Chapter 50: Surprise adoption!

[Phoenix's POV]

After breakfast was over we watched a few episodes of Black Lagoon, and like I thought, both women were entertained by the series. Sure, Amy and Taylor made the blasphemous remarks of wanting to try Dub, but they would grow out of their immaturity eventually. He knows I can hear him right? I heard a whisper on the winds, but it was probably just my imagination. Asshole.

Anyway, after we finished watching Black Lagoon, we managed to finish all 12 episodes in one sitting, something I hadn't been able to do since I was my physical age, we decided to head outside for a bit so Taylor and I could soak in some sun and further our transformation. Amy grabbed the biggest and fluffiest fur coat she could find, which was made out of white dyed Loboan fur, and some winter pants/boots. Taylor just put on a light jacket and pants, she got a bit of bleed over from Arctiguana and Big Chill so she was okay with that, while I just stayed in my normal clothes. I was a Winter baby, one in December, the cold was fine for me. And even if it wasn't, my bleed over from the Cryokinetics was enough for me not to feel any detrimental effects, Oou a big word, my brow twitched, but I left it be.

That said, Amy wasn't exactly pleased about going outside. "Still think this is bullshit. You're bullshit, and I hate you."

Looking over my shoulder, I met Amy's caustic Marigold eyes, brow raised as I did. "'Lotta bitchin coming from another Winter child. Especially one that's supposed to be older then us."(Apparently Amy was born somewhere between Oct - Dec, and 2 years earlier then Taylor)

She just scoffed at me for that. "Just because I was born in December...-"

I paused, giving the Bio-Striker a Surprised look, a look my Other Half was mirroring on her own face. "Wait, you too?" I idly wondered if we were birthday twins, It wouldn't be that much of a shock if we were, I'd met two other people that I shared a birthday with and they were both girls, so a 3rd would just be par for the course.

Amy blinked, looking Confused for a moment before getting what I meant. "December 22nd." Yikes. Well that was a little Disappointing.

My reaction was essentially the same. "Oof. 1 set of gifts?"

She huffed at that, an Annoyed frown on her face as she did. "'With there being only a 3 day difference between her birthday and Christmas there'd be no point in supplying her two sets of gifts.' Heard that when Carol was talking to Aunt Sarah about it." Damn.

That sucked. "I can and can't relate to that." Amy's raised brow prompted me to go on so I did. "A majority of my birthdays I got money, and then a bit more money on Christmas. Though once or twice I'd get a thing for my birthday, then money on Christmas. It was rare, but it happened atleast once." Huh...

Amy nodded at that, apparently getting it. "Uncle Neil and Aunt Sarah did that for me. The money thing, not the present thing." Ah, so she did get it.

"Huh..." The sound made Amy and I turn to it, focusing on Taylor, who was just looking at us with a complicated look on her face. Thanks to the Bond though I knew what she was feeling, which was a mix of Surprise and Self Criticism. "Now I feel kind of spoiled. I was born in June, so I got both."

Amy and I both rolled our eyes at that. ""It's fine./It's whatever."" We shared a look at that, then decided to not mention the unintentional synchronicity. Well, maybe not right now.

I looked at my girlfriend, deciding to go before Amy could. "I don't really care about my birthday, it's just another day for me, has been nearly my whole life." Which was true. My mother lived in New Jersey with my sister(s), I lived with my Grandmother in a projects apartment in the Bronx, while my Uncle lived in uptown in a sorta fancy apartment of his own with a great view and like, 20 floors or something. No one either was able to find the time, or cared enough to set up a birthday party for me when I grew up, so I didn't have that inherent giddiness for birthdays that everyone else had. That's not helping. Not helping at all. Oops.

Amy scoffed before I could say anything else. "That depressing thing aside," I halfheartedly flipped her off, just because I could, earning a middle of my own from her. "I'm sort of in the same boat. I got used to it eventually, and don't really care anymore."

Taylor just stared at us for a moment, then blinked. "Melody, remind me to find good birthday stuff later."

