Cameron felt as though he had been punched in the stomach. He held the urge to gasp dramatically, but only just barely. He shook his head slightly to clear his head. His head was just beginning to throb in an annoying migraine. Slowly, he massaged his temples and peered up at the strangers. He could feel an angry rage bubble up inside him and he managed to mutter:

“How dare you!”

No matter how hard he tried, Cameron couldn’t control his anger. Every plant inside the shop began to rustle and wave as they felt his anger and attempted to attack the strangers. Rose “growled” and produced two menacing thorns and brandished her leaves angrily at Teresa.

“I think you should leave. Now!” Cameron hissed angrily. How dare she accuse them of “force-growing” their plants. He and Kai had worked long and hard in this little shop and never forced any plants to grow against their will. To think of such a monstrosity made Cameron even angrier and the plants in the shop shook their leaves with even more ferocity. Cameron wanted these people gone.

Kai felt reality sinking in. Whether or not their original conclusion--that Teresa was interested in buying...plants... from them-- was correct, she knew and openly proclaimed them to be mutants. If she knew about them, she could potentially out them. Was she an enemy or a friend? And if she was a friend, why was she playing games with them?

That was not, however, what Cameron was currently blowing up about.

He was personally offended that she had implied that he forced plants to do what he wanted. Kai was also offended by the suggestion and on behalf of the plants that they had a connection with, including Rose. Teresa had implied that plants were mindless, things to be ordered around. And perhaps to many people, they were mindless, but plants were more alive to him than some people. They had their own plans and private feuds. They wanted everything that humans wanted; to live peaceful and prosperous lives- except they were much less greedy. He would NEVER force them to do anything. Kai was fairly certain that Cameron felt the same way.

>"I think you should leave. Now!" Cameron was proclaiming.

Kai added his own two cents, trying to both explain what Cam was talking about and show that he agreed with him. "I don't know why you came here, but insulting our plants is not going to make you any 'friends' that you can 'call upon in your time of need'. If you need a centerpiece, we have several that are suitable. If not, we're not interested in what you are selling."

The plants around them were making quite a racket, waving branches or leaves. He could feel that they contained a nervous energy, and were offering their help. We can protect you! They all seemed to be saying at the same time. Kai tried to calm himself down, knowing that if they both lost control, there would be consequences. Not the least of which was there would be a lot of pruning in their future...

He shot a glance at the other fellow in the store. Had they come in together? Was he also a part of the organization that she was offering them membership to? It sounded like a gang. Or was he a regular customer who now knew that they were mutants?

> “How dare you! I think you should leave. Now!”
> "I don't know why you came here, but insulting our plants
> is not going to make you any 'friends' that you can 'call upon
> in your time of need'. If you need a centerpiece, we have
> several that are suitable. If not, we're not interested in
> what you are selling."

Between the two kids freaking out and the plants doing their impersonation of Audrey II, it's pretty clear to Sonya that her attempt to recruit these two into the Resistance is a complete wash. Which is something of a pity -- in part because they might have been useful, but ultimately for their own sake. At least, she suspects the twins will suffer more for it in the long run.

Still, she has no desire to stick around and argue the point. "I meant no insult. But as I said in the first place... if you'd rather stay on your own, I won't bother you further. Good luck to both of you." Turning her back on the twins is a somewhat frightening proposition given their state of agitation, but seems preferable to backing away from them.

She contemplates adding a parting comment as she reaches the door, perhaps giving them a number to call if they change their minds, but ultimately decides not to bother. Not every mutant is worth recruiting, after all.

If Shade had not been some-what freaked out by the moving plants, he barely would have knifed the twins where they stood. He could feel the black blade beneath his hoodie. However, 'Teresa' seemed to handle the situation on her own Shade stood eyeing the two boys for several seconds after 'Teresa' had left the greenhouse. Finally making up his mind, Shade exited behind the female mutant.

"Well, that went pretty smoothy."

> "Well, that went pretty smoothly."

Sonya laughs at that. "Yeah. Actually, would you believe that wasn't my least successful recruitment attempt? The last guy actually mind-controlled me." She shakes her head, discouraged. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just not cut out for this gig, you know?"

Teresa had been gone for a moment, before Kai realized that she was out the door and that he could stop edging towards his sturdy walking stick. The other man had left with her, which was just as well.

