Stars and Scars

The ashes of Queens still smoldered as the Harper family rebuilt their home, brick by brick, batik curtains fluttering in the wind where shattered glass once hung. Wulan stirred a pot of nasi kuning in the makeshift outdoor kitchen, the turmeric-scented steam mingling with the tang of fresh paint. Kirana, now seven, chased Oyen the cat through piles of AuraFlex wiring, her laughter a defiant counterpoint to the rubble.

Arlan stood on the half-finished porch, staring at the jagged scar in the sky—the remnants of the rift, now a faint silver seam. Wanda's voice broke his reverie. "You're brooding again."

He didn't turn. "Thanos isn't done. That scar's a beacon."

She stepped beside him, her chaos glove brushing his. "Then we'll be ready. Together."

The Titan's Gambit

Thanos came at dawn.

The sky split, his warship casting a shadow that swallowed the sun. The Black Order descended—Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive, Cull Obsidian—while Thanos himself strode through Queens' ruins, the Infinity Gauntlet gleaming with five stones.

"Finally," he rumbled, snapping his fingers. Reality unraveled: streets inverted, gravity died, and the Harper's half-built home twisted into a labyrinth of nightmares.

Stark's armor locked onto the Gauntlet. "Priority target! Keep him from—"

A flick of the Power Stone sent Stark crashing into a frozen tsunami of debris.

"Enough." Thanos' voice silenced the chaos. "Child of two worlds," he boomed, eyeing Arlan. "Your defiance ends now."

Arlan's Nen flared, Ren swirling like a cyclone. "You don't know my family."

The Vow

The battle raged. Pietro zipped civilians to safety, Bucky shattered Obsidian's armor with vibranium-enhanced strikes, and Wanda's chaos tendrils dueled Proxima's spear. But Thanos advanced, unstoppable, the Gauntlet pulsing.

Arlan staggered, bloodied and broken. 'I need more power. More than Nen. More than me.'

Wanda's scream echoed as Thanos gripped her throat. "You… will… watch," the Titan growled.

Arlan's mind fractured. Memories surged—past life loneliness, Kirana's laughter, Wanda's smile. A vow crystallized, brutal and final.

'I sacrifice every memory of who I was. Every moment of my past life. Let it burn, if it means they live.'

His aura detonated.

Gold light consumed Queens. The ground split, not from the Gauntlet, but from Arlan's Nen—a supernova of Zetsu, Ren, Ten, and Hatsu fused into a single, searing strike.

Thanos roared, the Gauntlet cracking under the assault. "IMPOSSIBLE!"

"No," Arlan whispered. "Family."

The Price

The blast faded. Thanos knelt, Gauntlet shattered, stones scattered. The Black Order fled.

Arlan collapsed.

Wanda caught him, tears cutting through the ash on her cheeks. "What did you do?"

He blinked up at her, eyes hollow. "Who… are you?"

She froze.

Kirana barreled into them, sobbing. "Al! It's me! Kiki!"

He frowned, gentle but blank. "Kiki…?"

Epilogue: New Dawn

One month later.

The Harper home stood whole, batik banners fluttering alongside Stark's solar panels. Arlan sat on the porch, sketching blueprints for a water-purification drone, his past life's genius intact—but the man who'd once been Arlan Hartono was gone.

Wanda joined him, her chaos glove replaced by a simple silver ring—a kris dagger pendant forged from AuraFlex. "You remembered your coffee order today. Two sugars, no cream."

He smiled, warm but distant. "Guess some things stick."

Inside, Bucky taught Kirana pencak silat moves, her giggles punctuating each faux-fierce strike. Wulan hummed "Bintang Kecil" as she plated risoles, Daniel snapping photos with a StarkPhone.

Stark landed on the lawn, tossing Arlan a device. "GPS for the rift scars. Call it Project Nightlight."

Arlan studied it, Nen instinctively enhancing the circuits. "We'll need more."

"We've got time."

Above, the stars shimmered, indifferent. Somewhere, a rift sighed.

--------------------

As night fell, Kirana pressed her palm to a firefly, its glow flickering gold. The insect buzzed, lifted by an unseen force, and zipped into the sky—a tiny comet trailing light.

Wanda watched, her ring glowing faintly. 'The stars aren't gone,' she thought. 'Just waiting.'

Somewhere, a Titan stirred.

But for now, there was rendang, laughter, and a family—broken, remade, and unyielding.

END