Chapter 4: Magenta Begins

Present

Ivy Greene cackled in wicked glee as Krasnaya and Azure fought on her behalf. The mysterious purple-clad figure desperately tried to avoid being hit by the Dynamic Duo while trying to rescue the police captain from the vat of acid. But unless he found a way to counter the effects of Ivy's semblance, Magenta wasn't getting out of this one easily.

"Hey, so… yeah. I'm Magenta. You're probably wondering what's going on here. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure, myself. I guess it'll help to start at the beginning…"

Yesterday

Svetlana and Dr. Oobleck walked out from the cellar after giving a tune up to the Warthog. "I think you'll find it easier to maneuver through those tight corners, Mrs. Crimsonoff."

"Thank you, doctor." Svetlana nodded before scanning the living room, noticing that her foster child was absent. "Where's Cyan?"

"She's with that Boris Maroon boy and Ivy Greene girl." Mikhail called out from the kitchen. "She's been spending a lot more time with them lately. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she has a crush on both of them."

"She has, hasn't she?" Svetlana's eyebrow arched as she thought. "Ivy Greene… where have I heard that name before?"

"Probably this." Oobleck had already looked up the news article on his scroll. "'Twelve-Year-Old Terrorist. The EcoChem Company was victim to a tragic explosion when young Ivy Greene led an eco-terrorist group into the facility and planted a bomb to protest the company's illegal dumping of toxic chemicals. Twelve killed in the explosion.'"

Svetlana crossed her arms. "Ah, yes. She got off easy because of her age. She seems to like plants more than people. And she's willing to kill to protect plant life. Her obsession is going to be the end of her."

"How unlike anyone I know." Mikhail remarked from the kitchen. Even though she couldn't see him, Svetlana knew her husband had rolled his eyes.

"Still, what is Cyan thinking by fraternizing with the likes of her?"

"I wouldn't judge her too harshly, Mrs. Crimsonoff." Dr. Oobleck pocketed his scroll. "As memory serves, you have been a bit friendly with terrorists in the past. Remember that mission General Ironwood sent you on a few years ago? To spy on one Erin Munsell?"

Svetlana gasped at the sound of that name. She cupped a hand over her heart and let out a gentle sigh as her cheeks heated up. "Erin Munsell…"

Mikhail, concerned by the tone of his wife's voice, made his way out of the kitchen to confront her. "Who the hell is Erin Munsell?" He asked with a hint of jealousy.

Svetlana paled. "Never heard of him." She shrugged, dismissively.

"Uh huh," Mikail drawled out, his expression and tone showcasing that he didn't buy that for a second. He then cleared his throat before giving his wife a soft expression. "Still, I wouldn't worry too much about Ivy: from what I've seen, Boris and Cyan have been helping her to turn over a new leaf. Eh, no pun intended."

Svetlana smiled. "It's fine, but yeah, I suppose you have a point there: I know better than most that all it takes is a little kindness to help change one's path."

Meanwhile, Officers Gray Silver and Solomon Navy were patrolling the gates of EcoChem Inc. The policemen had been ordered to guard the chemical plant to protect it's CEO after he had received several death threats for dumping hazardous chemicals into the environment. Solomon was in the final week of his probationary period with the police department, and if everything continued to go smoothly, he could finally earn custody of his little sister. All he had to do was spend a few hours a day keeping a lookout and he was set.

He had just accepted a cup of coffee from his partner when his semblance picked up something.

"And at first, I thought she'd just never grown out of some kinda punk-rock phase from when she was a teenager." Silver chuckled at his own anecdote. "But when I saw her kid, imagine my surprise when I realized that we worked for the only woman in Remnant with naturally purple hair."

"Did you hear that?" Solomon asked, nervously.

"No, what?" Silver scanned the area, curious as to why his partner looked so spooked.

"Someone's sneaking around…" Solomon cupped his ear, trying to listen. "Six-foot-two… two hundred and forty-five pounds… wearing tabi shoes… but I can't get a lead on where he is. Keep your guard up, Gray, we could be dealing with our - Gray?" Solomon turned back and nearly threw up.

Silver had been cut in half while his back was turned. Solomon drew his gun and immediately checked the surrounding area. His semblance told him that the assailant was still nearby, but couldn't pinpoint his exact location. Terrified, he rushed back to the squad car, took out a pad of paper, and quickly wrote down the description and hid it inside the glove box. He was just about to call for backup when his head rolled off of his shoulders. A man dressed in black yoroi stood above the bodies, wiping their blood off of his sword. With the coast clear, he took out his scroll and used it to trigger the explosives he had already planted in the CEO's office on the building's top floor.

After the explosion went off, he casually strolled down the street as he made a call. "Yes, mother. Another speck of dirt has been wiped clean. Glory to Salem." He then placed Navy's head in a duffle bag and threw the rest of his body onto his shoulder before making his getaway.

Sometime later, Detective Ayisha Cash could only shake her head in frustration as she looked over the area. "That's the third bit of bio-terrorism this month. Shame that we haven't had much luck in finding a suspect."

"Until now," Captain Jane Maroon growled out as she handed her companion a file.

Detective Cash took a look at the file before raising an eyebrow in response. "Uh, Maroon, you do realize that we don't have any evidence to support your theory, right?"

"Maybe not, but I'm not taking any chances: not when it comes to this," Jane said with a snarl.

Ayisha could only give a sigh in reply. "Okay, but try not to do something that you might regret later on."

"Trust me: I won't be regretting this." Jane replied. "Put out an all points bulletin for Officer Navy and inform Officer Silver's next of kin."

"Yes, captain." Cash nodded.

Meanwhile, Cyan couldn't help but smile as Ivy helped her out with her homework. "Thanks for helping with my tutoring session while Boris went to run some errands."

"Not a problem," Ivy said with a grin of her own, before pausing to look at the clock. "Speaking of which, I wonder what's taking him."

As if on cue, Boris came in through the back door with some groceries. "Sorry I took so long: traffic was murder tonight. Anyways, how's it hanging, String Bean?"

Ivy simply snorted in reply as she looked up at Boris even as he placed the groceries in the kitchen and approached them. "Not too bad, Brainiac."

"What: no nickname for me?" Cyan teasingly called out.

"Oh, don't worry: we've got a list of possible candidates for you, Circus Bird," Boris declared.

