There was no time for shock or really any reaction other than action. War was breaking out all over, actual war between the countries of Russia and Australia, not just rebellions between mutants and humans. And thanks to Kai's dedication to peace, he was undercover with the Order and what had started as a spy mission for one organization became a murder order.

He had expected that his loyalty would be tested. Perhaps he would be required to beat up a human? Kai had sincerely hoped that it wouldn't have to come to that, but he was prepared to if it meant that he could prevent war. He could not have prevented this.

So now he was headed into a hostile territory to “prove himself.”

On his way to the jet which would haul him to Russia at amazing speeds, Kai grabbed as much food as he could and began stuffing his face. If he was going where the bullets were flying, he was not going in unarmored.

His heart was heavy as he contemplated the millions of lives he was about to change. The Order was employing a tactic of “starving the enemy” by sending Kai to destroy their crops. Something he was fully capable of doing, but at what costs? When there is a shortage of food, it is the common people who feel the hunger pains the loudest.

He sat down and belted himself into the plush leather chair, starting to feel mildly ill. Kai generally did not need to eat food when he had access to enough sunlight for his body to photosynthesize and he had never experimented with mixing the two before. Apparently the two sources didn't get along very well. He closed his eyes and concentrated, shifting through his brain to recall a particular pattern of cell structure. He found it relatively quickly and ordered his skin to follow this new set of directions.

The outermost layer of skin of his body began to harden. The wrinkles and finger prints became a grain pattern as Kai fed the cells some of his energy. Over the next several hours he built up an organic armor that completely covered- and indeed was still a part of- his body.

He looked down at his hand and stretched it out. Greetings, I'm Iron(wood) Man! he laughed at his little pun, then rose, squared his shoulders and departed the jet, without any clue what was waiting for him on the other side of the door.

Abyss set patiently in a hideout that was set up by some renegade Russian mutants. These were not imported mutants but actual Russian mutants. Abyss had been hailed by these particular mutants as a hero of the times. who was he to argue if they appreciated his work. He stepped outside with one of the mutants who was jamming all radar and intrusive signals from obstructing their operation, what was particularly convenient about this mutant was that he made the signals come up blank. so it looked like no activity was happening, not that the radar was being blocked. so when Kai arrived on their new air strip, it was n suprise that they were not bothered or intercepted. Abyss walked calmly toward the now still jet to meet with Russia's end game.

It was a classic move, you surround the fortress and you starve the occupants and so it was that Kai came to them. He would starve Russia into submission, it wasn't the war monger style that Abyss was fond of, he would prefer to do this by force...but good strategy was good strategy. H stood looking up at the young man exiting the plane.

"Previet! Kai, I am pleased you made it. how was you flight? if you would like some time to recoup from the flight that is understandable. If you would rather get started I can take you to the first plot."

Kai was fairly relieved to see his welcoming party of mutants, rather than, well a bunch of guns pointing in his direction. At least this way, if there were guns, they were “on his side”.

>>"Previet! Kai, I am pleased you made it. how was you flight? if you would like some time to recoup from the flight that is understandable. If you would rather get started I can take you to the first plot."

He shook his head to clear it. If he was ever going to be ready, it was now. “The plot, if you will,” he affirmed with confidence. “And we'll need some of our comrades here to come along to gather and carry the seeds.”

He genuinely hoped that his last comment didn't make him sound like a nut-job. No puns intended. If the need arose, he could quite arguably convince these men that it was beneficial saving the seeds so he could revitalize them to feed them instead of the enemy. And twice as devastating by comparison when their underfed people clash with the better fed mutant troops.

All doubts were set aside at this point. Kai would not play, but be this role until it was no longer necessary.

Abyss tilted his head momentarily and pondered this young man's intention's for the seeds. " extra muscle wont be necessary, I assure you. In fact, I think the pair of us will be more than enough." He turned to his fellows an belted off a few lines in Russian "Comrades, We will soon be raising the land, I hope you have all of the prior affairs I suggested in order." the mutants would be taking or had all ready taken control of the few refineries in the area. They joked that they should hit the yeast feilds first and cut the supply of vodka off and not bother with the food."


He then waved for Kai to follow him. The pair were shown to a government Humvee, with official tags, so any one thinking about stopping them would refrain from doing so. After they entered Abyss had a compliment and some questions for the young man. " I like to see our members thinking, I hadn't realized that you would not only be able to raze but save the seeds as well. The possibilities are great. May I ask how far your control extends? I will do the carrying for us, not physically, but we will get them where we need them."

Kai appraised his most recently acquired companion. He was also obviously the one in charge. Which was good. And he was certainly muscular enough to back up his claim that only the two of them would be required to gather the seeds- though Kai wasn't quite sure what he meant about not using physical strength.

They climbed into the "Government" vehicle and sped off.

"My range is... significant." he answered after some careful consideration, "It will build through the interconnected root systems. I have not tested it with this much square area before. We will have to see. The best place to start, however is somewhere in the center of a field." He grinned. "I think I will be able to pull the seeds towards us, too. Depending on how you are going to carry them, it should be quick work."

