Payback

[sincereagape]

It was a little before 10 PM, when the Bently pulled up to the gate of that mansion with a giant green house in Gotham City North. The air was dry and cold this evening. Winter was coming to an end soon in Gotham, and thank goodness for that. In this part of Gotham, one was able to look into the sky and see it filled with stars. Looking up, everything seemed peaceful and serene.

According to the schedule Ratso developed while tracking Isley’s activities, this was the time of night she would be preparing to go out and be a socialite. Making it a good time to bother her. The Ventriloquist cracked a small smile as the engine of the car dimed down to a soft hum. Poison Ivy was in for a treat, he thought to himself. Now that Mr. Scarface was around, everything was going to be okay. Mr. Scarface knew how to deal with vixens like her. He knew how to put them in place. He’d know what to do.

The Ventriloquist leaned over to the passenger seat and adjusted Scarface’s fedora and placed the tommy gun in its hand. The car slowly rolled up to the intercom box. The Ventriloquist pushed the button, and then placed Scarface out of the car window, so that it was talking directly into the intercom.


“Listen up Isley! The dumm’ told meh everything’ that ye said and did! No one treats the dummy like that, except me! Now open’ dis gate, so we can have a little talk! And if ye don’t ‘ah’ll have the dummy smash through it in our little nice au---to---mo’gile. Got that honey?”


The villain popped and waved Scarface to and fro as the crime boss spoke. He wanted to make sure that Mister Scarface was in plain view of the security cameras.

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

If Pamela had been getting ready to go out, then she'd probably have been far less prepared for this. And prepared she is, because even if her rampant sense of paranoia hadn't convinced her that she ought to be ready for anything then finding that note certainly did. And she's taken a few wise precautions: canceling as much of her social life as she could without raising too many eyebrows was one of them and spending the time instead inside the safety of her greenhouse is another. And canceling on the girls was easy; it just required a sob story about a beau breaking up with her and how it had rendered her too miserable to go out. (As if that would ever happen...)

Having this man so disrupt her life, take advantage of her better nature, and yet continue to threaten her is more than enough to put Pamela into the worst of moods. "I will treat anyone however I want to. Especially when they attack me in my own home. And as I'm not in the mood to talk, if there's anything you want to say to me, I suggest saying it now. But if you've learned nothing, then by all means come talk to me in person," comes her belligerent reply as she taps the button to open the gate. If his request for entrance hadn't been so grating then she might have played naive, but she's down to her very last nerve and is clearly more hostile than he probably expected.

If the quickness and content of Pamela's reply wasn't enough of an indication that all is not well, then the fact that the house is completely dark while the light is on in the greenhouse should be another clue. Because the lab inside the greenhouse is exactly where she is, watching the video feed to see what the fool will do. If he heads on in she'll move herself to the center of the greenhouse - while the back corner of the lab might be the safest place for anyone else, Pamela is safest in among her plants.

[sincereagape]

Scarface turned back to the Ventriloquist.

"That wom--MAN has some nuerrveee."

The Ventriloquist responded with a stutter.

"Y---You--You sure this is a good idea Mister Scarface? I mean she sounds upset..." The Ventriloquist responded with a stutter.


Scarface shot back with a snarl, which silenced the Ventriloquist and made him shrink back into the car. Scarface then turned his attention back to the intercom.

"No nee' to be hostile lady. Why don't we have our conver---sation outside of yer greenhouse? Say, yerr mansion? The Dummy and Ah' would feel MUCH safer in that environment. What-do--ye say? Whatdeyesay?"

It was still unclear if there was some semblance of mixture between their personalities. Scarface and the Ventriloquist are two very different parts of the same person. They represent the extremes of most individual personalities. Yet because of the large distinction, they were also susceptible to the weaknesses that come with anger and cowardice.