Cyan merely gave a flat look in reply. "...no."

"Eh, she's right: it could use some work," Ivy said with a slight wince.

"Fine, whatever: I'll keep working on it."

"Speaking of nicknames, though, how's 'the Savior' doing?" Ivy felt the need to ask.

"First off, Holly's more than her prophecy given nickname," Cyan remarked so as to defend her other best friend. "Though as to your question, she's been doing fine...and wanted to pass along the message that she was flattered that you felt that way about her, Ivy, but she already has a boyfriend."

"I...am I that obvious?" Ivy couldn't help but ask with a blush.

"Yes," both Cyan and Boris called out at once, sharing a teasing grin as they did.

Ivy just rolled her eyes in response. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, you guys. Still, if Roger ends up breaking her heart…"

Cyan just snorted upon hearing that not-so-subtle threat. "You'll have to get in line behind her parents, her aunts, her godmother and the rest of the benevolent Doppelgangers, her grandparents, her great-uncle, and myself."

"Sheesh: Roger MUST love Holly if he's willing to risk his life that much over the prospect of breaking her heart," Boris declared with a low whistle, feeling some newfound respect for the man.

"Still, as far as men go, I'd prefer someone like his quote-unquote uncle." Cyan remarked with a wistful sigh. "Briar Canary, mmm. Freelance huntsman, professional lounge singer, and former middleweight boxing champion who studied under Tanya Granite!"

Boris shrugged. "Yeah, that's pretty cool, I guess."

Suddenly, Ivy heard the front door unlock. "Uh-oh. Parental unit inbound." She sighed and slung her backpack over her shoulder. "I'll see you at school tomorrow, Brainiac."

"Step away from my son." Jane ordered, sternly as she came into the room.

Ivy just sighed. "Is there something I can do for you, Captain?"

"As a matter of fact, there is," Jane declared as she slapped some cuffs on the girl. "You're under arrest."

"Wait, what?" Ivy couldn't help but ask. "I mean, I know you don't like me very much, but isn't this a bit excessive? After all, I haven't done anything worth arresting."

"There's a whole slew of eco-terrorism related assualts, including one that happened earlier tonight, that would say otherwise," the police captain snarled out, letting Ivy know how serious this was.

"Look, even if I hadn't been hanging out here all night, I wouldn't have anything to gain by attacking your men tonight," Ivy felt the need to call out.

"Funny: that didn't stop you from killing twelve men in the past," Captain Maroon declared with a growl.

Ivy could only gasp out in reply. "Wha...where did you hear about that?"

"I'm a police officer: it's my job to know what sort of bad seeds I'm dealing with," was the older woman's reply.

"That's...that's not who I am anymore," Ivy tried to plead her case to the older woman. "I've changed."

"Tell that to the judge." Jane growled out, refusing to believe that the young girl had ever stopped being an ecoterrorist.

"Do you really have to be so harsh with her?" Cyan couldn't help but ask as Ivy was loaded into the squad car.

"There's no way I'm letting a weed like her anywhere near my son," Jane snarled out, even as Boris and Ivy glared at her. "And come to think of it, I don't recall saying that you could stay either."

"Alright, I'll go," Cyan declared with a sigh before looking towards Boris and Ivy. "I'll try and see if I can't find a way to help Ivy before our next tutoring session."

"Nice to know that we can still depend on you," Ivy said with a melancholy grin that she shared with Boris before she was taken away.

Later that Night

"Boris?" Jane felt the need to call out as she approached her son, who was still sulking over what had happened earlier.

"I'm not talking to you," Boris growled out.

"Then listen," Jane declared. "I know that you think that Ivy was your friend, but tonight just proves that you didn't know here as well as you think."

"Funny, I seem to remember us having a similar conversation about all the other so-called friends that I've had over the years, all of which seemed to be pretty cool until YOU found something about them that YOU didn't like and forced them away," Boris called out. "What's next: are you going to accuse Cyan of having been an accessory to her own parent's death? I know that you've been giving her the same resentful glares that you had been giving Ivy well before what happened tonight."

Jane was momentarily taken off-guard by but shook her head. "That's not...I know that you're upset about how I handle things, but this is all for the best."

"The best for me...or the best for you?" Boris demanded before going up to his room.

Jane could only sigh as she heard the door slam shut. "You'll thank me for this later."

Meanwhile up in his room, Boris yelled out in frustration as he knocked some books off of his desk before sitting in the chair with an aggravated sigh. "I know that Ivy is innocent. I mean, she has to be: Mom's never been right about my friends before now. I just wish there was a way that I could prove it!" Boris called out to himself before slamming his hands against the desk in frustration, accidentally activating his scroll, which showed a news report of Krasnaya's activities. A sensation of inspiration set in as he looked over the photos on his "MagentaMan" blog.

"Hmmm…" Boris rubbed his chin in thought as a plan formed in his mind. With a smile, he got up and dug his purple gymnastics outfit out of the back of his closet and held it up in front of the mirror. With a few alterations, it would make for a perfect costume. And with the toy boomerangs and some rope, he could easily make a grappling hook. "Mild mannered librarian by day… ass-kicking Magenta by night!"

Half an hour later, Boris snuck out of his home with a backpack through the fire escape. Once he made it to the roof, he slipped on his homemade costume to become Magenta. After a few stretches, he took off towards the edge of the roof and jumped the gap to the next building. Using his gymnastics training, he managed to use his momentum to roll onto the adjacent rooftop for a soft landing. "... didn't suck." He remarked to himself as he got back to his feet.

One hour later, Magenta had managed to sneak into the police department's morgue. While Officer Navy's body was still missing, the two halves of Officer Silver had been recovered. The teenage gymnast pulled the bisected cadaver out of its drawer and gently moved the sheet down to reveal the forehead. Taking a deep breath, Magenta placed his fingertips against Silver's temples to activate his semblance.

Magenta's eyes glowed with purple energy as Silver's memories flooded into his mind. A frigid chill ran up his spine as his perception shifted to Silver's last moments. The police officer was distracted by a noise while his partner rambled about hearing intruders. He turned around just in time to see a man wrapped in black silk draw a sword and lunge towards him, slicing him in half. The shock of seeing someone else's death through their own eyes made Magenta stumble backwards and trip over himself.

