Artificial light floods down and illuminates the gang of miscreants below. A master thief who uses her powers of persuasion to avoid capture and her obedient follower, a girl who no longer looks nor thinks like herself. Across from them sits Mint, a woman who until recently dedicated her life to operating one of the cities 'big four' and across from her, a member of that selfsame group. Hivemind looks odd to me as she is here, far too human for the sinful dryad drone I know her to be in earnest. It would be dishonest of me to stop here and say that only four occupants fill this safehouse of Hive's. I carry with me the minds and bodies of the vigilante Firefly, as well as heroes Jazz Comet, Trifecta, Broodmare, Mana and Wild Rosary. 

It's been a wild and unexpected week, swept up in this storm of Miss Murmur's that has carried me to places I'd never even dreamt of before in my dull college fantasies. I live for this adventure now, not to mention the bottomless well of pleasure I've become accustomed to. Safe to say I'm hooked, but I'm also afraid. I worry that Murmur's intentions might be misleading and I've enough experience making poor decisions to know that you're not always your own best friend. So badly do I want to be Murmur's good girl as I have been this past week, but does that mean saving the woman from herself too? It's hard to know whether to trust the woman leading me astray with a smile that makes me want to let her, or believe in my own swell of ego that's sprouted in the garden and coming close to full blossom. What do I do?

A corruptive finger strolls down my arm and calls attention to the fresh ink I've managed to acquire from my overlapping with the twisted sister. Rose and thorn stretching over my bicep, I can't say it doesn't fit with my current aesthetic even if the old Joy would have never dreamt of becoming 'tatted up'. Murmur smirks and tells me it looks good, but I can barely tether myself to the room at all. I can't stop thinking about things I'd rather not be burdened with, it really was so much easier when my only concerns were of Murmur's wants and needs. A wanton woman in the twilight of her petty thievery, a maw so wide I feared she might've eaten me whole one night. I'm much stronger now, yet at the same time I feel weaker than ever before, because I just don't know if I can go through with this. I really do love her, even if I know it's an artificial feeling she planted in my garden with cracking black nails and a confident stride I'd have followed to the ends of the earth before today's sobering climax. 

Murmur notices the tumult on my face and I curse this mask for hiding so little, tapping my nails against the metal table nervously. "I can see your resolve is being tested, Joy, you can't hide these things from me. I always know how things are going to play out in the end, it's why I'm so confident haha. You're going to be good for me because going it alone is far too scary for a coward like you."

"Coward?" Was that supposed to be an insult? My eyes scan the woman's for any hint of malice but all I find are those dark circles spelling oblivion, encasing hazel rings that shift to meet my gaze. 

"Just a reminder how little you achieved with those wings clipped by indecision and how I became a gust of wind to lift you up. Never forget where you came from, Joy. Ah, we're all intricately bound to our origin tales as much as we'd like to cast off all that silly baggage, hm? You were in Nova's office so there's a good chance you've been made aware of mine. Wanna talk about it?" Murmur drops onto her feet and saunters over to the blood red sofa in the back, my mind lighting up with a memory that isn't mine, Hive and Rose entertaining themselves on the very same couch even if it was in an apartment back then. All this history buzzing around my head, it's a good thing my garden has more than enough space to accommodate. Probably. 

"Ah... uhm, yes." Thankful for the opportunity to finally discuss this with my mistress, I follow the woman to the couch and gently lower this powerhouse of a body down onto it. 

Miss Murmur grins, pulling my head down onto her lap as I lay there staring up at her, transfixed by the way she doesn't seem to fear me at all or at least never lets it show. She's so convinced I'm property, so why aren't I? "See, Joy? You were too cowardly to bring it up even though you wished to talk to me about it, but that's okay." Is it because I don't really identify as 'Joy' in this moment? I'm just a garden of crows, an orchard overflowing with fruit sweet and bitter and moist. I am Envy, ready to be eaten out of hand should you take the risk to draw near. It's a funny thing, this childish use of metaphor I've committed to, so funny that I can't help but let loose a string of giggles from this woman's lap. 

"Joy's a coward, Miss, that's for sure! She's pathetic really... but that's okay, we forgive the runt." It's a garden of equality right? That's what unification is, we share the burden of our weaknesses and lift up our strengths. It's all refined and ripened, I'm not sure that a loner like Miss Murmur could truly understand where we're coming from, not yet. I've been swept up in her storm so long I failed to see my own growing from behind the lens, turning me into a natural disaster the likes this city has never seen before. 

