Villains High: Florence's Botanical Slumber Party
Ruby frowned in surprise when she found herself standing in front of the house of Poison Ivy. Granted, with everything she heard, she assumed that the house would be some sort of plant-based jungle house and not one of those neat row houses that you found in the Evil French Quarter of Villainapolis. Granted, it was nothing fancy, but judging by the good quality of the walls and wooden areas, one could conclude that the inhabitants were well off. It was two-stories tall, built with dark blue painted bricks, grass green wood on the windows, patio, and balcony, and since the balcony's railing and the curtains were vined motif and at least five different potted plants were in sight... Poison Ivy had to live in it.
"Well, there goes nothing." Ruby walked up to the patio and knocked on the Venus flytrap designed doorknocker. No one answered. "Odd, I thought she'd be here..."
A noise of bickering came from the balcony. She brought her ear up. Yep, somebody was upstairs.
"The things I do..." She shook her head and walked out of the patio. Once she had a good sight of the balcony, she took off her bag and used the strap to throw the thing right into the balcony. Thanks to all the spray paint bottles she kept in it, it made a loud clanging rumble upon landing. The response was a window opening and Florence and her mother popping their heads over the balcony.
"Why, if it isn't Selina's kid!" Poison Ivy smiled at the sight of her old friend's daughter standing below them.
"Rubes, this ain't a good time!" Florence hissed until her mother gave her a cringe-making glare.
"On the contrary." Poison Ivy waved her hands and the vine railings on the balcony moved downward, creating a metal staircase for Ruby to climb.
"I didn't know you could do metal vegetation, Ms. Poison Ivy," Ruby said in fascination. She then turned to Florence and asked bluntly. "Why did you bail on me?"
Florence's eyes widened and her cheeks blushed. "Oh..." She fidgeted her fingers in embarrassment. "I... completely forgot..."
"Forgot what?" Poison Ivy asked her daughter sharply before asking Ruby sympathetically: "I hope it's nothing serious."
"No, it's just... See, I was having issues with a Botanical Biochemistry assignment, and I kinda asked Florence if she could give me some tutoring so that I don't get a bad grade on the assignment. Since we both have the same morning periods, we were supposed to meet up two days before the assignment was due, but she didn't show up at all. Heck, she didn't show up at all at school by the time the teacher gave me an A." She scowled at Florence. "Luckily, I bribed the teacher with a diamond so that I could bring you the lessons you missed..."
"Why would you bribe the teacher?" Florence frowned.
"Because I didn't know your address," Ruby shrugged.
"I thought I gave your mother our address in case she ever wanted to stop over for some herbal tea," Poison Ivy pointed out as she picked up Ruby's bag and gave it back to her.
"Eh. I hardly ask my mom for anything."
Poison Ivy went back to glaring murderously at her daughter, who gave her a sheepish grin. The woman rubbed her forehead. "I need to make some herbal tea." She jumped off the balcony and into the patio. Ruby saw the woman pulling out her keys and opening the front door.
"OK, what's going on?" Ruby asked. She grabbed her bag and followed Florence through the window, stepping into the most nature-loving bedroom she'd ever seen. The walls were covered with pink wallpapers covered with green rainforest patterns, the wardrobe was made of living wood that actually straightened the laundry it held, the blue water bed had pillows and bed sheets that would make you look like you were sleeping on a water lily floating in a pond, the carpeted floor was made of soft grass, the oak tree desk had a desk lamp made out of a Venus flytrap, and the entire place smelled like rose perfumes. Oh, and the floor had a messy stack of shuffled papers and one large green book.
"I'm sorry I could help you out, Rubes," Florence said genuinely as she picked up the green. "I just got distracted with my preparations..."
"You have nothing prepared!" Poison Ivy shouted from downstairs. Florence sighed and passed the book to Ruby, who frowned at the title.
"The V.I.N.E Gatherings Album?" She asked.
"It's short for Villainapolis In-crowd of Nature Extremists. They're a community group of all plant-based villains or nature chemists," Florence explained.
