"I-Is it ringing, Miss?" 

Murmur dismisses Mint with a wave and turns her back to that preppy new assistant of hers, holding phone to her ear and waiting oh so patiently for her good girl to answer. The woman wonders just how far Joy has fallen since they last met face to face, having seen a glimpse of greatness in that playback. A part of her is overwhelmed with excitement at the catch she didn't know she had while another part urges caution. Time to reel the catch in before she becomes too big a fish to fit in her reins. At long last, the young hero picks up Murmur's call, causing the midnight mistress to cease in her habitual pacing of the room. 

"Hello? Who is this?" Sounds the voice from the other side of the line, Murmur quirking a brow and figuring it's too early to worry just yet. Information first.

"I should be the one asking that, who am I speaking to? Is that you, Hive?" It's certainly not Joy's voice unless it dropped a few octaves. 

The voice on the other end of the line perks up to confirm Miss Murmur's suspicions, the small time crook turned city-wide threat wondering what one of Hive's drones could be doing in possession of her Orchard's mobile. "Miss Murmur? O-oh uh, well yes, it's me. Joy's not currently here... well, sort of."

"Start making sense already before I get a headache and take it out on your ex. I've got multiple choice in front of me, in fact, how exciting. Where's my cute little hero at?"

There's a short pause where Hivemind hesitates answering honestly, but then remembers the established hierarchy and that she falls squarely at the bottom. The worker drones are ready to obey instructions as they're doled. "Currently? She's... well, in Nicole's office?"

Murmur is taken aback, a rarity in her confident stride through this second life of hers. "Can you repeat that, Hive? I must have misheard you hahaha, you don't mean the office I sent you to, right?"

Another hiccup of silence, Hive not wanting to disobey nor displease and finding no response that could spare her achieving one of those things. "I went just like you told me to! Did just as you told me I should to make Nicole open her legs, I didn't know she was that lonely... but uh, Joy... a lot happened while you've been subjugating my co-workers. Joy is a part of my network now or ah, it'd be more accurate to say that I'm part of hers? She caught wind of my drone keeping Nic company and forced us to swap places, even as I answer this call--ahn... I'm being played with by the hungry beast she's let loose in her garden."

Nodding along in thought, Murmur sits down atop a restrained Wild Rosary and crosses one leg over the other, a gagged rose groaning in disapproval at the sudden weight. "She's well trained not to overstep with Nic until the moment's right so I'll have to trust her I suppose, can't pretend this isn't a fun new development... so she's absorbing powers huh? How terrifying! Hmm, please tell me that you were at least able to complete your task before she hijacked the fun, Hive."

This time Murmur does not need to wait for the resulting silence to wait in order to have her answer, the hesitation alone tells her all she needs to know. "Well that's a pity, but nothing to fret over, not when I have a new and improved toy to play around with soon enough. Get her to return to this safe house the moment she's back, I need her help with something loath as I am to admit my failings. Everyone's good at something, right? You just be good at following your orders Hive, you're Joy's loyal dog now right? And I'm her master, so keep doing as I say."

"Yes, M--"

Click!

"Hivemind, dear, you really are starting to sour my mood." Nova reaches over my shoulder and flips the photograph down onto its face, my own borrowed face finally managing to tear away from the strange image before me. I'm unable to hide just how shaken and conflicted I am, however, trying to remember exactly why I began idolising Miss Murmur in the first place. It started when she hypnotised me right? That should be worrying but ultimately I let her do it, accepted that it was for the greater good. What greater good? She's been awfully coy about her motivations, using her grip on my mind to redirect the topic every time I'd think to bring it up. That photograph, Nova's proceeding revelations, have me questioning if Murmur's manipulations aren't just that. I'm confused, I just, I'm...

