Bullets and Thorns [Ivy]

[Deleted]

Slowly removing the air vent cover from the wall, Jason dropped down upon the floor as the Guard moved away from the corridor to another room. Making as little sound as possible and sticking to the walls as closely as possible, he made his way under the camera that stood on the wall. Along the corridor was the main Guard room for this Wing of the Asylum, but those inside seemed preoccupied by the football match upon the small television that sat in the corner of the room. With that drawing their attention away from the outside corridor, Jason approached the door, looking in before continuing. “And that’s a touchdown for the Gotham Knights! That makes it 12-6 with Gotham leading Hub City as we approach the first quarter.” A round of cheers shot up from them as the team scored, obviously they weren’t going anywhere for a while.

Seeing Guards like that, Jason understood why so many criminals had escaped from the Asylum but of course he wasn’t a fan of putting them behind bars in the first place. Still looking into the Room, he could see a list of prisoners upon the wall. Using his helmet’s built in binoculars; Jason zoomed in closer to see the name that he was looking. A few names down was ‘Pamela Isley’ with the number of her cell next to it. Judging from the numbers of the cells near him, her’s was down the corridor just a pit further. Above the corridor, echoes from the snow fall rung with the wind howling like a scream. This whole building felt wrong to Jason; as if a great many secrets were hidden away in it. Places like these don’t do any good, they only continue the cycle of crime.

After crouching for a while before he thought he was out of range of the Guard Room, Jason stood to his feet before continuing to walk down the hallway. With every step, the guns in his holsters shook as metal hung in a holder. His boots slammed against the wall but the weather outside masked any noise that he was making. Having being back in Gotham for such a short while, this was by far his most dangerous mission to date as the Red Hood. This Asylum held some of the worst criminals in the City, but for tonight, Jason was only interested in one; Poison Ivy. Through one of his contacts from Crime Alley, Jason learned of how willing to spill secrets she is, for the right price or reason. Although relatively a young villain compared to some others, she still was well connected with various other criminals. Any information she gives will be a huge bonus for the Young Vigilante.

Murderers, rapists, they all infested the halls of this Asylum. The thought of them angered him greatly, with him knowing that they’d soon escape from here, the majority of them do. Even when he was Robin, Jason had no love for visiting the Asylum, finding it quite a depressing place. Now under closer inspection, his original view of the Institute was correct. Finally he reached the glass door that stood as one of the walls to her cell. It gave a clear view to the interior of the room. At least the prisoners had very little comfort in their cells. And there she was, sleeping with her back to him. A few holes were placed in the glass, allowing people to speak through them if needed. “Orange really isn’t your colour.” He referred to the bright jumpsuit which she wore, as do all of the inmates.

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

Unlike many in this wing of the asylum, Poison Ivy's cell is actually somewhat well-appointed. Well, for a cell, anyway - there's no getting around the fact that the space she spends the majority of her time in is relatively small and unpleasantly constructed. Still, unlike many she's allowed more than a few luxuries, including so many lovely gifts from Selina - some of which couldn't be described as cheap. She's been on her best behavior, after all - well, aside from killing that doctor, but that was her first day and she'd not been feeling very well at all - so she's been granted full privileges including having nearly anything beyond obviously hazardous things like weapons and such. It's only those with a track record for managing to turn anything into a weapon or escape tool, like the Joker or Crane, that get everything taken away. She, on the other hand, is even allowed a mirror, in spite of the fact that she could easily shatter it and make a weapon - the staff trust her and she's proved to be fully deserving of that trust. So far, anyway.

So when a voice wakes her from her sleep, she's wrapped up quite snugly underneath the blankets of her bed, and she half turns to see what that noise is about and if it's anything she needs to pay attention to. What she sees causes a bit of a double-take. Not because she seems to have a visitor at this hour, which is strange enough, but because whoever it is clearly isn't your run-of-the-mill visitor based on the fact that he's masked if nothing else. Well, that and the fact that even the guards don't carry guns down this wing - the risk of being around the patients here unarmed is considered to be lower than the risk of bringing a weapon near such patients. That's just asking for the weapon to be stolen and used on as many people as possible. So though she doesn't recognize him at all - and here she thought she'd heard of everyone in the masked set, so perhaps he's new... - she does immediately take notice.

