Deathbloom
| |
| "Even the plants understood my pain. Why couldn't you?" | |
| Evangeline Parker "Deathbloom" | |
| Player: Darwin | |
| Basic Data | |
| Class Focus: | Nature/Pestilence DPS |
|---|---|
| R & D: | Science |
| Level: | 6 (Before Creeseman's Blessing) 48/Legendary (After Creeseman's Blessing) |
| Occupation: | Lumberjack Assistant (Former) Legendary Supervillain (Rukia's Faction, Current) |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Evangeline Parker |
| Known Aliases: | Deathbloom (Current) Eco-Eva (Formerly) |
| Identity: | Secret (Formerly) |
| Species: | Creesemanist Metahuman (Current) Metahuman (Formerly) |
| Age: | 21 |
| Height: | 5'4" |
| Weight: | 108 lb (As Deathbloom) 86 lb (As Eco-Eva) |
| Eye Color: | Blue with Black Sclera |
| Hair Color: | White |
| Blood Type: | Unknown |
| Biographical Data | |
| Birthplace: | Unknown |
| Birthdate: | Unknown |
| Nationality: | American |
| Current Residence: | Maritime Provinces, Canada Homeless (Formerly) |
| Religion/Faith: | Creesemanist |
| Sexual Orientation: | Straight |
| Marital Status: | Single In a relationship with Tristan Hart (Formerly, deceased) |
| Known Languages | |
| English | |
| Known Relatives | |
| Wayland Parker (Father, Deceased) Lillian Brandt Parker (Mother, Unknown) James Parker (Younger Half Brother) Isabella Pataky (Stepmother) | |
| Known Powers | |
| Chlorokinesis, Necromancy | |
| Training / Abilities | |
| Botany | |
| Equipment | |
| Footnotes | |
Warning: The following content contains mature and dark themes utilized throughout the character's story.
"I had crime forced upon me since I was six years old, yet I did my best and still became a superhero. But despite all that... no one ever truly cared. I'm sorry for you. I'm sorry for your loss. But we can't hire you. We can't accept your request to work overtime in this job that bullies you because you're mentally disabled. We won't help you financially unless you take off your clothes and act like a complete whore.
"I'm not taking revenge. I'm just trying to live again. Without having men take advantage of me. Through Creeseman, I was able to speak and voice my frustrations on this world. Through him, I can finally live the life that both my parents and Tristan wanted. No one will stop me from living."
- Eva Parker
Deathbloom, born Evangeline "Eva" Parker, formerly Eco-Eva, is a Legendary Class supervillain currently on the loose in Canada and is a follower of the Supercosmic Villain Bobby Creeseman, integrating the crux of Creesemanism into her philosophy. To date, Parker has been responsible for mass manslaughter up to the thousands and has taken over a large portion of the Maritimes, where her ravenous plants and toxic, necromantic monsters loom.
Further records in Parker's history have revealed that in addition to her occupation as a Lumberjack Associate, the botany graduate also lived a life of superheroism with the abilities of Chlorokinesis. Following her conversion to Creesemanism, Parker's powers underwent an extreme mutation, in which the plants under her command also manifest Necromancy. As a result of the nature of her powers, Deathbloom operates under Rukia, the Herald of Ruin, and is affiliated with her faction as one of Rukia's generals.
Contents
- 1 Appearance
- 2 History
- 2.1 Childhood
- 2.2 Tragedy and Homelessness
- 2.3 Adolescence
- 2.4 The Bloom Project
- 2.5 Awakening
- 2.6 College Years
- 2.7 Inflation and Economic Crisis
- 2.8 Rise of Eco-Eva
- 2.9 The War Hound's Challenge
- 2.10 Eco-Eva vs. The War Hound
- 2.11 The Power of Creeseman
- 2.12 Aftermath
- 2.13 Eva and James
- 2.14 The Search for Rukia
Appearance
"Look at her. So strong. So proud. This is how a woman should be, wouldn't you agree, Surhoff?"
- Rukia of Ruin presenting Deathbloom to the MCPD
Eva is a young woman of below-average height, with shoulder-length grey hair, pale skin, and a well-developed figure. Among one of the more striking features Parker has, is her eyes which feature black scleras and white irises in response to Creeseman's blessing.
Parker presents herself very confidently, frequently seen wearing lavish dresses and a collar piece comprised of mutated black plant matter. When using her powers, Eva's irises take on a white glow. Since becoming a supervillain, it is implied that Deathbloom has amassed great wealth, as reflected by the jewelry in her possession including various necklaces and earrings.
Prior to becoming the supervillain Deathbloom, Parker suffered from severe malnourishment due to her poor financial and physical living conditions. As a result of this, Evangeline had a frail body and a gaunt appearance, even when participating in her volunteering ventures as the superheroine Eco-Eva.
History
"Behind every so-called 'supervillain' is a person whose story was never told. Because once it's been revealed, can you really say all your discrimination was just?"
