Chapter 44 – "The Fragment Stirs"
Part I – Cracks in the Light
Night pressed down on New Elysium like a smothering hand. Rain slashed across rooftops and poured off neon signs, shimmering on the ruined streets below. The Tower of Glass, now half-dark and fractured from the battle, loomed like a wounded beast in the city's heart.
Silva stood on a deserted walkway overlooking the tower's ruins. His golden-white aura flickered weakly — not the confident glow of past battles, but a trembling pulse barely holding shape. He clenched his fists, trying to steady himself.
But something inside him… was wrong.
A cold sensation threaded through his veins, creeping slowly toward his chest. The Core's light shivered as if recoiling from some unseen shadow lodged within him.
The fight took too much out of me… or something took advantage of the fight.
Silva exhaled shakily. The man from the tower hadn't died. Silva felt it. His presence lingered, thin as smoke but unmistakable.
Somewhere in Silva's mind, a whisper echoed — faint, distorted.
Iron Fist… we are far from finished.
Silva staggered, gripping a railing as the whisper faded. The world spun. His vision split for a heartbeat — golden light on one side, creeping darkness on the other.
"Silva!"
Lian sprinted toward him, soaked from the rain, face etched with concern. Her mechanical arm whirred softly as she steadied him.
"You're losing stability," she said urgently. "The Core is fluctuating. You need time to recalibrate."
"I don't have time," Silva growled. "Something got inside the Core during the fight. I can feel it."
Lian's eyes hardened. "A fragment of him?"
Silva nodded slowly.
"And it's waking."
Part II – The City Changes
They retreated into a half-destroyed transit station glowing with emergency lights. The collapsed ceiling groaned under the weight of rainfall. Debris littered the ground like broken bones.
Silva paced, breathing hard, fists flickering between gold and black static.
Lian typed rapidly on her wrist-module, scanning Silva's vitals. "Your Core energy signature is inconsistent. Like two frequencies fighting each other."
Silva closed his eyes, trying to focus.
Inside the Core, where his power usually thrummed bright and pure, a new presence coiled like a living shadow. Thin. Patient. Watching.
One spark, it whispered, is all it takes to burn a city to ash.
Silva's eyes snapped open, glowing fiercely.
"That voice," he muttered, "it's his. The fragment is alive."
Lian stopped typing. "Then we isolate it and tear it out. Before it tears you apart."
Before Silva could respond, the station lights flickered violently.
A long metallic screech echoed through the darkness.
Then another.
Silva and Lian turned sharply.
Far down the platform, something crawled out of the shadows — long limbs, reflective skin, its movements jerky and distorted like a corrupted hologram forcing itself into reality.
A Glass Wraith.
One of the tower's broken constructs… revived.
But its eyes were wrong. They glowed the same red as the man's.
Lian whispered, "He's using the fragment to take control of the tower's remnants…"
"No," Silva said, stepping forward as his aura flared, "he's using me to power them."
The Wraith let out a screeching roar and shot forward.
Part III – Clash in the Ruins
Silva moved on instinct, golden light erupting from his fists. He met the Wraith head-on, their collision shaking dust from the shattered ceiling. The Wraith's claws struck with unnatural force, sending shockwaves through the station.
Silva countered with a blazing uppercut, light exploding on impact — but instead of shattering, the Wraith absorbed the energy, its body darkening, movements sharpening.
Lian cursed. "It's feeding off your Core! Silva, pull back!"
"I can't!"
The Wraith lunged, knocking him to the ground. Silva rolled, letting the momentum carry him back to his feet, but as he did…
His vision blurred.
The Wraith's form split into two, then three, and he heard that whisper again:
Let me in. I can give you strength.
"No!" Silva roared, firing a shockwave that blasted the Wraith backward.
Lian rushed to his side, firing a concentrated EMP burst from her arm. The blue energy slammed into the Wraith's chest, cracking its glass-like skin. It screeched, staggering.
Silva seized the moment.
Golden energy spiraled around him, swirling like a storm. He punched forward with everything left in him — a devastating blast of light that tore through the Wraith, shattering it into a thousand glowing shards.
The station fell silent again.
Silva collapsed to one knee, breathing raggedly.
Lian knelt beside him. "You almost lost control."
Silva didn't deny it. "He's using the fragment to twist my power. If this continues…"
"You won't be able to fight," Lian finished darkly. "Or worse—you'll fight for him."
Silva's jaw tightened.
"I'm not letting that happen."
Part IV – The Fragment Speaks
They moved deeper into the station, finding a small maintenance room still intact. Water dripped from the ceiling. The air tasted metallic, charged with leftover energy.
Silva sat cross-legged on the floor, fists resting on his knees, trying to stabilize his Core. Lian stood guard at the door.
Minutes passed.
Rain pounded the roof.
Then Silva inhaled sharply as the world around him vanished.
He was inside the Core's inner chamber — a swirling golden void where light flowed like a living river. But tonight, the river was polluted. Black tendrils pulsed at its edges, creeping slowly toward the center.
And standing on the river's surface…
…was him.
The man from the tower.
His figure flickered, unstable, like a glitch trapped between realities. But his eyes burned with perfect clarity.
"Impressive," he said softly. "You resisted longer than expected."
Silva's fists ignited. "Get out of my head."
"Oh, I'm not in your head," the man replied. "I'm in your Core. Your essence. Your power." He smiled — slow, taunting. "And soon, your will."
Silva stepped forward, the golden river rippling around his feet. "You lost. I crushed you."
The man shook his head.
"You shattered my body. Not my consciousness."
He spread his arms, the shadows around him pulsing like a heartbeat.
"The Tower of Glass was my throne. You are my new one."
Silva's teeth gritted in fury.
"I'll burn you out."
The man's smile widened.
"Try."
Black tendrils shot toward Silva. Golden light erupted from him, clashing violently with the darkness. The storm of light and shadow roared through the Core, shaking Silva to his core — literally.
The man whispered, echoing through the void:
I don't need to defeat you, Silva. I just need to wear you down.
And Silva felt it — the corruption creeping deeper.
Part V – Waking Up to War
Silva gasped awake, drenched in sweat. Lian grabbed his shoulders.
"Silva! What happened?!"
He looked up at her, eyes glowing with flickering gold.
"He's not dead. He's inside the Core. Feeding. Growing."
Lian's face went pale. "Then we need to extract him. Fast."
Silva shook his head. "It's not extraction. It's exorcism."
Outside the maintenance room, sirens blared across the city as drones reactivated — thousands of them — all with glowing red eyes.
The fragment had awakened.
Silva stood slowly, wiping blood from his nose.
"This is only the beginning," he said, voice low and trembling with fury.
Lian tightened her mechanical fist. "Then let's make damn sure it's his beginning… and our victory."
Silva stepped into the rain-lit corridor, golden light flickering around him.
But behind the light, deep in his chest, something darker pulsed back.
Waiting.
Hungry.