Gone Native: Circling (ch. 56) (Patreon)

"I'm really getting tired of hearing that," I returned to Poison Ivy, my eyes narrowed into slits. Saibamen. They surrounded us on all sides, twisted grins on their faces while their claws flexed and clenched as if they were imagining tearing us limb from limb. It had been some time since I last saw Saibamen. Before the war, they were the Saiyans favorite training tool.

Their power was something that was only limited by soil quality, and they grew to maturity in a minute with a growth accelerator poured on the seed. More than that, however, while they were relatively strong for the time, Saibamen were by nature extremely cruel. They didn't aim to kill if they could afford it. They fought to maim and injure, wearing you down until they could amuse themselves with torturing you to death.

Perfect for training young Saiyans, or so my father believed.

The war filled their role well enough, and I had no intention of bringing back the tradition. Those early days left their mark on me, I realized, my heart ticking a few beats faster even though I could wipe away every living being on this planet. They were nothing to me, even with a power level of around a million, regardless of how many there were. Still, I could recall being a weak child put in a room with a handful of them and given the impossible task of killing them.

A task given to me by my father. Not to see if I was worthy of joining the Royal Family, but to see if I deserved to live at all. I remembered the pain. Fighting until I couldn't fight anymore, suffering the beatings at the Saibamen's hands that only abated because they knew Bardock would kill them if they went too far. Crawling to my healing pod, resting, and when I got out, starting the entire process over again. It kept going until I killed them, and my reward was a suicide mission.

I hated Saibamen. I didn't know it until I saw their faces again, but I hated them. Vile, disgusting creatures that the universe would be better off without.

"You'll hear it often, I imagine. Everyone waits for the King," Position Ivy responded, lazily striking the bulbous head of a saibaman that leaned into her touch, warbling a pathetic noise. It met my eyes before sharply looking away. "Beautiful creatures. I never knew how limited nature was on Earth. I was already thankful for your efforts to restore nature to what it was -- what it should be -- on Earth, but learning of the existence of Saibamen… as well as the Methanosians. Truly, they are the superior beings in this universe. Perfection made manifest."

"Is there a point to this?" I growled out, making the Saibamen shy away from me and Raven offered a look of concern. And understanding. My history with the species was well documented. It was thrown out as a testament of my incredible will that I survived and that it was irrefutable proof that I was simply different from any other Saiyan, or person for that matter.

Poison Ivy seemed oddly perplexed at the tone and why I was being so hostile. “I would hardly bring you here for idle conversation, King Tarble.” She remarked, her tone silky smooth as she tilted her head ever so slightly. Raven narrowed her eyes at Poison Ivy, so I’m guessing her emotions and actions didn’t line up.

“You brought me here?” I echoed, my eyes narrowing into slits. Everything about this screamed trap to me, but the situation was also so odd. If this was a trap then it being an ambush seemed unlikely simply because the element of surprise was gone.

Poison Ivy nodded her head as if the answer was obvious, “Of course.”

“She’s lying,” Raven spoke up, a sharp edge in her tone. From where she stood, slightly floating above the ground, I saw that her light gray skin darkened ever so slightly, leaning more towards the natural red hue that she suppressed. In response to that, Wonder Woman placed a hand on her lasso of truth while Batman took a step forward, a hand going to one of the canisters at his belt.

Posion Ivy’s expression soured ever so slightly, shooting Raven a look sharp enough to cut. However, she did incline her head to me, “Your arrival was expected. Eventually.” Meaning that we did arrive before whatever plan could fully take effect. And that she was trying to play our arrival off as something that was going according to plan. “However, my intentions are not… nefarious. Or whatever Batman has led you to believe.”

I looked to Raven, whose lips thinned. Wonder Woman took a step forward, “Would you swear upon that upon my lasso?” She pressed and Raven shook her head even before Poison Ivy did. Poison Ivy’s expression twisted, her lips peeling back in an expression of utter contempt. The vines around us began to shift angrily and the Saibamen cowered away from her, though the ones closest leaned into her as if it were trying to reassure her.

Interesting. It confirmed what I was worried about, or at the very least, heavily hinted at it -- Poison Ivy had some level of connection with the Saibamen. Enough that they could sense her mood and respond to it. The nature of that connection needed clarification before I decided on a move. Her ability to manipulate plant life was well established, but it was the first time she had encountered sapient plantlife. Did she have outright control over it? Was it a strong influence? Mental contamination?

“I will not be bound,” Poison Ivy, snarled at Wonder Woman. “I would think you would be more sensitive to the issue than most.” To that, Wonder Woman narrowed her eyes, her grip tightening on the lasso, but if she had a response to the rebuke, she swallowed it down.

“What are your intentions, exactly? As far as we’re aware, you left Earth and a few months later, you appeared here. Tarble was notified with an alert by one of the people here,” Clark explained, clearly trying to defuse the situation.