- Bobby Creeseman
Childhood
Evangeline Parker was born to two unnamed parents in the outskirts of America that had not fully recovered from the aftershocks of Doctor Destroyer's invasion of Detroit. When the child reached speaking age, the parents discovered that Evangeline possessed a very noticeable stutter and frequent lapses in memory. A doctor would diagnose Evangeline with psychotic schizophrenia, causing Parker to be classified as mentally disabled. In spite of this, Evangeline's parents raised the girl in a loving environment. Throughout her early years, Evangeline developed an interest in plants after her mother suggested her daughter wear flowers in her hair, which resulted in Evangeline being able to make friends more easily despite her speech impediment. Evangeline's mother would continue sharing her love for plants with her daughter, explaining that to her, nature would always be the purest form of beauty there was. No matter what mental disabilities plagued her daughter, if she could embrace nature, she could overcome anything. It would be through her mother's words that Evangeline developed a passion for botany.
Tragedy and Homelessness
Tragedy struck Parker's life early. One day, after a 6-year-old Evangeline returned from school she found her parents' deceased corpses on the floor. The death of her parents was revealed to be through gunshot wounds and the house had been robbed. The death of the girl's parents was among a large slew of other murders, and due to the immense backlog of cases, the investigation for Evangeline's parents was never launched. As a result of Evangeline's mental disability, the orphan was incapable of explaining her situation, which resulted in her homelessness.
For four years, an orphaned Evangeline wandered the streets where she would be forced by numerous strangers to assist in robberies and crime, which added to her criminal record as many of the crime groups would use the child as a scapegoat due to her inability to explain to the police of her situation. At some point, Parker had also been coerced by a group of men to assist in murder. According to the supervillain, this would be the first time Evangeline had witnessed a man die, and the second time she had witnessed a dead body. Evangeline also revealed that during this time, if she ever had moments of hesitation or tiredness, her captors would beat her into submission. The fear of being harmed by men was likely a significant contributor to her insomnia, which developed during her early years of homelessness. During her homelessness, Evangeline's schizophrenia ran rampant as she was incapable of affording or purchasing medication due to being a minor and her speech impediment. Evangeline had also stated that she would frequently hallucinate the reanimated corpses of her parents and all the people she had assisted in murdering in the alleyways whenever she attempted to sleep.
At ten years old, Evangeline was finally picked up by an orphanage. However, due to her extensive criminal record and mental disability, many families avoided adopting her.
Adolescence
By the time Evangeline reached her teenage years, she enrolled in Vanguard High School, with the orphanage staff acting as her legal guardian. Due to her mental disabilities and added illnesses as a result of her upbringing, many classmates avoided Parker, leading to frequent isolation and bullying. In one instance, Parker claimed that a group of girls had replaced the flower seeds in her backpack with a package of condoms, then proceeded to publically shame her in front of the whole school, labeling Evangeline as the "school slut". This label would stick as Parker was incapable of defending herself due to her stutter, which only fed into her humiliation. The boys in the school also took part in the bullying, frequently making the remark that Parker's white hair was the same color as male ejaculate, which only caused more rumors to circulate amongst the students of the school.
One day, Parker received a flower in her locker from one of the boys in her class, who was revealed to be Tristan Hart, who claimed he had an interest in plants like Evangeline. Though cautious of the bullying, Parker cherished the flower, frequently gazing upon it during break time and eventually accepting Tristan's feelings. Evangeline would introduce Tristan to the world of plants and botany, expressing her desire to become a botanist and bring more plants back into the world. For a time, Parker started to enjoy life with her new boyfriend as the two would meet frequently to grow plants in her orphanage's garden. It would be Tristan who gave Evangeline her nickname "Eva", and later Eco-Eva in response to her passion for plants and nature as the two continued dating.
In spite of the bullying that now had extended to Tristan, the couple started the Plant Research Club, where the two would initiate research in different types of plants and their response to external stimuli. Tristan expressed interest in the effects of plant pheromones and their ability to act as defense mechanisms to protect against predators. Initially supportive of her boyfriend's expeditions, Eva supported Tristan's research and helped provide her expertise. Tristan and Eva continued with their research, with their work being showcased at the Vanguard Science Fair and attracting the attention of several botanists from neighboring universities. Following their academic and research success, one of Tristan's friends, Shannon, offered his expertise to increase the funding of the club by offering his expertise in fundraising. Now with the help of two people, Eva's passion for botany continued to grow.
The Bloom Project
As Eva and Tristan continued their research, Eva began to notice that Tristan had become increasingly fixated on pheromone control. Upon asking her boyfriend what he intended to do with the research, Tristan explained that by tapping into the potential of controlled pheromone emission, he and Eva could expand the growth of the plants to not just their school, but also throughout America and even the world, making the world into a beautiful place just like Eva's mother wanted. Though Eva was touched by Tristan's ambition, the young botanist suspected that her boyfriend was bordering on extremism. More and more time was spent on his research, as opposed to with Eva, causing Eva to become increasingly concerned. The tension between Eva and Tristan had become increasingly strained.
