As they tumbled through the swirling vortex of the Timestream, Dean caught glimpses of his teammates being pulled into different chronal currents. The temporal winds were tearing them apart. Each Exile spun toward different points in history like leaves in a hurricane.
Valkyrie's armored form grew distant as she was swept into what looked like a blood-red future war. Her battle cry echoed across dimensions before fading to nothing.
Khan's stretching powers flickered as she disappeared into a prehistoric echo. Her desperate shouts lost in the roar of ancient winds.
Wolvie reached out with tearful eyes, his tiny claws extended helplessly as he spun away toward some unknown timeline.
"No!" Dean fought against the temporal currents, trying to reach them, but the Timestream was too powerful. They were being scattered across infinity itself.
He forced his will to keep them together and his Karmic Battery responded with a surge of desperate energy.
His system flickered briefly in his fading vision, giving him one last prompt that cut through the chaos:
[KARMIC OVERRIDE – SACRIFICE AVAILABLE]
[Use 75 Karma to initiate temporal tether: Y/N]
Dean didn't hesitate. "Do it," he growled through gritted teeth.
But before he could see the results, a warning flashed across his vision:
[SYSTEM OFFLINE – UPGRADING CORE FUNCTIONS]
"You've got to be kidding me," he muttered as reality blurred around him. "This is the worst save point ever."
Golden threads of karma exploded from Dean's body like liquid sunlight, each strand seeking out one of his falling teammates. The energy wrapped around them with the warmth of friendship and the strength of someone who refused to let his family be torn apart by fate itself.
The Exiles' bodies slowed in the temporal chaos, pulled together by Dean's unwavering will. They stabilized, beginning to orbit around him like satellites locked in his emotional gravity. The Timestream fought back, trying to scatter them again, but Dean's karma held firm.
"Not losing anyone," he said through gritted teeth, his body glowing with the last of his stored energy. "Not this time. Not ever."
His vision began to dim as the karma drained from him completely. A final message blinked weakly in his peripheral vision:
[KARMA BALANCE: 25]
[UPGRADE IN PROGRESS – ALL FUNCTIONS LOCKED]
Dean's consciousness slipped away as his mind fell into system stasis, but his sacrifice had worked. The golden threads pulled the Exiles together as they fell through the final layer of the Timestream toward an unknown destination.
Warm sunlight filtered through unfamiliar trees as consciousness slowly returned to the team. They had landed in what appeared to be a peaceful forest, far from the cosmic chaos of the Observatory. Cricket-like insects chirped in the distance, and a gentle breeze carried the scent of pine and earth—almost normal after their recent journey through impossible realities.
Blink sat up slowly, cradling Dean's unconscious form in her arms. His face was peaceful but pale, and his breathing was shallow. Strange, barely visible golden veins pulsed faintly beneath his skin, as if his very blood had been touched by karma itself.
"He pulled us together," she murmured, checking his pulse. "Somehow, in all that chaos, he managed to keep us from being scattered across the multiverse."
Nathaniel's armor was running diagnostics as he knelt beside them. "His vital signs are stable, but whatever energy he expended... it cost him greatly. I'm detecting significant changes in his neural patterns. And these bio-readings... they're unlike anything I've seen."
Wolvie curled up next to Dean, his tiny claws retracted and his voice small. "He's gonna be okay, right? I mean... he saved us. Heroes don't die after they save people, do they?"
Khan sat cross-legged nearby, her usual confidence shaken. "He has to be," she said quietly, watching Dean's chest rise and fall with those strange golden pulses. "He wouldn't leave us behind. Not after everything."
Valkyrie stood guard, scanning their surroundings with warrior's eyes. The forest stretched endlessly in all directions, filled with the sounds of life but empty of any signs of civilization. "Aye, 'twas a noble sacrifice. The lad spent his very essence to bind our fates together. Such courage deserves our protection whilst he recovers."
The forest around them was eerily peaceful, with no sign of Fury, the Watchers, or the cosmic forces that had torn their world apart. The Observatory was gone, existing now only in scattered temporal debris across multiple dimensions. They were truly alone for the first time since becoming Exiles.
Blink looked down at her bare wrist where the Tallus had been. The device was completely destroyed, leaving not even a trace of the technology that had allowed them to navigate the multiverse. Their lifeline to home—to purpose—was severed.
"We're on our own now," she said, clenching her fists. "No Observatory, no working Tallus, no way home. We don't even know what reality we've landed in, or if we can ever leave it."
Nathaniel was studying his armor's readings more intently. "According to my sensors, this appears to be a relatively stable timeline. Earth-like atmosphere, familiar gravity, indigenous life forms. But we're completely cut off from the multiversal nexus points. For all intents and purposes, we're stranded."
Khan looked around at her teammates—her family. These people who had become everything to her in a chaotic multiverse. "So, what do we do now?"
"We survive," Valkyrie said firmly, her hand resting on her sword hilt. "We protect our fallen comrade, and we find a way to continue our mission. The Time-Eater still exists somewhere in the multiverse, and there art still realities that need our aid."
"But how?" Blink asked, voicing what they were all thinking. "Without the Tallus, without the Observatory's resources... we're just five people lost in an unknown world."
As the team discussed their impossible situation, Dean stirred faintly in Blink's arms. His eyes remained closed, but for just a moment, a familiar interface flickered weakly in the corner of his vision:
[Evolution... 15% complete...]
The message faded as quickly as it had appeared, leaving only the sound of wind through the trees and the quiet breathing of a hero whose sacrifice had kept his family together against impossible odds.
Whatever came next, the Exiles would face it together. And somewhere in the depths of his upgrading system, Dean's true potential was finally beginning to awaken. The golden threads that had saved them all were still there, barely visible, connecting each team member to their unconscious leader.
They were stranded, powerless, and alone in an unknown reality.
But they were alive. And they were together.
Sometimes, that was enough to change everything.