The jet sliced from the VALORANT Protocol base across the night sky, its engines softly humming against Minwoo's thoughts. Busan waited below, its neon-lit skyline flickering like a brief memory just out of grasp. The mission brief had been clear: unusual Radianite signatures reminiscent of the Venice Incident causing dimensional rifts had surged in an abandoned industrial sector. Cypher's intel indicated a possible connection to Minwoo's parents, Han Jisoo and Yasmine Belkacem, and their lost rift stabilizer prototype. The weight of that revelation pressed heavily against his chest, more burdensome than the wind he now wielded.
Jett sat across from Minwoo, her white hair catching the dim light of the cabin as she sharpened a kunai.
"Jett remarked, not glancing up. "Nervous about your first real op?" Jett asked.
Minwoo forced a half-smile, his fingers twitching as if to grip a nonexistent mouse.
"Just thinking. This feels bigger than a training run."
"It is," Sage replied from the pilot's console, her voice steady but tinged with caution.
"Radianite doesn't spike like this without reason. We're entering a volatile realm if it's associated with Venice.
Phoenix leaned back, flames flickering at his fingertips like dancing embers.
"Volatile's my middle name, Sage. We'll handle it. Right, Wonder Twin?" Phoenix said.
Minwoo nodded, the nickname stinging less than before. He was beginning to feel like part of the team, but the vision of his parents in that lab arguing about rifts, about him and Jett, gnawed at him. What had they unleashed?
***
The jet landed on a rooftop with a view of Busan's industrial expanse, the air heavy with salt and rust. Their target was a run-down warehouse with time and neglect scarring its walls. From HQ, Cyphers's voice crackled across their comms.
"The research facility is an old one. Your parents' work has a connection to Pre-Protocol. Expect resistance; data suggests Omega Earth activity."
Minwoo's heartbeat quickened. The mirror world known as Omega Earth, inhabited by counterparts such as Jettt, had already wreaked havoc, including the storm that destroyed Jett's restaurant in Seoul. Omega Earth is going to want his parents' prototype if it were here.
"Positions," Sage commanded, her orb glowing faintly. "Minwoo, Jett, take point. Phoenix, flank. I'll cover."
The warehouse loomed ahead like a forgotten labyrinth, its interior a maze of rusted machinery and flickering lights casting eerie shadows. Minwoo traveled with Jett; the wind was whispering as they flew in sync, the movement refined in training now more acute and natural. Not only from adrenaline but from something deeper as well, as if the air itself were guiding him. His senses were enhanced.
"Contact, left!" Jett called, her kunai flashing as she dashed to intercept a drone. Its metal frame sparked under her blades, but more drones emerged, their sensors glowing red.
***
Minwoo reacted instinctively, flicking his hand upward. Instead of Jett's broad gusts, the wind responded with a precise, razor-thin stream, severing a drone in half. The move felt reminiscent of a flick shot in-game, calculated and deadly.
Phoenix whistled.
"Blimey, mate. That's new."
Jett grinned, but her eyes expressed curiosity.
"Since when do you cut hair like that?"
"I didn't know I could do that," Minwoo admitted, his voice tight. The wind felt alive, shaped by his instincts as a player rather than just a Radiant. Was this his unique twist on their powers?
Sage's wall rose to stop the onslaught of drone fire.
"Concentration. The cache is deeper in."
They pushed ahead, the warehouse showing traces of a lab: broken vials, burned consoles, and a soft Radianite hum. Minwoo's breath caught as he recognized the arrangement from his vision: it was his parents' desk. A terminal flickered, displaying fragmented logs. He scanned them, heart pounding.
"Prototype 7-B: Rift Stabilizer. The Rift Stabilizer is functional but unstable. Mishandling could result in catastrophic feedback. Hidden in the vault, coordinates are encrypted."
***
"There," Minwoo pointed to a sealed vault in the corner, its lock pulsing with Radianite energy. "That's it."
Coordinates awaken before the vault. A figure materialized, cloaked in darkness, their form shifting like smoke. The figure appeared to be Omen or someone similar to him.
"You're late," the voice rasped, cold and distorted. "The stabilizer belongs to Omega now."
Jett quickly pulled her blades, but the figure vanished and then returned behind Phoenix. Phoenix tried to throw flames, but the shadow knocked him back faster. Trying to slow the figure, Sage threw an orb, but it wasn't sufficient.