Shannon, realizing the tension between the two, inquired about the situation, and Eva confessed that she was feeling more and more on edge with Tristan's behavior. On one instance, Eva had caught Tristan speaking to himself deliriously, repeating the words "bloom" over and over again, which greatly disturbed her. On the night before the Plant Club's second debut at the Millennium City Fair in which the club aimed to present their research to Harmon Industries, Shannon confronted Tristan and explained that his girlfriend was becoming concerned with his behavior. Tristan brushed Shannon off, but Shannon insisted on resolving the problem early rather than later. A fight would break out between Shannon and Tristan, with Tristan accusing Eva of cheating on him. Tristan left Shannon and Eva alone in the clubroom.
Heartbroken, Eva cried deliriously, with Shannon comforting her. As Eva continued expressing her frustrations, she also revealed that she knew much of this could have been prevented if she had just picked up the signs early on when Tristan wanted to pursue pheromone research. As the research that was conducted was without proper protective equipment, Eva believed Tristan had become influenced by the pheromones, which had eroded his hormonal system. Guilt soon plagued Eva as she realized that she had a part to play in Tristan's downfall into insanity due to choosing to support her boyfriend through his ambitions. Unbeknownst to Eva, however, Shannon had predicted this all along and had already injected Eva with a modified version of the pheromones Tristan had worked on, sending Eva into a delirious state. Realizing too late, Eva attempted to escape Shannon, but Shannon pinned her down and proceeded to rape her, filming the entire event and broadcasting it to the rest of the school.
The next day, Tristan, Shannon, and a deeply traumatized Eva attended the Millennium City Fair. Tristan, unaware of Shannon's deception, became increasingly distant from Eva but held off on breaking up with her as he had noticed Eva's unstable state. As the booth had been constructed with the help of Shannon and his friends, Tristan and Eva had time to speak on the events that had happened the other night. Tristan confessed that he had also noticed that his mental state was deteriorating and wanted to stop the research, but because the pheromones he and Eva were working on had badly corroded his hormone system, he found himself incapable of stopping. Eva promised to help Tristan as much as she could, when suddenly, Tristan received news of the rumors on his phone. Horrified, Tristan instantly turned to his girlfriend, showing the video footage Shannon had taken of himself raping Eva and asking for an explanation. Devastated, Eva attempted to explain her case, but her stutter soon worsened, making her words incoherent even to her boyfriend. Angered, Tristan believed the rumors that Eva had cheated on him and proceeded to smash the booth that the two had worked on together, against his girlfriend's pleas.
With the booth and samples shattered, the pheromones that Tristan and Eva were working on spread wildly, infecting plants all around the fair and turning them into ravenous monsters. Several of the monsterized plants slaughtered nearby civilians and deeply injured Tristan. From the chaos, Shannon laughed wildly, explaining that if it hadn't been for Tristan and Eva's help he wouldn't have been able to get so far ahead with his plan. Angered, Eva demanded Shannon explain himself, for which Shannon revealed that this entire time, he also harbored feelings of attraction for Eva. However, since he was unable to sleep with her, the rest of the school ridiculed Shannon for being rejected by the "worst of the worst girls". Angered at the ridicule, Shannon devised a plan to both repair his reputation through the disguised rape and to also punish Eva for rejecting him. However, in spite of his "success", many saw through the lie, and the truth had been revealed that Shannon had indeed sexually assaulted Eva, ruining his reputation even more. As a result of himself being cornered, Shannon chose to destroy the killswitch to the out-of-control plant infestation, essentially initiating a kamikaze attack on Tristan and Eva. Following Shannon's declaration, a mutated carnivorous plant appeared from the ground, and devoured Shannon, killing him instantly.
With the plants out of control, Eva desperately attempted to try to contain the infestation while also protecting her boyfriend, who had become increasingly hallucinogenic as a result of the pheromone exposure. Despite this, Eva comforted her boyfriend, explaining to him that the hallucinations that he was seeing were not real. And that she herself had spent almost a lifetime dealing with the hallucinations herself. Realizing that Eva had never cheated on him and that the pheromone research had reached such a violent degree, a deeply remorseful Tristan proposed setting the research on fire. However, this would also result in Tristan losing his life due to him being required to enter the deep expanse of the plants. Angered, Eva rejected Tristan's request, explaining that the superheroes should have arrived by now, but Tristan shot down Eva's retort, reasoning that by the time the heroes arrived, the infestation would result in a nuclear solution. Both he and Eva knew that.
Tristan would launch a full-scale assault on the plants, lighting a match. However, to Tristan's disbelief, the plants had suddenly manifested sentience in response to the heightened pheromone influence. Before Tristan could light the plants on fire, a monstrous mutated head appeared from the organic mass and ripped his arm off, to Eva's horror. Eva rushed forward, but was pinned down by the plants, and would watch as the monsters continued to tear and rip apart her boyfriend right in front of her very eyes.
Awakening
"Every time a new flower bloomed in our clubroom, you would smile. But it never lasted. If it meant making sure you never ran out of smiles... I would fill the whole world with flowers."
- Tristan Hart to Evangeline Parker behind his motivation for The Bloom Project
Eva watched the plants continue ripping Tristan apart until the plants shifted their attention. Realizing that his girlfriend was now in danger, Tristan mustered one last final push and managed to grasp the lighter, setting the plants aflame. Though the flames were incapable of destroying the mutation, the distraction was enough for Eva to drag her boyfriend out of the mess.