The TV flickered in the distance, and an alert sounded off from her phone. "# Way ahead of you Taylor. # She nodded at that while Amy and I blinked. "# By the way, Erin and Tess are already looking into cake/presents. #"

""Red Velvet/Chocolate."" We didn't even bother looking at each other at that, more focused on the promise of cake. I swear they were separated at birth. I idly wondered about that before remembering I was Isekai'd here. How...? Nevermind.

Shaking it off, I decided to get us back on track. "What were we talking about?"

We all shared a look, legitimately unsure. Thankfully for us, Taylor was more mentally organized then we were. "Amy not liking the cold despite being born in December."

""Ah!/Oh, that."" Amy and I shared another look, me an Amused one, while hers was Disturbed.

"I swear to Satan if your twin but not twin shit is spreading, I'm running for the hills. I won't get far, but I'll still do it." Taylor and I snorted, getting her to look between the two of us with more Caution, and an actual bit of Amused Interest. "I'll fucking do it!" My girlfriend and I shared a mental look, then grinned at her. Amy just threw her hands up, a small smile on her face as she did. "You're both fucking insane."

In one mental moment I sent my response to my girlfriend, and in the next, we went for it. ""Thanks, we try.""

"Fucking!" We grinned wider, causing the brunette to scoff and shake her head. Unfortunate. "Whatever." Looking out towards the snow, the door was open since we were going to head out, she huffed. "ANYWAAAY! Just because I was born in December doesn't mean I have to like the cold."

My eyes widened at that. "Le gasp!" The deadpan was ignored. "Impossible! Winter is perfect for you though! The animals fuck off, people don't wanna go out and deal with the cold, and things tend to die if they stay out for too long. That's like dealing with you, but without the snark."

Her everything twitched, her eyes narrowed, and she raised a closed fist at me, much to my Amusement. "I'm going to find the longest and thickest dildo I can and shove it down your goddamn throat." I blinked... That... That was new.

While I was Confused about that, and tempted to make a 'Don't threaten me with a good time' quip, Taylor snorted, getting our attention. My girlfriend had a Amused smile on her lips, and was grinning like the cat that ate the canary over the Bond. "Wow Amy, threatening to violently fuck my boyfriend right in front of me? How scandalous." The teasing way she said that nearly made me choke. I really was a horrible influence.

Still, Amy and I both paused, me in Surprise at what she'd said instead of how she said it, while Amy seemed to be going over her threat again, and reaching the conclusion that it did sound like she was promising to throat fuck me with a dildo... Which was a strange thing to think, especially because I would sooner let a Hentai demon give me an All The Way Through, I don't think I want to know what that means or why I can hear the capitals, then let anything dick shaped in my throat or ass.

That aside, Amy way starting to go red, her cheeks burning up in a way that brought attention to her freckles, which I could tell both my girlfriend and I found adorable. "W-Wait, no, that's..!" Aforementioned girlfriend and I shared a laugh at the brunette's floundering, earning the both of us an Embarrassed glare. "I don't know why I'm friends with you assholes."

We had an answer to that, Together then. I Loved the Bond. ""Because we're your friends and we love you?"" The way Amy's entire body twitched had me mentally cackling, and I was only a small bit Sad that I had to keep the united front with my Other Half to fully sell the bit.

Eventually she got over it, turning away from us as she huffed, face pretty much one big blush, and stomped forwards and through the open door. We both watched her go, grumbling low enough that I wouldn't have heard her if I didn't have enhanced hearing. "Stupid goddamn assholes and their freaky twin bullshit. Fuckin love and shit. Fuckin attractive green eyed bastards the both of em." That did it, I started cackling, and I knew my Other Half was nearly as Amused as I was, she just didn't audibly show it. Hearing my laughter, Amy flipped me off over her shoulder, making me laugh louder.

