Revelations

Ryan sat in the crumbling room, letting Rebel's words settle in like a weight pressing down on his chest. His eyes were locked on the cracked floor beneath him, the jagged lines snaking out like spiderwebs, as if the ground itself was mirroring the fractures happening across realities.

Cracks between dimensions. Reality breaking apart. The concepts swirled in his mind, and yet, they felt impossibly distant, too big to fit into his understanding of the world. Up until yesterday—if it even was yesterday—Ryan's biggest concern had been making it through the school year unnoticed. Now, he was sitting in some twisted, alternate version of Earth, being told that the entire multiverse was falling apart and that he had been caught in the middle of it.

The room felt suffocating. Ryan's breath came in slow, uneven waves as the enormity of what Rebel had said began to crush down on him. If this place—this world—was collapsing, what did that mean for him? For his world? Could he even get back home? And if he could… would there be anything left to go back to?

"Hey." Rebel's voice cut through the thick fog of thoughts in Ryan's mind, snapping him back to the present.

Ryan looked up, meeting Rebel's sharp, focused gaze. His other self, the version of him that had somehow survived in this ruined world, was watching him with an intensity that made Ryan's skin prickle. Rebel was so… different. Harder. More alert. Even the way he moved, the way he spoke—it all screamed of someone who had been through hell and come out the other side with their edges sharpened. Ryan couldn't imagine being that person. And yet… they were the same. Weren't they?

"I know this is a lot to take in," Rebel said, leaning forward slightly, his elbows resting on his knees. "I remember how I felt the first time I got pulled into all this. Like the world had flipped upside down, and nothing made sense anymore. But you need to focus. If you're going to make it through this, you have to stay sharp."

Ryan swallowed hard, his throat dry. He felt like he was drowning in questions, but one rose to the surface above all the others. "How do I get back?"

Rebel's expression darkened slightly. "Back?" His eyes flicked to the window, then back to Ryan. "It's not that simple."

Ryan shifted in his seat, a sense of dread curling in his stomach. "What do you mean? There has to be a way. I didn't… I didn't mean to come here. I don't even know how I got pulled into the portal in the first place. I just want to go back to my life."

Rebel leaned back in his chair, his jaw tightening. For a moment, he didn't speak. He seemed to be weighing something, an internal debate playing out behind his narrowed eyes. Finally, he let out a slow breath. "There might be a way. But it's not like flipping a switch. You can't just hop between realities like you're changing the channel on a TV. The cracks between dimensions are unpredictable. Dangerous. You got lucky this time, landing in a world that's still holding together, even if it's falling apart. Next time, you might not be so lucky."

Ryan frowned, confusion pulling at his mind. "But the portal—Dr. Blake said it was supposed to be safe. Controlled."

Rebel snorted, his lips twisting into a grim smile. "Blake's playing with forces he doesn't understand. He thinks he's got everything under control, but he's just cracking open the door. And once it's open, it's not so easy to close."

The unease in Ryan's gut deepened. "But… if he's the one who built the portal, he should be able to help me get back, right? If I can find him—"

Rebel cut him off, shaking his head. "It's not that simple. I don't know what Blake's like in your world, but here? He was the one who started all this." He gestured to the room around them, to the decaying city outside the window. "He's the reason this world is the way it is. His experiments with the multiverse—he thought he could control it. But he pushed too far. And now, this world is paying the price."

Ryan blinked, his mind reeling. "Blake did all this? How?"

Rebel leaned forward again, his eyes locking onto Ryan's. "He opened too many doors. At first, it was small. Harmless, even. A glimpse into another world. But the more he pushed, the more the barriers between dimensions started to weaken. Until, one day, the cracks became too big to fix. Entire realities started bleeding into each other. People changed. Some vanished. And some—" His voice hardened. "—became something else entirely."

Ryan shuddered, thinking of the Scrappers. "But… how did you survive?"