The woman stares down at me with a coldness in her eyes that could freeze a star, but I'm no longer so struck. "Think very carefully about your actions going forwards, dear, Nova's right in our grasp and under my wing we can make a real difference in this city you've sought to save night after night. Have you ever gotten anywhere with that, Joy?"

"I thought we were talking about your marriage, Miss, or is the sudden pivot an attempt to desperately grasp a slipping rein? Hmhm~ You're kinda funny when I can see through you, like a glass pane, really rather fragile when words don't hit their mark... I do enjoy your words though, it's nice to give into them! I just... I kinda don't believe you?" My eyes cycle between colours as they narrow, like a roulette wheel spinning on Miss Murmur's fate. What does she have to say to that, hm?

A hand lifts and I bind it with a stray tendril before she can think to snap her fingers and win me over with her backdoor into my mind, giving playful tut from her lap and urging her to try again with this cycling stare. 

"Fine then. You don't believe me that my intentions are so pure and heroic as to make this city a better, safer place? Well you're not wrong, smart girl." Murmur laughs, testing her strength against the vine and not surprised to find herself too weak to break free. "But that's not what you really want either, is it? Don't damn me for being less than altruistic when your own goals are just as selfish. You read like an addict right now, power tripping are we? That always ends with a crash and burn I won't be there to help you recover from if you've cast me aside, you know this right?"

Oh my god. Miss Murmur herself is making a case for me keeping her around, I can't believe this! She keeps her calm well but isn't she pleading right now? A woman I once thought taller than a skyscraper is hiding behind unearned confidence to mask her fucking grovelling. Still, maybe she makes a good case? I'd never throw anybody away in the first place, my goal is unification... if she doesn't understand now, she will, that's the beauty of it all. 

"Stop changing the subject, mistress. We sat down to discuss your marriage, didn't we? I'm so curious about how you went from Nova's wife to her nemesis, or at least you almost managed it... sorry if I'm being disloyal right now I'm just so damn curious! You'll tell me won't you? Actually... you needn't bother." Tendrils flare and curl around us, loose and hovering but ready to pounce at any moment. 

"That's a sudden change of heart, girl, are you sure you're in the right mind to be making any decisions? I can help you relax if need be, you know I'm good at that." Something in Murmur's words has her assistant on the other side of the room readying some manner of tech that's likely made to subdue me, is that what she was whispering with her about earlier while I converted Malus? Maybe the woman really is clairvoyant, or perhaps she simply isn't blind. 

"Ah! Ow... darnit!" I'm surprised at how much of a dork Discoman's creator appears to be, though wonder if that isn't Murmur's doing during our time apart. A valuable time for both of us, though I think it had a much more pronounced impact on my end. My roots fed through floor wrap around Mint's hand and crush the device in it until I can be sure it's out of commission, watching as screws and circuitry burst out onto the concrete floor below. 

"For someone whose main weapon is her words, you seem to be determined to avoid using them right now." I make myself comfortable in Murmur's lap, resting one leg over my other's knee and finding my confidence begin to skyrocket. I'm getting cocky, which I realise is as dangerous as it is intoxicating. 

"Yes well, words have their limits... you don't appear to be in the ideal mood for listening, acting the brat. Suppose I could regale you with the story of Icarus and his waxen wings but I fear that would fall upon deaf ears as well. What's the play here, girl? Do you not want to at least hear me out? I guess it's only appealing to one more firmly under my thumb, I had intended to antagonise that woman with her comrades and run her image through the mud. It'd have been quite the spectacle, I even had fireworks for the grand show. What a waste... you're set on fighting her instead? Boorish..." Murmur almost appears to be sulking, though she still carries herself well, raven hair hanging down like curtains that mean to stretch down and call for intermission. 

"That woman? You mean your wife. Hmm... so you want to tarnish her reputation as a hero for what? In the hopes she'd leave the life behind and run into your arms like some wholesome happy ending? Is New Cassiepeia unwitting host to the grandest cuckholdry campaign of all time? Jealous of all the people she's saving instead of you, Misty?" I'm not entirely sure where these cruel, confident words of mine come from in the well of consciousness I possess, perhaps it's a frankenstein of feeling, shared sentiments between the few who know her best within my unified state. 