"I knew it! Ivy wasn't the one who bombed the chemical plant! I have to go back to mom…!" Magenta's face fell as a sensation of disappointment filled his chest. "And tell her what? 'Hey, mom, you were wrong, EcoChem was blown up by a freaking ninja?' Yeah. That'll go over well. 'Gosh, son, and how did you stumble upon this information?' 'Oh, y'know, I just broke into the morgue and violated a dead man's residual memories without consent.' Ugh… so far, I suck at this crime-fighting thing."

Little did he realize that an armed guard was about to enter the morgue and spotted the intruder. "Hey! Freeze!" Magenta somersaulted backwards and pulled out one of his toy wooden boomerangs and threw it at the officer, but it only spiraled through the air and landed at his feet. "...uh… was that meant for me?"

"And to rub salt on the wound, my aim needs work." Magenta somberly thought to himself.

Luckily, a smoke pellet burst through the window and the entire room was filled with smoke. The policeman and vigilante both coughed into their hands, blinded by the smokescreen. Without warning, a pair of hands grabbed onto Magenta and pulled him out of the building. The back of the teenager's mask was caught on a shard of glass, tearing a hole wide enough to get a glimpse of his hair to anyone who could see him. A few minutes later, he felt himself being carried up to the roof as he readjusted his mask. He couldn't believe his eyes; it was his hero, Krasnaya. But before he could address her, he noticed the blue-clad child standing next to her.

"Who's the pixie?" He asked.

"Uh, Azure?" The girl wonder presented herself, proudly. "Krasnaya's partner in crime fighting!"

"... never heard of you."

Azure grumbled and marched up to him. "Well, who're you supposed to be?"

"I'm the new superhero on the block." He bragged. "Call me… Magenta."

"Well, 'Magenta," Azure made sure to give air-quotes. "This is our case. And we can't have people like you butting into our work. Especially with a ridiculous mask like that. When it covers your whole head, anyone can grab it and yank you around. It's so impractical."

The robin Faunus marched back to her partner, only to choke and looked back halfway. Magenta had gripped the end of her cape and tugged. "You don't say?" He asked, smugly.

"Enough." Krasnaya ordered. "Azure, go wait in the car while I talk with our new friend."

Azure muttered something to herself as she slowly went over to the building's fire escape.

"She does have a point." Krasnaya spoke to her fan. "I don't want to be responsible for you if you get hurt."

"I'm trying to prove Ivy Greene's innocence!" Magenta defended himself as Azure returned to the Warthog. "And I don't care if you're my hero, I'm not gonna let you push me aside!"

"I understand your concern, but I need you to trust me to help your friend. Gymnastics training is not enough to prepare you for what we do." Krasnaya tried her best to explain. But once Azure was out of earshot and Magenta clearly showed no signs of changing his mind, she pulled out her trump card. "And if you get in our way again, I'm going to have to tell your mother about this, Mr. Maroon."

Magenta's eyes darted around the area before he found his voice again. "Uh… you must have me confused with someone else." Krasnaya just stared at him, prompting the masked teenager to groan. "Aw, dude! This has to be violating some unwritten secret identity rule!"

Meanwhile back at Red Cell Prison, Ivy was banging on the bars in desperation. "Come on, man, I'm innocent! Call Svetlana Crimsonoff: she'll vouch for me!"

"Yeah, yeah: that's what they all say," One of the guards remarked with a bored voice before noticing a man walking around the prison's corridors. While he went to confront the stranger, another officer with black hair spoke with Ivy.

"Listen, kid…" He said in a gentle voice. "If you're telling the truth, and you didn't plant that bomb, then just sit tight and let us do our jobs. Trust me, the system works."

"Piss off." Ivy sneered and spit onto the cop's shoes.

The officer sighed, tiredly, and left to drive back to the station. As he arrived at his desk and pulled up the evidence on his computer, someone graciously placed a coffee cup next to him. "Long night, Charr?"

"You don't know the half of it." He groaned, taking a sip of the bitter liquid. "Thanks, Cash."

Suddenly, the two detectives heard a commotion coming from the interrogation room. They rushed in and found a fellow officer beating a suspect. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Cash shouted as she forcefully pulled the officer away from the perp. While Coal checked on the victim, Cash needled the officer. "Are you out of your fucking mind?!"

"The hell's your problem, Cash?!" The officer snapped back. "We need a confession! And I was about to get it!"

"Four Maidens, you act like a fucking ameture!" Charr scolded. "Yeah, he's a piece of shit, but if you beat him long and hard enough he'll tell you that he started the gods-damned Menagerie War! But that don't make it fuckin' so, does it?!"

At that very moment, the rude officer that had been guarding Ivy earlier finally caught up to the intruder. "Hey, buddy: you can't be here: this place is for authorized personnel only, so unless you have something to say in your defence, you're going to be in a lot of trouble."

"I could say the same to you," the man called out with a smirk as he revealed a detonator. "Glory to Salem," he declared as he pressed the detonator right before some explosions went off.

Right as this happened, Detective Coal jerked as the sound of the explosions reverberated through the area. Suspecting earthquakes, Coal took out his scroll to call his husband. "Hello, Jack?! Get down to the basement and stay away from any windows!"

Back at her cell, Ivy had collapsed to the floor as a result of the explosion. Deciding that she'd refuse to stay put and taking advantage of how her cell bars had been destroyed by the explosions, she slipped out into the open. Luckily for her, she noticed a hole in the wall leading to the streets outside. At that moment, however, Detectives Cash and Coal arrived to help their fellow officers during the crisis. Coal's semblance allowed him to see through smoke, as such, he was the one to see Ivy escaping.

"Wait, just hold on: we can get you out of here without making things worse for you!" He called out.

"Yeah, sorry: I don't care what you say," Ivy declared even as she slipped through the hole in the wall as the flames started to spread. "There's no way I'm staying here to get roasted alive."

"Oh, great. Ivy got out." Charr couldn't help but declare with a sigh some time later after they'd gotten the fire under control. "What do you do now?"

"Only thing we can do is go over the evidence and see if Ivy is indeed innocent of all that eco-terrorism. We can locate her later - and she'll likely need to serve some time for escaping - but right now, she's not exactly wrong in that she might actually be safer out in the open." Ayisha reasoned.

