⏳ --

The Time Vault was opening. And we didn't have a lot of time.

I knew that I wasn't powerful enough to take on Eon. I knew my ribs were broken. The cuts on my face and arms stung. My body screamed for rest. Even with the Time Stone in my possession, realistically, I was no match for Eon. I needed to go into the Time Trance. With the Stone and that power on my side, I had more of a chance.

I glanced at Steve. The expression he gave me told me everything I needed to know about what he thought about the decision: don't do it. But I didn't have much of a choice, however. Eon needed to be stopped and that was the only way to do it.

I looked at the Lord and Primavera, and they knew instantly what was going on, what decision had to be made to win. The Lord, who was holding Eon's arm to the side, elbowed the man in the face and leaped back when he went to swing his arm through the air.

"Are you sure, Andromeda?" the Lord huffed as he rejoined me and Prima.

"It's the only way." I turned to Steve once more and mouthed I'm sorry.

I closed my eyes. A rush of energy powered through my veins, engulfing me fully. I felt my hair begin to lift and float. Power and energy surged through me. My body was more prepared than the last time I'd done this. I felt more in control. I felt like I was gripping the bull by the horns and this time, and it would not mow me down. I began to glow. I opened my eyes. I was seeing the world through green. The feeling of power inside was unbelievable. My eye caught my hair, which was a pure white with faint green highlights. Through seeing that, I saw the Lord and Lady next to me, also engulfed in white power, also in the Time Trance.

Eon raised his chin, and, with a snap of his finger, glowed as red as we did white. I could tell instantly that he'd mastered the Time Trance enough to snap into it easily. That could prove a challenge to defeat him, but with three powerful Walkers in the Trance, we had the slight upper hand.

And then we walked. We walked in unison to meet Eon, stood at the ready in waiting. I snuck a glance to my left to see a white anomaly beginning to form, walking beside me. It looked at me. It began to form. Eilian. The white wispy figure of him smiled at me, the cheeky smile that had made me melt too much. Next to him was another familiar face. Chameleon grinned back, the irises of his eyes changing every second.

I turned back to Eon. I wasn't afraid. I was angry. I was furious that he was so drunk on power that he took away the people most close to me. I wasn't going to let him do it again. I would tear him apart before he could try.

I roared, and charged him, the Lord and Lady, Eilian, and Chameleon by my sides. I made the first move, releasing a wave of energy Eon's way. He dispelled it with a simple flick of his hand, but the Lord and Prima advanced quickly, using quick blasts and dodging as fast as Eon tried to react. I stepped back and opened my hands wide. Timed duplications of myself stepped out, golden wispy forms like Eilian and Chameleon, who flew around Eon in attempts to distract him like swatting at flies. My duplicates swarmed Eon, throwing small bolts at him. He fired back, any who were hit going up in dust.

A deep green blast flew out of nowhere, hitting Eon's shoulder, followed by the hum of a vibranium shield. Steve and Astra stormed into the fray, Steve's shield boomeranging back into his possession. Eon projected a ball of energy Steve's way, which hit his shield and sent him flying back. A flying fist hit Astra in the face, coupled by a rough shove to the ground. He roared and slammed his foot to the floor, power shooting up and sending the Lord and Lady sprawling. And then he charged towards me. I raised my fists, ready for him.

His fist flew first, and I caught it, but I didn't see the jab to the ribs coming. The impact of his balled fingers hitting my torso screamed pain, and I howled. A foot came down on my knee and I heard a loud snap. He palmed me in the chest, winding me, and I staggered back, my broken leg unable to hold me and so I fell. I tried to crawl away, but Eon placed a booted foot on my chest, keeping me there.

He smiled, a grin so sinister and evil that I shivered. "Pathetic. To think that I wanted you by my side. That was a time of weakness, and it will not happen again." He leaned in close to me. "I will destroy you, Andromeda." His eyes flicked to Steve stumbling to his feet and then back to me. "I will take that mortal as my prisoner. I will make him age by the decade until he is nothing but an old man. I will break him and then heal him and break him again. I will tear his limbs away one by one. I will make him watch his comrades die before him and make him relive it over and over again." He leaned in closer. "But first, I will do the one act that will break his spirit once and for all." The next words he whispered. "I will make him watch me kill you."

"Get up, Andi," I heard Eilian whisper nearby. "Get up. I refuse to watch you die here and now, especially after everything we've been through. I'll personally kick your skinny ass if you do. Get up."

"Don't you dare let him win," Chameleon's whispers chimed in. "Don't make my death be for nothing."

Rage bubbled inside me. Power surged through me in anger, the Time Stone fuelling it. I felt the bones in my leg fuse again. I felt my ribs mend. The cuts on my face and arms stitched back together.

"You'll be dead on the ground before you get a chance to do any of that," I snarled through clenched teeth.

I roared and power fuelled by the Time Stone blasted upwards, throwing Eon back, and I pushed up with my hands to flip to my feet. Coupled with that was the thundering groan of the Time Vault opening. I turned to see the golden rounded door open, revealing a pure white room. Eon would go in there, I would make sure of that. But I made no promises to throw him in there alive and in one piece.

The Lord and Lady swarmed Eon. So did Astra and the wispy forms of Eilian and Chameleon. Steve hurled his shield when he had an opening, retrieved it, and leaped behind cover, smart enough to know to not get involved directly.

The Lord, closed fist glowing, slammed it into Eon's chest, who groaned, winded. Primavera's swinging kick met his legs, toppling him, and Astra palmed him in the back before he impacted the ground. Eon fought back, backhanding Astra, and striking the Lord and Prima with balls of red energy. The wispy forms of my deceased friends flew around his head, and when Eon tried to bat them away his hand passed through them.

