Injustice 3: The Might of Magic (Book 3)

Poison Ivy:

Throwing one of his knives, The Man breaks the lock on the old Arkham Asylum's gate. Kicking the rusted gate right off from the weed-covered pillars, we all walk into the old asylum's courtyard.

"Okay," The Man a few steps onto the field of dead grass and brown leaves. "Everyone. Slap your wrist and activate your comms."

We all do as The Man said. Slapping our wrists, The Man begins role calls. One by one, we place our fingers against our ears and say our names.

"Harleen here," Harleen says, "Hearing you loud and clear."

"Firestorm here," the two say, "We both hear you."

"Ivy. Ivy? Ivy!"

"What," I say, realizing only now The Man is calling me. "Yeah. I'm here. I'm right here."

"Yes," The Man says. "I know you're right there. I can see you. I need to hear you."

The Man taps his ear.

"Yeah," I say, nodding my head. I copy The Man and place my fingers against my ear. "I can hear you. I can hear everyone."

"Okay," The Man says, turning away from me. He quickly finishes role calls before telling us the plan again. "Split into teams and search all of Arkham Asylum until we find that tunnel. Once one of us finds it, call the others. We re-group around the tunnel before entering Old Gotham. Got it?"

"Got it," a few of us reply.

"Understood," Deathstroke says.

"Let's go," Reverse-Flash and Flash say. The two run off, quickly kicking up a windstorm before disappearing around a corner.

"We got the east wing," Blue Beetle says. He, along with Supergirl and Red Hood, leave on their own.

"We'll search the basement and the rest of the underground floors," Selina says. She, Firestorm, and Deathstroke gather together before leaving us. Now, it's just Leonard, me, and The Man.

"Come on," The Man says, waving his arm. "I guess we're left with the top floors."

"Top floors," I repeat, following The Man as he kicks the front doors, again, the doors flying off the hinges and onto the dusty floor. "Shouldn't a tunnel to an underground city be somehow closer to the ground?"

"Yes, but I'm hoping to find something in the offices on the top floors that can point us in a certain direction or to a certain room. It's better than us just running around looking for a secret button or a lever."

"Make sense," I say. "Somewhat."

As the three of us make our way through the empty halls, filled only with dust bunnies, I make sure to keep a constant eye on Leonard. Leonard is moving with us. He's not slow or anything, but something seems off in the way he's moving. Also, since the time change, Leonard hasn't really said anything. Before, he used to talk. He used to make comebacks against The Man. Not just The Man but everyone else, but now, he just stopped. It's like he's dead.

"Promise me," Lisa said, "Keep my brother safe."

"Hey," I say, slowing down until I'm side-by-side with Leonard. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Leonard answers coldly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"I'm only asking because--"

"Ivy, not now. I think we're here."

"Oh. Yeah. Okay."

Walking up a flight of stairs and onto the top floor, the three of us walk down another hallway until coming to a set of rusted double doors. For the third time this night, The Man stomps his feet against the doors, knocking them down.

I turn to Leonard, expecting him to say something like "You really don't like doors, do you" or "You know, the doorknob is right there". Instead, he stays quiet.

"Nothing," The Man says, picking up and going through some old papers. "Nothing. Nothing."

Leonard and I copy him. We both pick up our own stacks of papers from the ground and start going through them.

"What exactly are we supposed to be looking for," I ask. "Mention of a secret tunnel to Old Gotham?"

"No," The Man answers, picking up another stack. "More like a certain room that no one is allowed in."

As The Man says this, he sighs, slaps himself on the face, and drops the papers.

"A certain room that no one is allowed in," The Man repeats. "Oh my god. Cold, Ivy, drop the papers. They're not important. You are, Ivy."

"Me?"

"Well, you and Harleen. Both of you two were inmates here, right?"

"Yes," I say, throwing down my stacks.

The Man taps his wrist.

"Harleen, are you there? Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, fearless leader," Harleen answers.

"Harleen, you were an inmate here at Arkham Asylum. Right?"

"Yeah. Actually, we're in my old padded cell. I'm looking at a few of my old drawings on the wall. Wow. I was an amazing artist."