So now that they were alone... Kai turned towards his brother. "Cam, WHAT were you thinking?!"

The plants around them, having calmed down slightly when the threatening people left, now moved with renewed vigor, feeding of the energy of the pending argument.

"Maybe you are just not using the right technique?" Shade said drily. An evil smile crept across his face.

"You can always try my way of doing things." He pulled the black knife from his pocket.

"Cause then some pain." Shade let go the dagger as it flew towards a tree. The knife spiraled through the air and struck the trunk, penetrating deep into it. After a couple of seconds, the knife vanished into nothingness, leaving a nice cut in the tree.

Sonya frowns, as much puzzled as disturbed, at Shade's comment. "I don't get it... what would that accomplish?"

She's distracted from her own question by the knife itself, though, and the way it vanishes into nothingness. "How'd you do that?"

"It's just one of my tricks." Shade said pulling another knife from his pocket. He led it in front of him in the light and as the three seconds commenced, it dissolved into black smoke.

"I don't know what it is. Just that it can hurt someone if need be."

Sonya extends a cautious finger to touch the knife's surface, but it dissolves into nothingness before she does.

> "I don't know what it is. Just that it can hurt someone if need be."

"Interesting." She pulls her hand back equally cautiously, then walks over to the tree to inspect the cut. "Can you pull other things out of your pocket like that, or just knives?"

"Just knives for now, but they don't necessarily have to be from my pocket." Shade walked towards Sonya as far as the light permitted him visible. As he reached into the branches above, his arm disappeared as the shadow hit it. A knife materialized in the palm of his hand and he brought it down into view.

"See, just has to be dark enough." Shade placed the perfectly smooth, jet black dagger into Sonya hand.

Cameron thought about what he was going to say for about a second before he exploded.

"Well how dare she come in here and accuse us of force growing our plants!" He hissed, venom dripping from every word. "You know as well as I that isn’t true. We’ve worked too hard in this shop to stand by while people come in and insult us."

As a get-away, Cameron stomped up and down the rows of plants and calmed them down. They were still pretty hyped up. Cameron knew that he was fighting a losing battle, but he really didn't care. He kept thinking back that he may have slightly over reacted, but he just made himself think of the plants.

Cameron was so frustrated that he hadn't noticed that a single tear was making the long trek down his cheek. He immediately wiped it away with his sleeve as Rose said:

I still love you, she soothed.

Cameron laughed at this and continued, down the rows, all his anger dissipated.

Kai was kind of surprised that Cameron didn't blow up in his face. He yelled a little bit, yes, but usually that argument would have been MUCH longer and probably would have come to blows. Instead, he just stalked off, walking between the rows of plants.

Kai stood there, a little confused. He shook his head, Perhaps Cameron is learning to control his temper. Wouldn't that be something? It would mean that the two could also work on getting a better grip on their power. Kai was sure that he wasn't the only one who noticed the unexpected growth of their plants during the... incident with Teresa and the weird guy. He planned to bring the subject of practicing their powers up at a later time and went about his business tidying up the shop.

Cameron sighed as he realized that Kai wasn't following him. It just felt good to be immersed in one's own thoughts. Although, it did seem strange that all the plants in the shop had a sudden growth spurt while Cameron was freaking out. He asked why that had happened in the general direction of the plants and he recieved a flurry of explanations.

"One at a time please," Cameron muttered as he attempted to sort the gummble of words that came flowting in his head. Rose was the first to respond.

Well, I thought that was obvious!she said sarcastically.You were angry, so we were too. We were simply trying to protect you.

There was a murmur of agreement from the rest of the shop. Cameron knew that if he behaved the same way that he had today, then they wouldn't be able to hold all the plants. I need to control my anger, he thought. How hard could that be?

Sonya runs her fingers lightly over Shade's knife, surprised by how normal it feels. A friend of hers had brought a black glass dagger back from a Renaissance Faire once, this felt a lot like that except even smoother. "Neat," she mumbles, handing the knife back to him.

"Anyway... like I was saying before that fiasco of a recruitment session, I'm going to need a couple of days to find the right guard; after that I should be able to get into the facility. If you're sure you can cause a distraction without getting yourself caught, it should be easy enough for me to download the database without anyone being any the wiser. Can I reach you at the number you called me from?"