They came like an occupation.

Not ten agents.

Hundreds.

The portal in Riverside Park tore open at dawn, and they poured through in waves. Dark suits. Cold eyes. Synchronized movements.

By noon, they'd established a perimeter around the town center. Cordoned off streets. Set up equipment—satellites, sensors, temporal stabilizers.

By evening, they'd built a base.

A massive structure that hadn't been there that morning. Prefabricated panels assembled with mechanical precision. Guard towers. Floodlights. A fortress dropped into small-town Oregon like a tumor.

The town was terrified.

The group watched from a distance, hidden in Tyler's garage.

"This is insane," Casey breathed. "They're not even hiding."

"They don't need to," Ankon said quietly. "They're from 2077. What's 1985 going to do? Call the police?"

"We have to do something," Ben said.

"Like what?" Tyler gestured helplessly. "There's hundreds of them. We have... us."

Ethan looked at Ankon. "What do we do?"

Ankon stared at the base through the binoculars, his jaw tight.

We stay hidden. We don't engage. We wait for an opening.

That's not a plan.

It's survival.

Three days passed.

The town was under silent siege. The agents didn't attack civilians—didn't need to. Their presence was enough. People stayed inside. Businesses closed.

The group stayed hidden, moving between safe houses, trying to figure out a plan that didn't end with everyone dead.

Then, on the third night, someone knocked on the door.

Everyone froze.

Casey grabbed a bat. Tyler reached for the revolver they'd managed to get.

The knock came again. Steady. Polite.

Ankon moved to the door, looked through the peephole.

A single agent. Unarmed. Hands visible.

He opened the door a crack.

"Ankon," the agent said. No hostility. Just... clinical. "I'm here to deliver a message."

"I'm listening."

"We have Professor Hasan. The one from your timeline. We retrieved him three days ago when we established our base. He's alive. For now."

Ankon's blood went cold.

"If you want him to stay that way, you'll come to the base. Noon tomorrow. Alone."

"And if I don't?"

"Then we demonstrate what happens to timeline anomalies who refuse correction. Publicly. Slowly."

The agent handed him a small device—a screen showing live feed.

Professor Hasan. Restrained. Alive. Scared.

"Noon tomorrow. Northwest entrance. Don't be late."

The agent walked away.

Inside, the group exploded.

"It's a trap," Casey said immediately.

"Obviously," Tyler agreed.

"We can't just let them kill him," Ethan said.

"They're going to kill him ANYWAY," Casey shot back. "And Ankon. This is bait."

"She's right," Ankon said quietly, staring at the screen. "But I'm going anyway."

"WHAT?!"

"He's the only person in my timeline who gave a shit about me. Who helped me when I had nothing. I'm not letting him die because of something I started."

"You didn't START this—"

"I built the portal. I came here. I disrupted the timeline. This is my fault."

"That's bullshit survivor's guilt talking," Casey said.

"Maybe. But I'm still going."

Ethan stood. "Then we're going with you."

"No."

"Not your choice."

"Ethan—"

"We're a group. We go together. End of discussion."

The others nodded.

Ankon wanted to argue. But looking at their faces—determined, scared, but resolved—he realized he couldn't.

When did I start having people who'd die for me?

"Fine," he said. "But we prepare. We arm up. And we go in smart."

They had one night.

Tyler gathered what weapons he could. Two revolvers. Limited ammo. Bats. Knives. Makeshift armor.

"This is pathetic," he muttered.

"It's what we have," Casey said, strapping on a makeshift chest plate.

Lena helped Ankon check his gear, her hands steady despite the fear in her eyes.

"You don't have to come," he said quietly.

"Yes I do."

"Lena—"

"He's part of you. Part of Ethan. That makes this my fight too."

She met his eyes, and for a moment, he saw it again—that recognition. Like she was looking past his face, straight into his soul.

"Be careful," she said softly.

"You too."

Ethan found him on the roof later.

"Can't sleep either?"

"No."

They sat in silence, the base's floodlights visible in the distance.

"I'm scared," Ethan said finally.

