Fiore was expecting a standard field trip. He'd stand with the more experienced farmers and help show the kids what it was like to work in a greenhouse, then the kids would go back to school and discuss what they'd learned.
Instead, just as the greenhouse doors were about to close, Paris stopped them with his foot. With a sick grin on his face, he greeted them and let Corrosion in. They took a girl hostage, and Corrosion even injured her while the adults were trying to figure out how to get help. Paris took their phones, and Fiore could do little more than obey and pray that they got what they wanted and left quickly.
No, he could have done more. He could have tried to fight back. But he wasn't sure if he'd help or just make things worse. After all, the Legion hadn't seen any value in him whatsoever. Even after he left, nobody said a thing except for Jo.
So Fiore sat quietly in the back and watched. Corrosion dripped acid in the girl's eyes, then threw her away as he started attacking the group at large. Paris blew poison like a dragon, letting it coil through the air. At this rate, they'd have far bigger things to worry about.
The spinach started to wilt a bit, struggling from the toxins. Corrosion threw acid in the fish tanks, and the poor carp probably wouldn't last long.
Thoughts flew through Fiore's head. The poor fish and spinach deserved better. If Paris and Corrosion destroyed them here, that would be one greenhouse fewer to feed the people of Arx. It would take time to restore it. They'd need seeds and fish eggs, and no one kept many spares of those. It may not cause many problems now, but if Paris and Corrosion were willing to attack both children and the food supply...
Fiore couldn't stand for it. He extended his hand and willed his Miracle to work. He didn't even know what he was summoning. Something to stop them.
A vine sprouted from a fish tank, grabbed Corrosion and lifted him up and away from anything he could damage. Its massive leaves absorbed Paris' poison, purifying the air rapidly.
He had no idea what this plant was. His gut told him it wasn't anything that existed in nature. It was something that had answered his desperate plea for something he could do.
Paris glanced through the crowd as Corrosion tried to melt his way out of the vine. With a bit of focus, Fiore granted it super regenerative abilities, and it continued to grow around its captive. Smaller offshoots started wrapping him up like a mummy.
Good. It took everything Fiore had to keep the vine sustained, but with it there, they stood a chance. Paris' poison wouldn't work, and without it he was just an ordinary man surrounded by angry children.
"You!" Paris started running towards Fiore, spewing more poison as he went. The kids parted for him easily, shrinking back in fear. The vine's leaves kept absorbing the poison, transforming it into clean air, so Fiore's biggest fear was Paris' fist.
He skipped to the side, refusing to let up on the vine for a moment. Paris turned and came at him again, so Fiore hopped backward, careful to stay clear of the greenhouse shelves.
"Get away from him!" Mateo stepped in front of Fiore, swinging a fist at Paris. Somehow he dodged, but now the tide was turning.
Mateo, along with a couple other farmers, were ready to defend their livelihoods. Mateo was the biggest and brawniest person there, but the others weren't far behind. They walked all the way to the Top every day, and had to haul heavy crates of vegetables regularly. An ordinary guy like Paris wouldn't stand a chance in a test of strength. On top of that, Mateo himself boxed in his spare time.
Fiore scuttled further from the fight, glad he didn't have to do anything more.
"Get out of my way!" Paris spat, spewing more poison. Alas, Fiore's vine was able to keep sucking up the poison, growing as if the toxins actually nourished it. He supposed that may not be too far off. Plants consumed carbon dioxide as a nutrient after all, and that was poisonous to humans in large quantities. Why wouldn't this vine happily eat Paris' poison as fuel for its continued growth?
Corrosion was practically enveloped in plant matter now, cursing loudly from his cocoon, but Fiore couldn't really make out what he was saying.
"Move you powerless punks!" Paris tried to break free of the circle of farmers, but they outnumbered him and easily foiled his escape attempt.
"Powerless, eh? What about you? Your poison's not worth anything anymore." Mateo laughed as he hopped toward Paris and threw a solid right straight.
Without gloves to dull the blow, Paris staggered back from the blow, stumbling into the shelving. He looked dazed, trying to pull himself up, but he didn't have time to reorient himself before Mateo had him in a headlock. He held him tight, probably tight enough to knock him out from lack of oxygen. Before long, Paris went limp.
"Hey, someone grab the phones and call the military," he called. One of the teachers obeyed and hurried over, searching for her own phone amid the mess. A couple of the kids followed, distributing the phones back to their owners.
"I got the call," one student yelled, holding the phone to his ear. Fiore smiled in relief, but didn't let himself relax just yet. Corrosion could still ruin everything if he got out.
"Nice work, Flower Boy," Mateo said with a grin. The other farmers knew about Fiore's Miracle - it was why he was working in the greenhouses in the first place. A side effect of it was that he could help promote growth among plants that weren't doing so well, keeping them from dying until they could diagnose and treat the underlying problem.
"Thanks," Fiore said with a chuckle, leaning against the wall. Man was he tired. That vine was really sapping his energy.
"You're so cool!" One of the kids ran up to him, hopping in excitement. "What's your name?"
"Me?" Fiore asked, his eyes widening in shock. "I..."
"Isn't he Rose?" another kid asked. "I saw him fight once. What's he doing here? I thought he was with the Legion."
More questions came rapid fire from the kids, and Fiore felt a little dizzy from trying to think of answers for any of them.
"Hey, kiddos, relax," Mateo called. "Can't you see he's tired?"
"Sorry!" The kids immediately shrank back, but several were still vibrating from excitement. Some muttered about how cool it was that they got to meet a real-life superhero, while others said they wanted to be like him when they grew up. Fiore had no idea how to handle all of it.
When the military finally got there, they took Paris and Corrosion into custody. Fiore let the vine shrivel and die, then made a couple of aquatic plants to get the acid out of the fish tanks Corrosion had messed with. A few of the fish were already injured, but there wasn't much they could do other than let the wounds heal naturally and resign themselves to the discount the scars would cause.
By the time it was over for good, Fiore was ready to collapse.
"Good job, kid," Mateo said, pulling him up by one arm and holding him upright.
"Thanks," Fiore muttered.
"You're pretty popular with those kids now."
"I don't know why. I didn't even fight really."
"You fought plenty hard. And you look ready to fall over. I'm sending you home for the day. You've done lots already."
"It's not even lunch time. I can't make you guys do everything."
"If it weren't for you, Fiore, we might all be dead right now."
The words rattled Fiore more than they should have.
"We need to find a way to make sure this never happens again," Mateo said firmly. "I don't know exactly how we're going to do that, but if you weren't here things would have gone a lot worse. I can't believe they'd actually attack the food supply. What's wrong with them?"
Fiore didn't have an answer. With one final sigh, Mateo helped him to the entrance of the greenhouse. One of the other farmers gestured to a folding chair someone had brought in.
"Rest up, kiddo," she said. "When you feel strong enough, go home and take a nap. You look awful."
Did he really look that bad? Fiore grimaced, then laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. He flopped down in the chair, letting his head fall between his legs for several minutes. When he finally felt ready, he got up and headed home. Until he did, it didn't escape him that there was always someone nearby to keep an eye on him.
Fiore couldn't help but smile on his way home. The farmers were his team now. And they treated him far better than anyone else ever had.
