Jason Wu could barely breathe.
The sky above him cracked like a giant mirror, shards of silver reality peeling away as the shadow-entity forced itself through. Its presence alone made the grass wilt and the air distort like heat haze.
Jason staggered back.
"This—this is impossible… This realm was supposed to HIDE me!"
Longwu Sword vibrated violently on his back.
*["It WAS supposed to hide you! Keyword: supposed! Something ripped open the coordinates!"]*
Jason shouted, "And what the hell does THAT mean?!"
*["It means something stronger than the Administrator found you."]*
Jason's face paled. "Stronger—than—"
Longwu screamed:
*["BOY, RUN!"]*
But Jason didn't get the chance.
Because the older version of himself—the hooded, sharp-eyed, frighteningly composed Jason—crossed the space between them in a single silent step.
His hand closed around Jason's wrist.
**"Move."**
The world folded.
No warning.
No build-up.
No light.
Just *snap.*
Reality bent sideways.
And Jason was pulled into another layer of the realm.
---
### **A PLACE BETWEEN ECHOES**
Jason stumbled as they reappeared—
or phased?
Or jumped?
He couldn't tell.
They stood in a narrow corridor of faceted silver, like walking inside a mirrored chrysalis. Every footstep echoed a full second too long.
Jason yanked his wrist free.
"What are you?! A clone? An echo? A time traveler? A hallucination?!"
Older Jason stared at him.
Expression flat.
Eyes cold.
Posture calm in a way Jason could never be.
He replied with a voice that sounded like Jason's,
if all the humor and warmth were carved out:
**"I am a possibility."**
Jason blinked. "A WHAT?"
Older Jason continued walking.
Jason hurried after him. "Hey! Hey! Don't just—explain what that means!"
No answer.
Jason stomped in front of him.
"No, listen—you drop in, copy my face, pull me out of a killer shadow thing, and say you're a POSSIBILITY?! That's not an explanation!"
Older Jason stopped.
His gaze traveled upward, scanning fractures forming in the mirrored corridor ceiling.
**"They're tracking us faster than expected."**
Jason shouted, "SO EXPLAIN FASTER!"
A long silence.
Then:
**"I am a version of you who made different choices."**
Jason froze.
"…What choices?"
Older Jason met his gaze.
**"The kind that kept me alive."**
Jason's blood ran cold.
Longwu whispered in his mind:
*["Boy… this one feels dangerous."]*
*["More dangerous than most enemies we've met."]*
Jason swallowed, voice low.
"What happened to you?"
Older Jason looked forward again.
**"Nothing that won't happen to you too."**
Jason exhaled sharply.
"You're really bad at this whole comforting people thing."
**"I'm not here to comfort you."**
"Then why ARE you here?"
Older Jason stopped walking.
His hand rose.
A ripple of force expanded outward, sealing the corridor walls with a layer of shimmering silver static. The vibrations outside stopped, as if whatever hunted them lost the trail for a moment.
Only then did he speak.
Slowly.
Quietly.
**"I'm here because you haven't broken yet."**
Jason blinked.
"…What?"
Older Jason's expression didn't change.
**"The Jason Wu I became died."**
Jason felt a spike of ice in his spine.
"What do you mean died? You're literally standing—"
**"I'm a recompiled remnant. A preserved possibility. The system recorded me before my termination and repurposed the data."**
"…So you're a corpse with a Wi-Fi connection?!"
Older Jason ignored that.
**"The system archived me so I could explain one thing to you."**
Jason whispered,
"…What thing?"
Older Jason leaned closer, voice barely above a whisper.
**"You were never meant to exist."**
Jason stopped breathing.
The walls trembled.
Older Jason continued:
**"You're not just an anomaly.
You're not just an error.
You're a contradiction in the root code of reality."**
Jason stepped back.
"Prime said something like that, but—"
**"No."**
The older version cut him off.
**"She didn't know the full truth."**
Jason's pulse hammered.
"…What truth?"
Older Jason's hand rose and pressed two fingers against Jason's forehead.
Jason felt a surge of static—
—glimpses of images—
—fractured timelines—
—Jason dying young—
—Jason becoming monstrous—
—Jason never being born—
Then it snapped back.
Jason gasped, almost collapsing.
Older Jason pulled his hand away.
**"There are thousands of timelines where you die."**
Jason trembled. "And you're from one of them."
**"Yes."**
"What happened to you? What did you turn into? Why are you helping me instead of trying to replace me?!"
Older Jason lowered his head slightly.
**"Because I envy you."**
Jason blinked.
"…What?"
Older Jason looked up again—
and for the first time, something human crackled in his gaze.
Pain.
Regret.
**"You still have people who would die for you."**
Jason's throat tightened.
Lan Yuren.
Wei Qing.
Lily.
Even Prime.
The older version spoke softly.
**"In my world, I lost all of them."**
Jason didn't know what to say.
Older Jason continued:
**"You are the last version of us who still has a chance."**
Jason clenched his fists.
"What chance?"
This time, older Jason stepped forward.
His voice turned sharp.
**"To stop the one who erased me."**
Jason froze.
"…The Administrator?"
Older Jason shook his head.
**"Higher."**
Jason's skin crawled.
"There's someone ABOVE the Administrator?!"
**"Yes."**
Older Jason looked toward the shaking corridor wall.
**"And he just noticed you."**
Jason cursed loudly.
Then—
The mirrored wall split open like a wound.
Silver cracked.
Reality buzzed.
A massive hand made of pure static reached through.
Longwu screamed:
*["JASON—MOVE—NOW!"]*
Jason grabbed his older self by the sleeve.
"Tell me what to do!"
Older Jason turned to him, jaw set.
**"Survive."**
"GREAT! AMAZING! HOW?!"
**"Do something I never could."**
"What's that?!"
Older Jason shoved him backward as the static hand lunged.
**"Trust people."**
Jason stumbled.
The older version charged forward—
straight at the monster hand—
silver static cracking around his body.
Jason reached out.
"WAIT—!!!"
Older Jason didn't look back.
**"I've already died once."**
He slammed his palm against the static hand—
releasing a burst of inverted echo-energy—
the entire corridor imploded inward—
And Jason was thrown miles away through a tear in space.
---
### **JASON—ALONE AGAIN**
He hit the ground hard.
Grass.
Silver sky.
Silence.
Jason coughed violently, tasting blood.
"Damn it… damn it…"
Longwu spoke softly.
*["Jason… he bought you time."]*
Jason wiped his eyes.
"…Was that really me?"
*["A version that broke long before your story began."]*
Jason whispered,
"And he told me to trust people."
Longwu hummed.
*["Probably because he never could."]*
Jason clenched his jaw.
"…Then I'll do better than him."
He stood shakily.
Eyes burning.
Jaw set.
Breath steady.
"I'm not ending up like that."
The realm trembled.
Far off, another ripple spread—
the hunt restarting.
Jason tightened his grip on Longwu.
"Fine."
He faced the shimmering horizon.
"Come at me."
---