'Vexus' Fly Trap (Thistle)

It had been someone since Elena had returned to the great City of New York. From what she has seen on the news casts a new effort has been started to rebuild the city. This time it is much more militarized. No one is allowed in or out without proper permission, there are specialized forces guarding the borders in order to keep MetaHumans out. A logical defense seeing how it was the MetaHumans who had caused all of the destruction in the first place. Not too long ago Vexus herself had made attempts to rebuild the city under a different name, though she was not as successful with her plans as she hoped to have been. However that it is all in the past and now she has returned to they city, though not with the most legal clearance.There were still a few pieces of information that she had left behind expecting to retrieve sooner than later. Unfortunately it is now later and the recovery of her information may be more challenging than initially expected. The first fast is the infiltration of the city itself. There were a couple of methods to go about this and Elena decided to take the most direct approach. Walking right through the front door.

As she approached the gates, she slipped on her Anneau d'Invisibilité completely shrouding her physical appearance making it impossible for her to be seen by the naked eye. Though as she got closer, there would no doubt be more security measures to detect individuals who might possess the ability to turn themselves invisible. Vexus had compensated for such defenses and activated her Amulette Des Immobilisations Incorporelles which made her completely undetectable by any form of magic or science. She was only a few feet away and stopped between the two guards gave both of them a quick glance and continued through the gate, passing through it as if nothing were there.
She continued walking until she was out of sight of the guards and then deactivated her amulet, and removed her ring and put it back into her clutch which she had connected a small chain to it so that she could drape it over her shoulder. Of course, this was her Jamais De Fin d'Embrayage containing a multitude of her scientifically enhanced items of jewelry. There was no lack of security in the parts of the city that were up and running, officers walking around everywhere keeping the peace. Once the construction was complete, there was no doubt in her mind that this city would become a total fortress.
As she moved deeper into the city, the population dwindled as the amount of damage increased. Things started to become dark and ominous and eventually the sidewalk ended. What followed was crossed off with some yellow police tape. Apparently most people in the city didn't bother to venture this far because just a little bit of plastic wouldn't stop many people. She crossed the tape and began to move further into the wreckage. It was a this point that her heels had become a poor choice of foot wear. In the shadows of the crumbling buildings, her all black outfit was not as hot as it had been in the sunlight. Eventually she came to a large wall of debris which she decided to float over instead of destroying. She did not want to draw the attention of the authorities, at least not any more than she already had. It felt like someone had been following her.

after a few miles of walking awkwardly over rocks, and floating over large crevices in the ground, she finally reached the spot where she believed her information to be buried. The sensation of someone following her had ceased, but she was still on high alert. If it was the authorities she could have only figured they were able to identify her and have fallen back to get reinforcements. If it was another human or MetaHuman she would have to applaud them on their bravery for following her this far.
Standing over a site that looked like just another pile of rubble she began to focus and the debris that was scattered about started to leave the ground and float randomly above Vexus. More and more rocks began to join the group that was floating above her, the crater she was creating was growing in size ,hopefully not unsettling any loosely standing buildings nearby. During her travels to this location she had seen a couple of areas which had spawned plan life. It was interesting at least to see that nature was already beginning to reclaim the city, be though as it may it did seem a little too soon. There were more flowers and small plants that were being uprooted be her telekinetic digging, and now there were a few thousand pounds of dirt and debris hovering over her and yet nothing was found. She activated her mechanical eye for a short moment to examine the area. The signal was definitely coming from this area, so Elena just had to widen her search. She deactivated her eye and began to widen the creator she had created, more large chunks of the ground being hoisted and suspended over her person. Hopefully Vexus could get this over and done with before someone discovered her here.

As Vexus continued her excavating, she finally came across what she had been looking for. It was just a simple disc hiding extremely valuable information. Elena gently floated down to the site and extracted the earth-covered disc. She grinned a slipped the object into her bag, though as she turned to leave she noticed a strange plant right by her feet. She could have swore that it had not been there previously when she decided down into the crater. Then again, she was not exactly paying attention. It was quite possible she had uncovered it while she was digging. Either way, it was much too large for it to be a natural occurrence and was not a species that she recognized immediately. She had a little bit of time before she needed to move on her to next appointment, so a little bit of investigation could be had.
She slipped on another ring (Anneau De l'Abrégé) and then floated to the top of the crater. Elena made a pinching motion with her index finger and thumb and began to pull the strange root up from under the ground from a distance. Lord knows what might be on the other end, so it was best to keep her distance for the time being.

