The moment the ground disappeared under their feet, all four of them felt that familiar sinking pull—like falling without falling. Colors stretched, sound distorted, and then everything snapped into silence.
They landed.
A cold, endless black space surrounded them. No walls. No ground. Just a surface that felt like stone but looked like nothing. Samy was the first to push herself up, rubbing her arm. Jet groaned beside her. Tony shook his head, trying to understand where they were.
And then—two more bodies hit the ground behind them.
Tony's eyes widened instantly.
"Kim… Roger…?" he whispered.
Roger was still half-kneeling, brushing her dark hair from her face. Kim got up slower, blinking at the sudden darkness. When they saw the three others, a visible relief washed over their faces.
Tony didn't even think.
He ran.
Not walked.
Not stepped.
He sprinted—like his entire soul was trying to reach them.
"ROGER! KIM!" he shouted, voice trembling.
But just as his fingertips reached the air right in front of them—
WHAM!
He was thrown backward, slammed onto the ground by something invisible.
"T-Tony!" Jet screamed, running to him.
He sat up, stunned, staring at the empty space between them and the other two.
An invisible wall.
Clear as glass, but with nothing reflecting.
A barrier made of nothing yet stronger than anything.
Tony immediately scrambled up, placed his hands on it, and pushed.
And pushed harder.
Then he punched it.
"LET ME THROUGH!" he shouted, voice cracking as tears rushed into his eyes.
Roger stumbled toward the wall from her side, palms pressed against it.
"Tony, stop! You'll hurt yourself!"
But he ignored her.
His fists hit again.
And again.
Kim rushed to the barrier too, slamming his palm against it from the opposite side.
"Tony, enough! Listen to me!"
But Tony wasn't listening.
His breaths were sharp and broken.
His lips trembled.
Tears slipped down silently at first… then all at once.
"You don't know—" he choked, punching the wall again, "—YOU DON'T KNOW HOW I FELT! I LEFT YOU BOTH THERE! I THOUGHT— I THOUGHT—"
He collapsed to his knees, forehead pressed to the cold invisible surface.
"I thought I'd lost you."
Jet and Samu sat on either side of him, tears spilling as they held onto his shoulders.
But Tony kept looking only at Kim and Roger.
Roger pressed her palm against the exact spot where Tony's hand rested on the other side.
Her voice was soft, trembling.
"Hey… Tony… We're right here. See? We're okay."
Kim leaned closer, his eyes warm even through the tears.
"Yeah," he whispered, smiling shakily, "we're right in front of you. Safe. Together."
Tony sobbed harder at that word.
Together.
They all stayed like that—five hands pressed against an unbreakable wall, trying to feel each other through something that refused to let them connect.
Minutes passed.
The silence grew gentle.
They talked softly—about how scared they were, how empty everything felt without the others, how each moment in that nightmare separated them more than fear ever could.
And for a moment…
It felt peaceful.
But peace never lasted long in this place.
A soft chuckle echoed around them.
Not from anywhere.
Not from above or below.
It was everywhere… like the darkness itself was laughing.
Jet froze.
Samu gripped Tony's arm.
Roger's breath hitched.
Kim stood up straighter.
"Ahhh," the Voice sighed dramatically, "how touching. How emotional. How… strange it is to see you all back together—AGAIN."
The darkness felt heavier as it spoke.
"But," the Voice continued, stretching the word like a blade across skin, "this wall exists for a reason. And it will lead you—"
Roger stepped forward sharply, eyes blazing.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" she snapped.
The Voice paused.
"Excuse me?"
Roger clenched her fists, anger trembling in her shoulders.
"You heard me! You're playing with us, trapping us, tearing us apart, throwing us into memories and deaths and timelines—AND YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST TALK LIKE YOU KNOW US?" she shouted.
Her voice echoed endlessly in the blackness.
Kim put a hand on her arm but she didn't break eye contact with the emptiness.
"We're not afraid anymore," she said. "And we're not stopping. I want answers. You owe us that much."
Silence.
Then—
A low, amused chuckle.
"Oh, Roger… you are much braver than the others ever were," the Voice purred.
"Perhaps that is why you interest me the most."
Kim stepped protectively in front of her.
"Finish your sentence."
"Gladly," the Voice said. "This wall will lead you to two different pasts. Two different truths. Two different things that should never have been seen."
The ground under them rippled.
A crack of white light split the blackness between the two groups, widening like a glowing path.
The Voice's tone turned almost gentle.
Almost mocking.
"One side will show what you never understood."
"And the other will show what you always feared."
Roger tightened her grip on Kim's hand.
Tony pressed his forehead to the wall one last time.
Jet whispered, "Please… don't separate us again."
Samy closed her eyes, trembling.
The Voice finished with a smile you could hear even without seeing:
"Let the past decide who survives."
And then the white light burst—
pulling them apart.