It takes Murmur a moment before she can answer, something that surprises me more than anything else has managed to over the last couple of days. When the woman finally finds her voice, she does it again immediately, catching me off guard with an honesty I'm unable to adequately counter. 

"Yes. That's pretty much it, you nailed it. Good girl." Murmur gives a derisive smile, her tongue sharper than any blade. "Do you have any idea of the solitude I had to endure in her presence? I felt lonelier after her return than when I had believed her dead, for at least she still felt like mine in those dark and sleepless days. I've not had proper sleep since the day she left for her mission, it's supposed to be a coincidence but it sure is a strange one isn't it? Are you superstitious, Joy? No actually... I don't care, let me speak okay? You'll indulge my orders just this once because like you say, you're curious. It's how I always find purchase in my manipulations, people's thirst for knowledge lies constantly unsated and my words always provide new insight, whether or not what I'm saying is complete bullshit hahaha. Hmm... where was I? Nicole's return, right. It wasn't a tearful reunion despite the fact that we were both so deeply in love before the incident. My eyes were too exhausted to display the proper emotion and Nic was probably a little disappointed to find me in such a dreary state when everything in her life was bright and shining and golden. I felt like dead weight, sometimes literally so, and I began to suspect that she felt the same way. No longer able to hold a job in my former field, Nicole set me to work at the reception of her grand new tower. It highlighted more than ever that we would never be equals. I was at the bottom of her tower and she worked at the top, it writes itself really. Even before, I was the counsellor dazzled by the celebrity I had come to gain as client, a contractual arrangement that felt the height of my career. Better still, she became the centre of my world. We didn't officially become a couple until the sessions concluded, then within a year we were hitched. We really are so very similar, me and you, I was also her biggest fangirl both before and after that career change that would forever stain the annals of history. I loved cheering her on from mission control whenever I'd manage to worm myself into that busy room, though on the day of her final departure they were much more professional and so I had to settle for those morning farewells. It was the last morning I'd wake up from our bed feeling well rested, or any bed for that matter."

Murmur pauses to take a breath and ensure that her lengthy spiel has managed to keep me engaged, though the fact that my vines yet hover should be clear indication I'm happy to hear her out. "When she returned, a miracle that was all over the news for over half a day already before I finally got to feel her in my arms, we had both changed just a little too much. I still loved her deeply and I was just as much a fangirl as before, but Nicole was restless in her efforts to find me a doctor who could fix this disease. As I discovered more about those strange new powers of hers, I asked her plainly to put me to sleep with them. It wouldn't be killing me, not really, I'd just be sort of... not all there? A doll with her rest, though I suppose that it'd be too tiring for the woman to look after me given all those new responsibilities."

I listen on with interest, even though I can't say I find her story all that compelling at the end of the day. Truly, I'm disappointed, Murmur turned out to be a much weaker person than I had her pegged for. Her strength is much more illusory than mine, her paper thin power now up against my elucidating safety scissors. And yet she remains steadfast, her confidence appearing inviolate. How does she do it?

"I think she probably just couldn't bring herself to hurt you, even if it'd keep you by her side for longer when all's said and done. It's like those classic trolley problems, right? The moment you take action you feel more responsible for the outcome... even if, well, inaction is just as much of a choice really. You're both just so... human." I say the word like a slur without really meaning to, Murmur picking up the derogatory tone and laughing louder than I've heard her laugh before. Better still than her volume is the authenticity of the outburst, her laughs felt so forced and intentional before. 

"That we are! How we must look to someone shedding her humanity with every step down into those depths you're headed for. Plant life learns coexistence without need for all these petty emotions, so perhaps you've the right of it. All living beings are possessed of inhibitions, however, and even a wretched crow like me would urge you pay them heed. It's looking like you're set to take my place in the one sided showdown I had planned and that you might give her much more of a fight than I'd intended. My goal was to piss her off so much I became a villain she'd struggle distinguishing from the rest of her rogues gallery. Not only would she pay me serious attention again at long last, she'd finally give me what I asked for all those moons ago. Such a petty plan, you're far more terrifying though, how did I miss your rapid descent hm? Slipped past so quickly I think it passed me by in a blink. Maybe it's karma, ahahaha... I only ask that you don't hurt her okay? Not too much, even if she probably deserves it. If I'm responsible for any more of her pain I think I'll be sick, I thought that if I finally became a lost cause in her eyes it'd give her one less thing to worry over. Thinking on it now, that doesn't really make much sense... god, I need some good fucking sleep." The woman's eyes blink closed and she throws her head back, hiding that fragile look in her eyes, misty as her namesake. 