"Hey. Who are you?" The woman's voice takes on a stern tone I remember from when she took over my mind once before, turning me around with forceful hands on my hips and pushing me back against the desk. My hands catch me, leaning back on the oak as an imposing golden goddess towers over me with sudden scrutiny. "You're certainly not acting like my colleague, Hivemind, I can read the imperceptible details that would pass by most. Your heartrate is irregular, even for her, and your mannerisms appear to have shifted alongside your priorities. You can't fool me, girl, I'm the one person in this damnable city you do not want to anger. Let's just cut to the chase, hmm?" Nova holds my neck and steadies my trembling body, she can be more imposing than any supervillain and so I can indeed confirm that I'd really rather not anger her. Not until I've the means to trade blows without having my body blown to bits anyway, something tells me this drone is far too fragile. Just as I open my mouth to try and conjure some weak, paper thin excuse on the fly, Nova's eyes take on a nostalgic and all encompassing glow. 

Gold. 

A penetrative shining light that removes the shadows from my mind, alchemising me into the ultimate symbol of perfection and transformation as I'm enforced by golden rule. Nova's stare of submission greets me like familiar friend, whipping out buckshot and stealing air from my lungs in a conductive rhyme with no reason but her. Her wants, her whims, her absolutes. This time more than ever I try to fight it, I know the risk of falling to her here, but how do you fight an absolute power such as this. My head is heavy as gold, suddenly sagging down into my chest before her gracious touch lifts it back up into those portals to perfection. I perfect myself by emptying out all resistance and thought, letting her electricity flow through my hyperconductive form and turn me simple. I have one function in this moment and it is to obey. 

"Not one of the resistant ones at least, I've no love of violence where it can be avoided. Heh, I was a pacifist once and now I spend my day beating the living daylight out of all manner of scum that walk our planet. Hell, Misty even forced me into going vegetarian and it lasted for a while until I got back from space with more cravings than we've time to go through." My jaw falls slack and my body limp in Nova's hold as the woman rambles about things I'm currently struggling to follow. I'm not being given any direct commands for my submissive psyche to surrender to, so I'm adrift in this infinite void of trance her golden gaze presents. I vaguely catch something about Murmur having been a vegetarian once upon a time and if my muscles weren't too relax I'd try a smirk. Given how many times she's bitten into Joy's flesh, I'd consider the woman quite the carnivore in present day. 

"So tell me who you are and what you're doing here, I could've sworn it was Hive who I was conversing with earlier so I take it you must have some manner of bodyjacking superpower? I've dealt with it before, one of you even got into mine but it lasted for all of a few seconds. Don't try anything okay honey? I'm not a pacifist anymore." Goddess has given me an order! I try to suppress my excitement, fight with what little I have to resist her pull, but she's just too magnetic. 

"It's Joy, Williams... Orchard. I swapped places with Hivemind because... uhm... it seemed fun?" Saying it out loud really puts into perspective what a fucking slut I am, having compromised Miss Murmur's mission for little more than my own cheap thrills. I feel so pathetic right now, torn between a golden sun and dark moon and worried I'll come to be a disappointment to them both. My goddess and my mistress, discarding me into the gutter as they wash their hands of me. Is this all just a game between two lovers in a squabble? If so, what does that make me? 

Nova's eyes widen and inadvertently cause my mind to double over from the intense light, drool trickling down into places unknown. Everything below my neck and above my hairline is lost in insignificance, only her eyes and her words are important to focus on right now. "Joy? I see... that's unexpected. Tell me everything, how you got here and... if there's anything I should know regarding your work on the Murmur case. I know I questioned you before, but... humour me, okay? Everything."

Oh no. This is bad, I can't resist her pull... even trying to drag these thoughts to the surface is taking all I have, it's so hard to think about anything but the properties of gold. 

Mistress, I'm going to attempt to swap places with you. I have a duty to protect Miss Murmur's secrets and... your orders aren't reaching but I'm assuming if they were you'd want me to do this. I'll isolate the drone after so she can't reach you but... well, she's going to be much more suspicious now, we might not be able to proceed with the original trap. I'm such a failure, Murmur had even asked me to plant the tracking device on Nova's person in preparation for the second heist and I failed her... I... I'll do better going forwards, I promise.

Is that Hivemind? Distantly I hear her voice or at the very least feel its tug, pulling me away from gold even if I hold onto it in self sabotaging submission. Golden eyes catch my silence and bore down harder onto psyche as though trying to burn a hole into the back of my head, my lips starting to flap as the entire room recedes.

