¡OVERGROWN!
DISCLAIMER: I OWN THE THREE GAMES. I WANT THE REVAMP OF THE FIRST COMING OUT. I HAVE THE ENTIRE SERIES. BUT UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES DO I OWN THE RIGHTS TO WA.
A/N: Okay, here we go, the end. Well, there will be a chapter after this, but that's not as important as this one. I can't say anything else, just review.
"Clive!" Virginia burst into the room with Arms drawn and Jet right behind in the same pose. There was no danger like they would have thought. Just Maya sitting off to the side bandaging her forearm. Clive sitting off to the other quietly waiting with arms folded. In the center was Gallows with Thorn who was just sleeping. In front of those two a fading piles of brown plant.
"Wake her up." Jet simply says as he storms through the room.
"What?" Gallows nearly shouts. "She's been through a lot. I don't think she's ready to put up with your crap."
"She better be." Jet grimly notes. "I have one very important question for her. That's all, and then she can do whatever she wants as long as it does not affect anything that interests me."
"I sho-"
"Just do it Gallows." Clive stands. "One question won't hurt her."
Gallows sighs. "Fine." He gently shakes her until she quietly stirs.
"Gallows?"
"Go and ask her Jet." Gallows offensively says as he moves away from her a bit. Jet scans the halls that got the whole group to the room and turns back.
"Thorn?"
"Do, you want something, Jet?" She mumbles. Her brother, was still there.
"Yes, but, you probably know what I'm going to ask you."
"I, I've been ready to answer it since the moment we met."
"Yeah, when I bought the flowers."
"With my money!" Gallows added. He was ignored by the two.
"Where's Todd?" Maya questioned.
"Hounding Botan." Virginia replies.
"Stop!" Todd caught up with the aforementioned scientist. Blocking the path of Botan as they entered the desert.
Botan laughed. "I'm not afraid of you."
"You should be."
"You are weak. Why should I fear someone who's weak?"
"Weak?" Todd threw Botan aside. "How's that for weak?"
Botan merely stood back up. "As I said, weak." He laughs again.
"Why are you laughing? Is something funny about this?"
"You don't get it, do you?"
Todd griped his sword. "With this, I'm capable of striking you down here and now."
"No, no you can't." Botan laughs again.
"You may be right, but…" Todd moves like the wind and swings his sword, but, Botan is no longer where he should be. No, he had jumped up and landed on the tip of the sword. Todd was strong it seemed. "So what? You know martial arts or something?"
"Maybe." Ryu kicks Todd on the forehead sending Todd sprawling on the sand. "I hold true strength."
Todd raises himself and spits sand to the side. "You, don't know what strength is."
"Is that your own foolish belief?" Botan is able to kick Todd's sword away and take it as his own.
"You may be, a good scientist, but you could never break my sword."
Ryu smirks. "You don't like this, I hope." With that Botan strikes the sword breaking it into four. That was the perfect moment for Todd who charged forward and hit Ryu in the face with his elbow sending him to the ground. Botan jumps to his feet and swings what was left of Todd's sword at Todd himself. Todd blocks it with his coat that he took off and caught the sword in and tosses them both aside.
"We need no such things to fight." Botan quipped.
Todd burned with fury. His sword, was gone to him now. All due to the man before him. "Don't take tis wrong, but, I'd like to end this swiftly." Todd sent a powerful punch to Ryu's face sending the scientist across the ground a good distance. "Now then, what do I do with you?"
"I told you, you were foolish." Botan grinned as he lied on the ground.
Todd stood dazed. "How can, a simple scientist withstand every one of my attacks…unless."
"I'm not just a man of science?" Ryu stood with a cackle. That was beginning to get on Todd's nerves.
"You're not just the creator of the hybrids, no, you made yourself a creation as well." Todd stumbles back. He could not believe, how insane and mad Botan really was.
"I was too weak as a simple scientist to let my ambitions become real." Botan smirks. "Now, I will take my leave. I have plans for Geranium." With that Botan took the air in a jump that put him a good sixty feet from Todd, and still going. Todd sank to the sands.
He punched them. "Damn. Like I ever had a chance."
"Thorn," Jet glares at the girl. "You are Botan's daughter. His real daughter."
"Yes, in manner of speaking." She admits. Gallows looks on betrayed.
