batman]

[You have received a mysterious reward: Buff – Spirit of the Vines]

[Your control over the vines has become more precise. You feel you might be capable of even more.]

Thin vines held the heavy hammer aloft as the brown-haired girl sat atop her horse. Her lower face was hidden by a scarf, while the visible part of her upper face was half in shadow, half illuminated by the fire raging behind her.

Only part of the cathedral still stood strong, while the rest had been reduced to rubble from the crashes and explosions—books, desks, children’s beds, and plush toys had all been consumed by the flames. In the fiery glow, the girl’s brown hair appeared as red as flowing blood.

Harley Quinn leapt up, reaching for her hammer, furious. “Who are you? Where’s Ivy? Why can you use Ivy’s vines?”

Her bond with Poison Ivy went beyond mere friendship, so she instantly recognized the vines as Ivy’s.

But it wasn’t the girl who answered—it was the vines themselves.

The vines swung the hammer, using Harley’s own weapon to send her flying, crashing into the shattered wooden boards, knocking her out cold.

Compared to predictable humans, the seamless movements of the vine were like a cheat code—you never knew which angle the attack would come from.

This sudden action left the already tense battlefield eerily quiet. Joker’s henchmen glanced at Joker, while the construction workers looked to Violin. Only Millie was still shouting, directing the cathedral’s people to rescue what furniture they could, set up fire barriers, and borrow fire extinguishers from nearby shops.

In the eye of this storm stood Catwoman and Joker, the only two calm figures. Selina tilted her head, instantly recognizing the girl. She guessed that the strange “Cat Medallion” that had turned her into an actual cat had something to do with this girl. But now was not the time for old grievances or questions.

Her whip was still coiled around Joker’s arm, and in a sudden flash of inspiration, Catwoman flipped backwards, landing on the ruined wall behind her.

She even offered a mock bow. “After you, Lady Knight.”

—Unleash your fury. Strip the Joker’s hide and make it your banner.

Gotham was no place for order and righteousness; it needed to be ruled through blood.

But even though Joker was now free, he didn’t run. It was as if fear didn’t exist in his vocabulary. He immediately drew his gun, laughing, and fired at the girl—but every bullet was deflected by the agile vines. Theoretically, a vine shouldn’t be able to block bullets—its speed would have to exceed that of the bullet, which was impossible.

Yet the dark green vine danced like a snake, while Catwoman, now airborne, kicked one of Joker’s thugs in the arm and scolded Violin, “What are you doing? Get your people out of here! They’ve ruined the lawn in front of the cathedral!”

Violin shot her a glance. When he had taken control of the East End, Catwoman had been nowhere to be found, and their redevelopment plans had gone smoothly. But now she was back? That wasn’t the focus right now.

He gave orders to his workers. “Head west. Dump these clowns into the river.”

The area erupted in chaos again as workers with shovels clashed with Joker’s thugs wielding knives. They began pushing toward the west, toward the Batman statue, separated from the East End by two blocks, a river, and Crime Alley.

In the midst of the clashing metal and chaos, the white horse-riding girl retracted her vines.

She raised her hand and removed something from her right ear, crushing it and letting the pieces scatter in the wind.

At that moment, Violin was watching her, Catwoman was watching her, and sniper lasers from City Hall’s security team were trained on both her and Joker’s heads. For now, the security team wasn’t acting—

Joker needed to stay alive, at least until his “bomb” was disarmed. They had to ensure he didn’t die prematurely.

“You’ve killed four people,” the girl on the horse said, her voice surprisingly calm, unlike the violent actions of her vines. “The pilot, the co-pilot, and two other employees on the blimp.”

“We still don’t know the full extent of the damage you’ve caused at Arkham,” she continued coldly. “If it weren’t for someone stopping the blimp and others sounding the alarm, the crash would have caused massive casualties. And you don’t care at all.”

Her voice echoed not just on the battlefield but also inside the Batwing. The girl had taken off her earpiece earlier, but not her microphone.

This meant they could still hear everything she was saying… As they approached the East End, this girl had jumped off the Batwing ahead of time, making Batman the late arrival. He now stood silently on the half-ruined roof of the cathedral, scanning both Joker and the white horse-riding girl below.

