Chapter Seventeen: Seeds of Crime Part Two.

Chapter Seventeen: Seeds of Crime Part Two. 

"So, I'd tell you we'd have a problem, if you didn't already know," Gwen concluded and there was a pause where he looked over his shoulder.

She was there about twenty minutes later to give him the reading in person. Whilst he was standing there, Harry was able to do some work of his own and the green eyes of the young wizard narrowed in frustration. He was trying to figure out what his next move was going to be. Until he had some answers, moving forward was going to be borderline difficult, although he was slowly piecing them together.

"I'm not going to sugar coat this Gwen, things are going to get tough," Harry told her and he looked at the mutagen trail.

It had left some kind of residue on Pam and that was something that in theory, he might be able to track. The theory might have sounded sound in some respects but Harry honestly did not know until he went forward. This plant mutagen was unprecedented.

"The readings indicate….well you know something like this, it's going to be all over the place," Gwen whispered urgently to Harry and she watched him. Her own nerves were trying to tell her that something was on.

"Just spit it out, please," Harry told her firmly and Gwen knew that when he had a look like that on his face, he was not going to be one that should be trifled with.

"Well Pamela is not completely human but not completely plant, she was actually blasted with an extremely concentrated dose of the mutagen," Gwen told him and Harry nodded and he muttered underneath his breath.

"Right, right, and that concentrated dose, well it caused her to twist into….well it twisted her into what she was," Harry rambled, he was a bit distracted and Gwen could tell that he was distracted. She reached forward and gripped his hand.

He knew that Pamela was still alive down there and there was someone who was there.

"What are you doing, I was told that my son was kidnapped?"

Lionel turned up and saw Harry standing there.

"Mr. Potter….I wonder if you had anything to do with this," Lionel told and there was a lot of accusation dripping from his voice. "I mean there was an accident involving dangerous chemicals at one of your labs and you have your own….well this hideous abomination that turned up and stole my son."

"I don't like what you might be implying, Mr. Luthor," Harry said calmly and Gwen looked about ready to deck the man but Harry shook his head. This was neither the time nor the place to worry about such things.

"No, not implying anything, just merely….well we shall see what's happening, shall we," Lionel commented with a smile across his face as he watched the two of them for their reaction but Harry turned away from him.

Harry was not in the mood to deal with Lionel Luthor, especially after everything that happened. His knuckles were white as they clutched and the green eyes of the young wizard.

'Don't let Luthor get to you,' Gwen warned him.

'I'm not,' Harry said sharply, although there was something about the man that could get underneath the skin of anyone.

Harry paused and he looked over his shoulder. If he thought that Lionel was anything to worry about, well he would be worried about him. However, he was not working about the man. Rather he was he stepping forward and trying to uncover the mystery of what happened to Pamela Isley. If he could figure out what happened, he might be figure out something solid, that would lead him to her.

Right now, he felt he was grasping at a few straws, more than a few straws. He closed his eyes tightly and gave a long and depressed sigh.

'Okay, Potter, figure this one out, you're supposed to be smart, actually you're supposed to be smarter than smart,' Harry thought to himself, as he mulled over several scenarios in the back of his head, although only a couple ended up with mildly appeasing actions.

What was he going to do, that was the question.

"Are we going to get something out of these readings?" Gwen asked him.

"I think that if we calibrate them properly, we might be able to track her unique energy signature," Harry said and then there was a loud round of screams that echoed outside of the window.

"Or we could follow the sound of the shrieks," Gwen informed Harry with a smile and he slumped his shoulders.

"Or we can do that, yes," Harry conceded and he could see some roots jutting out from where he stood.

He stepped over and freed Spider-Man.

"I was wondering when you were going to get around to doing that," the web slinger said, as he winced and dropped down to the ground.

Shocker tried to let himself free.

"GET ME OUT OF HERE OR I SWEAR….."

"You shouldn't swear, it isn't nice, Herman," Spider-Man reprimanding like a mother scolding a small child.

"IT'S SHOCKER!"