"You're, a hybrid yourself." Jet concludes.
"Yes, the first." She admits. "The very first. Ryu has been unable to make a perfect hybrid since my creation. There's a reason to that, that I never told him."
"What was it?" Clive wonders.
"He, after awhile after making me. Raising me, because, I was like any of you. I was born a baby. Born from a thorn bush." She scoffs. "Thorn…" She looks to the floor. "I went through infancy. Toddler years. Everything. And, I'm the original perfect creation. The one Botan had wanted when he started. One that looks like a human. Who could adapt and live better than a human. Who is, supposed to be superior to the human body. I'm supposed to be." She closes her eyes. "I'm not."
"Thorn…" Gallows mutters. He was confused. What he knew, was not what was real.
"The reason." Clive mentions.
"Right," she looks at them all. "The reason that his works were no longer like me, was not because his ambition changed. When he made me, he needed the right human genetics. To mix humans with plants. Who do you think that human was?"
"So, you really are his blood daughter then?" Clive questions to be answered with a nod. "Does this mean, that the others,"
"They were different, because his blood was different." She announces. "He's,
Todd stumbles into the room without breath. Everyone just stares at him. "He's not, human. Not enough." He mutters.
Everyone stiffens. Thorn confirms it, "Yes, he's a hybrid too, of a different sort. While my brothers and sister started as plants really, he started as human."
"So, the reason, the other three were changed was because he no longer could get the right percentage of human DNA and all. Just enough to make them live and think."
"No," Jet mutters. "They were human enough in spirit."
"He's getting away." Todd mentions. "He was, running for Geranium."
Everyone who was not up stood. "We have to go." Virginia announced to get a collective agreement and they all left, except Gallows and Thorn.
"Gallows?"
He looks softly to her. "You, could have told me."
"I'm thinking, I should have."
"It doesn't matter." He stands straight and strong. "I still love you." HE moves for the exit, but notices she has not. "Thorn?"
"L-love?"
"Yeah,"
She runs to him and wraps her arms tightly. "How, can,"
"I just, do." He mutters.
"You really do, love me?"
Jet rushes and whaps Gallows in the head. "There's time for that later jerk! We gotta fly." With that Jet ran out.
"Gallows?" Thorn looked on as Gallows formed a fist.
"You punk! You ruined a great moment!" Gallows with Thorn's hand in his runs after the silver-haired one.
Light. It seemed like a fantasy, but they reached the end of the ruin tunnels and found their way out. And just as they did they were met with something else…
"Do you hear something?" Maya wondered as a rumbling sound was heard.
"Everyone, wait!" Virginia yelled as everyone stopped. Gallows caught up and threw Jet a glare. "Look, I'm the leader," She looks to Maya. "For the most of you. I, need to do something, right? Before we get out there?"
"What do you think we should do? Against him?" Jet questions. The one no one thought would ask it first.
"Well, what do we have?"
"I'm low on ammo." Jet announced. "Won't be good on him, but I have my runes."
"Yeah, but only my fire ones would even do anything." Virginia let by.
"Runes?" Thorn mentioned. "You mean, guardian runes?"
Gallows smirks. "Yep."
"They don't work on him." Thorn mentions. Everyone moans. "He thought ahead, about guardians and all, and devised a way to get around it."
"Then why did my powers work on the Flora?" Virginia asks.
"The Flora were incapable of having enough power. He did. He does." Thorn announces.
"Okay, so we're relying on the ammo you made Clive." Virginia grimaces.
"But, it may not work." Clive says to everyone's dismay. "It may not be enough, and I only have four bullets that have the stronger stuff. The rest was in the two syringe that I lost." He looks to Thorn.
"I only, had, that one." She murmurs.
"Don't worry." Todd announces. "We all just have to distract the guy until Clive gets a good shot in."
"Okay, we all understand that?" Virginia confidently replies. Everyone nods except Maya. "Uh, what's wrong?"
"Vine!" She ducks into the corridor as everyone else does as a huge vine causes the entrance to collapse. After the rubble had cleared everyone stood and got free from the ruins only to see what had hit them.
There just thirty feet from Geranium was a huge bush of plant made of vines and leafs. At the near top was a huge flower, four ragged petals pink in color and spotted yellow. In the center the face of the scientist they had all come to hate.
"That's, him…" Gallows gulps.