Before returning to the alleyway, blinking out golden flecks of light that nearly made a permanent imprint onto my poor retinas, I cannot help but let a few obedient words slip free.

"It... it all started when Miss Murmur brought me around to her cause, we've been--"

"--plotting against you in secret, Nova." My mind slowly resurfaces and I find myself held in Firefly's strong arms, even if mine are currently far stronger in this overlapping form I've taken. Slow blinks cast away that golden glare and I bite my lip hard, kicking the nearby dumpster with a string of unpleasant curses escaping my mouth in frustration. Laura seems in awe of my outburst, not sure whether to try and calm me down or encourage me to get it all out. In this moment I hate myself for having fucked everything but most of all, I hate myself for having fumbled my chance to finish fucking Lady Nova. I'm incorrigible I know, but to leave a sensual act like that unfinished is enough to incense my uninhibited self to unprecedented levels of ire. My eyes glance the Orchard costume on the ground near where I had found a cuffed Mare, quirking a brow as the anger slowly subsides along with the submissive radiance. 

"Oh, Hive wanted to surprise you with the change when you got back. She didn't last very long with Miss McIntosh, hehe, though I don't think any of us would." No, but we'll train, it's something I've been looking forward to. I take a look down at that black dress and long boots I had imagined in my garden, cherry lips curling into self-satisfied smile. "She said that if she had overstepped in any way she'd be more than willing to accept punishment, but we're all connected so more or less know what you like... I really like being connected to you, J--"

Without needing to glance back at Laura or wave my hand, methods that someone such as Murmur would need to employ even after having fully subjugated her prey, I shut my best friend up and think for a moment. "Hmm, well Hive saying she'd be willing is a bad joke isn't it? Implies she has the freedom to be unwilling should she choose to be, but I don't think so. Unnecessary, dressed up words that she could do with dropping don't you think?" Looking over my shoulder at Firefly, the obedient vigilante nods with an untroubled smile I like to see. If everyone was as agreeable as her there'd be no conflict, right? What peace there is to be found in unification... I'm beginning to feel more and more alienated from my former self, the girl who would find fault in these new truths. Like she just can't help but ruin a good thing. 

Fingers scoop down and collect Mare's simple black mask, it'll do nicely to finish my look even if I don't currently have a recognisable face in need of concealment. Soon enough I'll split us apart and assume my original form once more and then I'll need a disguise, it's funny how much a simple black mask over the eyes can make you harder to place. It's a superhero tradition, not all of us can be Lady Nova at the end of the day. Hmm, Nova... she's onto me now. Onto us. I'm dreading relaying my slip-up to Miss Murmur but still, I'm eager to see the woman regardless. I have some questions for my mistress. 

"Laura, here." I command the blonde even though I just pointed out how it's a waste of breath to bother doing so. Sometimes the motions are satisfying to run regardless, watching her cute head pick up and her rough body skip over to my side like a puppy scampering over to their owner. Possessive fingers run through her hair and I watch her melt into my touch as those feelings of worthlessness I just felt return to the dark and I'm reminded of the power I hold now...  the responsibility. I'm responsible for this girl's welfare along with all of those currently rooted in my garden, so I'm not just fighting for myself anymore. I need to be clever, if I'm going to survive this strife between long lost wives I'm now inexplicably bound to, I'll need to go about this carefully. Both Nova and Murmur have their own respective ways of bringing me to heel, only with distance and perspective can I see how both would use me to get at the other... 

"Mistress, I've had to cut the strings on that drone of mine as Nic... as Nova seemed dead set on finding out what I knew as well. She'll want to find another drone to question and so I'm forced to downsize for the time being to avoid her... this is bad. I've recalled some to safehouses her x-ray vision and super senses cannot reach through to... but she'll naturally go and uncover the lies I've been feeding her about Rose and Mint's whereabouts now. We're running out of time, Murmur has requested your presence as soon as you're able to go see her, maybe she will have a plan..."

If Hivemind's panicking then it really is bad, she's usually very good at keeping her calm. As I scour her mind for the coordinates to the safehouse Murmur has made into makeshift lair, I take Laura's wrist and pull her into my one unified self using Trifecta's handy power. It lightens my current hair some into a brighter brunette shade, the muscles I'd gained from Brood and Jazz pumping up just a little and my eyes blinking away heterochromatic colours. I feel strong enough to throw a car, though I've enough experience to know that strength does not equate to power. 

