The silence was deafening.
Steam hissed across the frozen battlefield, rising in heavy clouds around shattered glaciers and half-melted beasts. Kai remained on one knee, his hands buried in the ice, breath ragged and raw.
Every fiber of his body ached, and the Omnitrix on his wrist pulsed weakly—dim, almost silent, as though it too needed to rest.
But what drew him to his feet wasn't pain.
It was the whisper.
Soft.
Clear.
"...Kai."
His head snapped toward the sound, heart skipping a beat.
It wasn't monstrous. It wasn't twisted like the cries of the snow beasts. It was human.
It was… warm.
He stood slowly, unsteady, scanning the shifting fog.
"Hello?"
His voice echoed strangely across the icy plain.
He turned again.
Snow had begun to fall—soft, drifting flakes that sparkled like glass. The blizzard had passed, and the sky had lightened just enough to reveal shadows moving through the mist.
And then—
A figure.
Barely visible through the white.
Distant. Still.
It stood just at the edge of perception, watching.
Kai raised a hand.
"Who's there?"
No answer.
But then the wind carried the whisper again, stronger now.
"Kai... this way."
It was a woman's voice.
Soft. Familiar. Like something pulled from a fading dream.
He took a cautious step forward.
"If this is another trap…"
The figure turned and began walking away—slow, deliberate—vanishing into the mist.
Kai clenched his fists.
He had no strength left to fight. But he had questions.
He followed.
The snow deepened, reaching past his knees. Each breath turned to fog in the cold air, and his footsteps echoed across the lifeless, fractured landscape.
The Omnitrix didn't react.
There were no enemies in sight.
And yet… the unease lingered.
The figure emerged again—closer now.
She stood beside a tall, crystal obelisk rising from the ice, runes flickering across its surface like light etched into stone. A thin cloak draped around her, and silver hair spilled from beneath her hood.
Kai stopped a few feet away.
"You… called me."
She turned slightly, just enough for him to glimpse her face.
Young, Gentle,Eyes like distant stars.
Yet something about her felt off—not threatening, but remote. As though she didn't fully belong here.
"You survived the test," she said softly.
"Twice."
Kai's heartbeat quickened.
"Who are you?"
She stepped forward, and the runes on the obelisk brightened.
"I am the Watcher Between Realms."
"Or… I was."
Kai narrowed his gaze.
"I don't need riddles. I need a way home."
She nodded, serene.
"And you'll have it… but not yet."
He took a step closer.
"Are you the one who brought me here?"
She shook her head.
"No. But I guided the Omnitrix to protect you. Your presence in this world—this multiverse—was never meant to happen. And yet, here you are. Alive. Changing everything."
Kai glanced down at the Omnitrix.
"It's been choosing for me. Ghostfreak. Heatblast."
"A defensive mechanism," she replied. "It adapts to the world around you. And this world... is built from death."
Kai looked back at her.
"So what is this? Another trial?"
The Watcher touched the obelisk, and a projection shimmered into the air—an illusion sculpted from light.
A planet crumbling.
A rune-covered gateway suspended in space.
A dark figure, cloaked in void, reaching through it.
"The one who sent you here is testing you. But they are not the true threat. They are merely the hand..."
The image widened.
Behind the gate, something larger stirred.
Colossal.
Unfathomable.
Alive.
"...But the mind remains sealed. For now."
Kai took a slow step back.
"Why me?"
The Watcher's eyes softened with something close to sorrow.
"Because you're not supposed to be here."
"But you may be the only one who can survive what's coming."
The vision faded.
The Watcher, too, began to dissolve into mist.
"Wait—!"
Kai reached out, but her voice was already retreating into the cold.
"Find the temple. The door will open in fire… and silence."
"And Kai… trust your instinct."
"It's older than you know."
She vanished.
So did the obelisk.
Only the snow remained.
Kai stood in the silence, staring at the space where she had been.
The wind picked up, tugging gently at his clothes and hair.
"Temple, huh…?"
The Omnitrix blinked.
A soft green glow.
He looked to the horizon.
The storm was returning.
But this time, he wasn't afraid.
He turned and began to walk again.