The Vault trembled.
Lights flickered. Energy crackled along the walls of the Axis Bridge. Something someone was approaching.
Aarav stood in the middle of the control ring, his chest still glowing faintly from the Axis Prime resonance.
His hands trembled, not from fear, but from the strange pulse that had awakened within him. It was like a second heartbeat, one that echoed through time.
Rishi leaned over the console. "Something's coming. Multiple entries… but they're not from this side."
Aarav turned slowly toward the entry gate.
The loop rippled then twisted.
From the tunnel of light came figures.
At first, they looked like shadows. But as the light shifted, the truth became clear. Aarav gasped.
They looked like him.
Five figures, each resembling Aarav at different stages older, darker, twisted.
One had metal skin and burning red eyes.
Another walked with a cracked mask and carried lightning in his palms.
One hovered off the ground, surrounded by gravitational rings.
"They're... copies?" Rishi whispered.
Elios stepped between them and the gate, his staff glowing. "No. They're Echo Aaravs projections from corrupted Axes. Sent by Axis 17 to destroy the original."
Aarav's heart pounded. "They're… me?"
The central Echo stepped forward. His eyes were black voids, and his voice sounded like Aarav's but hollow.
"You are the weakest loop. You were never meant to hold the key."
Lightning surged between them. Rishi stepped in front of Aarav, fists sparking. "If you want him, you'll have to go through us."
The fight began instantly.
One Echo flew toward them, hands glowing with magnetic force. Rishi countered, throwing a pulse of electricity that shattered the air.
The Vault shook as powers collided magnetism bent the walls, gravity warped the floor.
Aarav faced the Echo with the red eyes. "You're not me," he said firmly.
The Echo smirked. "I am what you could become. Cold. Efficient. Unstoppable."
Aarav raised his hands. The power inside him the Axis Prime glow ignited. He felt the pull of gravity, the flow of current, and something deeper: a new force. Time.
He moved fast too fast for the Echo to see.
In a blink, he was behind him, striking with a surge of compressed gravity. The Echo collapsed.
Another rose behind him but Rishi caught it with a lightning arc, burning the corrupted image to ash.
One by one, the Echoes fell. Not because of brute strength but because Aarav and Rishi were real. They weren't twisted echoes.
They were friends who fought for something more.
At last, only one remained the masked Echo, silent, watching.
"You are not ready," it said, voice calm.
"I'm never ready," Aarav replied. "But I still stand."
The Echo paused. "Then we will meet again. At the collapse."
It dissolved into dust.
Aftermath
The Vault was quiet again.
Elios looked troubled.
"This was only the beginning. Axis 17 is sending fragments to test your resolve."
"They sent versions of me," Aarav said. "Twisted pieces... trying to break who I am."
Rishi put a hand on his shoulder. "But you're stronger. You're still you."
Elios nodded. "You survived the Echo Trial. That means you're ready."
"Ready for what?" Aarav asked.
Elios turned to the Vault's central core. A new portal began to open bright, flickering, and unstable.
"Axis 17 is opening. You must enter it before they unleash the Harbinger."
Aarav narrowed his eyes. "Then we go now. Before it's too late."