Johnny Blaze said:
McCulloch sat in the mirror dimension and bandaged his bleeding hand.
"Oi, gonna feel that one in'a morning."
He tried the gun in his bandaged hand...he sighed with relief as he was still able to wield it properly. As he looked through the looking glass, McCulloch smiled as he saw Deadshot get bombarded by the shrapnel of his grenade.
"Karma's a *****, ain't it?" Came a voice from all around Deadshot as he tore his mask off of his head.
As silent as death, McCulloch slowly materialized halfway from a shiny table top right behind Deadshot as the hitman gazed down the hallway, guns at the ready.
McCulloch smiled wide. He had him. All it would take is a single, clean shot and this would be over. He slowly brought his gun in line with the back of Deadshot's head.
"G'bye, Alice", he said with a malicious grin.
He was so focused on Deadshot that he was taken by surprise when a long vine reached from down the hallway, grabbed his gun hand by the wrist, and yanked him completely from the table.
"What th' bloody hell?"
Another vine shot in, wrapping itself around McCulloch's torso and began to squeeze the air out of him like a serpent. Looking to see who his attacker was, he was visibly surprised to see Poison Ivy moving down the hall towards him, wreathed in plant life.
He tried to mutter a smartass remark, but all that came out was a weak grunt.
"That's...quite a...grip...ye have...there...lass", said McCulloch in a strained voice as the air was being ripped from his lungs by the crushing vines.
Ivy said nothing in return. She just starred blankly at him as she approached, vines writhing around her as though they were snakes.
All right, 'nough 'o this, thought McCulloch as he was able to reach into a belt pouch and pull out a small device. Activating it, a small white hot beam of light appeared from it's tip and sheared the vine off at it's main stalk. McCulloch dropped to the floor, and was up in an instant, running into a nearby door.
Ivy didn't protest in the least as her plant was injured. Her facial expression did not change whatsoever. She simply continued on methodically after the Mirror Master. Slamming open the doors to the room McCulloch entered, Ivy found herself in a large, laveshly decorated ball room, with a huge chandileer hanging overhead.
Walking into the room, Ivy began searching for the Mirror Master.
It wasn't until she made it to the center of the dance floor when the bellowous laughter filled the room.
"Hahahahahahahaha...ye got the drop on me before, Ivy dear. I was so preoccupied with Lawton, I din't even notice ya. But that's not happenin' again."
Mirror Master's face appeared in the ball room floor, taking up the entire dance area.
"Now it's my turn", he said with an evil grin.
With a salute and a smile to Ivy, the giant chandileer came crashing down. Ivy was able to just avoid being cut to ribbons as it hit the floor and broke apart in thousands of shards of glass.
"Well done, lass. That was definitely thinkin' on your toes", laughed McCulloch.
Ivy got back up without a word and began to move around the room alertly.
As she neared the bar, McCulloch's face appeared in all the wine bottles.
"Beek-a-boo, luv", McCulloch said as he stuck out his tongue.
One of the vines still coiled around Ivy lashed out at the bottles shattering them all and spraying the entire bar in a rain of wine.
"Hahahahahahaha! Temper, temper lass! Ye'll never get anywhere if ye can't keep your head."
Ivy said nothing at all. Her face still stayed the same as she spun around and began to slowly stalk the room once more.
"Aww, what's wrong, darlin'?", McCulloch asked.
"Ya don't feel like talkin' today?"
Ivy gave no answer what-so-ever. She continued her slow march around the room, waiting for her enemy to expose himself so she can kill him once and for all.
"You're too high strung, that's the problem", laughed McCulloch.
"Now, I'm no shrink", said McCulloch as his hand slowly rose from the ground behind Poison Ivy holding a small device,
"but I think ye need to lighten up a wee bit."
Activating the weapon, a small stream of fire shot out of the device at Ivy, setting her ablaze. Even as her plants burned to death, and as she rolled on the floor frantically to put out the flames, she did not scream. She did not even utter a sound.
"Bwahahahahaahahahahahaha", laughed McCulloch as he watched the display from a mirror dimension,
"I'll have ta ask the Count who he gets to do his brain washin'. They do a damn fine job, from the look 'o things."
As the final flame disappeared from Ivy's person, she remained on the ground, catching her breath. Her hear was gone, her clothes had practically burned away or melted to her skin, and she was covered in major burns all over her body. By rights she shouldn't even have been moving, but she still tried to rise.
"Aye, a damn fine job", said McCulloch in a solemn voice as he watched the display.
"All right, I've had my fun for th' day. Time ta end this."
As the Mirror Master finished the sentenced, a half dozen armed guards burst into the room and began to move to the critically injured Poison Ivy. But, as they neared her, she vanished into the floor.
-----------------------------
The Vlatava hospital bustled with activity as doctors rushed back and forth to check on patients. It was a jumbled mess of organized chaos...your typical day in the ER.
Suddenly, to the surprise of all the onlookers, the burnt body of Poison Ivy melted up from the shiny hospital tiles. Along side her a bundle of American dollars. As medics rushed to her side, the face of the Mirror Master appeared in the tiles underneath them.
"Ye make sure she's given the best 'o care, or you'll end up worse than her", he said in a cold voice. After saying his piece, he disappeared.
McCulloch was headed back for Vertigo's castle. Back for the treasure's of the Count and his head.