Robin, manually controlling the Batwing, was searching for Joker’s possible escape routes, trying to confirm if the bomb was real or just another one of Joker’s lies—it was impossible to tell when Joker was telling the truth.

Joker scratched his ear.

“Ugh, so boring,” he said, looking around. “Where’s Batman? Did he break a leg or something?”

He ignored the girl’s words entirely, and as they spoke, the vines inched closer.

Then, the girl’s cold voice cut through the air:

“Organizing personnel to incite panic, committing acts of extreme terror… as required by law, you are under arrest.”

“If necessary, you may be killed on the spot!”

“I suggest the criminal not resist.”

The green vine shot forward, extending like a dangerous snake, twisting wildly. The Joker, however, merely laughed—he didn’t even try to resist. His laughter was so intense that he clutched his stomach, doubling over.

Then, taking two steps back, he suddenly pressed a gun to his own temple, his pale and sickly face breaking into a twisted grin. “Don’t do it, don’t do it, kid. Uncle Joker isn’t a bad guy. I confess, Judge. I’ll personally kill myself—”

In the next moment, the vine yanked the gun from his hand and bound him, suspending him upside down in the air. He dangled there, swaying like a giant purple-and-green bell.

He could have resisted—he was the Joker, after all—but the Joker had his own plans. For instance…

In his mind, the brown-haired knight girl accepted the gun the vine handed her. She raised it, then smashed the butt of the gun into his chin. Blood trickled slowly from the Joker’s mouth, but he knew it wasn’t enough.

The young knight fired the gun at the wall.

Pop!

No bullet came from the barrel—only a small banner with the Joker’s face on it.

“Surprise!” the giant purple bell crooned as he swayed. “Happy? It’s a surprise!”

He continued, “…And if you’re not happy, then I… well, I’m definitely happy!”

Riding through flames on horseback, filled with fury, coming face to face with the criminal—only to find he wanted to end things himself, with a gun that had no bullets—just a “surprise”!

The Joker had seen many people like this girl before.

He’d killed them, humiliated them, tortured them in every way possible. The Joker took pleasure in tormenting such people.

Then, he’d turn them into something like him—like Harvey Dent, Gotham’s former White Knight, whom he had broken and reshaped into the villain Two-Face.

This girl was like Harvey—only younger, more naïve. And so, the Joker’s interest began to wane.

—Who wanted to do the same trick twice, after all?

Gotham birthed maniacs like him. Gotham couldn’t be saved… not as long as people lived through a day of despair. One bad day was all it took to break someone’s peace, to create another “Joker” in the world.

He thought he was saving the city… Ha, just kidding.

He wanted to prove that everyone falls eventually, that Batman was wrong, and the Joker was right… or maybe not? Maybe?

Nah, that was a joke too.

He didn’t really want anything—

He just wanted to set the world on fire and watch it burn!

He lifted his head, his absurdly painted face meeting the girl’s calm gaze. The Joker’s grin slowly faded.

Neither of them was smiling anymore. They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, though it could’ve been only a few seconds.

Then, a sudden force slammed into the Joker from behind, pinning his arms to the ground.

Batman had appeared silently behind him, as stealthy as a giant cat.

[You and Batman have subdued the Joker. He just wanted to play today, but maybe there’s a deeper mystery behind it all? It’s hard to understand the logic of a madman.]

[You have defeated BOSS 3: The Joker]

[You have received a reward: Mad Whispers – Vines (The more injured you are, the more vines you can summon as part of your body)]

[Arkham Asylum Dungeon Complete]

[The dungeon will close in 10 minutes. Players will lose any temporary rewards obtained during the dungeon: Vines x1]

[Final rewards will be calculated once the dungeon closes]

“Joker,” Batman growled in his deep, raspy voice. “Where’s the bomb?”

But his familiar foe, for once, ignored him, turning his face toward the girl on horseback instead. After a long pause, the Joker let out a low chuckle. “There’s no bomb, Bats. It was just a joke.”

Batman tightened his grip on the Joker’s arms, but the pain only made him laugh harder.

Batman’s brow furrowed. “Scarecrow broke you out. You know what his plan is. Tell me!”

