⏳ --

"Goddammit!" I slammed my shield into the door. "Open, goddammit!" Vibrations rippled through my arms as my shield hit the door again and again. And the stone would not open like it had before.

I'd heard screams. I'd power being used and the destruction of constructs. And I needed to get up there. I needed to get up there now.

"Captain!"

My attention snapped to someone racing up the stairs to meet me. I frowned. "Astra?"

"Where's Andromeda?"

"Through there. She closed this goddamn door on me." I stuck the stone again. "It won't open!" I pushed against it feebly with all my strength. Wait... "What are you doing here?"

"We could see the explosions from the Dead Valley. I slipped away to come here. Gilliam holds the field for now, but Eon must fall for this battle to end."

"Is everyone okay?"

Astra swallowed. "There have been casualties. But none of your team mates have fallen." She pushed past me to approach the closed door. "You have not been able to open it because it needs a Walker touch to do so."

I watched Astra place a hand on the same spot as Andi had, and the door glowed a deep forest green. The gears and cogs in the doors groaned as the locks began to click open.

When it did open, the first thing I felt was extreme heat. And then an explosion blasted through the near open the door, pulling it completely off its hinges. The pure power of it threw me off my feet. Astra flew backwards and hit the staircase and slid over the side of it. I reached out and clasped her hand before the ground raced up to meet and made her a heap of broken bones. She gasped when I grabbed her, her body hanging in the balance.

"You should really invest in staircase railings," I grumbled as I pulled her back onto the staircase.

"I will keep that in mind," she growled as she pushed herself onto the surface.

I turned to the now blasted off door. "What the hell was that?"

"Andromeda." Just saying her name made both of us charge up the steps to the Tower's peak.

If I hadn't raced to cover immediately, I would have been burnt to a crisp. Colours of power arced into the sky like lightning. The Tower shook, instability whispering at its core. Rocks and rubble was scattered everywhere, toppled and destroyed pillars with scorch marks across much of the midsections.

And there they were. Andi slammed a foot to the ground, golden with weaving green power slithering through the rock to hit Eon, who raised his arm to create a blood red shield. Her eyes were completely green, and the centre of her forehead was glowing green, similarly to how Vision's did. She had the Time Stone. She was using it. The Lord and Lady of Time were not far behind, throwing white-powered attack after attack at the enemy, who managed to parry or dodge at every turn. There was no doubt in my mind now that Eon was powerful. If he could easily take on two incredibly powerful Time Walkers and a Walker with the Time Stone, it looked like we were in trouble.

My eyes caught a figure slinking around cover like a stalking cat. Dark Andi.

"I'll deal with her," Astra said, grasping my arm as I tried to move towards the doppelgänger. "Help Andromeda."

I nodded and we split up. I stayed as low to the ground as possible, strategically ducking through rogue attacks from the brawling Walkers. I took a sharp intake of breath when Eon smacked Andi with a bolt of energy at her shield, turning it to dust and the sheer power of it throwing her into a nearby pillar, which toppled upon impact. The shriek of pain that escaped her boiled the pure anger and rage bubbling inside of me.

I rolled into a low cover, close enough to Eon and Andi that I could feel the heat radiating off them. My eyes flicked to the ground to see where I was going, only to see a body that lay nearby. I rushed to it. I sighed when I saw his face. Chameleon. A gaping hole had been burned through his chest, smoke still wafting off it. Touching his arm, he was still warm. He couldn't have been dead any longer than a few minutes.

A body slammed into the toppled pillar next to me. My eyes connected with the bright, old eyes of the Lord of Time. The aura that radiated off him was overwhelming. He looked at me, ancient eyes on a middle-aged face boring into me and tearing out my secrets. As fast as he had fallen, he was on his feet again and charging at Eon back into the fray. I figured it was time for me to join.

I stood high, making myself a prime target. I pulled my shield from my back and hurled it at Eon. It slammed into his chest, making him stumble back a step. Red eyes turned to me as my shield boomeranged back to me. Andi's eyes rested on me as well and then back on Eon. He roared and stormed towards me. Andi ran in time with him. Eon swung his arm from his right side to his left, a wave of red ploughing outwards, hurtling towards me. Andi beat it to me, leaping in front of it and holding a single hand out. The wave met her palm and it split around her and I, the roar of power tearing past us on either side.

"What the hell are you doing?" she snarled.

"My job," I said, moving to stand in next to her. "Saving the world."

Though her completely green eyes were intimidating (well, more so than usual), she smiled. "Well, let's get started." She held out her hand again, gold energy amassing there. An exact replica of my shield appeared in gold form, rings and star and all.

The Lord and Lady stumbled backwards when their shields shattered from Eon's beam emission. They stood in line with us, powering up as Andi did.

Eon scoffed. "Incredible. Do you honestly believe that adding a mortal will increase your chances of defeating me?"

"Perhaps not," Primavera said. "But we have the Time Stone while you do not, Eon."

I felt Andi shutter close to me and slip something in my hand—something rounded to a point. I knew what it was instantly just by feel. A Shard. The last Shard. I felt the strap of a satchel fall into my hands as well, containing what I knew were the rest of the golden pieces. I looked to her through the corner of my eye and she did the same, her green eyes then flicking to Astra brawling with her dark doppelgänger. I knew what she wanted me to do, what she needed me to do.