Borrowing Mare's speed, I reach the safehouse shortly without the need to hail a taxi. It'd be nice if I find someone who can fly and unify them, but flight is a surprisingly rare one despite how prolific it tends to be in comic books. Nova has it, but then, what doesn't she have? I thought my powers were unfair before, but perhaps they're simply a means of levelling the playing field. 

With a brief moment of hesitation, I let myself into Hivemind's hideout using the knowledge in our shared connection to get through the extensive security measures. All I had was a password on my hero phone and a cheap padlock I bought online for my drawers, though I can hide a lot more these days now that I'm in proper control of my powers. The garden has surprisingly good material function for a mental space. 

"Ah there you are my good girl, enjoy your little vacation away from yours truly? You're looking... different." Miss Murmur leans against a metal table on which one of the big four, Wild Rosary, finds herself bound and gagged. Judging by the way one of my former idols glares in my direction upon my drawing nearer I can only assume that Murmur has made no progress in turning her. How unlike my mistress. 

"Ehe, well, a lot has happened." I scratch my head nervously and stare intensely at my mistress, finding the will to question her waning and the want to submit myself to her and let her make my world simple returning in force. I want to feel her hand on my head again, her lips against my envy skin, I've waited so long to return to her. I've been a good girl, even if I sometimes falter. God you're pathetic, Joy, but that's okay. Sitting at a desk on the other side of the room is a woman I don't recognise but can assume the identity of through process of elimination, so this is the person who created Discoman huh? I never even knew he was an artificial being until Murmur spilled the beans. 

"I've noticed! You even joined in on that little side quest I threw out there, the hunt for a rampaging legend ahaha. I've secured the lug away, just fancied one last hoorah for the funky dude, wasn't sure if you'd get dragged into that too but hey, happy accidents right?" Murmur doesn't know the half of it, there were plenty of accidents created in the wake of her chaotic whim. I should have known she had a hand in all that though it doesn't sound like she had any deliberate goals besides distraction, was she simply hoping to dangle carrot over my eyes as she finished up her work? Does she not know I got my fair share of stick, too? Fingers trace over that horizontal scar on my stomach through the silky fabric of my dress, vines spilling out from the open back of my dress, flared out from where they connect to my spine. "Oh my, these are delightful. Your roots are more than meets the eye, then? I suppose you have me to thank for realising that, else you'd still be wasting your power as a part time nobody, hm?" Murmur circles around me with confident, clacking steps, running a finger over one of my exposed tendrils and gently seizing it in her grip. The tight hold causes me to shudder, holding onto the side of the metal table housing our current prey. 

"Mmgh... they're a bit sensitive, actually. I guess I never noticed when they were kept underground. Murmur... I need to tell you something." No, I need to ask her something! Why am I returning to such a meek puppet in her presence, she doesn't even have any powers. That confident allure of hers is so intoxicating, it's hard not to become wrapped up in her strut. Her storm. Murmur curls one of my back tendrils around her hand and wraps arm around my shoulder, leaning over with that smug face so close to mine.

"Yes, dear? You can tell me anything, though if it's about our current doomsday countdown I'm afraid a certain somebody has already beat you to the punch." Hivemind steps into the room from the storage closet with an apologetic smile, making me want to wipe her face empty for having gone over my head on this. Suddenly I find myself incredibly nervous, not quite wanting to meet Murmur's gaze even if she doesn't sound too upset. I know just how good an actress this woman can be, for all I know she's ready to cut my throat with sharp words of admonishment. 

With a slight pout, I submit myself to her perfumed scent and try to calm down. "It... it wasn't my fault, not really... o-okay it was but... but I couldn't help myself. I've been struggling to hold these urges back, I got carried away. I'm sorry." Am I really just going to let her walk all over me without even knowing why I'm supposed to admire her so much? I'm getting confused again, I'll just wait to hear her out... 

