Chapter 17: Breaking Point

The moment Kara lunged toward The Collector, the atmosphere in the chamber seemed to snap. The air around her became thick and suffocating, pressing in from all sides like a physical force. The shadows twisted and writhed, their shapes shifting into grotesque forms that threatened to overwhelm her. But Kara's focus was singular: she had to stop The Collector, no matter the cost.

The Collector stood motionless as she approached, his expression one of eerie calm. As Kara reached out for him, the shadows exploded from the floor, wrapping around her legs, pulling her down.

"No!" she grunted, struggling against the tightening grip of the dark tendrils. Her heart raced as she tried to break free, but the more she fought, the more the shadows tightened, squeezing the air from her lungs.

The Collector watched her struggle with a detached interest, his eyes glowing brighter with each passing second. "You still don't understand, do you? You can't fight this. The Veil is already too far open."

Kara's mind spun, fighting for clarity. She couldn't let herself be overwhelmed by panic. She had faced worse. She had to find a way to use the darkness against him, to break the grip the Veil had on her.

Her thoughts snapped back to the heart of the matter: The Collector, and the artifact. If he controlled the Heart of the Void, the world as they knew it would cease to exist. Reality would fracture beyond repair, and all of them would be trapped in a nightmarish existence where time and space had no meaning.

With a forceful jerk, she pulled her leg free, the dark tendrils hissing and snapping around her. Using her momentum, she reached for her weapon, drawing it from her holster with swift precision. Without a second thought, she fired, sending a blast of concentrated energy into the air.

The energy pulse cut through the shadows like a knife through silk, scattering them temporarily. The Collector staggered back slightly, his eyes narrowing in mild surprise. It was enough of a distraction for Kara to break free from the shadows' hold.

She sprang forward, ignoring the sudden dizziness that threatened to overwhelm her, her focus narrowed on The Collector and the Heart of the Void. The glowing stone pulsed with an unnatural energy, almost as if it was alive—alive and yearning to consume everything.

"No more games," she muttered under her breath, taking aim at The Collector's chest.

The Collector's lips curled into a mocking smile. "You think you can destroy what I've spent centuries perfecting? The Veil is beyond your reach."

Kara squeezed the trigger again, but just as the shot was about to fire, a cold gust of wind rushed through the chamber. The Heart of the Void trembled on its pedestal, the stone's glow brightening, as though reacting to her very presence.

In that moment, everything seemed to blur.

The chamber stretched, distorting around her. Kara's vision wavered, and the world began to unravel before her eyes—she saw endless versions of herself, of Reed, of the city, all existing in chaotic parallel timelines. She saw worlds burning, time unspooling like an ancient reel of film, and through it all, The Collector's laughter rang out like a death knell.

She stumbled back, disoriented, her mind reeling from the sudden cascade of visions.

"No…" she whispered, barely able to catch her breath. The weight of the Veil's power was suffocating her. "This is what you want, isn't it?"

The Collector stepped closer, his figure growing more ethereal, more distant. "I told you. The Veil is beyond your understanding. But I can show you—show you what lies beyond it all."

Kara's pulse pounded in her ears as she struggled to maintain her focus. The shadows had receded for the moment, but the veil itself—this connection between realities—was still very much alive, very much unstable. She could feel its pull, urging her to step through, to surrender to its power.

She couldn't. Not now. Not ever.

Summoning every ounce of willpower, Kara forced herself to ground herself. The visions were an illusion. The Veil was an illusion. And The Collector? He was just a man—one who had let his obsession consume him.

"Your time is up," she said, her voice cold and determined.

With a final, desperate act, Kara dove toward the Heart of the Void. She didn't aim her weapon this time. She didn't need to. She reached out with her bare hands and grabbed the stone.

Pain exploded in her chest as the power surged through her. The world seemed to bend and crack around her, and she felt herself being pulled into the rift that was opening before her. She could feel the Veil calling to her, urging her to cross its boundary. But she resisted, clenching the stone tightly, forcing herself to remain anchored in this reality.

"No!" The Collector shouted, his voice filled with fury. He reached for her, but it was too late.

The chamber exploded in a flash of light.

---

When the light faded and the tumultuous power that had gripped the chamber finally dissipated, Kara found herself lying on the cold stone floor, breathing heavily, sweat slicking her skin. Her head pounded with a relentless ache, and her vision swam as she tried to sit up.

Reed's voice broke through the haze. "Kara! Are you—"

Kara managed to push herself to her feet, her hands trembling as she looked around. The world seemed eerily still. The chamber had returned to its original, decrepit state. The Veil had closed—or at least, it seemed to have.

The Collector was gone. The Heart of the Void was no longer on its pedestal. In its place, there was only a lingering emptiness, a hole where the fabric of reality had once been stretched taut.

"I—" Kara gasped, still trying to piece together what had happened. "We did it. It's over."

Reed knelt beside her, offering his hand for support. His expression was a mixture of relief and confusion. "But at what cost?"

Kara looked down at her hands, still trembling from the sheer energy of the Heart of the Void. She didn't have the answer. She didn't know what the future held now, or how long it would take for the world to truly recover from the ripples of the Veil.

But one thing was clear: The Collector had failed. The Veil was no longer a threat to their reality.

For now, anyway.