The city skyline shimmered beneath a fractured sky. Time itself seemed to splinter like glass, shards of moments flashing in and out of existence people paused mid-action, conversations repeated in loops, and streets folded into impossible angles.
Juno, Milo, and Idris stood on the Tockbox's rooftop, the temporal chaos swirling around them like a storm.
"We're running out of time," Idris said grimly. "If these fractures spread, the timeline could collapse entirely."
Milo tapped his baton against the railing. "The Chronodebt's warning wasn't empty. It's collecting, and every ripple makes its claim stronger."
Juno gritted her teeth, tightening her grip on the Divider. "Then we break the cycle."
A sharp pulse radiated from the heart of the city a massive time distortion blossoming like a black flower.
"We need to close that," Milo said. "But it's guarded by a Temporal Warden."
Before Juno could ask, the air before them shimmered. From the distortion stepped a towering figure cloaked in shifting sands and ticking gears, eyes glowing like molten clocks.
The Temporal Warden.
Juno's pulse quickened. "So, more time monsters?"
Idris nodded. "Guardians of the fractures. They maintain the flow by any means necessary."
The Warden's gaze locked on Juno. "You disrupt the balance. You must be corrected."
With a roar that echoed through fractured seconds, it charged.
Juno met its charge, Divider humming, heart racing.
Time was breaking.
And she was the only thing standing between order and oblivion.