The root was being coiled into a pile still at the bottom of the crater, which was probably a good 10-20 feet deep with a relatively steep slope, The diameter of which was about 50 feet but it was a perfect circle. Vexus was particular about her shapes, even when she's not paying attention. If this plant did not amount to anything, she would at least sever a same and take it back to her lab for examination. Maybe she could use it for medicinal purposes once she figured out how such a thing could be existing in a wasteland like New York. It made sense for the smaller flowers and various other plants to be growing at least, but maybe those who were trying to rebuild the city were using more exotic methods to restore the plant life. Regardless, Elena would eventually see this to the end. However if dragging out this root dragged out any longer, she would just get her sample and be on her merry way. She did not have all day. Most all of the rocks were still being kept suspend over her head, and if things did not wrap up quickly these special forces that she had heard about would no doubt be on her causing unnecessary deaths to their squads.

After a few minutes of tugging, the root came to a halt and won't not budge any further. Not only that, but it also began to bloom flowers in psychedelic colors. This could not be the doing of nature alone. Vexus severed a couple of feet of the root and gently sunk it into her bag. With the clutch continuing near into infinity, there would be plenty of room for it to co-exist with al of her jewelry in there as well. Out of sheer curiosity, both personal and scientific, she decided to find where this plant's origins sprouted.
She floated over the crater seeing that it had not been deep in the ground, but came into existence after her excavation. It scaled the side of the hole and continued for sometime bother under and above ground. To aid her in following the plant she activated her Mechanical Left eye helping her follow the trail whenever the root when back under the ground. Even then, it still held a pretty straight trail. Seems whatever this was it was asking to be found.

Eventually Elena came across a building that had been overrun by by various plants and coincidentally the root entered this establishment. It appeared that the foliage was even growing right before her eyes, and there was no doubt that there was definitely an entity within this little hideout of sorts. Obviously the orchestrator of this. Hopefully this was nothing but a misunderstanding and maybe they had lured the wrong individual. If hostile, Elena would more than likely show no mercy. She deactivated her mechanical eye and approached the doors; without any sort of movement, they were launched back into the building as if they were frisbees. They flew at about eye level, so if anything was in the way it would more than likely take heavy damage if it did not take evasive action. If both of the doors missed they would burry themselves deep in the wall on the opposite side.
Upon entering, she kept herself at a slight elevation above the ground. Vexus dabbled in botany and with such exotic colors she she did not want to accidentally step on something that could cause her death. What she found inside this building was not exactly as she had expected. There was, sitting on a throne of thorns and foliage, was a mostly nude woman who was more than likely the perpetrator of this whole event. Elena rolled her eyes and let out a sigh.
"Who, or rather, what are you? Have you intentionally led me to this mutant green house, or was your messenger plant intended for another, less adequate, individual?"
She reached into her purse and grabbed her Anneau Du Phénix and slipped it onto her right ring finger.
"Do word your answer careful because I have no qualms with burning this tinderbox right to the ground. I'm sure this city wouldn't notice if another building disappeared along with its adorable gardener."
Vexus remained in one place looking around at the location she had found herself in. At one point in time such an establishment would make for a perfect laboratory, though sadly someone with a little bit of a green thumb turned it into a flower shop. Even if she didn't burn it down, the reconstruction effort would no doubt bulldoze it down to make room for new and more modern establishments. For the time being though it would be an excellent site to collect some exotic samples.

Vexus gave a smirk before looking off to the side in slight concern.
Not remember..? But, I never forget anything... she thought before returning her gaze towards this Mistress of Nature. She then continued on explaining what part she played with Vexus and how she knew her. It was coming back in bits and pieces. Elena vividly remembers her attack on the nation's capital, and the outcome of it is obvious. Be though as it may the events that led to her failure escape her. There had also been many associates that aided her in this attack, but their faces she cannot seem to place. It greatly troubled her as to why she was unable to remember these facts. All her life she had easily remember every last detail about everything. She attributed her great knowledge of nearly everything to her perfect photographic memory. Or apparently nearly perfect. Was she slipping? What else might she had forgotten...? This was not something she could not dwell on at the moment as there were much more pressing matters.

Elena's worries had nearly completely drowned out the Plant Lady's words. Only with her raising her voice did Vexus snap out of it. Her opponent threw her hands up, clearly insinuating an impending attack. There was plant life rushing to ensnare her feet and Elena extended her palms out on either side of her waist manifesting a telekinetic barrier under and around her legs. The vines were easily repelled and Elena gently floated higher up in the building to gain a 'better view' so to speak. With her ring, Anneau Du Phénix, on her right hand she made a fist and punched downwards releasing an awe inspiring amount of fire. The blaze quickly spread across the floor and began to lick up the walls. She expected the plant life to also be set a blaze, as the building was already burning. The supports for the establishment were weak as it is, it would not be long before the whole thing collapsed in on itself.
Before the ring's flame cut out, she directed them towards the woman and her throne hoping to throw a bit of the fire on her if not by her. Elena remained close the the building's roof with a slight barrier beneath her feet to protect her from the rising flames. If the building's structural integrity began to give way too soon, Elena would be able to hold the run down place together until it was time to let to crumble to the ground. Most of the smoke was contained for the time being, so none of the authorities would be notified of their location by the smoke or otherwise. Hopefully this conflict would conclude and Vexus will have taken her leave well before any on of importance arrived at the scene.

