Sephiroth took a step into the greenhouse, continuing to contemplate on how he could take over Smash Mansion. To be able to meditate on such an undergoing required being in a place where he could be in complete solitude.
The sunlight casted a glow through the clear spots of the freestanding, tunnel-shaped garden house, bathing the plants that were growing there in what they needed the most. The rows of vegetables, herbs, and other little sprouts stretched on for roughly twenty feet, with several wooden boxes filled with nothing but soil on the far end.
The greenhouse hit the nail on the head when it came to providing him with just what he was hoping for. Despite it being bright and lively, two qualities Sephiroth favored the least, it gave him seclusion from the other fighters.
To be more specific, the fighters that would all fall into the trap he would create, leading to both their doom and his victory.
Except for some of his fellow villains, of course, because they would at least be somewhat similar when it came to the goals they had.
He couldn't be on his way to doing that, though, when he had absolutely no plan to set in motion. Coming up with an idea on how to catch the Smashers by surprise shouldn't have been so difficult for someone like him, and yet he found himself unable to do that.
As he stopped for a second and thought about it harder, he started to have a brief aha moment. "I got it," he said with excitement. "I will find a way to venture into the world that Steve guy with the pick axe comes from. And once I've made my way there, I'll round up those zombies there that he once said he detests, make them do as I say. I will then bring them back to the mansion and let them roam around there. As soon as everyone is turned to zombies after being bitten, there'll be no stopping me."
It seemed like a plan that was both properly thought out and fairly doable, but then reality came to back to him. Though it was true that Steve despised the zombies from where he came from, he knew how to properly get rid of them whenever they struck.
The concept Sephiroth had in his mind then was suddenly shot down, and he found himself back to where he had started.
"How about a better idea?" he told himself after a momentary pause. "That Master Hand character is who is in charge of this mansion, so a sense of security would be lost if he were to just disappear all of a sudden." A sinister chuckle escaped him as this proposition hatched in his brain. "I'll figure how to sneakily approach him and cause him to fall into a deep sleep with my powers. Then I will place him inside of a box, then I will put that box inside of another box. I will then-"
He came to a stop and shook his head, the second plan that entered his mind then being even more of a stretch to him than the first. He then strolled over towards the dirt-filled garden boxes that sat in the back of the long-stretching greenhouse. The handcrafted boxes that were meant to have plants in them had absolutely nothing placed in the soil, which was quite odd when considering that every square inch of the structure had something flourishing nearby.
Sephiroth happened to glare to his left at a metallic cart. On top of it rested a basket that held several small gardening tools, a rusty watering can, colored glass dropper bottles, and a good number of packets that he assumed contained seeds. He took a step closer and quickly browsed the writing on the plain white packages the seeds were in, a much bulkier packet shoved behind everything else being what caught his attention.
He curiously opened it since it hadn't been labeled like the others were, revealing a peculiar seed that wasn't the size of the average kind that grew vegetables and the like. Lucky for him, on the bottom rack of the cart was an old book that appeared to be a guide to plants. He reached for the book and carefully opened it, flicking through what was on each yellowed page and analyzing what was written.
Just when he couldn't seem to find a picture that matched what he had discovered over here, he manage to catch sight of an illustration that looked like the seed. His eyes were wide open once they scanned over what this plant's name was.
"The Piranha Plant?" Sephiroth muttered under his breath. "Like the one that fought in this year's tournament?"
The first thing that came over him was a bit of disbelief, which quickly faded away once he came to terms that he did, in fact, have the seed that would grow another one of those carnivorous plants in the palm of his hand.
Needless to say, he felt another master plot for overthrowing Smash Mansion coming on just then.
It won't be an immediate thing, he thought, but the wait will be very much worth it once I can see the looks on everyone's faces as they run for safety. I will grow another Piranha Plant but even larger than they normally become. Surely there must be something that helps plants grow even faster in one of those bottles. I will use a good amount of that on the plant until it becomes monstrous in size. So big, in fact, that no one can get away from it in time to avoid it when it decides to snap.
Laughter arose from Sephiroth after thinking this through, the only sound filling the currently noiseless greenhouse.
"There is only one problem with this," he admitted, holding the guidebook he had found in both hands. "I don't know anything about growing plants. Hopefully this book can suffice when it comes to giving me a bit more knowledge on this sort of thing."
Several Days Later…
"Dammit!" Sephiroth snarled, pounding a fist against the table to his left. "Why isn't this forsaken plant growing the way it's supposed to?"
His crunched-up fist slammed against the surface of the table a second time, objects laying upon it clanging. To say he was frustrated would be sugarcoating the feeling he was having right now.
