Morning sunlight spilled across the school grounds like nothing had changed.
Students poured through the gates, a chaotic sea of uniforms, laughter, and complaining. Someone kicked a football across the field; someone else argued loudly about a missed homework deadline. Teachers stood near the entrance, clutching coffee mugs like shields against the rising noise.
To the world, it was just another Tuesday. To Mokshit, it felt like walking onto a battlefield with no armor.
He stepped through the school gate slowly, his hoodie pulled tight around his head, hands shoved so deep into his pockets he looked like he was hiding weapons. His shoulders were stiff, his breathing shallow and robotic.
Calm down… he told himself, a mantra repeating in his mind. Don't touch the walls. Don't touch the trees. Whatever you do, don't sneeze.
His eyes darted around like a hunted animal. Every surface was a landmine. The metal gate. The stone pathway. The low wooden fence lining the walkway. He hugged the very edge of the path, trying his best to ignore the school garden entirely.
Or at least, he tried to.
The moment he passed the flowerbeds, the impossible happened.
Every flower in the garden turned.
Petals rotated slowly. Stems bent with an audible creak. Hundreds of blossoms realigned themselves, responding to a gravity that only Mokshit possessed. They moved like sunflowers tracking the sun, except the sun was stationary. He was the one moving.
Mokshit stopped dead, his heart hammering against his ribs. "…No," he whispered, his eyes wide. "No, no, no. Not here. Not now."
A rose bush trembled as he got closer. Tulips leaned over the edge of their pots, stretching toward him. Even the tiny weeds growing between the cracks in the pavement perked up, reaching for his sneakers like eager children.
Mokshit backed away, his voice a frantic mutter. "Please don't. Please don't do this to me."
Too late.
"BROOOOO!"
A voice shattered his panic. Rohan came charging across the courtyard, his backpack bouncing wildly against his shoulders. He was grinning wide enough to split his face in two.
"YOU DISAPPEARED FOR TWO DAYS!" Rohan yelled, skidding to a halt. "What happened? Did aliens kidnap you? Did you join a cult?"
Mokshit flinched, casting a terrified glance back at the garden. The flowers were still facing him. Waiting.
"It's worse," Mokshit whispered, his face pale.
Rohan blinked. "Worse than aliens?"
Nikhil appeared beside them, adjusting his glasses with a scholarly sniff. "Bro, unless you got abducted by ghosts or married off secretly, nothing is worse than aliens. It's scientifically impossible."
"It's worse," Mokshit repeated, his voice tight.
Meera approached more slowly. Her eyes scanned Mokshit—noticing the tremor in his hands, the way he was avoiding physical contact, the sheer tension in his posture. "Then tell us," she said gently. "What happened?"
Mokshit swallowed hard. He looked at his three best friends. If he didn't tell them now, they'd find out the hard way. Slowly, reluctantly, he pulled his right hand out of his pocket and opened his palm.
At first, nothing happened. Rohan leaned in so close his nose almost touched Mokshit's skin. "…Bro?"
Then—pop.
A tiny, vibrant green vine pushed through the skin of Mokshit's palm. It didn't look like an injury; it looked like it had always belonged there. It curled once, then twice, spiraling around his thumb like a living ring.
The courtyard went silent.
Rohan's mouth fell open, but no sound came out. Nikhil stared so hard his glasses started to slide down his nose.
Meera didn't step back in fear. She just whispered, "…Mokshit… why is your hand growing plants?"
Rohan finally found his voice. He screamed at the top of his lungs. "HE'S GOING PHOTOSYNTHESIS MODE! MY BEST FRIEND IS A SALAD!"
"NO—WAIT—STOP!" Mokshit panicked, shaking his hand violently to get the vine to retract.
The vine, sensing his distress, responded by growing three inches longer.
"STOP GROWING! STOP GROWING!!" Mokshit pleaded.
Nikhil pointed at him like he was witnessing a miracle. "WHAT DID YOU EAT?! DID YOU SNORT FERTILIZER?!"