"Uh, I didn't know about that." Thorn shies away.
"Okay, um, leader, what now?" Gallows wonders.
"We, we can't let Geranium be squashed." She wipes away a bead of sweat. Griping her Arms she moves ahead. "We have to try whatever we can. Clive, and Gallows have all of their ammo. Maya?"
"I don't think I've wasted that much." She looks at her Arm.
"Gallows and Maya need to go see if the bullets will do anything to him. I'm, I'll try my Tindercrest. If you fail with your ammo Gallows, use your Freeze doll and heal anyone who's being beaten." Virginia ordered.
"Virginia." Thorn came alongside of her. "What can I do? I need, to help. I was created, to help humans."
"What, can you do?"
"I, can't do anything my siblings can, but, I have a high endurance, and, I can at least regenerate any appendage aside from my head." Thorn replies in a hurry.
"Can you, take on one of those vines, full force?" Jet questions.
"I don't know, maybe."
"Protect Gallows and Maya." Jet responds. "I'll guard Clive in the meantime while he gets a good shot in."
Todd stood quietly. "I, will leave." Everyone looked at him. "I, have nothing to offer, this moment. Let me go into the town. I will warn them, and try to come back with something that will aid you."
Virginia stared at him. "Go, but hurry."
Todd nods and runs off for Geranium. Everyone looks to Botan. Following everyone went to work, but Virginia took a breath first. Jet looks to her. "You're, doing good." He admits. "You really, don't have to do anything more now. Just keep up that attitude. Confidence and pride are a virtue for those under the leader. We need the support of a strong leader." He runs off with Clive to a cliff nearby.
Clive looks to Jet with a smirk. "What was that for?"
"What was what?" Jet looks away to Botan. "She, needed it."
"You don't usually answer stupid questions like that." Clive chuckles as he aims for Botan. "Do you think hitting his face would do anything?"
"No." Jet replies. "He would have thought of that I'm sure. He probably hid his weak spot thinking no one can find it."
"Right. He may be crazy, but he's a genius still."
Gallows and Maya shot out at Botan who took the bullets and kept on moving for Geranium slowly. No response from him. "I don't think these work."
"Use your doll then." Thorn brought up.
"Doll." Maya giggles.
"Look here." He pulls out his doll that looked a lot like a snowman, not that any of them ever saw one. He shot out a blast of cool air that froze some of Botan's vines.
"Use your Arm." Thorn looks to Maya.
Maya shoots out a fair share of rounds that shatter that vine and allow them to see behind the vines. Jet over on the cliff sees the same and nudges Clive. "There! Inside there's some sort of central system. His body and all." AS Clive goes to fire there he finds that the removed vines already had new ones in place. "Damn. We need to get another chance like that."
"Then go tell them to do it again." Clive mutters. Jet stands and runs down the cliff-face in a near straight run to the ground. There he gathers a breath and runs to Gallows.
"Hey! Do that again." He shouts as he catches up to them. Too bad that was when Botan threw his vine at all four. Just as Thorn was to be hit Jet pushed her aside as a rock shot up from the ground and took the attack shattering about them. He lied in the dirt in exhaustion from the run.
Thorn stared at him. "You saved me? I could have taken it."
"But, you don't know if you could." Jet mumbled. "Gallows! Clive needs another chance to shoot Botan again. Do the same thing over." He demands.
Gallows nods and takes his doll and Maya get ready to shoot, Botan learns fast. His large vine separates into many and knock the doll aside and hit Maya away. Gallows draw his Arm and fires to no avail. The rest went to hit Maya again, but Jet took those as they hit his body and returned to Botan.
"Damn, when will the vines leave me alone." He mutters as Maya helps him up.
"Thanks." She says with conviction.
"I don't need it."
Gallows moved for his doll, but Botan sent another vine to squash it and break it. Gallows stood in anger forming a fist. He liked that thing.
Virginia showed up. "Nothing's working!"
"We saw that." Maya groans.
"Your arcana." Jet says to get everyone's attention. "We may," He's stopped as many vines grew over his body and caused him to fall to the ground.
"Jet!" Virginia ran to him while everyone looked and saw Botan rooting himself as he was preparing to destroy the town.
"I, knew he was going to, to do this." Jet stood halfway bearing the pain with a grin and sweat. "Listen, I can stop him."