"So you're like a green club?" Ruby asked as she flipped through the pages, each spitting out a different plant perfume, she almost lost her sense of smell.
"In a way. V.I.N.E meets every year to discuss the expansion of nature's existence in our society, but that's for the adults. The main thing for me is the Junior V.I.N.E. While the adults talk business, the kids just do whatever... until we finally decided to do THE JUNIOR V.I.N.E ANNUAL GET-TOGETHER!" Her furniture suddenly made angel singing vocals, it caused Ruby to jump in fright before calming down.
"An annual get-together?" Ruby looked at Florence.
"Yeah, now what we do is that every year, while the adults are busy with their stuff, the Junior V.I.N.E do special activities together for one night. One of us gets picked to do the hosting and set up the activities, the vegetarian buffet, etc..." Florence sighed. "I wanted to host ever since the Annual Get-Together was established, but I never did, and after seeing three annual get-togethers go so perfectly... Rubes, I got selected this year to host and I don't know how to surpass the last three years and the gathering is THIS WEEKEND!"
Florence bursted into tears and jumped on her waterbed. The mattress actually gained more volume as she sobbed.
"Well, what was done in the previous years?" Ruby sat down next to Florence and gave her a comforting pat on the back.
Florence leaned upward. "Uh, Terra invited us to camp in the Everfree Forest -fun year for catching glowworms and watching shooting stars from the top of trees- for the first gathering, Vergil organized a tea party at the Lotus Café on the second gathering..." She sighed happily. "He even gave me a special Lotus brooch..."
Ruby smirked. Florence always went in a romantic daze whenever she talked about her boyfriend Vergil, the son of the Botanical Biochemistry Professor Vanderfleet at Villains High. "What about the last gathering?"
The daughter of Poison Ivy bolted off her bed. Her cheeks burned with bitter anger, causing the grass floor to briefly darken. "Seeder Gigi did the best last year. That Heylin seed threw a gala at the Villainapolis Botanical Gardens, complete with organic orchestra and firefly fireworks! I can't compete with that!"
"I thought the Junior V.I.N.E Annual Get-Together was about having a fun time... in a vegetarian fashion," Ruby said. She scratched her chin with the tip of her nail. The metal scratched her skin and she muttered when she found some blood on her fingers. Florence plucked a leaf off her outfit and placed it on Ruby's chin like a bandage. The latter grinned at the girl's generosity.
"I got it!" Ruby snapped her fingers. "You could throw a slumber party!"
"A slumber party?" Florence rolled her eyes. "Rubes, you do realize that there will actually be boys attending?"
"So? It's a botanical themed slumber party! Think about it! You could do leaf facials, make green smores, do flowery arts and crafts...AAAHH!" She exclaimed. "Even better! Throw the slumber party in the Botanical Biochemistry lab!"
"A slumber party in school?" Florence scowled. "What kind of geek..."
"Florence, are you planning on throwing a botanical slumber party?" Poison Ivy came into the bedroom holding a tray with three cups full of tea. Florence stammered incomprehensively until her mother smiled as she gave tea to Ruby. "Because I think it's a splendid idea!"
Florence sighed in relief. Meanwhile, Ruby marveled upon the tea she was drinking. "Yum! Is that mint and jasmine combined?"
"Yes, the flavor is quite delicious when the herbs are mashed together under a boiling sun," Poison Ivy said. "It takes a long time to make them, but it results with Florence and I having a stock to last us at least six months." She looked at her daughter. "I should have enough for your slumber party."
"Are you sure?" Florence frowned. "We already went through the first two months."
"It's alright," her mother sighed. "Besides, we won't have much to go through during the gathering. Most of our members left for the Amazon Protection Rally, only Vergil, Terra, Seeder, and Passionève will come to your sleepover."
"Well at least I'll save myself from embarrassment," Florence chuckled nervously. "Now all I need to do is... call the principal to ask for the keys to the classroom for the slumber party."
Ruby grinned mischievously and turned to the two green ladies. "I don't suppose there's room for an honorary green member?"
