Selina had passed though the shock and betrayal phase at about noon on the day of her reckoning. She accepted that her final moments would likely play out on live television. She didn't know who she would be facing, but she expected that at least a few of them would have super-human abilities. She had fought metahumans before, but honestly her track record wasn't stellar and this controlled environment presented other obstacles.
She peered out the window of the helicopter as it flew inside the barrier and over the playing field. They were presently flying over a forest, but in the distance Catwoman could see a lake and rocky mountains and there were open, grassy meadows interspersed throughout. Selina weighed her options. She would need an element of surprise. She was famous for her stealth abilities and those wouldn't do her much good in an open field. Climbing the mountain would tire her out and reduce her combat effectiveness. Cats don't like water, so that was out…which just left the forest. The trees were pretty thick and could allow her to move around unnoticed, either through the branches or on the ground. She could sit back and wait to pounce. Besides, the anonymity of the other villains meant that nobody knew she was there either, and that could be worked to her advantage. It was do or die, calling this situation anything else would be a waste of time, and no matter what, Catwoman was going to go down swinging. 'Or scratching. Ha!' Selina never failed to amuse herself.
"You've got one day's rations in that pack." The pilot told her as he hovered 20 feet above the ground. "This is as low as I'm going. Savages out here, man. Good luck."
Catwoman pulled her tinted goggles over her eyes and strapped the small pack to her back. She took a deep breath and jumped down to the grass below her, nimbly rolling on the landing to avoid injury. She immediately began a mad sprint towards the forest's edge, looking around her all the time for adversaries. There didn't seem to be anyone else in the vicinity. Her claws came out of the fingers of her gloves and she quickly scaled a thick tree just past the meadow. Moving through the branches would be less efficient, but much safer since she could observe those on the forest floor as she went. She scurried along the bow of the tree, not rustling a single leaf as she leaped to the next one in her path. Catwoman continued like that, not stopping for air, until she could no longer see the clearing behind her. She slowed slightly as she had yet to see another person and began searching for the tree she would call home base. It took Selina a half hour and at least another half mile before she found one suitable to her needs. It had wide, sturdy branches and leaves thick enough to obscure her.
Selina sat down and took her pack off her back, removing the whip and setting it down next to her. She then took inventory of the food she'd been given- two protein bars, an apple and what looked to be instant mashed potatoes…although she supposed she would need water for that which was probably a trick to lure her closer to the lake. The League had also included a compass and a digital wrist watch, although the second item was highly unnecessary since Selina knew that the environment could be affected on a hero's whim and suddenly it would look like the middle of the night. Catwoman shoved the pack's contents back into her pack and zipped it up, leaning it against the tree's trunk.
The sun had just set when she finally noticed something move in the foliage below her. She squinted to try to make out the form…Catwoman almost rolled her eyes when she figured out who is was.
Jewelee was cautiously making her way through the forest, but Punch was nowhere in sight, so either he'd sent her on a scouting mission, or she'd been put into the arena without him. Catwoman couldn't discern what weapon she was carrying. As much as Jewelee was an absolute joke within the ranks of th female villains, she did have some rather effective toys. Of course, she was only allowed to bring one to this party. She didn't appear as if she was wearing the anti-gravity boots, so Catwoman didn't think she'd have to worry about the blonde flying away.
Jewelee was passing under her tree, it was now or never. Catwoman grabbed her whip and jumped down on top of the woman who screamed as Selina clawed at her neck. Turns out it didn't really matter what weapon she was carrying…Catwoman shoved the end of her whip into the blonde's mouth, hoping to silence the screams that were ripping through the quiet forest. 'That's going to draw some unwanted attention'. The leather handle succeeded in muffling her yelps and cries as she bled out, but she was by no means silent.
"I'm sorry…sort of." Catwoman whispered in the woman's ear. It was just dawning on Selina that she had ruthlessly and without hesitation taken the life from another person when she heard the rustling of leaves behind her. She grabbed the whip and spun around, her heart beating at warp-speed, but was met with a pleasantly familiar face.