But before the Joker could respond, Batman’s peripheral vision caught something. The horse’s hooves had disappeared, replaced by the girl’s feet. Then, a hand rested on Batman’s shoulder.

Dark green vines descended from above, like a massive web, ensnaring all three of them.

Batman immediately raised his cape, the special material offering some protection—like being bulletproof.

The next second, a hail of bullets rained down.

…

Vivi let out a soft sigh.

The mission reward, [Buff: Spirit of the Vines], had given her greater control over her vines. But with increased precision came the need for more focus, requiring her to channel more of her attention into manipulating the vines. She could now weave a web from a single vine in under a second—

The tradeoff was that her mental processing speed for other tasks had slowed slightly.

For instance, her conversation with the Joker.

She had planned those words long before.

During the rest of the battle, she had acted almost entirely on instinct, with most of her focus directed toward controlling the vines.

Knowing what the Joker had done, Vivi had wanted nothing more than to take him out right then and there. The East End cathedral might have been home to fewer than 300 people, but its symbolic and practical importance were both immense.

^[1]I believe I had mistranslated the name of the cathedral as Evans Cathedral instead of East End- I’ll change it now to East End – makes more sense

This place symbolized change. It represented the human-centred reforms of the mayor’s new policies—caring for orphans, treating the sick with dignity, and addressing the plight of the homeless. These were the issues closest to Gotham’s most vulnerable.

But the Joker didn’t care. He didn’t care about Vivi’s efforts, and by default, Vivi assumed he didn’t care about his own life either.

When she rode across this land, crushing her communicator beneath her fingers, she was genuinely prepared to hang the Joker from the ruins of the cathedral.

Yet this sharp-minded lunatic was a genius like no other. He could charm a psychologist into falling in love with him with just a few words. Even though he didn’t think much of his current foe, he was willing to humor her while waiting for his dear Batman.

And just as he predicted, the young knight would kill a resisting criminal, but she wouldn’t execute an unarmed, surrendered one.

The Joker’s intellect was enough for him to concoct homemade toxic laughing gas, build terrifying bombs from children’s toys, plan elaborate terror attacks, and even defeat Batman in direct combat. But he didn’t want to kill the Bat. No, his joy came from tormenting him, dragging Batman into darkness. That was the only thrill left in the Joker’s otherwise boring life.

When he heard about Gotham’s changes from inside Arkham, he simply had to come out and see for himself.

He quickly realized that this change was what Batman wanted—something he both guarded and cherished. Naturally, that was what the Joker aimed to destroy.

Everything he did today was just a little “hello.”

Machine gunfire rattled against the web of vines, and as the vines frayed, Vivi focused, weaving them back together and blocking the heavy fire. She couldn’t use the nail here—it would prevent her from controlling the vines. Though the tool would expire at the end of the dungeon, losing it now would be too costly.

The attackers were the third wave of assassins hired by Black Mask. And here, in the same place, were Joker, Batman, and Vivi.

The timing of the assault made it clear—the target was Vivi.

Batman patrolled Gotham every night, and he hadn’t encountered any assassins.

Black Mask had hired Deadshot to take out the mayor, Deathstroke to eliminate the warden, and now this third group to finish off Vivi as revenge for her getting him thrown in prison.

—But what Black Mask didn’t know, and would likely never learn, was that he had spent three fortunes trying to kill the same person every time.

She thought, Black Mask really has too much money.

[7 minutes until dungeon completion.]

With the time left to use her vine abilities, she’d deal with these assassins herself. She couldn’t leave such danger for the ordinary people.

Vivi let her mind go blank, feeling as though she had become a plant, and in turn, the vines were her—they were an extension of her being. She could see endless possibilities for what the vines could do.

If it were the old Vivi, she would have discussed a plan with Batman.

But now? She had no such intention. She only wanted to push the two of them away and handle everything herself!

Batman felt the vine tighten around his ankle, and in the next moment, a powerful force hurled both him and the Joker into cover. Meanwhile, Vivi, encased in her vines, was lifted into the air—shielding her vital organs, while leaving the rest exposed. It didn’t matter if she got hurt; she would heal quickly. In fact, for the sake of her abilities, she wanted to get injured.