"Yeah," Firestorm says. "They're amazing. They're really 'amazing'. Totally not scary at all."

"Harleen," The Man shouts. "Ivy. Do you two remember any rooms we were never allowed to enter? Or even ask about that? A room that didn't seem like much but was always guarded or under watch? A room or certain area with too much attention?"

"A room with too much attention," I repeat, thinking it over.

"A room that didn't seem like much," Harleen says, "But was always guarded?"

I hear Harleen snap her fingers and the snap triggers something in my head.

"The south wing's tool shed," we both yell.

"The south wing's tool shed," Flash repeats. "What?"

"I didn't go there a whole lot," I start, "My cell was in the west wing, but now and then, we inmates could take a walk around. I remember once, walking into the south wing's garden and seeing a bunch of guards around a simple-looking tool shed."

"Yeah, yeah," Harleens says, taking over. "I remember the exact tool shed Ivy is talking about. I saw it too and asked but the guards told me I shouldn't worry and to go away."

"South wing's tool shed," The Man says. "Okay. We have a location. Everyone, gather at the south wing and look for a tool shed."

The Man turns to me and smiles. He then leaves the office. When he leaves, I turn to Leonard.

"Come on," I say, nudging my head. "Let's go."

Leonard doesn't seem too focused on what's going on at the current moment. He looks more focused on his wrist. Leaning to the side, I see the time and day on a hologram display.

"Leonard," I say.

Leonard slaps his wrist, the hologram disappearing, before looking at me.

"Yeah," he says. "What? What's going on?"

"Tool shed," I say. "Let's go."

"Yeah," Leonard says, heading for the door. "Let's go."

The Man:

"Will you please do the honor," I ask, stepping aside. Slade pulling out his pistol, shoots the lock right off the door. "Beretta 92. Not a bad gun."

"Thanks," Slade replies, sheathing his beretta. "You got one yourself?"

"Yeah, but I don't use it a whole lot. I prefer the basic Glock 17."

"Not a fancy gun," Slade says.

"Not a fancy guy," I answer, walking up to the tool shed's doors. A simple yellow tool shed, as Harleen and Ivy said before, it's is nothing. Barely any taller than me, the windowless shed is covered in weeds and roots. Having to cut through them, I struggle to slide the doors open. When it is open, I enter.

"Nothing much," I yell from the inside. "Some tools. Shovels. Trowels. A ripped garden hose."

Grabbing the rusted tools, I start throwing them outside.

"Head up," I shout as I pick up a rusty, web-covered shovel. The others quickly get out of the way as I keep on throwing things out. Once the floor is clear and I can see it, I close my eyes and place my fist on it. Putting my hand up, I then slam it back down, my palm hitting the floor.

"What are you doing," Todd asks.

"Quiet," I say, trying to listen to the vibrations.

"Listen to the earth," Toph once told me. "Sense the vibrations."

Everything around me is pure black. My eyes are closed and I see or hear nothing. I punch the floor again but it's still hard to sense anything. The tool shed's floor is made from rotting wood. The tool shed is surrounded from all sides by loose dirt. Also, Barry won't stop tapping his foot.

"Barry! Stop tapping your foot!"

Thankfully, Barry stops tapping his foot. Better yet, he didn't even ask how.

"I need to use semi-sense more," I tell myself as I punch the wooden floor again. As I punch the floor this time, I sense some strange shaking. "That's odd."

I feel the wooden floor as it bounces up and down against the dirt. I feel the dirt as it shakes against each other. As the dirt shakes, I feel a sudden stop. The sudden stop is followed by loose bits of dirt. I sense them at first, shaking before disappearing.

Smiling as I get up, I turn back to everyone who is watching from the doorway.

"I found the tunnel," I say. Nodding my head, I walk to the back wall of the tool shed and raise my foot once more. Stomping against the wall, I make a hole in the wall before crawling through. Now behind the tool shed, I start digging in the dirt. It only takes a few seconds.

"Ivy," I say, stepping back and revealing an old, manhole cover. "If you and your plant could."

Ivy nods and summons weeds to pull the cover off.