Batman Arkham City: Reconstruction

The Plant Queen

"The Plant Queen"

Gotham City

Arkham City (Now Closed Down)

Gotham Cathedral

Present Day

11:04:56 P.M

The sound of police sirens echoed throughout the vicinity of Arkham City, or rather, the remains of Arkham City.

A fourth of Gotham's esteemed GCPD police force converged at the now destroyed bridge that overlooked the now dilapidated and decimated Gotham Cathedral, comprised of several police cars, emergency ambulances, and SWAT trucks. Their uniforms were tattered and their faces were riddled with fatigue and apprehension.

Amongst these men stood Commissioner James Gordon, the lead officer and heart of the GCPD. His grey hair, very indicative of the fatigue and stress that came with his job description, was practically conspicuous in the moonlight. In one hand he held a field radar, where he was constantly barking orders, and in the other, a personal cellphone.

"Look, my order still stands. Hold the position, but do not engage. I repeat, do not engage. Keep a line around the gates, and keep free of the snipers. This is the first cease-fire we've had so far, no need for it to go to waste. If Ivy decides to attack, we need a good eye to take down her weeds," he instructed to the field radio.

Resting his forearm on the low wall overlooking the nearby Gotham Cathedral, he narrowed his eyes gazing at the now floral-infested Gotham Cathedral. The church itself was an ecosystem, with an exotic and quite peculiar collection of plants growing around and underneath it. Gnarled roots grew out of the graveyard that surrounded the church, breaking through the gravestones and entrenching themselves in the ground. What looked like giant, serpentine vines slithered around the exterior of the church, the vines the sizes of adult whales. A greenish aura permeated the air around the cathedral, indicative of a certain eco-terrorists florokinetic abilities.

"Yes sir," came the response, before the reception turned to static.

Suddenly, he felt a rapid vibrating on his thigh, and without hesitation held the cellphone up to his ear.

"Dad?" came a worried voice.

"Barbara! God, its so good to hear your voice again!" he breathed, relieved at the sound of his daughter, Barbara Gordon's voice.

"You too, Dad! I heard there was trouble still in Arkham City, and called soon as they put me through the line. What's been going on?" she asked. 

"Too much, to be honest. First, we have to suffer through hours of the media breathing down our backs because of the whole Strange situation, and I'm sure Mrs. Vale had a field day over that. Then, we spent the next week cramming every single inmate and his dog into temporary holding cells until Blackgate could be rebuilt. Things were going pretty good, until Harley Quinn escaped."

"Quinn? Wasn't she Joker's girlfriend?"

"Widow now, as she keeps reminding us. She took Joker's death harder than anyone else, went even crazier that usual, if that was even possible. Crazy woman gathered what was left of Joker's men, and staged a three-day campout on the Steel Mill, Joker's old territory. We tried sending strike teams in, but she was more prepared than we gave her credit for. It wasn't pretty, but thanks to Batman, we managed to stop her," he reported.

"Thank God!" she breathed, relieved.

"Don't thank Him yet!" he chuckled weakly before continuing. "We managed to subdue Harley Quinn, but that was only the beginning. In the hours since Quinn's arrest, we've had more break-outs than ever, especially from super-criminals. I'm starting to wonder if there'll ever be an end to this nightmare."