Reality shifted.
Not violently. Not with explosions.
It was subtler than that.
The sky hung differently.
Some people swore they remembered events that never happened.
Others forgot things they should never have.
And I—
I felt every thread I tugged tighten behind me.
---
[System Notice: Timeline Ripple Confirmed]
> Primary Anchor: Wanda Maximoff – Stable
Event Alteration: 3 Confirmed
🧠 You are now visible to Level 1 Multiversal Entities
---
I was officially on the radar.
And someone had already found me.
---
Location: Times Square, New York
2:46 PM
A man stepped out of a crack in space.
Black coat. Gray eyes.
No shadow.
He looked at me like he already knew everything.
> "You took my place."
Peter, standing beside me, squinted.
> "Wait… is that—you?"
He looked like me.
Older. Broken. Tired.
The Original System User.
---
[UNKNOWN ENTITY SCANNED]
> Name: [REDACTED]
System: Corrupted Host – Phase V
Sanity Level: 12%
Status: Echo From a Collapsed Timeline
---
> "You locked the wrong branch," he rasped. "Wanda was a mistake. You gave her a spark. Now she's going to burn everything."
Wanda took a step forward, energy trembling at her fingertips.
> "I'm not the threat," she said. "You are."
> "We both are," the Echo said. "That's the point. The system doesn't save you. It just lets you choose how you fall."
> "Then let's test that," I said—and summoned the Event Editor.
---
[System Ability: Event Editor Activated]
🧠 Rewrite Attempt – Micro-Level:
> Event: Times Square confrontation
Target: Echo Host
Effect: Anchor-Desync – Collapse projection in real time
Result: BLOCKED
> Error: "Cannot edit a dead man's path."
---
He lunged.
Wanda blocked him mid-air with a hex wave so sharp it cracked glass across the street.
Peter pulled civilians out of the blast radius, webs flying fast.
I stepped into the center of it all.
Let the system wrap me in code, runes, and fire.
And I struck him with everything I had.
---
The impact tore a hole in the air.
The Echo screamed—
Not in pain.
In relief.
> "Now you'll understand," he said, as he was pulled into the void.
"The system isn't your tool. It's your test."
And then he was gone.
---
[Echo Host Neutralized]
> Remnant Data Collected: 18%
System Upgrade Available: Timeline Lock Override – In Progress
Peter slumped against a wall.
> "So… that was you from another timeline?"
> "Yeah."
> "And you killed yourself?"
> "Technically he was already dead. I just helped him stop talking."
> "Coolcoolcool. Totally normal Thursday."
---
Later that night, on the rooftop of the rebuilt Avengers Tower, Wanda sat beside me.
Quiet.
> "He was right, wasn't he?" she said. "About the system testing us."
> "Yeah."
> "You ever think you're failing?"
I looked out over the city.
The skyline had changed.
A building that didn't used to exist now pulsed with green lights in the distance—faintly glowing with Kree tech.
An effect I didn't plan for.
> "Every second," I admitted.
She reached over and took my hand.
> "Then don't stop fighting."
---
[System Milestone Reached]
> You survived a direct Echo Confrontation
Event Editor has leveled up
🧠 New Feature Unlocked: Trigger Swap
Allows you to substitute major Marvel events with alternate catalysts
Warning: Risk of instability with key figures (e.g. Tony Stark, Nick Fury, etc.)
---
And then the worst part:
At 3:03 AM, a new notification blinked across my HUD.
[WARNING: Timeline Spike Detected]
> Character Death Logged: Natasha Romanoff
> ☠ Status: Not from Original Timeline
☠ Cause: Unknown
☠ Temporal Instability Likely
---
I stared at the message in shock.
Because I hadn't changed anything in her path.
I'd locked Wanda.
I'd rewritten Times Square.
But Natasha…?
She wasn't supposed to die.
Not yet.
Someone else was editing the story now.
---