Suddenly, another - more controlled explosion - blew another hole in a nearby wall. Charr and Ayisha drew their weapons and pointed at the source. A hooded figure in all black drew a sword and sliced their guns in half. Ayisha tried to throw a punch, only to have her hand cut off in the process. As she fainted from the sudden blood loss, her attacker threw her on top of her partner, pinning him to the ground.

"P-please…" Coal begged. "We all have families! Don't kill us!"

"I wouldn't kill you, officer. You're just doing your job." The hooded figure promised as he sheathed his sword and took out a smoke pellet. Surprisingly, Coal couldn't see through any of this smoke. All he could do was listen for the figure's voice. "And now, I'm going to finish mine."

"Okay, I think I'm safe," Ivy felt the need to declare some time later after she managed to get away from the fire. "Now I just need to get out of here and find Boris: maybe he can…" ...and that was as far as she got before she remembered how this all started, causing her to slink to the ground in despair as she realized that by now Jane Maroon was likely blaming her for the chaos at the police station.

"It's...it's not fair," she cried out, slamming her fist on the ground. "I was turning over a new leaf. I was good. Why did someone have to dig up my past? Why did Captain Maroon take me away from my home? Why is it that those in power always have to take away the things that I love?!"

Ivy just screamed out as all the pain and anger that she'd been trying to suppress came flooding to the surface...only to yelp in surprise as the area around her started to shake. Looking around in horror, Ivy could only gasp as several structures around her collapsed as some vines increased in size. "What...what's going on?" Ivy couldn't help but call out as she took note of all the plants that started to gather around her. Deciding to experiment a bit, she waved her hand, causing multiple flowers to bloom as she did.

"This...this is my Semblance," Ivy said with a revenant whisper as she realized what had happened before gaining a sinister grin. "Not how I anticipated discovering it, but you know, I do believe that I can make this work," she declared as she called more plants to her with a wicked laugh. Little did she realize that one of the vines she had sprouted ensnared the source of her freedom, keeping him away from her as she made her getaway.

Back at the Maroon household, Jane angrily puffed at her pipe while reading the newspaper. Upstairs, Boris angrily read a book while laying on his bed, still furious at his mother. All while Cyan awkwardly sat in the corner in silence doing her homework, having already delivered the bad news that she hadn't come up with anything to help Ivy out as of yet. Finally getting tired of the awkward silence, Boris let out a sigh. "You can go ahead and watch one of my movies, if you want." He offered.

Cyan quietly got up from her seat and went over to the bookshelf to look at Boris' DVDs. She found one that caught her eye and immediately popped it in the DVD player. It turned out to be a home video of Boris when he was six years old riding a bike. "Are you ready, buddy?" A red-haired man asked behind the young Boris.

The present Boris looked up from his book in shock.

"Don't worry, sweetie!" Jane encouraged her son from behind the camera. "You're gonna do just fine! Michael, does the red light mean this thing is on?"

"Yes, dear." Michael Maroon nodded before looking back at his son. "Now, take a deep breath and just start pedaling. All the way to mommy, okay?"

"Aw, this is so cute!" Cyan gushed.

"Stop it!" Boris angrily pushed Cyan away and shut off the DVD player. "Why would you play that?!"

"I-I'm sorry." Cyan trembled from the anger in his voice. "I didn't realize what was on that DVD, as it wasn't even labeled."

Boris blinked. "Wait, really?" He asked before looking at it to discover that, sure enough, there wasn't a label present. "...huh: I'll have to remember to take care of that one of these days… sorry, just… pick something else. You like music?"

"Who doesn't?" Cyan teasingly called out before blinking upon noticing a record on a shelf. "Hey, I didn't know that you collected records…" she declared as she walked over to it.

"Hey!" Boris pushed the faunus away from the shelf. "Hey, don't touch that! Please, don't touch that." He softly begged as he glanced at the record. "... it belonged to my dad. Do you wanna hear it?"

Cyan's curiosity urged her to nod in agreement. Boris took the record and placed it on a nearby turntable, giving a smile as music filled the air soon afterwards. Little did they know that Jane's ears perked up at the sound and quietly made her way upstairs to investigate.

Cyan enjoyed the music, but she was confused at why Boris began crying. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"My dad used to play this for me when I was little." He explained, shakily. "He said it calmed me down whenever I had nightmares."

"Hey, my parents used to do the same thing with lullabies, so I have no room to judge," Cyan remarked with a shrug before gaining a curious expression. "What happened with your dad, anyways?"

"He…" Boris wiped his eyes. "You really wanna know this?"

"Tell me." Cyan nodded.

Boris sat back down on his bed. "I was eight years old when it happened. Mom was working with internal affairs in Atlas, so my dad had to quit his job to take care of me. He used to say my mom's job was too important to give up… but he always swore that I was the most important thing in her life. And then, one night when we were alone, there was someone pounding on the door. My dad hid me in the closet and told me not to come out until I heard either him or mom calling out for me. I heard him shouting at someone and fighting them. They took him away… and my mom came and found me an hour later. She was crying… saying that she loved me. Then the next thing I knew, we were bouncing around from city to city."

"Did they ever find your dad?"

"Yeah… in a landfill about three weeks later." Boris sniffled. "Mom was so freaked out, she spent all of the life insurance money from dad's death to pay someone to activate my aura for me."

"She couldn't do it for you?"

"No, her family has some weird condition that keeps her from using hers." Boris shrugged. "But with my aura unlocked, I also got my Semblance. And, uh, between you and me, I've been using it on some of her work friends to see if they know anything about my dad. I call it 'Mnemonic Insight,' because - basically it lets me look into people's minds and see their memories."

Cyan squinted in thought before snapping her fingers. "Ooooooh, 'mnemonic!' With an 'M!' Because, y'know, when you say it out loud, it sounds like… ahem. Holly said you got in trouble a few months ago for smuggling snuff movies into your school. Executions and assisted suicides, and other stuff."

"Anything that might show me whoever killed my dad…" Boris wiped his eyes again. "And I know that I shouldn't be trying to find that bastard, but I… I just feel like… if I could find whoever broke our family apart… if I could bring his killer to justice… he could rest in peace." He sobbed.

"Hey, it's okay: I get it," Cyan called out, placing a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "Believe me: I know exactly how you feel."

