A Few Months Later

"Come on, everyone," Lux said brightly. Everything had been pretty perfect the past few months. No attacks or even a hint of Darkness-based corruption on any patrols. And the group was getting along. They'd cleared things up at school when Janna masqueraded as their mom. She'd even attended their open house in the disguise. Now, they were strolling through the park looking for flowers for Lulu's school project. Nothing to worry about-

"This is so boooooooring," Jinx complained. "When is something exciting gonna happen? I'd take Xayah and Rakan coming back before a natural sciences project."

"We should enjoy these moments of peace," Janna said. "They're never guaranteed."

"You're an old lady," Jinx said, "of course you're happy to be doing nothing but your taxes. But some of us aren't at retirement age."

"Not kind, Jinx," Lux chided.

"Oooo, snow cones," Lulu announced, pointing at a cart. "Can we get some, Janna? You just got paid, right?"

"My job is mostly for food and clothes," Janna began. When she saw the look in Lulu's eyes, she sighed.

"What happened to enjoying moments of peace?" Jinx asked. "I want one."

"Fine," Janna said. Lulu hugged her and then noticed a purple flower growing in the grass. Janna reached into her tote bag, nudging all the familiars nestled in it as she reached for her wallet.

"Thank you, Janna," Lulu said. She went to the flower and reached for it. "Ouch!"

Janna ran to Lulu, examining her hand. "Let's go somewhere out of sight so I can heal it."

"Why does it have teeth?" Lulu asked, gaze fixed on the flower. Everyone was used to Lulu's peculiarities by now.

"They're thorns," Lux explained. "They protect flowers from-"

"No, they're teeth," Poppy said, kneeling by the flower. Everyone inspected it and it really did have teeth. Around the edge of each petal were tooth-like spikes.

Lux grabbed a blade of grass and dropped it on top of the flower. When it felt the grass come near, its petals closed, slicing it in two. Lux looked around. "Block me from everyone else, guys."

The group surrounded her to hide the glow when her wand materialized. She fired a small blast of starlight and the flower was cleaved, purple goo leaking out from where it was severed. The flower even hissed audibly. "Ooo," Jinx smiled.

"Guess we should investigate this," Lux said determinedly. "Let's come back tonight when the park is emptier and look for a trail."

That Night

When the group flew back from the cabin to the park that night, they were in uniform with their weapons in hand. They dropped down where they'd found the flower earlier, still severed and hissing. Lux raised her wand. "Only one way to see if it's the Darkness at play." Light shone from the wand and the flower hissed louder, petals shutting. Lux's wand shone brighter and they heard hissing from somewhere close by.

The group followed it and they found another flower hissing, petals closing as it turned away from them. The group followed a trail of flowers as they reacted to Lux's light. They didn't turn onto the hiking trail that led up the mountain that ended the park's grounds. Eventually, they found a hidden cave tucked into the mountain. There were thorny flowers and vines everywhere here. They all hissed, shrinking from the light. There was an especially large flower in the middle of the cave.

"Maybe if we destroy it, it'll stop the other flowers," Lux wondered. "Seems quicker than blasting all the ones outside."

"No," Janna said finitely. "We need to find the rift."

"Rift?" Poppy asked.

"Where the Darkness is creeping into this reality. We can seal it with starlight, but we'll have to destroy whatever is causing all of this too."

"Well," Jinx said. She held out a hand and Shiro turned into a rocket launcher. "Time to destroy it. Hasta la vista, mother flower."

Before she could pull the trigger, a vine lashed out at her. It scratched her with its thorns and began to wrap around her hand. Lux swiped her wand and a beam of starlight cut off the vine, freeing Jinx. Janna touched her wand to Jinx's arm and the vine fell away, Jinx's wounds closing up.

"Now, it's personal," Jinx said. She raised her rocket launcher and the larger flower's thorns began to rattle.

"Maybe we can try something different, it's dangerous," Poppy warned.

"No," a voice said, echoing through all the plants around. "We're just a harmless flower."

They turned as a curtain of vines parted to reveal a woman with pink skin who wore a suit that seemed like it was made of black leaves. "Uh oh," Lux said.

"Dinner for the babies," she said, voice echoing from all around. "We are pleased."

"Who are you?" Lux asked, raising her wand.

"We are Zyra."

"Whatever, Myrah," Jinx said. She pulled Zap from its holster and fired a beam of electricity at her.

Zyra raised a hand and the vines behind her wrapped around her, protecting her. They parted and a wave of vines snaked through the ground, creeping toward the group. Lux raised her wand and a shield of starlight surrounded the guardians. The vines and flowers hissed, shrinking away from the light. When she dropped her shield, Zap turned to a minigun. Jinx pulled the trigger, firing a barrage of starlight bullets. Zyra shielded herself with vines and the vines on the walls of the cave grasped at Jinx's rocket launcher. As the vines tightened around it, Shiro transformed back, whimpering.

