How could this have happened?
"Yes, this is O'Mara. Gordon's here with me. You're not going to believe this… Poison Ivy has just been taken into custody."
"She's what!?" the voice on the other end of the walkie-talkie almost screamed, a static noise of intense joy rupturing the sound waves. "You're serious!?"
How could I have failed!?
"Yes, we're currently transporting-aagh!"
And then nothingness, as the city had been swept into ice by Freeze's telescope-gun. But those had been old memories. She had awaken, awaken from a deep, dark, haunted sleep when she had never thought it possible to awaken again. How many hours had passed now, since the police had burst into the Gardens, and taken her into custody? Since she, along with the rest of Gotham City, had been frozen into place, buried beneath a shroud of ice that she had thought to become tomb…?
The cell around her was dark. As she lay upon the dirty bed, shrouded in prison garb, her hair horribly matted in a frenzy-like fashion, she felt weaker than she ever had. Her body was physically strained beyond the ability to function properly, her mind broken into several pieces… what were the shards to do, now that they had been separated? It was a nightmare of a state. She still bore the scars caused from her very own plant's attack. She had angered her child… the Batwoman had forced her to bring harm unto the poor baby… had the police not arrived when they had, and filled the massive creature with bullet holes… in a way, Ivy owed the Batmen and woman her life: they had alerted the police to her hideout, just moments before Robin had first walked into the place. He, along with the other two mammals, had vanished before their arrival… she had failed…
Her heart physically strained. Acknowledging this failure was the most horrible thing: an emptiness… a heartbreak…
What was I thinking? The methods were weak, and undeserving…
The cell was awfully cold. Terribly cold. A frigid existence, and she cried softly in bed, clawing at the fabric that made up the lay-about. The night screamed at her, the darkness compressing. In this place, she felt not the love and worship of her children. Only cold, reinforced steel, frigid air, and the most hateful of glances… how many guards and policemen alike had harassed her as she was transported into Arkham, screaming obscenities and death threats and promises of rape, among other horrific propositions. It stained her. Stained her more than she could ever imagine.
A horrible existence…
She was utterly alone, mentally and physically.
The Devil's come to collect his due…
She was going insane…. Going insane… insane…. Insane… insane… insane.. insane…. Insane… insane… insan…
Claws in the dark, they want to rip me open, spill my guts and drink blood… blood…
The atmosphere was physically created by the presence of the being, Pressure. Her head was being forced down a giant tube, strangling her breath…
He never focking loved me… never focking loved me… he hates me… hates me…
Freeze's face kept swimming in her mind, and she imagined how he must feel, right now. His wife dead… and the Batman, along with his pets, had completely put a stop to it all. Poor Nora Fries could never be avenged…
But he does love me… he does…
Bane… Bane's face swam more clearly about her head, maskless and beautiful in his intense mutation. They both swelled with Venom, both of them a writhing vat of toxins and power… and she had loved him… he had loved her… she had hated him… and he had hated her… no, loved… not hated… he had hated… never loved…
The yellow flower was concealed. But she had to know. She had to ask Mother Nature. Her birth canal had hidden many secrets during her time. Only vaguely now did the murder of the eyeglass insulter come to mind. He no longer mattered. What mattered was the tiny relief, that small comfort concealed within. The yellow flower that she had hidden inside of herself, just before the police had fetched her from the Venus… a little bit of hope, her child with her…
When she removed it, she stared at it, desiring it more than anything else. It was a part of her. A true part of her. She sat up in her bed, dreamily staring off into the great black corner of the room in the distance, imagining Bane stepping out of those shadows and coming to take her… but she knew that that could never happen. Bane was dead. The prison warden, Sharp, had informed her of that… crushed, beneath the flaming remains of Freeze's telescopic freezing gun…
NO! NO, HE'S ALIVE! I CAN KEEP HIM ALIVE! I HAVE TO! I HAVE TO!
