Dr. Alec Holland stood there stunned, his eyes vacant. "Outsiders can't enter the Green..."
Thea scoffed. From an ordinary person's perspective, maybe not. But for a god, a pocket dimension was no obstacle at all. After testing the vastness of the space on the other side, she channeled her full power and squeezed through—body and spirit together.
Not content to leave it at that, she grabbed Batman, Zatanna, and Poison Ivy and pulled them in too. At the last moment, she called back to the middle-aged doctor, "Dr. Holland, get in here! Your old friends are waiting for you."
Holland could only offer a wry smile. He had a feeling his "old friends" were about to have a bad day. With the attitude of someone settling in to watch a spectacle, he followed them in.
Yes—Thea had used divine power to force open a massive entrance. While he normally had to squeeze through, this time he could simply walk in...
Entering the familiar green world, though he'd made up his mind never to be Swamp Thing again, Dr. Holland still felt a wave of attachment and reluctance from the entire realm. The whole world seemed to rejoice at his return.
This was his world. He was born to be part of it.
But he didn't have time for sentimentality—trouble came knocking immediately. An emerald-green humanoid roared at him, "Alec Holland! How dare you bring outsiders here!"
Dr. Holland felt completely wronged. Like hell I brought them! Are you blind? Didn't you see I was walking in last?!
He immediately looked toward Thea, who was surveying her surroundings. Even the slowest person could see there was something unusual about this woman. Now that he'd regained a bit of the Green, some of his memories from his time as Swamp Thing were returning.
He just hadn't connected the Thea from years ago with the current version. Her appearance and bearing had changed too much. Back then, Thea had been maybe an 80 out of 100 in looks; now she was a perfect 100—and that was only because the scale stopped there.
There was simply no way to link the two.
"Where is this place? It feels strange—like it's both repelling me and trying to pull me in," Poison Ivy whispered to Thea.
"Uh, don't worry about it. This place doesn't really concern you," Thea replied. The space was vast—even her super-vision couldn't see the boundaries. It was more like a mirror world built upon the main reality.
She looked at the strangely-shaped green humanoid plants nearby. These were former Swamp Things, previous avatars of the Green. Using the Green's power wasn't without cost—every chosen avatar would, after death, enter this place and become part of the so-called Parliament of Trees.
To Thea, this place was very similar to the Speed Force dimension. Once you gained its recognition, you got extraordinary power in life, but the price was spending your afterlife lying dormant here. Better for Poison Ivy to stay a happy "unauthorized user."
Her gaze, which naturally carried a hint of pity, greatly annoyed the tree spirits. We're happy living in the Green! What's with that look?!
Thea turned back to look at Batman. The green surroundings made his bat-suit look oddly colored. Batman shook his head, indicating he had nothing to say.
"You should know what's happening in the outside world. I don't understand why you're doing nothing. If the Rot wins, it won't just destroy Earth's life—you'll die too," Thea addressed the tree spirits.
"Human, you're too young. You don't understand the mysteries of nature's opera—" The lead tree spirit's words cut off mid-sentence as an anomaly rippled through the space.
Thea's cold laugh was extremely quiet, barely audible.
Yet the entire space trembled with her laugh, filling with a murderous aura. The ground beneath them withered, grass dying instantly, trees collapsing and turning to dust, vines fleeing like living creatures. The once-vibrant forest became a barren wasteland thousands of meters across—all from a single cold laugh.
"You dare attack us in the Green itself!" Two hot-headed tree spirits roared in fury.
But the elder spirit held them back, asking uncertainly, "You... which goddess are you? We've never had dealings with the divine realm."
"Don't worry about where I'm from. I'm here to talk sense," Thea said, feeling incredibly satisfied. These spirits, who didn't even have true souls, wouldn't listen unless you slapped them around first.
"I don't care about your past conflicts. Right now, the whole world needs Alec Holland's power. Humans outside have released massive amounts of environmental serum—the Green should be benefiting most from that. I'm demanding you restore his power." Thea's tone was uncompromising as she pointed at Dr. Holland.
Whether he was willing or not didn't concern her right now. Holland and the tree spirits were like a bickering married couple—both stubborn, neither willing to yield first, which was how things had deteriorated to this point.
Thea planned to use force to suppress both sides, then they could sort out their relationship later!
Both parties looked uncomfortable, but Dr. Holland was a good man. Concerned about the situation outside, he apologized first and finally regained the Green's approval.
Looking at the newly transformed green giant that was Swamp Thing, Thea felt nostalgic. Years ago, she'd seen him as godlike. Now he seemed... ordinary.
Just as she'd initially suspected, entering this space confirmed it. This place was indeed Source energy—or used to be. Now it had changed beyond recognition and could no longer help anyone ascend to godhood. But over the long years, this mutated Source had found a way to channel its power.
It chose ordinary people as avatars to wield this strength. In Thea's assessment, Swamp Thing was fused with a false Source. Technically speaking, he could be called a pseudo-god. From a broader perspective, he was similar to the Vengeance Goddess squad trained by dear old Grandma—no true divine throne, flashy on the outside but hollow inside.
Just as the group was about to leave, Thea suddenly asked, "Do you know why the Rot is expanding so aggressively?"
She'd only asked casually, not expecting an answer. But surprisingly, they did know.
The elder tree spirit said bitterly, "Humans have gone too far. These past two months, they've been mining minerals everywhere like madmen, smelting steel and iron. The living space for plants has been compressed to its limits. The balance was completely shattered—of course the Rot seized the opportunity!"
Oh. Thea thought the elder spirit made a good point. Then she noticed Batman and Poison Ivy looking at her strangely. She was confused. Why are you looking at me?
Thoughts raced through her mind, colliding rapidly. From the spirit's mention of "smelting steel and iron," she pieced together the most likely answer. Could it be... my Pacific Rim project that drove humans to massively exploit and damage the environment?
Her neck stiff with guilt, she glanced at Batman. He nodded subtly in confirmation.
Thea could only facepalm. So the root of this entire crisis... was her!