"You know the name Shocker isn't much better," Gwen commented in a faux serious voice, although she looked highly amused at the name and so did Spider-Man and Harry.

"GET ME OUT OF HERE YOU STUPID FUCK!"

"Oh, that's a bit rude, you know," Harry said to him as he watched Shocker struggle as he much.

"Yeah, Herman, dear, what's the magic word?" Spider-Man asked and he was about to say something that was completely nasty but the web slinger shot a glop of webbing into his mouth. "Hey, watch the language pal, there might be kids nearby."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure no kid is watching or reading this and if they were, they should be taken away from their parents and put into foster care immediately," Deadpool commented as he walked into the scene randomly. "And seriously, seventeen fucking chapters, and I don't show up?"

"What are you doing here?" Harry demanded.

"Making an entirely epic cameo, duh," Deadpool stated as he turned around and walked off and Harry, Gwen, and Spider-Man were left in his Deadpool dust.

The three of them exchanged a tense look with each other and they were just going to pretend that Deadpool did not show up because he was gone and it was best for their collective sanity.

Harry had to find a trail and the green eyes of the young wizard flickered for a second. He was pretty sure that he was on the trail, more or less, less or more.

The screams indicated that he was going to need to move quickly.

Lionel Luthor closed his eyes and turned his head around. The man's hands clutched together and he rocked back and forth. He was waiting for the word. He stepped outside of his office, and paced like a caged animal. Sheer madness did not even begin to describe what he was feeling.

"Make sure to secure this lab, I want it secured yesterday," Lionel snapped. The guards, which he would be sending his pink slips for incompetence, informed them that this woman was after him and Lex was obvious bait for a trap.

As a wise man once said, everyone had a price, but finding the price for someone like this, this was going to be a channel. Lionel took off the pair of glasses that he was wearing and buffed them on his shirt. He saw vines growing all out of the pavement in Gotham City and he turned around, hearing an echoing in the background.

"You have committed grievous crimes against Mother Nature and you will be punished for them."

The devious tone echoed and Lionel waited, watched, and most importantly, he listened.

"I am talking to you Lionel Luthor, how you have tried to get around environmental laws, but all of your money cannot buy your way out of this situation," she commented in a sensual voice that echoed. "You are not going to escape me. You thought that I was a wallflower that you could push around, that you could stomp on, but I am the embodiment of Gaea, I am Mother Nature."

"What do you want?" Lionel asked her in a clipped tone, wanting to cut out all of the bullshit and get to the point.

There was a round of laughter that would have sent hair standing up upon the spine of a lesser individual.

"Just release my son, I can give you anything that you want," Lionel stated as he looked over his shoulder.

"You aren't going to be able to give me what I properly want if you aren't willing to sacrifice what I want, Lionel Luthor," Pamela whispered.

"Miss Isley, you're very sick, I have….you need help," Lionel commented for a few seconds and unknowingly to him, Harry Potter stood in the background, invisible.

He wondered how Lionel Luthor knew about who she was….he figured that he must have heard over the communication link.

There was no time to really think about that, as several trees shot out from the ground. There was a few seconds where the large flower bloomed in the middle and several vines shot up.

The guards backed off and Lionel got behind them.

"Just calm down, and give me my son," Lionel told them and there was a bit of an unsettling laughter that rattled even the elder Luthor.

"Your demon seed is perfectly safe but if you don't do what I say, he'll be turned into mulch," Pamela whispered as her eyes glowed as she sat in the flower. Her legs were crossed and she watched him, malicious intention flickering through her eyes. "You are like a weed that no many times I try to exterminate it, it destroys my garden."

'Gwen, you're getting these readings, right,' Harry thought to her.

'I'm working on an antidote,' Gwen thought to him desperately. 'I just need….I need more time.'

'We don't need a full antidote, just something to stabilize her….OH SHIT!' Harry yelled and Gwen was nervous.

"Harry that's…what….what's happening?" Gwen asked as she started to become extremely frantic.