Now in Eva's arms, Tristan apologized profusely for everything he had done. From pursuing the research to accusing her of cheating, and causing her to be assaulted by Shannon, Tristan claimed that his death was well deserved. However, before Tristan could continue, Eva cut him off, tearfully demanding Tristan to do his best to live in spite of his fatal injuries. Tristan revealed that during his scuffle, he had found the killswitch that Shannon had destroyed - a powerful reagent capable of unleashing a specific type of pheromone that could control the plants. Tristan also confessed that the killswitch was in fact the main reason for his research - to be able to produce plants at an accelerated pace. Tristan explained that the Plant Club had slowly begun gaining more traction, allowing more and more members to join and appreciate the beauty of the flowers. However, the rate at which the Plant Club had delivered was not fast enough, and as long as the Plant Club remained barren the bullying would never stop for Eva. Tristan also revealed that because Shannon had destroyed the killswitch in his kamikaze attempt, the pheromone had been damaged to the genetic level such that it could not be activated manually and that it had undergone mutation. Tristan's final words to Eva would be to live, just as her parents would have wanted.
Realizing that in the end, Tristan had done everything for her sake, a grieving Eva turned her grief into fury. Eva took the killswitch and faced the horde of monsterized plants, and in a moment of desperation, ingested the killswitch in an attempt to activate the pheromone through her own hormonal system. Remembering the time she had spent with Tristan, then her time spent with her parents, and the words her mother had spoken to her about nature, the pheromone activated from within Eva's body. A powerful wave of pheromones emitted from Eva, halting the momentum of the monsterized plants as Eva stepped forward with her awakened abilities. Now commanding the plants all around the chaos, Eva demanded a complete ceasefire of the monsters, reducing them to their primitive counterparts as the plants under her control wrapped and subdued the monsters. However, due to collateral destruction that had spread throughout the fair, Eva found herself incapable of stopping all the monsters. Grief struck and frustrated at her powerlessness, Eva screamed at the top of her lungs, watching as the monsters began to close in. Moments before becoming overwhelmed, however, the familiar shine of a blue and white power armor appeared, revealing Defender from within the expanse of monsterized mutated plant flesh. Eva would lose consciousness, surrounded by The Champions, but her eyes never left the corpse of her boyfriend.
College Years
A year after the incident, later dubbed The Millennium City Bloom Disaster, an eighteen-year-old Eva Parker graduated from Vanguard and attended Saint Williams University, where she majored in Botany. Eva would suffer from severe PTSD from both the incident as well as the rape, but due to her poor financial situation, she was incapable of affording therapy. Additionally, because Eva had reached adult age, she was no longer eligible to receive the benefits of the orphanage. As a result, to pay off the rent for her residence, Eva sought employment. Searching for work was compounded with further complications as the young botanist realized that no companies would hire her due to her schizophrenia, turning her away as she was still considered mentally disabled. Eventually, Eva settled with an associate job for a lumberjack company, seeing no other choice as the company was the only company that would hire someone of her status. During the interview, Parker recalled that many of the staff had bullied her for being a woman, with a tally on the board that was made for flirting attempts on her. A one thousand globals bet would later emerge amongst the lumberjack staff on who would manage to sleep with Eva first. After word got out about Parker's major in Botany, the bullying only intensified as many of the workers would force Eva to uproot the same vegetation she used to admire. On one account, several workers stole Eva's medication for her schizophrenia, resulting in Parker hallucinating Shannon for an entire week leading to an extreme nervous breakdown, believing Shannon had never died and would rape her again. Parker realized right away that the only reason the company had hired her would be because she would be sexually objectified, however, seeing no other choice, she would accept.
In spite of the bullying, Eva continued to delve into her new metahuman abilities. Realizing that she had the ability to control nature, Eva would use her powers to restore the destroyed forestry of her lumberjack company under the identity Eco-Eva. Due to Eva's status as a mere sex object in the company, and thus was largely disregarded, no one suspected Parker to be the same vigilante who would undo all of their work. As Eva continued her vigilantism in secret, the young superheroine expanded her reach beyond the forestry damaged by her company, but also throughout the outskirts of America, with the intention to bring about the renewal of nature throughout the world just as Tristan and her mother wanted.
Inflation and Economic Crisis
For several months, Eva managed to balance her school life with her job and vigilantism, however, yet another roadblock would present itself: an overwhelming increase in the inflation of goods, housing, and taxes in response to the heightened funding for UNTIL. Despite the still-recovering economy of Eva's region in America, Governor Lucas Campbell would pour funds into the superheroes following Mayor Calvin Biselle's campaign to increase the security of Millennium City.
These changes manifested themselves in a significant recession: job prospects declined, severe downsizing, and a reduction in wages. Despite the negative effects incurred on the citizens, prices began to soar due to an increase in demand for housing and food.
In Eva's case, her already strained financial situation pushed her toward borderline poverty. Parker would recall that her diet had reduced to as little as 580 calories a day, much of which consisted of stale bread and tap water. In an attempt to try to keep the residence that she rented out, Eva begged her landlord for any way to backlog any rent payments. However, Parker's landlord would deny her request and instead propose that she pay half of the rent, but in exchange, for half of each month, she would become homeless. Eva would spend the latter half of every week sleeping in alleyways, with barely any money for food or medication. With the trauma of her past childhood of becoming homeless due to the deaths of her parents resurfacing, Eva would spend every night terrified.