Minwoo followed instinct; his wind surged to shield rather than attack. A spiraling barrier developed to deflect a blackened blade meant for Jett. The air hummed precisely, thanks to his boxing reflexes directing the gust into a wind wall. "Hissed the figure, then withdrew into the shadows."
***
Jett panted and widened her eyes. "Nice save." Still, what the devil was that?
"No time," Sage said, already at the vault. Her healing orb stabilizing the Radianite lock pulsed. "We must lock right now."
The vault hissed open to show a sleek gadget no more than a fist, radiated with Radianite veins.
The stabilizer for the rift was in place. Minwoo's hand hovered over it, the weight of his parents' legacy settling heavily on him. Their legacy was the reason they had sacrificed their lives and the reason their worlds had shattered apart.
A drone's whir snapped him back to the present. The shadows shifted again, and Cypher's voice crackled urgently through the comms.
"Omega's closing in. Extract now!"
They sprinted for the exit, Minwoo clutching the stabilizer tightly against his chest, a symbol of hope in the chaos. Drones swarmed around them, and the shadowy figure, Omen's counterpart, stalked them, teleporting through walls. Minwoo's wind lashed out, sharper now, slicing through drones with surgical precision. Jett matched him, their twin gales creating a clear path.
***
As they reached the jet, Phoenix incinerated the last drone, but Sage's gaze lingered on Minwoo.
"Your powers are evolving. Be careful," Sage cautioned.
Back at HQ, Minwoo stood alone in the armory, the stabilizer weighing heavily in his hands. Cypher had confirmed that his parents' device could control dimensional rifts, a capability Omega Earth would eagerly pursue. But why had it brought him here? Was he meant to continue their work or to stop it?
Jett joined him, her presence grounding him.
"Are you okay?" Jett said. "You were a beast out there."
He met her eyes, the guilt of his own secret softening.
"I am just trying to understand what they left for us."
She squeezed his shoulder.
"We'll figure it out. Together."
The wind stirred around him, carrying whispers of a past he hadn't experienced and a future he couldn't foresee. Omega Earth was coming, and the stabilizer was the key. Minwoo would confront the challenge for Jett and the Protocol, even if it meant facing his fears.
***
The lab at VALORANT Protocol headquarters thrummed with quiet intensity, its walls illuminated by holographic displays and the faint pulse of Radianite-powered consoles. At the center, on a reinforced pedestal, rested the rift stabilizer, a compact, fist-sized device laced with glowing Radianite. For Han Minwoo, it represented more than just technology. It was a fragment of his parents' lives, a connection to a past he had never experienced but now bore.
Minwoo stood close, his fingers twitching as if reaching for a mouse that was no longer there. The stabilizer's gentle hum resonated in his chest, awakening questions that had plagued him since Busan. Why had his parents concealed it? What implications did it hold for him and Jett? What connection existed between his rebirth and this apparatus?
Jett leaned against a nearby console, her white hair catching the lab's sterile light. Her usual spark dimmed, her gaze fixed on the stabilizer.
"Feels like they're still here, doesn't it?" Jett said softly, her voice heavy with unexpressed sorrow as she looked at Minwoo.
Minwoo nodded, unable to speak. The weight of their parents' legacy, Han Jisoo and Yasmine Belkacem's sacrifice, pressed heavier than the wind he wielded.
Cypher, the Protocol's master of secrets, was at a terminal, his masked face illuminated by scrolling data.
"This thing's a fortress," he muttered, fingers dancing over the keys. "But there's a data log buried deep. If I can just."
A flare of light interrupted him. The stabilizer whirred to life, projecting a holographic image into the center of the room. Two figures appeared: Han Jisoo, jaw set with resolve, and Yasmine Belkacem, her eyes fierce yet tender. Minwoo's breath caught. His parents were alive in light and shadow.
"Minwoo, Sunwoo," Jisoo began, his voice steady but heavy. "If you're seeing this, you've found the rift stabilizer. We built it to close dimensional rifts and prevent another Venice. But it's unstable. In the wrong hands, it could widen the cracks between worlds."
Yasmine stepped forward, her gaze piercing through time.
"You're Radiants, born of First Light, stronger than we ever imagined. This device is your responsibility now. Protect it, and protect each other."
Jisoo added,
"The activation code is 'First Light,' the day the Radiants were born. Use it only when necessary. We trust you."
The hologram flickered, and Yasmine's voice softened.
"We love you. Always."