"I DIDN'T EAT PLANTS, IDIOT!"
Mokshit backed up blindly, his elbow brushing against a dried, dead bush near the walkway.
WHOOSH.
The bush didn't just grow; it exploded. Dead brown twigs turned into thick, lush branches in less than a second. Flowers burst open like green fireworks, showering the area in petals. Students nearby gasped. A teacher dropped her coffee, the ceramic shattering on the pavement.
Meera stared in pure awe. "That's…" she whispered. "…beautiful."
Rohan took a step back, his eyes dinner-plate wide. "Bro… are you like… Nature-Man?"
"No! I'm not!" Mokshit shouted. "I'm just—"
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
The sound filled the air. A dark, buzzing cloud drifted over the school wall.
Bees. Hundreds of them.
Nikhil screamed like his soul was leaving his body. "AAAAAA!!! RUN! THE ANGRY SPICY FLIES ARE COMING!!"
Students scattered in every direction. Chaos erupted. But the bees didn't attack. They hovered. They circled. They formed a perfect, shimmering ring around Mokshit, vibrating in a low, reverent hum.
Rohan's voice shook. "They're not stinging him… they're bowing?"
"I DON'T WANT BEES FOR FRIENDS!" Mokshit yelled at the sky. "GO AWAY!!"
Suddenly, his nose twitched. The pollen from the exploding bush hit his sinuses. "Ah—ah—"
ACHOO!
A literal grenade of leaves exploded out of his hoodie. Greenery rained down across the courtyard, covering his friends in maple and oak leaves.
Nikhil screamed even louder. "BRO, HE SNEEZED A FOREST! WE'RE GONNA BE BURIED ALIVE!"
Meera collapsed onto the ground, but she wasn't scared. She was laughing so hard tears were streaming down her face. "I'm sorry—I know this is serious—but you just sneezed a shrub!"
That's when the ground shifted.
Mokshit had lost control of his emotions, and nature was feeling his panic. Thick vines erupted from beneath the pavement, wrapping around his ankles.
"HEY!!" Mokshit shouted. "LET ME GO!! I'M NOT YOUR BOSS!!"
The vines didn't listen. They lifted him effortlessly into the air and flipped him upside down. He dangled helplessly, his hoodie falling over his face as his change fell out of his pockets.
Rohan lost it. "LOOK AT HIM! HE'S HANGING LIKE A BAT!"
Nikhil started singing at the top of his lungs. 🎵 "Mokshit-Man! Mokshit-Man! Does whatever a ficus can!" 🎵
"STOP SINGING!!" Mokshit screamed from his upside-down position. "THIS IS NOT FUNNY!"
Meera stood up, her laughter vanishing as she saw the genuine fear in Mokshit's eyes. "Mokshit," she said, her voice a calm anchor. "Breathe. Just breathe."
"I CAN'T BREATHE, I'M AN UPSIDE-DOWN SALAD BOWL!"
"You're making nature panic," Meera said gently, stepping closer. "It's reacting to your fear."
She reached out and placed her hand on the thick vine holding his leg. The moment she touched it, the vine seemed to sigh. It loosened slowly, carefully lowering Mokshit back to the grass.
Everyone froze. Mokshit stared at her as he scrambled to his feet. "How did you do that?"
Meera didn't smile. She looked at the trees around them. "You have a connection, Mokshit. But nature reacts to your heart, not your words."
Mokshit looked down at his hands. The vines had fully retracted. The bees were dispersing. "I'm scared," he admitted, his voice small. "I don't want to hurt anyone."
Rohan stepped forward, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. "You won't," he said, the joking gone from his voice. "Because we're going to help you figure this out."
Nikhil raised a fist. "TEAM NATURE-MAN! First mission: find out if you can grow money!"
SMACK. Meera slapped his arm. "Shut up, Nikhil." She looked at Mokshit and smiled softly. "We're with you. No matter what."
Mokshit exhaled, the tension finally leaving his body. For the first time since he drank that serum, he didn't feel like a monster. He felt like a hero in training.