The city of Karsis trembled beneath the weight of something unnatural.
Nova stood at the heart of the battlefield, steam rising off the ruined shell of the Zarnokian hybrid he had just brought down. The NovaFrame flickered across his body, adapting in real-time, his mind burning with adrenaline and raw data. Behind him, plumes of black smoke curled toward the twilight sky, now streaked with crimson fractures—the expanding rift.
"LUMINA," Nova breathed, panting. "They're not retreating. They're… converging."
"They're pulling power from the Nexus Core," LUMINA's voice rang clearly, but with tension. "Something's wrong. Very wrong."
Nova turned his head toward the city center—where the dimensional rift had begun to expand at an exponential rate. At its epicenter, a crystalline spire pulsed with malevolent energy.
"The Nexus Core," LUMINA continued, "is an interdimensional beacon. It regulates cosmic boundary integrity for this region of space-time. But someone is hijacking it."
"Zarnokians?" Nova asked.
"Worse. Someone... beyond."
Nova's heart pounded.
Before he could reply, a shockwave hurled him backward like a ragdoll. He crashed through two buildings before landing hard, his suit cushioning the fall just enough to avoid fatal injury. Rubble rained around him.
"Ngh... LUMINA!"
"I'm here," she replied, struggling to maintain coherence. "We've been hit by a temporal displacement burst. We are 0.83 seconds out of sync with current time."
Nova's brow furrowed. "Meaning?"
"Meaning we're phasing—neither fully present nor absent. And if it continues, your atoms will begin to desynchronize."
He groaned, forcing himself to his feet. "Then sync me back!"
"Attempting realignment. Hold still—this may sting."
A wave of heat surged through Nova's veins, like fire under his skin. He dropped to one knee, clenching his fists as blue lightning cracked around his body. Slowly, reality reasserted itself, locking him back into place with a pulse of white energy.
He exhaled sharply. "Never… doing that again."
"Agreed."
Nova looked back toward the spire—now floating off the ground, supported by a column of anti-gravity distortions. People were running, screaming, vanishing into thin air as the dimensional structure collapsed.
"This is no longer just a Zarnokian invasion," LUMINA said. "This is apocalyptic engineering. Someone is trying to rewrite the laws of this galaxy."
The Council of the Remaining
Back in the now-damaged pocket chamber—a virtual meeting space constructed by LUMINA in Nova's mind—figures appeared one by one: holograms of various cosmic species, all former allies of the Garoba.
Nova stood before them, uncertain.
"They've never met a hybrid Host before," LUMINA whispered.
An ancient being shaped like a crystalline tree stepped forward, its voice like wind chimes.
"The boy is too young. Unproven. We cannot entrust him with Nexus termination."
Nova stepped forward. "Then watch me prove it."
A squat, armored being resembling molten rock scoffed. "Prove it? You're a child playing with the remains of gods."
LUMINA's voice sliced through their doubts.
"He is bonded with Device X. There are no others. There is no second chance. Either you help him… or watch the Nexus Collapse consume all."
Silence followed. Then the crystalline elder bowed.
"Then let the Chosen rise. We give him access to the Nexus Gateways."
The Collapse Begins
Nova teleported via a gate node into the Nexus Core perimeter, hovering a hundred meters above the spire. The entire structure now resembled a pulsating heart of energy, veins of corruption spreading outward like a sickness in reality itself.
"LUMINA," Nova said quietly, "I need to go inside."
"You won't survive its pressure unaided."
"Then upgrade me. Override any restrictions."
There was hesitation.
"...Understood. Initiating Overframe Protocol."
The NovaFrame shimmered, and a second layer of armor unfolded—sleeker, more angular, embedded with gravitational stabilizers. The eyes of the helmet shifted from sapphire to deep violet.
"Overframe initialized," LUMINA confirmed. "This is the last safety you get."
With a deep breath, Nova descended.
Inside the Nexus
As Nova pierced the energy shell, reality splintered around him. He floated in a void of color and sound—voices from across time echoing in his mind. Every heartbeat was a memory from a thousand civilizations. His armor groaned under the pressure.
Then he saw it.
At the heart of the Nexus floated a being.
Humanoid. Shimmering. But with no face. No features. Only a void. It turned to him.
"You are the Chosen," it said. "But not the First."
Nova steadied himself. "Who are you?"
"I am Remanence. The Echo of those who failed. I was the first to bond with Device X."
Nova froze.
"You're a previous Host?"
"A remnant. Burned into the Code during collapse. I exist only to warn you… or destroy you if you're not worthy."
Nova clenched his fists. "Try me."
The Trial of Echoes
Remanence raised a hand. The Nexus bent itself into a coliseum of memories. Around them, hundreds of versions of Nova appeared—alternate realities where he failed, turned evil, surrendered to the Zarnokians, or simply ran away.
"You must face the truth of who you could become," Remanence said. "Only one outcome leads to salvation."
Nova looked around. The alternate selves began to attack.
He fought back—slicing through his own doubts, his weaknesses, his darkest fears. One version screamed at him, "You're not a hero! You're a scared little boy pretending to be something else!"
Nova gritted his teeth. "I'm not pretending. I'm becoming."
With one final surge, he summoned a gravitational vortex and imploded the arena.
Remanence watched silently.
Then nodded.
"Then perhaps… this time… we have a chance."
The True Enemy Revealed
Suddenly, the Nexus trembled. A spear of red energy pierced through the chamber, striking Remanence and dissolving him into dust.
Nova turned sharply.
Descending from the Rift was a monstrous figure—ten feet tall, encased in organic black-metal armor with six arms and glowing crimson eyes. Its voice thundered.
"I am KOR'VHAL. Herald of the Unmakers. The Zarnokians are cattle—I am the reaper of stars."
Nova hovered in place. "You're the one corrupting the Nexus."
KOR'VHAL laughed. "I am the Nexus now."
Without warning, he launched forward. Nova barely deflected the impact, their shockwave blasting apart the inner chamber. Energy lances flew. Nova dodged, countered, summoned gravitic chains and kinetic shields.
"You're fast," KOR'VHAL sneered, "but not inevitable."
Nova grinned, blood running down his cheek. "Neither is extinction."
With one final push, Nova activated Overframe's final function—Core Bloom—detonating a radiant burst of pure coded matter. It struck KOR'VHAL and shattered half his frame.
But the enemy didn't scream. He laughed.
"You can't kill what's already ascended."
Nova faltered.
"Then I'll find a way," he growled. "Even if I have to bring the whole Nexus down."
Collapse
LUMINA's voice returned.
"Nova… the only way to stop KOR'VHAL is to collapse the Nexus from within. But you'll be caught in the cascade."
Nova breathed heavily. "How long do I have?"
"Four seconds."
He looked up at the corrupted spire.
"Then tell the stars I tried."
Nova overcharged his NovaFrame, poured every ounce of his will into the Nexus' core, and released.
White light. Silence. Then—
Elsewhere…
In a pocket dimension beyond reality, time stilled.
Nova floated unconscious, his body broken but alive. LUMINA flickered weakly beside him.
"You did it," she whispered. "You stopped the Collapse. For now."
But behind them… a shadow stirred.
A new Rift was forming.
The war was not over.