Tekken: A Garden of Able
By atfirstdawn

*Mature content warning
*All characters are copyright of Namco

*Dedicated to Aksika


Doctor Able's research lab was rather surreal; lit by only two sources of light, the first, a bitter neon blue which emanated from a excessively large monitor that had been built into the wall on the right hand side of the lab, and the second, a warm red which poured through a thick pane of glass that led to a cell (of sorts) teeming with mutated flora on the left hand side of the lab.
The rest of the lab was bare, save for Doctor Able himself, who was stood in front of the cold blue glow of the monitor reviewing his work.

Julia Chang, winner of the eighth King of Iron Fist Tournament, had paid Doctor Able millions of dollars to help his research in genetic engineering. Together Julia and Doctor Able had worked tirelessly on creating a new life form, a life form which would both protect the rainforests and nurture them, ensuring that the fauna and flora of forests world wide would be safe from human destruction.
And now, after 18 long months, Doctor Able finally had a living specimen to introduce to Julia.

Marveling over the complicated statistics which adorned his larger than large bitter blue monitor, Doctor Able smiled inwardly to himself as the lab's door opened with a soft metallic hiss.

"Ah, Julia, here at last. Are you ready to taste the fruits of our labour?"

"Doctor Able, of course! Please lead the way!"

With his hands buried within the pockets of his long white coat, Doctor Able led Julia to the warm red glow at the far left of the lab.

"Behold, Devus Viridian."

"Able!" exclaimed a breathless Julia, who had pressed her hands to the thick pane of glass, "its incredible!"

Devus Viridian, the centerpiece of the scene beyond the thick pane of glass, stood tall over the rest of the mutated flora that adorned the warm red cell's walls and floor. To describe Devus Viridian would be to describe a stunted palm tree, its trunk was wider yet shorter (though not by much) than a palm tree, while the petals that hung down were larger and detailed with natural warning signs such as spots and stripes that seemed to move around the surface of the petals of their own accord.

Beyond the thick yet stunted trunk and the hypnotic petals of Devus Viridian were the tendrils which reached out in all directions from beneath the petals themselves. Swaying gently left and right, the tendrils seemed to operate in the same way the antennae of an ant or the tongue of a snake would; to blindly survey its surroundings by touch or scent.

Julia was lost in the marvel of it all, it was beautiful yet frightening, intriguing yet unnerving and obviously dangerous. Introducing something like this into the rainforests would surely negate any human interference, she thought.

"Devus Viridian" began Doctor Able, "is a fascinating specimen, Julia. It takes the moisture from anything it may consume, releases it into the earth and nourishes the surrounding area. Excess waste is then broken down within its trunk which opens like a funnel and releases plumes of gas, this gas contains microscopic nutrients, which again, nourishes the surrounding flora."

Julia was silent, lost for words, the best she could manage was a smile indicating that she had heard and understood Doctor Able's explanation.

"Would you like a demonstration?" asked Doctor Able.

Remaining silent, Julia nodded her head and pressed her body closer against the thick glass of the cell.

"Good..." replied Doctor Able.

Flipping a switch on the device that he had been clutching in the depths of his lab coat's pocket, Doctor Able activated a charge which created a sound pitch strong enough to crack the cell's thick window pane.
Taking a shocked step backwards, Julia edged into Doctor Able who quickly threw an arm around her neck and jammed two metal electrodes of a stun gun into her ribs.

The sudden surge of electricity being forced through her body caused Julia's vision to flicker rapidly, her muscles to painfully seize and her heart threaten to explode. Her throat felt as if it were opening and closing in quick succession, unable to take in any air as her body convulsed with uncontrollable spasms. Through her own screams and the crackling Able's stun gun, Julia could hear the fizzing and hissing of the blood in her veins, feel it behind her eyes and in the tips of her fingers and toes. Her vision split, the room doubled and halved at the same time and began to fluctuate between darkness and light as her eyes rolled around helplessly in her head.

In on fluid motion, Doctor Able removed the stun gun from Julia's ribs, pulled her backwards and then threw her forwards into the cracked glass of the warm red cell. Upon impact Julia's body fell through the once thick pane of glass as if it were made of paper.
Fresh pain coursed through Julia's body between involuntary convulsions caused by the electricity which still surged throughout her body.
With her vision still flickering and splitting her surroundings into fragments, Julia raised a trembling hand in search of aid. Clasping a firm wire-like object Julia pulled herself to her knees with a series of clumsy and jagged movements. Little by little the shock of being electrocuted faded into an echo, in its the place, the searing numbness caused by the shock, was slowly giving way to increasingly intense physical pain caused by her being thrown through the window.
Through the pain, Julia tugged harder on the firm wire and pulled herself to her feet.

As Julia's senses slowly returned, she caught the distant sound of insidious laughter. Turning her attention towards the source of the laughter, Julia saw Doctor Able standing in the middle of the lab, the bitter blue neon of the monitor behind him framing his body and almost casting him into silhouette.
It took Julia a few moments to realise what had happened and where she was. Her still-twitching eyes widened and her weakened heart froze as she felt a host of firm wires wrap themselves around her arms and legs...

Julia turned to see Devus Viridian's tendrils sway towards her, tens of them had already wrapped themselves around her trembling body and tens more were swaying her way.  
Summoning what little strength she had left Julia tried to pull away from Devus Viridian as best she could, but her shocked muscles were largely unresponsive and unable to overpower the multiplying tendrils covering her body.
Terror sliced through Julia's mind as she felt her feet leave the soft soil that lined the warm red cell's floor.

"Able! help me!! Please!!" screamed Julia as the tendrils tightened around her limbs and torso.

"Can't you see? I am helping. You want to repopulate the forests... and you will. You see while Devus Viridian does indeed nourish the surrounding area, the nutrients it releases into the earth and into the air have mutagenic properties. It will repopulate the forest and it will revitalise the forest... in its own image... and it will spread."

"Y-you're insane! This isn't what I wanted! T-he world will become a garden of evil!"

"No, it will become a garden of Able!... goodbye Julia."

"Able! No! Come b-mmmmphh!!!"

With a smile on his face, Doctor Able watched as a tendril entered Julia's mouth and lifted her higher into the air until she was suspended above Devus Viridian's widening trunk. Able felt his pants become tighter as he watched Julia's frantic struggling while Devus Viridian lowered her into the gaping mouth at the height of its trunk.
Julia's muffled screams echoed from within Devus Viridian's trunk as one by one the tendrils slid from the trunk's rapidly closing mouth...

Moments later and all was quiet, Devus Viridian was once again swaying its tendrils in search of its next meal. Able's monitor still glowed with a bitter neon blue and Able himself still stood with a smile on his face as he reviewed his work and imagined a beautiful future.