"Me too."

"What if we can't save him?"

"Then we make sure his death meant something."

"That's not comforting."

"It's honest."

Ethan looked at him. "If this goes bad tomorrow... if we don't make it..."

"Don't."

"I need to say it. If we don't make it, I just want you to know—I'm glad you came here. I'm glad I met you. Even if it's fucked up and we're probably going to die, I'm glad I got to know the person I... was. Am. Whatever."

Ankon's throat tightened.

"Yeah," he managed. "Me too."

Noon.

They approached the northwest entrance.

Six of them. Armed with scraps. Facing hundreds with future tech.

This is insane.

Yeah.

We're going to die.

Probably.

Worth it?

...Yeah.

The gates opened.

They walked in.

The base was massive inside.

Sterile. Cold. All metal and harsh light.

Agents lined the walkways. Watching. Not attacking. Yet.

They were led to a central chamber—circular, vast, lit from above.

Professor Hasan was there. Chained to a chair in the center.

He looked up. Saw Ankon. His eyes widened.

"Ankon?! What are you—NO. You shouldn't have come!"

"Couldn't leave you, sir."

"You foolish boy—"

"Touching."

The lead agent stepped forward. The woman from before. Her cold eyes swept over the group.

"You brought friends. How quaint."

"Let him go," Ankon said.

"No. But I will make you an offer." She gestured to Ethan. "Surrender him. Let us complete the correction. In return, you live. The professor lives. Your friends live. You return to 2027, continue your research, and in 2077, your work leads to us. The timeline remains stable. Everyone wins."

"Except Ethan."

"Except the anomaly that should have died thirty years ago. Yes."

"No deal."

Her expression didn't change. "Then you all die here."

"Maybe. But you'll have to work for it."

She smiled. Thin. Humorless.

"I was hoping you'd say that."

She raised her hand.

The agents moved.

It was chaos immediately.

Energy blasts. The group scattered.

Casey swung her bat, deflecting a stun round—barely.

Tyler fired the revolver. Two shots. One agent down.

That's two bullets gone. We don't have enough.

Ben and Tyler tried to reach the professor.

Lena and Ethan stayed back-to-back, dodging, blocking.

And Ankon—

Ankon moved.

Timeline skip. Two seconds forward. Dodge.

Soul shift into Ethan for five seconds. Block an attack.

Back to himself. Skip again.

His nose was bleeding within thirty seconds.

Can't keep this up.

Have to.

They fought their way toward the professor.

It was brutal. Desperate.

Tyler took a hit. Went down hard. Ben dragged him to cover.

Casey's bat splintered. She grabbed a knife.

Lena was hit by a glancing blow. She stumbled.

"LENA!" Ethan screamed.

Ankon saw it happen.

Saw the agent lining up another shot.

Saw Lena, dazed, vulnerable.

No.

He blinked forward. Grabbed her. Pulled her behind cover.

But more were coming.

We can't win this.

He looked around. Saw a door. Locked.

There.

"ETHAN!"

Ethan looked over.

Get her out. That room. Now.

I'm not leaving—

DO IT.

Ethan hesitated, then grabbed Lena.

Ankon covered them, skipping, shifting, burning through his stamina.

Blood ran from his nose. His mouth. His vision blurred.

But he held the line.

Ethan kicked the door open. Got Lena inside.

Ankon followed, slammed it shut.

Inside the room.

Lena was barely conscious, leaning against a desk.

Ethan held her, his hands shaking.

"Lena. Lena, stay with me. Please."

Her eyes fluttered open. Looked at Ethan. Then past him, to Ankon.

Blood dripped from Ankon's face. His hands. He could barely stand.

"Why..." Her voice was so quiet. "Why does fate... punish you like this?"

Ankon knelt beside them, his breathing ragged.

"So I can change it myself."

She smiled weakly. "You're... so stubborn..."

Her eyes closed.

"Lena?! LENA!"

Ethan shook her. She didn't respond.

"She's breathing," Ankon said quickly, checking her pulse. "She's just unconscious. She'll be okay."