The image dissolved, leaving silence in its wake. Minwoo's throat tightened, a storm of pride and sorrow raging within him. Jett's hand found his. Her grip was fierce, and her eyes were glistening.
"They believed in us," she whispered. "Even then."
Brimstone, standing at the edge of the room, cleared his throat.
"That was powerful. We need to understand what this device can do. Cypher, can you verify the code?"
Cypher nodded, already typing.
"First Light' is the key. But we're treading on dangerous ground. If it can close rifts, it can likely open them too."
Sage, her orb glowing faintly, stepped forward.
"We should test it in a controlled environment." The simulation chamber is our safest option."
***
Phoenix grinned, flames flickering at his fingertips.
"Time to see what this bad boy's got."
The simulation chamber was a marvel of Radianite engineering, its walls capable of transforming into any battlefield. Today, it resembled a stark, reinforced void, designed to contain whatever the stabilizer might unleash. The device rested on a central platform, its glow casting eerie shadows.
Cypher entered the code "First Light," and the stabilizer hummed, its core blazing brighter. At first, nothing happened. Then, a low rumble shook the floor, and a hairline fracture appeared in the air above, widening into a swirling vortex of energy.
"What on earth?" Phoenix exclaimed, stepping back.
A voice sliced through the vortex, sharp and distorted yet unmistakable.
"You cannot hide, Alpha. The stabilizer is ours."
It was Jett's voice, but colder, laced with menace. This was Ω-Jett, Omega Earth's counterpart to his sister.
Minwoo's pulse quickened. Omega Earth was watching, waiting. They were aware of the stabilizer, just as Ω-Omen had been in Busan.
Sage reacted instantly, her healing orb pulsing as she channeled energy to stabilize the rift.
"Shut it down!"
***
Cypher scrambled to the console, his hands a blur as he worked to shut down the stabilizer. It dimmed, and the rift snapped shut, Ω-Jett's voice fading mid-threat.
The chamber fell silent, tension thick in the air. Brimstone's expression was grim.
"Omega Earth is closer than we thought. They want that device, and they'll come for it."
Minwoo met Jett's gaze, her eyes burning with defiance.
"Let them try," she said, her voice steady.
As they exited the chamber, Minwoo's mind raced. His parents had built the stabilizer to save their world, but it had drawn Omega's attention. Was his reincarnation part of their plan or a consequence of their failure? The wind stirred around him, unbidden, as if urging him forward.
In the armory, Minwoo stood alone, the stabilizer's weight now a metaphor for his burden. He was Han Minwoo, Jett's brother, a VALORANT agent. Yet Alex Han's instincts, precision, and resolve lived within him. For Jett, for his parents' legacy, he would face whatever Omega Earth brought.
The war between worlds loomed, and Minwoo was ready to fight.
***
The VALORANT Protocol headquarters in Seoul thrummed with tension, its corridors alive with the hum of reinforced barriers and the sharp clicks of patrolling drones. Security had tripled since the rift test, with every agent feeling on edge due to Jett's chilling threat. The rift stabilizer, now locked in a fortified lab, was the prize Omega Earth coveted. It was a device that could reshape the war between worlds.
Han Minwoo stood in the lab, his eyes locked on the stabilizer's fist-sized core, its radianite veins pulsing like a heartbeat. The glow stirred memories he hadn't lived. His parents, Han Jisoo and Yasmine Belkacem, sacrificed everything to prevent another Venice. His fingers twitched, yearning for the familiar grip of a mouse, but the wind answered instead, curling around him like a restless ally.
Jett slipped into the room, her white hair catching the lab's sterile light. A rare seriousness tempered her usual fire.
"Cypher's picking up radianite spikes all over Seoul," she said, her voice low. "They're coming, Minwoo. I can feel it."
He nodded, his jaw tight.
"Let them come. We're ready."
Yet doubt gnawed at him. Was he truly ready? The stabilizer, his parents' legacy, stood as a beacon for Omega Earth's insatiable hunger. His existence, Alex Han reincarnated as Han Minwoo, felt akin to a puzzle with missing pieces.
***
In the command center, Brimstone loomed like a weathered general, flanked by Sage and Phoenix. Cypher's holographic displays flickered ominously, revealing radianite signatures converging on the headquarters, their patterns chaotic yet deliberate.
"It's starting," Brimstone said, his voice a low growl. "Omega's making their move. Cypher, what's the read?"
