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š Chapter 39: Return of the Shadow
Deep within the Watchtower, shadows crept along the power conduitsāslow, silent, invasive. It was as if a presence was trying to seep through the structure. The monitoring systems began detecting new spectral wavesāunclassified, yet oddly familiar to Ben.
In the command center, Wonder Woman stood beside Green Lantern, both reviewing the readings from the infected crystals.
"There's something forming in the dimension of the Prime Crystal," Green Lantern said, worry tightening his voice.
"The closest thing I can compare it toā¦ is a shadow. But it has an existential resonance."
**
In an isolated chamber, Ben sat cross-legged on the floor, quietly focusing on his new watch. The deep blue pulse from its face was calmā¦ but accelerated whenever he got near the crystals.
Supergirl entered silently. Still, Ben sensed her presence.
He spoke quietly:
"This watch is trying to warn meā¦ not from danger, but from myself."
She looked at him and asked,
"Why?"
He replied, staring at his wrist,
"Kairos doesn't want to kill me. He wants me to returnā¦ to mergeā¦ to complete what's missing in him."
**
Suddenly, the lights in the Watchtower flickered off for a few seconds, then returned, glowing faint violet. Every screen displayed the same image: a massive crystalline pillarā¦ slowly forming in space.
Batman, watching from his station, muttered:
"That's not just a structureā¦ it's an invitation."
**
Beyond Earth, a dark singularity appeared, radiating immeasurable energy. From within it emerged a colossal beingāKairos.
His body was translucent, like crystal, surrounded by shadowy auras. His face was half-darkness, and halfā¦ bore Ben's features.
He opened his glowing eyes and stared at Earth. Without moving his mouth, his voice echoed in every mind:
> "The new watchā¦ it almost restored balance.
But it wasn't made for thatā¦
It was made for me."
**
At that instant, Ben vanishedānot through teleportation, but as if something had pulled him out of reality. He found himself standing in a crystalline void, face to face with a nearly complete embodiment of Kairos.
Kairos spoke with a voice like burning calm:
> "I wasn't born evil.
Azmuth stole my core and planted it inside you.
You are my other half.
I've been incomplete since the moment I existed."
He stepped closer and extended his hand:
> "Give me back what is mineā¦
and no world will break again.
There will be no chaosā¦ only unity."
**
Ben didn't move.
The watch on his wrist pulsed erratically, resisting the stillness Kairos imposed.
Ben finally said:
"So, you think unity means erasing everything that's different? Erasing will?"
Kairos responded, his voice shifting deeper:
> "I am not your enemy, Ben.
I am your salvationā¦ or your end."
**
In a flash, Ben was ejected from the crystalline realm and dropped hard onto the lab floor, alarms blaring around him.
He struggled to his feet, glancing at everyone in the room.
"Kairos is comingā¦ and he won't stop."
Supergirl looked at him and asked:
"And you? What are you going to face him with?"
He replied, steady and sure:
"With myself."
Far above Earth, the Prime Crystal's pillar began to openāas if a new world was being bornā¦ or ready to consume everything.
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