---
Above ground, the world trembled in silence. The crater of Vhalis Base smoldered, blue light leaking into the night sky. Smoke rose like a living curtain, and the air reeked of ozone and scorched metal. Levi, Hange, and Erwin stood at the edge, their faces drawn, eyes reflecting the flickering ruins below.
"Is anyone alive down there?" Hange whispered. Her scanner was fried, and the only readings were faint residual Ether traces.
Levi shook his head. "Not sure. The energy surge—it wasn't natural. Nothing that size should survive."
Erwin clenched his fists. "But someone did. Lio. And… the thing he fought—Subject Zero—it's not gone. We just don't know where it is."
Hange paced. "If that fracture opened fully, even for a moment… the Ether shifts alone could destabilize half of Afterlight's eastern provinces. Cities could vanish, landscapes collapse…" Her voice faltered as the enormity hit her. "We have to warn them. Now."
Levi's jaw tightened. "Warnings won't matter if this keeps happening. We need answers. And we need to know what Lio's up to."
Erwin nodded. "Agreed. But first, we regroup. Gather what remains and get the word out. Mobilize any allied units along the Ether corridors. If Subject Zero survived… we'll need everything we've got."
---
Far below, Lio opened his eyes to a world unlike the one above. The light was diffuse, omnipresent, and yet impossible to place. Shadows twisted without form, and the floor beneath him felt alive. He rose, senses heightened, body still tingling from the partial Titan transformation.
Subject Zero stood at the center of the chamber, partially reconstructed, a mixture of luminous energy and remnants of flesh. Its gaze was direct, unyielding, and impossibly old.
"You survived," Lio said, voice steady.
"I always do," Zero replied. Its tone was both calm and terrifying, resonating in every fiber of Lio's being. "But you… surprised me. You resisted inevitability."
"I don't accept endings I didn't choose," Lio said. His hands glowed faintly with residual Ether energy. "I didn't stop here to fail."
Zero tilted its head. "Then you understand. Every world before this… every cycle… they all end because of me. And every time, a fragment remains. You carry that fragment, whether you know it or not."
Lio frowned. "Then what now? Do I fight you? Destroy you?"
Zero's glowing eyes softened, almost imperceptibly. "I offer a choice. Stand with me, or stand against me. But know this—the path you choose will determine the fate of everything above and below this plane."
The chamber pulsed, reacting to their combined energy. Shadows twisted into fleeting forms—visions of Afterlight's cities, forests, and oceans. Each pulse carried a weight of possibility.
"You want me to join you?" Lio asked cautiously.
Zero's voice filled the void. "I want you to understand. My existence is not malicious—it is necessary. The cycles must continue. Yet, your defiance… it is proof that change is possible. I am both the end and the beginning. Choose wisely."
Lio clenched his fists. Memories of friends, comrades, and civilians he had sworn to protect surged through him. Images of destruction flashed in the void: cities devoured by Ether storms, villages consumed by failed experiments, the Shattered Accord's collapse. Every loss weighed heavy on his heart.
"I don't stand with cycles of destruction," he finally said. "I stand for life. For Afterlight. For everyone above ground."
Zero paused, its form flickering. "Then you will fight. And you will shape the future differently… or you will fail."
The light in the chamber intensified, radiating outward like a second sun. Lio felt energy coursing through him, fusing with his Titan power and residual Ether. His form shimmered with gold and blue, veins glowing with intensity.
"Then let's begin," Lio said.
---
Above ground, Levi's team moved cautiously. The remnants of the fort had collapsed into a crater, smoke and light swirling into the sky. Messages had been sent to every province along the Ether corridors. Governors, scholars, and militia leaders scrambled to respond.
Hange studied the scorched landscape. "If that surge had lasted five more seconds… we'd be looking at a disaster on the scale of the first Ether wars. Tens of thousands could have been lost in an instant."
Levi scanned the horizon. "And the ground team? Lio?"
Hange grimaced. "He's gone. But the readings suggest he's still alive… and he's not alone."
Erwin rubbed his temples. "If Lio is with Zero… then we're dealing with forces beyond any scale we've prepared for. We may not be able to stop it, only survive it."
Levi's gaze hardened. "Survival isn't enough anymore. We need to end this before it spreads. Before Afterlight becomes unrecognizable."
---
Deep below, Lio and Zero faced one another in the void. Energy crackled, warping the chamber. Shadows stretched and bent around them, coalescing into ghostly forms of past experiments, previous cycles, and fragments of lost lives.
Zero extended a hand. "You will not destroy me. That is impossible. But you can contain what I am, redirect the flow. Only together, in balance, can a new cycle emerge without annihilation."
Lio narrowed his eyes. "You're asking me to trust you? After everything?"
Zero's glow softened, radiating calm authority. "Not trust. Understand. You are strong. You are defiant. But defiance alone is not enough. You must guide, channel, and restrain. I am the raw force. You are the will."
Lio took a deep breath, feeling the weight of possibility settle over him. The void responded to his heartbeat, pulsing with power, waiting.
"I will do it," he said. "But on my terms. Life comes first. Not cycles. Not endings."
Zero inclined its head. "So be it. The containment begins."
The chamber pulsed violently as their energies intertwined. The void shifted, bending around their combined will. The shadowy figures howled, resisting, but the synchronization between Lio and Zero formed a tether of control.
Above ground, the crater's glow stabilized. The light that had threatened destruction became a beacon, stretching into the sky like a new dawn.
Hange whispered, eyes wide. "It's… holding itself together. The Ether is stabilizing."
Levi's voice was low, firm. "Then Lio may have done the impossible. He's not just surviving… he's rewriting what Afterlight thought it knew about power."
Erwin exhaled slowly. "This is only the beginning. The world above ground will need to see what happened here… or it will fear it. And fear will breed conflict."
But for a fleeting moment, the horizon glimmered with hope. A new cycle had begun—not one of destruction, but of controlled balance.
And in the void below, Lio and Subject Zero faced the uncertain future together, tethered by purpose, power, and the tenuous promise of life.
---