The bell echoed twelve times.
Each chime shook the old clocktower.
Rasheed stood frozen, the silver pocket watch still clenched tightly in his hand.
“Elias…”
He looked around.
The tower was empty.
No footsteps.
No movement.
Only the slow creaking of ancient gears.
Had he imagined everything?
No.
The watch was real.
He slipped it into his pocket.
As soon as he did, the ticking inside the tower stopped.
⸻
Outside, a cold wind swept across the hill.
The city lights shimmered below, peaceful and unaware.
Rasheed took one last look at the tower before heading home.
Halfway down the hill, he stopped.
Someone was standing in the middle of the road.
A man.
Tall.
Dressed in a charcoal-grey coat that reached his ankles.
His hands rested behind his back.
His face was hidden by the darkness.
Yet somehow…
Rasheed knew the stranger was looking directly at him.
“You’ve been busy.”
The man’s voice was calm.
Almost gentle.
Rasheed instinctively stepped back.
“Who are you?”
The stranger smiled.
“I’ve had many names.”
His eyes slowly began glowing a deep crimson.
“But the one people fear most…”
He paused.
“…is Kronis.”
The name hit Rasheed like a punch to the chest.
His father’s warning echoed inside his mind.
Don’t trust Kronis.
Every instinct screamed at him to run.
Instead…
He stood his ground.
“You know my father.”
“I do.”
“What did you do to him?”
Kronis chuckled.
“What makes you think I did anything?”
“He disappeared because of the Chrona Core.”
“No.”
Kronis slowly shook his head.
“He disappeared because he chose to.”
Rasheed’s heart pounded.
“You’re lying.”
“I rarely lie.”
The air around Kronis rippled.
Not with energy.
With time.
Leaves stopped falling.
The wind froze.
A passing bird hung motionless in the sky.
Everything became silent.
Only Rasheed could still move.
His eyes widened.
“You…”
Kronis took a single step forward.
“I’ve waited a very long time to meet you.”
“What are you?”
A faint sadness crossed Kronis’ face.
“A mistake.”
Before Rasheed could react…
Kronis raised one hand.
The world shattered.
Not physically.
Reality itself fractured into countless floating pieces.
Within each fragment, Rasheed saw different versions of his life.
One where his father never disappeared.
One where the Chrona Core never exploded.
One where the city had fallen into ruins.
Thousands of possibilities.
Thousands of timelines.
“You see them?”
Kronis asked quietly.
“The futures.”
Rasheed struggled to breathe.
“What is this?”
“The truth.”
The fragments collapsed.
Reality returned.
Rasheed stumbled to one knee.
“What… do you want from me?”
Kronis looked toward the city.
“I wanted to see whether you were worthy.”
“Worthy of what?”
Instead of answering…
Kronis asked another question.
“If you could save one person…”
His crimson eyes narrowed.
“…or save the entire world…”
“…which would you choose?”
Rasheed didn’t answer immediately.
His father’s face flashed through his mind.
His mother.
Adesewa.
Omar.
The little girl who had called him Red Pulse.
Finally, he stood.
“I’d find another way.”
For the first time…
Kronis laughed.
Not mockingly.
Almost proudly.
“Your father gave me the same answer.”
Rasheed froze.
“You knew him before the accident.”
“Long before.”
“Then tell me where he is!”
Kronis’ smile disappeared.
“I cannot.”
“Why?”
“Because if you find him now…”
His voice became unexpectedly heavy.
“…you will become exactly what I am.”
Silence.
Neither of them moved.
Then Kronis looked toward the sky.
“He has arrived.”
Rasheed frowned.
“Who?”
A deafening boom tore through the night.
Blue lightning crashed into the road between them.
The explosion threw dust into the air.
When it cleared…
A familiar figure stood there.
Black suit.
Glowing blue lines.
Electricity dancing across his body.
Omar.
His eyes locked onto Rasheed.
Then onto Kronis.
“What…”
Rasheed whispered.
“Omar?”
Omar looked just as shocked.
“Rasheed?”
For a split second, the three of them stood in silence.
Then Kronis smiled.
“Excellent.”
His body dissolved into crimson particles.
His final words lingered in the air.
“The pieces are finally on the board.”
He vanished.
The night fell silent once more.
Rasheed stared at Omar’s suit.
Omar stared at the faint red lightning still crackling around Rasheed’s arms.
Neither of them spoke.
Neither of them needed to.
The truth had finally caught up with them.
They were no longer just rivals.
They were something far more dangerous.
They were the only two people in the city who could truly understand what the other had become.
And somewhere beyond the stars, hidden inside the endless crimson storm of the Chronal Zone…
A man opened his eyes.
He whispered only one name.
“Rasheed.”