“Excellent…It is odd to ask but I have seen some odd cases over the years, Will it bother you to drive through the crops to get to the middle? And excellent about bringing the seeds to us…with that being the probable case we should be able to make fairly short work of the agriculture. Could you then reverse the process elsewhere? I am normally better informed then all this but communication has been rough with the war and what not.”

Abyss peeled off toward the center of the surrounding crop lands. Originally Abyss had been surprised that got much of anything at all to grow, the conditions in Russia had always been harsh but since the Gulf Stream went down, it was enough to get him to put a coat on. Typically his muscle mass made him something akin to a furnace. He was excited to see how well this worked. If so, his new friend here might be the key to fully conquering Australia. He would drive parallel to the field of choice, until he received the ok to go through it. Once he received that he would make an attempt at off-roading, if he didn’t approve then it would be a bit of a walk.

"Yes, you may drive through them. The time delay won't be enough that they will lose vital energy trying to make repairs." After all, if he was careening through the plants, he wouldn't have time to get to know them or for them to get to know him. It would be a much smoother process, much less painful.

>>"Could you then reverse the process elsewhere?

Kai nodded. "That is the point of the seeds. The energy I am taking from the plants doesn't just go away. I will act as a reservoir for it until such a time when we want the plants to grow again."

They drove along for a moment, then Kai pointed. "Into the middle of that one!" The field of choice was a type of winter grain, extremely plentiful in Russia and also only a few weeks away from harvest. The seeds would be ready and the Russians would certainly miss this crop- if they could demolish enough of it. Like killing two birds with one stone.

The pair swerved to the right as abyss was the type to turn directly left if told him the turn as you were passing it. And it wasn’t as if they were trying to avoid going through the fields. He hit the guess as he now had a destination. The middle of the field was reached quickly. Upon arrival Abyss hoped out and smiled. “Now to show you another trick I have up my sleeve. It is my reason for not worrying about having more people along.” He opened a void above them. “ once you have cleared enough area I will set the void on the ground and then you can deposit as many seeds as you like right in there. “It should preserve them as they are…we are going to make quite the duo in this endeavor to rob the Russians of their fuel.”

He smiled eagerly at the young man; it was a treat to watch a talented mutant in top form. To watch the plants reverse their process at his whim would reaffirm his belief in their cause easily.

The car careened wildly to the side, knocking Kai against the side with the centrifugal force for the briefest of moments until they came to an abrupt halt. For the first time, he really appreciated his bark-skin which was mostly bruise resistant. It was so much more manly and tough to not wince when he was thrown against something. Not to mention the bonus toughness points gained from not wearing a seat belt.

Once the ground was steady beneath him, Kai climbed out of the car to take a look at this "demonstration". He directed his gaze upward into... a giant blankness. The normally dreary grey of the Russian sky was completely obscured by a deep black patch of nothingness.

>>“ once you have cleared enough area I will set the void on the ground and then you can deposit as many seeds as you like right in there. It should preserve them as they are…we are going to make quite the duo in this endeavor to rob the Russians of their fuel.”

Kai blinked as the void disappeared- it was memorizing in a way- and nodded. It was time to get to work.

To maximize his range and connection with the plants of the field, he sat and grasped a hand full of stems in each of his fists. He extended his consciousness as far as it would go. Outwards and outwards, he pushed his mind in every direction from himself. Now the coaxing. He imposed his will and impressed upon them to send him their strength in equal parts. Coaxing and demanding, until all the plants within a dozen mile radius submitted to his will.

He wrenched with his mind, pulling the growing potential of the farthest plants into those closer and closer. His power halted a little when crossing gaps between the root systems, such as the road, but he pulled harder.

He opened his eyes to see the effect. The plants immediately surrounding him burst forth in seed, abundantly, letting the excess fall to the ground and immediately putting forth more seeds in their place. He continued to feed them the energy from the plants farther afield until he obtained the volume of seeds that would normally be produced. His next concerted effort was to draw in their life forces. The plants did not protest overly. They liked him and were eager to do as he asked, even if it meant giving up their lives to serve him. This energy, however, he pulled into himself, filling every cell of his own body with the strength. He absorbed the pattern of the grain, filing it away until such a time when he needed to replicate it.

With each passing second, the stress grew lighter and lighter. Kai felt energized and filled to the brim with strength. The strain became effortless as the plants yielded their lives. Until there was no resistance left and he found himself sitting in the middle of bare, brown nothingness.

Kai knew that he should feel remorse at the dirt-void, and yet there were thousands- no millions of plants alive within him. His now empty fists glowed faintly, radiating pure energy.

He rose slowly to his feet. At his full height he felt a dozen feet tall. "You may store them now." He announced with a grin that was a mix of joy and self accomplishment.

At first Abyss could only sense that Kai was straining to work there was no visual effect and then slowly the sound caught his ears and he wondered at it. Shortly after that He was left in a barren waste. They had just raised the surrounding area quicker then fire could have and with so much more benefit. He was glad he let himself be talked into bringing a plant man in. He was going to request a pyrokinetic and let the land burn. But this was terrifying. What do you do against someone who can make your sustenance simply disappear..

