Chương 19: Episode 16: Mind Games

Dreadixz roared in fury, his massive frame slamming repeatedly into the enormous boulder sealing the cave exit. Each impact cracked through the stone like thunder.

"You're wasting your strength," Incarceration said, his voice gratingly calm as his claw dragged slowly along the cave wall.

"All you're doing is feeding your own frustration." Outside, the storm weakened, the thinning snow allowing battered, bruised, and silent Lunaranite soldiers to stumble back into the cavern. They took their places behind Dreadixz without a word. Dreadixz stepped back, his eyes narrowing in defeat.

"…This isn't natural." Incarceration stopped pacing. Dreadixz raised a claw toward the opening. The moment he neared the entrance, an invisible, absolute force pushed him back.

"Mechamio," he muttered.

"It's shielding itself." Incarceration's crimson eyes flickered with interest.

"A selective barrier… it recognizes threats."

"It's not stopping me because I'm weak," Dreadixz growled, his wings folding tightly against his back.

"It's stopping me because it knows what I am." Incarceration stepped forward and raised his hand, forming a dense, unstable sphere of nightmare energy that whispered with deep darkness.

"With enough force—" He flicked his wrist, hurling the orb into the barrier. A ripple spread across the invisible surface before fading completely, leaving no trace behind. Even Incarceration paused.

"…Interesting." Dreadixz exhaled sharply.

"So brute force isn't the answer." Faint sunlight bled through the edges of the cave as the distant metallic groans of Mechamio began to echo—alive and waking up. Dreadixz's gaze sharpened.

"Explain the procedure again."

"I'm not repeating myself," Incarceration snapped. He turned, pacing with deliberate steps.

"What matters is this—the prophecy doesn't fall through strength. It falls when the Chosen Ones do." Dreadixz watched him silently. Incarceration turned his head just enough to expose a single glowing eye.

"There are five anchors holding that future in place, so we remove them. I was given a directive from something far beyond this world—a god that doesn't care about balance, peace, or your war. It only cares about the end of the prophecy. And if I deliver that, I'll be rewarded with something far greater than anything this world can offer." Dreadixz didn't interrupt; he just listened.

"This isn't chaos," Incarceration continued, gesturing toward the storm outside.

"It's the beginning. Step one is Don." Dreadixz's expression shifted slightly. Incarceration's smile deepened.

"I've already begun reshaping him, breaking him, and twisting him into Scourge Don. He's disconnected, unstable, and completely useful. We use him."

"To do what?" Dreadixz asked, his tail flicking once. Incarceration turned fully to face him.

"To destroy Celestia. Not conquer it—destroy it. Every tower, every structure, and every Celestianite that stands in the way." The air in the cave grew noticeably colder.

"And Don does this for you?" Dreadixz asked.

"No," Incarceration smiled thinly.

"He does it for himself. We just make sure he doesn't realize the difference." The distant sounds of Mechamio echoed louder this time. Dreadixz stared at the invisible barrier, then back at Incarceration.

"…And when Celestia falls?" Incarceration's expression darkened.

"Then the world loses its shield, and the Chosen Ones lose everything holding them together. And then…" His cold smile returned.

"We kill them. Even Don." At Mechamio"KAYSON?! KAYSON?! DUDE—STOP WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING, KAYSON!" My voice ripped through the chaos. Mechamio was unraveling—screams bounced off metal walls as citizens sprinted in every direction, tripping over gears and pipes in a blind panic. The ground lurched as the stone monster—Kayson's full beast form—threw his head back and roared, rattling buildings and raining dust and rust down like shrapnel.

My chains bit harder into my palms as his massive, clawed fist descended toward the bridge.

"STAY IN POSITION!" Angel shouted, his knuckles white against the railing. Metal warped, bolts snapped, and the entire span tilted violently as the fist connected, shockwaves tearing through the supports until the bridge gave way beneath us. We fell into howling wind as the city rushed up way too fast. Then blue light detonated beneath us. Power the Zenith surged upward like a comet, catching us mid-drop in a wide arc of radiant blue energy. The fall stopped abruptly. Prince flailed.