Steve advanced, ramming his shield into Eon's face, and Eon caught it. A battle of strength commenced, Steve trying to keep the shield up and Eon trying to shoved it down. A hand shot out of nowhere and grasped Steve's neck. Eon squeezed. Steve kicked out, but the Walker used the vibranium shield to protect him, Steve's feet striking that instead. He clawed at Eon's hands, but the Walker would not let go. Eon turned to me, wearing an evil grin.

"What will you do now, Time Walker?" he cackled. "Kill me? Or kill me and the Soldier together?"

I halted in my step. I wasn't stupid. I knew what Eon was like. When he made threats, he went through with them. I knew if I made an attack, he would kill Steve immediately. My mind was racing. As was my heart, galloping behind the walls of my chest. Steve's struggling grew weaker, his kicking legs tiring. My eyes caught Astra behind Eon, creeping closer and closer. Our eyes connected, and we knew instantly what the plan was.

She leaped onto Eon, who released Steve immediately. The Lord and Primavera weren't far behind and joined Astra in the struggle to keep Eon at bay. I raced to Steve's side. He wasn't moving. I laid a hand on his chest and hovered another over his mouth and nose. I huffed out. He was breathing.

I turned to Eon, angrier than ever. I could tell that he was beginning to tire. A Time Walker's power as not one that should be underestimated. We were powerful beings, more powerful than most that existed across all universes. But our abilities should not be overestimated either. Our power was limited. Our power drained us. And I could tell that Eon was suffering from it. So was Astra. And the Lord and Lady. Someone had to end this. And I knew how.

I walked towards the struggling Walkers, the three of them trying to hold Eon down, the Lord and Lady pulling Eon's arms back and Astra gripping his shoulders. When Eon shook them off, I bolted towards him. I reached him in two more bounds, and slapped my hands to the sides of his head. Power coursed through my body and into my arms. I felt the Time Stone burn in my forehead, fuelling power and energy into my hands. I screamed through pain and agony and absolute rage. Eon's red eyes widened and his roar joined mine. I felt like I was on fire, the Stone's energy began to be too much for me to bare.

And then I felt hands on my arms, two on either one. The Lord and Lady stood on either side of me, pouring their power through my arms and into my hands. The energy and agony intensified. Colourful time energy arced into the sky, coupled with our screams and Eon's roar.

"Go, Andromeda!" the Lord ordered.

"What?!" I screamed back over the loud blasting of energy.

"One Walker needs to leave here alive!" Prima yelled.

"But they need a leader!"

"You are their leader!" the Lord roared.

"Andi." I turned to Eilian's wispy form float in front of the Lord on my left. "Let go."

I turned behind me to see Astra helping Steve to his feet. His and my eyes connected. They were pleading—pleading for me to come back to him, to not die here today.

"Andi, the Walkers need you. The Lord and Primavera can hold yours and their power long enough for you to get away, but you need to do it now. Let go."

I sent one more glance at both the Lord and Lady. The Lord gazed at me, his eyes proud that he had managed to find a Walker as loyal as me. Primavera's eyes were apologetic for everything she had done, but proud all the same. I glared at Eon once more. His expression was that of terror. He knew he was going to die. He knew that everything he had done was coming back to bite him in the ass. He knew that his end was closer than ever before. His threats to tear me apart, to take over the universe, everything he said he would do—they would fall through. His end had arrived faster than his goals. The Reaper had come to take him away, and I was going to make sure that I would send him to the bringer of death myself.

I screamed once more, pouring whatever power I had left through my hands. The Lord and Lady did the same. Eon roared once more, the agony overwhelming him. And then I tore away. A ball of energy formed in front of the Lord, Lady, and Eon, and the two leading Time Walkers shoved it into Eon. The ball tore through him.

An explosion blasted outwards, throwing me off my feet. The Lord and Lady froze. I watched as their bodies began to waste away. I watched as they interlocked their hands, looking at each other, as their forms turned to stone and then to ash, and was carried away on the wind.

Eon's body shook, his face frozen in an expression of shock. His skin chipped away, showing his insides and then his bones. The wind carried everything of him on the wind, and the Time Vault sucked him up like a hose guzzling water. The echoes of his screams were carried far and it rung out on the wind for all the Omega Chronos to hear. The Vault shut, the sound of it closing and locking loud like a bellowing basilisk. It shrunk to its original size. Golden lines slithered through it to reveal the individual pieces of it. It shattered into the Shards, which clattered to the floor.

And then the Tower shook unstably. I heard the distant sound of rock falling far from the belly of the structure. I heard fallen pillars slip off the peak to fall to the ground below. I felt the Tower begin to sway.

I sunk to lean on my heels. It was over. Eon was gone. The Lord and Lady dead. The war had ended. Those taken over by Eon's deadly touch would be free now. I closed my eyes and raised my head high to the sky. And perhaps my end had arrived as well. I welcomed it. I was exhausted. Tired. So tired.

And Temporal Tower collapsed.

❈Author's Note: Hey, there!

So this was an intense chapter! This has been a long one coming. Like the last chapter, I've been struggling with this for a while Eon's end had to be perfect because of his appearance sprinkled throughout the series. It's the most important event in the series. I hope this second part of the climatic battle you were dying to read was good. And I'm not going to apologise for the cliffhanger ;)

If you liked this chapter, please consider giving it a quick vote! Thanks for reading!