The Ventriloquist was still adorned in a very nice black tuxedo. Underneath was a red vest which covered a white dress shirt. Physically, the Ventriloquist was past his prime. At age 43 his immune system moved at a slow pace and the body was prone to more injuries. Luckily the encounter earlier in the day with Poison Ivy had not caused any physical injuries. She had called back her plants just before something sustaining could occur. The only scars left from that incident were emotional and mental. He was still very hesitant about conversing with Isley so quickly. He had wanted to avoid her for at least 48 hours. But Scarface had insisted.

Scarface had viewed their previous fight as a lack of disrespect and rebellion on Isley's part. Like the dummy, she was working for him. He saw himself as the supervisor of a small division with goons such as Rhino, Mugsy, and Ratso as employees. He had planned to add Isley to that list. Poison Ivy was that one employee who was acting on their own accord, not following instructions or commands. Scarface had sent his deputy to make sure the woman knew her roll in their alliance, but of course the Ventriloquist had failed miserably. Now it was Scarface's turn to roll up his sleeves and reprimand Poison Ivy.

"I--I--I wonder what she is going to say."

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

Pamela's voice sounds mildly amused on top of the obvious annoyance when she replies, "Ah, perhaps you have learned something. But if you have anything to say to me that can't be safely said inside of my greenhouse, then you probably shouldn't say it to me at all - not on my property and not in my presence. And I'm in just as much of a mood to do what you want as I am to listen to you in the first place."

Because here lies the underlying problem: Poison Ivy does not work under anyone. At best, she'll deign to work 'with' or 'alongside' someone if it suits her purposes, but she'll not willingly accept anyone as her superior - never again! She has her own mental and emotional scars to worry about, after all, and those ones run very deep. So contradicting anyone who orders her around is practically a reflex, one that she's rather tired of curbing in an effort to get along with this man. That didn't seem to be working very well anyways. So if what Scarface intends to do is reprimand her in any but the mildest of terms, she'll happily take her 'disrespect and rebellion' to the next level.

Then again, that isn't to say that she's about to attack him on sight at this very moment - she does have one little tendril of patience left that is hoping that initial aggressive demand was out of habit and not out of disrespect, but it will probably be easy enough to tell now. If he either respects her wish to be left alone or comes to her saying things that actually do need to be talked about now, then she'll be appeased. That he's asking her to leave the greenhouse is a bad sign, however, even though she's hardly helpless even inside the mansion where the plants are few: quality over quantity, and all that. The greenhouse is still her safest haven, and leaving it while he's around just isn't something she's inclined to do.

[sincereagape]

"What' did she 'just say to me?" Scarface asked if disbelief.

"I--I--think she sa--sa"

"Ah' know wat she said! Unbelievable!"

Being the complete opposite of Arnold Wesker's meek, timid, shy, cowardly, and weak persona, the Scarface was an individual required to be listened to and not just heard. For a novice player in Gotham Cities underworld she had some gall. Arnold was staying quiet most of the time. Even now he was cowering in the automobile, at the thought of having to see Isley again.

Scarface saw this, and needless to say he was incredibly disappointed and upset. The dummy was his partner, even though there was a complete lack of respect that Scarface had towards him. The Ventriloquist had been with him through thick and thin and was easy to order and boss around. Probably one of the reasons Scarface kept him around.

In truth though, Scarface did not NEED the Ventriloquist as much as the Ventriloquist needed Scarface. Scarface would exist in the mind of another. If the dummy ever died....he could reach out. But that is a story for another time. (Yay. Breaking the fourth wall.)

Scarface was dressed in a white suit with black pinstripes. He was also wearing a matching fedora. Underneath the suit, the mannequin had a black dress shirt. Still hanging out of the window, the Scarface responded to Pamela's statement.


"No'gody! And Ah' mean no--gody tells Scarface what he can't say, when he can say things, and where he can say them. NOW, Ah'm going to ask one more time. Please, come out of yer greenhouse and meet me and the dummy somewhere in yer mansion or somewhere on yer ex-teeeer--ior property so we can' discuss our personal differences."

Scarface paused. The Ventriloquist reached out with his free hand and traced a smile on Scarface's face.