Harry felt the vines entangle around his feet, making a completely sticky situation even worse in hindsight.

"So, it's you now," she commented in a light voice and Pamela slowly surveyed him, with bright and vibrant eyes. A frown spread over her face as she saw Harry dangling there.

Harry was not going to say that she was not well because that might just set her off. Even though she was pretty sure not well, but he really had to find his way out. There was a way where he needed to get out of here.

"Harry, you set me up…."

"I didn't," Harry whispered as he mentally racked his mind for a way out of here. He knew that as long as Lionel Luthor was watching, he could not reveal his powers.

He hoped that the cavalry would come soon because he was running out of options.

"Put me down, I'll find you a way…."

"You won't help me," Pamela stated and her eyes glowed. She allowed her vines to go into the air and she watched him. "You can't help me, I'm beyond help but I will be better, I will be stronger, you cannot hope to…."

"Don't say that, there is always hope, no matter what," Harry told the redhead firmly and she shook her head. Harry once again tried to escape but found himself trapped without a hope.

"You would think that, for you are able to get away with more than you should," Pamela told him, ignoring the slight ringing in her head that drove her completely nuts.

Lionel tried to make his way out of the door but one of the vines wrapped around his ankle, holding him up. The businessman struggled out of the grip, hanging upside down. Pamela watched him with malice flowing through her emerald orbs and the vines contained security, as they were pushed back.

"Do not think that I've forgotten about you, I will never forget someone like you," Pamela whispered to him as her eyes flared with madness. Your crimes against Mother Nature will be tested and tried.

Her babies told her that some SHIELD Agents were outside but Pamela turned to the captive guards and smiled before she shot plant pheromones in their face.

"Take them down and make sure they do not interfere, with my vengeance," Pamela stated to them and the zombfied guards walked out.

Harry craned his neck and he tried to see that there was someone slipping through the vent and what a someone. He could see Batwoman was in the house.

While his team did not show up as of yet, he was not about to turn down Batwoman. There was a problem of him trying to escape from his situation.

A baterang flew through the air, ricocheted off of two of the guards, and knocked Lionel Luthor out cold.

With Lionel down, that allowed Harry to use his super strength and fly out of the grip of the crushing vines.

"NO!"

There was a loud scream as Pamela's eyes widened as she saw Harry flying through the air towards her and she was about to lose her mind.

Outside, Rogue lead the way, and she quickened her steps as she knew that there was urgency.

"We're nearly there," Rogue told the group and the other girls picked up their pace.

Laura took another step forward, her claws popped as could smell that something was off . "Be careful, I don't like this."

"It's like a jungle out here," Zatanna stated as she turned up and Wanda looked over her shoulder. "Yeah, I really can't believe I went there either."

Lois turned up behind them, it sounded like a dangerous situation, which meant it was a situation that attracted her. When the heir to the Luthor throne got captured, it was really time to step forward and take notice.

'Okay if I was a vengeful woman that would be able to control plants where….oh something like that, of course!' Lois thought as she saw vines shoot out from underneath the street.

She took a step back, nervousness flashed through her eyes and her heart hammered against her chest a bit more steadily. The woman held her head up, looking rather bold as she walked forward.

Lois took another step forward and she saw Gwen rushing down the street. Both females looked at each other, pausing, and there was one statement that came out of both of their mouths at the same exactly instant.

"What are you doing here?" both asked in unison. "I've asked you first, no I asked you, no I've asked you!"

"Fine, don't tell me," Lois grumbled as she shook her head but she heard something crack from beneath the pavement. "What the hell is going on?"

"There was an accident," Gwen said in a light tone of voice, although she tried to keep herself kind of calm.

Even though she could see the chaos that was happening around her and she dodged the plants, grabbing Lois around the waist and pulling her out of the head.

"What kind of…."

The plant roots shooting out cut off Lois's question, at least for the moment. She ducked her head, to avoid being molested by plant vines but Gwen shook her head.

