The pipe shook for 20 feet in either direction as Artie resorted to brute strength to clear the clog. His left arm was engulfed up to his shoulder as he tried to get a grip on the clog with his tools. He didn't notice the vines silently stretching across the aisle behind him. They reached out for his body heat, to surround him, and bring him back. They were guided to not strike out yet, but to surround and subdue. A green vine sneaked up the leg on Artie's blue suit, but couldn't easily get through his pant leg. Another one wrapped itself around his safety harness and one started to carefully curl around his back and under his right arm.
Artie felt the clog finally start to give. It gave out with a tug from the agent. Artie pulled out his arm and the cork screw that was firmly lodged into a large purple clump. The clog came from the pipe with a wet, sucking sound. Artie extracted his cork screw with difficulty. He dumped the clump of neutralizer into his hanging five gallon bucket. It splashed into the neutralizer that was already drained from the pipe.
Using his arm to shield himself from the splash, something caught Artie's eye across the aisle. He lowered his arm and then his jaw. In stark contrast against the drab of the warehouse was a stream of vibrant green vines coming from the shelf behind him. They were all moving. Unfortunately they were moving toward him. "Oh…" came out more as a groan.
He was in trouble and he knew it.
After the initial second of shock, Artie moved into action. He unhooked his harness from the ladder and realized that the vines were closer than he thought. Then he saw a leaf on his shoulder. He struck out at it with the only thing he had in his hand, the cork screw. He ripped the leaf, but the effect seemed minimal. His feet moved to get down the ladder but he only made it two rungs when he was stuck.
Confused, he pulled on the ladder to bring himself down. His safety harness was stuck on something. He cranked his neck and saw that the vines had already wrapped themselves around his harness. He tried to free himself but the harness was locked tight against his weight. A vine approached him. Artie froze. He tried not to provoke the situation but held up the cork screw in defense. He felt like there wasn't a more useless weapon in the whole warehouse. Suddenly a feeder tube slashed out, stabbing his hand. He reacted. He swiped the cork screw through the air and slashed off a piece of the vine and feeder tube. Then he felt a sharp pressure and pain in his shoulder and leg. The rest of the vines came alive. He swatted away a vine that got too close, but two more replaced it. One wrapped around his bleeding hand. It pumped itself up until the pressure made Artie drop the cork screw with a yelp.
The old warehouse agent fought what he knew was a losing battle. A sharp tube stabbed at his face before he could move. It broke the clear plastic on his safety goggles. The tube recoiled and struck again. Artie turned his head just in time. The barb missed but took a chunk out of his ear. Artie grabbed the tube just behind the barb. He pulled and twisted and felt a pop. He dropped the tube to try to untie the vine that was squeezing his right arm like a vice. His mind raced for options. He realized that he hadn't hit the floor yet even though he was jerked off his ladder. He bumped against a shelf and saw that he was being drug up the shelves across the aisle. More vines wrapped around his chest and legs. Feeder tubes slashed at his blue neutralizer suit. They were sharp but rarely got through the multiple layers of clothes. He ripped a vine away from his throat and caught sight of the amulet that Leena relocated. His right arm had lost feeling and was becoming unusable. His could feel a vine squeezing so tight that it was cutting through his pants into his thigh.
He could see that something was controlling the vines. They moved with a purpose. If they were to taking him somewhere, that might be the only chance that he would have to neutralize the artifact responsible.
Artie changed tactics. He relaxed. He decided that the vines were definitely taking him somewhere. Artie figured he would try to convince them to take him in one piece rather than in a hundred. As he was being drug over the top, he was able to let his left hand drag across the shelf. He felt the amulet and grabbed it. Using a technique that Leena insisted that he learn, Artie took a deep breath and lowered his heart rate.
(Elsewhere)
Claudia rounded a turn in the electric Edison car. She came up the row where Artie was working. She stopped the car by the ladder and looked up. "Artie?" she called. "HEY Artie!" She looked around but didn't see any sign of her boss.
She stood in the car and looked around. "Artie?"
In the middle of the aisle was a corkscrew covered in neutralizer. Claudia was considering it when she heard a sliding sound and turned around sharply. She was faster without the car, so she jumped off and hurried towards the sound.
Claudia thought that Artie had just gone to the next row over. When she turned the corner, she saw only a row of artifacts. But then her sharp eye did see something. She walked over to the bit of color and picked it up. It reminded her of a blue garbage bag.
Then her eyes widened. "Artie's suit!" she said out loud. She looked around. Up on the shelves were scattered shreds of the blue material. It seemed there were bits of blue all the way up to the very top shelf.
Claudia got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. "What the…?" Was he ripped to shreds by… what…..? A pterodactyl? What is going on! The scraps of the blue material also littered the next aisle over. Claudia ran down the rows looking down each aisle following the blue trail.
A few rows later Claudia's neck was starting to stiffen from scanning the top shelves for fragments of blue. She skidded to a stop on one aisle. She walked down the aisle, but saw no blue. At the end she backtracked and picked up the blue trail again. It didn't go across this row, but down it.
She jogged down the aisle. Keeping her eyes to the top shelf, she thought that she saw something green move. Claudia picked up her pace as she zigzagged one aisle over then down one.
There! At the very top of the aisle there was something moving. She stopped a little breathless and strained her eyes. What is that? Her throat tightened and a cry of alarm came out as a squeak when she recognized Artie's sneaker slip over the top shelf.
"Artie!" Claudia sprinted to the next row.
She slipped as she turned the corner; then stopped dead.
Where there was suppose to be a never ending row of artifacts hung a green jungle.
The hanging vines stopped a few rows above her head, but they came from the top shelf which was completely engulfed in wiggling green vines and leaves. It looked like a waterfall of green down the shelves of the warehouse.
Claudia gasped. "Hoooly…."