Poison Ivy stood before the floor-to-ceiling window when a Vine suddenly shot out from in front of the bookshelf. She whirled around, dazed for a moment when she saw the figure standing in the darkness.
"Batman? Should I be glad you're not dead yet?"
"You know I'm not that easy to kill." For once, Batman stepped out of the shadows, though he still kept himself tightly wrapped in his cape, looking like an elegant gargoyle perched on a church eave.
"But unfortunately, I'm not the Batman you know." Batman gently shook his head. "As for that portal underground, I think there are some things you need to tell me."
Poison Ivy's expression stiffened slightly. She parted her lips, then pressed her dark red lips together again. "So that was a portal?"
"When did you find it?"
"A long time ago." Poison Ivy sighed softly but told Batman anyway. "The Joker was still alive then. I mean, he hadn't died for the first time yet. Someone was causing trouble for me, and when I used my Vines to drive them off, I happened to discover a mysterious basement directly beneath Wayne Tower. The portal you mentioned was inside."
"But believe it or not, I didn't examine it closely, nor did I ever tell anyone about it."
"Why?"
"Obviously, it was more likely Batman's handiwork, wasn't it?" Poison Ivy said. "He suddenly decided to add another basement level to his base and put some strange device in it. What was there to investigate?"
Batman understood. "Then have you ever seen it activated?"
"I don't know whether that counted as activation, but a few days ago, it began emitting strange radiation. A bizarre Dark Force. It seriously affected the root systems of nearby plants and the groundwater."
"I assumed it was radiation leaking