Darkness.
Then a voice.
"Welcome home, Kai."
The golden eye stared down at him.
Kai couldn't move.
Around him, the Nexus chamber had gone completely dark. Even the countless universes suspended in the air had disappeared.
Only the eye remained.
Tony's armor flickered.
"Friday? System diagnostics!"
Nothing.
Thor raised Mjolnir, summoning a faint spark of lightning.
"Show yourself!"
The voice answered calmly.
"You are standing in our creation, Odinson. You should show more respect."
Thor's expression hardened.
"I respect no being that hides behind shadows."
A pause.
"Predictable."
The lightning vanished.
Thor stared at his hammer.
Tony stepped forward.
"Okay. Whoever you are, you've disabled our technology. Impressive. But if you wanted a conversation, you could've just knocked."
"Anthony Stark. Always hiding fear behind humor."
Tony's expression changed.
"Get out of my head."
"We aren't inside your head."
The golden eye shifted toward Kai.
"We are inside his."
Kai's stomach tightened.
"Get out."
"You don't understand what you are asking."
"I don't care."
Kai forced himself to take a step forward.
"You're the ones who created me?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"To give the multiverse a future."
Kai laughed bitterly.
"Funny. Everyone I've met so far seems convinced I'm going to destroy it."
"They are afraid of what you could become."
"Then tell me what I could become!"
The eye pulsed.
For an instant, Kai saw something behind it.
A vast hall.
Figures seated upon enormous thrones.
Some resembled humans.
Others didn't resemble anything he could comprehend.
Their faces were hidden behind golden masks.
There were twelve of them.
And every one was watching him.
"An owner."
The vision vanished.
Kai swallowed.
"Owner of what?"
"The Multiversal Nexus."
Lumi stepped forward.
"Don't listen to them."
The eye turned toward her.
For the first time, its golden light flickered.
"The unfinished experiment speaks."
Lumi hugged her broken rabbit.
Kai immediately moved between them.
"Don't talk about her like that."
"You protect what you create."
Kai froze.
The voice continued.
"How touching."
Kai looked at Lumi.
Her face had gone pale.
"What does it mean?" he whispered.
She shook her head.
"I don't know everything."
"But you know something."
Lumi lowered her eyes.
"I know you made me."
Kai stared.
"Why?"
"Because you were lonely."
For a moment, the chamber seemed quieter.
Lumi continued.
"Before the worlds merged, before your brother started searching for you, you spent years in this place."
She touched the rabbit.
"You built things. Little worlds. Little people."
Kai looked at the countless empty platforms.
"And you?"
"You made me last."
"Why?"
Lumi smiled sadly.
"You said you wanted someone who wouldn't forget you."
Kai couldn't speak.
Then the other Kai laughed.
"How sentimental."
Everyone turned.
The black-eyed version stood beside the chair, watching the golden eye.
"You always did love creating things you couldn't bear to lose."
Kai faced him.
"Not now."
"Oh, this is exactly the right time."
The other Kai gestured toward the eye.
"Ask them what happened to our original world."
Kai looked upward.
"What happened to my world?"
Silence.
Then the answer came.
"It was terminated."
Kai's hands clenched.
"By whom?"
"Your brother."
The chamber shook.
Kai stared at the eye.
"No."
"He attempted to seize control of the Nexus. His actions destabilized the reality that contained you."
"You're lying."
"We have no reason to lie."
The other Kai stepped closer.
"That's the first thing they taught us, remember?"
Kai turned toward him.
"What?"
"They never needed to lie."
His black eyes burned.
"They simply removed anything that contradicted their story."
Kai looked back at the golden eye.
"Did my brother destroy our world?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"He wanted to bring you back."
Kai's breath caught.
The other Kai stopped smiling.
For the first time, even he seemed affected.
The golden eye continued.
"Your brother discovered that your consciousness had been divided. He believed restoring you would reverse the destruction."
Kai whispered, "Would it have worked?"
"No."
Silence.
"The destruction was irreversible."
Kai closed his eyes.
A memory surfaced.
Two boys sitting on a rooftop.
The older one had his arm around Kai's shoulders.
"Whatever happens, I'll always protect you."
The memory disappeared.
Kai opened his eyes.
"Then why let him search?"
"We did not control his choices."
"You're the creators! You can control everything, can't you?"
"No."
The answer came immediately.
"We created the Nexus. We did not create everything that exists beyond it."
The eye dimmed.
"There are forces older than us."
Lumi whispered, "The things beyond the Gods."
The golden eye turned toward her.
"You know more than you should."
Suddenly, the chamber shook violently.
Red cracks spread across the floor.
Tony grabbed Kai's shoulder.
"We need to move!"
Kai didn't budge.
"Not until I get answers."
The eye brightened.
"Then ask your final question."
Kai looked upward.
He had hundreds.
But one mattered more than the rest.
"Who am I really?"
The eye went silent.
Then twelve golden silhouettes appeared around the chamber.
Their voices spoke together.
"You are the First Anchor."
Kai waited.
"The original consciousness of the Nexus, placed inside a human vessel."
His heart pounded.
"And the other me?"
"Your memories. Your experiences. Your choices."
Kai turned toward the black-eyed version.
The figure stared back.
"Neither of you is complete."
The golden eye began closing.
"And neither of you can survive what is coming alone."
Kai stepped forward.
"Wait! What is coming?"
The eye stopped.
For one final moment, it looked directly at him.
"The Thirteenth Creator."
Lumi dropped her rabbit.
The other Kai's expression changed completely.
Even Thor looked unsettled.
Tony frowned.
"Thirteen? There were twelve figures."
Kai turned toward Lumi.
"Who is the Thirteenth Creator?"
She couldn't answer.
Because the system suddenly returned.
> \[NEW ENTITY DETECTED.\]
> \[THIRTEENTH CREATOR: APPROACHING.\]
> \[ESTIMATED ARRIVAL: 00:00:10.\]
Kai stared at the countdown.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
His brother's voice echoed through the chamber.
"KAI! GET AWAY FROM THE CHAIR!"
Kai turned.
His brother stood at the entrance, wounded and breathless.
For the first time, he wasn't looking at Kai.
He was looking at the empty chair.
And he was terrified.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Lumi whispered:
"He's already here."
Three.
Two.
One.
The chair moved.
Someone was sitting in it.
A figure wearing an ordinary black hoodie.
No golden armor.
No glowing eyes.
No terrifying aura.
Just an ordinary young man.
He lifted his head.
Kai stopped breathing.
The stranger had Kai's face.
His brother's eyes.
And a familiar smile.
"Hey, Kai."
He stood.
"Sorry I'm late."
The system flashed one final notification.
> \[THIRTEENTH CREATOR IDENTIFIED.\]
> \[NAME: THE AUTHOR.\]
The figure looked directly at Kai.
"Shall we rewrite your story?"