The portal to Axis 13 shimmered like cracked glass.
The moment Aarav and Rishi stepped through, they knew something was wrong.
The air was heavy.
Not just with smoke or fire but with power.
A different kind. Corrupted.
Aarav's Loop flickered strangely as they landed. His balance shifted. His gravity control pulsed once then dulled.
Rishi looked around, worried. "Something's draining the field here…"
Before Aarav could reply, the sky split open.
An armada of alien warships hovered above the mountains. Below, dark ground forces deployed with precision marching straight toward the Axis Core chamber buried beneath the ancient city.
Aarav stepped forward.
"I'll stop them. Protect the Core."
Rishi hesitated. "You're not at full strength."
"We don't have time."
Aarav launched forward, still fast but slower than usual.
The Sudden Turn
He fought hard.
His gravity bursts shattered the first few attackers.
He summoned magnetic barriers to shield the ancient walls.
He struck down their war beasts using his raw force and precision.
But midway through the fight, something hit him harder than anything before.
A black spear of concentrated Axis Core energy, reverse-engineered by the aliens.
It pierced his shoulder, and immediately, his Loop dimmed.
Aarav gasped, dropping to his knees.
His connection to the Axis began to flicker his powers unstable.
The enemies advanced, sensing weakness. Another barrage of corrupted energy surged toward him.
Rishi, from a distance, shouted his name but Aarav could barely lift his hand.
His vision blurred.
His Loop glowed faintly… then went dark.
The Collapse
The battlefield shook.
Not from power but from Aarav falling.
He tried to summon a gravity pulse, but nothing came.
The power that once bent space and shielded worlds now felt distant silent.
The aliens advanced, surrounding him.
Rishi ran through the battlefield, desperate, lightning barely flickering around his fists.
"Get away from him!" he shouted.
But he wasn't fast enough.
Aarav collapsed completely.
His suit cracked. The Axis sigil on his Loop faded into gray.
He could still hear voices.
"Guardian down."
"Target neutralized. Begin Core extraction."
They were taking the Core.
Rishi reached Aarav just in time to shield him from another blow, using every drop of his fading lightning. He screamed into his Loop.
"Elios!
We need backup!
He's down!
Aarav is down!"
Hope in Shadows
Inside the fading darkness, Aarav floated in his own mind a place between Axis paths. No gravity. No sound.
But somewhere, deep inside, a pulse returned. Slow. Ancient.
It wasn't from his Loop.
It wasn't from another Axis.
It was from Axis Zero the world of peace, the origin of Guardians.
Aarav's eyes opened faintly.
And with a whisper, he said, "I'm not finished yet…"