Due to Eva's severe malnutrition, the workload expected of her at the lumberjack company became far more relentless, with Parker showing signs of fatigue and weakness. Despite showing obvious signs of malnourishment, Eva's colleagues remained non-sympathetic, continuing to offload their work on Parker and forcing her to hard labor. It would be around this time where Eva's strength as a vigilante had severely declined. However, Eva would still continue her vigilante life as Eco-Eva due to her determination to uphold the ideals presented to her by Tristan and her parents. Additionally, after several months of vigilante work, Eva began to gain fame throughout not just her region but also internationally, with the name "Eco-Eva" being attributed to many go-green movements.
Rise of Eco-Eva
Eva's views of her powers were never meant for violence, which she greatly advocated against. Due to this standpoint, Eva's work as a vigilante always veered toward the pacifist approach. Throughout Eva's career, the vigilante used her powers to help restore the habitat of destroyed ecosystems due to urban expansion projects, allowing non-invasive species to blossom in a mutualistic manner.
Eco-Eva significantly impacted the economy by providing food to many starving young adults who were negatively affected by the job recession. Eva's influence grew over the crops in rural areas, her pheromones increased the production of plants to offset the balance that had developed in response to Campbell's funding strategies. Seeing the light in the tunnel, Eva had somehow turned a bleak situation into one filled with hope amongst not only the young adult demographic but even those homeless as the superheroine soon used her powers to create plant-based shelters for those who could not afford a home. As Eva continued using her powers, her body became used to the emission of pheromones, growing alongside Eva as she continued using her powers for good.
The War Hound's Challenge
"She doesn't deserve all this attention. None of it. Powers are meant to be used to fight. Our abilities are what make us stronger than the average. What use is there in a garden bitch who would rather use the powers given to her to play house? I'll answer it for you all. There is none. I will show you all how a REAL superhero should be. This little girl is no superhero.'"
- Reginald Labrada challenges Evangeline Parker
As Eco-Eva's fame grew, many received word of the vigilante's ventures. Some would be highly supportive of Eva's vigilantism, however, one particular superhero was not a fan, Reginald Labrada, known amongst those in Millennium City as the War-Hound due to his fierceness in Cosmic Monster hunts. Labrada garnered a massive reputation as one of UNITY's greatest lycanthrope fighters, his career being centred on dealing devastating damage to the world's most serious threats including Qwyjibo, Teleiosaurus, Kigatilik, The Eidolon of Destruction, and even the Heralds of Therakiel, with his accomplishments being a leading forefront amongst the current superheroes in their raids of the Nephilim's temple.
To the War-Hound, being a superhero in this day and age meant to be strong, to use their powers to grow and fight back the forces of evil, rather than "playing house". Due to how Labrada's viewpoint was the complete contrast to Parker's, Labrada saw Eco-Eva as a "disgrace" to the superhero scene. Taking on social media and media outlets, Labrada expressed his frustration on Parker's vigilantism, remarking that she was a mere "garden bitch" and that she did not deserve her fame.
Eva, on the other hand, would not respond to Labrada's shots of aggression, as she became more and more drained due to using her powers to help feed the people and provide shelter to the homeless. Instead, Parker would spend her days avoiding social media altogether as she was incapable of affording the internet and thus did not have the means to respond to Labrada's attacks. Reginald would take Eva's silence as insulting to his honour, thinking that Eco-Eva was ignoring him and thus seeing herself as being higher than the War Hound, greatly damaging his ego. Angered at Eva's lack of response, Labrada set foot for Southern America, where Eco-Eva was located with the intention to fight.
Reginald would arrive in Southern America, where the superhero was taken aback at the abundance of food and shelter, courtesy of Eco-Eva. Hearing that Southern America had been still recovering from the Battle of Detroit and its severe economic crisis, several of Labrada's associates commented that Eco-Eva had become an influential figure and that challenging her to fight could potentially damage the War Hound's reputation. However, these words would fall short as Labrada's anger only continued to intensify. Grabbing one of his associates and connecting to several media platforms, the War Hound announced that he was now in Southern America, where the superhero called out Eco-Eva to fight. Eva would continue ignoring Reginald, however, adding fuel to the fire as Labrada's rage boiled over. Approaching several shelters, Labrada unleashed his wrath, tearing apart the plants and causing numerous homeless people to scatter in a panic. Labrada turned to several young men who were in line for wheat and demanded to know where Eco-Eva was. The men replied by telling Labrada that Eco-Eva would never accept Reginald's challenge as fighting was not who she was, and that she was the type of superhero who would help others. Enraged, Labrada threatened to break the bones of each person in line, declaring that for each "no" he received would be another person hospitalized.
Eco-Eva vs. The War Hound
"You know more than anyone in this crowd; just what exactly that little girl is going through. The fear in her eyes. That terror of being powerless. You lived it. You felt it. Will you continue being a slave to your past, or would you rather be the master of your future?"