"He loves me," she whispered to the flower, lightly picking off one petal. She could hear it scream. It had been suffering for some time now, since she had first picked it, and its pain gave her the smallest bit of pleasure… suffer, baby… suffer for mommy… "He loves me not," Ivy continued, pulling off another petal. It screamed even louder in her head, and she could only smile softly, more inclined to torture it… "He loves me…" As she said it, Bane's face constantly swum in her mind. She had to know. Bane had to love her… Bane just had to… "He loves me not…" She was becoming more desperate. The petals were running out. "He loves me…" With a sigh, she placed the picked petal in her mouth, tasting the bitterness of it, longing for that sweet ingestion of toxin… her hand began to reach for the final petal-
"Not!"
She jumped in place, her heart pumping hard, her blood freezing. The booming, dark voice had come from the shadows across the way. She stared, frozen in place, her eyes wide as she longed to see the terror that was in the cell with her. A burst of intense blue light lit up in the shadows, and her heart broke… There was a man standing there. A man who looked on at her, across the way, with the most intense look of hatred upon his face…
Him…
"Surprise," Victor Fries announced, holding out his arms. "I'm your new cell mate."
She shook in place… her mind snapped in two… inside, she was screaming. Screaming incredibly loud, incredibly horrifically… he was moving forward, and with him came the most intense chill, and the most nerve biting horror of a movement… it stung her, so very dearly. "And I've come to make your life a living Hell," he promised her, coming closer and closer, until she sat so close before him that not only had the world become a horrific refrigeration of an existence, but she was almost blinded by the intense glowing blue of his armor. "Prepare for a bitter harvest…" He leaned forward, smiling an insane, horrific smile. "Winter has come at last."
His fist struck forward and sunk into her chest. She yelped loudly, the impact of it forcing her hard against the wall, but he placed his mother hand over her mouth, and shook his head slowly, darkly…
"You know," he whispered, his eyes leering, "when I was up there, lying in the ruins of my greatest plan yet, crying to myself as I realized that I would never get to avenge my wife after the Batman had killed her… he came to me. Came to me, you know, and do you know what he said to me? He told me something very interesting…" He was pushing against her face, rubbing the back of her head hard against the freezing concrete of the wall, and the pain was horrific, she was screaming into his right palm… but she had not the strength to combat his hold. "He told me that he was innocent in the matter of Nora's untimely death… he showed me a recording. A recording of you, no less… shall I recite your famous words, Miss Ivy. Here we go…" And he cleared his throat loudly. "'As I told Lady Freeze when I pulled her plug, this is a one-woman show…"
And he brought back a hand, and with as much intensity as he could muster, brought his palm like a fierce meteor against her cheek. The massive force of his strike sent her flying, screaming in pain, tears flying as she went from the bed and crumpled onto the floor. She desperately looked towards the cell door, screaming, crying horrifically for help. "HELP ME! HELP ME, PLEASE!"
There were two guards at the other end of the hall just outside of her cell, but came, they did not. Indeed, had she been able to stand, and peer down the way, she would only have seen them smirking, dark, triumphant looks upon their faces, fingering the couple of diamonds in their pockets that Freeze had bribed them with…
And of course, one of these guards had recently lost his brother. A man with an eye-patch, who had overseen Freeze…. a man who had been horrifically killed by an intensely poisonous kiss…
"But justice is at hand, tramp," Freeze whispered once more, staring down at the shaking, grief-stricken Ivy who stared back at him with the most intense fear, awaiting her death. "She lives. The Batman found and restored her. And not only that, but she is being moved to Arkham, so that I can continue my work… Nora Fries lives, Ivy. Isn't that just…wonderful?"
NO! NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! I KILLED HER! I KILLED THAT USELESS, WORTHLESS BITCH! I DESTROYED HER, MANGLED HER, SUFFOCATED HER! SHE'S DEAD, DEAD, DEAD! SHE CAN'T BE ALIVE, CAN'T BE… NO! NO!