"Otherwise, the Dummy and Ah' can call the cops and let them know ye have g'een helpin' us. Ye don't want to be accused of g'eing an accomplice to criminal activities do ye? Shelterin' and hidin' a criminal with our notoriety could' lead to unfortunate ciurcum-stances for someone with yer status."

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

"Touchy, touchy! I never told you to do anything, I merely made a very strongly worded suggestion, which you would do well to follow. But by all means, feel free to disregard it. And feel free to call the police; I'm sure that they'd love to hear from you. But I doubt that they'd believe a single word you say over sweet, innocent me. The same goes for everyone I know, actually. And I hate to be so terribly juvenile, but when it comes to leaving my greenhouse: I don't want to and you can't make me," comes Pamela's reply, the amusement becoming ever more apparent on top of her anger.

The more that Scarface says, the more obvious it becomes to her that their ill-fated alliance has fallen off a particularly high cliff. Had she not just proven that she's more than capable of handling herself? Had she not been kind and forgiving? And how is she repaid? Secret notes about killing her, demands, and threats. And she's given him ample reason to know better than that.

Even if it's likely that she'll be able to frighten the man into temporary obedience, it's not in her nature to want to inspire fear, she can't trust anyone who shifts their opinion of her so easily, and she's no more eager to have an inferior than she is to have a superior. In short, she no longer sees the man as valuable, which means that instead of his upsets being causes for concern they are now entertaining. Her only real regret is that she went through all this trouble and never managed to get anything from him: pity.

[sincereagape]

The Ventriloquist responds to Poison Ivy's retort by destroying the intercom with the tommy-gun.

Rat-a-tat-tat.

"Drive dummy." Scarface ordered.

When Scarface realized that they had not moved an inch, It spun to face Arnold Wesker who simply sat in the driver's seat wide eyed, and with shaking hands.


"Whatcha waiting for Dummy?"

The engine sputtered while it stood still. It then dawned on him, the Ventriloquist was truly afraid of this woman. Something about their first fight had spooked the middle-aged man. The Ventriloquist maneuvered Scarface so that their foreheads brushed against each other.

"Drive dummy. And ye more afraid of her or me?"

The Ventriloquist swallowed before nodding. Even though Ivy terrified him, Scarface was worse because his other personality had proven that It could kill in cold blood. Poison Ivy had not shown that side of her yet, if she was capable of ending someone's life. It was either die now or attempt to defeat Ivy at her own game.

The Bentley slowly pulled forward. The Ventriloquist parked the automobile right behind Isley's red convertible, this was done to hider any type of escape the woman would try to make. Unbuckling Scarface, the Ventriloquist picked up his boss, and armed his free hand with the tommy-gun. The villain also carried a lead pipe which he strapped in a police baton holder that was now attached to his belt.

"Here goes nothing." Arnold Wesker mumbled

Bright lights illuminated from the greenhouse. But they did not signify fondness for the Ventriloquist. He followed the pebbled path around the house for the third time in less then a week. The steps he was taking towards the building were fast in pace.

"She' gonna get it dis time dummy. Enough' tw--aking with the dame."

The pebble-stoned pathway ended. They now stood at the edge of the entrance to the greenhouse. Scarface did not even bother to order the Ventriloquist to see if the door was locked or not. Wesker wasted no time shooting the hinges off and then kicking the door down. He let out a loud grunt as glass shattered.

The Ventriloquist stepped into the greenhouse. Glass crushed underneath his heels.


"Keep yer eyes open dummy. This ain't Kansas anymore."

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

The destruction of the intercom causes Pamela to flinch - if only because now it will have to be replaced. Well, looks like the conversation is over, at least, though she can still see the hesitation through the camera and it gets a smirk. One thing that she'd noticed about the man is just how easily unnerved he was by situations such as this. Sure he could essentially talk himself through them, but still...

But once she sees the car pull forward she sighs to herself and prepares to greet him. And all that's required to do that is to reposition herself so that she's right in the middle of her odd creations. The plant life wouldn't look much different than it had been the last conversation - she simply hasn't had the time to improve upon it much since then. Then again, since his methods haven't changed in the slightest, she's already well prepared for him; it would take something besides brute force and guns to defeat her here.