"...you really do, don't you?" Boris said with a small smile, remembering how they had first met.

While the two friends moved to hug one another, Jane kept a hand cupped over her mouth as her own tears flowed down her cheeks. Without making a sound, she went back to her own bedroom and locked the door as she cried into her pillow. After a few moments, she picked up her wedding picture and placed a finger on her husband's image. "Oh, Michael…" She wept. "I'm so sorry, I let you down…"

Just then, Jane's scroll went off, prompting her to answer it with a huff. "Kind of busy here, Cash: I'm in the middle of a crisis with my son."

"Well, sorry to tell you this, but that crisis isn't finished quite yet, Jane," Ayisha declared. "You know how Boris was up in arms about Ivy not being responsible for that bit of eco-terrorism that happened recently? Turns out he was right."

"What?!"

"Yeah, Officer Coal and I just went over the evidence again and found a timestamp for when the place was broken into," Detective Cash declared. "According to what we're seeing here, the breakin took place at the exact same time as when Ivy was claiming to be hanging out with your son, meaning that your son and that Cyan girl were her alibi, and I highly doubt that they would be lying about something like this. We also found a notepad in Silver and Navy's glove box. It looks like Solomon's handwriting, and includes what appears to be a description of their killer."

"Ivy's innocent." Jane remarked, feeling guilty. "Alright, tell Coal to set Ivy free and get our forensic team to go back to the crime scene. I want whoever did this behind bars by the time-" Suddenly, the entire apartment building shook violently. Jane dropped her scroll and stumbled to get upstairs. "Earthquake! Boris! Cyan! Get down and away from the window!"

A tree branch broke through the wall and wrapped itself around the police captain's ankle. Jane was dragged outside to see the source of the shaking; a massive oak tree had grown up through the street and was killing civilians.

"What's going on out there?!" Boris couldn't help but ask, having taken note of all the chaos that was taking place.

"I'm not sure, but we better get out of here before…" ...and that was as far as Cyan got before a large tree suddenly bloomed inside of the room.

"Prepare to suffer the wrath of Mother Nature!" a booming voice called out as some vines suddenly burst forward...only to stop just short of the pair as they held one another in fright, followed soon afterwards by some hysterical laughter. "Aw, man: you should see the looks on your faces. I got you and Cyan good there, Brainiac."

"String Bean?!" Boris couldn't help but ask, before growling. "That wasn't funny...and I doubt that my Mom would think so either...but wait: how'd you even do that?"

"What can I say? I've recently gained my Semblance and it gave me a bit of a makeover: what do you think?" Ivy remarked as she came into the room to allow for the pair to get a better look at her. They saw that she had done her hair up a bit and that she had managed to acquire a dress made up entirely of plants that did a good job of showing off her figure.

"Well, it's certainly something," Cyan declared with a light blush, before gaining a frown. "But actually, Boris brings up a good point: while I'm glad to see that you aren't locked up right now and that you're doing alright, I somehow doubt that his Mom is going to be happy about you tearing up their house."

Here, Ivy had the decency to wince a bit. "Yeah, sorry about that: there's still a few kinks with my new Semblance that I'm trying to iron out, but I promise to make it up to you," the new florikenitic replied before gaining a wicked grin. "As for the dear Captain, however, well, I don't think she'll be a problem."

"Wha...what do you mean?" Boris nervously called out.

Ivy gave a light chuckle. "Don't worry, Brainiac: I have no intention of harming you or Cyan. Your mother, on the other hand…" The pair watched in horror as an unconscious Jane Maroon was carried into the room with some vines. "...well, let's just say that this is one 'weed' that doesn't appreciate being pulled from the closest thing she's had to a home."

"Ivy, stop!" Boris begged. "I know what my mom did was wrong, but you can't kill her!"

"Sure, I can." Ivy grinned. "I already turned my own folks into fertilizer, Brainiac. Just imagine. You and me, taking on other big businesses whose ignorance ruins our planet. No more parents or cops to get in our way! We'll own this whole planet! Hell, Cyan and her new foster family can join us if they want to. What do you say?"

Boris clenched his fists. "Put. My mom. Down." He ordered, sternly.

Ivy scowled at her former best friend. "And here I thought we were two peas in a pod." She growled. "Guess that's what I get for trusting a cop's kid." With that, the villainess used her living tree to carry herself and her hostage away.

"No! No! Mom!" Boris tearfully called out as he watched his mother disappear into the distance.

Cyan took out her scroll and pulled up Svetlana's number. "I'm gonna call the cops!" She lied as she headed downstairs. "Uh… I'll give you some space. I'm gonna head home for now; let me know when the cops get here."

Boris wasn't listening to her, all he could think about was the dreadful idea that he'd never see his mother again. Suddenly, he saw a Warthog drive down the street and a blue-clad girl hopped into the passenger seat before it drove off. He turned around and looked at the purple homemade costume still in the waste bin. His gaze hardened as determination set in. "I'll quit tomorrow." He promised himself.

Meanwhile, Azure struggled to change into her costume while riding in the passenger seat of a spreading Warthog. "Do you think we can reason with Ivy?"

"We'll try." Krasnaya promised. "But the hostage is our first priority."

The robin Faunus nodded as she finally managed to get her mask on. With that, the duo continued to follow the trail of overgrown greenery, unaware of the third party following them.

Ten minutes later, Krasnaya and Azure had tracked the eco-terrorist to a large collection of trees and vines. They parked at a safe distance and continued on foot. Krasnaya cut the vines away with her sickle until they both heard the sound of metal against metal. Azure brushed away more vines until she saw the words "Atlas Chemicals" painted on it.

"Holey rusted metal, Krasnaya!" Azure called out.

Krasnaya arched an eyebrow under her cowl at her partner's bizarre outburst. "What?"

"This wall…" Azure patted on the wall, creating a soft echo. "It's made of rusted metal. And there are holes drilled in it. It's holey rusted metal."

"Oh."

Azure just blushed at the awkwardness that filled the air. "I've been hanging out with Holly a bit too much, huh?"

"Let's just get going."

Meanwhile Jane groaned as she came to, finding her movement restricted even as she tried to figure out what had just happened.

"Nice of you to join us, Captain," a somewhat familiar voice belonging to a young woman with a leafy dress declared.