My previous disappointment dissipates into a pitying glance upwards, wanting to comfort this woman who I really should be grateful for even if she tried to use me for her own silly, selfish ends. In a way I respect her more for following through on those goals, as most ambitious heroes I've come across only have noble intentions on paper to begin with. Did Orchard really care about the difference she made in the world, or did it simply feel good to be a hero? I don't judge this woman because I can't, my vine wiping her tear before gently latching to her cheek. More tendrils snake around her limbs to pull Miss Murmur into the garden, where our final trial awaits. A contest of storms. 

For a second time I view the midnight mistress step with an arrogant sway over my garden's dark grass, plucking an apple from my own tree of Envy and admiring the skin on its surface. "This is cute, Joy. You've had some redecorating done I see, suppose I'm partially responsible for that so you're welcome." Despite how vulnerable she had begun to seem out there on the couch, Murmur's smug attitude appears to have returned the moment I transported her to this testing ground, an orchard in which she won't be escaping with words and nail this time. 

"I'm trying to make this easy on you, mistress, but I see your ego has a hold of you." Deciding it inappropriate to confront her without doing so, I appear in the garden myself, vines flaring out from my back and curling back around to point towards her in a menacing show. "You're tired, haven't you had enough already? Let us take it from here, you'll be part of the garden too!" 

Murmur scoffs, biting into the apple and letting the juice run down her chin and neck in an egregiously gratuitous display. "Oh really now? Look who has her big girl pants on, hehe. Don't you worry I fed you another sob story to have you drop your guard and slip up? You may have overpowered me out there in world beyond, dear, but let me remind you that a stronger will than yours is all it takes to hold my footing here. Hell, I can even keep you here. Don't believe me? Just try and recall yourself, stupid girl. You can't." The woman snaps her fingers and I feel my mind buckling under the weight of her suggestion, is she really so powerful in here? That bitch, I was trying to help her!

"We already overpowered Wild Rosary, a real superhero, so don't test me..." With a stomp of my heel the orchard's bulbous flowers burst open and fill the place with a fresh batch of heady pink mist, Murmur feigning a few coughs before shrugging her shoulders at me with a shit-eating smile I want to wipe clean off. 

"That's exactly what I mean to do, Joy or... whoever you wish to be. Let's hope you did all your homework, we're not off to a great start if you think this gas is gonna weaken me. It was actually Florasma's daughter who helped me discover I'm more or less immune to the mixture, quite a pickle you find yourself in, hmm?" Murmur lifts herself up from that lean against the bark and begins to approach me rather proactively, making me hesitate and then hate myself for the small defeat. "You're not gonna call your squad in? Ohh I see, you're overlapping right now even in here? Where'd that power come from anyway? It's quite interesting." Another bite from the apple before casting it aside, Murmur brushing that mess of black hair out of her face. "Is this your test run for the real deal out there? Suppose I've no choice but to give you the beating I was planning to receive from Nic, really hammer in how much of a bad girl you're being."

Murmur snaps her fingers again and I have to bite down on my tongue to stop myself from apologising, the pathetic compulsion to do so distracting me long enough for her to get close and throw me back several metres with an impossible strength I know she doesn't truly possess. Am I just that weak, then?

Quickly scrambling to my feet, I lunge forwards with tendrils propelling me forwards and shooting out like spears at the very same time, Murmur's enhanced reflexes helping her dodge the first three before a fourth suddenly pierces her shoulder like the paper doll I know her to be. Landing on my feet again and attempting to pull her in like a fish on the hook, Murmur swipes down and severs the tendril, her wound healing the moment the root is plucked from body. Through just will and imagination she's emulating Rosary's powers, but how? She seemed so defeated a moment ago, was I tricked again?

"Come on, garden girl, show me the big guns! I'm having a lot more fun than our dance of words from last time, and here I thought I wasn't a fighter, hahaha." The woman's taller than ever, her black aura overshadowing my entire arsenal of tricks... I can't even escape either, what does that mean? Am I really unable to bring this woman to heel at full strength?

I already knew it might come to this, after her long story it's probably the best outcome for everyone. This is my moment of truth, though, to see if I'm really willing to resort to such a thing... 