And after he breaks down the unlocked door (sigh), Poison Ivy does... nothing. Well, almost nothing; she watches and smiles in a very cocky 'no, I'm not at all afraid of you' way. And she glances at the tommy gun and lead pipe with a completely unconcerned look that mostly serves to show that she sees what he's armed with and is completely unmoved by it. She might as well be staring down a particularly vicious chihuahua puppy. But whether she's allowing him one last chance to assess the situation and back out, is waiting to see if he has anything to say for himself, or merely prefers to be on the defensive, she'll wait for him to make the first move.

[sincereagape]

It did not take long for the Ventriloquist and Scarface to spot Poison Ivy. She was near the center of the greenhouse, where the vegetation was its thickest and fullest. Scarface and Wekser had concede that Ivy was a good tactician and had shown incredible patience during their fights. Two traits and virtues many successful battles had been won with. This was proven when she was able to retain her position in the greenhouse, thus making them come to her.

"Th--th--there she is Mister Scarface."

"Yep. Ah' see her."

Scarface spoke as the Ventriloquist helped him nod his head.

"Carry me o'ver there."

When the Ventriloquist approached, it was hard for him to decipher Poison Ivy's body language. Was she still angry? He only caught glimpses of her in between the narrow slits of sight the vegetation provided. The air around the greenhouse, spoke of the former. A mixture of confidence, anger, and amusement.

The Ventriloquist crouched low and stayed behind most of the plants. He did not want to reveal their position yet as he stalked around the area where Poison Ivy was standing.

The Ventriloquist pressed his back against a large flower plant pot in the shape of a giant rectangle. This specific pot was home to a garden of plants, and not just one. He looked up at the walls of the greenhouse and noticed the gigantic vines from before. It made him shiver.

"Puttin' yerself out there in the open ain't a smart move Isley. Yer either confident or stupid."

Scarface shouted

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

Angry? Very yes. Amused? That too. Frightened? Not even mildly. Serious? Growing more so by the moment, but not very much just now. And she matches his attempts to keep an eye on her through the plants; her defense against bullets requires distance between her and the gun - the further the better, though she feels safe enough as long as it's at least a few yards.

But when he tries to keep himself concealed, he forces her hand; if she's unable to see him, she's unable to tell if she's a safe distance away. Her defense is conservative, however: she mentally signals to just one of the vines that's near to where she last saw him. Not enough to catch him if he's wary and fast enough to dodge it, but since the vines find a person based on scent, they're difficult to hide from and Poison Ivy will be able to tell where he is based on the movement if it doesn't flush him out. And that possibility has her ready to run and signal even more if he's stupid enough to run right at her. When her personal safety is on the line, she'll spare no effort.

And yet she's more than certain enough to call back in mocking tones, "'Confident' doesn't begin to cover it!" If she were worried, she's be much more serious and her tactics would be much more heavy-handed. No, she wants to have just a little bit of fun first - as long as things don't become too risky for her, that is.

[sincereagape]

The Ventriloquist stayed near the flower pot. Turning around he looked through some of the branches and managed to spot and focus in on her. Narrowing his eyes, Scarface responded.

"Ah' have to give ye credit for havin' the gumshoe to stay in yer green--house.." Scarface shouted.

The vine Poison Ivy sent after him, manages to spot the Ventriloquist. Unlike many of Batman's other enemies, the Ventriloquist was an older, out of shape villain. He carried a stomach in the shape of a gut, and seldom went out to exercise, making it easy for the plant to locate him.

"Ye know Isley. The dummy and I intende' to sta'g ye in the g'ack from the very' start. Yer money and yer research' is what Ah' was really after. When the dummy almost messed things up when he trie' to harm ye out of a personal dislike of yer charmin' personality, Ah' had to impro--vi--se. Usually' it's 'gest to leave him in the dark 'gout these things."

