joan_of_bark | A Chemical Plant Near the Chesapeake Bay, Thursday Evening

Unmakings took time.

She knew that. Had always known that. Poison Ivy had spent weeks feeding spores into the systems that supplied a place just like this, not even a year ago, letting them spread into the bodies and bones of those inside. Letting them pull together, however unwittingly, into a colony, into something she could mold.

Unmake.

(But then there had been a young blonde woman on the floor, so achingly resembling--)

(Why... why do you want to hurt me?)

But she had made Janet a promise, of sorts. To be a monster, but only to those who deserved it. Not to the little ants running around inside that hulking cage of metal and acrid smoke, with their little lives that harmed little in the space of all things. To embrace some humanity (sentimentality), for once.

(She knew herself better than that. Knew that it wasn't about the promise to Janet, but the promise to herself, to grow, to rise, to genuinely improve what could be improved, instead of lashing out.)

So out in the marshes, she waited. An access pass sat snugly within a pocket on her overalls, stolen from some poor sap in a bar who couldn't believe his luck. (He was alive, too.) Should she wait for that dark-haired woman with her dangerous hands?

Probably not. She always worked best alone, and the vegetation here stood tall, vulnerable to deadly fingers. So Ivy righted herself, and let the vegetation move with her as she walked the last half-mile into the belly of the beast.

Not an unmaking, but a precision strike.

It was a place to start.

[[ nfb due to distance. open for interaction only to those aware of the situation, if they wish ]]

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From:

knightinshinarmor

Remy noted the skill of that attack with a slight tilt of his head. He wasn’t sure exactly what these two had planned or which side of it he preferred to be on — but considering it had been talking to Pam that had inspired him to rob this place in the first place, he was willing to see where it was going rather than rush into any heroing.

“Have a seat, mon ami.” Well. He was already on the floor. Remy went ahead and telescoped his bo staff, planting the end by the CEO’s hand to discourage him from getting up. “Let’s hear these ladies out, hmm?”

From:

joan_of_bark

Ivy made a noise - disdainful, irritated - and walked over to join them.

"You've been dumping illegal waste into the water for decades," she said. "Now, we've already done enough damage that you won't be able to get this facility working again for some time."

She squatted down, looking him right in his terrified face. "You're not going to try. Or we'll come back."

On the other side of the door, a set of boots landed on the fourth floor.

"You're psychos!" the man roared. "I'm going to have you all arrested!"

From:

okteiviakom

"We could do worse," Octavia rasped, the cabinet now blocking the door some of the way. Enough to slow down the people on the other side, without being too much of a problem for getting out. "You should be grateful."

From:

knightinshinarmor

Remy tsked. “Here I was hoping we’d be friends.” He pulled out his phone and shook his head. “Though I guess I ruined that chance when I took all your money.”

He showed the man the phone screen. And the app, showing the company’s accounts draining to zero.

From:

joan_of_bark

The man tried to scramble back towards the door. "Guards!" he yelled. "Guards!"

Well, Ivy reflected. This was some unexpected teamwork.

"What did I tell you?" she said idly, as her hair seemed to catch flame, as hyphae wound its way around her body and fruiting bodies of fungus sprouted from her chest. Her voice twisted into something wet and dark, like the deep soil of the forest. "They won't save you."

He screamed.

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia was still at the door, too. Guy had to be desperate to think he ever had a chance - and that was without anyone knowing Ivy could do that.

Not that Octavia knew what the guy with the eyes knew or didn't know. She had a vague guess that she might have served him at the club one time, but that was it, and it wasn't like she even remembered he was in the room right now at all, because...

Because she was staring up at Ivy in awe. Textbook definition, too, every version. Veneration, wonder, and a sprinkling of the sort of fear prey animals probably felt.

From:

knightinshinarmor

You know, it had never occurred to Remy to wonder what the Phoenix looked like if made out of mushrooms. And yet, here they were.

He couldn’t help but wonder if Pam had much control in this form. He’d heard enough stories of Dark Phoenix to know Jean — or Madelyne or whoever — didn’t necessarily have much.

“What’s the plan here, Doc?” he asked, a trio of cards dropping from his sleeve into his hand.

He still wasn’t super into saving this asshole, but, well. He was theoretically an X-Man. There was a whole “once an X-Man, always an X-Man” deal and everything.

From:

joan_of_bark

Ivy righted herself. She tilted her head. "I̴̛̭͋ ̶͔̉ẗ̷̞h̷͎̉̅i̵̞̓n̶̛̦̚k̷̼̆̎ ̸̜̻́̀h̵̯̏e̸͔̒̈́ͅ ̷̼̞̄g̶̥̖̉́e̸̮̹̿͐t̸͔̋s̷̲͆͛ ̵̱͂t̶̼̒̃͜h̶͉̿ẻ̷̳̲ ̷̺̍p̶͓̃õ̶̲̙̀ǐ̵̺͔́n̶̻͋̇ͅt̸͇͙͛,̸̟̫̿̐," she spoke.

Her gaze, red and impossible, landed on Octavia. "N̵̬͠o̷̬̅w̵̗̍ ̴̼̘͊w̶̺̝̕̚e̶͖̿͠ ̸͚̾̓ḷ̴̔͠ȩ̵͊̚a̵̼̰͒͠v̷͚̋e̸̜̭̓.̸̨̌" She gestured at the door with long talons.