This foolish piece of foliage was trying to mock her. It perplexed her as to why someone wanted to entice Elena to actually try harder. There was no need. Vexus knew her limits and knew very well that they would not be reached in a fight such as this. This woman of nature may have known her in a previous form, but she obviously knew not what she is capable of in her current state. A glimpse of her power, maybe, but even that might obliterate this opponent. Elena let out a sigh and allowed herself to gently float back down to the ground all the fire and heat being repelled. Her eyes were closed for a short moment, she opened her left eye revealing the mechanical eye in place of an organic one. The plants that she had set a blaze were very resilient. Most had been converted into ash but the more hefty roots and vines seemed to be enduring the flames. A couple of these large roots charged towards her, though with such a large offense it would be near effortless to counter.
From her mechanical left eye, a thin beam of energy burst forth and sliced clean through the roots immediately halting they assault. The laser continued forward aiming now to cause some heavy damage to anything else that was not being affected by the flames. Namely the plants that suspended this woman in the air and the plant lady herself. There was little in this world that could withstand the cutting power of this beam. If all went well she would cut the woman at a diagonal and this whole ordeal would be over. With her eye now active, she could see a lot more than she could previously. Including a newly created hole in the wall. Whether this was caused by an outside force or just from the building being old and on fire was yet to be determined. Be though as it may she could see it and made note of its existence.
With the beam of energy ceasing, her eye remained active and kept her right eye shut. Elena remained unmoved, having only shifted in vertical direction. It would be something to see if this woman managed to force Vexus into a corner whether it be physical or figurative. During her attacks she began to subtly tear apart the building's structure under the cover of the fire itself. With her telekinesis keeping the building standing, but also taking it apart at the same time she need only give the command and the entire thing would cave in on itself with what would appear no warning. She would keep this little tactic in her back pocket incase things got 'out of hand' so to speak.

Vexus remained straight faces as the plant woman fell to the ground, narrowly avoiding her beam. It was no matter though, there plenty more tricks up her sleeve. She could tell that her opponent was worried about the structure collapsing, but little did she know that it was totally under her control. Or so she thought.
The plant woman began to attack her with smaller sized vines that were trying to whip her from various angles. Elena began to walk towards this plant based life form, every step she took the fire moved away as if it were afraid of her. As for the offensive moves being displayed by the foliage, they were simply deflected by Elena's telekinesis. With her mechanical still going strong, she kept close watch on the nearly nude gardener. Even with all the different settings on this ocular device, none of them were able to easily follow her next display of ability.
The woman changed her form into what seemed to be a patch of moss which then proceeded to seep into the stump of what remained of her 'throne' of sorts. For a moment she completely slipped out of the range of her scanners, which by all scientific definitions was impossible. Soon enough though she resurfaced outside the building. She was able to pick up her vital signs and was able to locate her next to a tree which she was almost positive had not been there previously.

The witch of nature conjured up more branches, this time they possessed much more destructive power from what she could see. It was clear that she was going to be attacking blind, but with Vexus' mechanical eye she was able to see through the wall and easily see where the attacks would be coming from. They were reckless and basically destroyed the building. Elena could have continued to support it, but the concentration it would take at this point would draw too much of her focus. The branches were deadly, but the ones that came too close she was able to force away gently as to not give away her position too much. Vexus let go of her hold on the building and it almost immediately collapsed in on itself. Utilizing her Anneau De l'Abrégé in combination with the X-Ray vision of her mechanical eye she was able to teleport out of the collapsing building and appear a relatively short distance behind her opponent.
"Leaving so soon, my dear?"
Not giving her a proper second to react, Elena unleashed her Anneau de Vexus which fired merciless bolts of lightning from a ring on her index finger. She aimed to fry this plant from the inside out and end this conflict once and for all. The fewer that knew of her failure in DC the better. If the lightning didn't kill her, hopefully it would damage her mind enough for her to forget those events. Maybe even turn her into more of a vegetable than she already is.

Vexus couldn't help but snarl a little bit seeing that this woman was able to properly defend against her lightning. Some heavy rocks were then flung in her direction, but with a flick of her wrist they were sent flying in a different direction. The Plant woman continued to manipulate her tree as its roots spiraled together and laid themselves about on the ground. She paid not mind to those for the time being and focused more on the large spiked branches that aimed to brutally mane her.
She quickly activated her Protéger Les Bijoux which erected a red sphere of energy around her, that when struck absorbed most of the blow but shattered from the sheer force of the attack. Vexus was sent flying towards the roots which had been set only moments before. Exerting a massive wave of Telekinetic energy she brought herself to an immediate halt before reaching the roots. The wave continued back and tore up the plants on the ground that were behind her. Elena gently touched down on the ground making sure that there were no flowers of any sort around her.

