The final straw for Poison Ivy came a few weeks later. Her situation was not improved, Two-Face and Grace had appeared even more cuddly together, and to make matters worse, the Joker was not letting up on trying to push her over the edge.
She hadn't really expected him to – he was a jerk who had nothing better to do with his time, and got off on irritating people. But there was only so much pushing people could take before they snapped. And for Ivy, it happened that evening.
She had been lying awake in bed when she heard familiar sounds from the neighboring cell. "No, not again!" she hissed, pressing the pillow over her ears.
"Oh…puddin'! I'll have some good news for the counselor about you taking onboard my more regular sexual activity suggestion…oh, puddin'! Yes! Yes, yes, yes, harder!"
Ivy banged on the wall. "Shut up in there!" she roared. "Gag her, J, if you can't keep her quiet any other way!"
"Oh, I've got all kinds of creative ways to keep my baby quiet!" giggled Joker. "But I prefer it when she loudly indicates that she enjoys our mutually loving physical relationship! I tell ya, it's great being in a mutually loving physical relationship. Just listen to Harley if you don't believe me!"
"Oh…oh yeah, it is, Mr. J!" moaned Harley.
"C'mon, baby, louder!" he chuckled. "As Harvey used to say to Grace. Probably still does…"
Ivy stood up, storming over to her cell door and planting some seeds in the lock. It burst off as a plant instantly sprouted, wrapping itself around the bars on the neighboring cells and bending them apart.
"Jesus, Red, this is private!" cried Harley as Ivy stormed into her cell.
"No, no – the more the merrier, pumpkin pie!" chuckled Joker. "C'mon, Pammie, join in…"
Ivy punched him hard across the face, knocking him off the bed. "Leave him alone, Red!" shrieked Harley, rushing to pull her away.
"I don't want to hear another word about Grace and Harvey!" Ivy shrieked, continuing to punch him. "I'm not jealous, all right?! I don't care what they do!"
"Then you won't care that Harvey was released from Arkham this afternoon, and went home with Grace," said Joker, grinning at her through bleeding teeth.
Ivy stared at him in shock. "What?!" she shrieked. "You filthy liar!"
"Don't…shoot…the messenger…Pammie!" laughed Joker, as Ivy continued to punch him.
"It's after midnight – why on earth is everyone making this racket?!" shouted Crane, storming into the cell.
"Yes, and where in heaven's name are the guards?" demanded Tetch, yawning. "Aren't they meant to be on call to handle this sort of thing?"
"I may have taken care of a few of them when I snuck into Harley's cell," said Joker, nodding. "I knew if they heard us making ha ha, they might wanna come in and spoil the fun. And I wanted everyone to hear we were making ha ha. But mostly one person in particular," he said, grinning at Ivy. "Just wanted to give you a taste of what Grace and Harvey are doing tonight…"
Ivy shrieked and began attacking him again. "I'm finding some guards," muttered Tetch, wandering off, while Crane joined Harley in trying to pull Ivy off Joker.
"You're a liar, a filthy, disgusting liar!" screamed Ivy, fighting to get back to him. "Stop trying to make me jealous! It's not going to work!"
"Clearly," agreed Joker, grinning. "You just gotta look at you to see a calm, rational, sane individual…"
"You try going two months without sex!" she shrieked.
"Oh, pull yourself together, Pamela!" shouted Crane. "Some of us have had to be alone our whole lives, watching the people we care about being trampled and abused by utterly unworthy pieces of scum! Stop feeling sorry for yourself and do something about it!"
"Oh yeah, like you have, Johnny?!" she demanded.
"No, like…Jervis has!" he snapped, as Tetch returned with a group of guards.
"Like I have what?" asked Tetch.
"The person you loved was with someone else, and so rather than moping about that, you acted," said Crane.
"Yes, and it ended terribly," replied Tetch. "The moral of my story is don't act because it will all go horribly wrong."
"I'm not going to take any action!" snapped Ivy, as the inmates were escorted back to their separate cells by the guards. "Because I'm not jealous! And even if I was, I still wouldn't act, because J's a liar! Harvey wasn't released – I would have heard about it!"
"Actually, he was released, Red," said Harley. "I ran into him leaving Dr. Leland's office on my way to therapy, and he told me the doctors were giving him a trial parole in light of his recent progress. He's being monitored and everything to make sure he behaves himself, but he's a free man at the moment. And he did go home with Grace. I'm sorry if that upsets you."
Ivy said nothing. But there was a strange look in her eyes as her body began shaking. "Red?" said Harley, concerned. "You ok?"
The deafening scream that erupted from her could probably have been heard all the way in Metropolis. When Batman arrived at Arkham in response to the emergency call, he found the whole place covered in vines. It was like the entire building had become a greenhouse.
"What the hell happened?" he demanded as he cut his way through the jungle that was the cell block.
"Uh…Red got kinda upset," said Harley, who was the only inmate not entangled in foliage. "And all her plants just kinda…exploded."
"It was worth it, Bats!" laughed Joker, who was tied up in a vine and being held upside down, with one vine wrapped tightly around his throat. "I love watching people snap! I'm just waiting for your day – all I gotta do is keep pushing! I'm betting you'll go on a killing spree rather than have a plant explosion…"
"Where was Ivy headed?" demanded Batman.
"My guess is probably to Grace Lamont's place," replied Harley. "She kept insisting she wasn't jealous of her and Harvey, but you know what? I think she actually is. As a former psychiatrist, I got kinda an insight into this stuff."
"Great. Thanks, Joker," growled Batman, heading out of Arkham and hoping he wasn't too late.