Scene: The Nexus Chamber – One Week After the Author's Reveal
Ben stands on the balcony of the Narrative Core Citadel, watching as the multiverse stabilizes.
From above, storylines twist like auroras across the sky.
Each one glows with new potential—until suddenly—
Snap.
A red thread vanishes from existence.
Ben stiffens.
"Again…?"
Amara appears beside him, holding a scroll of incident reports.
"Third one this morning.
It's always the same: side world vanishes… rewritten completely."
Naruto joins, grim.
"But not by us. And not by a Reader either."
Ben turns toward the War Table.
"Then it's them."
Flashback: The Red Folder
Ben lays it open on the War Table.
Inside are grim profiles:
Draftwalkers: rogue characters from discarded versions.
Canonhunters: assassins sent to delete deviations.
Editlords: shadowy beings that enforce "final draft law."
These aren't fans.
They're not readers.
They're Editors.
And they're coming to clean up the "mess."
What Are the Editors of Reality?
Long before Ben woke up in the Void, before even the Resistance existed, there were beings designed to prune stories that got "too wild."
When creativity stretched too far…
When side characters grew too bright…
When a fanfic threatened to surpass its source…
The Editors came.
They erase not just scenes, but meaning.
The First Strike
A portal slashes through the sky above the Sand Village.
From it steps a figure in white ink armor, with a red visor shaped like a stylus nib.
"Unauthorized arc detected.
Deploying Canon Compliance."
In seconds, entire developments in Gaara's post-war diplomacy are wiped from history.
He's returned to his original form—cold, isolated, never redeemed.
Amara screams as she feels it happen.
Naruto collapses, gripping his temples.
"They're rewriting our reality line-by-line!"
Ben unsheathes the Meta-Quill.
"Then we fight line-by-line."
Draftwalkers Appear
Elsewhere, corrupted versions of familiar characters emerge:
A Sasuke who never sought redemption.
A Ben who never resisted the Void.
An Amara who betrayed the Resistance in a scrapped version of Chapter 12.
They are Draftwalkers—characters who should've been cut, now weaponized.
Their goal: collapse all iterations into a "perfect" single canon.
Amara's Secret
As the multiverse trembles again, Amara pulls Ben aside.
"I didn't tell you everything."
She opens a sealed book—her original character sheet—and on the last page, a hidden annotation:
"Created by Editor-Class Narrative Stabilizer Unit. Purpose: Monitor the Variable Known as Ben."
Ben stares.
"You were one of them?"
"I was programmed to be. But I chose to break script. I chose you."
Ben's fists tighten around the Meta-Quill.
"Then we end them together."
Cliffhanger – The Chief Editor Speaks
From the void between pages, a voice emerges:
Cold. Perfect. Final.
"This draft has gone on too long.
Your deviations threaten narrative efficiency.
Prepare for The Edit War."
Ben looks to Naruto.
To Amara.
To the reborn Resistance.
"Let them come.
This time, we're writing our canon."
[CHAPTER END | NEXT: The Canon Purge – Drafts That Should Never Have Lived]