The sky no longer looked like it used to.
Nova stood at the edge of the old ridge near the abandoned outpost, overlooking a horizon fractured with streaks of blood-red lightning and phantom pulses of ultraviolet energy. The Rift of Truths still hung there like a tear in reality, occasionally whispering unknown languages into his mind. The NovaFrame—his adaptive combat suit—was currently in its latent mode, shimmering faintly beneath his skin.
LUMINA's voice echoed softly inside his thoughts.
"This place was once a gateway for the Garoba Species. The residual energy makes it ideal for your next training sequence."
Nova exhaled. The world around him was quiet, yet his mind buzzed like an overcharged circuit. The fusion with Device X had changed everything. He no longer felt purely human. His thoughts processed faster, his emotions layered with strange clarity, and even his dreams had become filled with starlit warfields and forgotten ruins from galaxies he'd never known.
"Alright," he said. "Show me what comes next."
A pulse of energy shimmered from the ground. The training sequence initiated.
Massive constructs formed in the distance—holograms made of nanotech projections, simulating Zarnokian warriors. Grotesque, multi-limbed creatures with blade-like appendages and glowing eye clusters.
Nova summoned the NovaFrame.
The suit surged over his body in a graceful dance of shifting alloys and crystalline nanobots. In seconds, he stood as the full embodiment of a cosmic knight—plated in iridescent armor, the Device Crest glowing on his chest.
He reached out, thinking of a weapon. His thoughts shaped matter.
A sword emerged—ten feet long, humming with plasma veins. He grinned.
"Bring it on."
Clash of Illusions
The training drones attacked with speed unnatural for anything human. But Nova was faster.
He ducked a swipe, pivoted with ease, and slashed his sword across the nearest drone. It shattered in a burst of glowing fragments. The others converged.
Nova closed his eyes for a split second.
"LUMINA. Dual energy cannons. Left shoulder mount."
The suit responded instantly. Two cannons unfolded from his armor, locking into place. As Nova opened his palms, energy built like a thunderstorm.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The field erupted in simulated chaos as drones exploded into data streams. But just as Nova caught his breath, the projection shifted.
A new figure appeared—larger, darker, more refined.
This one wasn't a drone. It looked... aware.
It had no face, only a swirling vortex of stars where its head should be. Its body shimmered like liquid obsidian, and when it raised its hand, space bent around it.
"Who is that?" Nova asked, taking a step back.
LUMINA hesitated. "That... should not be here."
"You mean this wasn't part of the simulation?"
"No. That is an Echo. A memory fragment from a Zarnokian Commander. One powerful enough to imprint itself onto cosmic data layers."
The Echo charged.
Nova barely activated his shields in time. The force knocked him backward, crashing him into the side of the rocky outcrop. Pain screamed through his ribs.
He coughed. "That thing hit like a planet."
"It's not real. But its memory believes it is."
Nova switched to gauntlets—heavy, gravity-enhanced fists of dense matter. He charged.
Each punch sent shockwaves through the simulation. The Echo dodged most but caught one to its core. The swirling stars in its face flickered.
It screeched.
Then vanished.
The entire simulation collapsed.
The Warning
Nova sat panting as LUMINA recalibrated the training environment.
"What was that really?"
"Zarnokian war generals are known to leave psychic scars in the multiversal fabric," LUMINA explained. "That was likely General Kyrex—a leader responsible for the annihilation of Galaxy Iteration 312."
Nova shivered. "He's seen me now, hasn't he?"
LUMINA answered with silence.
Whispers of Destiny
That night, as Nova lay under the fractured sky, a strange calm settled over him. He stared at the stars, wondering which of them hid enemy fleets or secrets long forgotten.
"LUMINA," he said. "Why me? Out of all the people this could've landed on... why a kid with no direction?"
Her voice was softer than usual. "Because the device doesn't choose based on accomplishments. It chooses based on potential."
He turned his head. "You saw potential in someone who never scored more than average in school. Who never won a trophy."
"The universe doesn't reward trophies. It responds to intent. You have the will to question, to grow, to protect without knowing what you'll gain. That is rarer than brilliance."
Nova felt a strange heat in his chest. Maybe it was embarrassment. Or maybe... it was pride.
The Irreversible Truth
Later that week, Nova met with his friend—Kael. Someone who had seen the effects of interstellar anomalies and believed Nova's wild stories.
Kael tapped the ring imprint on Nova's hand.
"Still glowing. Still fused. Still insane."
"Yeah," Nova smiled faintly. "It's not coming off."
Kael leaned closer. "So what now? You build a base? Hide in a cave? Go full superhero?"
"No," Nova replied. "We prepare. Because they're coming."
As they spoke, the sky flickered again.
A symbol appeared above the Rift—a symbol neither of them had ever seen before. A triangle within a circle, rotating in unnatural geometry.
LUMINA screamed in Nova's mind.
"GET OUT. NOW."
The ground trembled.
Energy exploded upward from the Rift. In its wake stood a figure—tall, clad in armor that resembled the Zarnokian design, but... older.
"Host confirmed," it said in a voice layered with echoes. "You are the bearer of Device X."
Nova pushed Kael back.
"LUMINA, full combat mode. NOW!"
The NovaFrame assembled, faster than ever before.
The Echo of War had begun.