"Miss Murmur, please. Just please let me... no, you'd just bounce back no matter what wouldn't you? Immune to the mist, my pleas, my unification itself wouldn't be able to restrain you now would it? You're so stubborn to the end, it's such a pity." With a swipe of her legs I bring the woman down onto her back and my tendrils latch on fruitlessly, even pushing into her ears and attempting to flood her bloodstream as I had with Rose. It's just no use, she's not really human in here and fucking knows it, weaponizing this knowledge to become as invincible as Lady Nova herself, maybe more so. After breaking free from my binding roots and instead pulling me closer until her head connects with mine and sends me sailing back this time, Murmur straddles me and places her hands on my neck. She squeezes roughly and I wonder if she really means to do it, before finally seeing through her at long last. "Oh."

She knows what I mean to do, she's enacting the same plan with me that she had intended for Nova! I had completely fallen for it too, but now I know, she wants this... and I've really no other choice but to give this crazy bitch exactly what she wants, just like always. 

"Goodnight, Miss Murmur." I lean up and she lets me, my bright red lips brushing against those dark and matte. In the next moment, a large tendril with an even larger stinger penetrates her back and bursts out of her chest on the other side, creating a cavity in her chest too vast for any healing to come in time. I am gentle and loving in this garden of mine, however, and we both know that her body out there remains completely untouched. I've simply killed her ego, pushing us both up onto our knees and cradling her face in my hands reverently. Flowers begin to grow in that hole where the woman's heart should be, blooming fast and looking so beautiful I could cry. My hands brush the hair behind her ears and I get a good look at her peaceful face, those dark circles imprisoning tired eyes finally receding to show me that woman in the photograph. 

"Ah... about time..." The woman sags into my touch, holding my wrists before her own arms prove too heavy to keep held up. 

"I'm sorry, hehe. You can go to sleep now, we'll spread your burden across our unified selves with pride. We love you, so sleep." With my lips planting soft kiss on her forehead, Murmur's eyes slowly flutter closed, lips flapping one last time to say something very her. 

"Thanks, kid. What a fine fucking fertiliser I'll make, heh..." 

Black. 

"So uh, ahaha... excuse me one second. I'm usually much more professional than this, if you'd like to change to someone a little more held together today I'll see what I can do." Misty laughs off her nerves and reaches for her water, bouncing notepad on her leg and wondering just what the hell a lady from television is now doing sitting in her humble old recliner. It's been about a year since she started dealing with more exclusive clientele such as government employees, so she's well aware of the usual discretion expected here and had no idea who would be walking through her door. Obviously discretion is expected of her with any and all clients, but these more exclusive deals end up having full on contracts to sign. It's strange that they don't have their own in house professionals, but some places have baffling policies and others... well, the staff just feel more comfortable to get away from the place that's responsible for their stress in the first place. 

Nicole Black joins the woman's nervous laugh with her own relaxed one, perhaps out of pity for the poor woman who fiddles with the clip holding back her raven hair. "Don't be daft, I find it flattering really. Not to mention a little cute, if you don't mind me saying? Oh hm... is flirting with the shrink something liable to get me psychoanalysed?" She laughs again, seeming a little comfortable in the reclined chair after weeks of zero gravity training. 

Misty rests her cheek onto her fist, doing a terrible job at hiding her blush so deciding to talk to this famous woman like they're on a blind date to see if it'll knock some walls down. She wasn't aware of Miss Black's sexual orientation given it had been marked 'Prefer not to say' on the sheet. It would seem she prefers to say some things! "I don't think they'll landlock you for lesbianism, dear, though if they did I suppose we could find the time for a black coffee and see where the wind takes us?" 

"Well aren't you a tease, I don't think that's very professional but I'll let you off haha, I was actually dreading the stiff conversation with some man that considers women going to space an act of defiance against god in heaven, or some such nonsensical bullshit I'd be contractually obligated to put up with for the next few weeks. I'm unfamiliar with this lesbianism you speak of, you'll have to teach me some lesbianese during our coffee date hm? Bilingual women really do it for me."

