Visions of Destruction

Alone in space. They were no longer Time yet they could breathe. Their last memory was firing at the crystal and their eyes were still recovering from the glare of the blast but when things finally came into focus, they found themselves flying from Earth’s solar system and into wider space. Dragged through space, they watched as planets and galaxies were torn away from them. Eventually they reached a point where there was nothing to see, nothing to mark their motion yet they knew they were still moving. Then, light. Behind them, in the nothingness, a field of light. Whatever was dragging them took them through the field and for a moment, Lore thought they were in Null space. They remained there for a moment and once again, they were pulled away. They closed their eyes for but a moment and when they opened them, they had stopped. Before them, a glowing orb. Through the light, they saw reality, their reality. Alone in the void, they searched for anything. As if answering their call for anything, a second orb began to glow. This second orb started as a star does but quickly grew. By the time it stopped, it resembled a sun being orbited by their universe. They turned to see if anything else had developed and sure enough, an entire solar system of universal orbs had appeared.
“Fifty two.” A voice spoke. “Before you count.” Lore frantically scanned their surroundings. Nothing. “Second place isn’t that bad.”
“Who are you?” Lore was still searching for the origin of the voice.
“I am Reality. The father of The Cornerstones.” A face appeared before them. Faint and transparent, smiling yet ominous.
“Second place?” Lore tried to meet their gaze but couldn’t.
“You’ve met the first Lore to break the multiversal barrier. Well, you’re number two.”
“I’m guessing you mean Varkral? What about the others? What happened to them?”
“Ah yes, the aberrations. Twenty six of the same person wandering the same planet. I thought my children knew better. To save your universe, I distributed the others throughout my multiverse. The strongest still remain.” 
“How many?” Lore wasn’t going to hold their breath.
“Including you? Three. Three ‘Lores’ remain and the same goes for the ‘Chars’. I will admit, of my children’s champions, you have been the most interesting.”
“Where are they?” Lore ignored the obvious bait for now.
“You see those red orbs?” He pointed to three newly revealed universes. Unlike the others who all neatly orbited the central universe, these orbs were on their own paths, on collision courses with their reality. “The surviving aberrations are all on decaying universes. Perhaps Time was right, you’re all destined for disaster. Surviving only to be wiped out in a convergence.”
“What?”
“The other aberrations, when transplanted were killed. Time always has a way of correcting itself. Those universes were stable until the aberrations arrived.”
“What happens at the convergence?” Lore padded themselves for anything to take notes with.
“The decaying universes will be destroyed in their entirety and anything in their paths will absorb the aftermath. Unless the universes are stabilised then it’s going to be an interesting night.” Reality sounded almost excited.
“And what if they are stabilised?” Lore resigned to mental notes.
“First you’d have to repair their timeline. Then it transitions to solitary and reality spins on.” He sighed knowing Lore’s intentions.
Lore floated in the void for a moment, organising their priorities. They knew not how much longer they had or for how long Reality would remain co-operative. “What about the clones? You mentioned the Lore and Char aberrations but not the clones?”
“The replicated men? They fared the same as you Lore’s I think. I didn’t really care…” Lore was losing Reality’s interest.
“Is this it then? Humanity theorised an infinite multiverse yet you say there are only fifty two universes.”
Reality scoffed. “The multiverse was infinite yes, then time decided to merge multiple universes into one resulting in your current predicament. Nearly destroyed everything we had worked for just to save you and that planet.” Reality shook their head. “I have no idea why it put so much faith in you that it would willingly destroy centuries of work but it did. I still can’t believe that my children gave their powers to a group of inconsequential beings. I understand Time giving its gifts to your family. Only seems fair but Space giving his abilities to his part time lovers.” For a moment he became more solid but quickly faded. “Well, the ambulance has just got to your house so you better get going.” Lore was about to question him when they were violently dragged back to their universe.
A green light filled their eyes as their rapid descent was stopped. Reality hovered frozen above them. Then the dragging resumed, but not in the same direction. Instead of heading back to their own universe, they were pulled towards the universe at the centre of reality. Piercing the silver light the universe revealed its secrets. At the centre of reality sat a single planet but before Lore could examine it further, they were moving once again. As they exited the centre, they re-entered the void. Yet no universes could be seen. The void seemed endless with the other universes out of sight but Lore still knew they were moving. Then they stopped. The green light intensified as if they were blacking out. Rapidly, it coloured everything they could see. Through the green, images could be seen. A being like Reality, fifty two more universes, fires and pain. Accompanying these images, sensations; cold, pain, fear and anger sent shockwaves down Lore’s body. Their head jolted to the right over and over again, with each jolt progressing the slideshow of destruction. They felt a pinch in their left arm, as if yanking them home. The tugging intensified until nothing. No green, no visions, just the feeling of something under their back and the suspension of something carrying them. Slowly they opened their eyes. The light was offensive at first but they quickly adapted. They were in a vehicle of some kind, they could feel its pull. Char was sat by their side, next to her an unknown man in a dark green shirt. They looked to their arm. Crimson gushed from below their shoulder but given that they could still operate their fingers, it wasn’t yet severed. A familiar sight filled the wound. Glowing purple and drenched in their blood, the reforged crystal. Lore opened their mouth to talk but only a shriek left. The Horse’s Mouth.