From:

okteiviakom

This time, the word did make it past Octavia's lips, though barely more than a breath.

"Sha."

Prayer, compliance, both.

The spell finally broke when she shoved the cabinet out of the way of the door.

From:

knightinshinarmor

Oh good. Remy really hadn’t been looking forward to maybe fighting fungal!Phoenix.

“You got an exit strategy?” he checked.

He also wasn’t looking to leave these two to fight their way back out.

From:

joan_of_bark

Ivy was trying not to kill people she didn't need to. Jury was still out on this guy, but she'd give him a week or two and then... check back in. (Without onlookers, hopefully.)

"Y̵̡̤̬̎́͝e̶̛̞̤̬̥̕s̷̛̤̿̎͌̒.̸̭̟͖̰̓ͅ," she said, irritation slipping into that otherworldly voice.

She had been tall before. She was taller still, now. There was something almost stately in the way she strode past Octavia, out the door, and batted one of the incoming security guards aside like he was nothing.

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia's gaze followed her, and then flicked back to Remy, briefly. Then the man on the floor, right before she, too, slipped out the door to follow Ivy. Not right on her heels, but close enough.

There was a knife in her left hand, from where it had been concealed somewhere in her clothes. Just in case.

From:

knightinshinarmor

“Not big on subtlety, are they,” Remy noted.

The man on the floor just whimpered.

Remy folded his bo and stuck it in his pocket along with his phone, then headed after them.

Someone had to make sure this place didn’t end up a bloodbath.

From:

joan_of_bark

The next security guard to hit the top floor saw Ivy and immediately opened fire. The bullets hit rough fungus, cushioning the blow; her healing factor did the rest.

With an irritated swipe, she grabbed the woman's pistol and cleaved it straight in half, flinging a part of the metal at the third guard, still coming up the stairs. It hit him square against the forehead.

"What the--" he managed, stumbling backwards as he fumbled for his own gun.

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia was brave, a little reckless, but not stupid. When she saw what from her point of view looked like Ivy absorbing bullets, she opted to stay behind her.

"More incoming?"

From:

knightinshinarmor

“With all this noise?” Remy asked. “Count on it.”

He tossed a charged card over Ivy’s shoulder, down the stairs, hoping the explosion would discourage more security from coming after them.

From:

joan_of_bark

"B̴̨́͋ĕ̷͙̋ ̶̗̆ç̵̲̆͆a̴͙͗ṛ̴̪̆͘e̵͔̽f̵̗͎́u̵̢̯͝ḷ̸̛͇̌!̷̣̩̚ ̵̻̤̓W̴̩͕͑ê̴͙ ̴̫͋͠s̵̝̤̆̎t̷͓̥͋i̵͈̱͂͝l̷̖̄͐l̸͈̏͘ ̵̖͎̄͑h̵̗͒̉ȁ̷̺͎v̶̠̇e̵̡̺͋̂ ̶̲̹̋ṱ̷̛o̶͚̙͘ ̴̲̀͠ͅģ̶͙̚͝ẽ̴̠ͅt̶̨͚̅ ̵̱̿ḋ̵̢̗̿o̷͓͑͝w̴̘͝n̸̖͐͒ͅ!̵͖͊͝"

Though at least that explosion blew the other guard against the wall, knocking him out completely. Ivy grunted, shoving the female guard in front of her aside.

She charged down the stairs, pulling the fungus back into her, clearing it from her skin - she'd be faster that way, less noticable.

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia swiped a flashlight from one of the guards (one that hadn't been knocked out yet, but was now) because the light from the office would only help for so long on the way down, and she had no intention of rolling down the stairs and breaking her neck.

Also the flashlight would do okay as a blunt instrument, in a pinch.

From:

knightinshinarmor

“That’s why I only used one card, cherie,” Remy muttered. The woman Ivy had tossed aside started to get up and Remy caught her with a kick to keep her down, before trailing after them. “I’m a professional.”

From:

joan_of_bark

"A professional of what, exactly?"

There were definitely more voices yelling in the background, but they seemed far away, for now. So Ivy was just going to keep racing down those stairs, now. Following her own pheromone trail in the dark.

From:

okteiviakom

"Didn't I see you at the Nest once?" Octavia added, in a heavy drawl. Maybe less out of genuine curiosity than it was out of a need to make sure the hypnotic snapshot quality of whatever she saw with the flashlight had no chance to draw her back into thoughts of somewhere else, sometime else again.

From:

knightinshinarmor

“Probably,” Remy said idly. She’d clearly made as much an impression on him as he had on her. “And I’m a thief. And sometimes a superhero. You two ever hear of the X-Men?”

From:

joan_of_bark

"Not even once."

Further down the stairs. Second floor. Almost there.

The voices seemed to be above them, at least.

From:

okteiviakom

"So you're not a man now?"

So that was also a no.

From:

knightinshinarmor

“Ha,” Remy said. He leaped down the next set of stairs, not even to show off, just out of expediency. “Point is, I know how to use my powers for combat. Like how much we want something to go ‘boom’.”