"You may store them now."

Abyss opened a void at the bottom of the pile and watched as pounds after pound of grain seed poured into the void.

“There a very few sights that honestly impress me any more, You have just done so easily.” Abyss surveyed the young wooden man. “The radiance looks good on you as well. Shall we move on?” Abyss was already heading for the Jeep as he had opened several voids and the seed was nearly disappeared.

As they moved on Abyss struck up friendly conversation. “So, how long have you been with the order? I think you could move up the chain, I’ve got confidence in you.”

>>“There a very few sights that honestly impress me any more, You have just done so easily. The radiance looks good on you as well. Shall we move on?”

Kai nodded his agreement. He felt more alive than he ever had before, so he was curious to see if his range and control would be improved by this extra energy. He grinned at a stray thought, “Let me know when you grow weary of this, I could go on all day.”

There were benefits and consequences from being efficient at your assigned tasks. On the one hand, in a manner of minutes, Kai had been able to deal a devastating blow to 24 square miles of viable grain. He had also managed to do this in a way that did not immediately alert the authorities. On the other, they had to drive another twenty plus miles away in order for him to replicate the effect.

And in the mean time, why not engage in idle chat?

>>“So, how long have you been with the order? I think you could move up the chain, I’ve got confidence in you.”

“You could say I'm a new recruit. Just met up with some Order members in Australia, volunteered my help, and they seemed to think my services would be useful up here.” He shrugged. “How about yourself? Been in Russia long?”

" I might hold you to it, though if your stamina runs out there is no shame in picking back up tomorrow. after we clear this district we might pick up and hit some other farm communities. just to throw them off our scent. We'll see if I cant keep up."

Abyss listened and nodded, Australia was working wonders for the Order's ranks, It was nice to see the response to actually taking a continent. almost the whole thing was in their pocket, how much longer could they hold on now that the worlds attention would be on their own back yard.

" I have been in on this little organization since it started up back in NYC. so what...ten, twelve years. who knows, a long time. I have been in and out of Russia this last trip has been about a month, we are trying to get the locals up and moving. Russia would be a nice starting ground for us, move south from here and all the way down to Indonesia connect us to Australia and move west from there. Take Europe and then we are in the clear to roll over the rest. It is all a matter of getting our people to fall in step instead of opposing us. if we can manage that, we don't even have to wait to go west while we head south."

Abyss was once again using the accelerator to its fullest They would clear twenty four miles in no time. He was glancing at the millage every so often to get a feel for what Kai here was up to. The barren fields were beautiful.

Kai chuckled to himself inwardly. The idea of him growing weary or running out of “stamina” was absurd when he could draw energy from his environment. Literally. And the way that Abyss asserted that he could keep up, indicated that the idea of him tiring easily was also absurd- which meant that they were ideally suited and matched for this task.

His comrade shared his story and vision of a mutant dominated world. Kai nodded in the appropriate places and said “yeah!” enthusiastically from time to time. But his heart wasn’t really in it. The miles were flying by as the little Jeep roared at top gear. It didn’t take them long to clear the zone of destruction. The flat brown earth stretched out behind them even as the golden horizon stretched in front. They plunged into living fields, driving towards the next center of destruction.

“Perhaps all that the other mutants need is a show of power. They are mostly followers, and will follow a strong leader who demonstrates that they can handle being in control.” He commented as they were reaching the next stopping point. “As it is, there is too much information coming from too many different directions.... Anywhere in here should be good.”

Kai was eager to continue his work.

Abyss nodded in agreement and then laughed. “Now where are we going to be able to find a group actively showing how to get things done? But you are right I think we might need to bring these other groups in, or put them out. One thing at a time though, and first we shall claim Russia.” He taped his chin thoughtfully and swerved into another field and then hoped down again opening a void.

He snapped a small piece of a nearby crop off and began to chew it as he waited for Kai to do all the work.
As he watched the process again, He watched Kai charge more and more, he was benefitting from this personally as well as the order was, he wondered if the reverse process would drain him as much as this was empowering him. If he kept growing in power then soon they might just have to visit the local military base.

Ready... set... heave!

Kai's heightened powers made quick work of the next section of field. He discovered, however, that a giant boost in power, did not correlate to a vastly greater range in which he could control plants. His hold on the farthest away was strengthened, but the farthest plant that he could grab ahold of was only slightly farther away than in the first field. Some things just couldn't replace practice, he figured.

It was easier this time, like when he was a child and he had lied to his parents about how a vase had been broken. The first time he told the tale he felt uneasy, but as he repeated it even he began to believe that that was what had really occurred. Second guessing is put aside once the actual doing begins. It was effortless, the energy required to drain the fields was minuscule compared to what he gained.

"Russia is a good start." He let a smile creep onto his lips. "I think this will be the last time that we need to stop. Don't get me wrong, I'm not quitting on you, but I've got the hang of this now. If you don't drive too fast as we go and open voids along side the road, I think we can keep moving and I can spread my powers out vertically rather than in a circle. It may be faster."