The Ventriloquist raised the tommy gun and pointed it at her. In a matter of moments he was going to shoot through the plants he was using as cover. He was planning to shoot with an intent to kill.

Before he can do so the vine lashes out at him, making him drop his aim.

"Aaaah. Get away from it!" The Ventriloquist projected through Scarface.

Wesker manages to scurry out into the open and away from the vine, avoiding the plant from ensnaring any part of his body. The Ventriloquist was now in the open, and still holding the tommy gun.

Looking up he saw Isley. He hesitated momentarily.

"Shoot her dummy!" Scarface screamed.

Holding the gun in one hand, and Scarface in the other, the Ventriloquist quickly stood up, lowered the tommy gun and fired.

Rat-atat-tat---rat-a-tat-tat-

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

The moment that the vine locates him for her, Poison Ivy reflexively takes a step away from that direction - that the physical distance between the two of them is a factor in her safety is very much on her mind. And that's doubly so once she actually sees him point the gun at her. She's in the process of backing away even further when he opens fire.

And it's then that the strange conical grass reveals its function. The very instant the bullets leave the gun, each one extends like the tongue of a chameleon several feet and takes a swipe at the bullets as they fly past, faster than the eye can really see and triggered simply by the presence of an object moving at a high enough speed. And all of them have terrible aim, but given that there's thousands of individual blades between the two of them the odds that any one bullet can make it through the thrashing grasses without being knocked away is, for all intents and purposes, zero. It's this grass and not the vines on the walls that Poison Ivy counts as her finest creation.

Still, the sheer number of bullets coming out of the tommy gun in her direction, even if they're being deflected, is enough to convince her to increase the distance even more - she never did test how long the grass can keep at it. Scowling, she walks backward as she says, "Steal my research? Impossible! Most of it's kept in my head, and there's only four people who'd be able to begin to comprehend the rest. And I'm the most talented of them all, and you've lost your chance with me!" And though she still doesn't feel very much at risk, her desire for fun is vanishing quickly at this reminder of betrayal. Her eyes suddenly shift to the walls, and she begins signaling vines. All of them.

[sincereagape]

Stealth was not a ability the Ventriloquist possessed. In fact, it was never something he had been trained in at all. But at the moment it was a much better alternative then charging the woman in a frontal assault. The vine that she sent to discover his location slithered on the ground like a serpent before lashing out in the same manner. The Ventriloquist was forced to scramble, which fleshed him out in the open. Looking up and seeing Isley had brought up a test of his willpower. Here was the woman who had defeated him with much ease. She had crushed him like a bug, and literally with a snap of her fingers. There was nothing in the mind of the Ventriloquist that told him that she could not do it again. When Scarface encouraged him to open fire upon her, he suddenly remembered everything he had done to get to this point. It had taken him a lot of psychological reflection and even some cognitive reasoning to muster up the courage to visit her home again. From there he merely followed Scarface’s edict to enter battle with Poison Ivy for the second time. In Wesker’s mind, Isley appeared like a wild bear waiting to devour him. Managing to stumble to his feet, the Ventriloquist picked up his trademark tommy-gun and leveled it at her.

The reason I lost before was because I did not have Scarface. Mister Scarface always knew what to do. He reminded me of the machine gun. The machine gun, the deadliest weapon that I am proficient with. I lost to her because I did not use my machine gun.

Wesker willed himself to look at Poison Ivy, but not in the eye before he pulled and held the trigger down. For a moment he thought he had her. Out in the open, with no cover, the cocky harlot would be torn to swiss cheese by a hail of bullets. The light from the gun fire illuminated the face of the Ventriloquist.

At first, he was not even aware that the grass had come alive to devour his bullets. They were too fast to be seen. When Ivy only took a few steps back, and still held a expression of amusement on her face did he realize that some form of plants had arisen to defend their queen. The tommy-gun suddenly jammed and the sound of bullet shells clanging to the floor, signaled the end of his attack.