"It's fine, really. More fun when you're under pressure right? We have all the pieces here, more or less, to face the music. As you can see I've successfully converted two of the big four and just need a little aid in handling the third. Don't get me wrong, even the three of these together aren't able to combat Nic but that's not really the point. Don't worry your pretty little head over it, okay doll?" Murmur plants a black kiss onto my cheek and I blush, feeling like I'm back where I belong, shifting back under the covers of that long week of loving darkness. It's hard to resist her even if I don't have clear answers, my mind just seems to snap back into place and I suddenly find myself wanting to impress her again. 

"You... you need my help?" I try to hide my excitement, tendrils stroking over Murmur's form affectionately, one seeking refuge in that soft hair of hers. The woman tolerates my eagerness for a handful of seconds before snapping her fingers, my vines receding to leave her be. Gosh, she smells so good, it reminds me of the times we'd stay up all night experimenting. I think I love her. 

You're so pathetic, Joy. 

"Ah, yes. I've a theory that your power just might be what we need to get through to the stubborn sister. See her eyes?" Murmur guides me to the table and I've already forgotten that I was supposed to be questioning her about what I saw in Nova's office, swept up in her maelstrom of misdeeds all too easily. 

"They're... gold?" Not quite, but her eyes hold golden specks in them just like the ones Murmur had conjured in my imaginary orchard. 

"Rose was the one that Nova unleashed her overriding golden stare on, my story was a half truth. Though I suppose not many of the details other than that are really shared from the tall tale. A deep stare like that, her glare dialled up to 11, is not just enough to permanently blind a person but reduce their mental capacity to a near vegetative state. Think of the intensity you've experienced first hand as a five at most, it's all most normal humans can take before it starts to leave lasting stains on their psyche." Murmur pries one of Wild Rosary's eyelids open to reveal more gold, like glitter set into the whites. I notice a pair of contacts on the metal dish sitting on the neighbouring table.

"But she seems fine?" I tilt my head, feeling like a child being tutored by patient parent. 

"Right you are, Joy. Rose didn't lose her sight nor her mind, or it'd be more accurate to say that she didn't lose them for long. You know her powers right? A fan like you really should." Murmur holds a scalpel over Wild Rosary's arm as though ready for a demonstration to jog my memory with, causing me to wave my hand quickly to stop her.

"Y-yeah, she's got an incredible healing factor. I get it now, her healing counters the golden stare... so it's a stalemate then?" 

"You're exactly right, her psyche is just as good at bouncing back too so all of these fun methods at my disposal have fallen short of breaking through to her. I could just leave her tied up, of course, but there's more to it. See, Rosary had more to her powers than just being unbreakable, that is before Nova's partial breaking put the poor nun in her place. I was there when it happened. We were drunk, the three of us, and Rosary made some off colour joke about surpassing Nova one day with that power of hers. Nova had been paranoid for a while, perceived the drunken comment as a very real threat to dethrone her, possibly a play for power that could lead into unchecked villainy. I believe her intentions were pure, but Nic isn't a kind woman, not anymore. Am I getting the details right so far, Rosie?" Murmur removes the gag and Rose spits, a predictable routine I think we're all a little tired of by now. 

"Fuck, shoulda known something was off about that girl at the debriefing, but Nicole didn't see anything so... damn... Hell're you both up to? Going after the tower itself? Good luck, just like you said she doesn't really need us around t--" Murmur pinches Rosary's mouth and nose shut with her sharp talons to cut her off, shaking her head like a disappointed parent.

"That's not what I asked now is it? I'll take your lack of corrections as a sign to continue in any case. Nova put this poor sap in her place with that drunken glow of destruction, put a limit on the woman's power by forcing her healing factor to play constant catch up going forwards. She used to be far more impressive, could go as far as growing additional limbs with that regenerative power of hers. Could strengthen her own tenfold, more with prep time. At the peak of her form, she could catch Nova's punch. Breaking out of these restraints should be child's play for her but look how weak she is now, can't even get out my hold. Nic was working herself ragged making sure that no threats could harm her oh so precious city, only to discover how cocky her superpowered subordinate had become. She was terrified, Rose was reckless and seemed susceptible to a change of paths. I'm not justifying what she did, it was monstrous! You just don't see the way it destroys her just as much, this city's a pack rats feeding on a bloated corpse. The corpse of a woman who was loved by another just as dead. Ahahaha, I'm quite the obnoxious orator aren't I? Think you can crack her?" Murmur runs fingers through her raven hair, tapping the desk impatiently. For the first time ever, I'm beginning to see the cracks in this woman's psyche just as plain as mine. 