Lulu raised her staff to turn the vines to bubbles, but a vine lashed out and wrapped around her arm.

"Don't touch her!" Janna yelled, swiping her staff through the air. Zyra flew forward as wind rushed from behind her, separating her from her shield of vines. She touched the soil and vines began to grow, but Poppy leapt toward her. Janna twirled her staff again and Poppy flew faster, swinging her hammer down at Zyra. Zyra rolled away, vines shooting upward to grasp at Poppy. Lux spun her wand around dramatically and Poppy glowed with pink light, sending the vines shrinking away. Zyra grimaced at it, shutting her eyes as she swiped a hand. Thorns shot at Poppy and she ducked behind her buckler, blocking them.

Lux waved her wand and Lulu and Jinx glowed with protective starlight. The vines shrunk away from them, letting them go free as Zyra cried out. Janna healed both of them before she summoned a gust of wind that pulled Zyra toward the group. "Foolish sack of flesh," Zyra said. With a wave of her hand, spores floated on the breeze, coating all the girls. With another, tiny vines began to grow all along their bodies. As they became tighter, they encircled their wrists before sprouting new shoots that reached for each other. Bound hands was so not good for being able to fight back.

"You know that weapon you've been working on?" Lux asked, pulling her hands as far apart as possible, the vines still grasping for each other.

"I'm working on a lot of weapons," Jinx said, hands pulled apart as she glanced at Shiro.

"The one that can destroy the plants," Lux whispered, leaning closer. "She doesn't seem to like it when they're hurt."

"If you wanted to get closer, you just had to ask, Cupcake." Jinx looked down and the vines on both their wrists had found each other, binding the girls together by their arms.

"Just be ready." Lux tossed her wand up and it slowed down as it fell, hovering in front of her. She tapped it and it began to spin. "For Valoran City!" Lux glowed with pink light as a burst of starlight spread through the cave, lighting it up as bright as the sun. Zyra shrunk away. The plants shrunk away. Shiro escaped their grasp when they retreated from the light and flew back to Jinx.

She hugged him. "Good to have you back, buddy," she said as Shiro stared at her blankly. "Hotshot, please?"

"Got us protected?" Lux asked Janna. Janna raised her staff and a sphere of air closed around the group, forcing them to huddle closer.

Jinx, outside the shield, tossed Shiro up. The familiar smiled slightly as he flashed red and became...a flamethrower. "This place needs some pruning," Jinx announced gleefully as she pulled the trigger, spraying fire everywhere. With the group safe behind the shield, Jinx was free to burn anything she wanted with reckless abandon.

"NO!" Zyra screamed, flicking her fingers to send thorns flying at Jinx. Jinx incinerated them with Hotshot as she burned the secret garden to a crisp. When she finished, fire coated all of the plants and scorchmarks were dotted on the soil and the walls. Zyra was whimpering on the ground as she held herself tightly.

"Time for her to answer for what she's done," Poppy announced, hefting her hammer.

Lux flicked her wand and pink tendrils of light surrounded Zyra. She hissed as if they burned her, struggling against the bindings. "What does that exactly entail?" Lux asked worriedly. She looked to Janna.

"We destroy them with whatever means we have to do so," Janna said flatly.

Lux's eyes widened and she covered Lulu's ears. "What do you even mean?"

"Decapitation is fine, vaporizing with starlight, drowning in some cases-"

"Janna!" Jinx clapped Janna on the shoulder. "Where has this side of you been all these months?"

Janna sighed. "It's not a cruel thing. Those who live in Darkness don't live like we do." She gestured to the writhing Zyra. "It's in their nature to dominate and bully those who are weaker than them. We have to destroy them to protect this world. But they'll rematerialize back in their dimension and find a way to tear a new rift."

"Can I have my ears uncovered now?" Lulu asked loudly. Lux released her ears and turned to Janna.

"What do you mean rematerialize?" Lux asked.

"They'll reform in the Darkness and try to come back to destroy more of us," Janna said bitterly. "If we don't find and seal the rift that brought her here, she'll be back far sooner."

"Okay," Jinx said. "Rift is..." Her eyes found the pulsing plant in the middle of the room. "Kuro, Zap!" The familiar transformed into a shock gun and fell into her hand. When she pulled the trigger, a blast of lightning pierced the plant in the middle, sending thorns flying that Lulu turned to leaves. An empty sphere of nothingness floated above the flower, spores and pollen surrounding it.

"Who wants to do the honor of sealing our first rift?" Janna asked.

"Cupcake had the idea to get me Shiro...I guess." Jinx crossed her arms. "Go ahead, princess."

Lux raised her wand, firing a beam of starlight that brought light to the rift until it finally shut itself. Wind blew through the cave and the rift became as transparent as air, the dark feeling in the room abating. Poppy raised her hammer and Lux looked away as they heard a sound like the impact after a melon fell from twenty stories up in the sky. Zyra wouldn't be bothering them for a long while.