After that little moment, we made our way to the closest clearing. It didn't take long to get there considering we had a designated clearing for this, but it took us long enough for Amy to cool down, That was bad, and you should feel bad. I looked at my girlfriend at that, seeing the small Amused smile on her face. [I can literally feel how much you liked that.]

She shrugged. |I've been known to have bad taste here and there. Take yourself for example.|

I nearly missed a step at that. [Wooow!] The smile she sent at me made me snort.

Though before either of us could add anything to it, we were interrupted. "So, we're here." Turning to Amy, we saw the brunette looking around, hands in her coat pockets as she turned to us. "Now what?" Since she asked, I raised the arm with the Ultimatrix, the device appearing with a mental urge. Amy blinked, looking at it, then me. "That's been there the whole time?" I nodded, making her blink. "Okay."

I blinked. "That's it?"

Amy shrugged, looking around the clearing again. "I mean, yeah? What do you want from me, some over dramatic reaction or some shit?"

I opened my mouth to s...- "Yeah, that's what he wanted." Betrayal! Taylor snorted at that, and the look I was giving her. "Oh hush and do the thing."

"Yeah, do the thing asshole." My eye twitched, and I turned back to see a grinning Amy. She was apparently living for this, and Taylor was only enabling her. As I should.

Huffing at that, I decided to just go for it, seamlessly popping the dial, then pressing it down. I was still Blossoming so it didn't matter who came up, I'd still end up as "Swampfire." Which I did. Looking myself over, I noticed the changes I had. My arms and legs were thicker, the area around my shoulders and neck was different, and my claws seemed sharper. Flexing them, I hummed. "Definitely stronger..." Looking down, then over to the nearest tree, I tilted my head a bit. "And taller?"

"Yes to the taller bit." Turning to my girlfriend, I blinked at the sight of her in her 'Dryad' form, even with her clothes covering her I was seeing a few differences. The red in her hair brightened a bit, looking a little closer to scarlet then the rose red it was before, the flower that grew on her collar seemed a little bigger, while the beginnings of a crown made of vines and thorns started to form on her head. Wait, really? I sent over an image of what I was seeing, getting her to blink. "Huh... It does look a little like a crown."

I nodded at that, idly pausing when she sent me an image of me and how I looked. "Hmm... Pretty sure this is the 1st stage." It was only the 1st stage, but I'd probably need some more sun to get the 2nd stage started.

Taylor and I took in the differences in our current forms compared to our previous ones, flexing our hands and bodies to feel whatever differences were there. It was while we were doing that, that Amy loudly cleared her throat, gaining our attention. ""Yes?"" I really did Love the Bond and how easy it made synchronizing.

The brunette twitched, but kept her response to that as she looked at us. "Wanna share with the class?" Ah, I almost forgot that she had no idea what was going on. Sure, she knew Swampfire was maturing, I'd said as much on the Dragon Jet yesterday, but that was all she knew.

I hummed a bit, then decided to just tell her. Amy was our friend, and she'd be kinda braindead for betraying our trust in anything. "This form has 2 stages in its 'Blossoming'" She snorted, but didn't say anything. "Period. This one, and another that'll end up as my new base."

She nodded at that, then shot a look at Taylor, who shrugged. "I don't know. I could stop here for all we know." That was kind of true actually. Of course it is, I said it. I ignored that. "Direct all questions to him." My brow twitched at that, but I didn't comment.

The brunette hummed at that, then looked between us again with a Curious look in her eyes. "I... I could check if you want." Now that was Interesting.

My Other Half and I didn't outwardly react, settling on mentally turning to each other instead. [I don't actually mind, what about you?]

Taylor mentally hummed, Contemplating that. |I mean, we're keeping our guard up against Queen Shaper, right?| I mentally nodded, and she went on. |What're the odds it tries something if we let her touch us?| And that was the question.

It was why neither of us had let Amy touch us.

I knew she wouldn't go for the high five earlier, and even if she didn't I would've just pulled out before she could do it, it wouldn't seem out of place considering how I was.

