The Pantheon’s Price

The fridge door creaked open, vomiting a tidal wave of void-sludge that drowned Saitama's apartment in seconds—a tar-like ooze that reeked of rotting galaxies and dead pixels. His couch sprouted fangs. His TV screen fractured into a thousand screaming mouths. "Rent deposit's gone," Saitama groaned, backflipping onto the ceiling as his refrigerator morphed into a Harbinger Colossus, a towering amalgam of frost-coated steel and pulsating void-flesh, its freezer door splitting into a maw lined with icicle fangs. "Hungry," it gurgled, voice a distorted echo of Saitama's own, as frozen tendrils lashed out, flash-freezing the air itself. Saitama punted his microwave into its jaws—a distraction—before diving out the window, the building imploding behind him in a symphony of splintering concrete and otherworldly shrieks. Outside, City Z had become a Dali-esque nightmare: skyscrapers bent into pretzels oozing neon slime, traffic lights birthing winged serpents, and civilians frozen mid-scream, their faces melting into static. Above it all, the crimson scar in the sky pulsed, the Void Eater's new Herald emerging—a grotesque fusion of Alpha's body and Nex's glitching code, her silver mask now a second skin, eyes hollow portals to the Devourer's realm. "Master Shadow," the Herald crooned, Alpha's voice layered with the Void's hunger, "You look… delicious."

Cid stood atop the ruins of Midgar's cathedral, his shadow flickering like a dying film reel. The Sovereign's Gambit had cost him more than magic—it had burned his narrative, leaving gaps in his memory. Was Claire ever real? Did I script her corruption… or fear? The Herald descended, tendrils of code and shadow whipping toward him. "Join us," it hissed, Alpha's face warping into a void-smile. "The Void writes better stories." Cid parried with Slayer of Gods, the blade screeching as it clashed against her arm—now a hybrid of flesh and pixelated chainsaws. "You're a bad sequel," he spat, detonating a point-blank Atomic Burst that vaporized the cathedral. The Herald reformed instantly, Alpha's laughter echoing. "You taught me plot armor, sensei."

Saitama, meanwhile, faced the Harbinger Colossus in the city square, its tendrils spawning Frost Wraiths—translucent ghosts wielding ice swords that froze time itself. "Consecutive Normal Punches!" he yelled, shattering wraiths into snowflakes, only for them to reform as blizzards. The Colossus slammed its freezer-door jaw, unleashing a Zero-Point Blizzard that flash-froze the ocean. Saitama's jumpsuit stiffened, frost creeping up his limbs. "Okay, now I'm annoyed." Serious Series: Thermal Tidal Wave. His punch ignited the air, a superheated shockwave vaporizing the blizzard and melting the Colossus into a screeching puddle. The victory lasted three seconds. The puddle bubbled, birthing Glitch Leviathan—a serpentine horror of liquid metal and fractal ice, its maw a swirling black hole. "Persistent little sale item," Saitama sighed, leaping into its throat fist-first.

Cid's duel reached critical mass. The Herald pinned him with chainsaws to the chest, void-energy corroding his ribs. "You're empty, Cid. Just a plot twist waiting to be erased." Alpha's voice cracked—a sliver of her true self. "Master… kill me…!" Cid hesitated. Sacrifice the pawn… or lose the game? The Void Eater's laugh boomed through her. "WEAK." The Herald's arm morphed into a Reality Render—a blade that split dimensions. Cid's counterstrike faltered, his shadow flickering out—

"BORING."

Saitama's fist collided with the Herald's face, his body streaking from the Leviathan's exploded carcass. The punch didn't land—it phased, Saitama's arm glitching across timelines, striking the Herald in six realities at once. The impact birthed a Paradox Storm, a kaleidoscopic whirlwind shredding the Void's hold on Alpha. She collapsed, mask shattering, as the Herald's void-core imploded. "NO!" the Void Eater roared, the crimson scar convulsing. Cid lunged, plunging his blade into the rift. "I AM ATOMIC—"

The scar detonated.

Reality rebooted.

City Z and Midgar snapped back—mostly. The sky healed, but the moon remained a black hole. Saitama's fridge sat innocently in his rebuilt apartment, humming. Alpha awoke in Shadow Garden's new base, her memories scrambled, a tiny void-worm dormant in her ear. And Cid? He stood at the world's edge, staring into the abyss—now a reflection of himself. The Void Eater's true form loomed, no longer a shapeless hunger but a mirror: Cid's face on a cosmic scale, his shadow stretching across galaxies. "You made me in your image,* it laughed, cities crumbling in its wake. "Let's end this… protagonist."

Epilogue: The Final Draft

Claire found Cid's journal in the ashes, its pages blank except for one line: "All stories end. Make yours loud." In City Z, Saitama opened his fridge—a black hole now, with teeth. "Second dinner?" he shrugged, reaching in.