Next Friday, two hours after classes were over
Florence and Ruby spent the rest of their afternoon setting up the Botanical Biochemistry lab and botanical gardens for the slumber party, spreading the grass matts and pillows, hanging the lotus flower string lights, and making sure that the carnivore plants were fed. They didn't want another accident where a student had to be hospitalized for harassing Mother Nature.
"It was so nice of your mom to persuade the principal into letting us use the classroom for the slumber party," Ruby told Vergil Vanderfleet, who was also helping them set up.
"Well, Kyle, when your girlfriend is the one hosting the event, you can't help but want to help," he said. He gave a quick wink to Florence, who blushed as she went on to set the buffet. She fidgeted her fingers to make the mini sugar lilies float on the blueberry punch.
"Hey, what do you want me to do with this? It's getting in the way of the herbal mask station." Ruby pointed at a potted tree. "Man, it's incredibly thin!"
"Easy there, Wild Cat!" Vergil judo flipped and put himself in a defensive position separating Ruby from the pot. "That tree is one of a kind! My mom just brought it in today!"
"Is it part of an endangered species?" Florence walked over to see the tree. It's trunk was barely thicker than her arm and three quarters of her height, yet it managed to uphold a large mass of purple leaves formed together like one giant purple bowling ball.
"That tree is one of a kind," Vergil explained in a serious tone. "My mom found it in a garden that was part of a dead town..."
"Dead town?" Ruby asked.
"Volcanic eruption accident. During the spring break, my mom went on a tour of lost cities to find mineral substances that could work as organic fertilizers, and she stumbled upon this tree during one of the excavations. It was the only piece of flora that seemed to have survived for a thousand years in that waste...She wants to use the sap for experimentations to entice the seniors with extra credit."
"Shouldn't the bark be thick from years of aging?"
"Fossilized flora can sustain its frail appearance," Florence said.
"That's the thing!" Vergil said in excitement. "The dead town was covered in dried ash, and even though the volcano died out centuries ago, nothing was able to grow there! Not even a weed! Yet this tree was just standing there, growing from the ashes, with such a thin body!"
The door knocked. They had to pause their conversation in order for Florence to go unlock the door and let in Terra Everfree, Seeder Gigi, and Passionève Valentine, all dressed in floral-themed pajamas. "Hey, guys! Welcome to the Junior V.I.N.E slumber party!"
"This is gonna be fun!" Terra said. She threw open her oak-leaf sleeping bag, tossed it on the floor, and jumped on it. "A slumber party in our favorite classroom!"
"What's the program?" Passionève asked Florence.
"Diverse floral facial masks, eating, sharing stories, and for the finishing touch, the blooming of the neon corpse flowers!" Florence clasped her hands together. "A whole week of nurturing..."
"Question. Why is she here?" Seeder pointed a finger at Ruby.
"I happen to be an honorary green member. Florence let me in," Ruby said.
"Passion, is it in the manual?" Seeder asked Passionève. The latter pulled out a green book with rose patterns from her backpack and flipped through the pages.
"Article 20, Section 12," she said. "A villain is not a traditional plant-based villain can join the V.I.N.E and/or V.I.N.E Junior committee as an honorary member if he has any vegetarian connections. Aside from her being friends with good old Flo here, she happens to be associated with the Fiskes, and they are straight vegetarians. Not one ounce of meat in their stomachs. Kyle's good."
Florence and Ruby high-fived each other.
"Let's get this party started!" Vergil said.
An hour later
Hannah cautiously opened the girls' bathroom and stepped into the hallway.
After lying to her father about a last-minute homework evening at one of her friends' castles, she hid in the bathroom and waited for hours until the janitor was done cleaning every inch of the school and went home. Disguised in her black cloak, she snuck around the hallways, only to freeze and hide behind a locker. The lights were on in the Botanical Biochemistry classroom and laughter echoed out of it.
Why do you hesitate? The shadow poked up behind her back. Didn't you say that the Cypress Shaft was in that room?
"Hello, there are people in there!" Hannah hissed at the shadow quietly. "You want me to just waltz in there and say that I plan on stealing a shaft and go on my merry way?"