"I can see that this news bring you into despair," he told her, a malicious grin upon his face. "That is comforting…" He now crouched down before her. Gripped her by the front of the shirt and jerked her forward, his frozen breath actually icing over her cheeks… pain unimaginable… "You will regret what you did, Miss Ivy. My wife… my men… everyone in Gotham wants your blood… and I get it all to myself. Don't think that you will die tonight. Do not think for a moment that you will die tomorrow. In fact, do NOT count on dying any time soon. I intend to torment you, each and every day, for the rest of your miserable life. Does that sound fair? Killing you now would only allow you an escape, and I do not want a murder charge thrown onto my head. No… your pain shall come slowly… so…" He gripped her by the cheeks, squeezing. "…very…" He twisted her head up. "slowly…" And he forced her backwards, sending her sliding across the room, right for the cell door.
Poison Ivy only had one thought, before the back of her head hit the solid steel and unconsciousness took her.
Help…me…
And no help ever came.
A letter. A letter arrived within the day. A letter, undefiled by Arkham staff…
Dear Poison Ivy,
I hope this letter finds you well. I can't tell you how difficult it was, getting the proper names to ensure that this reaches you safely. I had to bribe the right guys, and bribery doesn't always involve money, if you know what I mean. It is my dear hope that this letter reaches you unopened, but in the case that someone does peek, I will already have left Gotham City, and begun the Movement.
I write to you now, Poison Ivy, to tell you this: I love you. I love you so very much. Quite psychologically speaking, I am obsessed with you. I've dyed my hair to match your red, it used to be blonde. I've also taken to wearing green contacts, as blue hardly seems fitting for your successor. Yes, that's right. I want you to know how much I admired your work. The day that truly got to me was when you displayed that so very beautiful video on GCN. The poisonings, the necrophilia, the ambitions, and the confidence… it's all so very arousing. I myself love nature, and I love chemistry. In fact, it's my major in college at the moment.
Used to, when we were kids, we were asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Well, I have my answer at last: I want to be you, Poison Ivy. I'll take on your name for myself, and I will continue your work. The work of Mother Nature should never end. I will poison men in your name, and I will do my best to revive your studies into botany. I will strive to be a true successor. I've already killed people. My college professor, along with a few boys at my school… and I even strung their bodies up, just like you did on TV! Isn't that cool!? It was scary at first, but then, it started to become REALLY fun, lol. 3
I like, totally am going to become Poison Ivy, and I'm going to go on a massive killing spree, just like you. I've already dealt with my parents, as well, as they won't be able to interfere. I truly love you, and I truly admire you, Ivy. I hope that in time, I can come to live up to your unholy name. They may have your physical body locked away in Arkham, but your spirit shall live on inside of me. I am going to make you proud. I promise. I promise I will make you proud. I do, I promise.
I promise.
This letter will be short, but know that I shall be writing again. And soon. I am your dearest fan, your most adamant worshipper. You spoke to me in such a beautiful way, Poison Ivy. You have served us well… now, let me serve you. I will write again, sometime in the next month. I'll send some enclosed pictures of my new costume, too, I'm modeling it after you. Just know that I am here to carry on your name and legacy forever. And if I am blessed with a daughter, then she too will carry on your legacy. One day, the mammals of this Earth will be cleansed… and your paradise, your Eden, will be realized.
I write this in love, my goddess,
A.R.
P.S. =)
TO ALL OF MY FANS WHO HAVE ENJOYED THIS STORY: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR LOVE AND YOUR ENCOURAGEMENT. I HAD FUN WRITING THIS RATHER MORBID TALE, AND ALL OF YOU WERE MY PRIMARY FOCUS, WANTING TO DELIVER AN AWESOME STORY. I HOPE TO WRITE MORE LIKE THIS IN THE FUTURE. OFFICIALLY, AS FAR AS I KNOW, THIS IS THE FINAL CHAPTER. THIS IS THE END. I WILL MOST LIKELY NOT WRITE ANYMORE ON THIS TALE. I THINK THIS IS JUST THE WAY IT HAS TO END. THANKS TO ALL WHO STOOD BESIDE ME, AND I HOPE YOU WILL LOOK INTO MY OTHER MORBID TALES, AND AS WELL, I AM OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS ON WHAT TO WRITE NEXT! =D GOD BLESS YOU ALL, AND GIVE YOUR CREATIVE ABILITIES TO HIM! =)