Omega was already moving.
Light lashed outward in controlled bursts, carving through creatures that barely deserved the word alive. They had no fixed form—masses of shadow and fractured geometry, screaming without sound as they crawled through the streets toward fleeing civilians.
"Move—now!" Omega shouted, projecting his voice through Will itself.
A wall of light flared, forming a barrier between the crowd and the encroaching horrors. The ground behind him trembled as another creature dissolved under his strike.
Then—
A sharp pressure pierced his senses.
Not from the front.
Not from the sides.
Above.
Omega froze for half a second too long.
The sky tore open.
Not ripping—collapsing inward. A massive hole formed overhead, edges folding like torn fabric being pulled into nothing. Gravity twisted violently as Omega and the remaining creatures were dragged upward, light and shadow spiraling together.
Omega braced, firing anchors of light into the ground—but they snapped, erased mid-formation.
"Zero…" he muttered.
The city vanished.
He fell through darkness—
And landed.
Stone cracked beneath his feet as he emerged into a place long forgotten.
A kingdom.
Ancient. Ruined. Gloomy.
Towering spires leaned at impossible angles, their surfaces eaten away by time and something worse. Banners hung in tatters, unmoving despite the cold wind that whispered through shattered streets. The air was heavy, thick with abandonment.
Omega straightened.
High above, atop the tallest remaining castle tower, a lone figure stood.
Zero.
Arms crossed. Still. Waiting.
Below him—
The massive castle gates groaned open.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
From within, shapes began to stir—dozens, then hundreds of malformed creatures dragging themselves into the open, drawn toward Omega like insects to a flame.
Zero's voice echoed down, calm and mocking.
"Welcome."
The gates opened fully.
The horde surged forward.
Omega didn't hesitate.
Light gathered instantly, condensing into a focused beam that tore upward toward the castle tower.
Zero didn't move.
The beam crossed the distance in a heartbeat—
And at the last possible moment, Omega twisted his wrist, redirecting the blast downward. The light split apart, cascading into the horde below like a falling star.
The creatures were erased in silence. Not burned. Not shattered.
Simply… gone.
Smoke and dust billowed outward, rolling across the ruined courtyard.
Omega remained still, eyes locked on the tower.
The smoke thinned.
Zero was no longer there.
A pause.
Then—
"Nice shot."
Omega turned instantly.
Too late.
He swung, fist glowing, aiming straight for Zero's face—
Only for a pale hand to catch his punch mid-strike.
The impact sent a shock through Omega's arm. Zero's grip tightened, twisting his wrist at an unnatural angle. Pain flared, sharp and immediate.
Omega growled and reacted on instinct.
A point-blank blast of light detonated from his free hand.
Zero ducked under it effortlessly, the beam slicing past and tearing through a distant wall. In the same motion, Zero drove his fist forward—
Straight into Omega's stomach.
The force punched the air from Omega's lungs.
He was sent flying.
Stone shattered as his body crashed into the castle wall, sliding across ancient masonry before hitting the ground hard. Dust rained down from the impact, cracks spiderwebbing outward from where he landed.
Zero straightened slowly, rolling his shoulder as if warming up.
"You're fast," he said calmly.
"But you still think in straight lines."
Omega pushed himself up, light flaring brighter around him as the pain faded beneath Will.
The ruined kingdom groaned softly—reacting to their presence, to what was about to unfold.
And somewhere deep within the castle, more gates began to open.
The castle gates finished opening.
But no howls came.
No malformed shapes crawled out.
Instead—footsteps.
Measured. Heavy. Intentional.
Three figures emerged from the darkness within the gate.
They were Awakeners.
But not like Omega… not like the others.
Their auras were jagged, unstable—forced into existence by hatred, fear, and choices made with a blade at their backs.
Ton stepped forward first, his body unnaturally dense, every movement cracking stone beneath his feet as if gravity itself favored him.
Beside him, Slice rolled his shoulders, thin lines of cutting force flickering around his arms—air itself screaming softly as it parted wherever he moved.
And last came Mech-anic—metal fused into flesh, gears humming where a heart should be, limbs reinforced with brutal efficiency rather than elegance.
Zero watched from a distance.
Silent.
The three dark Awakeners didn't hesitate.
They rushed Omega head-on.
That was when Omega straightened.
The glow around him sharpened—no longer wide, no longer defensive.
"Enough," he said quietly.
The Omega-shaped aperture in his mask ignited.
Light didn't leak from it—
it compressed.
Omega planted his feet and charged the shot, Will condensing into a single, catastrophic line of intent.
The dark Awakeners reacted too late.
The beam fired.
It screamed across the ruins—fifty times faster, fifty times stronger than anything Omega had released before.
They dodged.
Barely.
The laser missed them entirely.
But the impact didn't.
The beam struck the castle behind them—
And the world broke.
Stone vaporized. Towers collapsed inward. The ancient kingdom was erased in a blinding detonation as the castle imploded into itself, leaving behind a massive crater that swallowed walls, gates, and history alike.
The shockwave flattened everything that remained.
When the light faded—
Someone was still standing.
Zero.
At the center of the crater.
Smoke curled from his body, void energy flickering unevenly for the first time.
Omega landed in front of him in a flash of light.
