Blood splattered all across the floor with the Lightning Nova dead on the ground. Stanley stood there as the body hit the ground.

The speed at which he had come and cut the head off had left everyone surprised and confused. Not a single one of them understood what had happened for a few seconds.

Even Nova and Fred, who were waiting for him were surprised. He came like the thunder, with a loud sound left behind in his speed, leaving the Lightning Nova dead in his wake.

Stanley saw a red plasma bullet strike him on the back of his head. He simply moved his sword behind him, stopping the bullet with it. He turned around, looking at the man who just shot him with trembling hands.

"If you don’t want to die, leave."

The man looked around at the people around him, but before anyone could tell him anything, something went through his forehead, killing him instantly.

Stanley looked around at Nova in surprise, seeing her use her metal threads to kill the man. Then she walked forward slowly, walking past the headless corpse of her brother and arriving at the head.

Her eyes filled with tears seeing her dead brother. She hated him for what he did to their parents, but in death, he looked so peaceful. Just like the brother she always used to love.

Tears flowed down her cheeks as she clutched onto her brother’s head and she wept.

The screams made everyone stop in their tracks, feeling the pain that came from her.

Stanley looked at her, understanding the pain she went through. That was the same pain he had gone through not even 4 months ago at this point. He could not begin to understand what sort of emotions she must be going through due to the complicated nature of her relationship with her brother.

He did understand the pain that came with the loss of a loved one.

However, he also understood that it was not the time to wallow in that loss, in that grief. It was time to run away.

"Fred," Stanley shouted. "Go and tell the people there is a bomb in the plaza. Make everyone leave."

"What about Nova?" he asked.

"I’ll get her," he said before turning to everyone else. "Anyone touch him, I will carve your insides out." He threatened them. "Don’t test me."

Fred ran away and Stanley went up to Nova to bring her away.

The members of the Azure Clan were completely stunned at the situation. Like a hive without a queen, they did not know what to do in this situation at all. However, they did know what was going to happen next.

So they knew one thing. They needed to get the hell out of this city.

Stanley ignored them and let them run away. "Nova, we need to leave," he said, pulling her up from her brother.

Nova’s blue clothes were darkened, her hand crimson with the blood of the one that was her blood. "He’s really dead," she said. "He died, just like I wanted. Then why do I not feel happy? This was supposed to make me happy."

"Nova, we need to move," Stanley dragged her away.

People outside the plaza were seemingly evacuating at a normal rate. No one panicked at all, almost no one truly believing that anything was going to happen. But Stanley knew. He had seen something happening right at 1 p.m., even if he hadn’t managed to see it very clearly.

They ran away, making their way away from the plaza. All the while, Stanley checked time as it got closer and closer to 1 P.M. When it was 12:59, he stopped and turned around to see what was going to happen.

He had come a far way from the plaza and the many buildings were already blocking his vision. Still, he waited for the sound of the explosion. He kept his future sight active to see the explosion, and when it happened, he slowed down town.

The world around Stanley crawled as he alone stood watching the people around him practically stop. The air felt thick and the sounds drowned out, but he was barely paying attention to anything at all.

He felt the hair on the back of his head stand as he saw the future that awaited him. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Death.

Stanley was certain he was going to die as his vision blanked out with nothing of the future to show him anymore.

The light came first, a blinding brilliant light that seemed to explode out of nowhere. Then he saw layers of space folding around something. A sort of wave that moved outward, seemingly destroying anything in its way.

No, it vaporized everything, from the vehicles in the sky to the buildings, and then the humans in the street. And then it came for Stanley.

Stanley did not wait to see what it would do to him. He turned around and started running, leaving Nova and Fred as he couldn’t save them. There was no other way.

He had to save himself.

But even with his speed, he couldn’t survive what was happening.

The danger caught up to him as he felt the skin on his back start to burn hot. Then everything went blank.

Stanley stood up with a jerk, his head hitting something above him, denting it. His breathing was heavy, his heart beating faster than ever and he looked around, ready to run if need be.

But he didn’t need to.

He was back in the van, sitting next to Sol, behind Nova and Fred. Both of them had turned to look at him.

"What’s wrong?" one of them asked, but Stanley was too out of it to know which one.

’What is happening to me?’ he thought. ’What the fuck is going on?’

A dream of dream of dream was not something he believed to be possible now. This was something else. He wasn’t dreaming. He couldn’t have been dreaming of the past if what he was dreaming was real.

If so, there was only one other possibility in his mind which he felt was correct.

’Am I... reversing time?’