- Bobby Creeseman's apparition to Eco-Eva
Eventually, word reached Parker, who hurried to Labrada's location. Eva would attempt to reason with Reginald, requesting a truce and reasoning that there was no motive to fight between two vigilantes. Reginald rebuked Eva's desperate attempts, calling the vigilante out for trying to "be a hero" when she was not even registered as an official superhero with UNITY. The War Hound would continue, exposing Eva for being responsible for the Millennium City Bloom Disaster, connecting the dots between her scent and the clues from the incident. Labrada claimed that Parker's attempts to improve society were out of guilt from what she had done. Parker would be at a loss for words, watching as the crowd shifted from Parker's side to Labrada's due to the revelation.
The War Hound proceeded to destroy the vegetation of the shelters and the crops, while the crowd watched. Eva rushed forward, attempting to stop Reginald only to be swatted away by the stronger superhero. Reginald continued to destroy, causing the homeless to scatter and panic, however, the mass public did not dare stop the superhero. Eva recovered from the previous attack but would be struck with terror, her PTSD from being harmed by men resurfacing and leading to a nervous breakdown.
Reginald continued his onslaught and ripped open another shelter. The shelter revealed a cowering little girl, who was frozen in fear at the superhero. Labrada reached forward and grabbed the girl by the throat, saliva dribbling from his canine teeth. At this point, Reginald's associates realized that Labrada had completely succumbed to something known as Feral Rage, an uncontrollable lust for destruction attributed to lycanthropes. Labrada's associates attempted to stop the War Hound only to be defeated, leaving the girl alone at the mercy of a rampaging War Hound. Panic ensued in the crowd, with many wanting to stop Labrada but unable to due to the sheer strength of the lycanthrope.
As Evangeline stared at the homeless orphan, memories of her own childhood flooded her mind. Time seemed to stop for the vigilante as if everything had become still. At this time, Parker recalled that this would be the first time she caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure in the distance, telling her that her traumas were not a weakness, and to use her memories as fuel. In retrospect, Parker would realize that the vision of the shadow she had received was in fact Bobby Creeseman himself. A surge of strength would override Eva's fear.
Getting to her feet, Eva swatted Reginald's hand with a vine, dropping the girl and standing before the berserk beast with renewed determination. Labrada, now completely void of cognitive function had begun emitting a fierce aura of aggression pheromones that was causing nearby bystanders to fall unconscious. However, to the Lycan and the public's surprise, Labrada's aura had started to weaken in response to Parker's own aura clashing against it.
Despite Eva standing her ground, it was clear that Reginald had a clear advantage, ripping through Parker's vines and overpowering her with sheer might. Eva soon found herself completely overwhelmed. As Labrada continued to pummel Parker, the public watched on, with some contacting local authorities and superheroes to contain the scene. However, many more would film the one-sided beatdown. Labrada proceeded to hurl Parker into a wall, severely injuring the young vigilante and causing her plant constructs to dissolve. As Eva slowly began losing consciousness, the vigilante started to pick up the conversations of several people in the crowd, overhearing some going as far as to wish that Labrada would permanently force her out of the industry. Shocked at what she was hearing, Eva's speech impediment worsened, causing Labrada to mock Parker's stutter in front of the public. Feeling betrayed by the same people she had helped, Eva began to lose her will to fight against the wishes of the orphan girl who continued begging Eva not to give up. However, moments before Labrada could deal the finishing blow, Eva entered another vision, where she found herself face to face with The Vancouver Angel once more.
The Power of Creeseman
"Reach out to me, Evangeline. Society will not send its angels to save you, but I will."
- Creeseman offers Parker his power
In the dreamscape, Parker begged the apparition to save her from Labrada, however, Creeseman denied Evangeline's request, telling her that by overcoming the hurdle for her, everything that had amounted up to this moment would have been for nothing. Frustrated, Parker shouted at Creeseman that she never once cared about overcoming hurdles or any growth and that the only thing on her mind was to survive for her late boyfriend and parents. Parker would also confess that she had absolutely no interest in becoming a superhero or helping others, but that everything she had done thus far was because she hated how the world was, from her parents being taken away from her, to her homelessness as a child, and to the physical and sexual abuse she had been subjected to most of her life. Many times, Eva even considered ending her own life but would be too scared to carry it out.
Creeseman replied to Eva by telling her that the reality of the world was that many were blessed with things that some people would only dream of. Whether it was a loving family, a support network, a stable career, or even fame and prestige. However, these same people would never use these gifts to help those who truly suffered, as they never truly experienced what it was like to be at rock bottom and try to climb their way out. In Parker's case, these people were the same people she was surrounded by, those she was trying to help would never reciprocate her kindness as they never truly understood rock bottom like she had. The impact that Campbell had inflicted on Southern America had caused these people to witness only a glimpse of what Evangeline had dealt with her whole life, and thus that was what created the connection between society and Eco-Eva, and was the reason why her name had started to gain traction. However, the connection itself, as proven by the fight with The War Hound, was fleeting, as once the revelation of Eco-Eva and the Bloom Disaster had crumbled the very foundation of the vigilante's trust in a matter of seconds.
