The Rise Of Willow "What do we want?!" "PARKS!" Came the loud response from the gathered ground. "When do we want them?" "FOREVER!" The crowd shouted back. Today the park was the location of a protest rally. Some big investors had wanted to buy the land and demolish the park so they could put up a block of apartments. A group of people did not like this idea and they were protesting. They didn't want investors to swoop in and ruin places that the public enjoy. One of the executives was trying to speak up to address the gathered crowd of people. "Look, we don't want to demolish the entire-"He was drowned out by a chorus of boos; evidently his opinion wasn't welcomed by the protestors. Among the crowd lurked a woman who had a particular interest in this protest. Vines ran up and down her body; to preserve her dignity among such a large crowd, she allowed some leaves to grow in order to cover her body more fully. Her name was Willow; and she didn't belong here. She was a Nymph, something many thought was the stuff of legends, and she'd been stranded in this Realm for a long time. She'd made her mission to defend nature wherever possible. That was why she'd attended the protest; to make sure everything went according to plan. She weaved in between people in order to get a better look at the people who proposed to replace the park, and its pond, with a block of apartments. She wouldn't stand for this and knew that something had to be done. That was why she was waiting for her time to pounce. Half an hour later the protest came to an end. People left and went back to their lives where they would, most likely, forget all about the issue and slip into a complacency that would allow the investors to carry out their plans. But one person would keep up the fight; one person would ensure that they wouldn't win. As the investors, and their security escort, made their way back to their cars Willow stepped out in front of them. She sighed as she saw the men's eyes drop. On the plus side, their distraction meant that they didn't see the vines sneaking forth from a nearby tree. Willow stood there, drawing her power from the sun and focusing it to control nature. "You shouldn't interfere with nature. You're playing with fire." "What do you know, anyway? You're clearly not important. After all, you've dressed up in vines for a protest" Replied one of the men. Willow just chuckled. "We'll see what you think in a couple days or so, shall we?" With that the vines shot up and coiled around their necks. Willow watched with amusement as each man grasped the vines that were choking them. As they gasped for air, Willow examined her fingernails. "Hmm. A bit of dirt under there. I'll have to get rid of that later." One by one the men collapsed on the floor, having been unable to supply their lungs with oxygen. They weren't dead, merely unconscious, which was all Willow needed from them for now. What Willow hadn't counted on was dragging the unconscious bodies back to her lair in the woods. It was certainly a lot harder that she anticipated. All together there were five men; two of them were the investors looking to make a quick buck while the others were their bodyguards. While she was taking them through the woods, Willow heard a sound. It was a sound she hadn't heard in a long time. But it was a sound that she recognised. Many years ago, before the war in the Fairealm, the Nymphs and Fairies had lived together in peace. That peace was only broken when creatures had entered the Fairealm and attacked. The noise that Willow heard belonged to goblins. She remembered when some of their kind had attacked and had been dealt with harshly. Goblins weren't known for their intelligence, having only a basic understanding of language and a very simplistic social structure; whoever could show that they were the strongest would be the leader. Willow left the unconscious people lying on the ground, and went over to the goblins. One of them charged at her and prepared to swing a punch at her stomach. Willow glared at it and it slowly lowered its fist. "I am a Nymph. Just like you, I am trapped far from home. Come follow me and I will send you home." Willow tried to reason with them. The goblin that was in charge just growled at her and stepped forward. The body language of the others became more aggressive. Willow sighed. Within seconds the goblins were hanging upside down from the trees, vines coiled around their ankles; except the leader. The leader was hanging with a vine around its neck. Willow repeated her offer, speaking slowly this time so they would understand. She dropped them out of the tree and waited for their response. The leader nodded its head. Willow smiled. "Good. Now, drag those bodies and follow me." Willow's lair was in the woods. She'd found a cave like hole in the side of a hill; so she made it hers. The men woke up; Willow had tied them with vines and was simply waiting. "Oh good. Now I can begin." "Begin what? Let me go" One of the investors said. He struggled but found he wasn't getting anywhere. Willow strode over to him. "Well, I'm glad you woke up. You get to be the first of my experiments." "Experiments?" The man answered, nervousness creeping into his voice. Willow smiled. "Oh don't worry about it. I'm just going to give you something. You'll join me and become one with nature." "You're crazy!" The man shouted, waking