"Jewelee's down." Oracle announced as she summoned a body-copter.
"Who got her?" Flash asked, coming to stand behind the woman's wheelchair. He peered over her shoulder at the interactive display.
"Catwoman." She told him as they watched the helicopter pick up the woman's body.
"Really?" Flash was amused.
"Never bet against Catwoman…" Barbara toggled the display so the camera moved through the trees.
Barry pulled a chair over and put his feet up on the desk. "Remind me why we didn't tell Poison Ivy she's already won twice?"
Oracle cleared her throat, shifting uncomfortably. "Superman said she was cheating."
Flash chuckled. "How's that?"
"She doesn't ever show her face; the majority of kills last time came from poisoning the fruit she's been growing…I don't know. You guys seem to want a better show, to set an example or whatever." She moved the camera to give her an aerial view of the forest.
Flash crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at the screen. "So we're just going to keep sending people in until she tries a different strategy?"
"Why do you think Harley's in there?" Oracle entered the code that filled the sky with stars.
"Umm…because she's a criminal?" Flash guessed. "That's why I voted 'yes'. Why? Do they not get along or something?"
"No." Barbara adjusted her glasses. "I'm fairly certain that they're involved romantically."
Flash furrowed his brow. "That's a bit cruel, don't you think? There can only be one winner."
Oracle shrugged. "I don't get a vote. I just run the game."
/
Ivy told her she would keep watch, but Selina found there was nothing restful about this environment. Every creak, groan, or shuffle made Selina's hair stand on end. So she lay awake, her green eyes glowing in the darkness as she watched her comrades in the other corner of the room. Ivy's telepathic communication with plants made it so she didn't actually have to physically keep watch, she just needed to remain tuned into her senses and the foliage would alert her when there was an intruder. Unlike Selina, Harley was evidently able to sleep anywhere. She was long gone, her arm wrapped tightly around Ivy's waist and her head treating the woman's green chest like a pillow.
The faint moonlight shining through the holes in the vine thatch-work provided enough illumination to see that Ivy was stroking the girl's matted blonde hair. While Harley looked peaceful in her slumber, Ivy's expression was pained- concerned. Selina was glad she didn't have to live inside that mind. She could tell Pamela's thoughts were moving a mile a minute.
Despite having lived and worked together, there wasn't too much that Selina and Pamela saw eye to eye on. Or maybe the issue was that they were too similar- Selina certainly didn't think so, but she'd heard that theory before. Either way, the three of them worked because Selina was friends with Harley, and Pamela was Harley's…Ivy. It was a lot easier to categorize them when Harley was asleep, wrapped so tightly around Ivy that Selina almost felt sorry for her. Every so often the redhead would lean down and press a kiss to the girl's forehead, and in those moments, it was clear to Selina that Ivy was Harley's girlfriend. But the daylight brought complications. The daylight brought "Mistah J." Catwoman shuttered involuntarily. She hated that clown. Everyone hated that clown. Everyone but the person who should really hate him the most- Harley Quinn.
Selina watched Pam's eyes flit to meet hers; she had been staring too long. Neither one of them spoke. There was enough meaning in the silence. Although Catwoman was grateful for the companionship, she knew this alliance was just delaying the inevitable. Ivy was right- a choice would eventually have to be made. Selina knew what she would choose. She would choose herself. As much as she loved the other two women in this room, she did not love them more than she loved herself. Ivy, too, would attempt to kill Selina when necessary in favor of her own life, but Harley threw the dynamics off.
A knot tightened in the pit of Selina's stomach…as she watched Ivy pull Harley protectively closer to her chest, she mapped a hypothetical path to victory. She instantly hated herself for even thinking it, but if worse came to worst, Poison Ivy's weakness was rather obvious. This is what this 'game' did, it brought out the worst in humanity. It pitted friends and allies against each other, it warped your mind, leaving something even more dark and twisted in its place. For most villains, that wouldn't be a problem, most of them were sociopaths anyway…but these women were different. They had shown tremendous growth since they started out. Catwoman used to steal out of necessity, now she stole for fun and regularly took up arms against the more nefarious forces in Gotham City. She had evolved from a self-interested thief to an anti-hero who was known to hang around the wrong crowd. She didn't belong here. That much was clear. Harley Quinn had gone from a completely co-dependent, abused lackey, to a woman who occasionally was able to make a decision for herself and sometimes allowed for a healthier relationship. Poison Ivy evolved from an extremist, psychotic and royally unstable mad scientist who believed that the human race was the scourge of the earth, to a plant hybrid with a short fuse who found two distinct human beings tolerable, and those two were right here with her, realizing that they'd more than likely have to kill each other to save their own skin.
This process wasn't going to end in reform; it was going to end in heartbreak. Any way you slice it. After being thrown in here, there was no way Catwoman would be working with any of the heroes that condemned her again. Watching Ivy kill Catwoman would strip her of the softness that made her embrace comforting after Harley was abused by Joker, and if Ivy died Harley would be heading straight back to him anyway. If Ivy had to watch Harley die…no one would be safe.
"Thank you for letting me stay." Selina whispered.
Ivy nodded solemnly. "You always let us stay."