Smirking at his comment, she slides out of the covers and rolls over on the bed so that she can face him without getting up. "I don't think that this shade is anyone's color. But I probably pull it off better than most," she says with a smile. And she's not lying - the jumpsuit may be a truly hideous color, but one thing that can be said about Poison Ivy is that she's very, very curvy. And curves make everything better. They even manage to give a somewhat pleasing shape to the otherwise completely bland design. Then again, it's still ugly enough that the only reason why she's willing to wear it is because complying with that sort of thing is considered a part of the good behavior that grants her the privilege of having so many nice things.

In spite of the unusualness of the visitor and the fact that he must be quite skilled to reach her, she looks completely relaxed as she continues to lay there and comments, "I don't believe I've heard of anyone like you before, and I'm sure I would have remembered if I had." Her eyes look him up and down, checking for any hints about who he is - not that she'd care to work out who is behind the suit so much as wondering what his role in the grand scheme of Gotham is. The guns seem to indicate that he's not a vigilante, as most of their kind around here seem to have a thing against killing anyone, but not all of them so she can't rule that out. The red mark on his chest gets the most of her attention, as she sees the resemblance to the symbol of Batman, though as it's partly obscured by the jacket she can't tell for sure and it's anyone's guess what it's supposed to signify even if it is the Batman bat.

Indeed, it seems that she'll be able to find out far more about him with words than by his appearance, so she continues by asking, "To what do I owe this pleasure? It isn't everyday I get woken up by such a handsome specimen."

[Deleted]

Finding it hard not to smirk for a moment under his helmet, Jason approached the glass, standing only a few inches from it. Ivy’s allure was legendary, and seeing her slide from her bed, he could see why. “I prefer red myself.” Obviously referring to his helmet, from which his name comes from. After inspecting her physique for a few moments, Jason shook his head and backed away from the glass. Even locked up, he suspected that she still had some power over men. Hopefully his will is strong enough to resist her for now, although his mask does provide some protection from foreign gases, which could include her enticing pheromones. With hope he would realise if he was being controlled by her.

Noticing her relaxed behaviour, she obviously believes that she’s safe from any danger. In Jason’s mind she is underestimating his abilities. If he was able to break into here, he was sure that he could get into her cell if need be. But violence was not on his mind, not if she remained cooperative. “I have that effect.” Wearing as many weapons as he did made him a very memorable person, and combine with his unique helmet and he’ll stick in your mind for a while. Or at least that was what he aimed for. Watching her eyes look down at the symbol upon his chest, he slightly brought his jacket together, covering it slightly more. Being new to the City, he didn’t expect that many people would know of him yet, especially if they are locked away behind bars.

Even when he was Robin, Jason had never met Poison Ivy. Back then she wasn’t as high category as she was now but still her name was one he recognised. Seeing her now, he wondered if Bruce just wanted her to himself. “You’re going to help me. Too many prisoners are in Arkham for my liking so the chances of something going down is high. That’s where you come in. I need you to help me keep an eye on this place, in case of any trouble. If you do, I’ll make sure that I won’t kill you the first time I get the chance.” How true that was depended upon her, as in a life or death situation he would obviously kill her but if he ever defeated her in combat, he’d hand her over to the police rather than empty a bullet into her head. If only every criminal had that promise from him.

“You’ll be my eyes and ears on the inside, telling me all the little secrets of this place. I know you’ll want to escape from this place too but if you help me, I won’t kill you when you run.” There was a slim chance of her agreeing to this but if she did, then the benefits for her would out way the consequences. She loses nothing if she says yes. Life will go on normally for her, but now she’d have to keep an eye out for trouble and when it does arise, to contact him. How exactly she’d contact him was the hardest part but he had a plan. If he were to give her a small radio that she could conceal, then she could get in touch with him easily.

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

Even without her pheromones, Poison Ivy has a certain very alluring quality - especially when she's trying. It's in the way she moves, speaks, and even looks at people. But she's not trying right now - or at least not very much. Right now it's perhaps half that she's testing him and half that she's amusing herself - the asylum can get quite boring, after all, and he's fresh meat.

But though she's very relaxed, it's not because she's underestimating him. She doesn't see why she should estimate him at all in this particular situation - she simply doesn't think that it's likely that he'll try to hurt her whether he's capable of doing so or not. Then again, if she did estimate him then he probably wouldn't do too well in her eyes - no man does. Though she does take the time to observe him, so she notes the way that he pulls at his jacket. If anything, she takes that as a sign that it is a bat and that he doesn't want her to know about it - which is precisely why she should know about it. Still, what he means by wearing the symbol is ambiguous without more information.