Cypher's masked face tilted as his fingers blurred over the console.
"Multiple rifts forming around the perimeter. They're masking their approach, but I've got eyes on them. Contact in three minutes."
Phoenix cracked his knuckles, flames dancing at his fingertips.
"Time to light them up." You with me, Wonder Twin?"
Minwoo managed a half-smile, the nickname grounding him.
"Always."
Sage's orb glowed faintly as she stepped forward, her calm voice cutting through the tension.
"Focus. The stabilizer is our priority. If Omega gets it, we lose everything." Sage emphasized.
Alarms blared, their shrill wail echoing through the facility.
"Intrusion detected in sector seven!" A voice crackled over the comms, urgent and sharp.
***
"That's the lab's outer perimeter," Jett said, already sprinting. "Move!"
They raced through the corridors, their footsteps pounding against the reinforced floors. Minwoo felt the air shift, a pressure building like a storm about to break. Upon arriving at sector seven, Minwoo was struck by the sight of a swirling vortex of energy, a dimensional rift tearing through reality. Figures emerged from its depths. Omega agents appeared, their forms warped by the rift's chaotic glow.
At the forefront stood Ω-Jett, her white hair stark against the darkness, her eyes cold and predatory, a twisted mirror of Jett's vibrant spirit. Beside her loomed Ω-Omen, his shadowy form writhing with menace, tendrils of darkness coiling like living weapons.
"You thought you could hide it?" Ω-Jett sneered, her voice a distorted echo of Jett's. "The stabilizer is Omega's."
Jett stepped forward, knives gleaming in her hands.
"Over my dead body."
Ω-Jett's smirk was cruel.
"Easily arranged."
***
The battle erupted in a storm of abilities. Jett surged forward, her Tailwind leaving afterimages as she clashed with Ω-Jett, their wind powers colliding in a tempest of blades and gusts. Phoenix's flames roared, carving a fiery barrier to block Ω-Omen's advance, while Sage's healing orb pulsed, ready to mend their wounds.
Minwoo focused on Ω-Omen, who was shadow-stepping toward the lab, his form flickering like a glitch. With a flick of his wrist, Minwoo summoned a gust. It was not Jett's broad sweep but a razor-thin stream, honed by his gaming instincts. The wind sliced through Ω-Omen's shadows, disrupting his teleportation and sending him crashing into a wall.
Ω-Omen recovered swiftly, his shadows lashing out like whips. Minwoo dodged, his movements precise, as if navigating a critical moment in a tournament. He countered with a spiraling wind barrier, shielding Sage from a shadowy strike. The air hummed with his control, sharper than ever.
"You're not like the others," Ω-Omen rasped, his voice chilling. "What are you?"
Minwoo didn't respond, his focus sharpening. Amid the chaos, he felt an unusual pull, a resonance deep within him, as if the wind were whispering secrets. It was the rift, its energy pulsing in sync with his own. He reached out with his mind, and the wind obeyed, coiling around the rift's edges and stabilizing its turbulent swirl.
Ω-Omen froze, his shadows hesitating.
"What are you doing?"
Minwoo pushed harder, his wind weaving through the rift's structure. He could feel it, the connection between Alpha and Omega Earth, both fragile and powerful. With a surge of willpower, he tightened his grip, causing the rift to begin shrinking, its edges fraying under his influence.
"No!" Ω-Jett screamed, breaking away from Jett to charge at Minwoo. "You can't!"
Jett was faster, dashing between them, her knives flashing as she engaged Ω-Jett once more.
"Stay away from him!" she shouted, her wind amplifying her strikes and buying Minwoo precious time.
With one final push, Minwoo closed the rift, its energy collapsing in a burst of light. The Omega agents staggered, their connection to their world severed. But Ω-Omen wasn't finished. He activated a small, glowing orb, and both he and Ω-Jett vanished in a swirl of shadow, leaving the orb behind.
***
Cypher scooped up the orb, his voice tense.
"It's a message."
He activated it, and Ω-Jett's voice filled the room, cold and taunting.
"This is just the beginning. The stabilizer is only the first piece. We'll take everything you hold dear, Wonder Twins."
The message cut off, leaving a heavy silence in its wake.
Brimstone's voice broke through the stillness, resolute.
"They tested us, and we held. But this is war now. We need to be ready."