The shadow groaned. It then looked like it would perk its head up as if to receive an idea. Botanical Biochemistry... Stay here. I will go and have a look.
"For what?"
For a diversion. The shadow turned into microscopic lizards that formed a black line slithering towards the door.
Meanwhile
The V.I.N.E Juniors and Ruby were laughing their heads off at the stories they were sharing while divulging into activities. Vergil devoured most of the avocado lily cakes from the buffet, Terra was putting mashed jasmine blossoms on Florence's face, and Passionève and Seeder were drinking off punch while listening to Ruby's story.
"And then the guy jumps off the building, tries to be the badass cop, but right when I bump off a market stand's draped top that slides me right to the ground, the cop ends up chuting straight into the telephone wires! The bolts went flying! I swear, when I looked back before running, the guy lost all his hair! He turned into Lex Luthor's twin!"
Passionève and Seeder laughed, nearly squirting the punch out of their nostrils.
"Maybe you shouldn't drink too much punch, you guys!" Vergil joked and almost choked on a lily cake.
"C'mon, Seeder. It's your turn to tell a story!" Terra said. She walked over to the sink and washed her hands.
"OK, OK." Seeder sat upstraight. "But you've been warned. This is a Heylin story that goes back 1500 years!"
"Ooh, I'm already scared!" Florence said in mocking fright. Ruby chuckled in agreement, but Seeder merely shrugged and went on to tell.
"It happened decades before my dad became the Heylin Seed, back when he was still a human living in this farming village in the Eastern countryside. When he was teen, his potato-farm was being rivaled by their neighbor's tomato-farm..."
"Boring..." Vergil taunted. Terra shushed him.
Seeder continued. "My dad's family and the neighbor's feuded so badly, my dad dared to scream at the sky to curse the neighbors. The next day, the neighbors found something strange resting among the tomatoes. A golden dirt colored egg with white depictions of Asian winds. The neighbors assumed that it was an ancestral blessing, so they placed it within their family shrine. For the next few days, their crops improved in quantity and quality and increased their profits. My dad's family got angrier.
"Then a couple days later, all of the people who lately purchased tomatoes from the neighbors suddenly became sick. Sturdy ploughmen became frail, water-fetching maids got too frail to even fetch water from the well, and small children grew spores all over their faces. Many died. People came to mob the neighbors until they declared the mysterious egg to be responsible for the new plague. They led the mob to the family shrine, only to find egg parcels scattered all over the tiles and yellow substance dried on the memorials."
The others gasped. "Did your dad's family smash it out of spite?" Ruby asked.
"Nah. Smashing anything in another's family shrine would bring a lifetime of curses." Seeder shook his head. "The neighbors asked a livestock farmer, and they said that the egg wasn't smashed but hatched. The neighbors and the other townsfolk believed that that the egg held an evil creature so dangerous, its birth brought malevolence to the village."
"Did they search for it?" Vergil asked.
"They searched for days that turned into months and eventually they gave up, coming up to the conclusion that the beast probably died during its few days alive. With the belief that evil was gone, my dad went to work for an herbal apothecary. After years of hard work, he was rewarded with a very rare purple orchid in a pot. But when he returned to the village, the place was burning down. The earth was ash, the well was filled with poison, the animals ran away, and every house was a monstrous bonfire of burning wood and flesh.
"My dad rushed to his house just in time to see it dissolve into flames. The neighbor's was far worse. Where the crops once stood was a throne made of solidified ash and bones. On it stood what could have been a princess. She had the long black hair, the beautiful skin, and the fancy silk dress, but she had the eyes of lizards and the beads that matched it. It was like every ruffle in her skirt had fifty eyes that were watching you while you were busy observing her two eyes. My dad concluded that she was the monster that hatched from the egg, but before any avenging could be done, she blew a cloud of smoke at his orchid. When my dad reopened his eyes, the girl was gone, the village destroyed, and he was now the plant monster that we now call the Heylin Seed. The end."
