The bus rumbled over Gotham's cracked streets, its engine growling like a caged animal. Night bled into dawn, the first light creeping over the horizon, veiled by a thin crest of clouds. I hunched deeper into my hoodie, shoving my hands into my pockets, chasing whatever warmth I could find.
My phone buzzed.
Artemis.
I hesitated, then answered. "Yeah?"
Her voice was sharp. "You hear about the bodies in Black Mask's territory?"
Gotham PD was quick with it. It must be on the news already. I kept my voice neutral. "No. Should I have?"
A long pause. "It was… messy."
Yeah, I remembered.
I could still see it when I closed my eyes—blood pooling in the moonlight, bodies scattered across a concrete rooftop. My stomach twisted.
"Didn't see a thing."
"You sure?"
She didn't believe me. Not entirely. And I didn't blame her. My decision-making skills left a lot to be desired.
But in this case, I hadn't gone looking for trouble. It had found me. They were Black Mask's personal grunts. They had guns, and I had a choice—kill or be killed.
Their deaths were justified. Then why did I find it so hard to be straight with her?
She might say she was ride or die, but I knew Die was very much the line in the sand for her. It was the reason I held off telling her about the real reason for the bounty—no doubt she'd heard about it, but she hadn't brought it up.
If I had to guess, I'd say she didn't believe I had that kind of darkness in me.
That I couldn't be a killer.
Artemis could give me the benefit of the doubt once, but twice?
I let the silence stretch before I spoke. "Yeah. I'm sure."
She sighed. "Stay low, Julius. Black Mask doesn't take this kind of thing lightly."
"Heading out of the city now. Might not be back for a while."
"Taking a field trip?"
"Yeah. Slim turned me down so I got to get my explosive elsewhere. I got some contacts in Bludhaven."
"Just...be careful," she said, concern slipping into her voice.
"Aren't I always?"
Silence.
"Call me when you get there."
I cut the call.
For a long moment, I just sat there, staring at my reflection.
Why did I even bother?
She'd learn the truth eventually. The police probably already knew it was me.
But what else did I expect? I'd started a bloody crusade against my friend's murderer. This was always going to happen.
The only thing to do now was to concentrate on leveling up.
Yesterday's efforts hadn't gone unrewarded.
No level-ups, sadly, but Agility went up by one.
The system apparently thought last night's fight wasn't challenging enough, and on some level, I concurred. I'd shot well past the stage of hobbyists and even amateur fighters. Me from this week would kick me from last week's ass without breaking a sweat.
And sparring with Artemis was not going to cut it, nor was it safe—for her.
I needed a real challenge.
That was why I was headed to Poison Ivy's territory.
Ivy's turf wasn't like the rest of Gotham.
Most gangs ran their patches with muscle, guns, and fear. Ivy didn't need any of that. Her kingdom was a living thing—breathing, pulsing, growing.
Every patch of green overflowed, and every house had a potted plant or vine crawling up its walls. The trees were thick and ancient, their roots cracking pavement.
Her influence was most pronounced in abandoned properties, which served as dens for her operatives. Vines and greenery choked those buildings
The air here was different—thick, rich with the scent of damp earth and blooming flowers.
I adjusted my hoodie, keeping my hands in my pockets as I moved toward an empty park not too far from one of those abandoned buildings.
Ivy had mellowed out in recent years. She wasn't burning down factories or turning city officials into fertilizer anymore.
But everyone still feared her, even the bosses, and for good reason. She could enthrall the strongest-willed with a single kiss and had taken on some of the heaviest hitters of the Justice League by herself.
The only reason she didn't have a bigger territory was because she didn't care to. For now, at least.
The gangs called her the Green Queen.
Ivy had rules. Follow them, and you could exist in her world. Break them, and you disappeared.
Like the other bosses, she didn't tolerate crime—she controlled it, better than Penguin or the Falcones ever did.
You wanted to run a racket in her domain? You paid her. You wanted protection? You followed her laws.
Why wasn't this place teeming with opportunistic murderers, thieves, and criminal masterminds?
Poison Ivy's rules were a bit... excessive.
No harming the plants. No harming kids, women, the elderly, or people who took care of their plants.
Matter of fact, only corporations and certain age groups of people were fair game, and even then, some crimes were off the table.
It was next to impossible to make a profit here without working for Ivy.
One of the few money-makers that remained open to pretty much anybody was the underground fighting pits, which was why I was here.
No one knew exactly where they were. The cops couldn't find them, no bodies ever turned up, and yet, they thrived. Everyone in the know whispered about them—the freaks and monsters that fought for sport, for survival, for power.
And if I wanted to get stronger, if I wanted to reach higher than third grade before next week...
This was my best shot.
I hung around the park for nearly an hour before they came for me.
I heard them before I saw them. They clung to the shrubbery, moving without creating more than a scuff and tear here and there. If I didn't have better perception, they might've caught me off guard.
A woman stepped onto the path ahead of me, flanked by two others.
She was tall and lean, her dark hair braided close to her scalp. A jagged scar ran from her bottom lip to her chin, and she chewed the end of a matchstick like it owed her money.
Her eyes swept over me, unimpressed. "Lost, kid?"
I kept my hands in my pockets. "Looking for a fight."
The guy on her left snorted. He was built like a slab of stone, arms crossed over his chest, a vine tattoo crawling up his neck. "Yeah? You and every other idiot looking to make a name for themselves."
The other one, a wiry man with too many rings on his fingers, tilted his head. "You a cop?" His voice was raspy, like he smoked too much or swallowed glass for fun.
The woman sucked on her teeth. "Nah. Not with that posture." She gestured toward me with her chin. "You don't move like one either. You move like someone who thinks they're a big deal."
I shrugged. "Big enough."
"You know about Queen Ivy's rules about the unaffiliated loitering near her territory."
"No," I answered honestly. "I'll leave the park if you want me to, but it won't change my mission."
She hummed. "Too late to run now." She turned to the big guy. "Break him."
He grinned.
I didn't wait for him to make the first move. Against a faster opponent, this might've been a problem, but I bet Rocky here was slower than me.
I popped him in the face, Reinforced fist slapping against the side of his jaw with enough force to whip his head sideways.
He lunged, and I sidestepped, pivoting sharply, and drove an elbow into his ribs. He grunted but didn't slow. His hand lashed out again, fingers grazing my hoodie before I twisted away.
It was like I said—slow, but he likely hit like a truck. Best make sure he never touches me.
He swung again. I dropped low, planting my hands and sweeping his legs out from under him. He hit the dirt with a heavy thud.
Before he could roll, I was on him.
A quick jab to the throat—enough to stun. Then, a knee to the gut.
His breath left him in a wheeze, and I stepped back, letting him curl onto his side.
Silence.
The woman whistled, long and low. "Well, damn."
Ring-Fingers muttered, "Shit, that was quick."
The big guy groaned. "I hate fast ones."
The woman folded her arms. "Alright, kid. You're not all talk."
I exhaled slowly, raising my fists. "So, do we need to continue this?"
She studied me for a beat, then reached into her jacket, pulling out a strip of dark green cloth.
"You still want in?" She tossed it to me. "Then you go in blind."
I caught the cloth. "Seriously?"
She smirked. "Ivy's orders. No one knows the way unless they're part of the family."
I weighed my options.
This was the only way.
"…Fine."
A few minutes later, I was in the back of a van, blindfolded, heading deep into Poison Ivy's territory.
Somewhere ahead, the underground pits waited.