Aaron spent the rest of the night pacing in his apartment. Every time he moved, the world seemed to lag behind him—light stretched unnaturally, sound warped, and objects blurred as if struggling to keep up with his movements. The energy inside him was like a coiled spring, begging to be unleashed.

He stared at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes, once a dull hazel, now glowed faintly with a golden shimmer. His hands trembled—not with fear, but with the sheer weight of the unknown.

“What the hell is happening to me?” he muttered.

Dr. Kael had been suspicious earlier at the lab, but Aaron managed to deflect her questions. For now, he needed to figure this out alone. Experimentation had always been his way of solving problems, and this time was no different.

He slipped on a hoodie and sneakers and stepped outside. The city streets were unusually quiet for a weeknight, the distant hum of traffic barely audible. Aaron took a deep breath, crouched slightly, and pushed off the ground.

The world exploded into streaks of light.

Buildings blurred into jagged lines, cars stretched into streams of color, and the cold night air burned against his skin. In less than a second, he was across the city, standing on a bridge overlooking the Aeonis River.

Aaron stumbled to a halt, gasping. The bridge trembled slightly beneath him, and the water below rippled unnaturally, as if his mere presence had disturbed it. He looked back toward the city skyline—it was miles away now, but it had taken him less than the time of a heartbeat to get here.

“I can’t believe this,” he whispered, staring at his hands.

But as he focused on the stillness around him, he noticed something strange. The bridge wasn’t silent. There was a faint hum—a vibration that grew louder the more he concentrated. Aaron squinted, and the air around him shimmered with faint distortions.

He reached out cautiously, and as his hand moved through the distortion, he felt it—a tangible resistance, like pressing against a taut rubber band.

“Ripples,” he realized.

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The word had come to him from nowhere, but it felt right. These were the “ripples” Tachyra had warned him about—the aftereffects of his speed. It wasn’t just the physical world that he was altering; he was leaving impressions on time itself.

Aaron’s thoughts were interrupted by a sudden noise behind him—a sharp, echoing crack. He spun around, and for a split second, he saw something impossible.

A figure stood at the other end of the bridge, cloaked in shifting shadows. Their outline flickered, like an old film reel struggling to stay in focus. The figure raised a hand, and Aaron felt a wave of pressure slam into him.

He was thrown backward, tumbling across the bridge. He came to a stop just before the railing, his heart racing.

“What the hell was that?” he gasped.

The figure stepped closer, their movements eerily smooth, as if they weren’t bound by normal physics. Their voice was a low, distorted rumble.

“You’re destabilizing the stream, Nexus.”

Aaron scrambled to his feet, his instincts screaming at him to run, but his curiosity held him in place. “Who are you? What do you mean, ‘destabilizing’?”

The figure tilted its head. “You’re using power you don’t understand. Every step you take, every fraction of a second you steal, sends ripples through the fabric of time. If you don’t stop, the stream will unravel—and take your universe with it.”

Aaron’s pulse quickened. “You’re lying. I didn’t ask for this power. I didn’t ask for any of this!”

The figure chuckled darkly. “Intent doesn’t matter. The moment Tachyra chose you, you became a threat. And threats must be eliminated.”

Before Aaron could respond, the figure lunged forward, their form distorting like a smear of black ink. Instinctively, Aaron moved—and the world slowed.

The figure’s attack came at him in slow motion, their hand stretching toward his chest like a claw. Aaron sidestepped effortlessly, his mind racing as he realized what was happening.

“I’m faster than them,” he thought.

With a burst of speed, he launched himself forward, landing a punch squarely in the figure’s chest. They flew backward, crashing into the bridge with a metallic clang.

Aaron stood over them, his chest heaving. “Who sent you? What are you?”

The figure’s form flickered again, their edges dissolving like smoke. “I am Crux,” they said, their voice echoing strangely. “The first of many. If you wish to survive, Nexus, you must learn control. Otherwise, the stream will consume you.”

Before Aaron could ask more, the figure dissolved completely, leaving behind nothing but the faint hum of the ripples.

Aaron stared at the spot where they’d vanished, his mind racing. Crux’s words echoed in his head.

“Control,” he muttered.

He looked at his hands again, the golden glow still faintly visible beneath his skin. Whatever this power was, it had painted a target on his back. If Crux was just the first, he needed to be ready for whatever came next.

Aaron turned toward the city and took a deep breath. He pushed off the ground and vanished into the night, a streak of golden light carving through the darkness.