up the others. "What are you even talking about?" Willow spoke clearly as she lifted some fungus. "Do you know what this is called? Its name is cordyceps. It's a fungus that usually affects insects. It has some parasitic properties that allow it to control the host. I will implant this on your brain. And then, I will control the fungus to make you do as I want." "No! Look, I've got money. I'll give you all of it. Just let me go." The man began to plead. "I don't want your money. I want henchmen. You and your buddy over there will go first. I'm not even sure if this will work. That's why you two are first. Your bodyguards will make better henchmen, which means you two are expendable ... just like how you view, or rather viewed, the park." Willow set to work. She'd modified the fungus in that hopes that it would work on humans. Now she just needed to see if she could do it. She began by gripping an arrow and scratching the man's arm. She made a cut and, ignoring the man's begging, covered it in spores. The man began to panic; he struggled against the vines and wriggled. His heart started beating faster and faster. Willow smiled; that would carry the spores to his brain even faster. The other investor and the three bodyguards watched on in horror as the man screamed in agony. The spores reached his brain and began to attach to it. Since Willow could control nature, she could control the fungus that would cover his brain and use it to activate the parts of his brain required for movement. However, she appeared to use too many spores. They covered his brain, as expected, but soon had nowhere to go. They built up and gathered, quickly running out of space. This began to push against the man's brain and his screams suddenly stopped; Willow was unable to tell if he was brain-dead or if she had killed him. Willow sighed, annoyed at the latest frustration in her plan. "Humans eat vegetables, right? I guess it's time the plants ate you for a change." She made a gesture with her hand and the goblins swarmed the man's recently deceased body. They picked it up and carried it to a large Venus Fly Trap that Willow had altered and enhanced. They threw the body in and the fly trap closed around it. Willow turned her attention to the next man. "Ok; you're up! We'll try fewer spores this time." The man began to sob, tears running down his face. "No. Please! I have a family." Willow gave him a mock sympathetic smile. "Guess what; so did I. But mine were taken from me. And those trees you'd cut down, they're alive. And if you got rid of the park you'd ruin the lives and families of all the animals there." "Please let me go. I promise I'll change. I'll use all my money to protect the environment. Would you like that?" "I would." Willow paused. "But I'd like a henchman more." "You want to do this because you think I don't like nature, right? Well I do! Honestly. I also feel saddened by it dying. For example, my wife was cutting up some onions the other night and I was crying!" Willow held back her rage. This human had the nerve to give her a terrible excuse. "You may go. But I will hold you to your promise." She undid the vines that bound him, ignoring the never ending stream of gratefulness coming from his mouth. He immediately began running, hoping Willow didn't change her mind. Willow picked up her bow and pulled it up to aim at the man; in the same movement her other hand readied an arrow. She pulled it back as the man ran. Willow's mouth pulled upwards as a smile began to spread; she released the arrow. It sailed through the air and buried itself in the base of the man's neck; he was dead before he even hit the floor. "Such a shame too. I wanted to have all three of you as my henchmen; bodyguards tend to be healthy. Now then, which one do I experiment on first? It's a shame that I still don't know how to do this. Which means that the first one is probably going to die" Willow said as she turned her attention back to her three captives. One of them spoke up. "You don't even know if this will work? You've not tested it before? So you're using us as Guinea pigs!" Willow focused on that man and watched as he tried to hide, tried to shrivel up like a dead flower. "Of course not! Guinea pigs have more of a right to live than you do. They don't rape the planet for its resources. But thank you for volunteering to be the next 'Guinea pig' as you say. Perhaps now you will extend sympathy towards those poor creatures." Copying the same experiment as she had done before, Willow began the process again but with fewer spores. Once again, Willow's test subject cried out as the spores entered his blood stream. They attached themselves to his brain and he stopped screaming. Willow waved a hand in front of his face. "He seems to be responsive." The man nodded. "Yes." Willow smiled and ordered him to stand. The man did as instructed. "Oh good, I think I've got it right." As she turned her back the man lifted his fist against her, ready to attack the Nymph that had done this to him. One of the goblins screeched and charged. It tackled him to the floor and Willow spun around. She realised what was happening. The fewer number of spores had left her test subject with enough free will to be able to fight back. What she needed was more spores; but not enough to completely remove free will. Enough that she could control their brains through the