Poison Ivy's gaze slid to Clark, a slight frown tugging at her lips. Not just in displeasure, but confusion, it would seem. "Exoneration," she decided after a small pause, her gaze sliding back to me.

Batman made a noise in the back of his throat. As if he were swallowing down a retort only because he knew it wasn't his place to answer. Poison Ivy sneered at him, looking at Batman as if he were something she had stepped in, before taking the opportunity to elaborate. "You have a history of pardoning those with exemplary ability and talent. As well as putting them in places where they could best… utilize that talent."

The remark caught me flat footed. To the point that I was struck genuinely speechless. I came here expecting a fight, not… whatever she was trying to turn this into. A job interview.

"During war," Batman uttered, his voice a low growl. I glanced at him, idly surprised by the statement. Poison Ivy narrowed her eyes into slits at Batman in response, the vines writhing around us as a warning. The Saibamen looked increasingly nervous and out if the corner of my eyes, I saw some on the fringes breaking off to sneak away down the tunnels that were hidden by vines.

"Do victims need to look like you to be victims?" Poison Ivy questioned, a deadly edge in her voice. One that promised that violence was incoming. "For decades, humans poisoned the world. Uprooting forests and paving over fields in the name of progress. They slaughtered entire ecosystems by carelessly dumping waste and refuse. All for corporate gain. For money." Poison Ivy snapped, and those Saibamen that didn't break off from the group began to look to Batman. I saw the malicious gleam in their eyes.

"Before you came, the world was headed for disaster. Countless species of plants were eradicated by humans when they tore down the rainforests to harvest wood. The soil was eroded, unnaturally kept alive by infusing toxins into it to produce mutilated fruits and vegetables so inbred and deformed that they can't produce offspring," she continued, her voice dropping with conviction and passion. Her eyes blazed with a light that I knew all too well.

I saw why Batman called her insane. That she couldn't be reasoned with except for a few rare occasions.

Her words eerily echoed my own thoughts during the war. And there had been no reasoning with me during that time.

"You murdered hundreds of civilians," Batman growled, his voice terse. He subtly looked by way but what he gleaned from that glance was anyone's guess. Did he realize that the words struck a nerve? Or was he wondering why I didn't shut the conversation down?

"Acceptable casualties," Poison Ivy growled right back. "Most were implicit by working for the companies I targeted."

Batman's hands curled into fists, his posture going rigid. "They were doing their jobs," he responded tersely,

"The excuse of 'I'm following orders' hasn't been accepted since the Nuremberg trials," Poison Ivy shot back in an instant. As I watched the exchange, I realized that Batman was correct. Poison Ivy was insane… but that didn't make her crazy. Her perspective was completely divorced from the collective -- in her eyes, she was a soldier at war and her people were in danger of being driven to extinction. So she fought back -- attacking corporations that poisoned the earth to either save a quick buck, or simply out of ignorance, or lazyness.

She killed civilians, but not indiscriminately, because she viewed them as soldiers in the war that she was fighting. I wouldn't exactly say she was remorseful about their loss, but in a war of extinction, all alternatives were viable. No matter how heinous. I witnessed it countless times during the war -- exactly what species were willing to do when they felt their kind was in danger of being exterminated.

I couldn't condemn her for it. Not when I was guilty of the exact same thing on a much grander scale. As much as I fought to end the war as quickly and painlessly as possible… it was a war that was started for money. Trade Organization brand toasters. And to satisfy the ego of a mad man.

No. I had absolutely no right to judge Poison Ivy in that regard.

"You murdered hundreds of people in a war that they weren't aware they were fighting in and attempted to exterminate humanity. More than once," Batman responded, his voice decidedly even that told me that he was keeping his temper in check.

"Culled," Poison Ivy corrected with nothing resembling remorse. "If I wanted all of humanity dead, you'd only know it after it was too late to stop me. Humans, loathe as I am to admit it, do have a right to exist. You are a part of nature. Earth, prior to King Tarble's arrival, could sustain only four billion people. I merely aimed to knock down the human population to a sustainable size."

I looked at Raven, whose lips thinned ever so slightly. "She believes that," Raven informed. What she didn't say was if it was the truth or not.

"Enough," I decided, interjecting myself into the conversation before it could spiral out of control anymore than it already had. Everyone's focus shifted to me while I crossed my arms over my chest. "Your past actions are a subject for concern, but they aren't the largest nor why we are here. To start, I demand an explanation on how you got here in the first place. As far as anyone is aware, every notable villain on Earth vanished without a trace. Four months go by and now you surface."

