The world felt wrong.
Justin groaned as he pushed himself off the damp ground, his head still spinning from the jump. The air was thick with moisture, carrying the scent of moss, rotting wood, and something else—something metallic, like rusted iron. The sky above them was an unnatural shade, dark with shifting stars, as if time itself was struggling to stabilize.
"Justin, you good?" Nia's voice snapped him to reality.
He looked up to see her crouching, one hand on the ground, scanning the dense jungle around them. Shadows twisted between towering, vine-covered trees, their branches stretching like skeletal fingers. Something about this place made Justin's stomach turn. It wasn't just a jungle—it felt like something else.
"Yeah," he muttered, gripping the book tightly. "But where the hell are we?"
Before Nia could answer, a deep growl rumbled through the mist. The underbrush rustled violently. Whatever was lurking nearby, it was watching them.
"Stay close," Nia said, gripping her blade.
Justin's heart pounded. He knew danger when he felt it.
And right now, it was everywhere.
---
Kain sat restrained in the dimly lit chamber, bound to a metal chair bolted to the floor. His head ached, his body sore from the beatings. Across from him stood Seraphina, her silver hair cascading over her armored shoulders, her piercing blue eyes filled with quiet menace.
"You knew this would happen," she murmured, stepping closer.
Kain smirked, though his breathing was ragged. "That's the funny thing about sight," he said. "Sometimes you see exactly what people want you to see."
Seraphina tilted her head, unimpressed. She gestured with two fingers.
One of the Chrono Hunters, a brute of a man in dark combat gear, stepped forward and landed a vicious punch to Kain's ribs. Kain coughed, blood dripping from his lips, but he laughed through the pain.
"Where did you send them?" Seraphina pressed.
Kain shook his head, still grinning. "Farther than your little tricks can reach."
Seraphina studied him for a moment, then smirked. "Maybe if something else was on the line…"
She snapped her fingers.
The heavy doors creaked open. Two guards dragged someone into the room—a little girl, no older than ten, her messy brown hair tangled, her eyes wide with fear.
Kain's expression shattered.
"No," he breathed.
The girl screamed. "Daddy!"
Kain lurched forward, but the restraints held him back. For the first time, the legendary Director Kain—the man who never flinched, never hesitated—looked afraid.
"If you lay a finger on her hair," he snarled, his voice dangerously low, "I will end you."
Seraphina's smile widened. "Then talk."
Kain's breathing turned ragged. His mind raced. He had to think, had to find a way out of this. But as the guards shoved his daughter to the ground, one of them slashed her cheek with a blade.
She screamed in pain. Blood trickled down her face.
Something inside Kain snapped.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" His voice was raw, animalistic, but the restraints held firm. He struggled, but it was no use.
Seraphina crouched next to the girl, tilting her chin to inspect the wound. "Not too deep," she mused. "But I wonder what would happen if I let them continue?"
Kain's chest heaved. His mind screamed at him to resist, but his daughter was whimpering.
His hands clenched into fists. His pride burned inside him like an inferno.
But he couldn't let her suffer.
His head dropped in defeat.
"I'll talk," he whispered.
Seraphina's smirk remained, but there was a flicker of satisfaction in her eyes.
"Good," she purred.
Kain exhaled shakily. "I don't know where exactly they are. The machine doesn't work that way—it throws people into random timelines. I sent them far, but I have no way of tracking them."
Seraphina studied his face. "And the machine itself?"
"It's gone for now," Kain said. "It needs three months to recharge before it can be used again."
She narrowed her eyes. "Three months?"
He nodded. "That's the only way."
Seraphina stared at him, trying to decipher if he was lying. Finally, she turned away and gestured to the guards. "Let the girl go."
The guards released Kain's daughter. She rushed into his arms, sobbing. Kain held her tightly, his body trembling—not from pain, but from sheer rage.
Seraphina leaned in close, whispering, "Thank you for your cooperation."
Kain didn't answer. He just held his daughter, silently plotting his next move.
---
Meanwhile, back in the jungle, the creature launched itself from the trees.
It was massive, a grotesque fusion of machine and flesh, with glowing symbols pulsing across its body. Its four arms split apart like jagged metal blades, and its mouth twisted unnaturally as it roared.
Justin barely dodged as it swiped at him, its claws tearing into the dirt.
Nia flipped backward, landing in a defensive stance. "I'm getting really tired of this!" she snapped.
Justin didn't answer. Rather he clenched his fists. His heart pounded—not just from the disorienting leap through time, but because he felt… empty.
The book was still there, strapped to his side. But he couldn't use it.
It hadn't been four months since his last drawing, and the energy needed to create something new was completely drained. It would take more time before he could shape reality again.
"We need to move," Nia said, scanning their surroundings. "Something about this place is wrong."
Justin exhaled sharply. "Yeah, no kidding. The trees are literally bending towards us."
Before she could respond, a guttural roar tore through the jungle.
Then it attacked.
A massive, quadrupedal beast lunged from the shadows, its body made of shifting bone and sinew, its hollow eyes glowing with unnatural light.
Nia reacted first, rolling aside just as the creature's clawed limb came crashing down where she had stood. Justin dodged too, barely missing the swipe of a jagged tail.
"We need a plan!" he shouted.
"Here's one: Don't die!" Nia fired back, flipping backward as the beast charged.
Justin gritted his teeth. I can't use the book. I can't summon my blade for some reason too.
Which meant he had to fight with what he had.
The creature lunged again. This time, Justin grabbed a fallen branch, swinging it hard against its skull. The impact barely made it flinch. It swiped at him, and he barely ducked in time, feeling the wind of its strike rush past his face.
Nia, on the other hand, was quicker, sliding under its belly and slashing with her short knives. A deep gash opened along its ribcage, but the wound closed instantly.
"It's regenerating!" she called out.
"Of course it is!" Justin dodged another swipe, vaulting onto a nearby tree for better positioning. His mind was racing. Think, think—how do you kill something that keeps healing?
Then he saw it.
The glowing hollow eyes.
"Nia! Aim for its head!"
She didn't question him. The moment the creature lunged at Justin, she moved in from behind, leaping up and driving a knife straight into one of its glowing sockets.
The beast screamed, thrashing violently, nearly throwing her off.
Justin seized the opening. He sprinted forward, grabbed the same knife still lodged in the eye, and twisted it deeper.
The creature convulsed. Its body began unraveling, black mist rising as it disintegrated into nothing.
Justin stumbled backward, panting. His muscles ached. His head was spinning.
Nia landed beside him, exhaling sharply. "Well. That sucked."
He let out a short, breathless laugh. "Tell me about it."
But before they could catch their breath, the ground beneath them trembled.
The jungle itself shifted, trees twisting as if being rewritten by an unseen force. The sky flickered—for a split second, it wasn't a sky at all, but a vast, endless corridor of gears turning in an unseen clockwork.
Justin grabbed his head, wincing. "Did you—did you see that?"
Nia's eyes darkened. "Yeah. And it means we're not alone."
A mechanical chime echoed through the jungle.
Then, they appeared.
Figures in shimmering silver armor, their forms flickering as if moving between moments in time. Their faces were obscured, their weapons pulsing with unnatural energy.
Nia tensed. "Who the hell—?"
Then a voice—deep, resonant, almost inhuman—spoke.
"Target identified. The anomaly is present. Engaging Seeker Protocol."
Justin felt his blood run cold.
Whoever they were, they weren't here to talk.
They were here to erase them.