"OH COME ON—I WAS EMOTIONALLY PREPARED FOR IMPACT!" Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Power lowered us safely to the street as the rest of the bridge collapsed behind us in an avalanche of metal. He landed last, his light dimming slightly as he straightened.

"Everyone okay?" he asked. Angel nodded.

"All present." Olsen exhaled hard.

"That would've killed us." Cheers erupted from the surrounding crowd as citizens recognized Power, but he ignored the noise, glanced up at the ruined bridge, and stepped back as his attention shifted. Kayson roared again. Built like a wrecking ball with zero off switch, the twelve-year-old Stone Mover tore a massive chunk out of what remained of the bridge and bit straight into it with a loud metallic crunch.

"Mmph! This is incredible!" Kayson boomed, chewing through the steel infrastructure.

"Can't wait 'til they rebuild it again in a few years!" As the crowd calmed down, Kayson began shrinking from a tower down to the size of a truck, hopping down onto the street with a heavy thud. He swallowed the last chunk of metal, licked his fingers, and grinned. Up close, his whole frame was solid, living rock.

"Artificially fantastic," he said. I crossed my arms.

"So. How was dinner?"

"Oh, great! Good seeing you guys!"

"WE ALMOST DIED," Demaurion snapped, blasting him with water that splashed harmlessly off Kayson's chest. Kayson laughed.

"Hey! Sorry! I was just trying to get the bridge." His eyes lit up.

"Wait—are you guys heading to the Avangard Battles?"

"Yeah," Olsen said.

"Only to find the next beast for Don to kill." Kayson practically vibrated.

"Me too! Wanna tour Mechamio first?"

"Nope," I said instantly.

"Kill and move. No sightseeing." Sophia groaned.

"Can we just get to Gordiman's Bothole already?" The sun dipped low, painting the sky in blood-orange and sapphire while Mechamio thrummed beneath our feet, gears clanking and steam venting into the air.

"And we're here!" Kayson announced. The Colosseum rose before us in a massive ring of steel and gears. High above the arena, King Gordiman stood over the pit, adjusting his crown.

"WHO WANTS TO SEE THE CHOSEN ONES FIGHT?!" The stadium erupted into massive cheers.

"Let me introduce… our Crystallized Celestianite—Don!" The crowd roared as the pit floor opened up.

"And his opponent—RYAN THE MECHANITE WHEELER!" Ryan landed in a shower of sparks and dust, drills spinning at full speed.

"OVER HERE, DON!" Energy surged through my arms as Kai bared his teeth beside me. I stepped forward into the sand.

"Let the battles begin." 10, 000 Years into the Future, Celestia The sky bled orange—the color of a world giving up. A dying sun dragged itself toward the horizon, smearing sorrow across the clouds as the dystopian city rotted beneath it. Towers leaned at wrong angles like snapped spines of steel frozen mid-collapse, their streets buried under wreckage. Fire crawled up broken walls, sending thick, choking smoke upward into the ash-filled air. Avangard was dead, and standing above the ruins was Duke.

He sat on the edge of a shattered skyscraper, knees drawn in, neon-green energy crackling faintly along his cybernetic cannon. Wind rushed past in low, endless whooshes, tugging at his hair and whispering through the city's hollow frame. His matte-black suit glowed in sharp contrast to the ruin, sliced with vivid green light and a V burning across his chest. Energy veins streaked down his arms and legs like fractures in reality. His sleek, birdlike helmet reflected the burning skyline.

Blood slipped from his nose, dripping onto the concrete, but he didn't bother to wipe it away.

"Did Avangard really have to end like this?" he muttered to the wind. He leaned back, staring up at the fractured sky.

"Out of every future and every branch, there wasn't another way?" His visor flickered, displaying overlapping timelines of burning cities and failing Power Gems.