Jane found that she could only blink in response as she took in the visage of the one who took him hostage. Noting that she was tied up, she wiggled around to try and break free.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the mystery figure declared as she took Jane's glasses from her. "After all, that's not water you're hanging over."

Jane could only cringe upon hearing the hiss that formed when her glasses hit the apparent acid below, which caused the figure to give a dark chuckle. "And the best part is that I've got a few plans in place to have folks all over the city brought here to be returned to the grip of nature after I'm done with you. To see them suffer for all they've done in the name of so-called progress."

"Please!" Another hostage in a lab coat who had been brought in begged. "I have a family!"

"Why do you all keep saying that?" Weed grunted before tossing him into the acid.

"Why are you doing this? Those people haven't done anything to you!" Jane called out.

"Funny: you didn't seem to have any problem destroying my life despite how I personally hadn't done anything to you or your son."

Instantly, the Captain realized who she was dealing with. "Ivy?! What are you doing!?" Jane couldn't help but ask.

"Come now, Captain: weren't you the one who called me a weed?" Ivy replied. "And come to think of it, you should be grateful: on the off chance my plan fails here, you can make sure that I'm never allowed to see your son, one of the only human friends I ever had, ever again."

Jane could only wince in reply, realizing that part of this was her own fault. "I...I never meant to hurt you, Ivy…"

"Too late for regrets now, and by the way, don't ever use that name with me again," the girl snarled out. "Rather, refer to me as the Weed that you allowed to resurface back into society."

"Resurface?" Jane couldn't help but ask.

The newly christened "Weed" let out a bitter chuckle here. "I meant what I said back at your house, you know: I was ready and willing to let go of my war on those oppressing nature if it meant being friends with your son, but as always, there's always some ignorant brat in a place of authority that doesn't care about anyone or anything that's pure so long as they get what they want...though if it's any consolation, I don't plan on going after your son after this: I think he's suffered enough, don't you?"

Jane's only response was to look down in shame.

Meanwhile, Krasnaya and Azura watched all of this take place from a nearby rooftop. "I don't understand: she was willing to give up this life: why do this now?" Azure couldn't help but call out.

"She's not thinking rationally right now, but I can't say that I blame her: not entirely, at least," Krasnaya declared. "She was willing to make a change and Captain Maroon essentially slammed the door to that path right in her face. Right now, she doesn't know what else she has to live for...which is why we'll need to help her rediscover herself when this is all over."

"Yeah, though first we'll need to bring her in." Azure said with a sigh, not liking how this was playing out but willing to see it through regardless. With that the two of them swung down into view. "That's far enough, Miss Greene: let the Captain go or we'll be forced to make you do so."

"Well, hey there, cutie," Weed called out with a flirtatious smile as she took in Azure, noting that she was just as attractive to her as Cyan had been. "You don't really want to hurt little old me, do you?"

"I'd prefer not to fight you if I can help it," Azure declared even as she fought down a blush. "But I will if it means that I can prevent you from doing something you'll regret later on."

"Aw, that's so sweet," Weed teasingly remarked. "Shame that we didn't meet under different circumstances: I get the feeling we'd get along swimmingly."

"Well, you're not wrong," Azure mused with a shrug, remembering how she had gotten along with Ivy before this had happened.

"Like Azure said, we don't want to fight you, but we will if you force us to, Ivy," Krasnaya declared.

"Truth be told, I don't want to fight you either, as I know that unlike some other people I know, you two actually want to help people," the florikenetic called out, sounding a bit like the old Ivy as she did before giving a snarl. "There's just one problem: Captain Maroon wouldn't allow you to help me even if you asked her to...and I should know: after all, she did the exact same thing when my friends Cyan and Boris tried to plead my case."

"Don't do this, Ivy," Krasnaya pleaded.

"Ivy Greene is gone: Jane Maroon made sure of that," Cyan's former friend declared with a somewhat melancholy voice. "There's only the Weed now."

"Then you leave us no choice," Azure remarked as she reluctantly got into a fighting stance alongside her guardian. "Just remembered that you had the chance to walk away from this."

"Funny: I was about to tell you the exact same thing," the Weed growled out as she called upon her semblance to bring more plants to the scene to help her fight. Krasnaya motioned for Azure to search for the police captain while she took out her sickle and loaded it with fire dust. The Crimson Crusader lunged forward, slicing the plants to ribbons and burning the remains. "My babies!" Weed screamed in horror.

Krasnaya tackled the young terrorist to the ground, causing more spores to fly from her hair. The Crimson Crusader couldn't help but inhale the spores as her side-kick had, causing her to take on a blank expression. "Agh! Get off of me!" Weed snapped.

"Yes, mistress…" Krasnaya obeyed and released her captive.

Weed curiously rose to her feet and looked down at the handful of spores that had sprinkled onto her hand. Wanting to test her theory, she called forth a vine to bring another factory worker towards her, and she blew the spores into his face. As she thought, the spores put him in the same trance, bringing a smile to her face.

"Kneel to me," Weed called out, feeling a sense of twisted satisfaction as both of her mind controlled minions got down on one knee before her.

"Oh, that isn't good," Azure couldn't help but declare upon witnessing this, unaware of the vines slithering towards her legs.

At that very moment, Boris had arrived at the chemical plant, struggling to put his costume on while running. "Some vigilante…" He muttered to himself. "Couldn't even fix the back of my mask, for Maiden's sake. Alright, get it together, Maroon. Gotta get inside. Gotta save mom. Gotta strangle Ivy for threatening mom."

The young vigilante found that all the doors and windows were blocked by hardwood trees, so he threw his homemade grappling hook up to one of the top branches and climbed up to the roof. As he peered through the skylight, he saw Krasnaya holding Azure down while Ivy blew a handful of spores into the side-kick's face. Azure's expression mimicked her mentor's as she was now completely under Weed's control.

Magenta could only give a nervous gulp as he tried to sneak around them. "I might be in trouble here."

"Indeed you are," Weed called out. "So why don't you do yourself a favor and show yourself? I vines already know you're there, after all."

"So much for the stealthy approach," Magenta said with a scoff as he stepped into the light.

His former friend merely blinked as she took in this new intruder. "...who are you supposed to be?"

"Call me Magenta," the new vigilante replied. "I'm here on behalf of your friends, Boris and Cyan: neither of them want to see you falling back into a life of crime after all that's happened, after all."