fungus, but also allow them some choice in how they operated. With a heavy sigh Willow turned back towards the remaining two men; behind her the goblin tore out the failed experiment's throat. Having successfully completed her operation on the remaining two bodyguards, and finding the correct amount of spores, Willow went for a walk in the woods. While there, she came across a woman. Willow hid amongst the trees, having them shift their branches to obscure her from sight. The woman had golden blonde hair, it was almost metallic shinning. As the woman turned, Willow noticed that her eyes shared the golden hue. This was Golden Goddess. Willow had heard of this woman, and knew the danger she posed. She would make a great addition to her army. Willow pulled her arm back and prepared to throw a ball of spores at the woman. Feeling the sunlight on her back, Willow willed nature to provide for her. The spores were placed in her hand and she threw it. The ball exploded as it hit the back of Golden Goddess's head. The spores went everywhere as Golden Goddess turned around. Her eyes began to glow as she prepared to blast Willow with golden energy from her eyes. However, she felt her eyelids drooping and then couldn't blast her. Willow chuckled as she approached even more and Golden Goddess heard her speak before she slipped into unconsciousness. "Chloroform occurs naturally and nature's variant is far more potent." When Golden Goddess woke up she found her hands and legs tied up by vines, her head was being held in place too. She was on a chair, or rather, she thought she was until she realised that there was a man acting as a seat. The second thing she noticed was that she felt really strange. She blinked and felt as though everything was spinning. Some things were looming above her while others were shrinking. The woman from before stepped in front of her, vines covering her more intimate areas but everywhere else was exposed. She smiled and spoke "Don't worry about how you're feeling. That's just the effects of a certain kind of psychoactive toad. It secretes a poison of sorts; people used to lick them to get high. While you were out I took the liberty of giving you some." Golden Goddess would have tried to struggle but the poison making its way through her system was playing havoc on her. She just sat there and hoped it would wear off soon. Willow placed a snail directly in front of Golden Goddess. Its shell was fairly large and had a spiral pattern on it. The psychoactive toad's poison made it appear as though the shell was spinning. Golden Goddess's head was held in place by the vines, forcing her to look at the snail. The spiral grew bigger and dominated her view; it spun slowly. As she watched, it shrunk back down to the snail's shell and she was dimly aware of the snail inching forwards. The vines allowed her to turn her head to keep track of the spiral, which was once again growing. She heard a low whisper in her ears. "You will relax ... .you will obey ... ." The voice continued in a soft manner, it reminded Golden Goddess of the wind blowing through and making noises. She continued to stare at the spiral shell on the snail while the voice continued to whisper in her ear, occasionally switching sides to talk to the other ear. The very next thing Golden Goddess knew was that the snail had reached its destination. It had gone along the branch and reached the other side. She felt the vines release and she stood up. Willow stood before her. "Welcome to my army." Golden Goddess looked upon the Nymph and in that moment she realised something. She wasn't the goddess that she believed herself to be; she was nothing compared to the Nymph before her. "Are you ready to carry out my orders?" Golden Goddess didn't have to think to make her reply. "Yes Mistress." Willow led her small army outside. It consisted of a couple human bodyguards, several goblins and Golden Goddess. It wasn't much but it would be enough for what she had in mind. She was launching an attack on one of Onpyh Corp's storage facilities. It would mean a trip out of the forest and into the "Urban Jungle" as the humans had sometimes called it. There was a reason behind the assault and that reason was quite simple. Recently, Onpyh Corp had announced a large business deal with a foreign company. Willow, and a fair number of others, had discovered that this company was polluting the lakes in their own country. Willow couldn't reach them, but she certainly could reach Onpyh Corp. She held them equally responsible for the atrocities of the other company. After all, one should know who they are getting into bed with. And if Onpyh Corp saw fit to deal with such a company, then in Willow's eyes, they saw fit to endorse their actions. The storage facility was up ahead. Willow decided to stand back and monitor the situation. She readied her bow and ordered Golden Goddess to take point; she was easily the strongest of her little militia and the humans and goblins would back her up. Golden Goddess ran forward, flanked the goblins, her eyes glowing gold. Willow held the bodyguards back in case she needed a distraction. Golden Goddess fired a blast of molten gold at the building, creating a hole large enough to drive a car through, before freezing in place. Her gaze shifted upwards. She was staring at a billboard and an alarm went off. It could only be heard within the