He followed what that book had said about growing a Piranha Plant from a seed down to the letter. The soil was the perfect kind for goring something like this according to it, being neither too dry nor too muddy. He made sure to come out to the greenhouse on a regular basis, making sure that this thing was getting enough water. None of this stuff was in his nature whatsoever, but he was sure he was doing a decent job at tending for what he wanted to grow.
Explaining why he was heading out to that particular spot outside the mansion proved to be a little more complicated than he anticipated. It would have seemed peculiar for someone as dark as him to tell the other villains that he was heading out to check up on something in the greenhouse. He thought up lies that were believable to them, but he would either run out of good ones or they would catch on that he wasn't being honest.
Sephiroth, however, quickly realized that he was just about to give up a bit too soon. Peeping out from the flat bed of dirt was red with white spots on top of a slender stem. He went silent and turned around to see this happening before him, joyed by the fact that this wouldn't have to be marked in his mind as another failed plan.
"Excellent…" he said with contentment, rubbing his hands together as he watched the plant sprout before his eyes. Turns out he surprisingly had a green thumb after all.
The red on top of the plant turned out to be the head of a newly-sprouted Piranha Plant. It started to open its white-lipped mouth the way a baby bird did when it begged for food, revealing the tiniest row of spiky teeth. It was only around the size of his thumb at the moment, but Sephiroth had plans to make this thing grow beastly and capable of causing great damage.
For the time being, though, he couldn't help but take in just how small these adversarial plants were when their lives began. The faint attempt of a hiss the sprout made as it opened its mouth managed to make the swordsman smile.
"It's actually pretty cute," he confessed. He placed a finger out in front of it to touch the top of its head, backing it away reflexively when it ferociously tried to snap at it. The grin on his face grew wider then. "And already instinctive, I see."
One Week Later…
On the dot at five o'clock, Sephiroth made his way outside and into the greenhouse. Tending to what he managed to sprout was like clockwork, the same way it was for those that had a pet or a child to take care of.
Right before the next minute came to pass, he was out of the beating sun and underneath the sheltering of the greenhouse. And just like he was expecting, he could already hear the sounds of a grumpy Piranha Plant from the opposite side of the structure. As per usual.
"I'm coming," Sephiroth said quietly under his breath, making his way over to it before it became too cranky. "Calm down. You're not that desperate."
He quickly strolled back to where the plant had been growing, rushing over to the cart where the tools he had been using were neatly stored.
Sephiroth watered it before reaching over for one of the dropper bottles, filled with a solution that he hoped would cause it to grow twice as big in half the time. It opened its mouth before snapping it shut once it got several drops of the liquid from the bottle, nourishing him for the time being.
"There you go," the swordsman said kindly. "You need those vitamins to grow big and strong, that way you can help me take this place over."
He smiled as the plant cooed softly. He then reached underneath the top of the cart where he kept the guidebook he always consulted, skimming back to where he had last been reading from.
"You know, before arriving at this wretched mansion, I've actually had quite some history." It might have seem strange that he was beginning to have a conversation with a plant, but he was sure that it was listening to him. "You're looking at somebody who was once an all-powerful member of an elite military division. Did I ever tell you some of my stories from those days? You see, there was this-"
"Sephiroth?" a deep voice inquired.
Someone suddenly calling his name in the middle of his reminisce caught him off guard, and he jumped as he turned his head back to what was in front of him. It turned out that Ganondorf was standing before him with crossed arms.
Sephiroth simply stared back at him with eyes that were widened out of surprise. "I wasn't expecting for you to just appear and startle me like that."
"The league of villains will be meeting up momentarily," the tall Gerudo said to him informatively.
The swordsman glared back at him. "Did you see anything?"
"No, Sephiroth," Ganondorf responded, a low chuckle escaping him as he shook his head. "I didn't see you just see you telling stories to that plant growing to your right."
"Good." Sephiroth pointed a finger towards him. "Don't you say a damn word about this."
"Understood. I will see you then at the meeting momentarily."
With that, Ganondorf turned around and walked back the way he came, laughing in a quiet tone that could be overheard.
Sephiroth waited until he left the greenhouse to continue onward with the story he was originally telling from his past. "Now then, where was I?" he started once again. "Once upon a time…"
Author's Note: Hey there! I was trying to come up with something based around the prompt of a story involving a plant, and this was the end result of that.
I just knew that I had to write something that involved the Piranha Plants that are the known foes of Mario. Somehow along the way, that idea into Sephiroth being the one that grows a Piranha Plant himself. Then it became him growing one and becoming a kind caretaker for it as it grows.
Just felt like coming up with something else that was considerably silly, which, like I've said before, is what my writing tends to be a majority of the time. XD
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this little story of mine. Your feedback, whether good or bad, is gladly appreciated.
'Til next time! :)