"That's actually rather sweet," Weed declared with a voice that was equal parts genuine and mocking in tone. "Only problem is that Captain Maroon…"

"Forget about her," Magenta growled out. "It wasn't Captain Maroon that kidnapped all these people. It wasn't Captain Maroon who's threatening to kill everyone here. It wasn't Captain Maroon who placed Krasnaya and Azure under mind control. That was all you. All you're doing right now is proving her right in that you haven't changed...but there's still time for you to do the right thing, so please: make the right choice. End this fight before anyone else gets hurt."

Weed watched as Magenta held out a hand in a gesture of comradery, and sighed. "You're right about one thing: this fight has gone on long enough, so do yourself a favor and KNEEL."

As if on cue, one of Ivy's plants sprung up and sprayed Magenta with the pheromones from earlier...only for the newest vigilante to smile as he simply waved away the dust like it was a mild irritant. "Ha!" Magenta laughed, triumphantly. "Your pheromone-manipulating powers mean nothing to an asexual person! Is that all you got?!" In response, Weed snapped her fingers, summoning the mind-controled Krasnaya and Azure to her side. Magent's confidence dropped. "Oh… you've got them, too…"

"Indeed I do, and soon, I'll have you as well, one way or the other," Weed declared as she let out a wicked laugh just before the mind controlled Krasnaya and Azure went on the attack.

"Okay, this is about where you came in. Fine mess I've gotten myself wrapped in, huh? Well, rest assured, I wasn't about to give up quite yet: I just needed to find a good opportunity to turn the tides in this situation."

The purple vigilante ran away from the hypnotized dynamic duo, desperately dodging all of their attacks while trying to circle back to save the police captain. "For the record, I still like you guys," he called out even as he parried some blows from both Krasnaya and Azure. Eventually, he got lucky and was able to knock the duo off of their feet before turning to glare at Weed. "I could do this all day, you know?"

"Perhaps you can, but as fun as that sounds, I think it's past time I've finished playing around. First things first, though..." Weed said with a grin before turning towards the captive Captain. "Say 'Hi' to your husband for me," she called out before having him drop down from where he was hanging.

"NO!" Magenta shouted in terror. Without thinking, he dove after Jane while throwing his grappling line at a nearby tree branch. The cable wrapped around the branch just as he managed to grip her ankle, saving the police captain from the vat of acid. Magenta allowed a sigh to slip through his lips before swinging Jane and himself away from the vat and back on the ground before getting into a fighting stance. "I won't let you do this, Ivy: killing Captain Maroon won't get you what you want."

"Maybe not, but it's not like I have anything left," her former friend snarled out. "And besides, it's only a matter of time before she tries to arrest Miss Robyn or even her foster family. After all, from what I've seen, nothing is off limits as long as Boris is 'safe' living under her roof like a caged animal."

"Oh, come on: that's ridiculous," Magenta denied. "I mean, it's not like she was doing a background check on them to find a reason to arrest them, right Captain?" Needless to say, he was not comfortable when his mother didn't answer right away. "...Captain?"

"I admit it: I took things too far," Jane called out with a shame filled sigh. "All I wanted, all I ever wanted was to make sure that my son survived in this world...but in all that time, I forgot to let him live. I never should have dictated what sort of friends he had. I never should have held Ivy's past against her. I...I should have acted like a mother rather than an enforcer of the law that day. I...I'm sorry."

"Too little, too late," Weed said with a snarl. "I'm going to tear you both apart and ground you into fertilizer for my legion of green! I will have my revenge! And there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

Magenta's gaze hardened as he stood up. "Enough." He said, confidently. "You're going straight to Ironwood Asylum even if I have to drag you! And you'll pay for your crimes!"

"My crimes?!" Weed spluttered. "I'm the victim! If it wasn't for Maroon-!"

"If you hadn't already killed twelve people before you went to juvie the first time, Captain Maroon might not have jumped to conclusions!" Magenta snapped back, throwing a shard of glass at a vine that came at him. Weed shuddered as the extension of her will was sliced in half. "You could have waited and let the courts do their work! You could have proven that you had nothing to do with those crimes!"

"I was trying to-!"

"You were trying to get even!" Magenta interrupted again, throwing a homemade bola at her legs, tripping her up as he continued to march towards her. "And in doing so, you put innocent lives in danger for your own good! I'm done feeling sorry for you! You committed a crime! You made your choice! And now, you have to live with it!"

Weed broke free from the bola ropes and lunged forward at her opponent. But Magenta backflipped away from her and landed on a slab of granite. While she was still off-balance, he pushed himself forward and his fist collided with her jaw. Ivy stumbled backwards and hit her head on a rock. This action snapped Krasnaya and Azure out of their trance and the robin Faunus rushed to check on the villainess.

"Holy crap! I think you killed her!" She gasped.

Suddenly, Ivy sat up with a dopey grin. "I'm the prettiest princess in all of Remnant!" She then collapsed back on the ground.

"Oh, nevermind. I guess she's just concussed."

Regardless, Krasnaya placed a pair of handcuffs on the defeated ecoterrorist before she and Azure made their getaway. Even with her vision blurred, Jane managed to get out her scroll and call for backup. As she'd hoped, Cash and Coal answered her call and promised to arrive at her location within the next twenty minutes.

"Well, that's taken care of." Jane said with a sigh before blinking as Magenta brought her in for a hug. "WHOA! Uh…" Not sure of what to do, Jane reluctantly - and uncomfortably - returned the hug.

After realizing that he was still in costume, Magenta broke the hug and awkwardly coughed into his fist. "Captain!" He nodded, desperately trying to disguise his voice. "I'm glad you're safe!"

"Uh, yeah… thanks for the save." Jane smiled, squinting as her vision was still blurred without her glasses. "I mean, uh, I can't say I like the idea of children doing police work… but, you did save my life. So, uh, let's just call this strike one."

"Thank you…" Magenta backed away, revealing the tear in the back of his mask. "Take care… citizen."

Jane blinked as she watched the young vigilante run off. "Another mauve-head?" She mused. "Huh… what're the chances?"

Fifteen minutes later, Coal arrived to escort Weed to Ironwood Asylum while Cash drove Jane to the hospital for a quick check-up after everything she had been through.

