Location: Cradle Gorge – Inner Echo Maze
Time: [Core Stability: Dropping / Psychological Pressure: Rising]
Ren took another step.
The city didn't open.
It twitched — like a muscle under stress.
And then it pushed back.
REN (growling):
"It's... resisting me."
FROST (looking around):
"No... it's not resisting anymore.
It's reacting."
The ground cracked.
The sky dimmed.
And then—
Someone stepped out from behind a broken pillar.
BLAZE (staring):
"Ren… that's you."
But it wasn't.
Not exactly.
Same face. Same stance. Same Core glow.
But his eyes?
Empty. Like someone turned the lights off in his soul.
His arm was missing. His gear was shattered. His blade looked fused to his hand.
ECHO-REN (flat voice):
"I didn't survive this maze."
Another one appeared.
This one coughing up blood. Armor melted. Glyphs cracked and unreadable.
SECOND ECHO-REN:
"I got close. I almost opened the gate.
But it tricked me."
Then a third. Younger. Angry.
Dragging the broken body of Frost behind him.
THIRD ECHO-REN (to Ren):
"Why should you get to be the one that makes it through?"
REN (stepping back):
"They're... me.
Versions of me. From other timelines."
SPACE (voice serious now):
"Not just versions.
These are the failures.
The ones the maze buried alive."
TIME (sighs):
"This city doesn't want a visitor.
It wants proof you deserve to leave."
FROST (quietly):
"It wants you to beat yourself."
The first Echo-Ren launched forward — fast.
Blade-first. No hesitation.
Ren blocked with Snarksteel — the clang of metal and guilt echoing through the plaza.
SNARKSTEEL (grunting):
"Damn! Even your shadow versions are stubborn!"
They kept coming. One after another.
Each with a different wound.
Each with Ren's powers — but twisted by failure.
They moved with desperation, not purpose.
They didn't want to win.
They wanted to replace him.
REN (swinging, dodging):
"You're not me."
THIRD ECHO-REN (grabbing his arm):
"No… we're what you could be if you keep messing up."
BLAZE scorched one to ash.
FROST froze another in time.
But more appeared.
Twelve. Then fifteen.
The maze kept spitting out regrets wearing his face.
TIME (yelling):
"They're not going to stop!"
Ren fought.
And fought.
But it wasn't just his body getting tired.
It was his mind.
Every blow felt personal.
Every strike was a punch against a piece of himself.
One Echo stabbed his side.
Another tackled him through a wall.
Ren hit the ground hard.
Vision blurred.
Breathing ragged.
He crawled.
Bleeding. Dizzy.
Everything in his Core pulsing out of rhythm.
REN (weakly):
"...Not giving up..."
He dragged himself forward — toward a single stone still glowing in the distance.
As the echoes finally faded...
The city shifted again.
Not open.
Not welcoming.
But…
Changing.
The ground beneath Ren slid back like a puzzle piece unlocking.
A staircase unfolded from nothing — leading down into darkness.
The real maze had just revealed itself.
BLAZE (eyes wide):
"There's another level…"
FROST:
"It was never about one test.
This was just... the introduction."
AETHERIUM CORE (faintly, in low code):
> NEW MAZE DETECTED > STATUS: FINAL SEQUENCE UNKNOWN > IDENTITY: UNLOCKING...
REN (still on the ground, looking up):
"…You've gotta be kidding me."