Minwoo stared at the spot where the rift had been, his heart pounding. He had closed it, not just with his will, but with something deeper, something tied to his very existence. Was this why he was here? Was his purpose here to unite worlds or to isolate them?
Jett's hand found his, her grip steady.
"Are you okay?" Jett asked. "That was unreal."
He met her gaze, seeing the fire that had always driven him now mirrored in hers.
"Yeah. I'm good."
***
As they returned to the lab, the stabilizer's glow cast long shadows, and Minwoo couldn't shake the feeling that his connection to the rifts extended beyond mere Radiant power. It felt personal, intertwined with his parents' work and his own improbable rebirth. The war with Omega Earth was escalating, and he found himself at its center.
He would fight for Jett, for the Protocol, and for the truth.
***
The command center at VALORANT Protocol headquarters in Seoul pulsed with urgency, its holographic displays creating jagged patterns across the walls. Agents moved with purpose, their faces marked by the weight of the recent Omega Earth attack. The rift stabilizer, now under triple security in the fortified lab, loomed as a sign of both hope and danger. It was a device that could either save Alpha Earth or bring about its doom.
Han Minwoo stood at the edge of the room, his gaze fixed on a display showing the stabilizer's schematics. Its fist-sized core, veined with glowing Radianite, seemed to hum in time with his heartbeat. The memory of closing the rift during Omega's assault lingered, a mix of triumph and unease. How had he accomplished it? And why did it feel so personal, as if the very wind was connected to his existence?
***
Brimstone's voice cut through the hum of activity, steady yet heavy with resolve.
"Omega's not done. That attack was a test, and we barely passed. We need to know what they're planning and what this stabilizer can truly do."
Cypher, hunched over his terminal, didn't look up.
"I've been digging into the stabilizer's data logs," he said, his masked face illuminated by scrolling code. "There's more here than we initially thought. Your parents, Minwoo, weren't just closing rifts. They were mapping them, trying to bridge Alpha and Omega Earth for peace."
Minwoo's breath caught as he recalled a vision of his parents, Han Jisoo and Yasmine Belkacem, in their lab.
"Peace?" he asked, his voice tight. "That's what caused Venice?"
"Exactly," Cypher replied cautiously. "Their experiments destabilized the rifts, leading to the catastrophe. But they didn't just create one device. I discovered encrypted coordinates in the stabilizer's logs, likely pointing to another facility, perhaps even another prototype."
Jett, who was leaning against a console, straightened up, and her white hair caught the light.
"Another stabilizer? Then we need to find it before Omega does."
***
Sage's orb glowed faintly as she stepped forward, her calm voice tinged with warning.
"If there's another device, it's just as dangerous as this one. We can't rush in blindly."
Phoenix cracked his knuckles, flames flickering.
"Blind or not, we're not letting Omega get the better of us again. Right, Wonder Twin?" Phoenix exclaimed.
Minwoo managed a half-smile, the nickname grounding him despite the turmoil in his mind.
"Right."
Brimstone nodded.
"We move at dawn. The coordinates point to a remote island off South Korea's coast, Jeju, an old research outpost. Minwoo, Jett, Sage, and Phoenix, your precision is impeccable. Cypher, you're our eyes from here."
As the team dispersed, Minwoo lingered, his thoughts spiraling. His parents had dreamed of peace, but their legacy had ignited a war. His ability to sense rifts initially felt like a piece of that puzzle, one he didn't yet understand.
***
The training room was a sanctuary of silence, its vast space echoing with Minwoo's frustration. He summoned his wind, watching it swirl in tight, precise streams, honed by his gaming instincts as Alex Han. But when he tried to reach for the rift's energy to recreate that moment of connection, the air remained stubbornly still. It felt like clutching at a 1v5 in a tournament, only to miss the final shot.
He closed his eyes, envisioning the rift's chaotic swirl, the pull that had synced with his pulse. But there was nothing. The wind was merely wind, not a bridge to another world. Frustration clawed at him, a familiar echo of his struggle to reconcile his past and present selves.
"Hey, are you okay?" Jett's voice broke through the silence, soft yet steady. She stood at the entrance, her presence a lifeline.
"I'm just stuck," Minwoo admitted, gesturing at the space around him. "I closed that rift, but I don't know how. It feels like I'm missing something."
Jett sat beside him, her knives idle for once.
"You're not just Minwoo, you know. You are also Alex Han, the individual who has the ability to ignite a match with a single flick. You still possess that. It remains within you, influencing your use of the wind."