That aside, there were other reasons for not letting her touch us of course, Taylor for no longer having either Corona, therefore having no Bet explanation for having Powers, myself for not only not having one either, and both of us because the Serum was doing its thing and it could be inferred that it was because of some Bio-Tinker shenanigans. We had excuses, sure, but those wouldn't matter if her Shard decided to fuck around and interfere.

I blinked for a moment, a fucking brain blast going through my mind as I looked at my arms. |I'm just going to move a little more to the right.|

That made me snort. "Wh...-" I tuned Amy out as I raised my left arm up, brought my right towards the bicep of my left, straightened my hand, then slashed down. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" It said something that that worked, either I was too strong or too squishy, I didn't know. Anyway, I caught my arm before it could hit the ground, and ordered my stump to heal itself, while leaving my dismembered arm to close itself.

That done, I looked towards Amy, and drank in the absolute gobsmacked face she had. Though, I knew I could make this even better, so I followed the first thought that came through my mind. "Oh Amyyy.~" She blinked, momentarily breaking out of her stupor to meet my eyes, and demented grin. I raised my arm up, grinning as I got ready. Right before I went through with my thought she seemed to figure out what I was going to do, her eyes widening as she took it in. "Catch!" And so I tossed my dismembered arm at her. Not something one would hear, see, or even think everyday.

Credit where credit was due, Amy didn't just stand around like a dead eyed fish on the ground, and jumped away from the incoming limb like a cat. The moment the arm hit the snow she stopped to stare at it, then slowly turned to me, her face blank as she just stared at me. I met her look with my usual Amused face, waiting for her to break first.

Though, that apparently was taken out of my hands when I felt my Other Half take control of the limb, my former hand's claws twitching as they dug into the ground. Amy obviously saw it happen, glaring at me as she started to back away. "Phoenix, don't fucking do this to me!" I was fucking living for the fact she immediately assumed it was me.

|Don't tell her, please don't.| I mentally cackled at that, and decided to go along with this because it would be hilarious. |Have I told you I love you yet? Cause I do.| I only cackled louder at the very me like response. |You're a horrible influence.|

That slander aside, Sure it is, I just turned away from Amy, doing the innocent whistle as I did. "PHOENIX!" I whistled harder, idly watching as the arm started moving towards Amy faster, my mind momentarily remembering the hand thing from Addams Family, From what? As it 'Charged' towards Amy. The 'Older' healer started running, avoiding the disembodied limb as she screamed bloody murder at me. "I'LL RIP YOUR GODDAMN BALLS OFF! I SWEAR TO GOD AND SATAN I WILL!" The sheer amount of Amusement coming from her meant it was a miracle that Taylor wasn't audibly losing her shit. "AAAH!" Taylor had made the fingers grow, the index and pinky grasping her shoulder, which prompted that scream.

Before she could do anything else though, the hand zoomed towards her like it was from Luffy, eventually ending up on her shoulder. Instinctively, Amy tried to pry it off her, but the moment she touched it she froze, going stiff as her eyes unfocused. Seeing that, Taylor and I shared a look. [Think I should turn back?] If I turned back the hand would destabilize, breaking down into an inert mishmash of vines and roots.

We'd tested this before.

Taylor hummed, looking at Amy's still form, then back to me. |Let's wait. If she doesn't break out of it in 15 minutes we'll go for that.| I nodded at that, closing my eyes, muting my thoughts, and letting my roots dig into the earth. I was going to take in some sun and just do what I could to speed up my Blossoming, and give my Serum some more sunlight to work with.

[Taylor's POV a few minutes later]

I was pretty sure Dryad was one of my, if not my favorite form. The comparison to 'Poison Ivy' was on point when it came to this form, and despite being a Villain, I liked it. Sure, being able to sympathize with her might've had something to do with it, but I liked the beauty this form gave me. (And if that isn't the vainest reason ever then I don't know what is.) I'd already accepted that I was attractive, it'd be impossible not too considering my Other Half would notice it and tell me that daily. But there was something about being Dryad, looking like something that could've come from mythology, that really tickled me and made me appreciate myself more.