Bobby then approached Eva and extended his hand, telling her that he had finally found another person suffering just like him. Evangeline, skeptical, asked Bobby what he had been through, and using his telepathy, Creeseman would share his past with Parker. Creeseman would reveal to Parker that like her, he had been subjected to ridicule, harassment, and bullying. In his case, he was born in a Catholic household, and his father, being psychopathic, greatly condemned Bobby's existence. When Bobby came out as bisexual and revealed his homosexual feelings for a boy in his church, his father worsened his physical and psychological abuse of Robert until his mental health spiralled uncontrollably. Taken aback at what Creeseman had been through, Evangeline asked Bobby how he managed to overcome the trauma of his past. Creeseman would confess that he never did, but the only thing that he could possibly do was move forward with the weight of his trauma. If society failed to support him, he needed to have the strength to support himself. Amassing great power, Bobby explained that his goal was to save those like him and to help those who could not be helped. If it was okay for society to hurt the condemned, there were no grounds to judge the condemned for hurting society.
Still hesitant at the idea of hurting others, Evangeline would temporarily accept Bobby's supplanted power, allowing Creeseman's abilities to enhance her own. Remembering the little girl who had begged her to not give up, a sudden surge of strength entered her body as Parker jolted back from unconsciousness. Reginald's strike was stopped with a mass of vines. Taken aback at the sudden increase in power, The War Hound made distance, only for the vines to pursue the superhero and overwhelm him relentlessly. Reginald continued being overwhelmed, with the onlookers in complete awe at the power displayed by a Creeseman-empowered Eco-Eva. Though the impression Eva had now left on the general public was that of a violent metahuman, the young vigilante continued her onslaught, unleashing a torrent of vines at the War Hound, completely tangling the superhero up and disabling his limbs. Beyond enraged, Labrada threatened to slaughter the orphan girl, but to his shock, the girl was nowhere to be found; Parker had completely concealed the orphan in a protective shell of plant matter. Realizing that Evangeline's sudden second wind had been attributed to the little girl, Labrada's senses began to return to normal, his Berserker Rage subsiding. As Reginald began to lose his bloodlust, the fight shifted in Eco-Eva's favour, allowing the female vigilante to deliver one last devastating blow, finally defeating the War Hound.
Aftermath
Despite saving everyone from the rampaging War Hound, because Eva had demonstrated her metahuman abilities without a license (as an unregistered superhero), by legal means, Parker had broken the law and was thus banned from hero work as Eco-Eva. To Parker's disbelief, the dormitory of the University rescinded their contract with the botanist. Additionally, due to her identity being revealed by Labrada, Eva ended up nearly losing her job at the Lumberjack Company. Eva would attempt to beg the plant supervisor for a chance to keep her occupation. Knowing full well of the position she was now in, the supervisor took full advantage of Parker's desperation and offered her the chance to stay, along with having lodgings in the plant office in exchange for sexual favours for not just him, but the rest of the employees. Eva would accept the terms begrudgingly, with the rest of the employees referring to her as "Hooker Parker" as a running joke comparing her to a prostitute.
After her shift ended, a frustrated Eva broke down on the floor of the empty lumberjack plant, crying nonstop as the events replayed in her mind. Recalling everything she had done as Eco-Eva, and the impact she had made on society, Parker questioned why after everything that had transpired she was still in a position where people took advantage of her problems. Eva took out a picture of Tristan, apologizing to her late boyfriend for defiling herself to survive. Angered at the unfairness of her situation, Eva started to contemplate about Creeseman's offer, whether or not her decision to not kill people for her own sake was justified. This contemplation would continue until a sound jolted her out of her trance. From the darkness, the figure of a young man could be seen attempting to steal from one of Eva's shelves. Eva quickly restrained the man with her plant powers, unmasking him and revealing a young boy who was approximately 16 years old. The boy demanded Eva let him go, but Eva, enraged, demanded he turn himself in for trying to steal from someone who was barely able to make ends meet. The boy continued to struggle from his binds, claiming that he was here to search for records on a woman named Lillian Brandt, Eva's mother. Eva, angered even further, asked the boy why he wanted to know about Brandt, for which the boy revealed that Brandt was in fact an eco-terrorist who was responsible for something known as The Bloom, an unknown cosmic energy force that animates plant life. The boy claimed that if he could obtain information on Brandt the man who had coerced him into the investigation would reveal information on his biological father: Wayland Parker.
Struck with disbelief, Eva let the boy go, asking him why he knew to search for the records of Brandt here in a run down lumberjack office, and the boy explained that he had learned that his father had another child by the name of Evangeline Parker, after Labrada had revealed her identity to the general public. With Evangeline Parker being able to channel the power of The Bloom like Brandt once did, the boy believed that Eva could provide information on her mother. The boy would introduce himself as James Parker, Eva's younger half brother. James asked his older sister for help, telling her that he couldn't do this alone, but Eva refused, returning to the office and slumping on the ground. Angered at his half sister's response, James demanded an explanation, for which Eva replied that even if information on her mother were revealed, she had no other reason to continue forward. Despite working hard as Eco-Eva and becoming a botanist, she not only had her career compromised by the War Hound, but what little employment chances were squashed due to using her powers recklessly. Eva had essentially become a prostitute to make ends meet, something that she hated herself for becoming. Evangeline then followed up by asking James if this was something he wanted, someone like her to become his ally.
