"The Null Rangers don't just attack. They dissect."
— Zara Vey, last Guardian of the Grid
Part I: The Shattered Horizon
Setting: Timeline E-16 | Desert Ruins of Terra Solis
The wind howls like a dying machine. Sand burns red under a fractured sky. Gravity here glitches, jerking slightly every few minutes—reminders that time is unraveling.
Atlas hovers cloaked above the ruins, engines humming quietly. The team descends, each Ranger landing lightly in formation.
Kael (Red):
"Stay sharp. This place was a Ranger base once—now it's a skeleton."
Ayla (Yellow, trying to lighten the mood):
"Technically, it's a sand-toned death museum with flair."
Mira (Blue):
"The Chrono Relic should still be intact beneath the Command Vault. That's our objective. Do not separate."
Thorne (Black):
"Right. Because splitting up never ends badly."
They proceed into the shifting ruins, navigating jagged architecture and half-erased buildings. Echoes flicker in the sand—phantoms of Rangers long gone, playing out old battles in spectral silence.
Rin trails slightly behind. Quiet as always. But his eyes scan the shadows constantly.
Ayla (walking beside him):
"Hey… You okay?"
He glances at her. Doesn't answer.
She offers a soft grin anyway, masking the flicker of concern.
Part II: Vault Descent
Inside the underground vault, the air thickens. Grid energy pulses faintly through cracked walls like veins. Mira kneels beside the control panel, hands glowing with code as she interfaces with the decaying system.
Mira (focused):
"I've found the relic signal. Two levels down. Guarded by auto-defense remnants."
Kael:
"Then let's move fast. The longer we're here, the more visible we—"
A sound interrupts him.
A low, digital hum. Like a frequency spike across reality.
Rin (suddenly):
"We're not alone."
Mira:
"I scrambled our trail. Nothing should have followed."
Thorne (stepping back):
"Yeah? Tell that to the six signatures just phased in behind us."
The ground quakes slightly. Shadows stretch unnaturally.
Then—
A rip opens in the wall like tearing cloth.
And from it step six Null Rangers.
N-Kael:
A twisted echo of Kael, glowing with unstable crimson energy. His voice is colder, hollow.
"You took too long."
Noxis (Null Rin):
Cloaked in white static and black void-thread. His helmet hisses with silence.
"Initiate containment."
Dreadthorn (Null Thorne):
Spiked with dread energy, his movements twitch like a puppet on frayed strings.
"Time to erase the broken."
Null Mira:
Draped in corrupted schematics, her limbs digitize and phase unnaturally.
"Fascinating. I get to dissect myself."
Ayla (stepping back):
"Umm… this feels extremely not fair."
Kael (gritting teeth):
"Form up. No hesitation."
Rin (quietly):
"They're not just copies. They've evolved."
Part III: Chaos in the Dust
The fight explodes instantly.
Null Mira slams into Mira—code against code, sparks flying as they collide mid-air, throwing each other through the vault walls. Each line of Mira's logic meets the fractured math of her counterpart's chaos.
Kael locks blades with N-Kael. Both burn with red fire, but Kael's is raw emotion—N-Kael's is precision hatred.
N-Kael (snarling):
"I watched our team die. But I learned. I adapted. You mourned and stagnated."
Kael (gritting teeth):
"I didn't erase myself to survive!"
Meanwhile, Thorne grapples with Dreadthorn in a brutal, savage brawl—shadow and dread clashing with every strike.
Dreadthorn:
"You were the villain. I became the monster. Embrace it!"
Thorne:
"I don't need to become anything. I already made peace with what I was!"
Ayla dashes through the chaos, laying traps and illusions—desperately trying to keep the team moving.
Ayla (over comms):
"Rin! Where are you?!"
Rin (calmly):
"Behind them."
Rin emerges from the shadows, blade drawn, facing Noxis, his Null self.
They don't speak at first.
They just look at each other.
A perfect mirror—except Noxis radiates absolute void. No emotion. No past. Only purpose.
Noxis (quietly):
"You remember pain. I erased it."
Rin (sharply):
"You erased everything."
Noxis:
"And I am free."
Their blades clash with a thunderous shockwave—light and void dancing violently.
Part IV: Extraction
Above them, the vault begins to collapse—triggered by Null Omega's presence bleeding into the structure. Corrupted tendrils pulse along the ceiling, bringing the place down.
Mira (breathless, via comm):
"I've got the Chrono Relic—extraction now!"
Kael launches a final blast of crimson fire to drive N-Kael back, long enough to grab Mira and leap for the surface.
Ayla slides into Rin, dragging him from Noxis's grip with a wild, desperate tackle.
Thorne hurls Dreadthorn into a collapsing pillar before vaulting onto the extraction pad.
The Null Rangers stand among the crumbling ruins, watching them flee.
Null Omega (voice from above):
"Let them run. The fracture expands regardless."
Part V: Back on Atlas
The team is bruised. Exhausted.
The Chrono Relic sits in the chamber—glowing faintly. Safe, for now.
Kael slams a fist on the table.
Kael:
"They're stronger. Better coordinated."
Mira (tight-lipped):
"They knew we'd be there."
Thorne:
"Someone's feeding them intel."
Rin (quiet):
"Or we're becoming predictable."
Ayla sits near Rin, just close enough that her shoulder brushes his.
He doesn't notice.
But she does.
Ayla (to herself, softly):
"You're not void. You still feel. I know it."
Outside the Atlas, the multiverse cracks further.
The real war has only begun.
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