He grabbed Zero by the collar, lifted him up, and hurled him across the broken ground. Zero skidded, tearing through debris before coming to a stop.
Omega followed, light blazing as he loomed over him.
He took a stance.
Solid. Grounded. Unyielding.
"Stand up," Omega said.
"We've just started."
Zero pushed himself to one knee, a slow grin forming despite the damage.
The ruins burned.
And the first true clash had finally begun.
-
Zero staggered back, teeth clenched.
Not from the damage alone—
From realization.
They've grown, he thought.
All of them.
He had accounted for Prime's tactics.
For Core's destruction.
For Garuda's adaptation.
But Omega—
Omega was no longer fighting like a guardian reacting to chaos.
He was fighting like someone who had prepared for it.
"Slow."
Omega's voice cut through Zero's thoughts.
In an instant, Omega lunged forward, closing the distance with frightening speed, hand open—aiming straight for Zero's face.
Zero twisted aside just in time.
Omega missed—
But not completely.
His grip snapped shut around Zero's wrist.
"This is enough."
Zero frowned, confused for a split second.
"What—"
Light bloomed.
Not from Omega's mask.
From his hand.
A concentrated beam formed point-blank and fired straight through Zero's palm, punching cleanly through and leaving a glowing hole where void energy struggled to close the wound.
Zero screamed—not in pain alone, but in rage.
The ground beneath them warped violently as Zero tore open a rift behind Omega.
From it, a creature surged forth—faceless, massive, wrapped in distortion. Its limbs coiled around Omega's body, locking his arms, crushing down with unnatural strength.
Omega struggled—
But the grip held.
The creature roared and hurled him upward with brutal force.
Omega shot into the sky, light trailing behind him as he broke through the cloud cover, the ruined kingdom shrinking rapidly below.
The creature released him at the peak.
-
Zero exhaled slowly.
The wound in his hand writhed, void folding inward as it sealed shut. He flexed his fingers once, steadying himself.
He looked up.
Expecting to see Omega falling.
Instead—
A bright red light burned in the sky.
Like a star being born.
It grew larger.
Brighter.
Closer.
Zero's eyes widened.
Before he could think, Omega fired.
Twin beams erupted from both of Omega's hands, converging midair into a single, massive laser that screamed downward, tearing through clouds and space alike.
"You may be a void," Omega's voice echoed from above,
"that has no limit within itself."
The beam intensified.
"So let me see,"
"where the bottom is."
Zero reacted instantly, tearing open a void rift in front of him.
The laser slammed into it.
Light and void collided, the rift stretching, warping as it swallowed every ounce of energy Omega poured into it. Zero gritted his teeth, feet digging into the ground as cracks spread outward beneath him.
The pressure was immense.
Omega began to descend—still firing.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
As he fell, the beam's output decreased, controlled, measured, never breaking.
Finally—
The light ceased.
Omega landed at the edge of the crater.
Silence followed.
Zero remained standing.
Barely.
His feet were planted firmly, shoulders heaving, void flickering uncontrollably around his body.
He laughed weakly.
"…How," he breathed,
"how foolish of you."
Zero raised both arms.
A wide rift tore open—stretching around the entire massive crater left by Omega's earlier attack. The void expanded outward, consuming space itself, pulling at everything that remained.
It took everything he had left.
As the rift sealed, Zero collapsed to one knee, then to the ground.
Defeated.
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"Shadow… will always… engulf… light."
The rift screamed.
It pulled from every direction at once—space folding, unraveling, trying to tear Omega apart molecule by molecule. Light flared around him, straining, stabilizing, refusing.
Omega didn't move.
Zero lay unconscious nearby, his own void turning against him as the rift he created dragged everything toward its center.
His body began to slide.
Without hesitation, Omega reached out and grabbed him.
The pull intensified. Stone lifted. Air howled.
Omega planted his feet and held on.
He waited.
Not struggling.
Not panicking.
Waiting—like he knew this wasn't the end of the moment.
Then—
A portal opened beneath him.
Clean. Precise. Familiar.
Omega and Zero dropped through as the rift collapsed in on itself, sealing the ruined kingdom away.
They hit the floor of HQ hard.
Light faded.
Silence followed.
Prime was already there.
He took one look at the unconscious Zero, then at Omega.
Surprise flickered across what little of his face could be read beneath the mask.
"I'd say that was unnecessary."
Omega didn't look at him.
"He may be twisted," he replied calmly,
"but he's still an Awakener.
He was once human."
Prime was quiet for a moment.
Then—
"If he's one of our opposites," Prime said,
"your second chance won't matter if he was born from true evil."
Omega's light dimmed.
Just slightly.
He lowered his head.
"…You know," he said after a pause,
"I was raised. Cared for. Shaped into who I am."
Prime didn't interrupt.
"I had parents who loved me," Omega continued.
"Who taught me what light meant—before I ever could wield it."
His hands clenched.
"But I was careless.
I lived freely.
I never thought about how different things could've been."
He looked at Zero.
Unconscious. Broken. Still breathing.
"If he's my opposite," Omega said quietly,
"then it wouldn't be fair to let him die…"
A pause.
"…after being raised in the opposite way."
The room stayed silent.
Prime said nothing.
And somewhere between them—
the meaning of light shifted.