Rebel's eyes flickered, a shadow crossing his face. "Not everyone made it. Most didn't. But I… I got lucky. I was in the wrong place at the right time." He paused, his gaze distant for a moment before he refocused on Ryan. "Look, I know you want to go back to your world. But if you do, you have to understand something. Blake isn't the answer. He's the problem. If you want to survive—if you want to save your world from ending up like this one—you're going to have to stop him."

Ryan's stomach twisted. Stop him? How? Blake was a scientist, someone with access to technology and knowledge far beyond anything Ryan could comprehend. What could he possibly do to stop someone like that?

As if sensing his doubt, Rebel's expression softened slightly. "I know it sounds impossible. But you're not alone in this. There are others—people who know what's happening, who've been trying to stop the cracks from spreading. I'm one of them."

Ryan's eyes widened. "There are others like you? Like… us?"

Rebel nodded. "Not many. But yeah. We've been fighting this war for a while now. Traveling between realities, trying to patch up the damage before it's too late. It's not easy. Every world is different, and the rules keep changing. But we've got to keep trying."

Ryan sat back, his mind spinning. A war across realities. Dimensional cracks spreading from world to world. The enormity of it all was staggering. He had been thrown into a fight he didn't even know existed, and now, apparently, he was expected to help stop it.

For a long moment, he didn't speak. The silence between them stretched out, filled only by the faint sounds of the crumbling building settling around them. Finally, Ryan broke the silence, his voice barely above a whisper.

"How do we stop him?"

Rebel's lips pressed into a thin line. "There's no easy answer to that. It depends on how far things have gone in your world. If the cracks are small, you might still have time to reverse some of the damage. But if Blake has already started opening portals like he did here…" He trailed off, his expression grim.

Ryan's heart sank. He thought of the portal in the lab, of the glowing ring of light that had swallowed him whole. Had the damage already been done? Was his world already falling apart, just like this one?

Rebel must have seen the fear in his eyes, because he stood up suddenly, walking over to the window. "We'll figure it out," he said, his voice more determined now. "But first, we need to get you out of here. This world isn't stable. The longer you stay, the more dangerous it gets."

Ryan watched as Rebel stared out at the broken city below. He looked so sure of himself, so steady in the face of the chaos around him. It was hard to believe that they were the same person—that somewhere inside him, Ryan had that same strength, that same determination. He wasn't sure if he could live up to it.

"How?" Ryan asked, standing up and moving to join him at the window. "How do we get out of here?"

Rebel glanced at him, his expression softening for just a moment. "There's a place. A pocket of stability between dimensions. We call it the Crossroads. It's where we regroup, plan our next moves. If we can get there, we might be able to find a portal that leads back to your world—or at least close to it."

Ryan raised an eyebrow. "The Crossroads? How do we get there?"

Rebel's eyes darkened again, a shadow of uncertainty passing over his face. "It's not easy. The path to the Crossroads isn't exactly… direct. We'll have to go through a few more dimensions to get there. And not all of them are as forgiving as this one."

Ryan's stomach twisted. "More dimensions? Like… other worlds?"

Rebel nodded. "Some are like this. Others are… different. Some are barely holding together. Others are completely alien. We'll have to move quickly and stay sharp. You can't let your guard down—not for a second."

Ryan swallowed hard, his heart racing. The idea of jumping from world to world, facing who-knows-what kind of dangers along the way, filled him with a cold, creeping fear. But what choice did he have? If what Rebel was saying was true, then staying here—or going back—would only lead to more destruction.

"Alright," Ryan said, his voice trembling slightly but filled with resolve. "Let's do it. Let's get to the Crossroads."

Rebel nodded, his expression hardening with determination. "Good. We need to leave now. The longer we wait, the worse the cracks will get."

He turned away from the window, heading toward a door on the far side of the room. Ryan followed him, his heart pounding in his chest. He wasn't ready for this—not by a long shot—but he had no choice. The world he'd known was gone, and now, he was caught in the middle of something far bigger than himself.

As they stepped out into the hallway, Ryan glanced back at the room they had just left. The room that, for a brief moment, had been a small island of safety in the chaos. But now, it was just another crumbling piece of a dying world.

He took a deep breath and turned to face the unknown.