What he says causes her eyebrow to lift, and then a look of obvious amusement crosses her face. When he finishes she smiles to herself, and then she laughs lightly as she asks, "I am going to help you?" The question itself seems to cause her to laugh much harder, and it takes a moment before she calms herself down enough to add the question, "And in return you won't kill me?" Cue another round of laughs at that idea. It takes a bit longer this time before her laughing settles and she takes a heavy breath before she comment, "Oh, dear, I needed that! Do you have any other good jokes?" Clearly she doesn't take his demand or his threat very seriously. At all.

With another deep breath, she manages to force herself to be at least a little bit serious as she says, "I'm afraid that I just don't believe that you'll ever kill me regardless. Because you won't do it now - if you did, even if you managed to escape you'd have Batman after you. And if you wanted Batman after you, you wouldn't be talking to me." Though there are many who would question her intelligence, they are very wrong to do so! "And you won't kill be later because... well, you won't be able to," she adds with a smirk, keeping the specifics of what that means to herself.

[Deleted]

Once she started laughing, Jason’s nostrils flared with anger. His breathing increased and his hand fell to the gun upon his hip but another cheer from down the corridor reminded him of where he was. Placing the gun back into its holster, he took a deep breath as he began to wrestle this conversation back under his control. One thing was for sure, if there wasn’t a barrier between them or guards around, she wouldn’t be laughing. "Screw Batman, I’d shoot you dead now if you didn’t have your uses. And if he came after me I’d deal with him too. I’d be able to do what all you ‘criminals’ haven’t been able to, stop Batman.” With emphasis upon the criminals, he hopes that her laughing didn’t attract the guards.

Listening to how he won’t be able to kill her later, Jason scoffed and approached the glass, standing millimetres away from it as he spoke to her. “You may be friends with the dandelions but weed killer will stop you all the same. Perhaps after I’m done with you, I’ll go over to the Botanical Gardens and light a fire that you’ll be able to see from space.” Stepping back from the glass, he understood that no normal threats would faze these criminals. Often actions speak louder than words in Gotham but for her sake, she better comply quickly. “You don’t fear death so what do you want for your ‘services’?” Employing the aid of someone like her sent shivers down his spine, although Jason believes that he has the power to manipulate criminals to do greater good.

She has few uses, but being an Informer could be one of them. Through her, Jason would have a person on the inside. Remembering how Batman had a web of contacts throughout Gotham, as the Red Hood he should have something on equal, if not greater, levels as him. If he was to have any chance to show the people of this City that he was better than Batman, he would need to be faster than him to the sight of crimes. And the only way to do that was to predict when they would occur. In Jason’s mind, Batman is too reactive, just responding to crimes not actually preventing them. If people like Ivy can be used, then they can be killed. With each of them out for their own personal gain, then it will be difficult to drive them under his control but it is do able with the right means.

"We both have a mutual enemy, Batman. And seeing you up close, you’ve got little chance to beat him. In fact none of you do. Alone that is. Combined he doesn’t stand a chance. If you help me, I can help you. I’d rather us be friends than enemies." A temporary alliance with Ivy could work to both of their advantages. She isn’t as top grade as some other criminals so she’d need all of the friends she can get. Although the chances of her wanting something in turn for this alliance is high but there’s only so much Jason is willing to do for a criminal.

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

Even though Poison Ivy sees him reach for his gun, she doesn't look concerned. Because though he tries to deny it, she's just that confident in her assessment of the situation. Though when he threatens the Botanical Gardens, her lips purse slightly in anger. She doesn't believe that he actually means that, but she can't help but be somewhat ticked off by that threat - nothing in the Botanical Gardens has anything to do with this, after all. "You wouldn't want to go doing anything that would make me want to kill you slowly - trust me..." is all that she says, the traces of anger in her expression fading thanks to the inner visions of all the ways she could kill him at a literally tortuously slow pace.

"And I'm afraid that you have nothing that I want - I don't need any help with Batman," she says on a lighter note, "But that's just as well, since I have nothing to give you in return. I already keep an eye on this place, but all I have is gossip. And quite a bit of it - some of it quite juicy - but none of it is really worth anything." Then again, that's only because none of it is worth anything to her, which means this is a case of 'one man's trash is another man's treasure'. But she pauses before she adds, "I suppose I could pass a few things along anyway, simply because talking to you is so very amusing, but I suspect that you get boring very quickly so consider this a one time offer."

As she talks, she leisurely rolls over onto her stomach and pulls her pillow to her chest so that she can watch him more easily. When she's done with that maneuver, it's also easy to see that she's just as curved on the back as she is on the front and the sides.