"Huh? You want me to try and convert her just like that? What makes you think I can do it?" I'm suddenly feeling nervous, performance anxiety making me want to flee the room and take a tight five. Still, if Murmur believes in me... 

"Call it a hunch. I don't think she's impossible to break, we just need to change the definitions a little. Your power is unique enough to find a loophole in this sort of defence, at least I'd like to think so. If you're not up to the task, though--"

"I-I'm up to it! I'm more than up to it, so just... let me work." I push past the woman and ready the tendrils hovering in the air behind me, lifting them over shoulders to plunge right into Wild Rosary's ears with little fanfare. My tendrils slither in deep as roots wrap around her limbs, pulling a second member of this city's famed big four into my garden. As I begin to pull my consciousness through root into the garden after her, I distantly hear the clacking of Murmur's footsteps. A hand resting on the back of Mint's chair and whispered words I just can't seem to make out. What's she plotting now, that woman, and can I truly place my faith in her? She makes me feel too good to deny in the moment, so it's hard to remain objective.

Feet drop silently onto the soft ground of my sinful orchard, the buckles of my boots shaking with each firm step I take towards the unbreakable hero who fights off my roots with impressive strength. It seems that just as Murmur had explained all the way back when she first held victory over me in my own mental space, willpower accounts for everything here. Which is to say that if you can break somebody's will their strength will be just as neutered here... why is that giving me an idea I'd rather not entertain right now? Dots are connecting in my head, that picture on Nova's desk... 

I need to focus on this wilting Rose for now lest my future be headed towards an infirmary instead of these fantasies I weakly push to the back of my mind. Rosary has produced a handgun, thrusting it in my direction as the roots fight to redirect her aim. Finger squeezes down around imagined trigger and looses a projectile that bursts right through my eye socket, giving view of apple interior before my hair drapes over the wound. 

"Really? Ugh, you're so violent. I was hoping to chat with you about Nova and... her wife. If you're just going to be difficult though, I've no choice but to force you into submission. No choice, okay?" Before she can pull down on that trigger a second time, my vines having jammed the damn thing anyway, Wild Roasary is tackled by a charging bull of a woman who pins her against the closest tree with one arm, lifting her several inches off the ground.

"You hurt Mistress." Broodmare snarls, having been pulled deeper into my orbit since we last left off from chemical control and psychic unification. She's a loyal lapdog now it seems, spitting animosity at the woman who just thought to fire a gun my way. 

"Fuck her and fuck you too!" Rose seems to be using that headstrong nature of hers to fight with her powers properly for the first time since Nova reduced her to golden rubble. The woman realises she no longer needs any arsenal but her own body, kicking Brood several meters back and landing on her feet. I wasn't anticipating my orchard to ever be used for a brawl like this, the entire point was to keep them stuck in here and... oh that's right. As Rosary lunges for me, the queen of this garden so to speak, I lose form entirely and her fist sails into the empty space where I had once been standing. I've never been forced to materialise in there and not only that, I've been overlooking my strongest asset. This power was originally used to subdue powerful heroes after all!

Pink smog floods the garden from a series of sweet blossoms, all of its occupants not currently bound by bark stumbling as the overwhelming effects hit them almost instantly. Rosary grunts and begins to dispel the effects with her healing factor, her body working on overdrive to remain uncompromised. That's annoying, but she can only focus on so many things at once right? Time to call on that fruit, it should be ripe enough by now. 

A snapping of fingers rings theatrically into the mental space, bark receding to drop a young woman onto her knees, my vines snaking around her form to return her kimono with new pattern. Black with fuji apples, I can't escape the branding after all! It's a little fun to make it my own though, watching the girl inhale the pheromones and find herself bolstered by them rather than hindered. I've drugged Mana so much she's as used to this as she is clean air, her eyes a soft glowing pink and her body shivering in this pleasure I gift her. As I said before in the alley, this is Mana at her best, completely open about who she loves. 