The assassins were hiding on the rooftop of the building across the street, thirty meters up. Using the vines, Vivi climbed the walls like a green spider, able to sense the emotions above from the symbols over their heads—

[Fear]

Everyone was afraid, but Vivi’s mind was blank.

A unique calm enveloped her. With 5 minutes left until the dungeon closed, it seemed there was still enough time.

Enough time to deal with the assassins—and perhaps “something else.”

To anyone watching, this scene was terrifying.

Vines wrapped around her arms and legs, piercing through the walls as she scaled them. By morning, rumours about Gotham being home to even more monsters would surely be rampant.

She was wounded and healed almost immediately. The concentrated firepower couldn’t stop her. With the combination of the vines and her regenerative abilities, it took just over a minute to subdue the assassins.

Defeating them wasn’t the hard part. Disarming them took longer than expected.

On her map, red and blue markers danced together—half were allies, half were enemies. The dungeon was nearly complete.

Vivi stood at the edge of the rooftop, her movement faltering for a split second.

A special bullet, lodged in the vines during the earlier battle, exploded.

Then, another bullet shattered the vines entirely, passing straight through her chest.

[You are dead]

Time froze. But thanks to the death-triggered time freeze, Vivi was freed from the negative effects of her [Buff: Spirit of the Vines].

Finally, she had 30 seconds to reflect on the stupid things she had just done!

“These assassins… right, even Poison Ivy isn’t invincible,” she muttered to herself. “I get it now.”

Tonight’s Arkham riot had been strange from the start—the prisoners released with clear intent, Scarecrow’s absence from the BOSS list, the overwhelming fear coming from the assassins, and even the fact that Joker hadn’t prepared any bombs.

The Joker had broken out of Arkham just last month, playing an elaborate game with Batman. If Vivi put herself in his shoes, she’d realize that this particular escape hadn’t been planned by him. Compared to his usual antics, the destruction today was… minimal.

“If someone has developed weapons to counter Poison Ivy’s living vines, then she’s nothing more than a useful tool—a tool that can be used to create chaos and then easily discarded…” But even Batman hadn’t figured out a way to neutralize Ivy’s powers. Vivi suspected that whoever was behind this had access to Ivy for experimentation.

If there was anything special about this riot, it was Vivi’s presence. Her actions had caused the chaos to end far sooner than the mastermind had anticipated.

The 30-second freeze from her death was ending!

Vivi glanced at the countdown for the dungeon completion—

[3 minutes and 20 seconds until dungeon completion.]

That should be enough time.

She chose [Wait a moment], opting not to revive immediately beside her own corpse.

As time resumed and the bothersome buff’s side effects faded, Vivi felt as if she’d been encased in a transparent shell. Only in death did she hear the world clearly.

Her body, lying on the rooftop, began to fall. The air was split by Batman’s grappling hook, the screech of a cat, and the gasps of others, even the Joker’s raspy laughter.

Batman caught her. Someone was running toward them. Vivi saw the Batwing descending, its lights shattering into fragments on the ground. The sky above was dark and heavy with clouds.

Every time she had died before, it had been alone.

This was the first time she had died surrounded by people. It was… strange.

—A new marker was activated on her map. She could teleport.

—Her interface displayed a fifth corpse, and she could revive at any moment.

So, there was no need for them to look at her like that.

Her body was laid out on an intact stone bench in front of the cathedral. The moment Batman touched her skin, he realized there was no point in trying to save her—she was truly dead. Or rather… she wasn’t human.

But he didn’t say a word. He simply stood silently beside her.

Millie stood frozen a few steps away, unwilling to approach. Catwoman gripped the railing without a sound. Meanwhile, the Joker squirmed like a worm nearby, but his mouth had been gagged. The air was oppressively quiet. No one understood why—why was the Joker still alive, and Vivi dead? This girl had seemed so powerful, yet without those terrifying vines, she appeared so fragile.

Her brown hair spread out beneath her, and her green eyes remained open, staring blankly at Gotham’s stormy night sky.

The Batwing hovered above, and Batman heard his adopted son’s voice through his comms: “She said she could revive…”

“Robin,” Batman called out, but said nothing more.