The others looked at him, unable to react. Well, except maybe for Ruby. "Seriously? That's it?" She asked.
"What were you expecting?" Seeder asked. Meanwhile, the teens didn't notice the shadow slipping from underneath the doorway and slithering behind the tables towards the open door leading to the school's botanical garden.
"The girl that turned your dad into the big orchid of the year. What happened to her after she burned the village? Did she just disappear?"
The shadow rose up and sneered at the sight of the potted, glowing baby pods of corpse flowers that Florence had created for the slumber party's neon corpse flower blooming.
"That's the thing, he doesn't know." Seeder shook his head. "By the time my dad mutated, he lost his senses and began to go haywire all over the country. Next thing you know, he gets dried up into a seed, locked up in a shoebox, and held in an underground shrine for the next 1500 years. He's got no idea of what happened to the girl who turned him into the monster he still is."
The shadow spit a cloud of shadow smokes at the baby corpse flowers. A wailing sound came out of them and they melted together to form one corpse flower.
"What was that?" Terra asked.
Vergil, being the one closest to the garden, headed for the doorway, only to scoot over when they got an armada of potted or uprooted plants dragging their way out, screaming and wailing until they popped the classroom door open and ran out in the hallway and probably out of the school.
"I pity the janitor," Ruby said.
"Uh, Florence?" Vergil pointed at the garden. Florence rushed to see what he was talking about. Her eyes reacted like her boyfriend's when she saw that instead of the tiny crop of baby neon corpse flowers she had spent a week nurturing with love, they were facing an eight-feet-tall corpse flower. Its petals were still shut, but they moved and twisted the entire body, making gurgling noises that would make one want to vomit. Much to their horror, the flower was actually growing.
"Hit the deck!" Terra used thorned branch to lasso everyone and throw them out into the hallway. She shut the door behind them and summoned a wall of two thick oak trees to block the door. "Florence, what the hell did you grow?"
"Hey, I don't know where that corpse flower came from! I only grew a dozen the size of my fist!" She protested. The walls of the Botanical Biochemistry classroom began to shake.
Seeder closed his eyes and pinched his nose. The strange long black antennas he had for eyebrows moved towards the direction of the oak wall, which slightly shook despite its sturdiness. The tips of the eyebrows began to shake.
"I'm picking traits of black magic..." He gasped. "It's Heylin magic! And what's worst is that it amplified the capacities of the corpse flower! Instead of merely throwing off a corpse-smelling stench, it's going to throw a corpse-turning gas! Even we could be killed!"
"Right after you tell us a story about how your dad mutated, we're about to be killed by a mutated corpse flower!" Vergil shouted sarcastically. "How ironic is that?"
The walls shook again and a tiny crack was seen appearing on the oak wall.
"Guys, how do we kill that thing before it kills us?" Ruby asked.
"I don't know!" Florence said in a panic. "Weed killers and instant dryness won't work... Maybe fire could work."
"Fire, that's it!" Ruby turned to Passionève. "Have any nail polish remover?"
"Why?"
"Nail polish remover has acetone and it's highly flammable. I saw Grinchelda pull a stunt where she made a makeshift flamethrower using only a lighter that she spat acetone on. I bet if I do the same thing..."
"OK, Grinchelda can spit acetone in her mouth because she ain't human!" Passionève said. "But I do know there's about two barrels of the stuff in the Basic Arson classroom on the second floor!"
"One ride coming right up!" Florence raised her hands in the air. The ground shook and a giant root rose up, carrying Ruby and Passionève up like an elevator that broke through the ceiling.
The cracks increased on the oak barrier. "Yeah, this ain't going to last!" Vergil shouted.
"Should I try putting in another layer?" Terra offered.
"No use!" Seeder shook his head. "By now, the corpse flower must be one behemoth. It'll just keep cracking through the defenses!"
The cracking was halfway close to succeeding. The walls then exploded and they faced the gurgling sounds that threatened to unleash its toxic breath... And then the sprinklers showered them with the white liquid that was acetone. The corpse flower wailed at the unpleasant shower while Vergil, Seeder, and Florence ran for cover.
