The creature didn't roar.
It glitched. Its body flickered between shapes, solid, broken, missing like time couldn't decide what it was supposed to be.
One second it had arms. Next second gone.
Then too many. Wasp Time reacted first.
"Yeah, no, I'm not waiting to understand that," she said and vanished. A blur,
A streak, A strike.
She hit it straight through the chest.
Or where the chest should have been.
Her hand passed through it.Then snapped back. Like time corrected her mistake.
She stumbled back.
"…Okay. I hate it," she said. "I officially hate "Chrono-Devourer," Strange Doctor said, stepping forward calmly.
Time Swap stared. Why does that sound like something we should have been warned about earlier?!" "Because," Strange Doctor replied, "you would have panicked."
"I AM panicking!" "Yes. Imagine worse."
The creature moved, Not forward, Not backward. It simply appeared closer. Spider Web's eyes widened. "…It's not moving through space," he said. "It's skipping moments." "Fantastic," Time Swap said. "We're fighting something that cheats." "Focus," Strange Doctor snapped. Then his hand moved Slow, Precise. He drew something in the air, A symbol, A circle that wasn't fully a circle, Time bent around it.
The creature froze, For half a second. "NOW!" he shouted. This time, Time Swap didn't hesitate. "Alright let's break time responsibly!" He reached forward Grabbed a momentAnd pulled, Reality stretched.
The creature split into three overlapping versions of itself, Past, Present, Almost-future, All visible at once.Wasp Time grinned. "Finally something I can hit."
She moved, Fast enough to exist between seconds. She struck all three versions
Simultaneously, The creature screamed, Not loudly, But wrongly.
Like a sound playing backward.Spider Web lifted his hand, Threads appeared, Glowing, Connecting moments, Binding the creature in place, "…Stay," he whispered.
For a second It worked, Then the threads snapped, Everything went silent, Too silent.
Strange Doctor's expression changed.
That was the first sign, "Get back," he said.
Not loud, Not dramatic, But serious enough that even Time Swap listened.The creature stopped glitching, And for the first time It became stable, That was worse, Its form sharpened, Clear, Defined, Almost human.
Then it spoke, "…You shouldn't exist." Time Swap blinked, "…Okay, rude." The creature's head tilted, It looked directly at him. Not through him, At him. "I remember you," it said, Silence. Wasp Time frowned.
"…That's not good, right?" "No," Spider Web said quietly. "That's very not good."
Time Swap pointed at himself. "Hold on how does a time-eating nightmare know me?"
The creature stepped closer. This time, it didn't skip, It walked, Slowly. "You were there," it said, "At the end." Everything stopped. Even the broken air seemed to hold its breath. Time Swap laughed nervously. "…Okay, I feel like that's a different version of me problem." The creature shook its head. "No," it said You.
THE TWIST BEGINS
Strange Doctor closed his eyes briefly.
Like someone who just watched the future confirm something he didn't want to be true.
"…We don't have time for this," he said.
Time Swap turned. "Oh NOW we don't have time?!" Strange Doctor looked at him, Really looked this time, "You need to understand something," he said, The ground cracked deeper, The Time Gate below them pulsed violently, Something massive was trying to break through, "You are not just part of this problem," Strange Doctor said, The creature smiled, "You are the reason it starts."
ACTION ESCALATION
The creature lunged, Faster than before.
Stronger, Smarter, Wasp Time rushed in
But this time, It caught her, Everything froze.
"…Oh," she said quietly, "…that's new."
Time Swap stepped forward instinctively.
"No let her go!" The creature looked at him.
Almost curious, "Why?" it asked, Time Swap didn't have an answer, So he did what he always does, Something reckless.
He reached deeper into time than before.
Further than he should, And pulled Reality screamed. For a split second Everything rewound, Then snapped forward Wrong
Two versions of Time Swap now stood there, One confused, One… calm, The second one smiled. "…You finally did it," he said, Strange Doctor's voice dropped to a whisper, "No…that's not him."