Heroes of the Crucible

CHAPTER FOUR

Heroes of the Crucible

Seconds ticked by while Mr. Crimson’s words reverberated inside Sam’s head. But, strangely enough, he didn’t lunge at Crow-Man like the villain wanted him to.

“Didn’t you hear me?” Mr. Crimson raised a long, thin eyebrow at Sam. “I told you to kill Crow-Man.”

“But I don’t want to,” Sam replied.

Mr. Crimson’s evil grin faltered slightly. “You… don’t want to?”

Indeed, Sam felt no compulsion to follow Mr. Crimson’s orders. His mind was still his own, and that made the hero wonder how that was possible.

[There are no parasites detected in your blood for [Regeneration (Δ)] to flush out.] came Triple-A’s reply.

“Seriously?” Confusion flitted across Sam’s face. It was an emotion that Mr. Crimson mirrored exactly when he screamed for Sam to “Kill Crow-Man now, Herculean!”

“I. Don’t. Want. To,” Sam reiterated.

“H-how are you resisting me?” Mr. Crimson licked at the blood that still smeared his lips. “My parasites are—”