"Mana, Fuji, be a good girl and help your sister McIntosh subdue this newcomer." My disembodied voice rings out and I feel like a spectator with front row seats. My new subjects are like antibodies protecting the body from outside threats, loyal and unfaltering in their objective. Rosary catches another of Brood's charges and counters the brute's strength with her own, her body becoming a fortress of muscle and bone that throws my underling over her shoulder into the splintering bark behind her. Such impressive strength, it only makes me giddier to know that she's likely ignorant of my Mana's gimmick. A relatively weak offensive hero to any who know her well, but the greatest defence in this city against those who don't. A magic counter that has yet to discover limit, her greatest success was against a villain who spliced their DNA with that of a t-rex and a gorilla at the same time.

Living up to the first part of her name, an incensed Wild Rosary throws herself at Mana as a blue glow fills the orchard, tachi forming in her hand as she raises it up to meet Rosary's super-powered blow. The resulting impact shakes leaves from trees, Wild Rosary repelled so wonderfully by the counter. In the same moment, in the real world, my hand suddenly sinks into her chest as we begin to overlap on account of Trifecta's power. If I can consume her, absorb her into my one unified self, she'll have no choice but to obey me. It seems the reflected blow made her vulnerable to such a thing so I decide to capitalise on this moment, vines whipping out from every corner of the garden to restrain her while I force myself onto her, into her, atop the table. I wonder how Murmur must be reacting to such a strange visual... is she proud of me?

Rose fights the roots attempting to stop her from fighting further, Broodmare appearing from behind and forcing the woman into a firm headlock, Mana's tachi pointing to her throat in serious threat. You can't really kill somebody in my garden, I don't think, but I can't begin to imagine how it'd affect the person's psyche, their sense of self. Some threats could be too dangerous to subdue even with such opportunistic victories, so I'll keep it in mind. You never know... 

Hah. I managed to bring her to her knees without even needing to call on the aid of Firefly or Jazz Comet, this should be a good sign that my power is growing. A fight out in the real world is liable to play out much differently, though in this case I'd have fared even better so it's all a matter of who you're up against. As I feel the overlap conclude and flex my fingers, I smirk at the sight of a few leaves in my garden tinting gold. It's something we can handle easily as a unified front, perhaps Nova herself is next!

"Ugh just... finish me off." Spits the unpleasant woman now tightly bound, a slave to my ego in our shared form and its instilled mental hierarchy. I reappear in the orchard and give her a maternal smile, tilting her head up by the chin and looking upon her weakness. I can't be broken now thanks to this woman's power, so it's only right that I reward her fittingly and give her exactly what she wants. 

"Very well then." I mutter coldly, still giving serene smile that seems at odds with my words. With a wave of my hand, I raise up one of the vines and it produces sharp stinger that pierces Rose's skin just below her shoulder, the vine latching on to her skin with a neutralising sap. Murmur once taught me the value of experimenting with your powers, so that's exactly what I intend to do. It only seems right to test this on the one person I know I won't accidentally break, hehe. 

Veins surface around the latching vine on Rosary's flush skin, each glowing light pink as I pump the chemical compliance I've been slowly refining directly into the woman's bloodstream. Inhalation has proven effective but it's a gradual control not suited for proper conversion. Lust, desire and obedience flood directly into Rosary's body and I watch her slowly sag against the vines, her breaths becoming haggard. "Are you okay, hon? How does it feel? Do you want less or... more?" I make some attempt to mask my excitement as I force my newest fruit into ripening at unprecedented rate, my vines releasing her arms to let her reach for the sides of my boots and stare up at me with pleading eyes I could get high off.

"More... ah... more... please?" Success. Somebody so strong that even Lady Nova once feared her now begs at my feet for more pleasurable haze, becoming just as needy and subservient as the small time heroes who just won victory over her. How pitiful, how precious. I'll take good care of her, of that she can be sure. 

"Very well then." I say again, sounding much more kind, more pleased, this time around. "Good girls get more." Another vine pierces her with a suckling kiss, a trail of pink rolling down her back and her body soon becoming a new hub of saccharine sensations. I can't help but mess up her hair in my hands, loving the way she lets me roll her head around so limply. Such power, it's addictive. 

