[System Accessing Memory Fragment: Timeline Alpha-Null]
> Warning: Viewing may destabilize emotional equilibrium.
Proceed?
[YES]
The world around me dimmed.
Color drained. The sky cracked like old glass. The scent of ash and blood filled the air.
I wasn't in Athens anymore.
I was in a future that never should have existed.
And I was the reason it burned.
---
Location: New York City – Timeline Alpha-Null
Time: +7 years post-Tiamut
The skyline was rubble. Stark Tower—a jagged wreck. No Avengers in sight. Just collapsed buildings, flickering drones, and the sky… bleeding red.
I walked through ruins of what was once Midtown.
My system flickered with corrupted data.
[Error: Memory Integrity 46%]
[Subject: VICTOR WICK – Designation: System Sovereign]
I saw myself.
Standing atop the ruins. Black coat flaring. A silver sword on my back, glowing with ancient runes.
Power radiated off me like heat waves.
Eyes glowing gold.
Dead inside.
---
"You killed them all."
The voice echoed behind me. It was Thena again—this timeline's version. She looked thinner. Worn. Scarred.
"You thought unlocking the System Core would save Earth. But it made you something worse than the Celestials."
The other me didn't speak.
Didn't blink.
Didn't care.
"You didn't just stop Tiamut," she whispered. "You harvested him."
My breath caught.
---
[System Flashback – Fragment Playback Initiated]
Scene shifted.
A massive crater. A stone skeleton curled beneath the Earth—Tiamut, dead before Emergence.
Victor—other Victor—stood on the Celestial's skull, palms open, drawing light into his body.
Not just light.
Power. Core fragments. Celestial DNA.
[New Trait Acquired – "God-Eater"]
> Absorbs properties of slain cosmic beings.
Grants control over reality, matter, time (limited).
Corrupts emotional balance with each absorption.
He became too strong. Too fast.
And too cold.
---
I saw the aftermath.
The Avengers? Gone. One by one. Not murdered—erased.
Steve Rogers died trying to talk Victor down.
Thor fell when Victor sliced through Mjolnir with his bare hand.
Wanda… tried to trap him in a hex loop.
It lasted five seconds.
Then she was vaporized.
---
"You thought saving the world meant owning it," Thena said beside me.
My other self floated now—eyes blank, humanity burned away.
"He let the system consume his soul."
"And what about now?" I asked her. "What's this memory for? Guilt?"
"No," she said. "A warning."
Then she turned to face me.
"This timeline only exists because no one stopped you early enough."
And suddenly she stabbed me in the chest.
---
Pain ripped through me.
Not physical.
Chrono-Pain. Memory backlash.
I screamed as the system lit up with warnings.
[Emotional Surge Detected — Stability at 31%]
[System Core Auto-Seal Engaged]
[Returning to Present…]
---
Location: Athens — Present Timeline
I gasped and dropped to one knee. My chest burned with phantom agony.
Thena watched me, silent.
"That," I panted, "was me?"
"In one future," she said. "Yes."
"I killed them all…"
She didn't deny it.
I looked at my hand. Still shaking. Still human.
Barely.
---
[System Notification: Memory Fragment Successfully Integrated]
> Passive Ability Gained: Ghost of Alpha-Null
— Enhanced resistance to timeline manipulation
— Warning signal triggers when ego corruption begins
— Unlocks "Code Lock" to bind or suppress dangerous system traits
So the system was learning too.
Preparing for the worst version of me.
Smart.
---
Elsewhere: Shadow Bastion – Project Omega Server Core
Alex stared at the flickering memory feed.
"He accessed Alpha-Null."
The distorted figure behind him—the Benefactor—nodded.
"He's progressing faster than expected."
Alex frowned. "And Morrigan?"
"Dormant. She will revive soon."
A new screen flickered on—showing Doctor Strange's Sanctum.
The Benefactor spoke again.
"Time to accelerate Phase Two. We'll unleash the anomaly inside the Sanctum. And let Victor clean up the mess… or fall to it."
---
Back in Athens — Rooftop
Thena and I stood under moonlight.
"I need more than memories," I told her. "I need allies."
"You won't find them in high places," she said. "Not yet."
"But I know who might listen."
I turned toward the east.
"Kamar-Taj."
---
[System Alert: New Quest Available – "Temporal Faultline"]
> Objective: Reach Kamar-Taj and stop Phase Two of Project Omega
Risk Level: Critical
Known Opponent: Anomaly Class Host
Possible Reward: Time-Shard Fragment (Rare Celestial Material)
Time to visit the wizards.
---
Mid-Credit Scene
A girl sits in a neon-lit Tokyo alley, sharpening twin daggers.
Her eyes glow silver. The world around her shimmers, slightly out of sync.
She hums a tune from a childhood no longer hers.
[System Host: Codename "Shift"]
> Template Set: Deadpool / Yoruichi / Domino
Power: Dimensional Drift
Status: Neutral – Watching both sides
She smiles.
"Victor's getting interesting. Might be fun to crash this party."
---