Somewhere between breath and break, the world hiccuped.
One moment, Ash Verdan was on the ledge of a half-burnt apartment tower, watching the city choke under a blood-orange sky.
Then — silence.
Not the kind that wrapped around you gently, but the kind that sliced. Clean. Sudden. Final.
His heartbeat stalled. Then reversed.
The device in his hand pulsed. Once.
Blue. Then black.
Then—
Nothing.
He blinked.
The smoke was gone. The sky was clear.
The city stood — not crumbling, but whole.
People walked. Laughed. Lived.
They looked at him like they knew him.
And then came the worst part.
He felt it — a presence. Familiar. Cold.
Watching.
Himself.
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