Hey everyone, happy Friday and time for a new update. I got nothing really much to say, but enjoy.
Chapter 2: Ivy
Plants scattered all around in the large abandoned conservatory within Ninjago City. Leafy green foliage hung from wicker baskets and grew along the rows of varied plants. Either vegetable or fruits, or even regular houseplants. Not even were there safe houseplants, but there even lurked dangerous plants. Poisonous, deadly, irritating kinds of plants throughout the conservatory. Many must be careful when walking through the large building, but many hardly come as it's closed to the public. But two people still lurk within the dangerous green house.
A woman with bright red hair moved a strand of her hair from her green eyes as she stared into a vial of green liquid to hum in her thoughts. She swirled the vial to see small bubbles form in the liquid and turned from her work table to walk over to a potted plant to carefully pour a small bit into the plant. The soil absorbed the liquid to change to a green tint and soon the plant absorbed it. The liquid could be seen through the plants veins and chlorophyll to have the woman's smile rising in hope, but it disappeared as the plant soon became brown and withered away to dead foliage. She grunted in annoyance to take the plant and toss it away in the pile with the others.
"Another failure?" a male voice asked.
A sigh escape from the red head to nod to herself as she leaned herself on the table. She stared at the vial to move it away to sulk deeper in her spot. Another failure and she didn't like failing. Especially when trying to help plants. She sighed again. "I don't know if this chemical of yours is going to work, Oak," she replied. "What if the toxin keeps failing? Then what?"
"Relax, Ivy," Oak stated. He brushed his fingers through his green dyed hair to laugh lightly as he took the vial to stare at the toxin inside. "It will. I know it will. I've spent months finding the right plant extracts that will help our plants thrive in this place and soon throughout Ninjago. I understand we go through trial and errors, but we'll find the right batch for this."
Ivy watched her partner and leader stare at the vial in marvelous. She knew that he had searched day and night for the right plants, even when searching in the Toxic Bogs and Hiroshi's Labyrinth for the deadliest plants they needed. When searching for these plants, they each had a certain chemical in their chlorophyll for their toxin. But she never knew anything else Oak was looking for in the toxin. All it ever done was kill their plants and not help them. Were they missing a certain ingredients? She only shrugged though.
How she first came to him was only simple in her past. A young college student studying in environmental science, spending day and night in the university's greenhouse studying for her major and plants. Course for her, she always wanted to create or join an environmental club, but none would ever had the time to join with her. So she always dedicated her time to her studies in hopes to make a better world. But one day when at a rally to make her dream of a environmental club happen, she was greeted by a mysterious man with green hair to talk about her club. But instead of joining, he offered her a proposition about his cause to help the environment in Ninjago. To Ivy, this was something to her she couldn't refused. And to pause on her studies, she joined Oak's cause to obtain her name. It was one of the proudest things she has ever done.
Oak smiled to the vial in his hands, to avert his eyes to the plants Ivy had used for experimenting to smile more to himself, and walked over to the table to carefully cork the bottle and laid it in a special case surrounded with cushioning foam to close the lid and locked it. "I think we should call it a day," he said to Ivy. "We've been at it for hours and I can tell you need some sleep. I need to make a quick errand anyway." He watched her nod to smile to her softly and turned to head out of the large conservatory to head for the offices of the building.
Ivy kept her green eyes on him as she watched him leave to feel suspicious of him. She had noticed that Oak looked odd lately every time he had the toxin and when searching for the plants he wanted. There was something else he wanted in the toxin that he wasn't telling her. This had to make her question about it killing plants and not reviving them. She's been his partner for over a few months, working on the toxin, but now she had to question his loyalty in plants. So what was the toxin really for?
Sighing, she overcame her curiosity on his loyalty and quietly followed after him.
Her eyes scanned around to where he disappeared to as she entered the nearby office rooms to search for her partner. No way he had to vanish without her noticing it. Even with the toxin he just took away. Ivy's eyes finally noticed a trail of light on the floor by her foot to avert her gaze to see it come from the wall, but there was something hidden behind it. Cautiously, she crept over to it to run her hand around the wall to look for a seam until she felt air passing onto her hand and pushed until a door revealed itself. She felt astonished to this and pushed it more to open it to see a little room to feel the hair on her neck stand up in wordiness.
The stench of decayed plants wafted into her nose to make it cringe and forced the bile in her throat back down. Green liquid pressed in many glass tubing's, passing through other chemistry sets with the plants Oak had collected to make her raise a brow as she studied one of them. A green bulb of a root sprouted from the potted soil to drip green liquid to make Ivy's eyes widen to what it was; a Venomous Poison Barb, from the Toxic Bogs. She had to quickly step back in fright as she didn't want to surprise it to kill her, but her lower back collided into something to turn on her heels to see a table with the case of the toxin. But her eyes drifted upward to gasp to what she saw.
A large cork board mounted on the wall displayed many pictures of people of Ninjago. And not just any people, important leaders the most. Architects, Loggers, many construction workers. Even pictures of the Ninja of Ninjago were there as well. And all in the center of those pictures was the vial of toxin they created to make Ivy realize it all now. It was a poison toxin.
"You shouldn't have come here!" a voice boomed.
The girl jump in fright to turn around in haste to meet with the cold glare of her partner. Her heart started racing to his stare to feel sweat form on her brow. "You've lied to me." she cried out. "You lied to me! This was suppose to help the plants, not to kill!"
"But it is to help the plants, Ivy," Oak snarled. His dark eyes kept onto her as he walked over to the table as Ivy slowly backed away. The girl drifted her eyes away for a second to notice on the table was a small handheld gun, but remained frigid to move. "This toxin is to help our plants grow and thrive. And I mean to kill those that destroy them. I'm talking about loggers that cut and deforested our beloved trees. Architects building over the destroyed lands with the resources used from our plants. Even with the constructions helping it all come together!"
Ivy felt her heart racing more to the schemes to become nervous to be in the same room with him. She had to leave, but her legs wouldn't allow it. "A-And the Ninja?" she asked. "What about them?"
The man drew a deep breath to collect himself as he stared at the pictures of the seven ninjas and samurai to grumble to himself. "I made a deal with the Serpentine and Lord Garmadon that if I helped them, sparing the boy and girl, kill off the Ninja, they'll help us take back our beloved world."
She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Everything she was now listening was frightening her to believe it now. Everything she had been doing with him was a lie to not save the plants of Ninjago, but to murder those that were causing it all. She wasn't anything like this. "I trusted you!" she exclaimed. "And you betrayed me and the plants we were saving! This isn't what I signed up for."
Oak kept his gaze locked on the pictures to draw a deep breath. "Then you don't have anymore use to me." he said to turn to her.
Panicking, Ivy quickly reached out for the gun on the table before he could and aimed it him. Her partner didn't seemed fazed to her, but slowly backed away to keep his distance from her. "Over my dead body." she threatened to grip the weapon tightly. She now had regretted on joining his ranks.