Wanda made her way in and a pair of hex bolts ripped through the vines. She burned through them, firing attack after attack after them but they kept coming. So Wanda was just going to keep fighting.

'Okay, this isn't going well,' Wanda thought as she slapped her palms down in frustration but managed to keep things cool, for the most part.

"Okay, we'll get inside, don't worry," Laura grunted as she popped her claws and violently hacked through the vines.

"Stop it, you are harming them."

"Doing a pretty decent job in harming us," Laura countered and there were a series of grotesque plant monsters that showed up.

"Oh, that's….that's…disturbing!" Zatanna cried as she lifted her hands in the air.

"No, you know what these things are?" Laura asked with a smile as she held her claws in the air and swiped towards them. She stabbed through the green abomination and caused green blood to squirt everywhere like a fountain. "Mulch."

She empathized this point by stabbing it straight through with her claws. The creature went down as Wanda blasted open the door.

Harry was going against the plant monsters. Pamela had already fled the building and Lionel had as well, making his way out of the backdoor.

"So, nice to see you," Harry stated in a light voice as he raised his hands into the air and prepared to smash into his enemies.

There was a loud explosion that resounded as Harry ran through his enemies. They wilted from the impact.

"Just stand back, we'll take care of this," Laura said as she raised her claws and like a buzzsaw, she made her way through them.

"So….this is insane," Zatanna whispered as she raised an eyebrow and Wanda shook her head at the younger magic user.

"Yes, I think we already established that," Wanda countered lightly as she looked at the other magic user but Zatanna offered a shrug and a smile before she trapped two of the monsters and caused them to attack each other in feral rage.

"She got away," Harry said to the group.

"She's lost her mind," Wanda muttered and Harry raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I know that I'm not supposed to be the person who should be making claims like that, given that I spent half of my life in an asylum but….."

"I know," Harry offered her as he casually back handed a plant monster that tried to get him. Gwen showed up, climbing over the vines, most of them were destroyed. "She has an empathic connection to the plants that she controls."

"Oh, that makes sense," Gwen stated. "When you hurt those plants, when any plant gets hurt, she feels it."

"No wonder her mind has snapped," Wanda said as the monsters retreated.

"Yeah, but we got to stop her before she tears everyone apart," Laura commented as she looked up. "But I think that you got a plan to stop her, don't you?"

"Yes, I do, but we got to hurry, time is running out for her," Harry commented and he turned to Gwen. "Do you have the stabilizer?"

"Yes, I have it but good luck in getting it to her," Gwen said in a fretful voice and Harry looked at his girlfriend.

"Luck is not something that we have right now, what we need is skill, patience, and a good strategy," Harry offered as he closed his eyes.

Lois watched, with a smile on her face but she turned around. It was getting too much like a jungle in here, even for her liking.

'This city really has gone to seed,' Lois thought but she shook her head at her own bad pun. 'I'll stop whilst I'm ahead.'

"It will be far more painless to you, than it will be for these plants," Pamela whispered harshly as she had Lex bound with the vines and he looked at her, trying not to show the fear that he felt.

"Plants, don't have feelings, they can't talk, they can't feel…." Lex stated but he knew immediately that he had said the wrong thing.

"THEY CAN TALK AND THEY CAN FEEL!" Pamela yelled as she held the chemical that Shocker had. "Once I reverse engineer LuthorCorp's prized possession chemicals, I will create an entire city which will be green. Humans will have a new lease on life, for they will be turned into something like me. They will get a greater understanding of what we feel."

"We, you seem to think that you are one of them," Lex said as he tried to free himself but he was tied.

"You on the other hand, will not get that pleasure," Pamela said as she paced back and forth like a caged animal, which was the ultimate irony given what she was. Her eyes flashed with malice and she tilted her head back. "You will not get the pleasure of feeling what we feeling for…"

There was a pause and Lex tried to free himself but he found out that was an extremely futile venture.

Batwoman turned up around the vents but she was wrapped around the ankles and tied upside down.

"Well, the supposed all seeing, all knowing, bat of Gotham City," Pamela stated in a dry voice. "Tell me, why didn't you see that attack on me?"

