Etienne trudged over grass sprouting through enormous cracks in the asphalt. He looked around and saw all the building completely covered in kudzu vines, making the buildings completely unrecognizable except for their outline.
"Sorry Etienne! I know you're not feeling great, but Mechaboy and Senshi Sentinel are in New York at the INHO headquarters, you're the only here in Oregon strong enough to handle this."
Etienne shook his head and pushed his way through grass taller than his body.
"Is Hardware still unavailable?" Etienne asked.
"Nope, her status is listed as available, but she's not responding to any hails. As soon as she does and her status changes, I'll let you know."
Etienne glanced at a small parking lot of cars covered in rust and moss.
"You know, I visited here once. Maybe 10 years ago. This place was old and rustic, but this is post apocalyptic."
Petey snickered, "You're right. The humidity and moisture levels are through the roof. I believe that is either causing or is a side effect of the accelerated plant growth, but it's causing metal to rust at unbelievable speeds."
Etienne watched as a leaf drifted lazily in front of him and slowly hit the ground. He turned his head slowly, and he began to back up. He backed up several feet and kept looking higher into the sky until he was looking directly up.
Etienne could not pull his eyes away from the sight. Less than a mile or two from where he stood, a titanic oak tree towered over the entire city, easily extending hundreds of feet in the air. The branches stretched for miles, and giant leaves fell down toward the ground.
"You didn't tell me the tree was this huge," Etienne stated as he stared at it in awe.
Petey cleared his throat, "Right, umm…sorry. I should've been more specific. I'm surprised you're just now mentioning it, did you not see it on the drive up?
Etienne groaned, "I'm tired, Petey. Do you have any info on this thing?"
Petey was silent for a few seconds, before finally saying, "It's a giant oak tree. I don't know much else."
Etienne pinched his forehead, "Thanks, Petey. I'm getting close to the place, I need to take this earpiece out, but I'll keep you updated."
He snatched the earpiece and put it in his pocket.
"Petey's intel kind of sucks…maybe I should've never destroyed that stupid house. Gabe would still be helping me right now."
Etienne trudged along and watched as the businesses and residences faded away in the distance. In their place were several derelict factory buildings, surrounded by tall grass and covered in rust.
As he got closer to the base of the tree, the sky darkened. The trees blocked out the sun almost completely.
After walking for a while longer, Etienne came to a stop. The trunk of the tree lead into a giant factory. The factory was completely mangled and decrepit long before the tree appeared.
Etienne pushed the front door of the factory open slowly. The factory was empty. Any concrete on the ground was long gone, replaced by a bed of grass. Other than support pillars that barely held the ceiling up, the factory was completely empty, except for the base of the tree on the other end. Etienne walked slowly toward the base, being careful not to trip over the exposed roots coming from the ground. He noticed a figure with their hands on the tree.
Etienne pulled one of the Totska knives from his hoodie and lunged at the figure, jumping almost the entire length of the factory. While Etienne was midair, a humongous branch broke through the ceiling and grabbed him, tossing him back near the entrance. Another tree branch snaked through the same hole and restrained him. With a quick motion, Etienne sliced the tree branch and freed himself.
The figure turned around and approached Etienne slowly. As the figure got closer, Etienne began to examine its features. He was a frail young man with sunburned skin and dirt caked on his face. There were vines and flowers growing out of his hair. He wore a primitive shirt and pants with no shoes.
The young man spoke in a monotone voice, "Oh. So it's you. You're that Ninjaman told me about. He told me you fight with a metal ball on a rope—"
"Meteor hammer," Etienne interjected.
The young man didn't react to the interruption, "Sure. Meteor hammer. I would have preferred if you brought that. So you don't harm the flora."
Etienne readied his knife, "You need to stop this now! You drove thousands of people out of their homes. You've caused millions in property damage, all because of…whatever this is."
The young man stared at him with contempt.
Etienne closed the gap ever so slightly, "I don't want to hurt you. But I will."
The young man scoffed, "Of course you will. That's all humans know how to do. Hurt, harm and destroy. Why? Because we're apex predators? We're at the top of the food chain? Do you believe that?"
Multiple branches zoomed through the same hole from earlier, moving erratically toward Etienne.
"It's time for Mother to retake her Earth."
Etienne effortlessly dodged as the tree branches lunged at him like spears. He sliced each of them down and began running toward the young man.
The young man took a step back, and where he stood, a giant shrub sprouted from the ground. Before Etienne's eyes, it grew into a giant spiky plant with sharp spikes on its stem.
The young man bowed, "I apologize. Cupid stressed that it's important for us to introduce ourselves to the masses. My name is Florence Dalton, but I'm usually referred to as Floren. And I am the caretaker and curator of all flora in this world."
With a slight struggle, Etienne cut through the spiky plant and continued to approach.
Floren's eyes widened at that, "You cut down that beautiful crown of thorns without a second thought? Fine…if you want to fight me so bad, I'll show you how the unranked fight. Let this be a lesson to all humans who stand against Mother Nature."
Floren bent down and touched one root sprouting from the ground.
He yelled out in the air, "Honey Locust!"
Etienne looked around the area, ready to defend against an attack. Nothing happened, and Etienne watched as Floren slowly stood up with a smile. Floren pointed up, and Etienne looked immediately. He was now standing under the same hole the branch made earlier, and he saw as a torrent of sharp barbed branches descended on him.
He dodged out of the way and ran to the side. The sharp branches narrowly missed him, but they continued to home in on him and chase him around the factory.
Floren watched him intently, "This is a World Tree if you didn't know. They are special, to say the least. Not because of their size, but because of their ability to change properties. They can adapt to every environment. They can never die out. That is why we need these trees all across the world; they can eliminate any environmental issues in a few short years.
Etienne sliced at a sharp branch getting close to him, but his knife snapped. The sharp branch impaled him deep in the shoulder. He let out a sharp cry and pulled out another knife.
"If humans have to die or get displaced so we can have these, so be it."
Etienne stopped in his tracks and brought his sword back. He yelled out, "Simple Slash!"
The result was clearly visible, even though the motion was completely invisible. All the spiky branches chasing Etienne were cut in one motion.
Etienne dropped to one knee and put his hand over his shoulder.
"Gabe was right, I should've rested. I'm already exhausted, and I don't know how many more tricks this guy has. No more playing around."
Etienne grabbed a shuriken out of his hoodie and threw it toward Floren. Floren created a tree from the ground to block it, but Etienne switched places with it at the last second. With swift footwork, he maneuvered around the tree and stabbed at Floren.
"Should you really be letting that touch you?" Floren taunted.
Etienne stopped mid-mission and nearly collapsed. He turned his head slowly and looked; a yellow trumpet shaped flower caressed the open wound on his shoulder.
Etienne forced his eyes to stay open but could not move otherwise.
Floren approached him confidentially, "I finally slowed you down. Now let's finish this."
Floren stood face to face with Etienne as the same barbed branches descended on him again.
Etienne closed his eyes and braced himself, but all he heard was a loud bang.
He opened his eyes slowly and looked in confusion as a giant nail pinned a giant spiked branch to the floor.
"Sorry I'm late," A familiar voice called out from the entrance.