When the smoke cleared, and the dust settled....There stood Isley unscathed, unmarked, and without a scratch…

"Steal my research? Impossible! Most of it's kept in my head, and there's only four people who'd be able to begin to comprehend the rest. And I'm the most talented of them all, and you've lost your chance with me!"

It was at that second when dawned upon Scarface that he had made a terrible mistake going against this woman. Poison Ivy was consistently ahead of them the entire step of the game. She had manipulated them into entering HER greenhouse, she had been right about the probability that the police would listen to her story over theirs, and now….and now…being told that she was the only one who was able to translate the advanced botany research into an actual experiment. They had been foiled at every turn, beat back by every attack, had every ambition thwarted, had every thought rebuked, and finally had all of their anger and fear manipulated and toyed with.

“Ho---how?” Scarface asked in disbelief and with a minor stutter after the bullets were stopped.

The amused look on her face turned to one of focus on drive for an instant. With a wave of her hand, the scaling vines that rested on the wall sought after the crimelord. The Ventriloquist looked at Poison Ivy with a look of absolute horror. He greatly resembled the proverbial ‘deer caught in the headlights.’

The villain began to recoil, taking few steps away from Isley as he pleaded for compassion, “Pu---Pu---Please!”

Thee first pair of vines wrapped themselves around his wrists, forcing him to drop Scarface to the ground along with the tommy gun.

“Noooooooooooooo!” The Ventriloquist screamed.

They lifted him slightly off the ground before another pair of vines ensnared both of his ankles. The Ventriloquist was hoisted into the air, his limbs stretched to their maximum flexibility, and beyond. Bones and joints cracked. The vines forced his body into the shape of a star, leaving him helpless and immobile in every definition of the word.

The rest of the vines began to lash out at him one by one. Tearing away and mutilating the expensive clothing that he was wearing until they were left in tatters. After this was done, the vines brought the Ventriloquist before their mistress, dangling him in the air and placing him at her mercy. The Ventriloquist lowered his head down in humiliation, avoiding eye contact with her at all costs.

The Ventriloquist was able to project his thoughts though, in the form of Scarface who was on the ground about five feet behind them. The Scarface mannequin happened to looking in their direction.

“Any chanc’ we can let to can let “gygones, ge gygones?” (OOC:Bygones be Bygones. Also, the lead pipe is still latched onto his belt.)

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

The sheer number of vines is overkill: the number of them able to reach the Ventriloquist are enough to have captured a few people. It's fortunate that Pamela had been so careful to make sure that they wouldn't attack with deadly force or the combined strength of them could have literally torn the man into pieces. And so, the flash of anger that caused her to launch them is quickly and soundly eased at the sight of him so easily rendered helpless.

And the moment he's rendered helpless, Poison Ivy stops retreating and advances instead, touching a few vines that were too far away from the man to assist in his capture as she passes them so that they can reset themselves. What she has to say will be so much more devastating if she does it while he's under the influence of her pheromones, so she doesn't stop until she's within a foot of him. They make her just that much more attractive, fascinating, enticing, and difficult to ignore. "Let's review the facts: You offered me an alliance. I accepted. And I offered you a place to stay when you were in need. And just because I wouldn't fear you, you tried to betray me. And I forgave you. And even after that, you tried to kill me. So how on earth do you expect me to believe you now? And what use is such a stupid man to me anyway?" she explains very slowly, her tone practically venomous. Is she talking to Scarface or the Ventriloquist? Both, actually. She has to take the two of them together, and one is too aggressive and the other is too fearful.

Pausing for just a moment for him to absorb her words, she adds, "So what am I to do with you? I can't let you go; just how long would it take you to for you to forget this and try attacking me again? And I'm probably completely justified in killing both of you." At those words her hand very deliberately goes to the pendant with the amber-colored liquid in it that she's been wearing ever since the Ventriloquist came to her requesting sanctuary. Because yes, she's been planning for that possibility that long ago too. It hadn't been that difficult for her to come up with an enzyme that could both kill a person and destroy a dummy, and also to render herself immune to the same thing. However, her hand leaves it and she continues with, "Fortunately for you, I'm not prepared just now to cover up a murder, so I'll hand you over to the authorities instead. But that means you owe me a favor..."

