CHAPTER 27: THE WHISPERING ROOT
Silence.
The kind that lives between heartbeats.
Billy opened his eyes to see the ceiling of the temple flickering with veins of light. The air around him shimmered — thick, humming, alive. He tried to move, but his body felt heavy, bound by unseen threads of energy. His veins glowed faintly, pulsing in rhythm with the Core that floated before him.
He could still feel Kain — like a shadow under his skin, whispering in echoes.
"We're not so different, you and I."
Billy gritted his teeth. "Get out of my head."
"You invited me in, boy. When you reached for the Green… when you let it consume you."
Billy's breath grew ragged. His reflection in the Core shimmered — and for a moment, it wasn't his face looking back. Half of it was Kain's: metallic, grinning, cold.
He screamed and slammed his fist against the floor, the force sending a wave of green energy through the chamber. Cracks ran up the walls, and the Core flared violently.
Outside, the planet trembled. Roots tore through the sky, reaching toward the stars like claws.
The Guardians' ship struggled to maintain orbit as Rocket yelled over the noise. "Kid's going nuclear! We gotta get him before he tears this world apart!"
Nebula locked onto his signal. "Teleport coordinates locked. But the energy readings — they're unstable. We might get torn apart."
Star-Lord grinned, grim. "Wouldn't be the first time. Hit it!"
Inside the Temple
Billy staggered to his feet, breathing hard. The whispers in his head grew louder, more defined. He saw flashes — Kain's memories bleeding into his own. The scientist standing in a white lab, Earth in the background, his voice calm as he recorded his last message:
"The Green is not a myth. It's the bloodstream of existence. If I can bind it to machinery, we won't just evolve — we'll transcend."
The scene changed — fire, chaos, screams. Billy saw Kain fusing with the nanites, his body breaking apart and reforming, until flesh and machine became one.
"Perfection requires sacrifice."
Billy fell to his knees, clutching his head. "Stop it! I'm not you!"
The reflection in the Core smiled, a whisper coiling in his ear.
"Then prove it."
The temple's doors exploded open — the Guardians rushed in. Rocket aimed his blaster. "Kid, we're here to— holy crap."
Billy turned, his eyes glowing with twin lights — green and crimson. His voice came out distorted, layered. "Stay back."
Gamora stepped forward, hand on her blade. "Billy, you're fighting him. Don't let him take control."
"It's too late," Kain's voice echoed through Billy, resonant, terrifying. "He opened the Root. The Green belongs to me now."
Billy screamed and fired a pulse of energy — the Guardians dove aside as the blast tore through the wall, sending roots flying.
Rocket shouted, "He's losing it!"
Nebula grabbed her shock baton. "Then we take him down before he takes the universe with him."
Gamora hesitated. "No. We save him."
Internal War
Inside Billy's mind, the world was a storm. He stood in a green void, surrounded by infinite roots twisting through space. And across from him — Kain.
The scientist looked almost peaceful now, hands clasped behind his back. "You can't kill me, boy. Because killing me means destroying what you are."
Billy glared at him. "I'm not your creation."
Kain smiled faintly. "Oh, but you are. Every time you draw power from the Green, you tap into the system I built. You feed me."
Billy looked around — the roots pulsed with red light now, spreading like infection. Kain raised his hand and the void shuddered. "This is the truth, Billy. You were never chosen by the Green. You were engineered for it."
Billy's chest burned — flashes of his past returned: his mother's screams, the labs, the injections, the nightmares.
All of it orchestrated.
All of it leading here.
Kain stepped closer, voice soft, venomous. "You and I can be gods. Together we can weave creation and machinery, life and death. Balance through domination."
Billy clenched his fists. "No. Balance isn't control. It's sacrifice."
He thrust his hand forward — roots of green light shot out, impaling Kain's image. But the scientist only laughed, dissolving into mist.
"You can't kill what's already inside you."
Reality Breaks
Back in the temple, Billy's body convulsed. Green and red energies spiraled around him, ripping the structure apart.
Gamora grabbed Star-Lord. "If this keeps up, he'll rip the Core open!"
Star-Lord's face hardened. "Then we pull him out!"
Rocket shouted, "How? He's glowing like a damn nuke!"
Before anyone could answer, Mantis stepped forward. She placed her hands together, her antennas glowing. "I can reach him. His mind is chaos, but his heart still calls for help."
Nebula grabbed her arm. "You'll fry your brain."
Mantis smiled softly. "Then I'll fry it for a friend."
She pressed her hands to Billy's chest — light exploded outward, and in an instant, she was inside his mind.
The Mindscape
Mantis appeared in the same void — the twisting roots, the storm of energy. She saw Billy, standing alone against the monstrous silhouette of Kain.
She ran toward him, shouting, "Billy! You have to fight him!"
Billy turned, sweat and pain etched into his face. "He's everywhere, Mantis. Every thought, every breath."
Kain's voice boomed, shaking the void. "You think love or friendship can stop evolution?"
Mantis stood between them, trembling but defiant. "You're wrong. He isn't your legacy. He's hope's."
Kain sneered. "Hope is the lie of the weak."
Billy roared and lunged forward, smashing his fist into Kain's chest. The explosion of light was deafening — waves of energy split the void in two.
Mantis grabbed Billy's arm, shouting through the chaos, "You are not what he made you! You are what you choose to be!"
Billy's scream tore through reality — half agony, half defiance. The green energy surged, swallowing Kain's form.
"No!" Kain's voice echoed as his body dissolved into light. "You can't destroy me… I am your root!"
Billy whispered, "Then I'll cut it out."
Aftermath
The temple collapsed, the Core dimming. The Guardians dragged Billy's unconscious body out as the entire planet began to break apart.
They boarded the ship and blasted off just as the world exploded behind them — shards of green light scattering into space like dying stars.
For a long moment, no one spoke. The only sound was the hum of the engines and the faint heartbeat of the ship.
Gamora turned to look at Billy, lying still on the med-bed. His veins glowed faintly, shifting between green and red.
Rocket muttered, "So… did we win?"
Nebula shook her head. "He fought Kain. But I don't think the war's over."
Star-Lord sighed, looking out the viewport at the shattered remains of the planet. "Some wars never end."
Billy's hand twitched. His eyes flickered open.
For a second, they were green. Pure. Calm.
Then — just for a heartbeat — a flash of crimson.
And in the deepest corners of his mind, a whisper curled like smoke:
"You cut me down, boy. But roots… always grow back."
TO BE CONTINUED...