The power to control plant life was great too, as were the capabilities of burning things if they tried me or Annoyed me too much. I shook that thought off, leaning back into the seat I'd made and went back to sunbathing... "Jesus Christ." Only to look towards Amy, who had apparently come out of her trance.

Looking at my brown haired friend, I noticed her eyes were returning to normal, so that was good. She was clutching the hand in her own, slowly blinking as she took it in whatever her Power was telling her. Suddenly, I lost control over the hand, and watched as said hand rippled as the fingers melded together, the hand turning disappearing as the limb began turning into something else. I watched as she worked, Curious about what exactly she was doing. |You seeing this?|

My Other Half hummed in Confirmation, which was enough for me.

So as Amy went to work, we watched, both equally Curious about what she would end up with.

After a minute or two of using her Power on it, the hand finished its transformation... Turning into a massive... Lotus flower? Before I could wonder about that some more, the flower began to open up, the petals falling away to reveal... Some kind of snake? Just from eye balling it I could tell the thing was 6, maybe 7 feet long, 3 or so thick, which was kind of terrifying, and had forest green 'Scales' running along its body. Though there were roots that poked out starting from its neck, and wrapping around its frame in a criss cross pattern, coming to an end at its tail in what looked like a drill with thorns all around it.

Around its neck, the spots where the roots appeared, 'Feathers', which were really colorful leaves, sprouted along them. They were nearly the same shade of green of its body, but there were a few red and orange ones near the crown of its head. The eyes took on a similar shade of orange, looking more like a sunset then anything else. Though speaking of the eyes, there was no whites that'd denote an actual eye, but still looked squishy enough to probably pop like one. (... Moving on.) Its mouth was closed, so I didn't know what the fangs looked like, but even without knowing that, the thing looked vicious...

Well, it would if it wasn't draping itself along her shoulders, pressing its 'Feathered' head against her cheek like an affectionate puppy. I felt myself grin when Amy brightened up, smiling and giving the thing scratches like it was a g...- "Who's a pretty girl? Who's a pretty girl?" I nearly choked, and only by the grace of God did I not make a sound. I did my best to get my phone out, fully intent on recording this for later. The scene was adorable, it really was, but there was another part that I noticed, and if the Understanding coming from my Other Half meant anything, he most likely noticed it too.

It was like a weight... I didn't want to say was fully lifted, because I could see that there was still some tension in her, but it was definitely lessened. [I think this is the first time she's really done something with her Power.] Looking at the still form of Swampfire, I noticed he had an eye open and looking at Amy. He obviously noticed me looking though, and locked an eye onto me for a moment, then looked back at Amy.

I mentally hummed in response to his statement, idly musing that he did see it. |Think this'll make it easier to get her to use it?|

Swampfire tilted his head a bit, Contemplation churning from him. [Yes and no.] Curious, I motioned for him to go on. [She'll most likely be open to the idea, but we'll need to wait a few days before asking her to actually try it out. She already has a few life changing things going on in her life, so trying to get her to compromise her morals might be asking for too much too soon.]

Taking that in, I could see the logic behind it. Amy and I were similar in some regards, and if I was in her position, I'd probably lash out if too many things came at me too quickly. |So, give her some time, and if she doesn't explore, bring it up?| It sounded reasonable, and probably had the highest chance of working if we did it that way.

He mentally hummed in Agreement at that. [Sounds about right.]

That said, we went back to Amy watching, the brunette cooing as she played with her snake. It was nice, just seeing her living in the moment and doing something normal... Well, as normal as playing with an artificial snake thing could be, but still normal.

It was after a few minutes when the snake stopped playing with Amy, looking towards my Other Half as it flicked its tongue at him. "$Daddy?$" I choked, not expecting to hear that, or for the snake to talk in the first place. Both of those had made Amy remember she wasn't alone, getting our friend to look at us, eyes wide in a 'Deer in headlights' look.