vicinity of the building but Willow was certain it was a hypnotic alarm designed to capture anyone who approached. Willing nature to grow, Willow picked up some fungus from a nearby rock. She placed it over the ears of her remaining soldiers and caused it to grow around them. The fungus spread and covered their eyes too. They ran forward, hopefully unable to hear the alarms or see the billboards. The fungus in their heads would allow them to be controlled like the rest of nature. Willow spotted a security camera and fired an arrow straight through the screen. Another one started to capture footage. ONPYH CORP HEAD OFFICE "Sir! There appears to be a woman attacking a storage facility." "They're protected by security." "That's the thing Sir, a few of their number have been captured but two men are attacking the building." "Damn it! Get me Alicia Masters. Now!" The terrified intern ran out of the office and found Alicia. "Um, Miss, you're required." Alicia thanked the intern and went to meet her co-worker. He informed her of the situation, the surveillance feed in the screen before him. "You need to send Ubergirl to protect our property before anything gets damaged." Alicia agreed and picked up her phone. She dialled Ubergirl's number. Ubergirl was flying above the city, keeping an eye out for any criminals below. Being a superheroine was her day job and so patrolling was part of it. Her phone rang. Most people would assign a song or catchy tune to their calls or to specific people in general. This ringtone was different. It was Alicia Master saying "Hello. Pick up the phone." The constant brainwashing that Ubergirl had gone through when Onpyh Corp had adopted her as their superheroine had left her completely unable to resist Alicia. Thinking it over, Alicia had decided against saying "Svetta" or "Ubergirl" in her ringtone just in case Svetta was around other people. Upon hearing Alicia's voice, Svetta immediately answered the phone. "Svetta, you are needed at the storage facility. Someone is trying to damage Onpyh Corp property. You will go there and you will defend our property." Svetta answered affirmatively and turned around in the air, she immediately flew towards the storage facility to obey her orders. Alicia Masters hung up her phone and turned her attention back to her co-worker. He was in charge of the security but something needed to be done. "Look, I need you to deactivate the security traps." "Are you crazy Alicia?! Look at the screen. We've trapped the woman who put a hole in the wall as well as what appear to be goblins. We've already reduced the number of hostiles for Ubergirl to deal with." Alicia shook her head. "If you don't deactivate the traps then you'll kill Ubergirl. Think about it for a moment. Ubergirl is highly susceptible to brainwashing. If we send her there she will go into a trance immediately. Meanwhile, that woman in the trees is still firing arrows. Ubergirl is just a regular person if she is unable to focus. Being in a trance means any arrow could kill her. Turn off the traps or else Ubergirl will end up dead." With a reluctant sigh the man turned off the traps, allowing the captive criminals to go free. ONPYH CORP STORAGE FACILITY Ubergirl swooped down from the skies and punched a goblin as she landed. It went flying into a tree and Svetta was fairly certain she heard the tree cracking. That must have angered someone or something because the next thing she knew, several arrows were bouncing off her chest. Ubergirl sighed with relief; she knew she was bulletproof and she had hoped the protection extended to arrows too. It evidently did. There were still a few more goblins and Golden Goddess to deal with. Ubergirl had encountered Golden Goddess before and the woman was clearly insane. Her eyes fixed on Svetta and began to glow golden. Hatred dripped from her voice as she spat the words "You know her." A blast of golden energy burst forth from her eyes and aimed right at Svetta. Acting instinctively, Ubergirl grabbed hold of a goblin and used it as a shield. The golden beam burned into it and it thrashed about in her arms. Golden Goddess stopped the beam, and Ubergirl noticed that a hole had been carved into the goblin's chest. She tossed it to one side. >>From the trees she heard a voice call out "Golden Girl, you keep fighting her. The goblins and men will attack the building." Golden Goddess turned around and shouted back at the Nymph who had previously brainwashed her "Bitch!" It was apparent that the Onpyh traps had wiped her memory and left her in possession of her own mind again. And she wanted revenge on the woman foolish enough to try enslave a goddess. The mutiny within Willow's army allowed Ubergirl to turn her attention towards her real task; defending the property of Onpyh Corp. She ran towards the wall and grabbed a man by the back of his head. She felt her skin crawl when she noticed it was covered in a fungus. Using her hand, Svetta guided the man's head into the wall; at speed. Repeatedly. He fell to the floor; the fungus over his head had started to fall away. Ubergirl was unsure if that was a good sign or a bad one. Ubergirl figured it was the former since no fungus would mean that they weren't being controlled, as far as she knew. So she did a similar action to the other man. Willow ran out from the trees. This wasn't going so well. First the traps, then