Her words resonated deeply, recalling training sessions where his game sense guided his decisions.
"You think that's why I can feel rifts? Because of me?"
"Exactly," Jett replied, her eyes shining with belief. "You see things differently. Trust that."
Minwoo nodded, a warmth spreading through him.
"Thanks, Sunwoo."
She grinned, nudging his shoulder.
"Anytime, brother."
***
Suddenly, Cypher's voice crackled over the comms, urgent and commanding.
"Minwoo, Jett, lab. Now. I've cracked the coordinates."
The lab buzzed with activity, Cypher's screens alive with maps and data.
"Jeju Island," he said, pointing to a holographic display. "Jeju Island is an abandoned research outpost that existed prior to Protocol," he explained, adding that your parents had worked there before Venice. There's likely a data cache or another stabilizer."
Brimstone's jaw tightened.
"Omega's probably tracking the same lead. We need to move fast."
Sage's gaze lingered on Minwoo. Her suspicion is sharper than it has ever been. Your skills are special, Minwoo. Be careful if you feel rifts once more. The cost is unknown to us.
Minwoo looked at her, the weight of her uncertainty evident.
"I'll be cautious."
Arriving on Jeju's rocky coast, the jet sliced across the haze of dawn. Ahead, the outpost loomed, a crumbling structure half-claimed by salt air and vines. The crew moved swiftly; Jett took point with her blades drawn, her wind cutting a path across the undergrowth. Phoenix surrounded her, flames ready; Sage covered the rear, her sphere beating.
Inside the facility, Radianite vials, broken consoles, and a faint hum stirred his senses—a relic of Minwoo's parents' work.
"I feel it," he said, the air vibrating with split energy.
"Stay sharp," Jett said, her voice low but firm.
***
They reached a sealed chamber, its door etched with Radianite runes. Cypher's remote feed guided them.
"That's the data vault. Please unlock it, but be ready for more presence."
A rift tore open next as Sage worked the lock, releasing wild energy. Omega agents surfaced, under the direction of someone Minwoo had not anticipated. This was Ω-Minwoo, with dark, more volatile wind powers and eyes that mirrored Minwoo's own but were cold.
"You're the anomaly," Ω-Minwoo said, his voice a terrible echo. You shouldn't exist.
Jett sandwiched knives between them, flashing.
"Back off, copycat."
The fight started. Jett collided with Ω-Minwoo, their winds meeting in a precisely chaotic storm. While Sage's wall closed a secondary rift, Phoenix's flames held off drones. Minwoo focused on the primary rift, its energy pulling at him. He reached out, his wind weaving through its structure, stabilizing it as he had before.
Ω-Minwoo laughed, his gusts slashing at Jett.
"You think you can control it? You're a glitch, nothing more."
***
Minwoo pushed harder, his rift sense sharpening. The wind responded, not merely slicing but also guiding the rift's energy, causing it to shrink. The Omega agents faltered, their connection weakening.
Sage's orb stabilized the vault, revealing a partial data cache.
"It's incomplete," she noted, scanning it. "There's another stabilizer on Omega Earth."
Ω-Minwoo retreated through a fading rift, his voice echoing.
"This isn't over, twin."
The team extracted the cache and secured it, but Minwoo's mind reeled. Is there another stabilizer on Omega Earth? Did Ω-Minwoo's existence mean that his reincarnation was not an accident?
Back at HQ, Jett squeezed his hand.
"We'll face him together, okay?"
Minwoo nodded, but Sage's gaze pierced him, her suspicion unspoken. The war was personal now, and the truth of his existence was closer than ever.
***
The VALORANT Protocol's command center in Seoul thrummed with urgency, its holographic displays casting fractured light across the room. Strategic maps pulsed with data, pinpointing radianite anomalies across Omega Earth. The partial data cache from Jeju Island, secured, had unveiled a chilling truth. A second rift stabilizer existed on the mirror world, a twin to the device Minwoo's parents had died protecting. Its power could either seal the rifts or tear Alpha Earth apart.
Han Minwoo stood near a console, his fingers twitching as if seeking a mouse that no longer existed. The legacy of the stabilizer, bound to Han Jisoo and Yasmine Belkacem, carried a weight greater than the wind he wielded. His rift-sensing ability, first felt in previous encounters, hummed beneath his skin, a constant reminder of his impossible existence. Was he here to finish his parents' work or to undo their mistakes?
