Sorry this chapter's so late, procrastination struck hard the last few days. It's a pretty shitty feeling to know you've been wasting your time, so I've decided on a new schedule of sorts. For as long as I don't have a job, I'll be doing something productive, whether that be writing, or something else, for at least six hours per day. Thus, you might see another chapter of this before today ends. They only take me a little over an hour after all :)

Somebody gave me half a star for some reason :'(

Happy reading!

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ContractBetween

Potted Rose of -adress indeterminate-, NYC, NY

And

Simon Belfonse of -adress indeterminate-, NYC, NYBoth parties agree to keep, perform and fulfill the promises set out in this Agreement:

1. Potted Rose promises to never harm Simon Belfonse, whether purposefully or not.

2. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, if Potted Rose defaults in the performance of any obligation under this Agreement, then Potted Rose will never harm Simon Belfonse, whether purposefully or not.

Simon took a deep breath, and pressed his thumb aggressively against a thorn on the rose’s stem. To his mild surprise, and satisfaction, he only felt a mild pressure. When he pulled his thumb away, he found his thumb completely unmarred.

Simon was currently in a small botany store he had found while wandering the mall. It had taken some time to free himself from his mother’s clutches, but it had definitely been worth it, as now he had the fruit of his labour in his hands.

At first, Simon was reluctant to experiment with his power on other humans, so he had tried to form contracts with inanimate objects as he wandered around. There was no reaction, however so he tried to find some sort of plant or small animal. He was in luck, as he found “The Urban Garden” near one of the blocked mall entrances.

He had grabbed a small potted rose and sat down on a nearby bench, leading to where he was now.

Creating a contract was a bit like putting on a necklace, Simon found. There was a definite mental weight to it, but after awhile, he was able to ignore it.

For awhile now, Simon had worried that he wouldn’t be able to make use of his ability in combat situations, but this recent finding changed things drastically. Simon could simply make a contract with someone that would make them unable to hurt him. With just that, Simon thought it was almost worth the 6800 points he had paid for it, but Simon knew this was just the tip of the iceberg. There was a lot more to his power than he was aware of.

For another hour, Simon experimented with various plants in the store, and made several findings.

First, he is unable to grant the plants abilities that he does not have himself. For example, if he wanted to make the plant fly, he would be unable to do so. However, when Simon tested it, he found he could give the plants greatly increased mobility, allowing them to wander around the store floor walking on their roots. It was quite the surreal sight.

Second, Simon can take some physical characteristics of the plants, providing they don’t interfere with his body’s workings. Simon tried having the rose give him flowers growing out of his hand. It worked, and he was left with a small red rose growing out of the tip of his finger. When he dispelled the contract, the rose crumbled into dust, leaving his finger rose free, and just as he had it before.

Third, Simon is able to affect a person’s mind with his power. He wasn’t quite sure how it was able to affect plants with their lack of brains, but it did, somehow. He tried making the walking plants confused, and they began stumbling around as if they were drunk, waving roots and vines in the air. Simon was well aware of the more sinister posibilities of this, and decided to do his best to never use his power as such though he wasn’t against doing so in an emergency.

Finally, Simon needs a direct line of sight, and be within 5 meters of his target for his power to work. This was a major discovery, and severely reduced combat potential.

Rising from his bench, Simon dusted his hands off and began making his way back to the Bell’s Taco where his family was posted. It was almost six thirty, and his stomach was beginning to complain.

On his way back, Simon was passing the hallway leading to the main “entrance” when he heard a commotion and stopped.

A small group of people armed with a variety of improvised weapons and small firearms had just entered the mall. With them was his brother, Thomas, carrying a long improvised spear made of a broom handle and kitchen knife.

Thomas spotted him at the same time.

“Simon!”, he shouted, smiling.

He jogged ahead of his group over to Simon.

“Hey, man, I just got back from a scouting mission. What did Elliot say?”, he asked brightly.

“Scouting.”, Simon said dryly.

“Yeah?”, Thomas said, confused.

Simon stared at him from a moment, then said, “We need to talk. Come with me”. Simon grabbed his arm and led him down a hallway. They entered a janitorial closet, and Simon stood in front of Thomas, arms crossed.

“I’m going to say this plainly, and hope you understand. I don’t trust Elliot. He’s up to something, and I don’t want you dragged into it. You’ve got to quit whatever you’re doing for him.”, Simon said sternly.

Thomas looked shocked, but his face rapidly scrunched up in anger. “What?! Elliot’s done nothing but care for us since this started! He’s a really cool guy, there’s no way he’d do something to hurt us. This... This is the first thing I’ve really believed in. I’m saving lives, HELPING people out there, and you want me to quit?!”, he said, voice rising in anger.

Simon ground his teeth as he listened. “He’s USING you, Thomas. You think he’s building this militia just to help people?! All he’s doing is amassing people to serve in his little army! He’s going to do something big, I know it, and I don’t want you, or mom anywhere near it!”, he seethed back.

Thomas snorted. “Oh, sure. I bet he’s going to try to take over the world. Where the hell did you get this from anyway?! Where’s your proof? I thought you were a lawyer!”

Simon looked taken aback, then clenched his jaw and stared at him angrily. “It’s obvious! Just look around, those people out there in the hallways are only there because they’re not part of Elliot’s military! It’s basically a class system in here, Thomas, he’s trying to get as many people under him as he can.”

“They’re only there because they’re not doing anything to help! You don’t work, you don’t eat. We all have to do something to help, if all you do is laze around, you’re not going to get anything in return!”

“What, so you’d rather trust Elliot, a complete stranger, over me, your own brother?!”, Simon yelled at him.

“Trust you?! Oh yeah, sure. I trusted you when you said you would always be there for me, remember that? And remember the time I got locked up for possession. I was there for two months. TWO MONTHS! And how many times did you come visit me? Not a single goddamn time. Not once did my big brother come to me in my time of need. And now, you want me to trust you again? Fuck you. FUCK you! Elliot’s done more for me this last day than you have for my entire life!”. Thomas was breathing hard.

When Simon didn’t reply, Thomas sniffed indignantly and turned to leave.

“Why don’t you tell this to all the people we’ve saved. I’m sure they’ll be ecstatic to join your side.”, he said over his shoulder as he left.

Simon stood there for a minute. His fists clenched and unclenched, his teeth grinding together.

“FUCK!”, he yelled suddenly, and kicked over a nearby bucket.

“DAMNIT! THAT IDIOT!”

Simon recovered from his outburst, and took a few deep breaths.

The annoying thing was, everything he said was true. Biased, sure, but within an acceptable margin.

Simon knew he hadn’t really been there for his brother, certainly not when he started hanging out with the wrong crowd. They had both coped with the death of their father differently. Simon had thrown himself into his studies, and Thomas had thrown himself into parties and cheap drugs.

While Simon was certain that Elliot was up to something, it was true he didn’t have any proof of it.

‘So.’, Simon thought to himself. ‘I guess I’ve got to find some, then.’

But first, as his stomach rumbled strongly, he needed to find some food.