[Deleted]

The glass between them is likely tough enough to protect either the prisoner or the visitor from attack, meaning that resorting to violence would be a useless gesture for him. “Kill me? First you’d have to catch me and I plan on being the one doing the hunting around here from now on.” In Jason’s mind, Batman had tried and failed to protect Gotham from crime. His unwillingness to use more extreme methods has left this City a nest filled with vile criminals who terrorize the innocents of Gotham. The reactionary stance to crime has crippled this City, so from now on Jason will employ first-strike methods against the criminals. This meeting was a form of reconnaissance for the young criminal, with him attempting to learn the ways of those he’ll be fighting.

“Gossip? That will have to do. I bet you have your ways when it comes to getting info out of people.” Who wouldn’t want to talk to her? Combining her attractive physique and alluring pheromones, any man would fall for her charms. Even the Mighty Batman must have fell into her trap at some point or another. At this distance and with her being in Prison for as long as she has, he hopes that her powers won’t affect him. Although now he was wondering if he’d be able to tell if she was controlling him but for now he shook the thought from his head. “Tell me what you know then.”

Red Hood watches her move around in her bed as he stood at attention, counting the seconds before the Guards would return to patrolling the corridors. Hurting them wasn’t one of his main priorities although he doubted that they wouldn’t let him leave without a fight. This Building houses many secrets and with some luck, she knows one or two of them. He’s not after much, just enough to know how things are going in the Asylum. The last thing Gotham needs is a breakout at the Asylum or Blackgate. The City’s already crammed with criminals without the countless numbers locked up getting free. Jason didn’t think anyone would be ready for a huge disaster such as that. The GCPD have enough problems as it is without rounding up escaped inmates.

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

"Oh, I'm shaking in my asylum-issued soft-soled flats," Poison Ivy says, her voice full of pure sarcasm. He clearly has no idea who he's talking to, but that only means he'll be that much easier to destroy later. If he proves to be a big enough nuisance to bother with at all.

If he wants to learn about her, the first thing to know is that she'll never believe that he can do anything against her until he proves that he can by doing it. And that it's easier said than done - a beautiful woman like her is so easily written off as a pretty face, and she usually does little to destroy that perception, but in truth she's the 'full package' kind of woman: beauty and brains. Most men end up so captivated by the former that they fail to notice the latter until its too late.

When he tells her to talk, she laughs lightly, commenting, "Since I doubt you have enough time for me to tell you everything I know about, and I have no idea what you care about, I suggest narrowing that down for me first. Unless you want me to simply ramble about whatever comes to mind..." Though that would teach him far more about what sort of thing catches Poison Ivy's interest than anything actually useful to him.

[Deleted]

Any information was good information for Jason, and currently he needed anything that he could get his hands on. “You’re the criminal; tell me what you’ve found interesting lately. Gossip that’s going about, anything will do.” In Gotham, gossip is often true when it’s concerning criminals. During his time as Robin, Jason was taught the many aspects of surveillance. Spying upon enemies, tailing them, tapping their conversations. Why go through all of that when you could just ask them? “Let’s start with what you last heard about the gangs in Gotham, who’s top dog these days?” He doubted she was from inside her closely guarded cell in the Mental Hospital. Cobblepot, Dent, The Joker, the criminals who have armies of followers to do their dirty work.

There operations cover the City with corruption and murder, each of the having an Empire of crime. Batman couldn’t take all of them on at once but perhaps Jason won’t have to. So often Gang Wars break out, culling the number of thugs in the City. If Jason began and controlled it, keeping civilian deaths to a minimum and making a criminal deaths a certainty. After all one man can start a war. All he needs the information that could allow him to start one. Who’s the weakest? Who’s the strongest? Who hates who? So many questions if he is to succeed in his plans. The average criminal isn’t a genius so they won’t even realize that they’re being played off against each other until it’s too late.

Rain bounced on the roof of the building, echoing throughout the corridor. Jason wasn’t fond of heading back out there but if he’s not going to stop here permanently, he’ll have to. Looking at the other cells, he looks at the sleeping criminals within, each of them lying on their beds in matching uniforms. They may be insane but they’re just as guilty of their crimes. For many, claiming to be insane is an easy route to escape the death penalty but Jason plans on being judge, jury and executioner from now on. He wondered how many inmates are in here because of Batman. Yet another mistake he’s made. Where’s the sense in locking them away and trying to forget about them when they’re so easily removed entirely. How many lives would have been saved if Batman had the guts to finish the Joker all those years ago? So many innocents lost because of his mercy.