The counsellor wonders if she's not getting carried away when she giggles like a woman half her age, that girl back in school who had her locker defaced for daring to confess her feelings to a senior of the same sex. "Ah... ahaha, well I'd certainly say we've something in common to break the ice then. Sexuality and relationships are something I've talked about with people extensively and I'm sure it's bound to come back up with us, even just in today's introductory hour, but let's put a pin that for now before I give you any more leverage to have my license revoked. Is there something in particular that sparked your employer to arrange these sessions? It's okay if not or even if you'd rather not say right away, but do know that if you're unable to talk with me about the reasons you're here then I won't be able to help with them very much." Misty adjusts her glasses and assumes her usual professional tone, waiting for Nicole's response patiently while trying not to ogle that body built for broadcast. 

"Ah right." Miss Black props herself up on elbows, legs crossed and lips curled in unserious manner ill befitting her following admission. "Apparently I've been overworking myself, whatever that means."

"Well, that's not too unusual, as well as the not seeing it yourself part. Stress is a real killer, for the mind, body and soul. You're in my hands now, Miss Black, so I'll see to it that you're not working yourself into an early grave."

"I think I have you figured out, Miss Murmur." I gently place an apple in the hole where her heart should be, a perfect fit. "Your motives were much grander, you just didn't realise it okay? Me, I'm... a bit of an addict, yes. I'm addicted to the power and my main reasons for wanting to fight Nova are pretty weak, hehe, but can't you see that I'm carrying out your will too? A refusal of annihilation and a cold shoulder are petty reasons you place upon yourself so humbly, but what you really sought is chaos. It's why you nurtured this garden into what it's become, your influence is foundational to this chaotic existence of ours. You hated this city for what it did to you, to Nova, what it continues to do to her. She's a slave to this shithole you've no love for at all, so of course you resent it from corner to corner. And ah, I always just found this place pretty boring, so chaos isn't a bad goal. Unification is a better one, obviously, but I think the path to becoming unified under the garden will cause a lot of chaos in the short term. I've already seen it with a handful of fussy flowerpots, so imagine that on a city wide scale. Two crows, one stone~" I lean down and plant kisses over Murmur's cheek, the woman letting out a low groan and suddenly surprising me with her continued presence. 

"Do you remember earlier, when I told you I always know how things are going to play out in the end?" Murmur speaks in monotone, eyes still closed as the woman enjoys the sleep I gifted her as the centrepiece of my garden. Sleep talking, then? This woman never ceases to exceed expectations. "I lied to you again Joy, I just can't help myself, must be how I'm wired. Those mist powers were a total fabrication of course, but I did develop powers of my own even before Nova came into hers. Before she boarded that rocket I knew it would go missing, I pleaded with her not to go and the woman eventually convinced me I was simply being paranoid. When it all played out just as I had imagined it, I knew then I should have been more steadfast in my resolve. It was a pressure point after she came home, I could never quite convince her that I didn't resent her for disregarding my warnings. Maybe I did a little, I'm a liar at heart aren't I?" I look down at that apple in her chest and wonder if she's capable of understanding the humour in her well mannered words at this moment. "Precognition. It's vague and temperamental, it won't help you see Nova's blows before they hit your jaw or anything so handy, but it's a power that will come to haunt you in the near future. At the same time, it'll be your salvation. I know because I've seen it, hehe. It came in handy for my petty thefts from time to time, though I think I secretly wished somebody had the skills to catch me in the act anyway. I don't know how to stop, so thank you."

It's like a pre-recorded message playing through an answer phone, so I know not to bother asking her any questions. If I need Murmur's insight, I need only look inwards. 

My eyes blink back into consciousness in the waking world, a line of drool spilling onto my cheek from those pretty black lips as I rest my head in Murmur's lap. Sitting up and closing the woman's jaw, I inspect her curiously and she slowly turns to meet my gaze. 

"See something you like?" The woman asks me drily, causing me to jump back in surprise. 

"Miss Murmur? I thought I..." 

"Yeah you got me good, I'm basically a doll with no will of my own now, anything you say goes. It doesn't mean I'm planning on losing this winning personality of mine any time soon though, it's too popular with the ladies. Unless you commanded it of course, then I suppose I'd have no choice but to drop the act entirely. If that's what you're into..." 

I lift her chin up and kiss her with a beaming smile, happy to see this woman still as sharp and sardonic as even despite having crushed her ego in my overwhelming gravity. My storm. "Oh no, this is perfect, you should be able to sleep properly now too, isn't that great? It is, you're happy about it."

Murmur's lips curl and she returns my kiss slowly. "Very happy, dear, I'm at your disposal now so don't hesitate to use me as you wish."