"We need to get her out—"

"Not yet. It's still chaos out there."

Ethan laid her carefully on the desk. Brushed her hair back.

"Don't leave me," he whispered. "I love you. Please don't leave me."

Ankon watched them.

Felt something crack inside his chest.

That should be me.

But it's not.

It never was.

He stood, wiping blood from his mouth.

"Stay with her," he said.

"Where are you—"

"Finishing this."

"Ankon—"

"Take care of her, Ethan."

He walked to the door.

You're going to die out there.

Probably.

Then why—

Because someone has to.

He opened the door.

Stepped back into hell.

The main hall was carnage.

His friends were pinned down. Surrounded.

The professor was still chained, blood on his face.

The agents were closing in.

Ankon walked forward.

An agent raised a weapon behind him.

"ANKON!"

The professor's scream.

A blast.

But it didn't hit Ankon.

Professor Hasan had somehow broken free—thrown himself between them.

The blast hit him square in the chest.

He collapsed.

"NO!"

Ankon caught him. Lowered him to the ground.

"Sir—Professor—no no no—"

"Ankon..." Blood on his lips. "Do you... remember..."

"Don't talk. Save your strength—"

"Remember when I let you cheat on that exam?"

Ankon's vision blurred with tears. "Yeah. Yeah I remember."

"I did it because... I knew you'd shine someday. I didn't want you stuck. I saw potential in you. Even when you couldn't see it in yourself."

"Professor, please—"

"You're not a monster, Ankon. You're not a revolutionary. You're just a kid with dreams and pain. And that's okay." His hand gripped Ankon's weakly. "Go on. End the war you started. I'm proud of you."

His hand went limp.

His eyes stared at nothing.

"No. No no no—"

"NO!"

The scream tore out of Ankon's throat.

Raw. Agonized.

And the base shook.

The walls trembled.

Glass shattered. Equipment sparked. The floor cracked.

The agents stumbled, looking around in confusion.

"What's happening?!"

"The timeline—it's destabilizing!"

"Impossible—"

Ankon stood.

Blood ran from his eyes now. His hands. Every orifice.

But his eyes were glowing.

Objects around him began to lift.

Desks. Chairs. Weapons. Agents.

Floating. Suspended.

"He's manifesting telekinesis—"

"That's not possible, his power set was limited to—"

"SHUT DOWN THE TEMPORAL FIELD—"

Too late.

Ankon's voice was hollow. Distant.

"You took him."

Objects flew. Agents screamed.

"You took the ONE person who believed in me."

Walls bent. Twisted. Reality itself warped.

"You came to MY timeline. Took MY professor. Tried to kill MY friends."

His hands clenched.

Time shattered.

What happened next wasn't a fight.

It was an erasure.

Ankon moved through them like a force of nature. Not dodging. Not blocking.

Rewriting.

He touched an agent—they flickered. Vanished. Erased backward through time.

Another—frozen mid-step. Timeline locked.

Another—aged to dust in seconds.

He wasn't fighting anymore.

He was a god of time burning himself out.

The lead agent tried to run.

He caught her.

"You wanted to correct the timeline?" His voice echoed, layered, wrong. "Let me help."

He placed his hand on her forehead.

She screamed.

Her timeline unraveled. Every choice. Every branch. Every version of her that had ever existed or would exist—collapsed.

She didn't die.

She never was.

The base emptied.

Agents fled through the portal. Abandoned equipment. Ran.

Within minutes, it was over.

Ankon stood alone in the center of the hall.

Surrounded by bodies. Destruction. Broken time.

His friends emerged from cover. Stared.

"Ankon?" Casey's voice was small.

He turned.

They flinched.

His eyes were bleeding light. His skin was cracking like porcelain. Reality itself was rejecting him.

"It's done," he said. His voice sounded far away. "They're gone."

Then his knees buckled.

Ethan caught him.

"Whoa—whoa—I got you—"

"No you don't." Ankon smiled weakly. Blood on his teeth. "I don't think anyone can catch me now."

"What's happening to him?!" Ben asked, panicked.