Golden Goddess regaining her free will and now Ubergirl. The remaining three goblins went to Willow's side to protect her. Golden Goddess, having no combat training, was unsure how to fight. She swung a right arm at Willow. The Nymph saw it coming a mile away and ducked. She brought her bow up and hit Golden Goddess across the face with it. Ubergirl turned her attention to the two vying villains. She ran forwards only to be sent flying backwards as Golden Goddess flew into her stomach. Ubergirl and Goddess smacked right up against the storage plant. A dent was beginning to form. Golden Goddess's eyes began to glow golden and Ubergirl reacted quickly. She grabbed hold of Golden Goddess's leg and focused her energy to paralyse her. The golden villain fell to the floor and Ubergirl let go. Ubergirl sighed heavily; that always took a lot of energy out of her. If she could stall for a moment, she could recover her breath. She turned back to the Nymph. "Leave this building alone." Her warning was met by a glare from the Nymph. The vines coiled around her and the three goblins stood in front of her, ready to take a blow if needed. "I'll leave this building alone when this company leaves nature alone." "But Onpyh Corp care about the environment!" "Your business partners don't which means you have no problem with these crimes!" Willow fired an arrow at Ubergirl. She would have easily dodged it if she hadn't been so distracted. If she had been aware of her surroundings, she would have noticed the two men from earlier getting to their feet. Although Ubergirl had removed the fungus that covered their heads, she hadn't removed it from their brains. Which meant Willow could still control them. During their exchange of words, Willow was distracting Ubergirl. While she was focusing on Willow, the two men had snuck up behind her. They grabbed her arms and held her steady. To make it even worse, Golden Goddess was getting to her feet. Willow called out "Consider her a gift. She's yours to fight. A thank you for your help with the building." Willow turned and walked away, the three remaining goblins following. The trees opened up to clear a path and then closed behind them to prevent them from being followed. Golden Goddess smiled. Ubergirl was being held in place and she swung a fist at her face. In her panic, Ubergirl wasn't able to focus and so she felt the full force of the punch. "Ow!" Golden Goddess smirked. She let off a beam of molten gold at the building, melting some of the wall. She turned back to Ubergirl. "Now; you're going to tell me how I can find you-know-who. If you don't, I'll kill you. If you lie to me, I'll kill you. And don't say her name or, you guessed it, I'll kill you. And I won't just kill you, I'll melt you." Back in the Onpyh Corp building, Alicia was fuming. "Turn the traps on. Now!" "What? You told me to turn them off! You released her." "It is quite possible that Ubergirl can't fight out of this one. Just turn the traps on and we'll get Ubergirl." Alicia pushed the button. Golden Goddess's eyes were glowing golden as she prepared to blast Ubergirl with molten gold. Suddenly the light began to fade away. Ubergirl noticed it and then heard the sound. She immediately went into a trance and would later come out of it when it was safe. Golden Goddess fell into a trance of her own as she heard the hypno alarms going off. With the fungus no longer covering their heads, the men heard the alarm as well. They slipped into trances of their own as Alicia watched from the safety of a building. "Ok. Send a team to capture Golden Goddess. Bring her in and send her to The Project. They'll have some use for her, I'm sure. Make sure some people are there for when Ubergirl comes out of her trance. She may be disorientated after those traps. Once you are sure she is fine, find out some if she knows anything about this terrorist." In light of Willow's statements, Onpyh Corp decided that they needed to address the public. Having brought Ubergirl back to the office, Alicia gave her an order. "Ubergirl, you are going to get in front of the camera and address the people of Jupiter City. Learn the words on this script and then inform everyone of what happened." Svetta heard the words from Alicia's mouth. She sounded like an angel and was impossible to resist. She nodded her head in agreement. The camera started rolling and Ubergirl addressed the public. "As some of you may have heard, there was a recent terrorist attack on an Onpyh Corp storage facility." A pop up screen showed the attack and Ubergirl swooping in to stop it. It didn't show her subsequent defeat. "The reason was because of a business deal that Onpyh made with a foreign company. It has recently come to our attention that the reason for the attack was because our business partner has been polluting in their country. This wasn't known to Onpyh Corp at the time, and we do not endorse this kind of behaviour. As a result we have cancelled the dealings. Have a nice day and don't forget that Onpyh Corp have a sale coming up next week. Make sure to stock up." Ubergirl smiled at the camera as it turned off. Willow, back at her lair, grinned. The mission had been a partial success. She had taught the humans a valuable lesson about nature. If you hurt it, it fights back. She was ready to teach them another lesson if needed. But for now, she would plan her next move.