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

"Oh, I'm not a criminal - not really," Poison Ivy states, but not with much fervor since she knows that would be wasted. How so many people seem to think that she's not only a criminal but one crazy enough to put in a place like this she'll never understand, but she chalks it up to them being some combination of stupidity and greed. If they only understood the world and weren't blinded by the illusion of wealth then she would be hailed as a hero and everyone would join her in her work instead of trying to stop her. But she's willing to bet anything that it would be impossible to convince the boy in front of her of this so she doesn't bother trying.

"The gangs? Now, let me think..." she replies, pondering for a moment. She assumes that he means the mafia and other larger groups rather than the street gangs - no need to come to her about the latter. "It's always hard to say who is 'top dog', but I've heard that since the Iceberg Lounge was destroyed by Starfire, Mr. Cobblepot has fallen a notch but is rebuilding quickly - and Mr. Thorne and Mr. Daggett have been doing very well by comparison. In the completely opposite side of the coin, I heard that Mr. Scarface has been looking for work. Oh, and Harvey seems to be low on funds. And I also heard that the Joker has taken up residence in the old Amusement Mile park," she says, rambling all of that out rather carelessly, as the gangs are hardly of any interest to her at all. Or at least, not their comparative standing.

Having said all that, she stops and looks at Jason, her expression almost challenging in a way, as she suspects that isn't all of what he'd like to know about.

[Deleted]

It seems like the balance of power is tipping in certain directions these days, away from villains such as Two Face or Cobblepot and towards people like Thorne. Still, criminals with money like them never stay down for long. With his base of operation destroyed, The Penguin looks like he’s the most open target yet the Joker moving into the Amusement Mile Park isn’t such good news. A twisted mind such as his will be able to turn the old Park into a maze of death and laughter, so the best option with him would be to lure him out into the open, away from his fortress. “Hmm, interesting.”Glancing back at her, Jason maintained eye contact with her as he took a step closer to the glass.

By his count, he didn’t have much time left to chat. Soon the Guards would be back on their patrols and his window of opportunity concerning escaping the Asylum would close. Still, he had a few more questions he wished to ask her. “What about in here?” Besides herself, there must be one or two high category prisoners roaming about in the Asylum. With so many escapes and arrests, it’s hard to keep track of those who are detained. Although what was going on in the Asylum didn’t concern him as much as the outside world, it was still important to have knowledge on the Institute.

Having never met Dr. Arkham, Jason can only base his opinion of him off the other Doctors that he’s met and the Asylum itself. Since he took over, the Aslyum seems to have improved to some degree yet still Jason was wary of here. Too many secrets fill the depths of Arkham, something which Jason doesn’t like. Locking the prisoners up, allowing them the chance to be 'rehabilitated'. You can’t rehabilitate Human nature. Looking at her in the compact cell reminded him of visiting the Zoo, watching the animals through the glass, having the feeling that you just want to reach out and touch. The majority of people in here are worse than any wild animal though.

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

The problem that the rogues have as they try to gain power is that tend to attract a lot of attention to themselves, while your more standard mafia families are far more quiet by design - you only really hear about the mafia when they start fighting amongst themselves. Of course, when a rogue manages to gain power, they also tend to gain much more of it than a mafia family does - only to lose it much more easily. So while the power a particular rogue wield can change greatly over a short period of time, the power among the mafia families tends to remain fairly stable. Which of them is ultimately worse for the city is actually very debatable - is it the obvious, large menace or the one quietly festering beneath the surface?

Of course, seeing as Poison Ivy is in the asylum, she's currently not a player in all of that. But she will be... oh, how she will be! But for now her world is the asylum, so when he asks about it next, she laughs and comments, "Well, I'm sure that most of the little gossip here doesn't interest you. But the big gossip... They're planning on doing a complete overhaul of the asylum's security system soon - Blackgate too, actually. Lex Luthor and Selina Kyle are behind it all. They're even throwing a fancy party to raise the money. Nothing that's likely to stop me from leaving whenever I want to, naturally, but it's cute that they're trying," she says with a smile, though she's still a little sad that she'll be missing that party.

"Crane and his little girlfriend were brought in here recently, but that's been the only change for awhile," she adds, but she doesn't see much point in updating the boy further on who is in and who is out - if only because far too many can simply be assumed. Mr. Freeze, for example, is almost always here while someone like the Riddler is almost always out. And there's no point in ever telling anyone where the Joker is - the whole city tends to know the moment that particular man is caught or has escaped.