Eon laughed, a deep bellow that was both insidious and menacing. "I'd like to see you try."

He charged, a red aura engulfing him. The Lord, Primavera, and Andi did as well, white and green-gold auras doing the same. I careened to the left, dashing for cover. Power clashed between the powerful Walkers as I picked my way towards Astra. I pitched my shield at Dark Andi, the vibranium rounded object slamming into her back, throwing her off her feet. I caught the shield when it flew back to me and I ran to Astra.

"I have the Shard," I said breathlessly. I raised the satchel. "All of them."

Astra's purple eyes widened as she looked from the pieces to the other Walkers fighting Eon then back to me. "Cover me!" she ordered and ran off to the corner of Tower with the Shard and bag.

I turned to Dark Andi, shield in hand. Her dark hair brushed over her shoulders as she got to her feet, her startling green eyes glaring at me. She snarled like a rabid animal as her hands glowed black.

"I don't wanna fight you," I said. "I just wanna stop this maniac from tearing this place ap—"

"I don't give a rat's furry ass what you want," she growled.

I set a sideward glance at Astra, who was arranging the pieces. "I can't let you stop this from happening."

"Fine."

She flicked her wrist and a shot of scattering bolts blasted at me. I held up my shield which protected me from most of it, but not all. One hit my leg, and I cried out as the bolt shot up it. Dark Andi didn't waste any time. She stormed towards me and kicked out at my legs. I crouched, her booted foot meeting the vibranium. I brought my shield upwards, but Dark Andi leaned backwards to dodge it. I slammed it towards her chest and it met her shielded side-forearm and shoulder.

"A little longer, Captain!" I heard Astra yell. "It's almost complete!"

Dark Andi's attention moved to Astra, and I knew she was concentrating on getting there first. I kicked a booted foot at her chest, and she stumbled back. I hurled my shield at her and it hit her face, blood spurting from a split lip and a cut cheek. I caught the rounded object and backtracked towards Astra, doing what I could to protect her as long as possible.

Dark Andi snarled, angrier than she had been before. "Get out of my way!"

"Why are you doing this?" I demanded.

"Because I was promised life!" She stalked closer, slowly like a cat hunting a near-fleeting bird. "Do you have any idea what it's like to have a timer on your life? The longer she lives, the closer I am to death's door. Why does she get to live? What is so special about her? I am the same. I am no different. I lived the same life with different choices made. I do not deserve to be wiped from existence because she is the one who chose this life. None of us do. I made the same choice to become what I am today as well, so why must I be the one to die?" The closer she got, the more anger I felt waft from her aura. She truly was enraged with Andi. With the Lord and Lady. With life, it seemed more than anything else. "Parallel universes do not interact. They are on different frequencies. We deserve to live. We have done no harm."

From where I was standing, this was why there could only be one Andi. One Astra. One of every Walker. Because the potential of some version of them going rogue was too high. That potential was standing in front of me baying for blood. It was sad. I agreed with her. Versions of a Walker did not deserve to be wiped from the face of the universe. What did they do wrong? All they did was exist. One accepted an offer and the rest faced the consequences of it, even though another had made the same choice. Had others made the same but my Andi was chosen to live? It sounded wrong. It all was just wrong.

"I'm not going to allow anyone to take my life from me," Dark Andi concluded. "No one." She stopped in her tracks. "And if I must run back to the dark to do that, then so be it. I am not willing to take the risk  to fight for my life here if I lose. I would rather live on the run than ally with anyone for a second time." She began to back away. "I can see what will happen here. I refuse to be the next victim of this society."

I shook my head. "I don't understand. Why did you ally with Eon in the first place if you think that?"

"Because it was the right thing to do. At least I thought so once."

I watched, confused as ever, as Dark Andi melded into the darkness of a pillar, and did not return into sight. What was the point? Why did she even enter this fight if she was going to run in the end? It didn't make any sense.

A loud bang knocked me out of my thoughts. I turned to Astra who stumbled to her feet and staggered back towards me. The Shard pieces rose in front of her, the splits dividing them glowing gold and then disappearing when they melded together in completion of a rounded gold object. It rose high, a complete circle of engravings and etchings of ancientness. It glowed so brightly that I had to cover my eyes. The circle of Shards enlarged. A loud opening sound groaned, and it was deafening.

"The Time Vault is opening!" Astra yelled next to me. "We must get Eon inside now!"

My eyes connected with Andi, the four Walkers there halting their fighting to watch the Shards come together to form what Eon feared the most. The expression Andi wore there and then was one I'd only ever seen once before, an apologetic one that meant one thing. She was going to do the Time Trance.

❈Author's Note: Hey, there!

I am so, so sorry for this incredibly late update. If you've been hanging around my profile lately, you'd see that I've been working on some pretty exciting original work, one of them already beginning its uploading process. I've been struggling with this chapter for a very long time because there's no doubt that it's the most important event in the series and I wanted to make it perfect. I hope I have. I hope it's the climatic battle you were dying to read. I hoped you enjoyed it :) The next chapters actually have been written, so for the last few there will be an updating schedule (yes, I know, there is such a thing XD)

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