"Good... girl..." Wild Rosary nods into my hand sluggishly, a vine pushing into her entrance under this habit that hangs so loosely from delectable curves I'd like to sample properly at a more appropriate place and time. Her eyes take on a pink hue I've come to favour here in the garden, wondering what kind of apple this wild woman would make. Wild apples are called crab apples, right? Crab's a shit name, but if we go off the genus... 

"I'll call you Malus. It's a cute name, right? Sounds a bit like malice, which you've got plenty of judging by the state of this garden after your little rampage. Oh hehe, I guess the mess in here is more reflective of my state of mind. I wonder why it's in such a state, then, because I've never felt better! You just enjoy your new training, instructor dryad will come to re-educate the lot of you hehe, it's getting lively in here." My thumb slides over the front of Rose's teeth, her expression so wanton against my touch I'm a little shocked. This should be okay for now, no regeneration is going to help her here, I should resurface and see how impressed Miss Murmur must be.

...

"I asked you to help crack her, Joy, not eat her. Did she taste good at least?" Murmur sits on the now empty table with her legs kicking back and forth, seeming amused by the strangeness of my new ability, not that I can blame her. 

"I'll get back to you on that but I'm sure she'll taste very good, Mistress, most women do~" I fill the space between her dangling legs and place emboldened hands on her thighs, leaning forwards with arched back to bury my face into her chest and hum. I'm so greedy, but her scent is so comforting. Tentatively, the woman's arms close around my head and pull me closer, cradling my head and petting my soft amalgam of hair. 

"Good girl, Joy. You've become a very useful young hero, you know that right? I'm so very pleased with your progress, you've exceeded all expectations tremendously. Just remember who guides you, okay? I trust that if I tell you to hold back an urge that you still have the sense to obey, yes?" Is Murmur worried? Is she scared? My lips curl into that placating chest of hers and let out a small scoff, not wanting this moment to end. 

"Of course, Miss Murmur." My reply is somewhat robotic but it seems to set the woman at ease, this woman I adore so much that it pains me. "I'm happy to be of use, even if I slipped up with Nova..."

"Don't be silly, girl. As I told you, that's all going to be okay." Her fingers slide so freely through my hair and I find myself transported back to those safe sheets of hers, everything was so much simpler then, choice was as distant as a fruit hanging from a branch meters high... or perhaps higher, a crow in the sky circling above my head. 

"Do you want me to fight her? I... I could win, I will win! I can do it, I think I know how to beat her now." I pull my face up and stare at the woman's impenetrable eyes, my smile beaming brightly with resolve. 

"That's very commendable, dear, but it isn't the smart play here. Fighting Nova could get you hurt and we wouldn't want that now would we? You're too precious, hm?" Does she really mean that, though, or is it Nova she means to protect? I'd be giving her own wife the beating of a lifetime, after all... "No, what Nic cares about more than anything since before her sudden and unexpected career shift, is image. It was pure vanity back in the old days, but now image means more to her than anything, going so far as to control the hero and villain narratives you see play out on the street like a twisted puppet master. It's commendable, I think, but I've always been a fangirl so maybe I have a bias. I love a woman willing to dirty her hands for what she sees as some greater good even when the rest of the world might not understand her vision, I think that sort of brilliance is rare." A fangirl? What the hell is Murmur talking about all of a sudden? It sounds like she's singing Nova's praises even though what she's saying makes her sound just as manipulative as I was led to believe in the first place. But then, why wouldn't a manipulator like Murmur respect the efforts of another? Again, what is this? I want to know for what reasons, what purpose, I've been groomed for. 

"Murmur, I..."

"You're confused. That's okay, Joy, I like you confused. Any good operation has an effective grasp on the sharing of vital information, yes? The age old idiom of a need to know basis. If you can trust me then you needn't ask, okay?" The woman's words should placate me, but they feel much flimsier than they had before. I've become conspiratorial within my own castle of confusion, making theories over her pettiness that I just can't bring myself to ask outright. 

"Okay."

On that we can agree.