"Kitty?" Harley Quinn asked
"Harley?" Catwoman gaped. "What are you…how long have you been here?"
"A week." Harley admitted, and now Catwoman saw it. The woman's colorful jester costume was dirty and tattered and there was a large scratch across her eye where her mask should have been. "That's crazy. How did you survive?"
Harley snorted. "Well thanks for the vote a confidence, Kitty."
"I'm sorry, Harley…" Selina was trying to wrap her head around both their reunion and the murder she'd just committed. "It's just, a week is a long time, and…"
"She had some help." A deeper female voice came from the darkness behind Harley.
"Ivy?" Catwoman tried to keep her voice down as the green woman emerged from the foliage, her red hair curly and knotted.
"Let's not do this here." Ivy said quickly.
"To the treehouse!" Harley said excitedly. "Who'd ya get?" She whispered sometime later as she and Selina followed behind Ivy who was leading the way to their shelter.
"Jewelee." Catwoman told her, noticing that she didn't feel as much remorse as she should have.
"Ooh. That ain't so bad." Harley chuckled. "Me n' Red had ta knock off Hatter."
Poison Ivy stopped as three thick vines dropped down from an especially large tree. Harley jumped onto one and it carried her upwards until she disappeared into the mass of branches. Selina caught on and followed suit.
"You built this?" The brunette asked once Ivy had joined them. She was admiring the makeshift room made from a thatch-work of vines.
The redhead nodded, eyeing Selina suspiciously. "Why are you here?"
"The league deemed me a villain." Catwoman told her. "Why the hell are YOU here? I thought you went underground."
"Nuh uh." Harley piped up from her cross-legged position in the corner. "Red's been here for months."
"What?" Selina turned back to Ivy, unable to hide her surprise. "But I've been watching. I didn't see you."
Ivy sighed, exhaustion evident on her face. "I've been employing a defensive strategy."
"Ya." Harley seconded. "Red doesn't even have'ta leave the treehouse, ain't that neat? Her plant babies do all the work."
"So you never went away at all? You were here the whole time?" Selina asked.
"Went away? Pfft. Red would never leave me." Harley assured herself.
Selina observed the traces of a smirk make their way into the green woman's fair features. Catwoman furrowed her brow, "So then what were you two doing on the ground tonight?"
"Pickin' strawberries!" Harley told her excitedly. "Red grows all sortza stuff down there so we don't go hungry cuz…ah…that stuff in my pack only lasted me about an hour." The jester giggled and Ivy rolled her eyes.
"Her appetite is insatiable."
"And that ain't jus' innuendo!" Harley laughed.
Well…it was reassuring at least that Harley still had her sense of humor. "I guess the berries were what Jewelee was looking for."
Ivy nodded. "I try to disguise them best I can, but it doesn't take a genius to sniff out something edible. Hungry people can do amazing things."
"Look at us!" Harley jumped up and put her arms around the other women, pulling them into a tight hug. "Three best friends. Together again."
"Yeah, sure." Catwoman acknowledged, prying the blonde's arm free. "Although I couldn't imagine worse circumstances."
"Can we keep er', Red? Please?" Harley batted her eyelashes.
"Harley." Ivy's tone was serious. "An alliance means that even if we win, we will at some point have to make a decision…"
"Yeah, yeah…I know, Red." Harley clearly didn't want to have to think about that, so she gave Ivy a quick, chaste kiss and then grinned at Selina. "Whadda'ya say, Kitty? Wanna join our team?"
"Depends." Selina crossed her arms. "Are you going to murder me in my sleep, Ivy?"
"Why would I need to do that if I could beat you just as easily in a fair fight?"
Oh, good. Harley was still a terribly unfunny comedienne and Ivy was still a narcissistic bitch. All was right(ish) with the world.