"How?"
"Use, use cremate, on me."
"No." Virginia responded hastily.
"Just, do it." Jet moans. "Do it, or give the rune to someone who will."
"Why? I, don't want to hurt you."
"Listen, it, won't, hurt me too, badly." Jet said through all his gasps of pain. There was a vine all over his body. Legs, arms, neck, face, back, chest. It hurt all over. "I, need, your help."
She stepped back. "You do?"
"I do."
"O-okay," The words trembled from her lips. "Cremate!"
The fire arcana lit Jet's entire body ablaze as his clothes and the vines caught fire. He said nothing. Let no utter of pain escape. He just clenched his teeth and went to work. He ran into Botan head-on ripping through the vines as they became burnt and died. E kept running into Botan, but the fire was not enough. The vines regenerated themselves before he could get by. Botan was hurt, he was slower, but the vines were still starting to come back.
It was that moment that a man appeared on the vines that were coming back. Todd to be exact. A new sword in hand found in town made of a strong steel. With it heated by a fire back in town he slashed at the vines that tried to regenerate themselves.
Finally Jet made it into the center and collapsed to the ground. He could do no more, which is why Clive fired at that moment.
All around him Botan collapsed and fell on Jet. Botan was being torn apart literally as the antidote took affect separating his human from the plant, but, it was too late. The plant and the human were the same. After it was all said and done the battlefield was covered in leafs and nothing else. No Botan. He no longer lived.
As soon as it quieted Virginia ran into the leaves in search of Jet. Todd was as well since he was closest when Botan died.
Thorn stood quietly. Clive approached as Gallows turned to him. "Good job."
"Heh. It was teamwork." Clive laughs.
Gallows turns to Thorn and hugs her, but gets no hug back. He looks at her face as he lets go. "Thorn?"
She looks to Clive. "That antidote of yours." She pulls out the second syringe. "This is the last one right?"
"You lied to us?" Clive wondered.
"I," She looks to Gallows. "It works on plant-type hybrids like my brother. It works on human-type like my father. Does it work on one who is neither?"
"You plan on using it?" Clive mutters as Maya looks to them.
"You, could die." Gallows whispers with emotion in his throat.
"I, wasn't meant to live."
"You aren't like the others! You can live just fine in our world! Please, don't." Gallows pleads.
"This, this will kill any plant in me, right? I know I can die, but, that's a risk I have to take if I want to be human."
"I don't want to lose you Thorn." Gallows mutters.
"You won't. I'm in your heart right? You said you loved me. I'm in your mind as well. I know, because you are in mine." She closes her eyes. No tears now.
"Please don't."
"If I live through this, I was meant to live." She states as she removes the cap and inject herself with all of the antidote.
Maya looks on intensely. "Anything?"
"It's not working ye-No, it is…" She falls only to be aught by Gallows. Clive comes to them both and checks her arm.
"She has a pulse. The problem is, that it doesn't work the same in her as in Botan and the others. With Botan it would kill him, but in the others it turned them to plants again. In her, it could easily make her either die, remain in a coma, or live with no special anything Botan had made her to be." Clive evaluates.
"We'll, we'll leave her here then." Gallows puts on a strong front, but his voice waivers. "No point in lugging her around. We can, come around all the time and see her when we're not on the run."
"Yeah, of course." Clive replies as he stands.
"Clive, can I be with her alone until we have to leave?" Gallows questions.
"Yeah. You can."
"Jet!" Clive and Maya look to the battlefield as Virginia hugs a dark figure. Jet. His hair was silver after all. Not too badly burned either. The vines and clothes took most of it anyway. He liked his poncho and shirt and all. At least his pants were still on he sighed. "Never, never, do that again!" She reprimanded him as she tightened her hug.
"Uh, that hurts y'know." She jumps back in apology.
"I'm so sorry!"
"Can, I get some water on me." He pleads.
"Yeah, uh, Todd help me get him back to town."
As pieces of Botan lifted into the wind the group went back for Geranium. No one said much about anything. Gallows teased Jet because he had holes in his pants and everyone saw his underwear. Jet showed that though burned red and tired her could still beat down on Gallows. Todd polished his new sword. Clive was getting accommodations for Thorn with the mayor. Everything seemed fine tonight. But, who knows what tomorrow will bring.