Chapter 26: Tragedy
The Mindcube pulsed violently in Alex's grasp, yanked from the depths of his mental room. Its glow pierced the claustrophobic darkness of the underground chamber. The voices — those whispers scraping at the edge of his thoughts — silenced. But it wasn't over. A vine, thick and twisted like an angry limb, lashed out from the pulsing altar and snatched Alex mid-step.
"Alex!" Eagleeye shouted, raising his rifle.
Ghostfang roared, teeth bared, fire flickering in his throat.
Shield Maiden surged forward, but a wave of writhing rats and grotesque raccoons blocked her path, forcing her shield up as claws scraped against metal. Bladeblight cut a swath through a tide of twisted creatures, but the numbers kept growing — bodies disjointed, jaws open in unnatural screams.
Ghostfang was the most frantic. His amber eyes wide, his growls ragged, he could feel Alex's terror in the bond they shared. Panic, pain, helplessness.
The man-creature pulled Alex close to the altar. "You came… you came back to me!" he wept joyfully, dragging Alex onto a bed of jagged trash, vines tightening around Alex's limbs like iron shackles. "My Hero. My Gift. My Saint of the Sewer!"
Alex struggled, his face twisting in pain. "What the hell are you—?!"
"You GAVE ME THIS!" the creature shrieked, holding up the pulsating heart made of roots and rotted veins. It oozed sap like blood. "You gave me the seed. The neurospore. Your blessing—your love!" He leaned close, eyes wild, breath sour. "I was nothing. Just another rat scurrying beneath their boots. But now? Look at what we've built together. An altar! A throne!"
Alex tried to scream, but the vines pulled tighter. The creature dragged the root-heart toward his chest.
"You depended on your little heroes. Your toys. But no more. I will complete you." The man-creature hissed and raked a claw across Alex's chest. Blood spilled across the altar. "You deserve to evolve with me." He put the heart in Alex chest.
From the shadows, Ghostfang howled — a mournful, raging sound that rattled the sewer walls. His eyes flared like coals, his limbs lengthened. Horns burst from his skull. Fire ignited along his spine. The psychic connection surged into something feral.
Alex was dying.
A blast of fire shot from Ghostfang's mouth, a flamethrower of wrath that scorched the altar. The creature laughed as he burned, charred skin peeling, but still moving. Still grinning.
Shield Maiden appeared at the altar, hurling her spear with force enough to crack concrete. The blow gave her the opening to reach Alex's side. No words. She dropped to her knees beside him. The spell she had cast the moment she was summoned shimmered faintly — a divine ward anchored to his soul.
Alex breathed. Barely.
Eagleeye shot round after round, each one forcing the man-creature to stagger back, black ichor flying from impact wounds — but he didn't fall.
The team formed around Alex, shielding him. Ghostfang unleashed wave after wave of hellfire, holding the mutated horde at bay.
A desperate exit plan was formed. They blasted a hole through the collapsed wall. Wind rushed in. They moved—fast.
But just as hope took root, a vine lashed out like a serpent. It coiled around Alex's leg and yanked.
There was no time.
Alex screamed.
And the sound that followed — a wet, sickening snap — silenced the sewer for a heartbeat.
Shield Maiden caught him. He was losing consciousness. Blood sprayed as Ghostfang stood between his master and the vine, teeth glowing like molten metal.
They escaped, but Alex…
Alex had left a part of himself behind.
---
The chamber burned.
Flames licked the walls of trash and bone, casting manic shadows that danced in mockery of the horror that had just unfolded. Roots twisted in agony, shriveling under Ghostfang's hellfire. The pulsing altar of vines shuddered, cracking apart with a final sick groan as the fire consumed its core.
And yet…
Through the roar of flame and falling stone, a voice echoed — faint, but unmistakable. Twisted. Devoted.
> "This will not be the last time you've seen me…"
"My Hero."
The sound slithered into Alex's mind, carried by the smoke and ash, by something deeper. Not just heard, but felt. The creature was gone — escaping deeper into the veins of the city, into some unseen place where pain and madness festered like mold.
Ghostfang snarled, fire still simmering in his breath, pacing around the collapsed vines as if trying to catch a scent now lost.
Alex, barely conscious in Shield Maiden's arms, shivered at the voice still echoing inside his head. Not out of fear… but a terrible knowing.
This was not over.
This was just the beginning.
___
In a hospital
Alex stirred.
A soft hum filled the air, accompanied by the gentle bubbling of thick liquid around him. He blinked, the view distorted through a glass panel. His limbs felt heavy, and an unfamiliar weight sat on his chest. The mask was still on his face, snug and sealed, with an oxygen tube feeding him slow, measured breaths.
Then he noticed.
His body wouldn't move.
Every limb felt restrained, not by physical straps, but by the gentle embrace of the healing pod's internal bindings—an automated precaution. He strained against it anyway. Panic gripped his lungs before his mind could stop it.
His breath quickened. The oxygen hissed louder. Monitors outside the pod began to beep.
Then it happened.
A soft, warm aura gently expanded into the chamber, like the glow of sunrise on a cold day. It washed over him, slow and calm—calming him. The panic faded, replaced with a weightless peace. His heart rate stabilized.
He turned his head slightly.
Outside the pod, he saw her.
Bliss. Calm, radiant Bliss, with her glowing eyes and serene expression, watching him. Her aura had reached him, quelling the storm in his chest. Ghostfang sat at her side, unmoving, ever watchful. Nearby stood Shield Maiden, firm and silent like an immovable statue. Eagleeye rested beside the wall, arms crossed, gaze sharp and alert.
The pod hissed as the liquid began to drain. Moments later, the hatch released with a soft chkk and slid open. Cool air met his skin.
A doctor and medical assistant entered the room, immediately moving to check his vitals. Their voices were professional, but carried concern.
"Do you know your name?"
"Can you move your fingers?"
"Do you feel pain anywhere specific?"
Alex answered them mechanically. His voice was raw. Every word felt heavy in his throat.
Then came Yurei.
She walked in slower than usual, eyes tired. There was something different about her—no clipboard, no tactical calm. Just quiet tension. She waited until the doctors finished before stepping closer.
"Yurei…" Alex rasped. "Why do you look… afraid?"
She didn't answer right away.
Her lips pressed into a thin line. She looked at the others in the room. They waited, but said nothing. It was clear she wanted to say this herself.
Finally, she stepped forward, her voice low.
"Alex… The heart. That thing—made of roots… It's completely fused with you."
His eyes widened.
"If we had removed it," she continued, "you would have died instantly. It's not just in your chest. It is your chest now."
Alex slowly looked down.
His skin had been mended. His chest looked whole. But beneath the surface—beneath the translucent layer of regenerated flesh—he could see it.
Tendrils.
Green and brown veins of living root curled around his ribs, entwined through his torso, pulsing slowly with every beat of his heart.
Not just healed.
Changed.
[End of Chapter]