⏳ --

It burned. It seared the skin, like shoving my hand into the flames of a fire. I screamed. It seemed like the only thing I could do. I couldn't move. I couldn't let go of the Stone. I heard Eon roaring in anger, and I felt hands grasp my shoulders and toss me like a ragdoll, though the Stone did not leave my grip. I crashed into a pillar, pain spiking up my back. When I looked to my hand, I watched, horrified, as the Stone melted into my skin, sliding under the first layer, deep into my hand, the skin of my palm stitching back together over it.

The rush of power struck me. Rejuvenation rushed over me like a wave. The pain in my back dispersed as fast as it came, and I slowly rose.

Eon looked more enraged than I'd ever seen him, red eyes glowing with hatred. "You will die for this, Andromeda. I will rip your heart out and disintegrate it before your eyes. Ownership be damned, you die here today."

I smirked. "I'd like to see you try." My smirk faded to an expression of deadly resentment. "I'm going to make you pay for everything you've done. For every life you have taken. For every period of time you have destroyed. For Eilian. I will make you pay for all of them."

I whipped my arm around and a scatter shot of golden bolts flew out. Eon held up a hand, halting them all in midair, and they disintegrated. I rolled to cover when a beam of red energy erupted from his palm, it blasting into the pillar I'd hidden behind. My eyes connected to Chameleon who peaked out from behind the cover of a fallen rock. My double did the same from another pillar. I watched Chameleon squint at me, and then glare at Eon. And his eyes glowed grey. He screamed, and grey power blasted out of his hand, hitting Eon directly in the chest, throwing the beam omitting from the old man's hand to explode up into the sky.

I didn't squander my chance. I slammed my foot to the ground, and golden mingled with emerald green from the Stone energy arced through the rock of the floor, splitting it as it zig-zagged towards Eon. He raised his arm, a shield forming, as the golden lightning bolts slammed into him. I ran to him and threw my fist to his face. He blocked with his free forearm and swung with his shielded one. I ducked and kicked my leg out to take out his legs, though he jumped and whipped his arm back, smacking me in the face. He kicked a booted foot into my chest, sending my rolling away. He slammed his foot where my legs had been a mere second ago, and I scurried away as he continued to stomp towards me like an angry elephant.

A grey wave blasted out, hitting Eon but not phasing him. Chameleon ran towards him as he projected a ball of grey energy towards the enemy. And then my double slammed into Chameleon, throwing him off his feet and the ball into one of the pillars. A crack slithered around its midsection, and it toppled to the floor, dust billowing out like a storm in the desert. Chameleon slammed his elbow into Dark Andi's face, sending her stumbling back, and they continued to brawl.

As I turned to look at Eon again, his gnarled fingers had already curled around my neck. He lifted me from the ground, gripping tighter and tighter. I clawed at his hands, but they would not let go. A sinister grin graced his weathered face and his red eyes glinted evilly. "Once upon a time, I thought we could be something, Andromeda. I was doing this for you. I was doing this so you could be by my side, so that we could rule all of time together. We were meant to be, you and I. We are powerful. We could have ruled everything. We could have been more powerful than Thanos, than Galactus, than any who holds an Infinity Stone. You and I, we could have prevented your civil war. We could have forced the Infinity Wars in our favour. Everything could have been ours!"

"You're delusional," I choked out. "I'll never be yours. Never."

He scowled. "And so I will kill you. If I cannot have you, no one can. Not the Captain. Not the Lord or Lady. Not the Walkers. No one."

A glaring light touched my retinas so brightly that it blinded me. I was released from Eon's grip, thrown into one of the fallen pillars. The air from my lungs was ripped from them, and I gasped for it back. I watched Eon stumble back as two figures walked from the light. The Lord and Lady of Time.

Eon raised his chin as he took a wary step back.

"You are outnumbered, Eon," the Lord of Time boomed. "Surrender, and I will be sure to pardon you."

"I will not believe such lies you spit, Lord," Eon snarled. "You will die at my feet like the dog that you are." His red eyes flicked to Primavera. "And I will cut off your wife's head and place it on a spike outside of my palace for all to see, and I will watch gleefully as the crows pick out her eyes."

Yep, I thought. All of his marbles were gone for sure now. Even an insane asylum wouldn't take him in at this point. He'd passed that insane stage a long time ago.

The Lord sighed sadly. Even after everything Eon had done, the Lord still pitied his old friend. He'd offered Eon a way out and it was thrown back at him (as if he would've taken it anyway), and we all knew what must happen now. Death was in the cards from the beginning, but who's it would be was a mystery. For now.

"Then you're punishment for treason, murder, and the betrayal of our creed is death," Primavera said lowly, practically growling those words.

Eon grinned, spreading his arms out to the side. "We shall see." His body glowed that blood red colour, and I watched, horrified, as two clones stepped out of him, standing on either side with the same evil grin. And then one each stepped out of the clones, and another each out of the newer ones. I'd never seen a Walker do that before. Boy, were we in trouble. "And how will you fare killing all of us, Lady of Time. I'd like to see you try."