I could see that she didn't at all care for my tone, but she swallowed it down. "I have been here, King Tarble," she informed. Meaning she had been here for four months without me being aware of it. Without there being any issue. "A number of villains were approached with offers and doom preaching that you would be the death of us all. I don't think they were wrong about that, but I have very little interest in joining some club of villains. Despite my rejection, I found myself here."

There was a lot to unpack there, but I zeroed in on one thing. “You were approached?” I echoed, my jaw clenching. “How?” I bit the word out, ignoring a look that I got from Raven. She could sense the regret that rolled off of me in waves. I should have taken action. I knew I should have, but I held back because I didn’t want to alienate the Justice League any further. I didn’t want to put those that straddled the fence in the League over it into Aquaman’s camp.

I knew I made the right decision then, but it became difficult to accept when I had the first definitive proof that villains were colluding.

“Magic, I suspect. A voice came from a reflection in the bath offering me an opportunity to join a clique of villains. I don’t know any more than that, I’m afraid. I gave a rather swift no. I didn’t think anything of it at the time -- it was hardly the first invitation that I received, and more often than not, forming a troupe either ends in disaster or its toothless. Too many big egos,” Poison Ivy admitted with a small shrug of her shoulders.

Magic. Scrying? It sounded similar to what we used during the war. Our countermeasures for it were wards because you could only block scrying. Tracing who was trying to scry on you could only be done during an active attempt, and we were four months too late for that.

“Then you arrived here,” I prompted. Four months ago.

She smiled in response, stroking the head of the Saibaman next to her. "I did. I was rather cross at first, but I quickly welcomed the change. The people here welcomed me as one of their own. I soon discovered the Saibamen," she continued, her gaze becoming a tad sharper as she regarded me. "I understand your kind stole seeds from their native planet and used them as… training tools. Murdering them for practice so early on in their lives. Did you not know that they could live up to a millenia?"

I didn't. I also found myself rather uncaring of that fact. Not just because of the larger looming issues. "What have you done since you arrived?" I pressed, ignoring the question. I would give Ivy this -- she wasn't afraid to make her priorities clear. I would give her that much. I still thought she was delusional in treating non-sentient plants as if they were sapient, but she wasn't afraid to stand up for that delusion.

Poison Ivy seemed almost unsure how to answer that question. "Laying low, for the most part. The people here didn't at first know what to make of me, but I proved my value to them. I then discovered Saibamen seeds and turned my attention to nurturing them."

"To form an army?" Batman interjected, and the Saibamen around him began to hiss.

"To protect them," Poison Ivy rebuked. "King Tarble, you used them as disposable shock troops during the war. You sent infants that hardly saw a fraction of their lives to fight and die on the front lines." There was an accusation in her tone that I couldn't say that I cared for. If she was looking for remorse, then she would be disappointed. I had none. Because she was right -- I did use Saibamen as disposable shock troops. Just as I did dumb clones and androids.

The Saibamen weren't special in that regard. The only difference was that Poison Ivy cared about them.

"I have taken it upon myself to ensure that their rich culture and race wasn't expunged from this galaxy as so many others have," she finished and I processed every word that she had said. All of it. Her motives made sense based on what I knew about her character. However, details were off and I was left with two possibilities of why they didn't line up.

Poison Ivy could be lying. Giving me a sanitized version of events, or outright fabricating lies. My gut leaned towards it as what was going on.

My head told a different story. She was here for four months and nothing happened. Outside the small army of Saibamen, that is. And it could very well be a case that she was making an army to lead a plant based revolution because that was also in line with what I knew of her. But it also didn't quite fit.

"The alert that we received came from a methanosian that claimed that you had taken over the planet," I informed her as I scanned the planet for weaker ki signatures to find that there were still sprinkled out across the planet.

There it was. An affronted expression.

"I've done no such thing. If you knew anything at all about your citizens, King Tarble, you'd know that the Methanosians are gestating as they do at this point during a cycle. You worked them through it during the war," Ivy added with barely concealed contempt.

Clark looked at me, alarm growing in his eyes. "Tarble, I think she's telling the truth."

So did I.

"So it was a trap," I muttered. I was just wrong about who laid it out. I looked at Poison Ivy, "I'll deal with you later. For now, stay here." I demanded, flying up through the hole that I had made, tearing through the vines that covered it. Ivy's location had been leaked and we were led to assume the worst because we had prepared for it. We reacted to the news promptly, traveling to the other end of my empire in minutes in response… and I took a number of heavy hitters in addition to myself as a show of force.

By the time I arrived inside of the ship, I saw Raven rising through the floor with the others. I paid them no mind at the moment as I activated the computers and ship with a thought.

"Give me alerts throughout the Empire -- focus point Earth," I demanded of my ship, only to be assaulted by deafening silence. My ship failed to connect to the net.

Meaning… somewhere, something had just happened within my empire. And I had no idea what.

And I could only assume the worst.