Darkness. Still. Suffocating.
No wind. No ground. Just an endless, drifting void.
Then—
Thud.
Kai collapsed onto an unseen surface. His body, limp. The green light of the Omnitrix flickered, dim and erratic. His breaths came shallow, eyelids twitching.
Something wasn't right.
He wasn't hurt.
But he wasn't awake either.
Not… fully.
> "Wake up, kid."
The words slithered across the void, calm yet urgent.
> "Wake up, kid…"
> "Wake up, ki—"
"Hauh?!"
Kai jolted upright, gasping for air.
The world he knew—city noise, bike wheels, warm delivery bags—all gone.
He sat in complete silence. Not even the sound of his own heartbeat echoed in the space. Everything around him shimmered with deep purples and shadowy blues, like the universe had folded into itself.
He stumbled to his feet, breathing heavily.
His voice cracked through the stillness.
"W-what happened…? Where the heck am I?"
He looked around.
There was no sky. No ground. No walls.
Just… the void.
An endless, eerie, and cosmic space where time didn't seem to move.
Then—
> "Kid. Over here."
A soft, steady voice.
Kai spun around, body tense, fingers twitching toward the Omnitrix.
Behind him stood a woman.
Tall. Bald. Dressed in flowing golden-yellow robes. Her expression calm, her presence both comforting and haunting—as if she didn't belong to this world or any other.
She floated, feet inches above the surface, moving like wind over still water.
Kai stumbled back.
"W-WHOA! Wait, what—who—what ARE you?!"
The woman raised her hand in a slow, peaceful motion.
"Relax. I'm not here to harm you."
Her voice was gentle, but firm. It wrapped around him like sunlight cutting through fog.
"I'm… someone who sees what others can't," she continued. "Call me the Ancient One."
Kai stared. "You're… not human, are you?"
A faint smile touched her lips. "I'm as human as you are. Just… more experienced."
She turned slowly in the air, her robes swaying as if underwater. Around her, golden runes floated and twisted into existence, then dissolved again.
Kai blinked, heart still racing. "Where am I?"
The Ancient One looked at him seriously now.
"You were pulled into this dimension. A hidden pocket realm… unreachable by mortals. A place where even time hesitates."
Kai's brows furrowed. "Pulled? By who?"
"That," she said, "remains unknown. But the being responsible… is not of Earth. Nor friendly."
She floated closer, her expression darkening.
"You were not supposed to survive the transition. Someone wanted you removed from the board."
Kai swallowed. "So… I'm a target now."
"Yes," she said simply. "And a valuable one."
Her gaze moved to the Omnitrix on his wrist, still flickering weakly.
"I intervened as quickly as I could. You were already slipping into the rift when I found you. I managed to bring you here—a place between spaces. Safer. But still not safe."
Kai narrowed his eyes. "Why help me?"
She tilted her head.
"Because the threads of fate are beginning to tangle. Your presence… was not expected. But it may prove critical. To more than just your world."
Kai took a shaky breath.
"So what now? You get me out of here?"
The Ancient One's smile faded.
"I'm afraid… I cannot."
She raised her hand, revealing a set of spinning golden rings pulsing with arcane power. They shimmered, then cracked.
"I was only able to breach this place briefly. I anchored your existence here—but my magic cannot hold for long. The more I remain, the more likely the enemy will trace my path."
Her voice grew distant.
"Which is why I must go."
Kai's eyes widened. "Wait—what? You're leaving me?!"
The space around her began to fade, her outline blurring like smoke.
"I'll track your signature again as soon as I can. But until then…"
She stopped.
Then her gaze sharpened.
"…You won't be alone for long."
"What does that mean?!"
The final swirl of golden light dissolved.
And then she was gone.
Silence returned.
And Kai stood—truly alone—in a place no human was ever meant to be.
---
Moments Later – The Void Reacts
He stared at the space where she'd vanished.
Then at the Omnitrix.
"Great," he muttered. "Fantastic. Trapped in some cosmic basement… and I didn't even finish my delivery."
Suddenly, the void trembled.
A low vibration.
Then, distant rumbling.
His skin tingled.
From far across the dimension—across that endless black—a shape began to move.
Not walking.
Not flying.
Approaching.
Its outline was jagged. Not human. Not organic. A twisting tangle of limbs and alien energy.
A… subordinate?
> The Ancient One's warning echoed in his mind.
> "The unknown being's subordinate will come to get you."
Kai clenched his fists.
He looked at the Omnitrix.
Still flickering.
"Guess we're doing this the hard way."
He dropped into a defensive stance.
A single breath.
Alone in the void.
And very, very ready.