"I didn't….no one is as sorry for what happened as I am but what you're doing, this is the wrong way about going on doing this," Helena said roughly as she felt the vine wrap around her mouth.

"Batwoman, I'm not….no my mind its clearer than ever before, but I should be able to thank you," Pamela said with a bright smile on her face.

"Well if you're going to kill me then get it over with," Lex said to her in a snide tone.

"You need to have some patience, rich boy!" Pamela snapped, as she matched his tone and the vines rose up, about ready to shoot some thorns to hurt Lex. "Yes, I know, I know….he's rude, but we got to wait, savor the moment."

"It ends tonight, Pamela," Harry stated as he appeared at the door.

"Well, Arcane," Pamela whispered as she watched him with a smile. "You shouldn't have stumbled into my garden, look you've trampled all over the flowers."

The flowers were about to shoot out but Harry dodged the attack and Laura rushed out and she stabbed the flowers with her claws, violently hacking at them.

"NO!" Pamela managed as she felt the pain of all her little babies and clutched onto her giant flower, her knuckles growing white as she hold on.

"Time to get down," Laura said roughly. She was not in the mood to play games, especially with little miss nature queen.

"Pamela we're here to….." Harry stated but several more vines shot out. He grabbed the vines and tied them together and stood on them and then froze them. "You need help, and you're going to be fine."

"Help me," Lex demanded as he was dangling over a plant that looked to be a more horrific version of the classic Venus Fly Trap.

Harry ignored Luthor and he cut Batwoman out of the vines, with Nightwing showing up. Talon lead Rogue, Scarlet Witch, and Zatanna behind them.

"Just think about it, Pamela, think about all of the good that you wanted to do in the world, I've seen all of the good that you want to do, and I know that somewhere in there, the real you is in there," Harry said.

"This is the real me!" Pamela yelled as she raised the vines into the air. They were this close to impaling through them all but there was a sense of hesitation.

"You would have killed us all by now, or at least killed Luthor, if you had it in you," Harry told and she looked at him a distinct mixture of rage and confusion flashed through her eyes.

Gwen was sneaking in through the doors, careful not to jostle the plants. It took a great deal of acrobatic skills to sneak in past them all but somehow, through hook or by crook, she managed to get behind Pamela.

She could not even jostle a daisy for it would raised her ire and that was tense. She closed her eyes to calm herself down, normally she would geek out about something like this but there was no time to geek out, it was the time for her to be serious.

Gwendolyn Marie Stacy had one shot and one shot alone. She had to take it, and she saw Laura stabbing the plants.

"No, stop it!" Pamela yelled as she lost her mind and the vines hurled Lex because as when she lost control, so did the plants.

'I wanted a distraction, not that much one of one,' Gwen thought desperately as the vial flew from her hand. She thanked herself for unbreakable charms because if it would have smashed onto the ground, it would have been an entire eight hours work down the toilet.

She was turned around and the woman watched her.

"I know who you are….."

Harry dove out of the way, saving Gwen from the attack. He sent a blast of heat vision off of the mirrors and severed more of the vines.

With another super powerful punch, he nailed the Venus Fly Trap right in the face, causing it to be knocked out. Harry summoned the antidote into his hand and picked up the gun that Gwen had.

Pamela ensnared Harry with vines but Harry pulled her in and did the only thing that he could tell to distract her.

He kissed her fully on the lips, something that he would not recommend to anyone who did not have a combination of Basilisk Venom and Phoenix Tears running through their body. It acted as the ultimate antidote for most poisons, including the one that was coursing through this young woman's lips.

Pamela closed her eyes, she could not focus on anything that she was doing. She returned the kiss, she was being kissed like she was never kissed before. The plants started to go wild, they had no idea what to do, they were attacking each other because of these sensations that Harry introduced into her.

Harry grabbed the stabilizer and jabbed her in the arm with it. The redhead wilted like the flower that she was in his arms.

