Of Birds, Rich Boys & Superpowered Teens

Chapter 11

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"EVERYONE, GET UP! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! GET UP NOW!"

Artemis woke up to thundering footsteps, Tim's yelling and the sound of breaking glass. She shot straight out of bed and snatched her bow and arrows from the nightstand, making a mad dash to the door.

She was greeted by the sight of broken shards of glass lying everywhere on the ground, a strong wind blowing in from the open broken window.

How did they get in?! There was the goddamn forcefield! Artemis frantically thought in a panic, approaching the open window. As soon as she looked out, she saw why.

"OH HOLY HELL, WHAT THE FUCK?!" she cursed, stumbling back in shock. She didn't curse that often, but she felt that this time it was warranted.

The garden looked like the result of a failed biological experiment. Giant beanstalks as thick as elephants forced their way out of the ground like the one from the story Jack and the Beanstalk, but bigger, taller and a lot thornier. The beautiful delicate roses had turned into snapping carnivorous plants, their teeth as sharp as daggers, glinting dangerously in the morning light. The various vegetables and fruits in the garden had swelled up to the size of cars, some of which were rolling around and crushing everything in their way. The trees had come to life, their branches creaking and swaying as they took on the shapes of monstrous beasts with wooden skulls for faces and gigantic tree trunks for limbs. Vines grew thickly everywhere, blanketing the entire garden, shifting and slithering around like venomous snakes. Some of the flowers in the garden had been turned into deformed, twisted plants with gigantic thorns. The only remnants of the remaining flowers were the multicoloured petals scattered on the ground.

The once-beautiful garden was now a living breathing horrific beast of nature.

The rest of the team came up behind her. Wally gasped in horror, his mouth dropping open. M'gann's eyes bugged out of their sockets, her eyes round and disbelieving. Artemis herself almost couldn't believe her own eyes, jaw dropped open and staring in utter fear. Even Conner looked overwhelmed and shocked.

As they watched, the mass of vines suddenly began moving towards the centre of the garden, spinning and swirling around like a leafy tornado.

Not just any vines, Artemis realized.

Poison ivy.

The poison ivy vines weaved and twisted together to form the gigantic figure of a beautiful woman, a twisted cruel smirk on her lips.

Poison Ivy.

The Poison Ivy made of poison ivy vines surveyed her surroundings, her eyes lighting upon the figures of the team outlined in the open window. She laughed wickedly and extended her hand towards them, the giant beanstalks and vines following her movements towards them, and then she closed her fist.

All at once, a mass of vines, beanstalks, branches and leaves attacked them. Vines snaked around Artemis' waist as leaves blocked her face and threatened to suffocate her. She couldn't fight against all of them at once and soon found herself succumbing to them. A huge beanstalk smashed through the outer walls of the manor and wrapped around her body tightly, squeezing the air out of her lungs. Vines were suddenly at her mouth, gagging and strangling her. She couldn't breathe from the crushing weight of the vines and the beanstalk, the leaves and the branches pressing on her like a heavy lead weight. They dragged her out of the manor, wrapped in a leafy prison and suspended six feet in the air. A glance to her right and left found her teammates in a similar predicament.

Wally was vibrating. He was trying to phase through the vines, which worried Artemis. The speedster hadn't mastered phasing yet and would often get nosebleeds as a result of a failed attempt. She watched as he vibrated so fast she could only see a red and yellow blur. She watched as he directly phased through the vines, feeling a sense of euphoria that he had escaped, which changed to horror when she suddenly saw him plummeting down to the ground. Oh shit, he's falling!