Chapter 28: The Fight within
Alex returned to the office.
The once-familiar walls now felt colder, distant—not because they had changed, but because he had. He wheeled himself in, the smooth hum of the wheelchair echoing faintly. The cane rested by his side, still useful for short walks, but longer distances were out of the question. The injury had scarred more than just his body—it had made him cautious.
The past month had been nothing short of agonizing. Not only in pain, but in identity. A dispatcher meant to stand behind heroes, now bound to a chair with a root-infused chest and a missing leg. He had pondered countless times if he should summon another item to replace the Verdant Heart. Something to cleanse it. Remove it.
But that wasn't what he wanted anymore.
What he wanted… was control.
Alex didn't want to coexist with this thing anymore. He didn't want a symbiotic relationship where the heart whispered and pulsed on its own accord. He didn't want it to save him because it could—but because he willed it.
He needed to merge it. Truly.
To make the Verdant Neurospore Heart no longer a separate force growing within him—but his own heart. His strength. His command.
And for that, he knew what he needed.
Two items.
One was already inside him.
The second… he would summon.
Alex took a deep breath and summoned his will.
The portal opened before him—swirling with a soft bluish-green glow, calm yet tinged with something unnatural. From it emerged a flower unlike any he had ever seen.
It hovered momentarily, suspended in the light, then gently floated down into his hand.
Its petals were velvet-black with veins of pulsing green. Its center shimmered with bioluminescence, like it held liquid starlight. Delicate, fragile—and yet, Alex could feel the power within it. Not raw strength, but something more insidious. More precise.
It was a parasitic flower.
Not destructive by nature, but clever. It didn't destroy its host. It convinced it. Latching onto other trees or plants, draining their nutrients, mimicking their traits, and eventually becoming one with them. Not through violence—but by assimilation. By rewriting.
Exactly what he needed.
This wasn't just a plant. It was a method. A process. A metaphor.
Alex stared at the flower in his palm as it pulsed faintly in rhythm with his own heartbeat.
> "This... this will change everything," he whispered.
Alex gritted his teeth.
The moment the flower materialized, something inside him recoiled—the Verdant Neurospore Heart pulsed violently. Roots surged beneath his skin like angry serpents. Pain flared in his chest. The thing inside him had sensed it.
It knew what the flower could do.
And it was afraid.
His hands jerked. His legs kicked. The heart had taken over—controlling his body like a puppet trying to flee from a fire.
> "No," Alex gasped, sweat beading down his temple. "Not again… I'm not your vessel!"
He couldn't walk—not properly. But he still had his mind. He focused his thoughts and mentally signaled Ghostfang.
The hound, loyal and silent, immediately stepped forward. Its flame-ringed eyes locked on him with understanding.
Alex pointed weakly to the fusion table across the room.
Ghostfang obeyed. He gently but firmly pushed the wheelchair forward, toward the table, even as Alex's body spasmed in resistance.
> The roots under his skin twisted violently. One hand slapped Ghostfang's snout—an act not his own.
But the hound didn't waver.
From the side, Bliss appeared. The small bunny, calm as ever, carried the parasitic flower in her paws. The glow from its petals pulsed in sync with Alex's elevated heartbeat. She set it gently onto the table and stepped back.
Alex stared at it. So small. So delicate.
And so absolutely terrifying.
This was his chance. If he failed, the Verdant Heart would own him forever.
> "I need to trick it…" he whispered.
He gave one final mental command to Ghostfang.
> Attack me.
The hellhound hesitated for a fraction of a second.
Then, a burst of flame erupted around its jaws. It lunged—not to kill, but to threaten.
The reaction was immediate. The Neurospore Heart flared in rage. Roots exploded out from Alex's right arm—lashing, snapping, aiming to impale the hound.
One root slammed onto the fusion table.
Alex took his chance.
He slammed his hand down on the Parasitic Bloom and triggered the fusion.
The world exploded.
Every nerve in his body ignited. His mind was set ablaze. He screamed—but no sound came out. His body arched, the roots now consuming and being consumed by the flower's energy. His spine rattled. His heart twisted. The pain was beyond mortal threshold.
The last thing he saw before blacking out was Bliss—eyes wide, ears twitching—reaching toward him.
____
Darkness.
Alex floated in black nothingness, weightless, breathless. His body didn't hurt anymore—but something else did. A deeper ache, somewhere in his soul.
A cold voice slithered through the void like a whisper between thoughts.
> "Why…?"
Suddenly, a face formed in front of him.
Twisted flesh. Patchwork skin. Hollow, glowing eyes filled with betrayal and obsession. The man-creature stood amidst a shifting mass of writhing roots and animal limbs.
He was seething.
> "Why would you reject my gift, Alex?"
The voice cracked, not in rage—but pain. The kind of hurt that came from misplaced love. He stepped closer, the void warping around him. Trash and symbols from the sewer altar floated beside him like fading memories.
> "You… You know I'm doing it for your own good," he hissed.
"You're so weak, so fragile… so—"
tsk tsk tsk
"It hurts me to see you like this. Don't you see it? You're meant to be more. A god, a savior."
Alex tried to move, tried to scream—but he couldn't. Roots slithered from the creature's arms and wrapped around him again in the vision.
> "You made me who I am, Hero. You lit the spark. Gave me purpose. And now you run from it?"
The creature leaned in, his head twitching violently as he smiled wide.
> "But it's okay. I'll find a way."
"I always find a way."
He pressed a hand to Alex's chest, over where the heart pulsed.
> "One day… You'll thank me. You'll see. You'll be the best of us."
"Whether. You. Like. It. Or. Not."
And then—
Alex's eyes flew open.
Cold sweat clung to his brow. His heart pounded wildly against his ribs—but it beat with a strange rhythm now. A root-like echo behind every thud.
He gasped for breath, clawing at the edge of the bed, and immediately—
> "Alex!"
Voices. Warm ones.
He blinked and looked around.
He was no longer alone in darkness. Standing around him were Yurei, Leena, Kian, Toru, and Bliss. Ghostfang lay curled beside the bed, his glowing eyes locked onto his master, tail swaying gently with concern.
> "You're okay," Yurei said softly, kneeling beside him.
Alex's chest still ached. He reached down, feeling the outline of his ribs, and beneath them—yes—he could still feel the faint thrum of the Verdant Heart.
But it was different now.
Calmer.
Not gone—but quiet.
His breathing steadied.
He looked up at his team—their eyes filled with worry, relief, and something else.
Hope.
He was back.
And the war inside had only just begun.
[End of Chapter]