Brimstone's gravelly voice cut through the tension.
"Omega is moving quickly to secure that second stabilizer. If they activate it, they'll flood our world with rifts. We need recon now."
Cypher, his masked lenses glinting, leaned over his terminal.
"The facility is located in Omega's industrial sector, resembling a fortress in its fortification. However, a rift anomaly in their dimensional barrier presents a potential weakness. We can break through, but it's a one-time event."
Jett, her white hair catching the light, folded her arms.
"Then we hit it hard and fast. No way we're letting Ω-Jett or that creep Ω-Minwoo get their hands on it."
Minwoo's stomach twisted at the mention of his mirror's name. Ω-Minwoo's cold eyes from Jeju haunted him, taunting him with the idea that his reincarnation was an anomaly. Was he a glitch, as his counterpart claimed, or something more?
***
Sage's orb glowed faintly as she stepped forward, her gaze fixed on Minwoo.
"Your rift manipulation is crucial, but it's unpredictable. We can't afford any mistakes on Omega Earth."
Her lingering suspicion, which had been sharp, stung.
"I'll handle it," Minwoo replied, trying to sound steadier than he felt.
Phoenix clapped a hand on his shoulder, flames flickering around him.
"That's the spirit, Wonder Twin. Let's burn them out."
Brimstone nodded in agreement.
"We move tonight. Please conduct reconnaissance only. Locate the stabilizer and evaluate Omega's defenses. Minwoo, Jett, Sage, and Phoenix, you're the strike team. Cypher, you're our eyes." Brimstone commanded.
As the team dispersed, Jett caught Minwoo's arm.
"You good?" Jett asked. "You've been quiet since Jeju."
He forced a smile.
"Just figuring out what I am."
Her eyes softened, reminiscent of the hologram moment.
"You're my brother. That's enough for now."
***
The simulation chamber resembled a void of sterile brilliance, its walls crafted to contain the raw power of Minwoo's rift test. Sage insisted on a controlled trial before the mission, her caution stemming from the unstable rift they encountered earlier. Minwoo stood at the center, the first stabilizer glowing on a platform, its radianite veins pulsing like a heartbeat.
"Focus," Sage instructed, her orb ready. "Sense the rift energy, but don't push too far."
Minwoo closed his eyes, feeling his wind stir unbidden. The air hummed with a resonance he'd experienced before. He reached out, his gaming instincts, honed during his time as Alex Han, guiding his precision. The stabilizer whirred to life, and a hairline rift cracked open, its energy chaotic yet strangely familiar.
A vision flickered through the rift, revealing Ω-Minwoo standing in a mirrored lab, his wind swirling with darkness and volatility.
"You can't escape your nature," he taunted, his voice cutting through Minwoo's thoughts like a blade. "You're bound to the rifts, just as I am."
Minwoo's pulse spiked, causing his wind to falter. Sage's orb pulsed, stabilizing the rift as Cypher shut it down.
"What did you see?" Sage demanded, her tone sharp, fixing her gaze on Minwoo, waiting for his answer.
"Nothing," Minwoo lied, the weight of his unspoken truth hanging heavy in the air. His heart is racing. Ω- Minwoo's words echoed his fears. Was his reincarnation a design, linked to the rifts his parents had mapped?
Jett's hand grazed his arm.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
Jett nodded, yet the vision persisted, evoking a hint of uncertainty.
***
In the lab, Cypher briefed the team, his screens displaying Omega's facility.
"The rift anomaly is our entry point, but it's unstable. Minwoo, you'll need to guide us through."
Sage's gaze burned into Minwoo.
"If you lose control, we're all at risk."
"I won't," he replied, meeting her eyes. But her doubt mirrored his own.
Phoenix grinned, trying to lighten the mood.
"Mate, you closed a rift like it was a clutch play. You've got this."
Brimstone's voice was firm.
"We leave at dusk. Get prepped."
As Minwoo suited up, Jett joined him, her knives gleaming.
"Whatever you saw in that rift, don't let it mess with you. We're the Wonder Twins, remember?"
He chuckled, the nickname easing his tension.
"Yeah. Together."
The hangar bustled with activity as the jet's engines hummed. Brimstone's final words rang out.
"We're heading in and out." No heroics."
Minwoo boarded, glancing at Seoul's skyline. Omega Earth awaited, with answers or threats. He would face Omega Earth for Jett and in honor of his parents' legacy.