A dim haze shimmered above the horizon of the pocket reality, painting the fractured sky in hues of molten gold and bruised violet. Kael and Aeris stood on the precipice of a realm between existence and memory — the Subrift, a place where broken timelines leaked like blood through unseen seams.
The landscape around them shifted constantly. Towers made of petrified time twisted like thorns. The air was thick with the scent of ozone and forgotten dreams. Shadows danced without light. And in the distance, a massive clock floated — its hands moving counter to time itself.
Aeris narrowed her eyes. "It's feeding off the timelines we destroyed."
Kael reached out, brushing his fingers through a stream of data flowing upward like smoke. "This isn't just a trap… it's a vault."
With every step forward, memories tried to claw their way into their minds. Kael felt the weight of every version of himself: the killer, the savior, the coward. Aeris, too, flinched — flashes of lives where she never met Kael, where she sided with the Architect, where she ruled alone in loneliness.
Suddenly, the wind howled — no, screamed — and a form emerged from the broken mist.
It wasn't a monster.
It was Kael.
Another Kael. With golden eyes, crackling with paradox energy, wearing a version of his suit fused with Architect tech.
"Welcome to the Rift Below," the alternate Kael said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I've been waiting for you."
Aeris stepped forward, shielding Kael. "He's from the future."
"Wrong." The alternate Kael cracked his neck. "I'm from every future you abandoned."
With a wave of his hand, the world collapsed inward, revealing countless versions of Kael and Aeris — some enemies, some lovers, some... monsters.
"You think you're the main Kael?" the future one hissed. "You're just the one who survived the longest."
Kael clenched his fists, torn between disbelief and fury. "What do you want?"
The twisted version smirked. "I want your heart, your past, your choices. Because only one of us gets to rewrite the end… and it won't be you."
Before Kael could react, the corrupted version surged forward, launching a strike that shattered the timeline beneath their feet. Kael and Aeris were thrown apart — each tumbling into separate streams of possible outcomes.
Aeris screamed his name as she fell into a world of endless war.
Kael, spinning through light and chaos, reached out—
And in the split-second before impact, he saw it: a new villain standing beside the corrupted version of himself… wearing Aeris's face.
When futures collide, who do you become — the hero who heals the fracture, or the ghost who deepens the wound?