"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Ruby and Passionève surfed down the vine, both girls wielding flamethrowers that they blasted at the showered corpse flower. The monstrosity wailed as the flames engulfed it and reduced it to a pile of ashes.
"Boom! We saved the day!" Passionève cheered once they hit the main ground.
"Uh, guys!" Seeder snapped. "In case you haven't noticed, THE SCHOOL IS BURNING!"
And he said that right when the ceiling started to collapse.
Days later, in Malhattan
"You burned Villains High?" Martin still couldn't believe the words he was saying while he, Ruby, and Florence were having tea at his mother's apartment.
"OK, so putting a flammable liquid in the school's sprinkler system wasn't the best idea," Ruby said with a tone that was anything but unashamed. "Positively speaking, we did stop a Heylin mutated corpse flower from intoxicating with its fowl stench."
"But negatively speaking," Florence listed, "the school burned down and they had to close it until they can fix it, we got suspended for it, my mom grounded me from ever organizing another Junior V.I.N.E Annual Get-Together, and because we not only trashed the Botanical Biochemistry classroom but also got Professor Vanderfleet's newly disappeared tree to get lost, me and the other plant-based students are banned from ever using the classroom for a slumber party."
The Simian Witch poured some Earl Grey tea into their teacups. "I hope the Principal hasn't sued your parents," she said.
Both girls groaned.
"Vergil's mom is losing a lot from her teacher's paycheck just for funding the repairs of her classroom," Florence said.
"I'm currently staying at the RoughCut Motel," Ruby said.
"Wait, I thought you lived with your mom in..." Martin began.
"Oh, that." Ruby said bitterly. "Because of the mayhem that I caused using the acetone and flamethrowers, the VH janitor and Basic Arson complained to my mom. She kicked me out of the apartment and told me she couldn't be seen with me until she found a way to repay her debt. Good thing I hardly own anything."
"Gosh, Ruby, I'm so sorry!" Florence said.
Ruby sighed. "It's my fault anyway. I came up with the suggestion of you throwing the slumber party in the classroom. Maybe none of this would have happened if I just accepted my bad grade and left you alone..."
"Aw, Rubes." Florence gave a pouting smile and hugged Ruby in appreciation.
The Simian Witch smiled at the two friends and looked at her son. "Martin, isn't your father off for that archeologists gathering at Northfear?
"Yes, he'll be gone for..." Martin blushed when he realized what his mother. He smiled and turned to Ruby right when she broke off her hug with Florence. "Um, Ruby, you could stay at my home until the situation is cleared... if you want to."
"Martin, I couldn't... OWWW!" Ruby yelped when Florence stomped her on the foot. "What was that for?"
"Don't do another stupid decision." Florence shook her head.
They all laughed at her comment.
Meanwhile, in the South family estate
Hannah tossed the frail-looking, but quite heavy tree onto her bed. "Mission accomplished!"
The shadow looked happily at what once used to be the prized potted tree that Professor Vanderfleet had discovered, only with the leaves discarded to reveal its appearance as a particularly twisted dried-up arm made of wood.
The Cypress Shaft! The shadow said with dark pleasure. We are halfway there!
"Yeah, but didn't you hear what the Gigi freak said?" Hannah put down the White Emerald to make it align with the Cypress Shaft. "He sensed your black magic as Heylin magic. If this keeps going on, they'll start connecting the corpse flower incident with the otterfly one. Last thing I want is for me to suspended!"
Judging by our progress, they'll realize it too late. The shadow snickered. Two more relics to go and we'll both get what we want!
*End of Episode*
*Characters Introduced:
Terra Everfree, daughter of Gaia Everfree from EQUESTRIA GIRLS: LEGEND OF EVERFREE
Seeder Gigi, son of Gigi the Heylin Seed from XIAOLIN SHOWDOWN
Passionève Valentine, daughter of Natalie Valentine from TOTALLY SPIES
*Next Episode: How Grinchelda Hit Christmas Wall-To-Wall*