And with that she turns toward her lab. If she's going to release him from the vines without giving him any possibility of fighting back or escape, she'll need a few supplies. Likely there will be questions about what happened here either way, but handing him over in this condition is likely to prompt many more.

(OOC: Heh, I've gotten pretty good at understanding Scarface. And I haven't forgotten about the pipe - Ivy has since it doesn't matter if he can't use it, but she'll remember. )

[sincereagape]

Struggling would be useless. Fighting would lead to no gain and more pain. For every vine that in-prisoned him there were more ready to attack in case he escaped. The Ventriloquist continued to be held in the air, helpless at the hands of Pamela Isley's creations. His once immaculate tuxedo was shredded and torn at the sleeves. The red vest and designer dress shirt underneath was cut open by multiple gaping slashes from the creepers, and the dress pants he adorned had large scissor like cuts from waist to ankles.

It had been foolish to go against Poison Ivy. Then why attack her? Why sacrifice the strategic point of initiative by entering into her domain? You want to know? The reasoning was all psychological. The Ventriloquist was on tilt. He considered the relationship between himself and Poison Ivy as a personal rivalry. One half admired her beauty and intelligence. Pamela Isley is a charismatic create of the Earth, one who has a voice that was hard to resist, and eyes men would sail across the world for. On the other hand a large portion of Arnold Wesker despised and loathed the woman to no ends. She represented and reminded him of all those who had emotionally abused him throughout life (Nearly 35+ years).

Poison Ivy is his arch-nemesis. Someone he hated, yet was drawn too like a moth to a flame. Had it become an obsession? Had it become like Joker's fascination with Batman? Not quiet, but the seeds had been planted. This of course was all coming from the view point of the Ventriloquist, we're not sure if Isley interprets their everything the same way at all.

The botanist approached him. The pheromones she was emitting were intoxicating. He could not resist looking up at her for the first time. His vision was still blurry after the strikes from the vines, but he could still make out a face that was alluring as the sunset. But not all of his sense agreed. The malevolence behind her voice struck at him like thundering rain. He heard, absorbed, and listened to every word.

"Let's review the facts: You offered me an alliance. I accepted. And I offered you a place to stay when you were in need. And just because I wouldn't fear you, you tried to betray me. And I forgave you. And even after that, you tried to kill me. So how on earth do you expect me to believe you now? And what use is such a stupid man to me anyway?"


The words stung like a knife to the heart, especially the last phrase. Once again it went back to the personal fascination with Isley. Did he fear her so much that he sought her approval and recognition?

The end result of her verbal attack....

The Ventriloquist to cry. Yes he began to cry after accepting her words. It was not the type of crying a baby would make for attention, or one would display when they felt sad. No. His sniveling was because of all the pain he had endured at her hands. The physical afflictions from the plants. The psychological agony he had experienced after going through another great failure. And now, the emotional pain she was inflicting with her cruel taunts, using the power the pheromones provided her over men. His reaction to her words was a kin to your 'Boohoo' type blubbering.

"So what am I to do with you? I can't let you go; just how long would it take you to for you to forget this and try attacking me again? And I'm probably completely justified in killing both of you."

To distracted from his own remorse, the Ventriloquist failed to hear her words. Honestly, he didn't care at this particular moment. Maybe death would be a welcoming relief. She indeed was justified after all.

But.

Even though Scarface was almost resigned to defeat, the mannequin looked up upon hearing the words 'killing you'

"Fortunately for you, I'm not prepared just now to cover up a murder, so I'll hand you over to the authorities instead. But that means you owe me a favor..."

Scarface was relieved to hear that she was not ready to eliminate them permanently from the game. Poison Ivy then started to walk back to her laboratory. The Ventriloquist looked up momentarily, holding back some of his deplore just enough to watch her strut away.

"Wat do ye mean favor?" Scarface cried out. "And where the heck 're ye going?"

Call the both of them very curious to what she was getting or what she was going to do next.