⏳ --

Blood red light filtered down into the small corridor as I climbed the steps to the Tower's peak.

I wasn't afraid to admit that I was scared. I was terrified. My whole world was caving in on me; it was crushing me, making me struggle to breathe. I was walking into a situation where my life was possibly going to come to an end. Although I was ready to accept whatever fate awaited me, a small part of me wanted to live; wanted to live for my friends, for Steve, for the Chronos. But if stopping Eon meant my death, then so be it.

I stepped onto the last step. A cool and ominous wind blew. Silence engulfed the atmosphere. Crumbled pillars stood scattered around, holding up nothing but air. The Tower's peak was flat with no protective railing around; one misstep and you were going to be a nice-looking pancake upon impact with the ground below.

Ahead of me stood a pedestal. And there it was, glowing green and swirling with power. The Time Stone. Just sitting there, waiting for someone to take it and hold it and use its power for whatever purposes they desired – good or evil.

"He is coming." I whipped around. My dark version stood before me and by her side was none other than the traitor himself: Chameleon. "He is coming for the Stone, and there's nothing you can do about it."

I glared at them both, slowly backing away, warily taking in my surroundings and forming a plan in my head. They began to advance towards me just as slowly.

I turned my attention to Chameleon. He looked uncomfortable. He looked gaunt and exhausted, so unlike what he looked like the last time I saw him. And in his back pocket was a coveted item: the last Shard.

"Give me the Shard, Chameleon," I said, a hand outstretched. "You don't know what you're doing allying yourself with Eon."

"He knows exactly what he's doing," my dark self spat back. "And so are many who march with Eon. We want equality. We want freedom. The reign of the Lord and Lady is over. Their tyrannical shadow will disappear as Eon rises."

I squinted. "What has he ever done for you?"

"He has given me life. You know what happens when one becomes a Time Walker. The rest of us in the scatter of timelines are wiped out. Eon saved me."

Something was fishy about her. One minute, she was taunting me that Eon was going to destroy me and those I loved. Then the next she was warning me about an impending civil war among friends. She was flip-flopping between sides, and that made her even more untrustworthy. But why? What was she trying to gain? Information from Eon? Information from me? Both?

"What do you gain from this?" I continued to back away towards the Stone, and the two in front of me forwarded. "All you're doing is causing more destruction, more death. Is that really what you want?"

"I want a life!" my live reflection snarled. "Why do you get to live and the rest of us die? What's so special about you that you're allowed to live? Why you?"

I frowned. "Trust me, I ask myself that every day."

"You can't win, Andi," Chameleon said. "I don't like this anymore than you do, but we all must do what we have to in order to achieve freedom for all."

"You mean total control." I glared at him hatefully. "He'll turn on you. You're naïve if you think that he won't." I pointed to the south. "There are innocents dying out there because of what you're doing! Astra, Jax, Sirius, Patroclus and Patronus. You're sentencing them all to a death they don't deserve! And for what? Power? Freedom you already have? What more do you want that people have to die for it?"

Chameleon clenched his teeth, the ever-changing colour of his eyes gleaming in what looked like...uncertainty? "I'm doing this to stop war."

"And by trying to achieve that, you start one? What kind of logic is that?!"

"Enough of this!" Dark Andi powered up, her hands glowing a darker gold than my own. "Your mind games will not work on us. The Time Stone will be Eon's. He will take the Shards. You will be his as I am, and you will watch this timeline shatter and the Chronos burn. You will watch us take every universe and mould it how we wish."

As if I was going to allow that to happen. I would let the Time Stone tear me apart before I allowed any of that to happen. "I'm going to have to take a rain check on that." Only a few steps away from the Stone. If I could just reach for it...

"Andromeda."

My blood ran cold. My body stood rigid as I swallowed, the air tense with evil hanging in it as much as the feel of power.

I turned, only to be staring into the red eyes of Eon. His calm rage was more terrifying than his real anger would be, and I would know. I'd seen it before. He towered over me, making me look small, like a lion over a mouse.

"That Stone is mine, my dear," Eon purred. "If time is to persist unbroken, then I must take it."

I snorted. "You know, the more bullshit you spout out, the more insane you sound." I raised an eyebrow. "And what do you really want it for? World domination? You know as well as I do the Stone belongs to no one, that it should not be in the hands of either of us."

"You are ignorant, Andromeda," he growled. "Time must be restored." He took a step forth, making me step back. "Your masters have wrecked it for too long. What is damaged must be mended."

"You're a Walker, too, Eon. They're your "masters" as well."

"They are no masters of mine!" he snarled. "They are no leaders, no saviours, of mine. They are as much tyrants as you are!"

"Tyrants?" My blood began to boil. I was tired of being linked to the Lord and Lady. I was tired of being compared to them. I was not them. I would never be them. "I am no tyrant, Eon! All that I have done has been for time itself! Not for selfish gain and control like you."

"And I have not? What I am doing here is for time! If that means I must allow people to die, to kill a few, then so be it."

I squinted, and the words that formed in my head to my mouth made my heart begin to crack. "Is that why you killed Eilian? For time?"

I heard a soft gasp. Chameleon's eyes were wide and his lips parted, the gasp just escaping. Clearly he hadn't been listening when I told him the truth in the caves. He was blinded. But now he could see. He could see clearly now. "Y-You killed Eilian?" he stammered. "It was you? You told me that the Lord had done it."

"No," I said, glaring at him. "Your so-called pariah did it. He ripped Eilian's galaxy apart with him in it. Would someone who is really trying to save time murder another who is doing the same?" I stared deep into his ever-changing eyes. "Think long and hard about this, Chameleon, about what you are doing."

Chameleon's gaze flicked to my double's, who looked away. He then looked to Eon, who remained as expressionless as a mannequin. I prayed to any god who would listen that this would be the idiot's wake-up call.

"Lies," was all that Eon said. "She lies."

"And why would I do that?" I spat. "Why would I lie about the unjustified murder of the man who made me all who I am today? Who taught me that it's better to risk your life for something worthwhile to all than oneself? In all his selfishness, cold-heartedness, and fucked up glory, why would I lie about the man who saved my life?" I turned to Chameleon for the last time, eyes pleading for a former friend to realise what kind of man he was allying with. "Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion."

I took the chance that opened up to me. I shoved past Eon and closed my fingers around the Stone. And a green wave of power exploded out.

❈Author's Note: Hey, there! I wanna address this before it gets said in the comments and I look like I have no Marvel knowledge whatsoever: yes, I'm aware that the Time Stone is orange in the comics. I am a comic fan, I do read them. As a Marvel fan for thirteen years, that's what I grew up on. However, this series isn't based on the comics. It follows the Marvel Cinematic Universe only. With that said, the Time Stone is green in the MCU as introduced in Doctor Strange and so is green in the Time Walker series.

Why is it green rather than orange when in fact the Soul Stone should be green? I dunno. Everything is a bit jumbled in relation to the comics and the MCU when it comes to the Infinity Stones, like the Power Stone being red in the comics but purple in the MCU, and the Reality Stone being red rather than yellow, aaaaand the Mind Stone being yellow rather than blue. It's all kinda of wrong. Anyway! I thought I'd explain so I look like I know what I'm doing XD

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