TWO MONTHS LATER
🌑 Scene 1: The Thing That Shouldn't Wake
The underground chamber breathes.
Not air—presence.
Nkumkani feels it before he sees it. His head throbs, red eyes flaring as something ancient presses against his thoughts, like a hand testing glass.
Nkumkani – …Stay sharp.
Hyde grips his weapon, sweat dripping down his face despite the cold.
Hyde – Tell me that's just my imagination.
The ground splits.
Stone peels back like rotten flesh.
And it rises.
A mass of roots, bone, and blackened earth pulls itself from the pit. Limbs form and reform, joints bending the wrong way. A single eye opens in the center of its body—huge, yellow, and filled with hunger older than language.
Chains drag behind it, snapped but not broken.
Monkey – …Yeah. That's not plumbing.
The entity SCREAMS.
The sound isn't noise—it's memory. Entire civilizations collapsing in an instant flood Nkumkani's mind.
He drops to one knee.
⚔️ Scene 2: The Underground Battle
The creature lunges.
Hyde is thrown into the wall like a ragdoll, ribs cracking as the stone shatters behind him.
Monkey fires—bullets disappear into the creature's body, swallowed by roots and soil.
Monkey – That didn't do a damn thing!
Nkumkani rises, eyes glowing brighter.
The entity locks onto him.
Ancient Entity – Gardener's Child…
The words echo inside his skull.
Nkumkani screams back, unleashing a telepathic blast that tears through the chamber. The walls fracture. The creature staggers—but does not fall.
It retaliates.
Roots spear forward, impaling Monkey through the shoulder and slamming him into the ground.
Monkey – AHH—!
Hyde charges, slashing at the chains dragging behind the creature. Sparks fly as one chain snaps completely.
The entity roars—angrier now.
It backhands Hyde across the chamber, smashing him through a pillar.
Nkumkani gathers everything he has.
Nkumkani – You don't own this world!
He drives his mind into the creature's core.
For a moment—just a moment—the entity hesitates.
And then it laughs.
Ancient Entity – This world grew from me.
The ceiling collapses.
The battle buries itself in darkness.
🌑 Scene 3: Retreat Into the Roots
The entity begins pulling itself deeper into the earth, dragging the chamber down with it.
The ground is sinking.
Hyde – NKU! WE'RE LOSING THIS GROUND!
Monkey, bleeding, grabs Nkumkani's arm.
Monkey – You wanna win later? MOVE. NOW.
Nkumkani hesitates—then the eye locks onto him again.
A promise.
A threat.
They run.
The tunnel caves in behind them as the entity retreats into the deeper soil, its laughter echoing long after it vanishes.
Silence returns.
But the ground is no longer still.
🩸 Scene 4: Decaulion Shadowfury Returns
Elsewhere.
A ruined medical wing.
The boy walks calmly through flickering lights.
Decaulion Shadowfury.
The name returns to him like a crown settling onto his head.
He stops in front of a cracked mirror.
The reflection doesn't match.
Black eyes glow faintly. Shadows coil around his feet, obedient.
Decaulion – …General Nina was weak.
He raises a hand.
Blood lifts from the floor, twisting into symbols midair.
Decaulion – But she gave me a body.
He smiles.
Decaulion – And now I'm back.
Alarms suddenly BLARE across the facility.
Decaulion tilts his head.
Decaulion – Oh.
Good. I was bored.
The shadows surge outward, consuming the corridor.
🌫️ Scene 5: Above Ground – The Fog Stirs
In Redfern Ridge, a thin black fog creeps along the streets.
People stop.
Windows frost over.
In the distance, something opens.
🌌 Closing Narration
Narrator – Beneath the earth, something ancient stirs.
Nkumkani survives a battle he was never meant to fight.
Hyde and Monkey escape—changed.
And Decaulion Shadowfury walks again in human skin.
The Garden spreads its roots.
The fog approaches.
And the dead are no longer waiting.
TO BE CONTINUED…