"I traveled ten thousand years forward," he growled, his fists trembling, "just to watch everything die anyway? There has to be one more timeline where the Heroes win." A sharp digital glitch warped the air behind him. Duke's head snapped around as the rooftop rippled and space bent, green static tearing open a hole in the world. Pixels stitched together until the distortion stabilized and boots hit concrete.

Eli stepped forward, fists clenched, green wyvern wings unfurling behind him as they caught the dying light.

"You're here…" Duke said, disbelief tightening his voice. He rose to his feet, removed his helmet in one smooth motion, and set it aside.

"What brings you this far into the future?" Eli's eyes stayed locked on him.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing. I came ten thousand years forward to make sure no chrono-bender wrecks reality again." Duke's eye widened.

"Again? How do I wreck it?"

"Because saving the future is impossible," Eli said coldly, pacing toward the edge of the roof.

"Unless you mess with the past or the present." Duke stomped forward.

"You think I don't know that?!" Time snapped to a dead halt. Duke locked mid-step, energy freezing around his suit. Eli exhaled slowly, looking over the dead city as a green orb of unstable energy spiraled above his palm. He crushed it effortlessly, shattering it into glowing dust that scattered on the frozen wind.

"The Power Gems don't fix the future," Eli said, turning back to Duke.

"They poison it. You already proved that in another timeline—you shattered everything." Time snapped back into motion. Duke staggered forward, catching his balance as his jaw clenched tight.

"This is my time," he snarled, his eyes burning with green energy.

"My chance to be the universe's hero. If you want to stop me, you'll have to kill me." Eli spread his wyvern wings wide, timeless energy surging around him and warping the air.

"This isn't my choice. It's yours." Duke raised his cannon, neon energy pulsing along the barrel.

"Then make your move." Eli vanished in a flash, turning into a green streak that detonated straight into Duke's chest and launched him skyward. Eli followed without missing a beat, catching up mid-air and slamming him back toward the earth. Duke hit the ground with massive force, sending a shockwave ripping through the dystopian city. Nearby buildings crumbled, and glass windows exploded outward across the ruined streets. As Eli hovered above with his aura blazing, Duke aimed his cybernetic cannon and fired.

A massive neon beam tore upward through the sky, but Eli phased straight through the energy blast. He reappeared directly above Duke and drove his heel down onto his head, triggering a massive collapse that tore surrounding structures apart. Duke spiraled upward into the clouds, but Eli chased him into the sky.

Green and black energy streaks twisted and collided through the cloud line until Duke caught Eli mid-air and slammed him back down, sending him crashing straight through a skyscraper in a burst of shattered glass, twisted steel, and fire. Duke reappeared above the ruined tower, his cannon glowing violently.

"Enough," Duke muttered. A continuous neon beam carved straight down, engulfing Eli in blinding green light. The impact formed a massive energy dome that rippled outward across the landscape, shredding what was left of the city. Debris burst apart as Eli tore himself free from the blast. Blood streaked his face and his breath came heavy, but his wyvern wings beat steadily as his eyes blazed.

"Duke," Eli called out over the wind.

"You think this is heroic, but it's just reckless."

"You're twelve," Duke shot back, keeping his cannon raised.

"You don't command me." Eli snapped. Time froze instantly around them. Eli pulled his fist back as timeless energy screamed around his arm, green lightning threading through his knuckles. He drove the punch forward, and reality collapsed inward under the force. A massive, soundless shockwave erased the dystopian city in an instant. The sky cracked open, time reversed violently, and the alternate future vanished. Duke blinked.

He was sitting on a quiet school rooftop under a warm, clear sky, with birds flying past in the distance. Insane Middle School. Iris Town stretched peacefully below him—green valleys, winding rivers, and Nomanites and Elementantes going about their daily lives. Duke stared down at his hands, his chest heaving as he caught his breath. He still had something to finish.