"Are you really precognitive? That's so random, though I guess it explains some things now that I think about it. Hmm, did you know you were going to lose to me then?" I stand up and snap my fingers, Murmur following close behind like a good servant should. This is the brilliance of unification. 

"Yes, though like I said it's an impractical power most of the time. It won't help you against Nova, but after that I sensed it'll both help and hinder you at the exact same time. Like I said, it's abstract and obnoxious in most cases, so it'll be up to you whether not you wish to rely on my silly visions, Joy. Perhaps I truly was deluded, all those sleepless nights making me buy into my fantasies further and further." The woman seems so passive and docile now in a way that is very honest, no more facades for me to try and see through. It's liberating for both of us, I think, convincing me even further that this path I walk is right for me. Right for us, all of us. After Nova comes the rest of this city, it'll be the closest thing Earth has to its very own paradise. And I have this woman to thank for setting me on the path in the first place. She's a symbol of the future, I really really love her. I even went as far as to name myself after the one thing that drove her more than anything else.

"Please, call me Envy." I'm not really sure how much of 'me' is currently Joy in the first place, so it seems a little disingenuous to keep using that name. We're all one in the garden, of course, but I'm still vain enough as to desire my own distinct name. It's my Envy, misguided as it may be. 

Murmur nods with an easy smile and I decide to pet her hair for being good, a complete reversal of the dynamic we had been so accustomed to until very recently. She's a good loyal dog like this, I like it, now I'm the most commanding presence in the room at long last. My eyes trace over the one person here not currently unified and I smile darkly. Mint swivels her chair when she notices the two of us approaching, suddenly adorably tongue tied and unable to ask what we need of her. 

"Murmur, make her agree to everything I say." There's no reason to make a meal out of this when she's just an appetiser, or better yet, the refreshing mint they sometimes provide at the end of a meal. Murmur does as she's told and soon enough so does Mint, being pulled into my corrupted orchard as I use the light bite to test the loyalties of Trifecta and Jazz. Both women have been cooking for a while you'd think them baking apples, but no, Jazz and Jonagold are both ripe for eating right off the branch. 

Of course, Mint's too obedient to resist the two leading her to slaughter, I simply wished to put their loyalty to the test. Just as I think tonight's feast is coming to an end given the dinner mint I just gobbled up, I'm surprised to hear the door swinging open after a series of muffled beeps from the code being pushed in on the other side. Suddenly my heart drops, wondering if Nova has already found us before I've had the chance to prepare, not to mention I hardly want out climactic battle to take place in an underground safehouse. 

Instead of Nova, somebody I would never have expected to lay eyes on here steps inside the room with an empty expression. The lambs are leading themselves. "Uh..." She groans, looking around for her owner with a confused expression reflective of my own. 

With cautious steps, I approach my former college roommate turned drone and wonder what she's doing here. 

I-I called her here, mistress, on Murmur's orders.

Mint did? I suppose that only makes sense given that Danielle has been almost entirely converted into her little surveillance slave now, but why would Murmur make such a specific request? I turn to face the fallen mistress and give her a demanding look that she catches onto well. I'm forgetting I can just use our mental connection but again, running the motions like this is a novelty and keeps me from becoming too inhuman, too quickly.

"My sixth sense told me you'd need her soon, her power that is. It's always handy to have more supers unified under the garden in any case, no?" She smiles and for the first time since converting her I have the paranoid thought that she may be scheming again. It's literally impossible though, the woman's an open book with a hole blown right through from cover to cover. Just my imagination, then, we've seen the shortcomings of that during my failures in the orchard already. Maybe I should read more books, I've enough hands to multitask on that front now.

"Well you're not wrong, hehe, guess I'll take the free offerings. Hmm, I guess Danielle's duplication could come in handy during my fight, maybe what you were sensing was my winning blow against the woman. I'll unify her too and then you'll be together again, always, god that's so fucking romantic huh?"

Murmur smiles again, nodding slowly in response to my kind words. Good... that's good. All that's left now is to prepare myself for the greatest battle in my career as a hero, no, as a city-wide saviour. Murmur will have her chaos and me my satisfaction, not a single soul in this forsaken city will be left unsatisfied in the wake of its unification. They don't all deserve it, sure, but we're going to wipe the slate clean on all of that torrid pettiness going forwards. We're all going to get along from now on, there's only one thing standing in my way...

...and I know just how to take her down.