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Description

A cold rain tore through the night over Eastern Indiana, near the area known as Limberlost Swamp. A car, which had been driving for days from Pittsburgh, PA, had broke down on the side of the road near a small manor that had been converted into a roadside attraction. The driver, one Pamela Isley, sheltered herself from the rain as she ran to the building, one bearing a sign that says “Madame Xanadu’s”, and knocked on the door. A blind African woman with bandages over her disfigured eyes inquired who was there and sensed a desperate presence at her door, inviting Pamela in. The woman, Nimue Inwudu, is the proprietor of this attraction and plays the character of “Madame Xanadu”, a powerful and mysterious fortune teller. Nimue allowed Pam to use her phone and call for a tow truck, which won’t be here until morning. Nimue asked why Pam was driving all the way to Indiana from Pennsylvania. Pamela had seen on the news that there had been the spread of a vegetation-killing disease in the rural farming areas near Limberlost Swamp, and that several scientists had been dispatched to the area to find a cure. The lead scientist is Dr. Jason Woodrue. Pamela revealed to Nimue that Woodrue was her legal guardian when she was a teen, and he had been molesting her before throwing her into a mental hospital, where no one would believe her about her abuse. When Pam learned where Woodrue had ended up, she left Pittsburgh to confront him about his misdeeds. Nimue could sympathize, and allowed Pamela to spend the night in her home. The next morning, at the research camp next to the swamp lands, Dr. Woodrue had consulted with his co-directors of the cure research project, Dr. Alec Holland and Dr. Anton Arkady. Once again, they were no close to a cure for the disease and they went about their work. Alec went to Abby Arkady, Dr. Anton’s niece and Alec’s girlfriend, and told her that he realized that something is not adding up about the research. Determined to find a cure, he snooped around the camp two nights later, and looked into Dr. Woodrue’s laptop. From what he could piece together, Alec figured out that he had devised a cure, but why hide it from the people of Indiana when their crops are dying? Then, there was a woman shouting for Dr. Woodrue. It was Pamela Isley, who had driven here in her repaired car with Nimue. The camp’s armed guards flanked Dr. Woodrue as Dr. Arkady, Alec, and Abby came out to see what was happening. Pamela called for Woodrue’s head on a pike and the guards attacked. Using her plant-based powers, a boon granted to her by the immortal Ra’s Algol, Pamela revealed herself as the super-criminal Poison Ivy and attacked the guards. Woodrue tried to flee and Alec and Dr. Arkady hid in another tent. Alec told Arkady that Woodrue had been hiding the formula to completed cure from us, but for unknown reasons. That’s when Arkady stabbed Alec in the chest with a knife, revealing that he was working with Woodrue on scamming the local government providing the funds for the cure. By hiding the cure, they could convince them to give more and more money for it. In the chaos of Poison Ivy’s fight with the camp’s guards, Nimue accidentally revealed her actual magic powers when she conjured an energy shield to defend Abby from stray gunfire. Arkady dragged Alec’s dying body to the swamp water and tossed him in as Woodrue boarded a motorboat to escape deeper into the Limberlost Swamp. Poison Ivy followed him, bleeding from her battle wounds into the waters and onto the swamp vegetation. Alec died in the water… but his soul was confronted by three mysterious shapes. These beings, the Controllers, offered Alec a return to life in exchange for something THEY want. They took Poison Ivy’s mutated blood from the swamp waters and infused it to Alec... Woodrue’s engine was damaged by Ivy’s last attack and she cornered him as it sputtered to a halt. Pamela, in anger, berated her abuser for all of the years she suffered under him, revealing that her last rape by his hand resulted in a pregnancy that ended in miscarriage! Pamela was about the strike the killing blow when the swamp waters bubbled up. Swamp plants, not under Ivy’s control, emerged from the waters and fused into a huge humanoid shape with piercing red eyes! Unknown to everyone, it was Alec Holland’s soul, possessing the plant life and becoming… some kind of Swamp Thing! Thinking it was another minion of Woodrue, Poison Ivy attacked the Swamp Thing and they did battle. In the end, Swamp Thing overpowered her and took her unconscious body, along with Woodrue, back to camp. The guards ran in fear of the Swamp Thing, and the creature, after laying the two upon the ground, took Dr. Arkady’s laptop and studied the formula for the plague. He synthesized the cure within himself and released it as spores that entered the atmosphere, ending the plague. The police arrived as the Swamp Thing left. No one was arrested, but a search went out for the missing Dr. Holland. As for the Swamp Thing, Alec went forth to complete his end of the bargain for the Controllers. The only way to get his human body and life back is to find and kill one man… John Constantine.

Notes:
* Nimue is indeed Homi magi, a born magic-user. She has various magic abilities, but her specialty is telling the future through her Tarot cards.
** Nimue lost her eye sight when she was attacked by a feral demon.
** Nimue was the former lover of John Zatara, another magic-user and late father of young magic hero Zatanna Zatara, member of the Shadowpact.
* Dr. Anton, seeing Poison Ivy’s attack and the emergence of the Swamp Thing as some kind of cosmic retribution, eventually confessed to hiding the cure and he and Woodrue were arrested.
* Pamela heard about Woodrue’s arrest and subsequent admission of guilt for his sexual assault of Pam. She returned to Pittsburgh, the weight on her soul lifted.

