The scream tore downward from the sky—soundless, yet powerful enough to rattle Damon’s bones. The air shook, vibrating with pressure like the world itself was exhaling in terror.
Shadow and Ember were thrown off the creature as the ground bucked beneath them. The doppelganger staggered upright, its stolen face rippling like wet paint trying to cling to a canvas.
Lira clutched her head, crying out as mory-light exploded above them, raining down in jagged shards that evaporated before touching the earth.
Damon grabbed her shoulders.
“Lira—Lira, talk to ! What’s happening?”
She gasped, tears of light streaking down her cheeks.
“It’s... it’s rejecting the form it chose! Your mories aren’t enough—it’s hungry for more. It wants a full identity, not fragnts!”
The creature twitched, face lting into conflicting expressions—joy, grief, rage—cycling with nauseating speed. Then it looked at Damon.
No—through him.
“You... incomplete.”
Its voice layered and distorted.
“Give more. Give ... all.”
Damon pulled Lira behind him. “You’re not taking anything else from .”
The creature’s posture shifted—shoulders rising, fingers stretching, mimicking Damon’s stance like a reflection learning to fight.
Lira trembled. “It’s adapting. Damon—it’s trying to beco you completely.”
A shockwave blasted from the reopened tear, slamming into all of them. Damon hit the asphalt hard, vision blurring. Lira rolled into his arms as he scrambled upright, shielding her from the storm of mory-light whipping around them.
Shadow leaped at the creature again.
This ti the creature caught him—one hand gripping the wolf by the throat, lifting him effortlessly. Shadow snarled, kicking, claws slicing the flickering body.
The creature mimicked the snarl—its mouth tearing too wide as it whispered:
“Strong... loyal... I will take this too.”
“NO!” Damon sprinted forward just as Ember barreled in, slamming into the creature’s legs. Shadow dropped, coughing, scrambling away.
The creature stumbled but didn’t fall.
It steadied itself—then its form began to bulge, stretch, shift.
Lira’s eyes widened. “It’s copying Shadow. Damon—it’s trying to take on more than one identity at once!”
“Is that bad?” Damon shouted.
“It’s impossible!” she yelled back. “It’ll either stabilize into sothing new—or tear reality apart!”
The creature’s arm warped into a lupine limb. Its jaw elongated. Its eyes split into two sets, blinking independently. Then, for a horrifying mont, it looked like Damon fused with a wolf.
“I AM MANY.” it declared.
Ember charged again—only to be slapped aside by the creature’s mutated arm like a ragdoll.
“No!” Damon dove to Ember’s side, checking the wolf’s breathing. Alive. Hurt, but alive.
Lira dragged herself to her knees. Her skin flickered with unstable light.
“Damon... I can sever its connection to your mories. But I’ll need to draw its attention.”
“Absolutely not.”
“I have to,” she whispered. “It’s anchored to you. If I break the anchor... it loses form.”
The creature turned toward them, body rippling.
“I... want... YOU.”
Lira staggered to her feet, glowing brighter.
“Then co take ,” she said.
The creature lunged.
And the sky scread again—as reality itself began to split.
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