Haunted Corruption: Livigirl88's Version

Chapter Four: Back to One's Roots

As the gardener continued on his way, Derek felt even more uneasier. At first, he began coughing up simply flower petals, but soon it began to increase madly. "L-Leaves?!" He shouted as he saw a leaf covered in his own spit. "The Corruption will only get worse, Derek..." replied Audtrap, who was behind him as a shadow. "Audtrap?!" Derek said, only to cough up aloe gel in front of him.

"I think Derek went that way!" Alicia said as she pointed to some flower petals covered in saliva. The gang instantly heeded the young girl's word, and despite their hesitance to step in grass covered with their friend's spit, they followed the puddles of spit to where Derek was running frantically. "Leave... me... alone!" He said, running towards the edge of the garden. "Derek! Wait! You're kind..." Clarissa began. "You're willing to do anything..." Harvey continued. But Derek would still not listen. He kept on coughing.

"You're brave..." Adrien commented. "Yet most of all, generous!" Alicia finished as the gardener ran towards an open window... only to fall out at the last second. "DEREK!!" The gang said as he landed on top of a brilliantly colored flower, only for it to close up around the unconscious gardener. "No.." Regina said. But little did they know, a growing transformation was about to take place inside that bud.

Inside the flower, Derek saw his various memories, one of which being one where he and a young Harvey were on a field trip to the science museum. "And boys, this is a wind tunnel!" Said the woman as she showed them the tunnel where astronauts train. "Well, how about you go do it?" Said Glim Merton, the snobbiest girl in their class. "But I'm too scared! It looks so... deep!" Harvey said. But Glim wouldn't take no for an answer and shoved Both Harvey and Derek into the wind tunnel, only for both of them to live. "That's how Harvey became scared of dying..." he said to himself.

Then Derek saw another memory- this time of him and his beautiful flowers. "There you go." He whispered to one of the blooms as he watered it up. Just then, Rosemary White approached the young man and replied, "Your flowers are gorgeous. Do you mind if you give them away?" She said, eyeing the beautiful flowers. At that moment, Derek had a sudden panic attack and began hyperventilating at once. He feared that once he gave away his beautiful flowers, he would never see them again. "So I loved my flowers after all.." he said to himself.

Derek viewed a third memory, this time him sitting on a bench. And he saw a familiar tentacled figure standing behind him- it was Lance, without a doubt. "You fear giving away the flowers you call your own?" He asked to himself. "Then the dark seeds within you shall now be grown!" He said, poking Derek's back and causing him to scream in pain, thorny vines and sinister flower petals flying around him as he transformed into the devious Audtrap VIII.

"No..." began Derek. But then he saw the costume leaders of The Ever-Flowering Greenhouse approach him- Seymour the Roseketeer, Hibiscus the Prism Flyer, Audrey VIII the Negati Trapper, Erika the Bittersweet Bloom, Trapper the Cactinator, and Barry the Pollen Blaster; all carrying Derek's watering can. "Derek, the time has come." Seymour replied to the gardener. "Y-You say so?" Derek replied.

"Yes- to unleash your negativity for the greater good!" Audrey VIII said as she handed the glowing watering can to the gardener. The moment the young man touched it, his body began to be wrapped in flower petals all over. His torso became spiky like a Roseketeer's stem his arms became somewhat like plant leaves, the tips of his hair became purple like lilac flowers, and his clothes became something like a Venus flytrap. He was now fully Semi Corrupted.

As his friends watched, the flower burst open in a flash of brilliant light, causing them to shield their eyes. "Derek... is that you?!" Jeremy asked as the gardener stepped onto a nearby tree root, causing it to grow and prop him up onto the gang. "Yes... it's me." Derek said as he got up and then plopped back down on the soft grass. "Derek... you're amazing when you're Semi Corrupted!" Stella replied as she looked at her crush. "T-Thanks- and I'm incredibly sorry for abandoning you guys. I just didn't want to get hurt!" Derek said, sorrow filling his eyes.

Stella then smiled and approached the gardener. "Oh, Derek. It's alright! We were just wanting to check up on you. We never meant to hurt you at all!" Stella replied and hugged her gardener companion, and the others oohed and ahhed with joy. But then, Derek realized Mei, Trisha Jane, and the others weren't present! "We've gotta find the others, fast..." Derek said to himself. A new problem had just been uprooted...