Her shield generating bracelet had been damaged and might not be function for a while now, but it had spared her any damage so it had served its purpose. Vexus began to manipulate the rubble and fallen debris from the building. She began to form a wall to enclose the Plant Lady so that she had no logical way of escaping. The walls formed up behind her, on her left and right side, and above. The front was not enclosed because Elena was covering that exit. Her Anneau Du Phénix was ready to unleash another blaze, but first she felt it would be important to demonstrate the gap between their power since it had not become obvious to her yet.
"Challenging me was a grave mistake, my dear. The difference between our powers is something that I don't believe you quite have a grasp on just yet. You know who I am, yet you still wish to carry on this foolishness."
Vexus raised both her arms, palms facing up, in front of her body. The entire area began to shake violently, more debris from the building moved to her will and swirled around the tree her opponent had been manipulating turning it into wood chips. Their battle field was completely under Elena's influence, the very ground beneath their feet began to separate from the earth and be drawn up into the air. With this she temporarily tore nature away from its goddess. There was little ground for her to work with at the moment, and with the altitude steadily climbing it was becoming increasingly risky to just make a jump for it.
With the walls still around her green little friend, Vexus lowered her arms now that they were suspended relatively high into the air. She gave a light smirk and punched forward releasing a mighty blaze to incinerate the cornered rat. Vexus rather looked forward to seeing how this Woman of the Weeds would manage to slither out of this predicament.

Overconfidence had always been the downfall of Vexus. She had never learned her lesson, of course, because it was so rare that her confidence ever failed her. Her flames subsided, and it was clear that the plant lady had not been turned to ash. However once she figured out what the situation was, she had been struck on the side of her face. Her hand raised up to feel her face realizing that damage had been done."Why you little--" she was cut off upon realization that there was more to it than just some scratches on the side of her face. Her vision began to blur and she began to lose hold on their floating platform of earth. The walls that once stood lost their rigidity and collapsed, the slab of rock that they were standing on crumbled beneath their feet as it began to plummet back down to earth. Vexus held her head as she tried to regain her concentration, but her vision kept fading in and out. She moved her hand over her eye and solely used her mechanical eye for vision. It was not as effected by the toxin as her organic eye was making it much easier to focus. In absolute spite, Vexus bound this poisonous wench in a telekinetic grip and forced her down into the ground. It wouldn't have been hard enough to kill the woman but it sure as hell would hurt.

Taking hold of her Anneau De La Création Mécanique, she applied the necessary pressure for it to activate. Elena was still higher up in the air, so her opponent wouldn't have been able to see what she was plotting just yet. Vexus was able to focus enough to allow herself to land gently on the ground. She was winded because even that took too much concentration, this drug was becoming increasingly annoying. A large shadow began to encompass Vexus, and eventually the Plant Woman as well. This massive object landed on the ground, shattering the earth and upturning huge chunks of rocks. Vexus needed not instruct this massive mechanical beast. It knew its orders.
From beneath the poorly clothed witch one of the machine's extremities took hold of her tightly and threw her up in the air. With another one of the many tentacles she was taken hold of again and thrown back into the ground. The Fractionnaire crawled over to her body, glaring at her with its many robotic eyes. The onslaught continued with a multitude of powerful strikes to her body no doubt causing some major internal damage. She was dragged along the ground, bent in unnatural ways, and pummeled into the earth. All the while Vexus stood watching as her creator tore this woman apart.

Finally the robotic creature whipped the woman at the ground one last time making her bounce and roll to Elena's feet. Vexus activated another item of jewelry she possessed. Boucles D'Oreilles Cliche De La Vie was the name, and right before this Woman of Nature the damage she had done to Elena faded away. Her body also cleansed itself of the toxin that had been coursing through her system. She looked over the beaten and bloody body of what had been her opponent. Her Fractionnaire hovered gently behind her as she kicked over her body so that she could speak to her face.
"A valiant effort... But shall I explain to you the difference between you and I? It's level. It's like the story of the monkey trying to capture the moon. No matter how he struggles, it's just the moon's reflection on the water he sees. So he only sinks into the water. Time after time, he sinks..."
The mechanical beast moved one of its arms right over the Plant's body and from the tip an impossible sharp nice protruded, gently resting on her neck ready to take her head off with Vexus' command.
"It may be a cliche, I know, be though as it may do you have any final words now that your lesson has been learned..?"