The Abyssal Gate was a massive, swirling vortex of black liquid located at the lowest point of the city. Jagged obsidian pillars surrounded it, humming with a frequency that made my teeth ache. At the center stood Prince Kaelen, holding the dark scepter high. Red lightning arced from the scepter into the gate, slowly tearing the fabric of reality.
"V-Team, move!" I shouted.
The Battle of the Gate
The royal guard swarmed us, but we were a different team than the one that had been captured.
Elizabeth (Nightshadow) was a blur of emerald light. She leaped between the obsidian pillars, her Green Energy Bow singing. Every arrow she fired wasn't just a projectile; it was a beacon. "Victoria, detonate!" she yelled, firing a volley into a cluster of guards.
Victoria (Cybergirl) snapped her fingers. The arrows Elizabeth had fired—made of Victoria's own energy—exploded in a rhythmic pulse of violet light, knocking the guards back without killing them.
Brother vs. Brother
Leon didn't wait. He launched himself at the platform, the Tide-Breaker bone-blade glowing with a pure, white light.
"Kaelen! Stop this!" Leon’s voice was a roar through the water. "Dementra is eating our world! Look at your hands!"
Kaelen looked down. The red veins of the Dark Multiverse had climbed up his neck and were now clouding his eyes. "I am the King of the Depths, Leon! I will not be a shadow anymore!"
He swung the dark scepter. The two brothers collided in a clash of white and red energy. Leon fought with the grace of the tides, while Kaelen fought with the jagged, unpredictable violence of a storm.
The Anchor
While Leon fought for his brother’s soul, the Gate began to pulse. A massive, clawed hand—larger than a house—began to reach out from the black vortex.
"It’s coming through!" Avan yelled, frantically throwing lightning bolts to keep the minor Wraiths at bay. "Victoria, the Gate is opening!"
I flew toward the vortex. I knew what I had to do, but I was terrified. "West! If I do this, the Watch might drain me completely!"
"You're the only anchor we have, Victoria!" West’s voice crackled through the comms from miles above. "Interface with the Gate! Use the Twin Rivers to seal the breach!"
I slammed my hands into the obsidian pillars.
"INITIATING SYSTEM OVERRIDE," the Watch spoke in its cold, metallic voice.
The pain was unlike anything I had ever felt. It felt like my blood was being turned into liquid fire. The violet and green energies surged out of me, wrapping around the Gate like glowing chains. I was the lock. I was the wall.
"Leon! Finish it now!" I screamed, my vision turning white.
Leon saw the opening. He didn't use the Tide-Breaker to kill. He used it to shatter the scepter. With one final, desperate strike, he cleaved the dark crystal in half.
The red lightning vanished. The Kraken-Guard, suddenly freed from the corruption, let out a mournful cry and used its massive tentacles to shove the shadowy hand back into the void.
The Gate slammed shut.
The Bitter Victory
The shockwave knocked us all back. The city of Atlantis went dark for a moment before the natural bioluminescence returned.
Leon knelt over his brother. Kaelen was alive, but the red veins were gone, leaving him pale and weak. He looked at Leon with eyes that finally recognized him. "Leon... I... the darkness was so loud..."
"I know," Leon whispered, holding him. "I've got you."
I tried to stand, but my armor retracted instantly. The Watch was scorched, smoking from the effort. I felt empty, like a battery drained to 1%.
"We did it," Avan panted, swimming over to help me up. "We actually did it."
"Not yet," Elizabeth said, her eyes fixed on the shadows at the edge of the plaza.
A familiar, rhythmic clapping echoed through the chamber. Out of the darkness stepped Doctor Science. He wasn't alone. Standing beside him was a figure wrapped in tattered black rags, wearing a mask that looked like a twisted version of my own visor.
"Bravo, V-Team," Doctor Science sneered. "You closed a door. But while you were playing in the mud, the Queen was busy in the forge."
He pointed to the masked figure beside him. "Meet Subject Zero. Or as you might call her... a glimpse of your future."
The figure raised its hand. It didn't have a watch. Its entire arm was the weapon—a jagged, pulsing red version of my own energy constructs.
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