In DC universe as Batman

Jason Woodrue was an environmental terrorist to the bone. Compared to the crap he'd pulled, Poison Ivy turning people into trees was like Harley Quinn's ridiculous costume—flashy, maybe dangerous if you're dumb enough to touch it, but mostly harmless playtime.

Bruce wasn't even paying attention to Gordon's face at this point. His inner comic nerd had activated, and now he was deep-diving into plant villain lore like a wiki come to life.

"See, the Green—life force of all plants—is divided into the [The Parliament Of Trees], representing trees, and the [May Queen], representing vines."

"Vines are instinctively clingy and obedient, so the [May Queen] doesn't get much respect. But that doesn't mean she's weak. Not at all."

"Swamp Thing is the champion of the Parliament of Trees. But Woodrue? Plant Master? He's just a bottom-rung foot soldier. A disposable minion."

"Poison Ivy, though—she's the [May Queen]'s chosen. Which means her power isn't just real, it's on par with Swamp Thing's."

Gordon blinked like he just got slapped with a moss-covered thesaurus. He tried to say something—gave up halfway—and just said:

"Jesus, Batman… I understood maybe 10% of that."

Bruce scowled. "What? It's not that complicated. I laid it out clearly. Only an idiot wouldn't get it."

He turned away and grabbed a stack of files. Eyes narrowed.

"Ha! Knew it."

"Plant Master never does anything just for kicks. He's all about 'Mother Earth' and restoring balance and whatever. He probably couldnt pull off such a scheme alone, so he roped Ivy in. And since Bane just blew up Arkham, he didn't even have to break her out."

Gordon cut in. "That's actually what I needed to tell you. This file? The one I got handed? No way it was written by the clowns who usually work for us. It's too accurate. Lines up with everything we've got. It even highlights weak spots in the case we didn't know existed. I mean… it's disturbingly precise."

Gordon adjusted his glasses, sliding into cop-mode.

"It's not just detailed. It's surgical. Escape routes, attack patterns, body posture—it reads like it was written by someone in on the job."

Bruce nodded. "Maybe it was an accomplice. This whole thing's been too well-orchestrated. Woodrue and Ivy don't plan like this. Someone else is steering the ship."

He snapped the file shut.

"You're telling me you didn't know there was a giant sentient tree-man walking around Gotham until he kidnapped someone?"

"A guy who created a bio-weapon that could erase mankind—and you only noticed when he turned up on TV?"

"Either your intel network is trash… or someone wants you blind until the last second."

Batman stopped.

And then—

"I get it."

Gordon perked up like an old detective dog sniffing a juicy case.

Oh? Is this one of those big Batman deduction moments? Hell yeah. Let's go.

There was nothing Gordon loved more than solving cases beside the world's greatest detective—even if half the time, he barely understood what was happening until it was already over.

Bruce leaned in, voice dropping.

"I get it now. Bane doesn't want to fight me head-on. Not yet. He's stalling. While his people buy time, I'm supposed to get tied up chasing other threats. Like this."

"This intel? It's not a report. It's bait. Probably written by Trogg. That freak was always smart enough to put words together when he wanted to."

"As for Woodrue and Ivy — if this was just about weapons, they'd have killed the scientist. But they kidnapped him alive."

"That means they're trying to recreate something. Something big."

Bruce pointed at the photo of the twisted tree-like creature.

"Woodrue's done this before. He tried to replicate the Swamp Thing formula. Turned himself into a failed version of it — a mockery. But if he can now do it on a mass scale."

He snapped the file shut.

"They want to turn people into plant hybrids. Maybe even full-on elemental bodies. But it's flawed. The transformation isn't stable. Victims melt into mush — blood, sap, pulp."

"So they grabbed Goldblum to fix the failure."

"And where would two lunatics like that work in peace?"

Bruce answered himself.

"Probably in the Massacre Swamp, right outside Gotham. "

(Note : in the original movie Batman and Harley Quinn (2017) from which this plot is taken. It happens in westwright swamp, Louisiana but for plot convinience it happens outside of gotham in slaughter swamp)

"Remote, wet, full of toxins. It's perfect for plant-based biochemistry."

He stood up suddenly, pacing.

"I've got it. I've figured out the whole plan. Nobody — and I mean nobody — understands Gotham's freaks better than I do."

Gordon opened his mouth. Closed it. Took off his glasses. Rubbed his face.

"Wait—how did you even come to that conclusion? What part of this file says any of that?!"

Bruce had the answer. Just… not one Gordon could accept.

Because I've read all the comics.

In his head, Bruce pieced it together easily: Every time Plant Master showed up in comic continuity, he shouted "Mother Earth!" and tried to turn humans into plants. Every time, Ivy or Swamp Thing kicked his bark-covered ass. He always tried some giant "Green" purification scheme and failed. It was a pattern. Obvious—if you'd read and watch everything.

But of course, Bruce couldn't exactly say "because it's canon." So he played the Batman card:

"Intuition. You can't learn it. You either have it or you don't."

Gordon stared at him, awestruck. The illusion was back. The mystery. The drama. He'd always suspected Batman's insane leaps of logic weren't reasoning—they were straight-up magic.

"I knew it," Gordon whispered. "You were never using logic. You were using intuition. Like a psychic."

Meanwhile, Bruce was thinking ahead.

Even if Bane hadn't tried to stall him with this plant plot, he had zero plans to fight that venom-jacked psycho head-on. At his current strength, he wasn't even sure he could beat a strong breeze, much less a roided-up martial arts monster.

Bane with Titan venom? Probably punching in the 100-ton range. If he turned his brain off, maybe even 150.

So yeah, Bruce wasn't going to punch that.

Bane wanted to send Woodrue and Ivy to slow him down? Fine. As far as Bruce was concerned, he was being gifted potential allies. Especially Ivy—one of the few Gotham rogues with real elemental superpowers.

And Bruce? Bruce knew Ivy better than she knew herself. He didn't just study her files. He read her entire publishing history.

"Even the worms in her stomach don't know her like I do."

But there was one problem:

The massacre Swamp was huge. Too huge.

Bruce could guess the kind of place they'd hide in. But not the exact one.

He wasn't a real Batman. Just a guy who read too many comics. You can guess motivations. But GPS coordinates? Not happening.

Unless…

"I need Harley."

He whispered it like a secret. Then louder, with conviction:

"We need Harley Quinn. The real Harley. Gotham's rogue whisperer. The human joker tracker and Ivy's maybe-girlfriend-bestie-nemesis-thing. Only she can find her."

(Harley Quinn was dumped by joker before this movie that's why she screws with nightwing in it. But she will always be joker's bitch. That's what she is.)

And lucky for him?

Bruce already knew exactly where to look.