Dismissing her claims, James remained adamant, telling her that he was now all she had, and she was all he had. Though she was not exactly what he would have expected in an older sibling, James still needed Eva's help with his investigation. With her powers, Eva could even protect James if any fights broke out. Eva, taken aback at her younger brother's words, reluctantly accepted, but reasoned that she could not use her powers as Eco-Eva had now been banned from the law; she would become essentially a supervillain by illegally using The Bloom. James responded by calling Evangeline an "idiot", and that no one would need to know she was Eco-Eva if she masked her identity. Many superheroes and supervillains roamed the world with superpowers similar to The Bloom, albeit not at Parker's scale. Seeing another avenue out of her situation, Eva took James' hand, joining in her younger brother's investigation of who their mother really was.
Eva and James
James led Parker to his living space, explaining that like her, he had been orphaned at a young age. Instead of wandering the streets, James learned to commit crimes and kill early - stealing firearms and explosives from gangs and using them to stay under the radar. Due to his many years in hiding, James also learned numerous gadgeteer tricks to survive. Eva would express disappointment at her younger brother's living quarters, comparing the place to a pigsty and telling him that the lumberjack office was better. Eva's remark would result in a sibling quarrel.
After getting settled in, James and Eva connected the dots between their pasts, revealing that James was the son of Wayland Parker and a woman named Isabella Pataky. While Wayland was in a marriage with Lillian, James explained that his father appeared to have discovered Lillian's identity as an eco-terrorist. Wayland learned of Eva's fixation on botany, fearing for his life and the future of his daughter fled from his family and started a new life with Isabella, essentially beginning an affair. For a time, Wayland had two children from two different mothers, tending to them at the same time unbeknownst to either side of the family. At some point, Wayland revealed to Isabella that he had been in an affair, but Isabella accepted her lover's terms on the condition that they raise their son James properly. However, when Wayland attempted to reveal to Lillian Isabella's existence, disaster struck. It was unknown to James what had happened on that night, in which Eva revealed that one day when she had arrived home from school, the bodies of both Wayland and Lillian were found shot dead in their home.
Struck with disbelief, James asked Eva if she was sure that Lillian was dead, to which Eva angrily restated that she saw the dead body of her mother that night. James attempted to calm Eva down, explaining that the whole reason why he had been forced into the investigation was that he was told that Lillian was still alive. The death of Eva's mother was in fact falsified. Still unconvinced, Eva asked her brother for proof and James retorted that the proof was right in front of him: the successor of The Bloom. James asked Eva what drove her to pursue botany, and Eva replied that it was because she found plants to be beautiful. However, James asked Eva again, but this time, if Lillian had anything to do with this interest, in which Eva remembered what her mother had told her, that nature was the purest form of beauty there was. Enraged, Eva used her powers to strangle James, declaring that her mother was not a monster and that she loved her, then accused her younger brother of trying to defame her parents.
As Eva continued to strangle James, thoughts of murder flashed in her mind, along with Creeseman's words. However, before Eva could carry through, James screamed her name, jolting her out of her bloodlust. Eva dropped James and quickly took her medication, realizing that since awakening her powers to The Bloom, her mental state had become even more unstable in response to her new metahuman powers. Added to her psychotic schizophrenia, Eva's paranoia had escalated even further causing her actions to become even more violent than ever before. James explained to Eva that though he couldn't be sure if Lillian had been trying to manipulate her daughter this entire time, he still needed to investigate her, and once again asked for her cooperation.
Eva reluctantly agreed and inquired about the state of the investigation. James showed Eva a roadmap of his current progress, showing that he had already pinpointed several suspects. Through his gadgeteer abilities, he was able to acquire intel on several of these suspects, however, the last suspect was someone for which he had insufficient firepower to deal due to the suspect's abilities. Upon showing her the details on the suspect, Eva was shocked, realizing the suspect was none other than Rukia, The Ruin Herald of Bobby Creeseman.
The Search for Rukia
With details mapped out on the Herald of Ruin, James had planned to intercept her from a planned assault on the superhero Koda the Immovable, a well-known Russian Tank who had gained notoriety for withstanding an attack from Moloch, the Subjugation Herald. However, James had trouble approaching the Herald as she would not pay any mind to someone as insignificant as a bottom-feeder junkie. Eva, on the other hand, had a better chance as she had prior contact with Rukia's creator, Bobby.
Eva would express reluctance at the idea of approaching a Herald of Creeseman, as she had heard of the immense strength of Creeseman's offshoot consciousness'. However, as she had also become skeptical of her mother, the ex-vigilante accepted James' request on the condition that he assist in equipping her properly. James, anticipating Eva's request revealed that he had developed modifications on her gear, allowing her to withstand strikes from the Kendrium Leather. The added manoeuvrability of the suit would permit Eva to use more of her powers without suffering from the backlash her old clothes had.
