Screwed up Sandiego

By: FunahoMisaki

(A/N: I own nothing and read last chapter)

"Alright it's time for the match you've all been waiting for!" The referee announced as the finals match was about to begin. The VILE and ACME agents were on the edges of their seats.

It was Dara versus Ivy.

"In the red corner the woman as strong as any man! The She-Hulk herself! It's DARA THE DESTROYER!" The announcer yelled as Dara entered her corner, the speakers blaring 'Go To Sleep' as she ran in and struck some poses for the crowd.

Carmen made a mental note to keep that song far away from Patty's ears.

"And in the blue corner we have the pretty face that could break a wall! The deceiver! It's IVY OLEANDER!" The announcer cried out as Ivy walked to her corner, pausing briefly to smile and ruffle the hair of one little girl who was leaning out towards her for a high-five. Carmen noted the way the girl, who could be any old than ten, squealed and beamed up at Ivy who winked and moved on. Over the speakers the song 'Know that you're Alive' was blaring causing Carmen to frown slightly.

"Right now you're bruised and bleeding. I see the look within your eyes. I know your pain is for a reason. You need to feel just to know that you're alive." Sara was singing along to the song, causing the others to stare at her surprised or thoughtful in Carmen's case.

"What? I can like other things too." Sara said defensively when she noticed them all staring at her, causing Hannah to snicker a bit while Al just turned away as fast as he could.

Sara scared him almost as much if not more than Carmen.

"Alright ladies. Shake hands. Any questions before we start?" The referee asked looking at the two who were staring at each other with a grin on Dara's face and a smile on Ivy's.

"Yeah what's up with the Oleander title? Sounds like a flower." Dara asked making Ivy smile wider.

"It is a flower, a very deadly one. Nerium Oleander is a small shrub or tree from the dogbane family Apocynaceae, with the classification of Genus." Ivy said rattling off the scientific name and classification without batting an eye.

"Deadly flower?" Dara asked raising an eyebrow at Ivy and earning a nod.

"Oleander is one of the most toxic, commonly grown garden plants in the world — and oddly enough, it's often found in schoolyards. Ingesting any part of this plant can be deadly, especially for children. Even smoke from burning oleander can be fatal. The plant's use as a poison is well-known however. Oleander is reportedly a favorite suicide agent in Sri Lanka, where oleander poisonings exceed 150 per 100,000 people each year. About 10 percent of those cases are fatal." Ivy said causing a few jaws to drop open at how easily she stated those facts.

"How do you know this?" The referee asked looking at Ivy surprised and earning a snort.

"I'm a detective. You think I haven't had to work suicide cases, accidental deaths, and even a few murders caused by deadly plants? Considering there was a case just last month where a six year old ate some Oleander leaves on a dare at his school I'm surprised more people don't know." Ivy said making Dara wince at that, as had a few others. (A/N: This is actually true, despite being fatal especially to children Oleander is grown and planted in plenty of school yards where the children won't know any better.)

"I didn't know Ivy worked those kinds of cases before." Sara murmured making Carmen frown slightly as she surveyed the red head.

"She's a senior detective by ACME's standards. We've all had to work cases like those before we got to that rank." Carmen said sadly and a bit upset. She had known in the back of her mind that the girl had worked cases like those before, but it was another thing to have it brought out into the open and acknowledged.

"Looks like her brother didn't know." Hannah said looking at Zack who had a horrified look on his face, the two female detectives on either side of him just seemed uncomfortable. The boy that Carmen knew was in the technology department of ACME was just staring at Ivy with a look in his eyes that alarmed the thief. It was a possessive yearning look.

"Sara. Al." Carmen's voice was cold as she watched the boy who kept his eyes glued to Ivy as she and Dara began to dance around each other and exchange a few punches to test each others reaction speeds.

"Boss?" Al asked looking at the shorter woman while Sara made an acknowledging hum.

"That boy over there with the three detectives, the techie. Keep a close eye on him." Carmen ordered making the two look at her and follow where she was looking to see the tanned boy that was near drooling as he stared at Ivy.

"Looks like someone has a crush on the red head." Sara said with a snort although her own eyes narrowed as she noticed just how focused, 'Obsessed' her mind supplied, he seemed on the newest VILE agent.

"There's something off about him. Don't let him near Ivy without at least one or two of us present." Carmen ordered making the three with her exchange looks but nod their heads.

"You got it boss." Al said nodding his head.

"Now that it's been two minutes we have a surprise for everyone!" The referee said earning murmurs from the crowd and confused looks from the two fighters.

"Did you know about any kind of surprise?" Dara asked the red head who shook her head in the negative.

"They haven't mentioned anything to me." Ivy said as the referee signaled something to somebody outside of the ring.

"This is going to be…" Here a large metal cage was lowered over the ring, trapping those within.

"A CAGE FIGHT!" The referee yelled earning cheers and whoops and hollers from the crowd. Carmen however frowned heavily. Her senses were screaming at her.

Something was wrong here. Something was about to happen and it wasn't going to be pretty.

Looking around for any traps or tricks or other detectives and police, Carmen noticed no one. There were only the few security agents and the four ACME teens that were across the room. No one was even looking at the four criminals in the stands.

Spotting the techie boy that gave her a bad feeling earlier looking nervous and pale however Carmen followed his line of sights back to the ring. Carmens entire body tensed as she noticed what had him so nervous.

The referee was sweating heavily despite not having moved since the cage came down, and Dara was looking wary and nervous herself. Looking at what they were staring at…Carmen couldn't blame them.

Ivy's face was completely blank like a robot or statue and she had this doll like smile on her face with blank empty eyes. Carmen felt a shiver go down her spine, and yet this one she could identify as being of terror. Strange…it felt different from the shiver she had gotten when she had seen Ivy's dark twisted smirk for the first time.

The kind of look on Ivy's face was one that was going to haunt Carmen for weeks.

Because Carmen recognized that kind of look.