The skies had changed again.
Not cracked like before—but darker, heavier. As if the very air had grown tired of pretending the world had healed. The Core was gone, but something worse had taken its place.
Nova City, once bright with reconstruction, now lay under siege. Streetlights flickered. Entire districts were swallowed in blackouts. People whispered of "The Null"—a name carried on static and shadows. No one had seen him clearly, only what he left behind: silence, rot, and despair.
They said he didn't speak.
They said he drained.
Entire energy grids collapsed at his presence. Superhumans, newly emerged from the Rift chaos, lost their powers without warning. No alarms, no resistance. Just... gone.
And when the city cried out for help—no one answered.
Because the one who would have, the one who once scorched the sky with light, was gone.
Jalen Grey was a memory.
Reyka sat in the old safehouse, watching the news loop grimly on the cracked screen. Another district blackout. Another child missing. The Null was closing in. She hadn't slept in days, her eyes hollow, her tech gear scattered in a frenzy of failed solutions.
Ari was pacing, her patience eroded into anger. "We can't keep reacting. We need to find him. We need to hit back."
"With what?" Reyka snapped. "You saw what happened to Mason. Null didn't even touch him—just looked at him. Powers, gone. Brain fried."
"Then we do it without powers."
"You mean we die without powers."
The silence that followed was colder than any Rift wind.
But before either could speak again, the safehouse lights flickered.
Then went out.
Reyka stood slowly, grabbing the emergency beacon. She tapped the side.
Nothing.
"No signal," she muttered. "That's impossible. This place is shielded—"
A new sound cut through the dark.
Not static.
Not a scream.
Just a faint hum. Like a melody of heat.
A golden ember floated down from the ceiling like a snowflake. Then another. And another. Sparks began to drift, slowly forming a spiral in the air.
Ari's eyes widened. "No way…"
From the center of the spiral, light cracked reality like glass.
And through that light—he stepped out.
Scorched boots. Cloak tattered from battle. His eyes dimly lit from within like coal that refused to die out. Not fully human anymore. Not just Core.
But Jalen.
Reyka froze. Her voice shook. "You're alive?"
Jalen looked at them both. And for the first time in months, he spoke.
"Not alive," he said. "Awakened."
And behind him, the light closed.
The legend had returned.
But this time... so had the war.