"You ready to go, ma'am?" one of the doctors asked.

"Almost. There's still one thing I need to take care of," Jane admitted as she took out her scroll and contacted a certain someone.

"Mom?"

"Hey, Boris. Before you ask, don't worry, I'm fine. I had just wanted to check up on you, is all," Jane remarked into her scroll with a slight frown, having heard the apprehension .

"That's good to hear...but are you sure you're okay? You sound a bit stressed right now."

Jane just sighed. "I'm fine, really: it's just that a lot has happened tonight, and it's made me realize that perhaps I might have gone a bit overboard in trying to protect you. From now on, so long as they prove to be trustworthy in the here and now, you're allowed to make friends with whomever you want."

"Does...does that mean that I can see Ivy again?"

"...admittedly, things might get a bit complicated there, but I'll see what I can do." Jane declared with a slight wince, not sure of how to break the news to her son about what had happened just yet.

"Okay, Mom. I love you."

Jane just smiled as she allowed herself to be escorted into the hospital's care. "I love you too," she called out before hanging up her scroll.

Meanwhile, Boris fiddled with his mask in his hands as he gladly watched his mother admit herself into the hospital, turning off his scroll as he did. Taking a deep breath, he turned to the masked vigilante standing behind him. "So… are you still gonna tell my mom?" He asked, sadly.

Krasnaya glanced into the distance. "Not everyone gets a chance to save their parents." She remarked, keeping herself composed. "I'm sure she'd appreciate it if… you decided to tell her."

Boris blinked in surprise at his hero's response. With a smile, he pulled his mask back over his head and took out his homemade grappling hook. "I'll take that as a 'no.'" He smirked.

"So, yeah. That's the end. Well, maybe 'the end' isn't the right thing to say. Because this, my friends, is just the beginning!"

To Be Continued…

Epilogue

"I won't stay here for long, you know," Ivy called out with a snarl even as she was led through the asylum. "Your friend Captain Maroon can tell just how much I hate being taken away from my home."

"I know you do," Officer Charr Coal declared. "But I meant what I said before: not everyone in law enforcement is out to get you. If you just show a bit of patience, I'm sure that things will work out in the end."

"And in the meantime, I hope you don't plan on leaving us too soon, Miss Greene, as you actually have a visitor," Detective Cash called out as she approached their latest prisoner.

Ivy just blinked in reply. "Who?"

"What, you forgot about me already, String Bean?"

Having recognized that voice, Ivy couldn't help but give a tear-filled smile as she looked at the boy approaching her cell. "Not a chance, Brainiac."

"You and Officer Coal can go, Detective Cash." Boris remarked. "I'll be fine."

"Alright, kid. Just be careful." Cash nodded as she and her partner made their way out the door. "We'll be right outside."

Boris nodded as he took a seat in front of the plexiglass. "So, are they treating you alright in here?"

"Yeah, I'm fine… Magenta." Ivy remarked, wiping away the streaks of mascara with a sinister smirk.

Boris felt his heart jump into his throat. "W-what?"

"Oh, cut the bullshit." Ivy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know your dirty little secret. But it's my little secret, now. And I'm gonna keep it until it's useful to me. And when I get the chance, I'm going after your bitchy mom again."

Boris took a deep breath before shaking his head in response. "You're sick, Ivy. And I want you to get better." He glared at his friend. "But if you ever threaten my mother again, I won't hold back."

"Didn't you hear your mother? I'm nothing but a Weed now." the young girl growled back.

"I don't believe that," Boris declared with a sad smirk. "I know that deep down, you're still the girl that cares for her friends as much as she does for plants, the same girl who's like a sister to me...and I'll be here every chance I get to remind you that there's at least one person out there who still cares about you as a person."

Ivy stared at Boris for a bit before giving a bitter chuckle. "You really aren't giving up on me, are you?"

"Never."

"...thank you," Ivy declared with a small grin. "...and for what it's worth, you mean a lot to me too...brother. Anyways, how's Cyan doing?"

Boris merely smirked in reply. "Oh, do I have a story for you…"

Meanwhile, as all of this was going on, at the Crimsonoff-Kashtonovy farm, Jane Maroon stepped out of a taxi cab and cautiously made her way over to the front door. A few moments after she rang the doorbell, she heard the door open. "Ah, yes. I hate to bother you at this hour, but I was hoping I could speak with your foster daughter."

"Captain Maroon?" Cyan arched an eyebrow.

The police captain adjusted her glasses as she looked down. "Oh! Sorry, I couldn't tell." She admitted, slightly embarrassed. "I'm wearing my reading glasses until I can get my new prescription. May I come in?"

"Uh, sure…" Cyan nervously led Jane into the living room. "Would you like a glass of water or something?"

"No, thank you." Jane shook her head. "Ms. Robyn, I came here to apologize for my attitude towards you."

Cyan felt a bit relieved. "Oh, Captain Maroon, you don't have to-"

"Yes. Yes, I do." Jane insisted. "You have been nothing but a good friend to my son, but I didn't see it that way. And yesterday, I overheard you two talking about what happened to his father, so you can understand why I'm so protective of him. But I failed to realize that my protectiveness was turning into prejudice. And as an enforcer of the law, I should be better than that. I'm glad you're my son's friend. And I hope you can forgive me if I ever made you feel too uncomfortable to be around him."

Cyan smiled as she processed her guest's words. Her parents had always told her stories of police brutality against faunus, and none of them ever once apologized. "Wow, I...I don't know what to say…"

"And, of course - to make it up to you - I'd like to invite you to join me and my son for dinner tomorrow." Jane offered. "We're going out for pizza."

"Apology accepted!" Cyan eagerly shook Jane's hand.

Elsewhere, a young man kneeled before the holographic image of an imposing figure. "The mission was a failure, my lady: our agents were unable to locate Miss Green before she exposed herself to the local authorities, and I suspect that the Red Woman would interfere with further attempts to recruit her."

"Leave her be for now," the figure declared. "Miss Greene's recruitment was never truly our objective, though her newfound Semblance might prove useful to us later down the line, as will the body of Solomon Navy that we recovered. Regardless, tonight was meant as a message to the Red Woman of our presence. Soon she and all the rest of New Rushland will know who the real guardians of this land are."

The young man simply nodded in reply. "Glory to Salem."