The caves never truly slept.
Deep beneath the earth, where sunlight was a forgotten myth, the tunnels breathed in a slow, sickly rhythm. Red mist crawled across the jagged stone floors like a living scavenger, curling around broken roots and whispering of rot.
Mokshit's body was dragged through the grime. Corrupted vines, thick as pythons, wrapped around his wrists and ankles, siphoning his life force with every wet pulse of red light. Each step his captors took scraped his skin raw against the rock.
They threw him into the center of a massive underground cathedral. The ceiling vanished into a localized abyss, supported by pillars of dead trees fused with cold steel. At the far end stood a throne—a grotesque seat made of skeletal roots that seemed to grasp for a sky they would never see.
Beside it stood the Corruption Priest.
The creature's voice was a grinding of dry bones. "Kael… mor'thuun… vaash…"
The ritual circle etched into the floor ignited. Symbols carved by ancient, hateful hands glowed crimson, syncing with the vines binding Mokshit's shattered armor. He collapsed to his knees, his breath a ragged hitch in his chest. His mask hung in splinters, revealing a face bruised by battle but eyes that still held a spark of defiance.
"Your heart," the Priest hissed, placing a clawed hand on Mokshit's head, "will soon belong to the Corruption Spirit."
"You'll never..." Mokshit coughed, blood staining his lips, "...control me."
"Not control," the Priest whispered, leaning in until the rot of its breath filled Mokshit's lungs. "Consume."
A crown of thorns, pulsing with jagged red lightning, was lowered onto his brow.
BOOOOOOM—!!
Red lightning arced through his nervous system. Mokshit's scream tore through the cavern, a sound of pure agony as the corruption surged into his veins, trying to rewrite his very soul.
THE NIGHTMARE REALM
Inside his mind, there was only a suffocating void. Thousands of corrupted vines burst from the dark, pinning him down.
"You're weak..." the whispers mocked. "You couldn't even protect your mother."
A figure stepped from the gloom. It was a mirror of himself, but its eyes were pits of boiling blood and its skin was the color of a dead forest.
"If you join us," the Corrupted Mokshit purred, "the pain stops. No more fear. No more failing those you love."
Mokshit closed his eyes, his spirit flickering like a candle in a hurricane. "No..." he whispered. "I won't give in."
EXT. THE FOREST – MOMENTS LATER
Meera, Rohan, and Nikhil raced through the undergrowth. Meera's face was set in a mask of grim resolve.
"We're bringing him home," she said, her voice hard as diamond. "Even if the forest kills us."
In Nikhil's hand, the ancient green seed began to hum. It floated into the air, trailing a path of emerald light toward the hidden cave entrance. "He's close," Nikhil shouted. "I can feel him!"
INT. THE CAVES — THE SECRET REVEALED
Back in the ritual chamber, the Priest's chanting reached a fever pitch. But a sudden crash at the entrance halted the ceremony.
Prakruthi stood there. She was disheveled, her clothes soaked with sweat, but her eyes held a fire that even the darkness couldn't quench.
"STOP!" she screamed. "LET MY SON GO!"
The Priest froze, its masked head tilting at an impossible angle. "You..." it hissed. "The Priestess of the Ancient Order."
Mokshit's eyes widened through his haze of pain. "M...mom? Priestess?"
Nirmul stepped from the shadows, clapping slowly. "Oh, she didn't tell you? Your mother wasn't just a scientist, Mokshit. She was part of the Ancient Nature Order—the very people who guarded the Spirit Grove for centuries."
He laughed at Prakruthi's pale face. "She thought she could hide you in a lab. She thought science could mask your destiny."
"I wanted to protect him!" Prakruthi cried, running toward her son. But a corrupted vine lashed out, slamming her into the stone wall. She collapsed, a trail of blood tracing the rock.
"MOM!!"
THE AWAKENED RAGE
Inside the Nightmare Realm, the whispers stopped. A warm, ancient voice echoed in the center of Mokshit's heart.
"Child... do not fall. Stand."
Mokshit opened his eyes. White-green fire erupted from his spirit, incinerating the nightmare vines. He turned to his corrupted self and raised a fist. "You are my fear," Mokshit roared. "And I am done being afraid!"
CRACK!
The Nightmare Realm shattered like glass.
INT. RITUAL CHAMBER — CONTINUOUS
The chamber exploded with a shockwave of pure, blinding light.
The crown of thorns disintegrated into ash. The corrupted vines holding Mokshit vaporized instantly. Nirmul stumbled back, shielding his eyes. "What—WHAT IS THIS?!"
The Corruption Priest shrieked in terror. "THE GUARDIAN IS ASCENDING!"
Mokshit stood up. He didn't just look stronger; he looked eternal. A leaf-mark symbol burned into the center of his chest, glowing with a light that pushed back the red mist.
He looked at Nirmul, and the ground beneath his feet began to bloom with glowing grass.
"You tried to break me," Mokshit said, his voice resonating with the power of a thousand storms. "You tried to corrupt the earth. But the forest doesn't break."
BOOOOOOM—!!!!!
A pillar of emerald light punched through the ceiling of the cave, reaching toward the heavens. Nature-Man hadn't just returned. He had become the Force of the Wild.