The Gold Replacements

"Liam, duck!"

CRASH!

A beam of gold energy zipped past his head, missing by inches. His doppelgänger—taller, leaner, wearing a high-tech combat suit—landed in front of him with a cocky smirk.

"Wow," Alt-Liam sneered. "No abs, no aim. I really was pathetic back then."

Original Liam narrowed his eyes. "Yeah? Well, at least I have a soul."

BAM! They clashed, metal pipe against electro-blade.

Kaiya's clone stood inches from her, head tilted curiously. "You still cry when you're overwhelmed, don't you?"

"Only when timelines collapse and my ex-best friend becomes a dictator!" Kaiya snapped, slamming her elbow into the clone's ribs and diving behind a time-frozen locker.

Adrien and his golden twin weren't even fighting—they were talking.

"You've seen what happens," Alt-Adrien said calmly, eyes glowing. "You know that staying with Kaiya only brings pain."

Adrien shook his head. "You're me… but you gave up. I won't."

The ground pulsed. Another tower—Lux Node 2—rose in the distance.

Kaiya watched in horror as the corrupted versions began pushing their own memories into the golden orb. It was rewriting history, erasing her team from the timeline.

"We have to shut it down," she said, breathless. "NOW."

"But how? We can't even beat us!" Liam shouted.

Suddenly, a figure emerged from the shadows behind the golden spire—someone in a silver hoodie and neon boots.

They fired a bolt of blue light that knocked Alt-Kaiya into a wall.

"Miss me?" the figure said.

Kaiya's heart leapt. "NOVA?!"

The rogue time-hacker and former Lux agent pulled down her hood. "Let's rewrite the rewrite."