[2 minutes until dungeon completion.]

Vivi had calculated everything multiple times in her mind, ensuring her plan would work before—

She transferred [Corpse 5] to Mr. C’s interface. And then, the body’s hand began to move.

She had asked others how they saw Mr. C, trying to embody that image. But in the end, Vivi realized the best role to play was herself. The “Mr. C” they envisioned was just a more authentic version of her.

…Did she really need to act at all?

A Batarang slid into Batman’s fingers, and the man named Tal placed himself protectively in front of Millie. Everyone saw what happened next.

The body collapsed into particles, like sand slipping away in an instant. The particles reassembled, and when the figure sat up, the brown-haired, green-eyed girl was gone.

In her place, there might have been a man.

But no one had time to see his face clearly. When he appeared, it was as though an invisible, mysterious presence had descended.

They couldn’t make out his features—only the vague outline of silver-white hair. His entire being was shrouded in a soft glow, making his otherworldly presence even more pronounced.

In that dim light, the man’s figure disappeared before their eyes.

But his “presence” remained. Everyone could feel it—a formless entity watching them, wrapping them in a suffocating aura of fear and unease. Batman gripped the Batarang in his palm tightly, turning to scan the area.

“Robin!”

“I saw him too,” Robin’s voice was strained, as if the words were being forced through his throat. “I saw him… He used Vivi’s body to descend.”

“Descend?” A melodic but indefinable voice whispered in Batman’s ear. But when he turned, there was nothing there.

The voice was emotionless, almost indifferent: “Is that what you think?”

“Then let’s call it a ‘descent.’”

“You’re C,” Batman growled, his brow furrowing deeply, “But who are you, really?”

No answer came. Instead, the severed vine on the ground suddenly began to grow uncontrollably, thickening rapidly. It slithered up the ruins of the collapsed cathedral.

And then, a miracle happened.

The massive vine sprouted countless tendrils, embedding themselves into the rubble. Within half a minute, it fused with the concrete and steel, rebuilding the cathedral right before their eyes. But this time, the structure was part plant, part building. Half of the cathedral was restored with steel and concrete, while the other half was formed by deep green vines, a forest-like canopy intertwining with the ruins. The two halves joined together, creating a strange, unique beauty.

Every intact window had reappeared in its rightful place, but instead of being supported by concrete, they were now held in place by green vines.

Now, if you ignore the colour difference and the lack of interior furniture, the East End Cathedral was almost completely restored.

Millie could only stare upward, her mouth agape, utterly speechless.

But it wasn’t over. Within a minute of restoring the cathedral, a third story began to “grow” atop the two floors.

At this point, the only word that could describe what was happening was growth.

The third floor resembled the spires of buildings from other parts of Gotham. The base of the spires extended outward, merging seamlessly with the rest of the structure, forming a new foundation. Then, tables and windows began to take shape. Soon, beside one of the windows, a figure appeared.

It was a “Vivi” formed entirely from vines—a figure that, though humanoid, seemed more like a decorative statue. This figure rested by the third-floor window as if it had fallen asleep.

Then, in an instant, the green vines turned a baked, deep brown. The material seemed tougher, more resilient, but it no longer had the vitality of something alive.

It had become clear to everyone that the growth had ceased. The vines were no longer living.

Millie exhaled slowly, though she still had no words to express what she was feeling.

She glanced at the bench where Vivi had once lain, then at the cathedral that had, over the course of a single night, transformed into something entirely different. Her thoughts were a whirlwind—this night had been too chaotic, filled with too much death and bloodshed. She had prepared herself to rebuild the cathedral or move elsewhere, but now, the lost church had been restored. The only thing missing was the girl who had been there before.

The statue by the third-floor window was clearly modelled after Vivi, its features an almost perfect likeness. Now, everything inside the church, including the wooden statue, had taken on a warm, comforting brown hue. But as Millie’s gaze drifted toward the statue, she noticed something beside it.

A fuzzy head poked out from behind the figure.

The girl brushed her tangled brown hair back, waved energetically, and flashed a familiar smile in Millie’s direction.

^[2]TN: This is one of my favourite chapters yet