Karmic Paradox

<snip>
Reaching inside her jacket, she pulled out her knife and tossed it his general direction.

“Jones...” Jamie sighed as it clattered to the floor, just out of his reach “Tell me you didn’t just do that on purpose.”
</snip>

"Well well, looks like I have myself a play-thing." purred Iris, as she approached the bound form of Jamie, a vine wrapped around his throat, making it hard for him to talk. It hadn't taken her long to get to him after Cass and Jade had departed, so she picked up the knife before anyone had thoughts of escape.

Tanaka was being held upside-down by his ankles nearby. He had his arms folded in near resignation, given every time he'd gone for the vines to free himself, they'd slapped his hands away. Hard-light he may have been, but he still had to pander to the other laws of physics; namely the one that meant without a ground to lever from, the vines had complete control of his strength.

"You're just some second-rate Batman villain, you know." Tanaka quipped as Iris put a hand on Jamie's cheek, taunting him.

"Oh, that's not very nice." Iris responded, and one of the garden gnomes nearby tossed a clod of fertiliser at his face.

She was racking up a field of nigh-invincible negative karma. Her creations had bound two people against their will, and were now tossing decayed plant matter at her captives. The tomatoes had indeed evolved into more efficient killing machines, and had started to spread out along the promenade. All of these things serving to increase her karmic shielding.

Iris flicked the knife back and forth between her hands, tutting and murmering about what to do next.

"Perhaps I should hang you both from the ceiling, and see how long the vines last before you're dropped." She mused.

"Oh, please do. I'd love a change of scenery." Tanaka chided, sarcasm dripping from his words.

"Since you asked so nicely." Iris replied, and commanded her vines to move. They'd got half way to their destination before the karma field stuttered, unsure of how to deal with the situation. On the one hand, she was sending a bound man to dangle from a high ceiling, but on the other, he'd requested it very politely.

A gnome nearby tripped, flung the clod of fertiliser that was aimed at Jamie onto Iris' back, then fell over and exploded in a puff of ceramics and electronic circuits. The vines continued to rise, taking Tanaka with them.

"You know neither the vines or the fall will hurt me, right?" Tanaka asked before he rose out of earshot.

"But it'll be fun watching." Iris said, before turning back to Jamie. "Well well, what to do with you..."

<Tag. I've given us a way to get back at her a little, if you're careful... but Jamie might be in trouble!>