And then the Eons charged. The Lord and Lady rushed forward. I scrambled to my feet and ran too. Two Eons collided into me, toppling me to the ground. I kicked one in the face, sending him away. The other held me down, specifically my arm where the Time Stone sat sequestered in my palm. I wasn't going to let him take it. Not without a fight. I wrapped my legs around the clone and threw him to the ground, rolling over to sit on top of him. I pressed my palm with the Stone under the skin to his forehead, and my hand glowed. The clone screamed as green energy flashed into his skull and pumped through his veins, his eyes burning with green flames, and his body disintegrated to dust. I spun around, my arm waving out with a golden-green wave blasting out, hitting the other clone and turning him to dust as well.

My heart was beating so fast that it hurt in my chest. I looked at my hands as they began to glow the emerald green of the Stone. I swallowed. I could feel it. I could feel the power throbbing in my head, in my arms and chest. It was almost overpowering. The Stone was beginning to take over. I needed to separate myself from it before it was too late.

Another Eon clone, crashed into me. I slammed my fists into his back, sending him crashing to the ground, and I spun away. The clone grinned. "Your life is forfeit tonight, my dear."

I smirked. "You're not the first person to tell me that. Yet here I stand."

"Not for much longer." He grinned.

And then my instincts began to scream. They screamed so loud that it was deafening inside my head. Behind you!

I turned to see Eon – the real Eon – raise his hand, a blade clutched in his fingers. A wild grin stretched on his face as he brought the knife down. I was rooted in my place. My legs wouldn't move, like they were concreted in place like cement blocks.

"No!" Chameleon shoved me away. Eon brought the blade down. It pierced into Chameleon's chest, through the skin, into his heart. He gasped, his expression that of shock.

"No!" A wave of golden-green exploded out like a tsunami hitting the banks of a beach. Eon was thrown off his feet. The clone nearby rolled away. I raced to my friend. He fell, and I caught him before he hit the ground. I cradled him, tears welling in my eyes. "No, no, no."

Chameleon heaved, craving air. His mouth opened and closed, trying to form words, his eyes staring at the blade planted firmly in his chest. I knew what he wanted. I gripped the hilt of the knife and I pulled. The wet sound of it leaving his body made me shudder. He grunted as I did, and I tossed the knife away. I pressed a hand to his chest. His blood on my palm was warm.

"I-I'm s-sorry," he whispered.

I chuckled, trying to keep the mood as light as I could. "What are you talking about? You've got nothing to apologise for."

"I-I'm a g-goner, Andi."

"No." I pressed harder on his chest, trying to force his blood to go back into the hole the blade had created. "No, you're not going anywhere."

He brought his hand to rest in his lap. Clutched in it was the Shard. The last Shard. "Y-You must r-recreate the Time K-Key. It's the o-only way to s-stop him."

"And you're going to help me do it," I said, smiling. "You're going to be the one to lock him away with me."

His face contorted into an expression of agony before relaxing to one of exhaustion. "I'm s-sorry, Andi. I was only d-doing what I thought was r-right."

My tears began to overwhelm me. My heart clawed into my throat, making it hurt to swallow. He'd betrayed us. He'd betrayed me. But he'd done it because he thought he was doing what was right. That was how poisonous Eon was. He was the mouthpiece for the manipulative. He could convince any to be by his side, even the strong willed. And Chameleon had fallen into his trap. He was a fly trapped in the web of a spider, a fly that couldn't flee life, a fly with only one means of escape: death. Chameleon had trusted Eon. And now he was paying for it.

I tried to smile through my pain as I stroked the side of his face, my palm brushing his rolling tears away. "I know, Chameleon. I know."

"W-Win this," he wheezed. "W-Win."

I hushed him. "I will," I whispered. "I promise." I kissed his forehead. "Be at peace, my friend. You deserve that much."

Chameleon's ever-changing eyes began to slow; green, brown, hazel, blue, brown, green, hazel, brown, hazel, green, blue. It rested on a beautiful hazel shade, and did not change. His grey aura dimmed. The rising of his chest grew weaker, grew shallow. He closed his eyes. And he did not move again.

I closed my eyes in mourning. Chameleon had redeemed himself in the end, but at a cost too high and too late.

My gaze rested on Eon staggering to his feet. He grinned. He grinned so evilly, so sinisterly, that it made my blood boil. Chameleon's body gently slipped from my lap, and as he did my fingers grasped the Shard, shoving it into my back pocket as I stood. I was going to make Eon pay. I was going to tear him to shreds. I was going to rip his heart from his chest and make him watch its beating come to an end. I was going to destroy him, if it was the last thing I ever did.

❈Author's Note: Hey, there! I'd like to think that Chameleon redeemed himself in the end. Characters that do that are always the best, in my opinion. But I wanna know what you think! Let me know beloooow! :D

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