The vines smashed into the chemicals on the table. They were not meant to mix in such a way and Lex was in the midst of it!

"Get Pam out, I'll take care of Luthor!" Harry yelled behind his shoulder.

Talon shook her head, she would have left the whiny bastard to rot but she allowed Harry to do what Harry did.

He picked up Lex, who was looking at him, half dazed and half out of it. Harry dragged the man out of there, for what it was worth. His hair was about ready to fall out but Harry could not worry himself with such trivial manners as another man's hair.

Lex, nearly bald, was carried out of the building, and by the time he was out, all of his hair was gone, forever.

Harry smiled in spite of himself. The green eyes of the wizard thought about today's adventure and weirdness was something that was the perfect descriptive word for it.

Of course, given that it was such a crisis situation, SHIELD was going to get involved. The young wizard kept his eyes on the situation and he saw them show up. Most of the plants had been retracted. He tapped his foot on the ground and he saw Maria Hill standing there, her arms folded underneath her chest. The two of them looked at each other.

Harry was glad that Fury was not here because he would overreact to this situation.

"It was an accident at my place…"

"And you think that it's a responsibility that you should take," Maria stated calmly. The truth be told, she understood where Harry was coming from with the situation. "That's not the only reason that I need a word with you, although it is a reason."

"Oh?" Harry asked with a calm voice and he made his way into the miniature transport vehicle. He saw Natasha standing there with him. They smiled at each other but until they were off the clock, they needed to remain mostly professional.

"We found a potential security leak within SHIELD itself," Maria whispered to Harry and the two of them looked at each other. "It was one of them."

"Do you know what they've found?" Harry asked to them, there was no need for Maria to find out anything.

"Nothing, Jessica managed to find them and exposed them," Maria said to him. "SHIELD is a system, if one card is altered, the entire house collapses. And the entire system is….."

"Is need of repair," Harry said and she nodded in relief. "You don't know who you could trust, if you can trust anyone."

"And Fury's dropped this problem in my lap," Maria said to him. "I don't know how much he knows, if he knows anything at all."

Harry figured that Fury knew something, although the fact of the matter was what Fury knew, well the man himself commented.

"I saw a glimpse of him," Natasha told them and Harry looked at Harry.

"Where?"

"It was at a SHIELD operation, in Nevada….it was about five days ago and it was only a glimpse," Natasha said to him and he looked back at her. The woman's arms shrugged her shoulder and looked at him. "It could have been a mirage."

"Maybe," Harry offered grudgingly but he was not completely convinced. If he knew Fury, he would not allow himself to be seen without a reason. "So how is Jessica's investigation going or is it classified?"

"Actually she wishes to speak with you, to interview you given that you were on the scene when the first Skrull was unmasked," Maria said to him.

"Oh…..why me then?" Harry asked.

"Well, that should be obvious, shouldn't it?" Natasha commented and Maria gave her a stern look, which turned Natasha back into stern Black Widow mode.

"She wishes to meet with you, she gave me more information, SWORD and SHIELD are both interesting in plugging the leaks," Maria told him. "And that is all of the information that I can give you now."

Harry offered one of his charming Harry Potter smiles. "Is it the information that you're willing to give me or all of the information that you know."

"I believe you're smart enough to figure out the answer to that question, Mr. Potter," Maria said to him as she filed through the papers. "And Miss Isley….you know that if she commits any further attacks, she's liable, and that goes for your other guest."

"If you're referring to Raven Darkholme, than I understand all of the risks that she presents and she's in a cell, until she makes her decision whether she wants to work for me or if I just ship her off to the MRD," Harry told the two SHIELD agents.

"And how much time will you give her to comply?" Natasha asked him.

Harry smiled. "Well I'm giving her a chance to really think over her options. I'll figure out what to do with her soon enough."

He paused with a reflective look going through his eyes.

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing," Harry told them. "Tell Jessica if you see her before I do that I'll see her soon."

He had some business to take care of, actually the meeting request seemed to be rather perfect all things considered.

It was a date, of sorts.