But before she could do anything about it, my Other Half blinked, then responded to the snake's Curious hiss. "Well... Yes, I kinda am your dad."

Amy's head snapped towards my boyfriend. "WHAT?!"

If I wasn't processing what was going on, I would've found the situation Amusing as hell. (It still is though.)

Her outburst had gotten their attention though, causing both my boyfriend, and her snake to look at her. ""What?/$Mama?$"" Ah, so I wasn't hearing things.

Still, I just let it be for now. (Resist laugh. Resist the laugh. For the love of God, don't laugh.) Amy hadn't looked over to me yet, which meant she hadn't outright demanded for me to stop recording this yet. The moment she remembered I was here, and saw me with my phone out, she'd do just that.

I couldn't let that happen.

Well, not yet atleast.

"Don't 'What' me! The fuck do you mean you're her father?! Why would you even say that?" Very good questions.

My boyfriend also had a very good answer. "Because the little snake asked me?"

Amy blinked, stared at Swampfire, then slowly turned to the snake. "Did you?" Huh, apparently she wasn't a Parselmouth.

The snake nodded, looking at Amy like she was an idiot. "$Daddy is daddy, and Mama is Mama.$" I could physically feel the diabetes coursing through my veins. A snake should not be capable of doing this to me. Speaking of the little, a part of my mind reasoned that a 6-7ft long snake was not little, snake looked at me, tilting its head as it did. We stared at each other for a moment, then it... She, spoke. "$Auntie.$"

...

...

...

Welp, apparently I was an Aunt now.

Wonderful.

After Amy created life, she apparently went into an actual trance, kind of like a fugue, we decided to head back inside to figure out just what exactly she'd done. My Other Half and I had both turned back to our base forms, which had the unexpected side effect of being unable to fully hear what my 'Niece' was saying. Phoenix could still understand her perfectly, but I could only get bits of whatever she was saying. We chalked it up to bleed over from the Methanosian, and or the Serum helping, and left it at that.

Stepping into the lab with a big ol snake wrapped around her shoulders had gotten Amy looks from Melody and Tess, the latter was here for some reason but I wasn't going to say anything against it.

Anyway we ended up finding out that Amy made some kind of semi immortal snake monster that would keep growing as long as she lived. Her fangs not only had an absurdly strong narcotic, which was probably the sleeping spores being turned to a liquid, but could be planted into her targets skin where they would burrow into it and grow into parasites. She was theoretically able to assimilate wood and plants to repair herself if her natural regeneration didn't work, could camouflage herself, and should be strong enough to crush a normal person with ease. Hearing that, we all stared at the snake wrapped around Amy's shoulders.

And reacted accordingly.

...

...

...

"That's my girl!" Accordingly.

Watching my boyfriend cuddle with a plant based snake, who was softly hissing as she rubbed against his cheek, I idly wondered how this was my life. (It's his fault. The go too response will always be his fault.) It helped my sanity to put it that way.

Well, what little sanity I had.

I thought my new Niece was kind of cool after all.

Who else could say their Niece would eventually be some kind of World Serpent? "# When I mentioned alien babies I didn't mean to just give one to me so soon. #" I wasn't sure why that was what she zoned in on, but it was whatever.

I was just going to ignore that for now, because I wasn't in baby fever yet.

Maybe in a few years, but not now. I paused when my Other Half looked over to me, idly wondering if my thoughts Unmuted themselves at some point as he did. [I'm feeling a disturbance in the Force, and I dunno how to feel about it.] Apparently not.

|Don't worry about it.| He stared at me for another moment, I obviously stared back, before mentally shrugging and turning back to my Niece and giving her some more petting.

That done, I looked over to Amy, who was standing besides Melody and Tess. The former most likely recording this, while the latter was just staring at the scene in front of her, not entirely sure what to make of it, and saw the look on her face. The sheer amount of Dumbfounded Confusion was funny to me, and made me feel better.

Better her then me after all.