Tyler checked the readings on his device. Went pale.

"The timeline. It's splitting. Right now. He forced it."

"What does that mean?!"

"It means he's fading."

The door burst open.

Lena stumbled in, Ethan's jacket wrapped around her shoulder. Conscious. Awake.

She saw the destruction. The bodies.

Saw Ankon, glowing, cracking, breaking apart.

"No..." She ran to him. "No no no—"

"I'm okay," Ankon lied. "It's okay."

"You're FADING—"

"Yeah. That's the plan."

"That's not—you can't—"

He cupped her face gently. His hand was translucent now. Shimmering.

"Take care of him," he said softly. "Take care of Ethan. He's going to need you."

"What about YOU?!"

"I'll be fine. Somewhere. Somewhen. Another timeline."

Tears ran down her face. "This isn't fair."

"No. But it's right."

He looked at Ethan, who was holding him up, crying.

"You're going to live," Ankon said. "You're going to have a full life. Friends. Love. A future. Everything I never got."

"I don't want it if you're not here—"

"Yes you do. And that's okay." Ankon smiled. "You're the better version anyway."

"That's not true—"

"It is. You're soft where I'm hard. Hopeful where I'm cynical. You're what I could have been, if things had gone different." His form was flickering now. "So live. For both of us."

His hands went to his wrist. Pulled off the bracelet he'd worn since Dhaka.

Handed it to Ethan.

Then the locket around his neck—opened it. Inside, a picture of himself. Smiling. From before everything went wrong.

He pressed it into Lena's hand.

"Even if I respawn again," he said, his voice barely a whisper now, "I might not remember. Might not find you. But somewhere, in some timeline..." He looked at them both. "...I existed. I was here. I mattered."

"You DID matter," Ethan sobbed. "You DO—"

"Then remember me."

His form shimmered.

Started to dissolve.

"No—ANKON—"

"Whenever it's hard, just remember..." His smile was soft. Peaceful. "I exist somewhere in the timelines. And if fate wills it..."

He was fading faster now.

"...maybe this time, I'll find happiness too."

He looked at the sky.

Closed his eyes.

"Thank you," he whispered. "For letting me belong. Even just for a little while."

And then—

Like mist in sunlight—

He was gone.

The bracelet clattered to the ground.

The locket stayed in Lena's hand, still warm.

Ethan knelt there, staring at the empty space where Ankon had been.

"He's gone," Casey whispered.

Ben was crying.

Tyler removed his glasses, wiped his eyes.

Lena clutched the locket to her chest, sobbing.

Outside, the base was collapsing.

Folding into itself. Erasing backward.

The agents—gone.

The timeline—split.

In one branch, Ethan Pierce lived. Grew up. Had a future.

In the other, the branch that led to 2032, the branch where Ethan died young and Ankon was born—

That timeline dissolved.

Unmade.

Erased.

Ankon had never been born.

Had never suffered.

Had never built a portal.

Had never existed.

Except here.

In this moment.

In the memories of six people who would never forget him.

Ethan picked up the bracelet.

Put it on.

Felt the weight of it.

I'll carry this for you, he thought. For both of us.

Lena opened the locket.

Looked at the picture.

A boy who smiled before the world broke him.

I won't forget, she promised silently. None of us will.

They left the collapsing base.

Walked back into Riverside as the sun rose.

The town was waking up. Confused. The base was gone like it had never existed.

But they remembered.

They would always remember.

Weeks later.

Ethan stood in his room, looking at the wall where the portal had been.

It was gone now. Just blank wall.

No way back. No way forward.

Just... here.

He touched the bracelet on his wrist.

Somewhere, you're living a better life, he thought. I have to believe that.

I have to believe you found your respawn.

And somewhere—

Somewhen—

In another country, another time—

A baby was born.

Crying. Alive. New.

No memory of portals or timelines or sacrifice.

Just... a chance.

A fresh start.

A respawn.

And maybe, just maybe—

This time—

He'd be happy.

 

                                                                                           TO BE CONTINUED… :)