Oracle had to clamp her hands over her hears at Harley's screech. It was piercing, and even muffled, it bounced around in Barbara's head like it was shot out of a canon. Anyone not watching Poison Ivy's violence would probably assume that it was Harley who had been stabbed for the cry of deep pain she emitted.

Barbara had been forced to watch many a violent death over the six years since The Arena was instituted, but she'd never seen anything quite like this. The branch retracted with the skewered muscle, bringing it back to Ivy for examination. She glanced at the beating organ, and then over at the man it belonged to. Joker's face was contorted in pain and confusion as he observed his now gaping chest cavity.

Unconsciously, without malice or forethought, Barbara's lips crept into a sly smile. The Joker was dead. Finally, The Joker was dead. And he met a demise befitting of his time on this planet- violent. While it was true watching Joker die wouldn't give Barbara her legs back, this simple act of unintended revenge would suffice in the meantime.

Bruce re-entered the control room then, dressed in his Batsuit. The former Batgirl replaced her contented smile with a more typical placid expression.

"Turn the light on." He said in his gravelly voice specifically reserved for Batman.

"I'm sorry?"

"Put the sun in the sky." He indicated the moonlit image of the arena. "I want everyone to see this."

/

Catwoman couldn't stop starring at Ivy. She faintly registered that Harley was screaming somewhere in the background, but the unequivocal evil she'd just witnessed rattled Selina so deeply she just continued to stare dumbly at Ivy as she examined the heart she'd skewered.

"PUDDIN! PUDDIN! NO! NO, IVY! PUDDIN!" Harley cried nonsensically, tears streaming down her face.

Ivy shrugged. "I thought he'd appreciate the joke." A wicked smile licked at her lips. "Here you go, Harl. This is what you wanted, right? The object of your desire?" The branch began to move towards Harley who shook her head vigorously.

"TAKE IT AWAY, IVY! PLEASE! IT'S HORRIBLE! YOU'RE HORRIBLE!" The blonde cried.

"No, Harley." Ivy chided. "We must learn to live with the consequences of our decisions. Here." She waved a hand in the air and the roots binding Harley wrenched her arms up so she was holding her palms out, waiting for an offering.

"Pamela. Stop." Catwoman breathed.

Ivy ignored her, depositing the twitching muscle into Harley's outstretched hands.

Harley wretched and tried to drop it, but the roots closed her palms around the heart, forcing her to squeeze its bloody exterior.

Catwoman was once again starring dumbly at Ivy. She hadn't witnessed this degree of depravity in her for a very long time. Harley had changed that in her, Selina assumed, forced Ivy to want to compare favorably to The Joker. Catwoman supposed it was only fitting that Harley be the one to awaken the evil from its slumber once more. As Selina watched, the sun began to quickly rise behind Ivy, illuminating her beautiful features while casting long shadows across them. She looked like a dark angel, one that came from below rather than above.

"Pamela." Catwoman was a little louder this time. A little braver. "This is too much. Stop."

Ivy raised an eyebrow. "You think so?"

"GET IT AWAY!" Harley screeched. "GET IT AWAY!"

"Mmm…perhaps you're right, Cat." Ivy acknowledged, bending down to grab a stick from her feet. She crossed the space between she and Harley. "My apologies, Darling." Ivy sliced across her own palm with the stick. She raised her hand above Harley's and squeezed, forcing her green blood out of the slit in her palm. The droplets sizzled and smoked as they landed on Joker's heart. Harley watched in horror as the muscular tissue began to break down, appearing to melt in her hands.

"You are a mean lady, Ivy." Harley bawled. "An evil, mean, horrible lady."

"Gosh, Harley…" Ivy facetiously tapped her temple with her index finger. "It's almost like I'm a…a supervillain, right?"

"I HATE you, Poison Ivy! I hate you, I hate you, I HATE YOU!" Harley was shaking her head so hard her pigtails were coming loose.

"Poison Ivy…" the redhead repeated, her lips moving slowly, curling salaciously around the syllables. Ivy looked up at the sky, evidently noticing for the first time that the sun had risen. The daylight proved to have a sobering effect. "Harley... I... I don't understand. I put my life on the line for you. I protected you. I kept you safe. I listened to you. I held you when you cried. I healed your wounds. I told you I loved you, Harley. I don't even really understand that concept, but I told you that I love you because I do. I would choose you every time. But at this point I'm not sure what more I can give. You lead me on. You deny me. You break my heart. You go back to him. Like clockwork. And I come crawling back to you just the same. You are my Joker, Harley. You are a selfish woman and the worst part is I don't even think you fully realize what you're doing."

Now it was Harley who was starring silently at Ivy, curiously even, despite the circumstances. A lump formed in Catwoman's throat. She couldn't believe it, but she knew where this was going.

"So I am going to do to you what you should have done to him a long time ago." Ivy continued, swallowing hard. "I'm going to kill you. Because I'm stronger than you and I'm stronger than this. If we were in the real world I would probably forgive you again. Give you one more billionth chance. But push has come to shove, Darling, and you don't deserve me."

Harley's mouth dropped open. "R…Red?" She stammered.

"Pam…" Selina whispered. "You're angry. Don't do this."

Ivy shook her head. "I'm not angry. I'm empty. I've spent so long being angry…" a tear fell down her cheek. "He's dead and she still wouldn't choose me."

"No, no, Red!" Harley was pleading now. "Sure I'd choose ya! Sure I would!"

Again, Ivy shook her head. "I love you, Harley." She sighed. "I love you…madly. You know what that feels like, don't you? To do everything you possibly can for someone and yet they still don't value you? You can kid yourself into thinking he did, but I refuse to be that delusional with myself." Harley was crying now too, and Ivy closed her eyes briefly, continuing with a softer tone. "I love you, Harley. But I have to love myself more."

"So what?" Harley sniffed. "Yer gonna kill me jus' cuz I don't love ya like I loved Mistah J?"

"No, Harl." Ivy gently brushed the blonde hair out of the jester's eye. "I'm going to kill you because I can't trust you, and I can't trust you because you don't love me."

"There has to be another way." Catwoman murmured behind them, although there was nothing convincing in her tone.

"Not here, there isn't." Ivy wiped the tear from her cheek. "Here and now, this is the only way."

"How are ya gonna do it, Red?" Harley asked. "Are ya gonna make it hurt?"

Ivy shook her head and the roots that were pinning Harley to the tree by her neck moved up to her chin and behind her head. "I would never hurt you, Harley…" she whispered. "Atlanto-occipital disarticulation. I'm going to break your neck at the highest possible vertebrae. The result will be instantaneous." The roots tightened as she spoke.

"Pammy…" Harley sniffled, a tear rolling off her chin. "Could ya…could ya do it with your hands?" She forced Ivy to look her in the eye. "I like yer hands. They're warm and soft."

Slowly, the roots fell away from Harley's face and Ivy replaced them with her hands. She leaned forward and reverently rested her forehead against Harley's, allowing the tears to flow freely down her cheeks.

"Maybe I'll get to see my Puddin' again." Harley whispered.

The result, was, indeed, instantaneous.