Description

A cold rain tore through the night over Eastern Indiana, near the area known as Limberlost Swamp. A car, which had been driving for days from Pittsburgh, PA, had broke down on the side of the road near a small manor that had been converted into a roadside attraction. The driver, one Pamela Isley, sheltered herself from the rain as she ran to the building, one bearing a sign that says “Madame Xanadu’s”, and knocked on the door. A blind African woman with bandages over her disfigured eyes inquired who was there and sensed a desperate presence at her door, inviting Pamela in. The woman, Nimue Inwudu, is the proprietor of this attraction and plays the character of “Madame Xanadu”, a powerful and mysterious fortune teller. Nimue allowed Pam to use her phone and call for a tow truck, which won’t be here until morning. Nimue asked why Pam was driving all the way to Indiana from Pennsylvania. Pamela had seen on the news that there had been the spread of a vegetation-killing disease in the rural farming areas near Limberlost Swamp, and that several scientists had been dispatched to the area to find a cure. The lead scientist is Dr. Jason Woodrue. Pamela revealed to Nimue that Woodrue was her legal guardian when she was a teen, and he had been molesting her before throwing her into a mental hospital, where no one would believe her about her abuse. When Pam learned where Woodrue had ended up, she left Pittsburgh to confront him about his misdeeds. Nimue could sympathize, and allowed Pamela to spend the night in her home. The next morning, at the research camp next to the swamp lands, Dr. Woodrue had consulted with his co-directors of the cure research project, Dr. Alec Holland and Dr. Anton Arkady. Once again, they were no close to a cure for the disease and they went about their work. Alec went to Abby Arkady, Dr. Anton’s niece and Alec’s girlfriend, and told her that he realized that something is not adding up about the research. Determined to find a cure, he snooped around the camp two nights later, and looked into Dr. Woodrue’s laptop. From what he could piece together, Alec figured out that he had devised a cure, but why hide it from the people of Indiana when their crops are dying? Then, there was a woman shouting for Dr. Woodrue. It was Pamela Isley, who had driven here in her repaired car with Nimue. The camp’s armed guards flanked Dr. Woodrue as Dr. Arkady, Alec, and Abby came out to see what was happening. Pamela called for Woodrue’s head on a pike and the guards attacked. Using her plant-based powers, a boon granted to her by the immortal Ra’s Algol, Pamela revealed herself as the super-criminal Poison Ivy and attacked the guards. Woodrue tried to flee and Alec and Dr. Arkady hid in another tent. Alec told Arkady that Woodrue had been hiding the formula to completed cure from us, but for unknown reasons. That’s when Arkady stabbed Alec in the chest with a knife, revealing that he was working with Woodrue on scamming the local government providing the funds for the cure. By hiding the cure, they could convince them to give more and more money for it. In the chaos of Poison Ivy’s fight with the camp’s guards, Nimue accidentally revealed her actual magic powers when she conjured an energy shield to defend Abby from stray gunfire. Arkady dragged Alec’s dying body to the swamp water and tossed him in as Woodrue boarded a motorboat to escape deeper into the Limberlost Swamp. Poison Ivy followed him, bleeding from her battle wounds into the waters and onto the swamp vegetation. Alec died in the water… but his soul was confronted by three mysterious shapes. These beings, the Controllers, offered Alec a return to life in exchange for something THEY want. They took Poison Ivy’s mutated blood from the swamp waters and infused it to Alec... Woodrue’s engine was damaged by Ivy’s last attack and she cornered him as it sputtered to a halt. Pamela, in anger, berated her abuser for all of the years she suffered under him, revealing that her last rape by his hand resulted in a pregnancy that ended in miscarriage! Pamela was about the strike the killing blow when the swamp waters bubbled up. Swamp plants, not under Ivy’s control, emerged from the waters and fused into a huge humanoid shape with piercing red eyes! Unknown to everyone, it was Alec Holland’s soul, possessing the plant life and becoming… some kind of Swamp Thing! Thinking it was another minion of Woodrue, Poison Ivy attacked the Swamp Thing and they did battle. In the end, Swamp Thing overpowered her and took her unconscious body, along with Woodrue, back to camp. The guards ran in fear of the Swamp Thing, and the creature, after laying the two upon the ground, took Dr. Arkady’s laptop and studied the formula for the plague. He synthesized the cure within himself and released it as spores that entered the atmosphere, ending the plague. The police arrived as the Swamp Thing left. No one was arrested, but a search went out for the missing Dr. Holland. As for the Swamp Thing, Alec went forth to complete his end of the bargain for the Controllers. The only way to get his human body and life back is to find and kill one man… John Constantine.

Notes:
* Nimue is indeed Homi magi, a born magic-user. She has various magic abilities, but her specialty is telling the future through her Tarot cards.
** Nimue lost her eye sight when she was attacked by a feral demon.
** Nimue was the former lover of John Zatara, another magic-user and late father of young magic hero Zatanna Zatara, member of the Shadowpact.
* Dr. Anton, seeing Poison Ivy’s attack and the emergence of the Swamp Thing as some kind of cosmic retribution, eventually confessed to hiding the cure and he and Woodrue were arrested.
* Pamela heard about Woodrue’s arrest and subsequent admission of guilt for his sexual assault of Pam. She returned to Pittsburgh, the weight on her soul lifted.