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Prompt 10: Poinsettias are common during the winter seasons, so it isn't unusual to see them decorating windowsills and local establishments. What is unusual are the unique Winter Star Poinsettias that seem to have accidentally mixed into the bunch. They look like ordinary Poinsettias reflecting a bit of glow from nearby lights--only, the leaves themselves are emitting a soft, silvery glow. They look like they are covered with a fine morning dew, only with fine silver glitter peppered in to give it a unique sparkle. They seem to have gone unnoticed by most of Destiny City and the landscapers, and it's not clear how these plants were selected, but anyone with a keen eye might recognize them as the catastrophe of Destiny City Botanical Garden's 2016 Winter Extravaganza. Thankfully, these variants are far less dangerous than their counterparts, however, these plants have a strange pollen that acts like an allergen and can cause agitation, oversensitivity, and sneezing to anything with much of a strong smell. Anyone who comes into contact with these plants may also find themselves suffering from flu-like symptoms such as fever, coughing, fatigue, and nausea and no medicine will relieve it, but the symptoms gradually fade. The leaves of the poinsettia are sharp and can sting like a papercut, so be careful! ...If you're worried about an all-out attack again, it might be a good idea to destroy these poinsettias--if you can manage to do so without getting caught.
Normally, Vivi tended to ignore most holiday related things, it just didn't seem right she supposed, considering nothing good ever happened around the holidays in Destiny City, but as she passed through town, she couldn't help but notice the flowers, specifically, the poinsettias. She noticed, among the usual holiday ones, there seemed to be a really strange kind. Knowing, but unable to silence her curiosity about them, Vivi, went to inspect them ,but was stopped by a sudden bought of sneezing, and, she was nauseous, the heck? She backed off, going home instead but not before making a stop for some masks, anti nausea, and maybe some cold medicine. She was definitely not sick before approaching those plants, and could only reason the plants were the source. So she'd have to come back a bit later in the week, after a brief rest and food break of course, she didn't want to investigate while sick feeling. In the meantime, she'd do a little research on poinsettia's while resting.
Two days later, in the evening, Vivi returned, but as Barnabas, figuring a little magical boost (and some non magical double layering of gloves and mask would protect her) while she studied the plants. Upon inspection of the first ones she lifted, they were sharp and hurt, badly. Hissing, she let it go. Fine, hands off studying it was. They looked incredibly different from the plants beside them, and she recalled in her investigation that these were a local strain, from a breed from a garden show several years back, one she only vaguely remembered because she went with her parents and sister out of town. After some time of basically staring at the plants, she couldn't take it anymore, and gently plucked one off the plant, careful of the sharpness. Now armed with a much closer look, it was apparent to her the plant was just, weird. Something about it screamed wrong, and not even her more neutral approach to things involving the chaos legions or white order kept her senses safe.
This plant just couldn't really stay alive, in her opinion, but how best to take it out and not get caught...She may need to power down, get some plant shears, or look in an alley for a thrown out pair of scissors, which was less appealing, but the journey from home to here and back for one thing was also unappealing, meaning she needed to set aside her reservations, and dig around.
Twenty minutes later, Vivi came back dirty, but triumphant, holding a pair of rusty scissors and a bent knife she had also found, and quietly set to work, carefully plucking, cutting and slicing off the dangerous poinsettia. It took she thought, three to four hours, as she went from building to building, stall to stall, getting as many as she could find, when, before she reached the final one, she saw light, specifically, from a flashlight. "Who's there!?" A voice, young, called out, so maybe not a cop, Barnabas was NOT going to take the chance and ran, ran until she was sure she wasn't followed.
She stopped to get her breath, and to find somewhere to "power down" before heading home, hoping that she got at least enough to cause a problem to the plant, and stop its spread, if that was the plan for it at least.
